Lord Soth

Lord Soth is a historical figure in Erde. He is the principal figurehead of The Cult of Soth, an organisation dedicated to summoning the demon prince Orcus the Defiler. Sightings of Lord Soth has been missing for over 500 years, disappearing due to unknown reasons. At the height of his power, Lord Soth was said to have controlled the unconquerable Carneath Hold and the lands of Carnea within the Nesfeneu Heights. Ever since his disappearance, many have claimed that many unholy aberrations still haunt the small mountaintop land of Carnea.

## The Myth of Lord Soth

Lord Soth is a cultural reference within the human territories of Erde, and there is no hard evidence that he ever existed. Some claim that the poem 'Haustian Os Eldurinn' by the Elvish bard Cailuses is a direct inspiration for the later myth of Lord Soth.

## Early Years

Not much is known about the childhood of Lord Soth, except that he became an incredibly powerful human paladin during The Age of the First Star. Inheriting Carneath Hold from his father, Lord Soth grew restless of commanding such a poverty stricken land, and made an oath to each of the serfs and peasants that they would all one day become rich and powerful themselves, and that he would not stop trying until they are as powerful as any Elven state. This promise was enough to raise a small raiding party, which Lord Soth used to kidnap and ransom merchants from the Elven Lands. Eventually, Lord Soth kidnapped an Elf merchant that had been travelling with his daughter and immediately fell in love, proclaiming his love for her and that he would keep her within Carneath Hold. The Elf merchant said that he would rather throw her off the high walls of Carneath Hold than ever let him touch his daughter. Not believing the merchant, Lord Soth stepped forward to take the daughter from the Elf by force, sword in hand. The Elf grabbed his daughter and they both jumped from the walls and fell into the ravine below, dying instantly.

## The Oathbreaker

Lord Soth became enraged, and demanded his guards capture every woman and child from Carnea and throw them off the walls, so that every man in the land could feel his pain. This created a mutiny from his inner circle, with only his most trusted advisor Dante the Brutal agreeing to take part in the murder. A fight broke out within the meetingplace, and at the end of the fight Lord Soth lay mortally wounded and dying, surrounded by the mutilated bodies of his once most trusted friends and advisors. As he slipped into unconsciousness, he became even more angry and determined to exact revenge, but this time on every woman in Erde.

## The Blackmother

When Lord Soth arrived at The Black Gate, he came face to face with The Blackmother, the Warden of Hel.

She told him that as an Oathbreaker, his soul was forfeit from any reward for the rest of time and that he would spend the rest of eternity holding back the endless waves of Devils and Demons within The Black Hold. As The Black Gate was the only way in and out of Hel, Lord Soth tentatively agreed, vowing to find a way out.

In the millennia that Lord Soth fought for The Blackmother, he came to learn of an incredibly powerful demon named Orcus the Defiler. Lord Soth came to respect the Demon's intellect and strategic thinking after a series of close calls and soon learnt to think like the Demon, discovering ways to break the will of attack after attack. It is said that Orcus himself came to meet with Lord Soth, now a high ranking general of The Black Hold to negotiate a peace, talking at length about their mutual respect for each other. Flattered by the Demon's respect, Lord Soth proposed an alliance. If Orcus could find a way for Lord Soth to break out of Hel, Lord Soth would do anything in his power to summon Orcus in Ortheid. A deal was struck, and the Demon Prince told Lord Soth of a way to break out through The Black Gate, but it would be risky. There was a chance that The Blackmother could discover his plan at any time, and dissolve his essence and feed it to the void.

On the day of the escape, Orcus initiated the largest attack on The Black Hold that had ever been witnessed to provide a distraction. It is said that The Blackmother herself was too caught up in the fighting that she did not discover where Lord Soth had gone until too late.

As Lord Soth entered the portal, The Blackmother confronted him and claimed that even though he will return to Ortheid, his soul will never be able to complete the journey in one piece. Lord Soth did not care, for he would soon return and be able to exact his revenge.