Court of Nine

The Court of Nine is the theological structure ascribed to the rulers of the Nine Hells, the Abyssal Wastes, and the Umbral Fleet. The Court of Nine holds the Archdevils of the Nine Hells at the head of the court, situated as the regents, the demon lords of the Abyssal Wastes as their enforcers, and the Umbral Fleet as a facsimile knightly order in addition. The Court of Nine was established in mortal theology following the eighth Regnal Council which revealed the victory of the Nine Hells in their Abyssal Wars with the Eternal Wastes.

## History

The Nine Archdevils of Hell have ruled since the formation of Vennar, brought forth by the fetal nightmares of a god. The Three Elder Gods, Anger, Sorrow, and Fear gave way to the other Archdevils, whose internal struggles produced the demons as the remnants of their blood, sweat, and pus stained the surface of their creator. These original demons were little more than raging cancers and disease, virulent horrors devouring their own kind as they scarred the surface of the world into the Eternal Wastes. With time the demons would coagulate into more considerable and corporeal forms, taking on the mantle of Demon Lords and leading their growing armies against their rivals.

It is not entirely certain from where the Umbral Fleet originated, yet these infernal mercenaries and merchants have plied their trade between the Demon Lords and the Archdevils since the earliest records of the Abyssal Wars, some say since the Elder Gods themselves fought within the waking world. The Umbral Fleet consists of countless armadas of void ships, each with their own specialties in goods and violence, each with their own preference of payment. These armadas drift between the floating forms of the Nine Hells and the Eternal Wastes, ever seeking further profit and, perhaps, something worthy to spend it upon.

Notably, the Hells are contained in their current sphere between the Eternal Wastes of Vennar and the Nebula of Heaven, prevented from breaking through the surface of the world by ancient seals and from expanding further into the void by the awesome might of Heaven's armies. Within these confines the infernal forces squabble and devour one another, yet slowly they grow more coordinated. More disciplined. The armies of hell may yet one day become a match for the armies of heaven, and such a day will surely spell a doom for the worlds beyond the void.

### Abyssal Wars

The Abyssal Wars waged for countless eons, stretching back beyond even the Primordials' memories. Devils and demons raged against one another in an endless struggle for supremacy, slaughtering and devouring each others forces, gaining and losing ground by countless measures. The Devils sat within the Nine Hells, nine densely populated satellites orbiting the encased Vennar, while the Demons roiled across the exterior surface of the world dubbed the Eternal Wastes. As the Abyssal Wars raged on, the Umbral Fleet treated with both sides of the conflict, wallowing in the profits of constant war with only the barest casualties of their mercenary forces.

In time, the Archdevil of Pride and the Archdevil of Lies collaborated on a contract with the Umbral Fleet, sealing the end of the Abyssal Wars with a single signature, the Umbral Fleet locked into servitude with the Archdevil of Pride until the last Demon invader within the Nine Hells was slain. Yet the language of the contract was such that the capture and servitude of the demons within the Nine Hells, the demonic souls that fueled their weapons and industry, and the few traitorous demons that served the Archdevils directly, were enough to ensure the Umbral Fleet's continued service even beyond the demonic border's regression to the Eternal Wastes. With the aid of the Umbral Fleet the Demon Lords of the Abyss were brought to heel, the Umbral Fleet's own servitude was assured, and the Archdevils and their Court of Nine ruled uncontested all realms between the Mortal Plane and the Nebula of Heaven.

## Archdevils

The Nine Archdevils rule over the Court of Nine, with the Archdevil of Pride at their head. Beginning as the Elder Gods within primordial Vennar, the Archdevils Anger, Sorrow, and Fear gave way to their rivals in Hate, Strife, Lies, Envy, Pride, and Contempt. Over the millenia these Elder Gods and Archdevils were replaced, though Pride is believed to be the original formed from the Elder God Fear.

### Reinev

* Archdevil of Anger
* Boiling blood, a clench fist downturned wreathed in the eternal flame

As the Archdevil of Anger Reinev embodies both sides of that spectrum - A hot tempered, raging inferno of destruction, and a cold and calculating anger that rivals natural disasters in its consequences. Reinev is a powerful member of the Court of Nine, though he serves Pride with a loyalty unexpected of a rival, often seeking recompense for insults against Pride personally. His worship encourages anger as a tool, both as a quick release leading to self gratification, and as fuel to better oneself in the face of adversity. His cults on the mortal plane are often immersed in the more destructive aspects of his faith, but their higher members are often well placed in positions of power, utilizing the eternal font of anger within them to seek improvement in every facet of their lives.

Reinev is one of the Elders of the Court, alongside Sorrow and Fear. Though he was not the original Elder God, taking on the portfolio of his predecessor granted him substantial power within the Nine Hells. He has used this power and the fuel of his anger to continuously increase his capabilities and his position, including allying with the Archdevil Nadrus, taking his place as his second within the duel against the former Archdevil of Lies and winning easily. During Nadrus' invasion of the mortal plane, Reinev's agents were seen advising the infernal forces, though never taking an active role themselves. Reinev is represented by a deeply scarred and battle worn human man draped in a loose fitting toga bearing a great ornate war maul, the man's head reduced to a bleached white and polished skull sporting long black horns erupting from the back, framing a roiling blue and red flame.

### Nadrus

* God of Suffering and Hope, Archdevil of Lies
* A perforated and rotting skull crawling with parasites, sapphire eyes

God of Suffering and Hope, Archdevil of Lies, Nadrus has represented some of the worst aspects of the mortal psyche. The lies mortals tell to advance their station in life, to avoid responsibility for one's actions, to place the blame on another. All lead to suffering of one kind or another, often in those weaker than oneself. Nadrus has told his lies for centuries, clawing his way into the highest echelons of power within the infernal planes. In the material world, Nadrus' lies grew his cults until they festered within every major nation of the world, spreading his suffering and his corruption to the hearts of even the temples of the gods. Nadrus' true power however is not in the lies mortals tell each other, but in the lies they tell themselves. For a mortal will excuse any act, any atrocity, any ideology, if they can simply tell themselves one simple little lie: It was for the greater good.

Beginning as a devil within the lowest rungs of the Nine Hells, Nadrus clawed his way into power in rapid succession. Within decades he had gained his first rank over others, and within years ascended beyond that. Moving from a simple grub of sin to a devil of some repute was not an easy thing, but Nadrus achieved it within record time, granted a place of power within the court of the former Archdevil of Lies whose name itself is long forgotten. In an uncharacteristic move, Nadrus challenged his Archdevil Lord to a fair duel beneath the gaze of the Archdevil of Pride. The duel accepted, it was a shock to all in attendance when Nadrus was seconded by Reinev Archdevil of Anger, and Nadrus' former lord was lying in the dust, broken, crownless, and bleeding. Nadrus would utilize his place as the Archdevil of Lies to further his worship on the mortal plane, manipulating the flow of events within the material world to his own ends, and ultimately becoming blamed in part for the fall of the Teluna Empire, within which he had been cast as the God of Suffering.

Nadrus is represented by a young boy, emaciated and riddled with disease, missing his left arm, his left leg nothing but bone. His hair is pure white, his eyes a sapphire blue, his body draped in rags and surrounded by his own skeletal wings. Most statues of Nadrus have the Archdevil God on his knees, head downcast towards the beggar bowl before him, yet his star sapphire eyes seeming to follow the viewer wherever they may stand.

In his guise as the God of Suffering the Archdevil Nadrus led an invasion of the mortal plane like none other, wiping out nearly all free life on the landmass of Vireth and reducing mortal kind to the Nine Bastions. His forces enslaved billions of people from all walks of life, casting down their kings and devouring their children. The Three Capitals of Hell on Vireth, Elrit, Diyu, and Aita, were raised into industrial forges of massive power, the resources of an earthly empire flowing from them to the infernal legions still marching to shatter the remaining Bastions. As the invasion raged on into its 53rd year, the Bastions attempted a desperate gambit to destroy the city of Diyu from the inside, only for their elite force to be wiped out and the army used as a distraction surrounded and slowly cut down. At the end of the battle now known as the Miracle at the Spirit Fields, a bright light overtook the sun in the sky, a voice rung out a single word, and the Archdevil's summoned forces across the landmass were dismissed in their entirety, save the three capitals. From this moment on Nadrus, God of Suffering, Archdevil of Lies, Scourge of Vireth, was believed by some to have ascended to the God of Hope.

### Pride

* Regent of the Nine, Archdevil of Pride, God of Law

## Demon Lords

### Butcher of Worlds

* Lord of Slaughter
* Servant of Reinev
* A rusted cleaver dripping blood

Embodying the concept of wanton slaughter and destruction, the Butcher of Worlds is a corpulent, violent, cannibalistic, all-consuming beast of incredible strength. His will to devour and destroy derives itself from his master's font of rage, and thus it is an endless hunger for fuel, never to wither or die. Twelve times the Butcher of Worlds fell in the Infernal Invasion of Vireth, and twelve times he rose again, leading his legions in an endless tide of destruction. Cults dedicated to the Butcher of Worlds are violent and repulsive, slaughtering in random, savage acts and devouring the dead to grow their strength. This maddened orgy of violence eventually leads to the cult's discovery, but with time another raving lunatic will establish a new one, an endless cycle of rampage and death to the woe of countless innocents.

The Butcher of Worlds is a gargantuan creature, standing well over the height of a castle wall, a mass of flesh and sinew astride eight spider-like legs of sutured meat and stretched, stapled skin. This pile of corpse-meat bears three arms ending in clawed fists, wielding weapons of a size to rival siege engines. The face of the Butcher is a mess of fat, exposed bone, myriad eyes, and a gaping maw filled with rotating rows of razor-sharp teeth leading to the abyssal void of its yawning stomach. The stench of a mass grave wafts from the Butcher of Worlds, foretelling his arrival by hours, though not before the arrival of his vast armies.