Mordeus

Deep within the mountains of Conflagis, where flames and smoke broiled from bottomless fissures, Mordeus sat on a throne of stone and bone, staring with orange eyes. The devil monarch did not see its fiery empire, but rather a settlement where two men in a house argued with one another. A cruel smile flashed across Mordeus's face. Its eyes burned brighter.

One man pointed an axe at the other, shouting in anger. The second man shook his fist, yelling over the first. What they said was not important; what was important was their fury.

The eyes of the axe-wielding man flashed a fiery orange. As Mordeus bellowed a deep laugh, so too did the man. He swung the axe. Blood splattered his face and his clothes. The second man hit the floor with a wet thud.

The man with the axe shouldered open the door and stumbled out of the house and into the street, where a crowd had gathered. They stared at him with wide eyes. Blood dripped from the blade of his axe. Laughter contorted his body. Smoke and fire erupted and swirled around him. His flesh charred and cracked.

He lunged toward the crowd and swung his axe. Swung again. And again. Bodies fell. Still, he continued to laugh. The crowd screamed and scattered.

Guards rushed down the streets and let fly their arrows. Many found their mark, yet the man trudged on. His laugh became a scream. His flesh boiled and ran, and he dropped to his knees.

The town's healer rushed from the temple. She spread her arms and cried out in prayer, begging the gods to heal the man and free him from possession.

The man stopped screaming. He grinned up at the healer and spoke in a voice that was not his own. “Foolish mortal. All of you! Let this be a lesson. Anger and rage corrupt, and I am the ultimate corrupter.”

The smoke and fire consumed the man until only a whirling inferno remained. From it rose Mordeus, the devil monarch, towering above the settlement.

The priest turned to run, but the flames engulfed her.

“Let rage consume all!” Mordeus cried, and all around him, the townsfolk turned on one another, fighting with swords and daggers, sticks and stones, fists and teeth.

In a flurry of smoke and ash, the devil monarch vanished, returning to its seat of power in the Conflagis, grinning as he watched them destroy themselves. Mordeus is a devil monarch that dwells in the lower planes, where it rules Conflagis and its inhabitants of demons and other fiends. Scholars believe Mordeus feeds on anger and can influence anyone or anyplace where anger is intense. Those who draw his attention become mad with rage. Buildings tremble and fall to ruin. Fire erupts from the land.

Once Mordeus has consumed enough anger, the devil monarch can give it physical form—or even appear himself—wreaking havoc and killing anyone nearby.