Dunames was an
erinyes who reported directly to
Glasya, Archduchess of Malbolge, the
Sixth Hell. She participated in the operation to defeat the traitor
Moloch and learned of the existence of the
Quintus Gems, becoming obsessed with the power they could potentially provide. Dunames did many great and terrible things in her quest to claim the
Quintus Gems but was ultimately stopped by
the Barrel Boys, though her actions did result in
Archduchess Glasya being able to claim the Red Gem.
Table of Contents
History
Early History on Nexus
In ancient times, Dunames participated in the elimination of Moloch's army during the former archdevil's attempted betrayal of Asmodeus. While virtually every other devil who participated considered the matter closed, Dunames saw the potential of the Quintus Gems and began to covet them. Broaching the matter with her master, Glasya, Dunames was denied her request to secure the remaining gems. Glasya knew that the gems power would be limited without the full set of eight, which was now impossible with the Purple Gem destroyed. But Dunames was not ready to give up and decided to keep an eye on Nexus, watching and waiting in case that situation ever changed.
Her efforts eventually bore fruit when the White Gem was split into the Gold and Silver Gems, resulting in a total of eight gems once again and putting the power of a full set back on the table. Dunames took her findings to Glasya, who relented and gave her subordinate permission to seek the gems. Unconfident anything beneficial would actually come of this, Glasya gave Dunames limited resources for her task. Despite this, Dunames was convinced there was value in this effort and that she could make it work and made preparations to depart for the nation of Jezero on Nexus immediately.
Ever wary of attracting the attention of rival devils, Dunames contacted the yugoloths of Hades to hire fiendish mercenaries. After a brief but tense negotiation, the nycaloth Kishin was assigned to act as her assistant for the duration of her mission on Nexus. The pair then traveled to the Material Plane alone, seeking to keep their numbers small to avoid attracting unwanted attention. They made their way to the capital city of Lakeview, scouring the city's libraries for months to find any mention of the current whereabouts of the Quintus Gems or their history. During this time, they heard rumors circulating of a few mortals, one of whom wielded a shield with a peculiar black gemstone.
While she continued her research, Dunames sent Kishin to track down the Barrel Boys and gave him a sack of magic items to hopefully trade if they had a Quintus Gem. Naturally, these items were all cursed and would bring a terrible fate to the adventurers should they possess a gem and accept the deal. She was disappointed when Kishin returned and informed her that the adventurers did have a Quintus Gem but were unwilling to trade for it. Concerned they might know the gem's true value, Dunames started to make plans for them in the back of her mind but knew it would have to wait. Her research had revealed the location of the Green Gem and she intended to seize it immediately.
Dunames and Kishin flew to a temple embedded on the side of a mountain. On the way there, she had to foresight to disguise herself as a celestial and ordered Kishin to hang back while she went in first. At the temple entrance, Dunames was greeted by its naga guardian who explained that the temple possessed a series of trials that she would have to pass to claim the gem. Unknown to her, the Barrel Boys were nearby and had spotted Kishin flying around. They arrived at the temple and Kishin made no move to stop them from entering, believing it would be futile since Dunames was already inside.
Dunames was indeed able to stay ahead of the adventurers and claimed the Green Gem, exiting to reveal her true devilish nature to the naga and strike down the temple's guardian. The Barrel Boys emerged from the temple and moved to engage Dunames, only for Kishin to now step in to delay them. But the nycaloth underestimated his opponents and was forced to retreat. Before Dunames could strike the final blow against the naga, the Barrel Boys attacked her and forced a retreat. As she fled, a storm giant at the shrine of Stronmaus atop the mountain took notice of her and struck her with a bolt of lightning. The surprised Dunames dropped the Green Gem but was forced to flee without it as the giant continued to throw lightning her way.
A New Scheme
Dunames was furious that she'd had a Quintus Gem literally in hand only to lose it at the last moment. These adventurers were clearly capable and now hunting the gems as well, giving Dunames competition that she did not want for her prize. But Dunames had the craftiness and cunning of a greater devil and soon came to think of a new plan. Yes, she could try to race these adventurers to each individual gem. But why do that when she could let the adventurers do the legwork and ultimately bring the gems to her?
Dunames returned to Lakeview after redonning her celestial disguise and came to the church under the false pretense of being a holy messenger. She told the people of the city she was there to cleanse the city of corruption (and indeed, there was a great deal of corruption in Lakeview). With her firm, guiding hand, she would lead the desperate peoples of Lakeview into a time of prosperity. While this statement was not technically a lie, Dunames definition of "prosperity" was significantly different than how most of Lakeview's people would have defined the word. Taking effective control of the church, Dunames slowly began to close her iron fisted rule over Lakeview.
They were small things at first, harsh punishments she claimed were meant to deter crime. They were great punishments, yes, but wouldn't they only be sentenced upon the guilty? Would they not also stop future such crimes from occurring? And so the changes began, slow and gradual to keep them beneath the people's notice. Dunames would make this city her fortress and its people her army. If she could secure just one Quintus Gem in the meantime, the the Barrel Boys would come for it and bring the rest of the gems to her. If she couldn't, well...adventurers often developed hero complexes and would come regardless.
Dunames gradual changes had just begun when the Barrel Boys found themselves arrested to be questioned as potential associates of known black market dealer Stane. But already the people revered her and word was brought to her discreetly that the Barrel Boys had been arrested. A part of her deeply desired to take their Quintus Gems now, but she relented. She wanted all the Gems, not just the few they had, and needed them to collect more. Still, it presented a golden opportunity to paint them as villains in the eyes of Lakeview's people.
Often needing to be in two places at once, Dunames had created a simulacrum in her angelic disguise to operate in Lakeview more easily. She sent her false self to the jailhouse to antagonize the Barrel Boys into making a public mistake. The results of this incident ended by extending well beyond Dunames' wildest dreams. After the simulacrum stated it would exercise political power to keep the Barrel Boys locked up indefinitely, they openly attacked it in the guardhouse and began slaughtering guards to get to her. Nearly 30 guards who truly believed Dunames was a celestial died trying to protect her as the simulacrum fled the building.
It ran into the street, flying away as Marshall threw his magical hammer and destroyed the simulacrum in the middle of the busy street. For a moment there was only silence, then someone screamed. They screamed that their savior was dead and that it was that man, that dwarf standing in the doorway with the corpses of countless guards behind him, who was her murdered. The Barrel Boys were forced to flee as the citizens erupted into a panic, escaping only with help from the Octad Order.
As far as the people of Lakeview were now concerned, Dunames was dead. It greatly reduced her direct political power, but at this stage of the game that was of little concern to her. She may have lost her direct influence over them, but it didn't matter. She had "died" a martyr to these people and her subordinates would ensure that her policies were even more strictly enforced throughout the city in the name of eradicating evil like that "murderer" who had slain the city's celestial hero. She may have lost direct control over the citizen's actions, but it was a small price to pay for cementing their commitment to self-corruption and securing their souls.
With more free time now on her hands, Dunames continued to research the Quintus Gems history. She was beginning to track down the Red Gem when she was able to cut her research short after learning about the fire giants upcoming combat tournament. Those who won the tournament would get to challenge their current champion and ask a boon of the king. The pamphlet had a picture of the giant champion drawn on it and he very clearly had a brilliant red gem on his crown. Dunames left for the tournament with Kishin immediately, flying directly towards the fire giants' volcanic city.
It was during this trip that Dunames was contacted by Glasya, who demanded a status update. Dunames reassured her mistress that everything was well in hand. Though skeptical, Glasya said that if that were true that Dunames should have a Quintus Gem physically in hand within the next week. If she did, she would be rewarded. If not, Glasya would recall her to the Nine Hells and reassign her to other tasks. Not one to be deterred, Dunames pressed onwards determined to win the tournament at any cost.
The pair of fiends arrived to find that the tournament would consist of 1-on-1 matches with the finalists fighting the reigning champion together in a grand melee. Dunames signed up for the competition herself while ordering Kishin to investigate her opponents and do whatever he could to hamper them. He discovered that the Barrel Boys were here and also entering the tournament, though this came as little surprise to Dunames. Wherever there was a Quintus Gem they seemed to show up, somehow.
Dunames had little difficulty against her opponents in the tournament, her mortal foes being no match for the power and skill of a greater devil. It was she and the Barrel Boys who made it to the final round, forced to team up against the fire giant champion. They entered an arena surrounded by a ring of lava as the champion emerged, clad in spiked black armor and wielding a pair of equally spiky shields. Dunames quickly took flight and hit the champion and Barrel Boys with several wide area magics, claiming she wasn't used to having allies that could be damaged by her magic when they called her out on it.
The fire giant champion was a powerful foe, severely injuring Marshall and forcing Yandhi to put a magic sphere around the two of them for protection, only to find that protective ball knocked into the lava ring. Myster E did not last much longer before going down, all the while Dunames circled the edge of the arena and attacked with her bow while the adventurers took their beatings. But though the Barrel Boys could not fell the champion, they came close. They weakened him and when the adventurers were down, Dunames rushed forward and struck the final blow, no longer holding back.
As the one who dealt the killing strike, it was Dunames who was permitted to ask a boon of the fire giant king first. Naturally, she asked for the Red Gem. The moment Dunames picked the gem up, Glasya fulfilled her promise to her subordinate and Dunames was filled with the increased power of an infernal knight. Her prize secure, Dunames bid the adventurers adieu and left as they recovered themselves well enough to ask their own boons of the king.
Hell on Nexus
Dunames returned to Lakeview to begin studying the Red Gem, using ancient infernal rituals to bend its power to her will. Though she could not access the gem's full power after embedding it in her sword, she was nonetheless able to coax far more from it than any unchosen mortal would be capable of. In her research, she learned that together the gems possessed a power over interplanar travel. Attuned to her infernal magic, it could open a gateway to the Nine Hells that would allow devils direct access to the Material Plane without needing to be summoned.
Meanwhile, the city of Lakeview had fallen nearly completely to Dunames corrupting influence. Martial law had been enacted with people executed for minor crimes, their swinging corpses left to rot in the noose as a message to others. The souls of many citizens were now destined for Nine Hells, they merely needed to die to make the trip there. Furthermore, in her absence her cultists had learned that the Gold and Silver Gems were hidden somewhere in the city. Contacting Archduchess Glasya for permission, Dunames laid out her plan to bring forth an army of devils to Nexus. Confident the devils could achieve a great deal before any gods took enough notice to intervene, Glasya simply smiled and nodded her approval.
Weeks later, Dunames preparations were complete. The people of Lakeview awoke not to the light of the rising sun but a wicked light from an unholy flame as a pillar of dark fire rose into the sky. At its zenith, the pillar's top shot flames in every direction and encased Lakeview in a dome of fire before condensing back down into a portal to the Nine Hells. Devils marched through and began to seize the citizens of Lakeview alongside Dunames' cultists. Some were cut down instantly while others were given slower, ritualistic deaths to appease the devils twisted senses of amusement. Regardless, nearly all the corrupted citizens were too panicked to think of asking for forgiveness in the 11th hour and their departed souls began being whisked to the River Styx.
What Dunames failed to realize was that the Barrel Boys were already in the city. Not only that, but they were a great deal more powerful than when Dunames had observed their fighting tactics at the fire giant's tournament. The Barrel Boys had stumbled upon a great treasure, a decanter containing an imprisoned noble marid capable of granting wishes. They wished for ultimate power, as much power as a mortal body could contain without dying instantly. Thus, Dunames was largely unprepared for the challenge before her and proved to be no match for the adventurers. For her planning, power, skill, and cunning, this simple act of chance had tipped the scales heavily against her.
Furthermore, in her overzealous planning she failed to realize until her final moments that she had miscalculated the effects of her portal to Nine Hells. The portal was powerful, but unstable without the support of additional Quintus Gems. It began to meld the fabric of Nine Hells with the fabric Nexus' reality, treating each realm as both realms simultaneously. While there were many effects on both environments, the key one that Dunames failed to consider is that devils can only be killed permanently in the Nine Hells. Otherwise, they are simply transported back to their home realm upon their "death". But for all intents and purposes, the city of Lakeview now was part of the Nine Hells.
Having been struck down in battle in other realms before, Dunames knew what it felt like for her soul to be pulled back home. When the final blow was struck against her, she felt only pain. That tugging sensation of being pulled home simply wasn't there. Instead, she felt...cold. So cold, in a way she'd long since forgotten after so many centuries surrounded by flames. Dunames fell to the ground, her plan failed and the light of her soul fading forever as her mistress Glasya emerged from the portal to confront the Barrel Boys without giving Dunames a second glance or thought.
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