Mavkoda
"No flame burns like that of vengeance."
Epithet: the Vengeful[edit]
Introduction[edit]
In earlier histories of the current era, The Convergence was known by another name, one that incurred the fear of the darkness that encroached upon the world. Well before Arlandria and Isegrad came to know the name Vul’Karik, the Void King and his demons were the foremost threat to the people of Rhyst. The Void Crisis was synonymous with the legions that sought to conquer all underneath the stars, and the tales written into myth were nothing less than stories of destruction and death. Despite the accounts varying from era to era, one name has been upheld beside the sovereign of the Void, a name that many mortals came to fear even more than that of some distant Eidolon. For Vul'karik may have been the distant threat of doom that they knew, but his general Mavkoda was the executioner, the Void's will made real and visible before the very eyes of forsaken mortals.
Background[edit]
During an age when the wounds that marred the planescape were still very fresh and bleeding, the Void and the Faewild came to clash upon the fields of Rhyst. The war between the Eidolons had escalated to a never ending fight between armies as Oberon and Vul'karik both amassed their respective host to do battle against one another. Paschia Fel had not yet betrayed the Void King, and Oberon's attention was split between Vul'karik's advance and the threat that the rival Fae Eidolons posed. A decisive clash around a mountain that has since sunk into the earth pushed the last of Oberon's army from the elemental plane, and the Void was soon to claim Rhyst for itself.
The general who had lead the charge was none other than Mavkoda, one of the first demons sculpted by Vul'karik. His art was war, and he had proven himself on the day that he seemingly won the world of the dragons. Soon to celebrate, Mavkoda marched his army back to their encampments where the witches who fought in the backlines awaited them. Unbeknownst to the demons, the Witch Queen had given her orders that upon the conclusion of the war over Rhyst, she would not delay in making her move. The witches were to bring down the victors while they were still weakened by their fighting, and they were directed to catch them in a moment of respite. As they rested, the covens were directed by the witch sorceress Sephone, and felfire was cast across the sleeping army. While lesser demons were consumed in the flames, Mavkoda was quick to act at the first sign of danger.
He roared for his brothers to rise and kill their betrayers, and with the intent to fight to the last, Mavkoda found himself the only remaining demon cast before the witches. Sephone recognized the utility of such a resilient beast, and so she captured the general rather than ending his life, and, wrapped in black paedion chains, Mavkoda was dragged to the Burning Lake where he was inspected by Paschia Fel herself. Deemed unworthy to be set free but still believed a candidate for taming, the Witch Queen set the demon general to imprisonment upon a bed of burning coals until his will might be broken. Paschia Fel declared that after a century she would decide what to do with him. For 99 years Mavkoda cooked upon the infernos that only witches could conjure. His body and soul were scarred and burned again and again by the Fel magic and fires that he was subject to.
Upon the eve of his judgment, none other than Mavkoda's captor came to visit him. Sephone, the one to drive the Witch Queen's dagger into the back of the Void King's army, taunted the general. She boasted of all she had been given as a reward for succeeding in her assigned task, and laughed as she guessed Mavkoda would be incinerated into nothingness come the gray dawn of the next day. But she and all the other witches and Phantoms of Paschia Fel had underestimated the demon and his ability to adapt. Within those 99 years, Mavkoda's body had mutated and evolved. Never fully submerged or set alight by felfire, he grew accustomed to the heat, and little by little did he make himself capable of withstanding not only the coals, but the green flames that fueled them.
The fires heeded Mavkoda's command, and with Sephone arrogantly standing so close to him, the demon turned his prison cell into a weapon. The witch was consumed in his burning wrath, and the paedion chains were undone through the superheating of the chamber. Mavkoda consumed the witch's heart, and from his eyes, mouth, and every open wound did felire burst and burn. His roar shook the Burning Lake, and the demon, wise enough to recognize his limits after the mistake he made a century before, escaped from his lake with his life.
He returned to Galgotha where it was said that his flesh melted to the floor and his bones paled under the torchlight, and despite every injury and weakness, Mavkoda stood before his King and then knelt once again. He was given the highest blessings Vul'karik could manage, and rewarded with nothing less than the title to once again lead the armies of the Void against their enemies. Those under his direction saw victory after victory within the dark plane, and Paschia Fel's witches were forced to retreat into the Burning Lake to survive.
With his scythe outstretched across the flaming expanse, Mavkoda looked across the lake and into the eyes of the Eidolon herself. Paschia Fel believed her bastion to be safe from enemies, given none but the witches could direct the fiery currents apart. But with a vow to execute his father's traitorous sister, Mavkoda took a step upon the lake of felfire...
and then he took another.
To the horror of all who looked on, the demon had proven himself capable of standing within the flames. Though he could not lead his army across to the other side, Mavkoda's sneer was accompanied by a wave of his hand, an order that directed a dozen of his lieutenants to swallow the 12 witch hearts won in their battles thus far. One by one, these demons fell to the ground only to rise again as Felfire monstrosities capable of withstanding oblivion itself alongside their commander.
"ONE DAY, WITCH, MY LEGION WILL MARCH ACROSS THIS LAKE OF FIRE, AND YOUR THRONE SHALL BECOME YOUR PYRE!"
It is said that Mavkoda's declaration still echoes through the halls of the Witch Queen's castle, whispered by her covens in their quiet moments of fear. The day has not yet come, for the creation of Felfire demons requires the heart of a witch, and despite the centuries that have passed since Mavkoda's stand, not nearly enough have been transformed to lead what would be a successful attack.
Instead, the general's attention has been turned to Rhyst for all that time where he has lead campaign after campaign against the spirits and lesser beings who call it home. He has sought to claim points of interest such as the Isle of Sarea where he and his legions battled against the kingdom of Arcadia, and he has traversed the far corners of the world in search of the dragons themselves. Though his efforts are always directed by his liege-lord, many believe Mavkoda searches Rhyst for fledgling witches in order to acquire more hearts, always longing for the day of reckoning he would see into reality.
Trivia[edit]
Mavkoda bears the scars of his imprisonment in both countless burns across his body as well as the shaped markings where the paedion chains disintegrated off of him
He is the first Felfire Demon, the only creature known to be capable of withstanding the effects of of the selfsame element of destruction
He is known as the Aspect of Vengeance for it's through the carnage his armies sew that Vul'karik's will in conquering the planes is completed
He counts many number of High Faerlan and Phantom Witches as his rivals, but he sees Paschia Fel as his most hated foe