The heart of Risenhall

A treacherous engine

Come on, my child, heed closer. Here, I'll make the temperature sufferable if you accept to hold my hand for but an instant. Hey wait, where are you going? COME BACK HERE YOU LITTLE FUCKER!

— The heart of Risenhall

Risenhall is believed to be the only place on the surface of the planet that shines in the darkness of the apocalypse. Figuratively, thanks to its protector Lupe Perez, but practically too : the entrails of the city-fortress are always lit by a powerful source of energy. Unlike any power plant that humanity has designed over its civilisation, this one uses an infinitely renewable source of power: a fire demon.

Enslaved foe

The early days of Risenhall weren't easy. Cold, storms constantly washing up the walls and the absence of electricity made many people doubt. The Erection of Risenhall was a miracle on par with biblical tales, a long-awaited rest for the weary survivors. But could that be called a life? Disease and hypothermia would bring them back to death's door soon enough. Even Lupe Perez' powers couldn't remedy to this situation.

The solution presented itself at the doors of Risenhall thirteen days later, during the Second Demonic Assault. An army of eight thousand fiends led by three greater demons and a hellduke. After a ferocious battle during which half of the population of Risenhall, including Callum Prosper, died, the last bastion of humanity managed to repel the legions of hell for the second, but far from last, time. During the battle, two of the greater demons were killed and the third banished to the hells by another ascended, Christ Langwell.

The hellduke proved to be a formidable foe, but one that Lupe was reluctant to end. He was engulfed in a flame he seemed to have full control over, something that gave the ancient mechanic an idea. With the help of Charles Comte, she managed to restrain the monster long enough for Langwell to steal his true name and offer it to Lupe. The nameless hellduke, exhausted by the fighting and the ritual, was bound by darksteel chains and brought to the center of Risenhall, inside the power plant that Lupe just created. To anchor it on this reality and humiliate it even more, she named him "Heart of Risenhall", the beating core of what he once swore to destroy.

A new light...

Since then, the fallen hellduke provides power to the entirety of the fortress. His body is never ceases to burn, producing vast amount of energy without the need for any fuel. In fact, the flames are so intense that for the generator to not melt, most of the heat is evacuated above of through multiple chimneys. Even the light radiated by the process illuminates the surrounding countryside like an unmanned lighthouse.

...kept in the dark

Only a few in Risenhall know of the true nature of his miraculous energy source. Those who had witnessed the impossible scene of their high priest extracting an unutterable conceptual sphere from a lord of hell had trust in the safety of the device. However, newcomers are skeptics by nature, refusing to believe such a creature could be tamed. After the first incident, where a group of survivors tried to destroy the demon by taking advantage of an absence of Lupe, causing a bloodshed that hasn't occurred since the early Apocalypse.

True names

Contrary to popular belief, true names are not secret names that, when found, give absolute authority over someone. No, that would be silly, names are just names, identifiers given arbitrarily at birth. True names are not static either. They are the abstraction of one's identity, the sum of everything that makes someone unique. They are our profound nature, the memories of everyone else that over crossed our path, a cosmic acknowledgement of existence.

It is also something that can be taken away, if the conditions are met. Only one human have this power, Risenhall's high priest Christ Langwell. A nameless being is no different from before, except that their existence is not theirs to uphold. This means that, should the holders all forget the true name, it would have been as if they have never existed.

Being robbed of their name is a demon's primordial fear, as even in death they still have a chance to be revived as long as their name is spoken. Death is a long, uncertain wait. A forgotten true name is utter obliteration.

The devious engine

Even in his sorry state, the former hellduke remains a creature of mischief and cunning. He knows that, should he catch Lupe by surprise, he would be able to extract from her dying mind his true name, thus regaining his full might. Still conscious in his inescapable cage, he manipulates human's hate for his kind to his advantage. From time to time, an ignorant survivor learns of the truth behind the heart of Risenhall, and somehow musters the courage to face it alone, armed with a sharp sword that was coincidentally waiting for them.

"I do that for my sister, that you demon stole from me!"
"And what are you going to do, little man? Can't you see that I am under protection? These bars, they are not to keep me in. They are here to keep you out."
"We'll see about that."
"No, you won't actually do it, right? Wait, it wasn't me for your sister! I swear, get away from me!"

Through multiple layers of deception, he manages to incite them to stab him. The death of a demon this powerful almost always transfers the powers of the felled creature to its killer. Except that with someone else in possession of his true name, the heart of Risenhall's presence is impossible to suppress. The foolish hero is but a vessel for the demon's next attempt at freeing himself. So far, four of these tentative have been countered, each time at a greater cost.

Waiting for his next chance, the heart of Risenhall keeps beating for the last remnants of humanity.