Hellheart

Elion had died. He recognized that much when the colorful spirit guided him to the edge of a mighty river where other souls had gathered. The massive ash wood boat stopping at the river edge. From there he was judged by three figures, only two of which he spoke with. For his destructive and lawless nature he was to be sent to The Abyss.
Many others would be taken off the boat before him, but finally he was brought to the shores of The Abyss where several others also came. Before him was a large mountain range. Elion had not known how he got there, but as he looked around he realized that the river and the other people he had come here with had dissappeared. All that remained was the cold mountainous place that forsaken boat had dropped him off at.
He hated the cold, and climbing. If this was where he was going to spend all of time he was going to hate it. He missed the days of sneaking into peoples homes and killing them in their sleep, at least he had the house to himself. Maybe he could find a home nearby that he could steal.
So Elion hiked into the mountains. Going higher the stones were coated in a permafrost and the trees were hardy and unforgiving. A wind came blowing in from the mountain tops and as he tried to take cover behind some trees, it felt as if the trees bent and moved to make way for the breeze. This place was literally his own personal hell. But he kept going and soon found himself at the foot of a large stone temple that cut into the mountain. Finally! Elion thought, shelter.
Taking a step beyond the doorway he soon realized that this was not a hospitable place. Tied up directly inside where two hounds as large as horses and each bore two head. The snarling shook Elion to the core, but his worst fears were about to be realized. From within a shifting came, along with a grumbling. Standing nearly twenty feet in height was a hiena headed beast.
"Who is that? I was taking a nap!" the beast roared. It noticed Elion who had been frozen in terror. "Ah, new flesh."
At this Elion turned and ran for his life. He may have died but he didn't know what would happen if this beast had gotten ahold of him again. He could hear the beast cackling behind him. Elion made it to the edge of the small forest that was there, before he heard the hounds coming. He was about to run deeper when he instead decided to climb a tree. He managed to get a good thirty feet off of the ground when the hounds arrived and surrounded the base of the tree. He was trapped.
Instead of sitting there and wallowing he made a choice. He reached up to one of the smaller branches of the tree and snapped it off. The branch broke off unevenly and formed a sharp point. With the branch he climbed down to around the twenty feet range, he did not see the hiena monster nearby. As one of the dogs lept up he timed his jump so it would be when the dog reached the ground again and he jumped.
He landed nearly square on the shoulders of the hound and used the gravity and his weight to plung the branch deep into its back. The hound let out a cry as Elion felt one of his legs break, along with a few ribs. He tumbled to the ground where the dogs grabbed him and started to tear him to shreds. Elion once again felt the life leave his body.
This time he woke up on the mountain range once more. This realization made him cry up to the sky in anger. He thought maybe his second death would bring him peace, instead it would only bring him back to where he was. He was doomed to walk this plane forever, and death could not relieve him of that hell. He slammed his fists on the ground and screamed until his hands became covered in his own blood.
From there he was going to face his fears, if he was going to die over and over again at least he could get used to it. With that he marched back up the mountain. Following what few landmarks he had seen. Finally he arrived at the stone temple once more. The hounds had been chained back up and they began to bark once more. This time however Elion was not afraid, he was angry at the judges. He was angry at the universe. The hiena headed beast arose again.
"Back so soon elf," it snarled. "Most of you run in the opposite direction of your demise. I was even expecting to have a good hunt this evening."
"Kill me!" Elion exclaimed. The hiena headed monster looked puzzled. This was not a voice of fear during torture, this was a voice of demand. Of willpower.
"Why do you want that?" it asked Elion.
"If I am doomed to die over and over, at least I should become familiar with it," he stated boldly. The hiena beast revealed a toothy grin.
"It has been some time since I have seen one like you. Perhaps you will be able to wield it," it seemed to speak at him. The hounds had silenced. "Do you know who I am?"
"No." Elion said
"I am Kagaath, the lord of these mountains. I have an offer for you, elf." Kagaath stated. Elion was a bit surprised by the change in tone of the creature. He was expecting the creature to feel glee in being able to kill him, or at least anger for making his hunt so boring.
"What is it that you have to offer?" he asked.
"If you can wield this blade, you can lead a great army and do whatever it is you desire most with it," Kagaath pulled out from one of the pouches on his hip a blade. In his hands it was miniscule but to Elion it was the size and shape of a scimitar. What was different about it was the swirling black iron that the blade seemed to make up. The surface itself was flat, but it almost looked like the pattern of the iron moved. The edge of the blade appeared as if it had wet blood on it, and shone with crimson. The handle was tied tightly with hair of several kinds, if the decor of this lords place was any indication it was probably hair from people.
"What is the catch?" Elion said. Kagaath grinned again.
"A smart one! If you cannot gain control over it, you will instead become its servant."
Elion eyed the blade longer, it felt like it called out to him. This changed everything. With luck he would no longer be hunted, so there was no harm in trying. With one hand he reached out the blade. He felt Kagaath's eye grow in size and the tension in the air thicken.
Gripping the blade he felt as if a thousand insects were pushing into his body. Voices filled his head and he felt as if it was going to explode. He gripped his head, still wielding the sickly simitar as he fought the countless other souls trying to control his body. Finally with a swipe of the blade he cut into his own arm, letting blood pool at his feet. The pain seemed to bring the other souls under control and he felt their voices quiet. He stood there panting, he was still in control.
Kagaath was now hunched over eyeing Elion, that toothy grin smeared across his face. Elion looked down and saw a small leathery skinned creature at his feet. The thing had wings with long pointed ears and a tail that had a small barb at the end of it. It looked up at Elion and bowed.
"Master," it said.
Kagaath let out a might laugh.
"You surprise me elf! Now, go carve yourself an army. I suspect you and I will accomplish much very soon!"

Significance

An artifact prized by the demons of The Abyss, it is usually given to an individual who is able to survive using the blade in hopes of turning the tide of war in Pandemonium.

Item type

Weapon, Melee

Rarity

Artifact

Weight

3lbs