¶ Zeth The Gilded
| Ancestry | Devil (Imp) |
|---|---|
| Titles | Oris Vor'Kaa Lord of Avernus |
| Age | ~1,200, exact age unknown (Campaign 2) |
| Allies | The Legati Maledictus Balator (former) Violence (former) |
| Enemies | Bellanan Crowley Anisha Ahndir Irene Zauner Saira of Shallowsedge |
| Status | Deceased |
¶ Appearance
Zeth was an imp, a small red devil with bat-like wings, a barbed scorpion tail, and three horns protruding from his head. His sunken eyes were a bright yellow, and his teeth were ground sharp.
Zeth sported opulent clothing and ornamentation, wearing nicely fitted purple robes with gold trim. Gold chains dangled between his three horns, he wore a gold earring, and he wore several golden rings on each hand.
Upon claiming the power of the Lord of the First, Zeth underwent a painful transformation. He grew slightly larger and sprouted a second pair of wings, slightly higher up his shoulderblades than the first.
¶ Personality
The truth of Zeth's character may never be fully understood, as he adopted many personas over his long life.
In the role of Balator's most loyal retainer, Zeth projected abject deference to his lord, even going so far as to gift the Archduke with a talisman inscribed with his own name, in essence relinquishing his own free will.
As the impish familiar Oris, he played a timid and nonconfrontational minion, choosing often to stay invisible and out of sight. He obeyed his master, Violence, though he occasionally let slide a sly remark or insult at his expense, and would at times undermine his master's goals while keeping to the letter of his commands.
As the Lord of the First, Zeth was arrogant and ambitious. Above all else, he made clear he was unwilling to live in subservience any longer. He wasted no time in establishing his superiority, initiating a renewed invasion of the material plane.
What is certain about Zeth is that he was a shrewd schemer. His machinations spanned the course of over a millenium, and he laid several gambits in place to assure his success, even as he willingly gave away control of his own free will.
¶ Abilities
As a devil, Zeth was a pseudo-immortal and unaging creature. By his fiendish nature, he was immune to flame, and could not be truly killed unless he was slain in his native realm, the Nine Hells. Zeth was able to turn invisible at will, which he used at almost all times. Like most devils, he was capable of seeing perfectly well through both magical and nonmagical darkness.
Though not a formal notary, Zeth was able to create and enforce limited infernal contracts. The only contract he is known to have engaged in was with Violence, in which he agreed to serve as a familiar. The further details of that contract have been kept secret.
By all accounts, Zeth was not a combatant. He was, however, exceptionally deceitful, and very often underplayed his own potential and ambitions. Despite being a devil, he was talented at earning the trust of others, or at the very least, finding ways to dodge their suspicions or redirect their mistrust.
Upon claiming the power of an Archduke of Hell, Zeth's power grew considerably. He now bore an innate resistance to magical effects, a more resilient hide, and a much greater constitution. He gained the ability to enforce his authority upon others, either dazing them or harming them if they resisted. He could supernaturally charm his foes, redirecting their attacks at a target of his choice. He could conjure shards of crystallized blood that would explode, and could manifest the brightest flames of Hell itself to blind and burn away his foes.
¶ Known History
¶ The Culling of Itnava
Prior to the Fell Knight's invasion of the Itnavan valley, Zeth The Gilded was known as his right hand, his most loyal retainer. So loyal was the imp that he gifted the Lord of the First with a devil talisman, inscribed with his own true name - an instrument which could be used to beckon forth and command him with absolute authority.
As the invasion proceeded, the hellish army annihilated the Itnavan society and began to threaten the world beyond. Fort Kordr was established at a key strategic point in the mountain pass. Many devils could fly, but not all of them. At the scale of a full army, they were still grounded. In order to break out of the valley and threaten the lands to the north, they needed to get through either this pass, or the Sallowdeep Swamps. Fort Kordr served as a chokepoint to keep the devils in check.
Naturally, the devils tried lots of ways to break through. They mounted assaults, they brought in war machines. The closest the fort came to falling was when the devils bored a tunnel through the mountains from the valley. The Lord of the First led the charge into the fort through there, ready to catch its inhabitants by surprise and put an end to their vanguard. However, somehow, the Alliance was prepared for the attack, and it was this confrontation that ultimately ended in the archdevil’s downfall, and his containment deep in the heart of the old fort. At this time, Zeth himself was absent, and his subsequent whereabouts were unknown.
¶ The Artifacts of the Fell Knight
After Balator's defeat and imprisonment, his infernal artifacts were removed but could not be destroyed, tied to his very essence as they were. Over the centuries of his imprisonment, his power dwindled, as did theirs. Their significance was mostly forgotten, and they individually passed through many hands.
The Devouring Skull was swiftly locked away in an adamantine vault, hidden deep underground, and lost to time. Sometime around 600 ACI, The Mantle of Command ended up in the hands of Kindineth Ashveil, the founder and leader of the Pendulum. The Blackiron Greaves came to lie in the treasure hoard of the Green Dragon Zenoa. Ruin, the Hellblade stayed under the purview of the office of the High Inquisitor, ultimately resting in the care of Darius Vesper. Balator's War Chest, least malevolent of the items, found its way into the hands of the head of the Zauner family, Duc Zauner.
The Talisman of Vor'kaa, the only one truly independent of Balator's essence, ended in the hands of an unassuming family, passed down as a family heirloom, until it landed in the hands of the Tiefling known as Prosperity. At some point, Zeth, going by the name Oris, made the acquaintance of the Tiefling, who agreed to a contract which bound the imp as his familiar, and adopted the name Violence.
¶ The Children of the Fell Knight
Around 1183 ACI, the witch Mariz uncovered the Devouring Skull and began feeding it souls. At the same time, Violence began hunting in earnest for the artifacts of the Fell Knight. He attracted the attention of Kindi Ashveil, who sent her daughter Mharú to investigate. It was then that the two, met as the first daughter and son of the Fell Knight.
In 1186, With the artifacts awakening from dormancy, their owners were beckoned to a clandestine meeting in the extradimensional sanctum of Ovina Trueguard, curator of the MARA. The 6 Children of the Fell Knight's identities were kept hidden from one-another, but their meeting turned sour. Their individual designs on the artifacts led them into conflict, and any potential alliance fell to pieces.
The Talisman of Vor'Kaa remained with Violence and in Zeth's sight until their lair beneath the Crucible was invaded by Mariz, who had managed to identify him. The talisman was stolen, and Violence began creating helltouched creatures to retrieve it.
¶ Meeting the Platinum Fighters
At this time, the Platinum Fighters came into conflict with Mariz, slaying her at Pegasus farms and claiming both the Devouring Skull and the Talisman of Vor'kaa. Violence's creatures tracked and attacked them, leading them to enter into the Crucible's monster fights and investigate its secrets. After an impressive showing, they met Violence for the first time, who extended an invitation for the upcoming gladiatorial tournament.
A few days later, the Platinum fighters returned, fought their first match, and then staged a distraction to steal away beneath the arena. There, an invisible Zeth introduced himself as Oris and conveyed a message from his master - that they could still turn back and there would be no hard feelings. They inquired as to his master, and he informed them that he was forbidden from disclosing his master's identity, adding "that crafty tiefling."
As the party snooped around, Zeth's voice rang out, alerting his master to their presence and blowing their stealthy approach. Though tense, the parties engaged in a conversation, in which Violence lied to the party that he was the third son of the Fell Knight. He told them that the 6 were shown a dream or vision compelling them to compete and kill one another, and that he feared for his life.
The being inside Crowley convinced him to stop listening and fight, and brief fight broke out, in which the majority of Violence's creatures were killed. However, Crowley was talked down before Violence himslef could be harmed or Zeth had to reveal himself. As they made to resume discussion, an arrow pierced Violence's neck, loosed by the marksman Kidd, who had followed the Platinum Fighters down.
They tried to negotiate Kidd down, but when it became clear that wouldn't work, they sprung into action to protect the tiefling from a fatal blow and subdue the assailant. At this time, Zeth revealed himself for the first time, his participation in the melee breaking his invisibility for brief instants. In a show of good faith and trust, the Fighters released a burning horse from its cage and the tiefling escaped, vanishing atop the creature alongside his familiar, just before the First Daughter arrived.
The pair arrived at Violence's estate, where the Tiefling was healed. He invited the party to join him so he could fill them in. However, they were once again interrupted, and the home was burned down. Violence and Zeth escaped once more, to an unknown hideaway.
¶ Tailing the Platinum Fighters
Over the course of the next few months, Violence would occassionally meet with the party in disguise, accompanied by Zeth at all times. When Saira and Crowley were abducted by Mharú's henchmen, Zeth delivered a letter to Anisha, written in infernal, informing her of their whereabouts.
This gave rise to speculation that the imp had been spying on them, a presumption that was strengthened when they met Ovina Trueguard and Thecarius, who let slip that one of her other clients had been keeping tabs on them through a fellow fiend.
Their next meeting came after the Platinum Fighters had slain Zenoa Windyback, confronted Darius Vesper, and uncovered some of Violence's falsehoods. Placed in a Zone of Truth, Zeth stayed silent while Violence answered the party's questions about his history and intentions, revealing at last some measure of his own past. Violence retorted, asking them why they desired the artifacts.
With both parties satisfied, he revealed what he called them for - a way to potentially erase the influence of the Fell Knight’s artifacts for good. He revealed that the artifacts are intrinsically tied to the Lord of the First, and to destroy them would require destroying him. Thanks to Anisha’s interference in the bout between Darius and the late Kindi, they now knew that the Fell Knight was captured, held someplace within the Grand Citadel of Kordr.
This presented a number of complications - how to get to the devil, and how to deal with him once they had. For the latter, Violence offered a solution. In order to destroy a devil for good, it must be slain within the Hells. The tiefling offered to accompany them and open the path to the hells, so that they could truly kill him. The Platinum Fighters left to seek Darius, who now held the Devouring Skull and the Hellblade, while Violence and Zeth made preparations.
¶ Confronting the Fell Knight
Violence and Zeth, disguised and invisible respectively, met with the Platinum Fighters and High Inquisitor Vesper in the Victory Garden on the morning before the summer solstice. He requested the talisman of Vor'Kaa be returned to him, as it was his family heirloom and stolen from him, but the party rejected his request.
The group stole away through the underground tunnels that the Fell Knight once used to invade Fort Kordr. Once they arrived inside the abandoned interior of the old fort, they made their final preparations to face the imprisoned Lord of the First. With the magical energy released by the destruction of the Blackwell's Siphon of Ilvert, the thinning of the veil between planes, and the Summer Solstice so near, Violence explained that his infernal blood and connection to the Hells could enable him to enact a ritual of Planar Transposition, causing their surroundings to simultaneously exist in the material plane and the Nine Hells. In this state, the devil could be killed.
At this time, Anisha beseeched the Redeemer for a true answer to an important question - Did Violence mean to betray them? The answer was a definitive no. Satisfied with his cooperation and deeds, the party finally entrusted him with the return of his talisman.
As the group entered into the chamber that held Balator, the planar transposition ritual began. Balator's ethereal bindings shattered as he returned to his home plane, and his final battle began. He called on the Legati Maledictus and summoned a small squad of devilish warriors, and lamented that not even Zeth heeded his call, not knowing that the imp lay in wait inisibly on Violence's shoulder.
The battle was hard fought, but the Lord of the First had yet to recover his full strength, needing to consume but a few more souls. His most desperate attack nearly killed several party members, kept standing only by the grace of their death wards, and very nearly disrupted the planar transposition ritual.
As both Balator and Violence stumbled, the tiefling’s impish familiar emerged into visibility. He voiced concern for his master, before flying away from Violence, stopping before Balator, and genuflecting before the Lord of The First, who greeted him not as Oris, but as Zeth the Gilded. The Fell Knight declared that he need see the party slain, but need not be the one to slay them. He granted Zeth the power of the Archduke, prompting a gruesome transformation, and commanded his most loyal retainer to slay the mortals for him. Instead, Zeth’s scorpion-like tail pierced the Fell Knight’s chest, and the former lord of the first cursed this betrayal as he fell to the ground, slain himself.
¶ Zeth, Lord of Avernus
Now possessed of the authority of a Lord of Hell, Zeth reintroduced himself to the onlookers, and revealed that he had stolen the talisman from Violence while he concentrated on maintaining the ritual. with Balator slain, the artifacts of the Fell Knight which the party had been relying on withered away to uselessness, and in the aftermath of this betrayal, Zeth nearly annihilated the whole party, and successfully slew the High Inquisitor. He then abducted Violence and vanished, ending the transposition and returning the party to the mortal realm.
Their respite did not last long, as Zeth had imprisoned and subjugated Violence, using him and his planar transposition to mount an invasion of Kordr in a flying castle. As Violence had explained, if this ritual persisted through to the solstice itself, the effect could be made permanent, which would most certainly spell doom for this region or the world at large.
Left without time to rest, the Platinum Fighters gathered their allies and what resources they had, rested briefly to recover what strength they could and attune to new magical items, and confront Zeth. Fending off Zeth's armies of Devils, they arrived to the floating island aboard the Invincible, piloted by Head Minister of Internal Affairs Leucian Reas. They climbed to its peak to find Zeth lording over the unconscious body of Violence, warded by layers of magical protection.
Now better prepared for the fight, the Platinum Fighters took a commanding control of the battlefield, freeing Violence from his imprisonment. However, he elected to continue holding the planar transposition so that the party could kill Zeth for good.
The fight wore on, demanding every trick they had, but the party arose victorious. As they still existed in the Hells, Zeth was truly slain, having held the title of Lord of Avernus for but a scant few hours. As he died, the inscription of his name on the Talisman faded away, and planar transposition was ceased, officially repelling the second devilish incursion in Kordr's history.
¶ Quotes
"Master has forbidden Oris from revealing his name. That tricky Tiefling, master." - Asked who his master is.
"Excellent work! And now, you all bear the privilege of being the first to be addressed by Zeth, Lord of Avernus! - First words of Zeth, Lord of Avernus.
"Oris, Oris, Oris! Oris is dead, and Zeth takes orders from nobody!" - Answering Violence's bewilderment at his betrayal.