Zurteus - The Dragonlord

The First Dragonlord (a.k.a. Ar-Seid)

Zurteus was the lawful evil dragonlord, Father of the Beings, and, for a time, reluctant servant of his creator turned wife Valethar.
Zurteus was a unique chromatic dragon with the ability to split himself into 5 heads, one head for different power representing each school of magic (Black, Pink, Blue, Purple & Gold). Each head was able to operate entirely independently of one other and had powers equal to that of a god. his body also had traits in common with a wyvern, including a long tail tipped with a venomous stinger.
His true form however was much like his wife's a single headed black dragon with golden highlights across his scales.
He also took the form of an Akerothian. The Dark One was a man with long dark hair and completely black eyes. He always wore dark robes and frequently had a seductive smile. Some say they came across this man in their life but none could ever quite recall when and where they saw him.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

For ages, sages debated whether Zurteus actually was a deity or not. Many believed she was the archetype of evil, a devil or demon, the avatar of another deity, or even a mortal dragon so powerful that he was revered as a creator. Whatever he was, priests knew for certain that he was powerful and worshiped by evil as a God.

Origins

According to Lost Texts of the Old Religion, Zurteus was actually a god. He came into existence from the magic of Valethar and thus the first dragons were born. However, priests of the Old Religion suggest that, while Zurteus was divine in nature since her origins were tied with those of the Plane of Akeroth, he was ontologically different from the gods that hail from the Heavenly Planes.
These origins however were lost to time and through changes in the story of his birth, he was replaced with the myths and histories of The Elder Dragons of Akeroth. Renamed to Ar-Seid, Zurteus was wiped from the mouths of any Akerothians and only some ancient priests hold the texts that speak of this lost history.
With his wife by his side, he became all-powerful. Some argue his power was greater than that of Valethar herself. Through their union they birthed the Primordial, the duo sat in their plane allowing the Gods to take over their job as Divines and they would live out their lives away from the age of man.

The Sealing of Power

After many years of turmoil. Zurteus grew tired of his life. Yearning for more power, his lust grew to hunger and he descended upon Akeroth and devoured any who showed signs of strength. He was the reason the firstborn Sages were killed.
Sifor saw this and decided to harness the power of his siblings to seal Zurteus in the Hall of Gods but his goal was not easy. As he cast the incantation, Zurteus broke his soul into 5 beings. Placing a shard of his soul in each, he gave birth to the 5 Elder Dragons.
This was rewritten from the history books and the priests of the Old Religion wanted the Pantheon to be known as those responsible for the world's creation and the dragons to be known as lesser. This caused the first shift in religious practices as all who lived in Akeroth began to worship the Gods rather than the dragons.

The Great Draconic War

The history books speak of this as a battle between Baloryx and Selen but this was not the whole story. Dragons as a race had established themselves during the Time of Dragons, and the various religious factions of dragons began to battle one another over their different ideologies. Over time, religious fervor waned and draconic philosophers came to the conclusion that gods who allowed such behavior were not worthy of their worship. This started the draconic apathy toward their gods which lasted for thousands of years. However, the hatred that had developed between Baloryx, Selen, and their followers were so intense that they refused to stop fighting. Their conflict came to be known as the Draconic War. During the first years of the war, Selen bred horrific and aberrant draconic creatures known as the Spawn of Selen, in an attempt to wipe out the followers of Baloryx.
The war waxed and waned in intensity, with the last era of intense fighting occurring. It was during this time that the Draconian empire began and with it, their pantheon became prominent. Selen became one of their deities and her purpose in the Draconic pantheon was to balance the "order" represented by the other Dragons with his "chaos". However, the plane of Dragons increased the worst traits of his nature, making him something too powerful to be balanced by the other dragons alone.
Now that both Baloryx (who had become a member of the Draconic pantheon) and Selen had humanoid worshipers, the War entered into a new period of intensity. The two siblings fought each other personally, with neither being able to gain the upper hand. Selen also worked against the other dragons, with the result of the church of Selen naming her the "Nemesis of the Gods" and blaming him for every problem the nation had.
Then in a fight of the Wars known as the Battle of the Gods, Selen saw an opportunity to slay Sifor while he was battling Xunos. However, Baloryx intercepted him and in the ensuing battle, they seemingly killed each other. With both of their aetherial aspects dead, Selen and Baloryx were both stripped of their divine power. Selen was reduced to the status of an archfiend, his last few followers in Caburh were not enough to allow her to remain even as a lesser deity. However, as Sifor became a tyrannical God-King, the people of Caburh never forgot the Nemesis of the Gods and they increasingly turned to him in secret for succor.
As an Archfiend, he was given rulership of Ekadell by The One Below. His job was to prevent outcast devils on that layer of Hell from becoming a threat but performed so poorly that The One Below demoted him. Knowing his failure was not deliberate (by reading his thoughts), The One Below designed to allow Selen to remain in Ekadell unpunished, and even gave him a chance to regain his position if he impressed him in his new role as the guardian of the main gate to Muxina and Patron of Lost Souls.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

Zurteus was arrogant, greedy, hateful, spiteful, and vain. He never forgave any slight and focused on obtaining more power and wealth. He grew to disdain mortals, regarding them as mere disposable tools in his schemes. When needed, he was charming and fey, but his self-serving and reptilian personality betrayed him sooner or later.
After having experienced relative mortality as an archfiend, he became less reckless but also paranoid.
Tiamat enjoyed the company of his wife more than anything but grew to wonder whether she would one day find his true nature.
He had insatiable greed for treasures but preferred that his followers brought them to him in the form of gifts instead of searching for riches on his own.

Powers

As a unique type of dragon with the traits of the five schools of magic, Zurteus was a foe to be reckoned with in battle.
Along with all the standard powers and godly senses of a deity of his rank, those who saw him fight claimed that his heads were able to cooperate in battle and that those heads had the ability to use the breath weapons and spell-like abilities common to their species. However, his sheer size prevented claw and kick attacks while on the ground, he was adept at its use while flying. He also had a stinger on his tail that injected a potent venom into his foes, killing them in agonizing pain.

    Zurteus in his 5 headed form.

Current Status

Split into 5 Souls

Age

Eternal

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Multiple Heads

Ruled Locations

• Adaphae - Plane of the Gods