Soahc

*"I'm going to stop for a coffee, and when I'm done with that coffee I want everyone in this town to be dead."*

Soahc the Deceiver, also known as the DemiGod of Chaos, Father of Evil, Lord of Fire and Courter of Death, Soahc the Trickster and Defiler of the Old World, and known as Bloodgift to the hags, is the demigod son of Tyrrus and an unknown female, and currently one of the most powerful forces on Engelain. At roughly twelve-thousand years old, Soahc is also one of the oldest beings on the planet, though for many millennia he was banished to the Halls of Janus and acted through totems, only becoming active on the world again roughly four centuries ago.

Born in the Dawn Age of humanity, back when the gods could freely roam the earth, Soahc was supposedly raised within the megacity of Annwyfn, the country-spanning paradise that Tyrrus had built for his chosen people. However, for reasons lost to time and will perhaps remain unknown forever, Soahc became disgusted with his father and his work, and sought to destroy all that he had built.

It is known that at this time, Soahc had a similar amount of magical power to his father, (which leads many to believe Soahc is the offspring of two gods, not just Tyrrus,) and the war between father and son was so powerful so as to destroy Annwyfn in its entirety and mar the land upon which it stood forever. It is said many monstrous beings were spawned by Soahc, and that many thousands, perhaps millions, were purged in their wars. Eventually though, Soahc was either defeated by Tyrrus, (as the Tyrannian Church believe,) or the two of them were both banished by Janus, (as the Church of Engelain would have it,) but whichever story is correct, the result was the same: Soahc was banished from Engelain and sealed behind a door in the Halls of Janus.

Although the ramifications of their warring would be felt on the continent for centuries to come, humanity as a whole held a great respite from Soahc during his many years of banishment. It was during this time that he created his own realm, distinct from the one in which he had been banished, known to us today as the Demonic Halls.

Unable to return to the world as a god, Soahc would instead instruct those devout to him through visions, dreams and prophecies, communicating via prayer in order to enact his plans. The using of mortal pawns was not enough to halt the advancement of mankind though, as empires began to crop up, castles were built, and the dawn of ocean exploration was on the horizon. For the next several millennia, Soahc's schemes involved tutoring his followers in the creation of totems through which Soahc would channel some of his divine energy and will, thus being able to walk the earth once again in some capacity, though nowhere near at his full strength.

Soahc's atrocities were beyond counting in this age, yet there was always a glimmer of hope: whilst bound to a totem, Soahc was unable to communicate with his followers through prayer as he had when banished, and not being at full strength he was susceptible to being sealed by powerful magic or an elaborate trap. Sometimes the DemiGod was sealed away for decades at a time, giving the world some peace and time to rebuild before the enchantments wore out, or members of his Cult freed him, or some schemer with knowledge of the sealed god's whereabouts allowed him to escape in return for some boon or other.

Still, it was clear that this method of obstructing the world's progress and lawfulness was not enough for Soahc's preferences. Nearly a century after their seceding from the Tyrannian Empire and declaration of the Free Kingdoms of Engelain, a similar revolt was being undertaken in the far east of the empire. The warrior Arran was leading a crusade against the crusaders- tired with the meddling of gods in the affairs of mortals, Arran did not simply seek to dismantle the empire's hold on the world, but the grip of religion in its entirety. It is said he had a grand army at his heel, (though other sources claim this as historical revisionism from salty Arran-sympathisers and the true numbers of the army were much smaller,) and it is known he had liberated the Seven States and was marching towards Tywrought, the country at the head of the Tyrannian Empire.

It was here, at the peak of Arran's power, that Soahc sought to strike. Through some unknown means, Soahc was able to siphon off the entirety of his godly powers into Arran, thus becoming mortal once again whilst forcing Arran to godhood and therefore banishment from Engelain, (though the concept of Arran being a god is disputed by many, with the DemiGod of Chaos himself stating that the transference of power slew the man.)

With the forces that once supported Arran crumbling in on themselves due to the lack of a charismatic leader, the Tyrannian Empire at its weakest since its inception, the Free Kingdoms in a constant state of warfare with one another and that's not even counting the issues with all of the other myriad of races on Engelain; the land was ripe for a reborn Soahc. Though no longer a god, Soahc retains a level of magical mastery rivalled by few to none, the ability to change his shape at will, and even without his powers he possesses cunning of a sort that makes his plans unpredictable and therefore unstoppable. For four hundred years Soahc has flouted the fact that he is one of the greatest sorcerers alive, capable of petty evils such as swapping the salt and sugar to grand moments of villainy where the livelihood of entire countries are held in the balance- and seemingly whether he chooses one or the other is down to random, violent mood swings.

Most recently, Soahc was sighted in a village within the Kingdom of Selathon known as Copperdale, for unknown purposes. It was here that he kidnapped Cadmus Solar and Abraxus Richardson. Since then he has recruited many dark forces to his will; Cold Ethyl, Brodus, Sileo Umbra, Ryokin, Kira Vesteros, AchUbaid the Undying and Raspur Cain being but a few of the names amongst them. At the head of a small army of mercenaries, bandits and cutthroats, hagspawn, cultists and undead, they have begun a campaign of murder and terror throughout Engelain. Having recruited a team of such magnitude, and having not yet been distracted by some other petty evil, it is evident that Soahc has once again hitched up one of his more dangerous schemes, yet what that scheme is has yet to be determined.