Amongst the demons of Hades, there are constant battles for supremacy, with each demon vying for power over their fellows. Sometimes these struggles result in coalitions of demons, where a number of demons rule together, or rule regions of Hades, but these are short lived affairs, collapsing after weeks or even days, plunging Hades back into anarchy. It is often rumoured that in ancient days there was a succession of Demon Kings, who ruled absolutely for centuries, but since the art of demonology was taught in Elysium by the god Nectanebus, demon overlords have been scarce.

One of these overlords was the demon worm Gralnak, who used the worship of Orcs in the mortal plane to increase his power in Hades. During his rule he crushed opposition, destroying many of his opponents for eternity, or banishing then to alien planes of existence where they could no longer exert influence. However, Gralnak did not stay Demon Overlord for long – After the battle of Valgrannar, and the worm demon’s ordination, Gralnak left Hades for the Mortal Plane, and left a power vacuum in his wake. Without any strong leadership the demons fell into a disorganised rabble, small groups or individuals fighting each other for the sake of it.

For many years, this was the case in Hades – The eradication of Gralnak’s opponents was so thorough that none of the demon lords could bring themselves to the fore. Eventually though, a shape shifting demon formed an alliance with two large horned demons. At first, this alliance was insignificant – Three demons against the entire hordes of Hades, but as they defeated group after group of similar sized alliances in battle, more and more demons flocked to their cause and their army grew vast. The two horned demons were twins, named Agragos and Agrinos, and their shape shifting friend, who generally took the form of a six-armed humanoid with a single horn during battle, was named Szagan. After many glorious battles, the trio ruled over about half of Hades, but by then their alliance was growing rotten. As with the coalitions of the past, the leaders begun to resent having to share their power with the others. The horned twins begun to plot against Szagan, and came up with a plan for one of their soldiers to attack the shape shifter from behind during a forth coming battle. They called for Nazaraz, a demon who had served them since shortly after the coalition was formed.

"Nazaraz, we have a job for you." Agragos started when the soldier came to the twins.

"Yes my lord – What is it you require?" The bulky demon hissed at the twin through a fanged mouth.

"Soon we go to battle, against the lesser demon Inapalus." Agrinos started.

"The battle will be bloody – Inapalus has built up a great army…" Agragos interjected.

"Yes indeed, a great army… But not as great as the Army of the Twinned Demons!" Agrinos exclaimed, eyes lighting up a dull scarlet.

"Army of the Twi…" Nazaraz paused, a puzzled look on his face. "But what of the changeling?"

"Ahh!" Hissed Agrinos.

"We do not expect our ‘ally’ to survive the coming battle Nazaraz." Said Agragos, a grim smile playing on his lips.

"Do you understand our meaning Nazaraz?" Agrinos stood from the double throne where he and his brother sat, and stepped to Nazaraz, putting his hand on the fanged demon’s shoulder.

"Perhaps you understand what we require now?" Agragos added, leaning forward in his seat.

"Yes my lord… I think I understand…" Said Nazaraz, his eyes shifting from dull yellow to pale scarlet. "Understand… Very well!"

Suddenly, the fanged demon’s hand came up to Agrinos’ belly, and a bony yellow spike shot through Nazaraz’s knuckles, into the soft flesh of the twin. Agrinos shrieked in pain and arched as the spike impaled him, trying to draw away from the fanged demon, whom before his very eyes was transforming. Agragos stood up, gawping at the scene before him in astonishment.

A single horn burst from Nazaraz’s scalp, and four twisting white tentacles erupted from his ribs, lashing blindly in the air as he brought his other fist around, now a bone club, studded with tiny white spines, smashing it into the side of Agrinos’ head.

"Szagan!" Agragos yelled, realisation spreading over his features.

"Oh yes!" Snarled the changeling, throwing the torn and ruined body of Agrinos to one side. "And I understand your intent perfectly!"

Agragos stepped back as one tentacle swiped at his face, its point a mass of seething snakes. "Szagan!" the twin shouted again, unable to think of anything else to say as he stumbled backwards, colliding with his throne and collapsing back into it, his face a mask of horror as the shape shifter advanced on him.

"I knew you were up to something Agragos… You and your pathetic twin!" A mouth formed at the tip of one of Szagan’s tentacles, twisted towards the shivering body of Agrinos and spat a ball of phlegm at the twin. "Now you will pay for your treachery!"

Szagan took another step forward, and raised two tentacles into the air above Agragos. The twin gripped the arms of his throne tightly, and small choking noises came from his throat as he watched the tips thin into long metallic blades. When they were fully formed, Szagan stood over Agragos for a second, grinning, before the butchery began.

Now freed from the twins, and with the army his alone, Szagan swept across the rest of Hades, raising himself to Demon Overlord in a matter of days. Now ruling over the demons completely, as his predecessor Gralnak had done, the changeling sought to follow in the worm demon’s path once more… And set his sights upon Elysium.

With the greatest of Hades’ magicians and sorcerers at his disposal, Szagan created a gateway to the mortal plane. Unfortunately for Szagan, the gate was short lived, collapsing after a few seconds, without allowing him or any of his army to escape. But the gate did not go unnoticed.

Since his ordination, Gralnak had watched over the progress of Hades with interest, and had seen Szagan’s mighty rise to power. He knew that the demon could be a useful tool – or an annoying irritation. With exception of the gods themselves, Szagan had made himself possibly the most powerful creature in all of Elysium’s planes of existence. The gateway was the final event which caused Gralnak to intervene. He decided that Szagan should be used to further his own cause, and returned to Hades to talk with the changeling, stepping from the shadows by Szagan’s throne, unannounced and unseen until the changeling was alone.

"Greetings Szagan." The worm god said from behind Szagan’s shoulder, causing the changeling to start to his feet, twisting his head around to face the god. Szagan snarled slightly, turning his body to Gralnak and taking a step backwards, not wanting to show deference to the worm god, but knowing that he risked destruction by not doing so.

"Don’t look so flustered." Gralnak chuckled, raising himself from the floor on spindly legs and stepping towards Szagan, placing a reassuring hand on the changelings shoulder. Images of Agrinos in a similar pose shot through Szagan’s mind, and for a second he thought of repeating his performance from that event… and then, sensibly, thought otherwise. "I come only to talk." Gralnak said, his eyes narrowing as if he had seen the small scene in Szagan’s head.

"What of?" Szagan hissed, flicking a forked tongue between the pair of fangs which sprouted from his gums, blood trickling down them to hang in swollen drops at their tips.

"I observed your recent attempt to reach Elysium…" Gralnak said, a thin smile on his lips. "And now I have a proposition for you."

"Oh?" The changeling retorted, knowing well that most propositions by demons resulted in one winner, and one loser. And he could tell which one Gralnak wanted to be. It was just a shame that Szagan wanted to be the same one.

"As you know, my powers allow me free access to the mortal plane… I can roam there as much as I like, kill the weak elves, hamakei, centaur, anything I want, whenever I want. Would you like the power to do this, as I have it?" Gralnak was grinning now.

Thoughts raced through Szagan’s head. Gralnak was offering to give him this power… And if it was Gralnak’s power, then it must surely be divine… And if Szagan had divine powers? Well, that would make him a god. It could only be a matter of time after that until all the powers of the universe were Szagan’s… He would rule entire, not just over the demon’s of Hades, but over all things. The changeling cocked his head and stared at Gralnak.

"Are you saying… You would give me this power?"

"Yes," Gralnak smiled, "I am saying that."

"But… Why? There must be a catch?"

The worm demon shrugged. "I would of course, expect a small favour for you in return for my gift."

"Oh? And what would this favour be?" Szagan replied, a coldness returning to his voice as he straightened up.

"All I want you to do is kill centaurs."

Kill centaurs? That didn’t sound too difficult in return for the powers of a god.

"That is all you want?"

"Well, yes, if you do it well enough. I want you and a small army of your selection to completely destroy the centaur race. Devastate their city, rape their women, slaughter their men folk. Quite good fun I would imagine. I would probably do it myself if the other gods left me alone long enough."

"Well…" Szagan hissed, retracting a tail which he had absent-mindedly grown during the conversation. "It seems that your ‘proposition’ is acceptable." He mewled as his fangs shortened and disappeared into his gums.

"Good! You will launch your attack this coming night of Elysium. When the time comes, you will be granted the powers you need."

With a smile fixed on his face, the worm demon stepped back into the shadows, and was gone.

That night, Szagan gathered together a small group of his most trusted soldiers, and waited for Gralnak’s promise to come true. Sure enough, after almost an hour of waiting, Szagan gained a sudden urge to stand up, and raise his arms in the air. As he did so, a shimmering portal opened before him, and he gazed through in awe at the black star studded sky over a line of low built houses.

"Now is the time…" Szagan hissed under his breath, and glancing around at his army to see that they were ready, he took a step forward…

…And landed in a small square in the centre of Lopath, just beneath a statue of a rearing centaur, a raised war spear in it’s fist. Seconds later, there was a thud behind him, and he twisted round to see the first of his soldiers picking themselves up from the floor as another demon slipped through the silvery gate hanging in the sky.

"Now is the time!" Szagan hissed again, louder this time and directed at the swelling crowd of demons pouring through the gate. With a blood curdling screech, Szagan pushed away from the ground and soared into the air, held up by a leathery membrane between his arms, staring about him as his neck elongated and spines erupted from his backbone. Then he saw the first target; A centaur living in a nearby building had heard the screech, and came trotting out into the night air. Szagan swooped down towards the centaur, who turned and fled as he saw the horror coming for him. Szagan’s jaws gaped as his head flattened and stretched out sideways, and then they clamped onto the centaurs left arm, ripping it away as the demon swooped back into the air, cawing his delight. First blood had been spilt, and now a blood fury raged in Szagan’s veins. Behind him, his army of demon’s whooped and yelled as they smashed through walls and doors alike, grabbing at the waking occupants, tearing men, women and children to pieces with various claws, tentacles, spiked clubs and other limbs. Blood flowed freely into the streets, and centaurs were killed in the hundreds. The city guards, caught by surprise by this attack from within, rushed towards the demons with their weapons drawn from watch points on the city walls, but were cut down mercilessly alongside the other centaurs.

After less than an hour of fighting, nearly all the centaurs were dead or dying, and ghoulish demons sat squat legged in the streets chewing on the blooded corpses. Szagan himself hovered over the city, gazing about with blazing red eyes in glee, blood dribbling from the head he held in his left hand by its hair.

"The battle went well I see." A voice said with amusement from behind Szagan, and the changeling whirled around in an instant, his huge bat like wings flapping furiously to keep him airborne. Before him was Gralnak, standing as if on the ground, not high in the air as he was. The worm god chuckled, his eyes set upon the severed head in Szagan’s fist.

"Yes, the battle went well." Szagan hissed. "Now I will return to Hades and bring back more of my army, and then I will be able to conquer all of Elysium!"

Gralnak tutted, and tilted his head to one side, looking at Szagan with a grin on his face. "I’m sorry Szagan, did I forget to mention you won’t be able to go back to Hades?"

"What?" Szagan exclaimed, jaw dropping. "But… You said you would give me your power!"

"Ahh, yes, and so I did. You now have full access to the mortal plane." Gralnak chuckled again.

"But… But…" Szagan stuttered.

"Yes, that’s a problem with being mortal you see, you need to hang around this dismal place, for ‘food’ and stuff. Interesting concept, ‘food’. I only ever ate for fun, and you mortals have to eat to live." Gralnak chuckled once more.

"Mortal? But… I am not mortal! I am the Demon Overlord! I am Immortal!" Szagan blurted.

"Afraid not my changeable friend. You ‘were’ Immortal would be a more true statement." Gralnak said with a grim smile. "In fact, let me prove it to you." And with that, Gralnak reached forwards and plunged his fist into the changeling’s stomach, bringing out a handful of entrails when he pulled back his hand.

Szagan gasped, and pawed at the injury with a clawed hand as he willed his body to knit over the wound. The hole healed over almost instantly, but there was still a dull pain in his belly, and he clutched at it as cramps struck him.

"Oh, I assure you that your shape shifting won’t help repair your guts, even if it has fixed the skin." Gralnak smiled at Szagan.

The changeling’s wings folded into his body as he curled up into a ball, falling through the air towards the rubble of a shattered building.

The impact spread him over half the city.

Up in the air, Gralnak laughed heartily, and swept his arm around in a circle, watching as the buildings beneath him mutated hideously. Walls erupted with long yellow spines, cobbles turned to viscous yellow pus which seeped into the ground, the city walls expanded and became flesh like, pulsating slowly. Pits opened up in the city, drawing in corpses, buildings, and the occasional slower demon, before bubbling over with steam, acid, and molten rock. Small towers burst from the ground, their walls dribbling blood from cracks like mouths. After a while, when the dust of broken buildings had settled, Gralnak stepped down from his vantage point into the small square where the portal had been. He chuckled at the sight of the centaur statue, and waved a hand vaguely at it, watching with a grin as stone spines erupted along the length of the statues back, and its upper body exploded outwards, the visage of a four armed demon screaming in victory revealed beneath.

By now, the demons of Szagan’s army had become aware that something was wrong, and had congregated in the square, looking about for their lord. Seeing Gralnak, most of them recoiled and squirmed under his gaze, remembering the days when he had ruled over Hades.

"I am sad to inform you that your beloved leader is dead." Gralnak said with a grin, no hint of his professed sadness showing on his twisted orcish features. "But never mind, I am sure you will soon decide on a new one. For the mean time, you can rely on my help." The demon god beamed at the assembled army, who shuffled and muttered discontentedly. One of them stepped forward.

"Master…" The demon said, looking sideways for any response from his fellows. "What is your will?"

Gralnak smiled down at the demon. "Looks like you have just decided on a new leader!" He beamed at the soldiers, who shuffled some more and glanced at each other. "What is your name, Demon Lord?"

The demon looked honestly surprised and shuffled nervously. "My name is Jotanis, Master…"

"Good, good! Now, we can’t have demons living in a city called Lopath can we?" Gralnak grinned, as the rabble army gave a start.

One of them piped up, "Living in a city Master?" From near the back of the crowd.

"Yes! You will live here now, and help me in my conquest of Elysium. Szagan helped me along a large step of the way, in removing the centaurs, and you will help me the rest of the way. In fact, I think that’s it. We will rename Lopath after your former lord, Szagan." Gralnak beamed once more at the mass of demons.

"But demon’s cannot live in a city!" One of the soldiers on the front row shouted, and with a growl Gralnak released a blast of black lightning towards them, shattering their body and spraying the nearby demons with blood.

"It might be difficult for you to adjust," Gralnak said through gritted teeth, "But your spawn will know nothing different, and so will fit my plans well. For now, remember that you are mortal, and breed the next generation before you all kill yourself with infighting.

"We… We are mortal my lord?" Asked Jotanis timidly from the demon god’s feet.

"Yes, Emperor Jotanis, First Emperor of Szagan. You are mortal."

The entire army of demons was lost for words, and stood silently, morbid looks on their faces, as Gralnak ripped open a rift in the earth and stepped into it, disappearing from their view as the ground closed up behind him. Jotanis turned to his people, at last ready to lead them. Maybe he had lost his immortality, but he had gained that most elusive prize, power.

Jotanis’ reign did not last long, but it did last long enough for the new city of Szagan to truly rise from the ashes of Lopath, and when he was killed and replaced, a line of emperors which would bring Szagan to the fore of Elysium. As the demon’s bred, fought, aged and died, their children, The Spawn of their loins, took over the city, and its power grew even further, as they became less inclined to fight each other, and concentrated more on attacking the surrounding cities.

Back in Hades, most of the demons were left, still immortal, and not knowing what had happened to their former leader. Two of the demons did know what happened though; They had watched the battle through an ancient magical crystal in the heart of Hades. The two grinned at each other over the shard, one with a dented head, the other with both ears and his nose missing and straight scars criss-crossing his face.

"Looks like we get the last laugh my brother." Said the one with the dented head grimly.

"Yes, it does. It does indeed, my twin."

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