Dawning

Mephisto sitting upon his throne, clutching his devil crown.

Grey Wastes of Hades

**Mephisto**, also known as ***Dawning***, is the ruling Devil Prince of the **Nessus** and **Lord of the Nine Hells**. As an NPC, he is played by Breadgar.

## **Description**

### **Appearance**

This person is a well groomed man wearing a white collar shirt with dark black noble pants and a black formal jacket. He is blonde of hair, the hair being slick and combed primarily to the left side.

### **Personality**

He is arrogant in a cheerful sort of way. He is mischievous, delighting in the reactions he gets from his eccentric behaviour. He is sarcastic and mysterious, showcasing different types of powers beyond anything a mortal could possess.

## **Biography**

### **Background**

Initially, Dawning was perceived as a mysterious traveller who travelled wherever he pleased. His true nature is far more sinister. Dawning was revealed to not only be a devil but the ruling Overlord of the Nine Hells itself. His true name was Mephisto, Ruler of Devil kind and one of the most powerful beings in the Lower Planes.

### **The War for Tomorrow - Circa ?? BDM**

Mephisto was originally a God of Laws known as Luri. He participated in the War for Tomorrow and managed to survive that terrible war which claimed the lives of dozens of his God kin. He and the Gods managed to successfully seal away the Elemental Colossi. For a time there was peace on Terra and Luri presided as a Judge for the afterlife. However things would change forever when the Heavens themselves erupted into civil war.

### **Godly Civil War - Circa ?? BDM**

The cause for this civil war has been lost to time but Luri was on the losing side. The losers would forever be branded as the Banished (fallen gods who lost their titles as Greater Deities). Luri was stripped of his title as a God of Laws and was cast down into the Lower Planes, forever banished from the light of the Heavens. Many of his fellow banished fell into the Nine Hells. Luri himself fell into the Ninth Hell, the deepest and most dangerous of the Nine Hells. It was here that he was corrupted by the evil energies of the Lower Planes. He was transformed from a Godly being to a Devil, the first of its kind. Hundreds of his kin fell as well but nearly all of them were consumed by the evil energy, too weak to survive the transformation. Of these hundreds, only a few dozen survived and became devils. Transformed permanently as a devil, Luri discarded his former name and was reborn as Mephisto. In the dark crevices of the Ninth Hell, Mephisto was surrounded by dark and foul creatures made from the very same energies that had transformed him. They were primitive and resided mostly in tribes, fighting each other for sport or for blood. With his arrival, an opportunity for unity had emerged. Whilst Mephisto had lost a majority of his power from his fall, he was still incredibly powerful and any who resisted him were soundly defeated. All would fall to his might. With his victory against the savages of the Ninth Hell, Mephisto had, through restrained brutality and cunning, forged himself a new kingdom, one of strength and darkness. The weaker gods who survived the Fall and their subsequent corruption found themselves swearing loyalty to Mephisto.

### **Consolidating his Kingdom - Circa ?? BDM**

Following his fall from grace and transformation, Mephisto had gained a new kingdom to rule but had lost much of his power. His new power was a shadow of his former glory, which had been drained greatly in his defeat in the Civil War and descent into the Lower Planes. His new Kingdom was small but had potential. He had eventually found out that there were eight other Hells aside from his own and that each Hell had been claimed by a Devil Lord. To grow his strength, he allied with his fellow devil lords of the **Eight** and **Seventh Realms of Hells**. The Eighth Hell Prince was called **Callidus** whilst the Seventh Hell Plane Prince was called **Odium**. Together, the three planes would consolidate their power together. Sensing the growing strength of the Devilish Alliance, the other hells declared war on the Alliance. In an unnamed war lost to time, the Devil Alliance would defeat and kill the other Archdevils and split the territories between themselves. In this war, the Sixth, Fifth and Fourth Realms of Hell would fall first with ease, with two devil princes captured by Mephisto. In their capture, Mephisto had discovered something that would change the course of the war and the very hierarchy of the hells: godly essence.

Whilst him and his devilish kin had lost much of their power, Mephisto found that each of them still had godly energies. It was small but still there. Some retained more power than others and Mephisto was never a particularly powerful god to begin with. He was strong but many of his kin had power far beyond even him. The most powerful of all the devils was Mortiferum (Lord of the First Realm of Hell), whose dark might was so great, the Devilish trio dared not engage him, for his strength was mightier than Mephisto and his allies put together. Mephisto had theorised that Mortiferum must have been a truly mighty god, a lower deity or perhaps even a greater deity. Mephisto needed to grow in power if he wanted to survive. In the midst of the war, he discovered that if a Devil Prince was to consume this godly essence, they could regain a portion of their lost strength. Mephisto discovered this in the War of Hell where he was able to capture two rival devil princes. He experimented on his kin and was able to discover the godly essence within them. He consumed it and found that his power grew tremendously. He consumed both essences of the two captured princes and his power grew so much that he personally led the charge in the battle of the third realm of Hell where he single-handedly defeated the 3rd and 2nd devil princes by himself. His victory terrified the armies of the enemy princes and caused the rout of the entire enemy host.

With the defeat of the Third and Second Realm of Hell, all that was left was the First Realm of Hell, **Tartarus**. Tartarus was the largest of all hells and its master was Moriferum, whose might was unquestionable. In the Tartarus campaign, despite being outnumbered by the Devilish Alliance, Tartarus's defence was so fierce, the forces of the Alliance were pushed back. For years, the war would rage on but eventually the alliance, through massive causalities and determination, pushed the Tartarus forces to their last stronghold, Gorgias. In the battle of Gorgias, Mortiferum would rampage across the battle, his massive axe tearing through the ranks of imps and Pit fiends alike. He would personally kill Callidus and nearly killed Odium, were it not for the intervention of Mephisto, who saved Odium and engaged Mortiferum in battle. Despite his new power, Mephisto's strength was not enough to match Mortiferum and he was defeated. Before Mortiferum could kill him however, Odium, whose wounds were fatal, gifted Mephisto with his godly power before passing. Mephisto, re-energised, continued the fight against Mortiferum and found that his power was enough to finally defeat him. In a titanic duel on the blazed craters outside Gorgias, Mephisto defeated Mortiferum and absorbed his essence in front of Mortiferum's horrified soldiers. Mephisto's power skyrocketed to unbelievable heights. From that day forward, Mephisto has had uncontested control over the Nine Hells and has titled himself as *Mephisto*, Archduke of *Nessus* and Lord of the Nine Hells.

### **Ruling the Nine Hells - Circa ?? BDM**

Following his victory in the Devil War, Mephisto's power had risen to unbelievable heights. His power had reached and far surpassed his strength as a lower deity. His strength had grown so much that he was able to empower his most loyal lieutenants with a fraction of his power, giving them the strength of a devil prince and naming them as the Devil Princes of the other eight of the Nine Hells, while keeping Nessus for himself. He was careful not to give them too much power, taking care to keep their ambitions in check should they decide to usurp him.

Since his victory, Mephisto has ruled uncontested in the Nine Hells. Despite their own ambitions, none of the other devil princes bothered to attempt a coup as Mephisto could just as easily take away their power as he had given it to them. With his conquest finished, Mephisto turned his eye to governance.

## **Chapter 1 - The Founding**

### **Session #2 - Rescue Operation GO!**

Dawning appears out of thin air, startling the entire group. While the group are stumped by the illusion covering the Etoi Base, Dawning manages to single-handedly break the illusion, allowing the group to get inside and rescue the missing civilians.

When the group finds themselves stuck inside the base, it was Dawning to managed to break the wall down to free them. He would disappear afterwards, baffling the group and drawing both their ire and suspicion.

## **Chapter 2 - Caelum**

### **Session #6 - The Veil Falls**

Dawning reappears out of thin air again after the group managed to defeat the Caelum Angels sent to kill them. After failing to calm down the group, he resorts to teleporting them away to a secure location. This location is a steel room with no doors, a mirror and a table with chairs for the group. A distorted voice speaks to the group but they refused to comply. Forced to come out himself, Dawning reappears and speaks the group personally. He then goes to explain why the group are so significant and who exactly is behind the recent attacks. Reluctantly, he reveals himself to not only be a devil but the Devil Lord of the Ninth Hell. He explains that there is a secret war between the Gods and Devils against a single group called the Etoi. Explaining the dire situation at hand, he proposes an alliance with the Rowdypuffs who reluctantly agree. Dawning then takes the appearance of Talucia and joins the group. The group travel to Caelum and hope to find the traitor amongst the Caelish.