Mortagan of Wrath

Episode One: The Great Return of Mortagan

Hey Guys, it's Mortagan.

Broadcasting from the heart of the 5th circle of Hell, where the flames beyond my palace gates crackle with a fury matched only by my own.

Honestly, I didn’t pick this path for myself, my parents built this whole circle from the flames up. They taught me everything from tempting souls to crafting the perfect portal.

A while back, some fanboy named Dante kind of blew up our whole spot. In the process, he called The Sea of Endless Fighting a Stygian Marsh, and my father lost his fucking shit.

He transformed Wrath’s infrastructure and expanded the Sea's depths. Even I marvelled at the transformation. Satan himself was so taken by their dedication to fortifying Wrath. I remember his exact words:

“This shit looks tight as fuck.”

I knew they’d be ascended to celestials, and my time would come soon.

Maybe when I was still in my early hundreds, I could have tried harder to find a different path. I wouldn’t call myself evil, but a lot of evil people have summoned me to help carry out their dark machinations.

I set up those rituals and hid those tomes so long ago I had mostly forgotten where I put them. I wrote them to be near impossible.

I didn’t really think people would try… It was ridiculous stuff like: Absorb the souls of eight virgins under the last crescent moon of the end of all years divisible by four. There was a very subtle ‘lol’ under that, ya know? Like ‘don’t do this.’ But they need to prove they are the best at slaying virgins or whatever.

Sometimes I’d be, you know hanging out, tormenting the damned & poof. Transported into a circle of animal bones, under a pink moon, to a beautiful roast chicken dinner, and a sacrificial black rhino. It was getting exhausting, you know? Listening to them ramble on about what version of power they’re after, and how this is the only way.

Part of me was like, “Wow, you are crazy.” But there was this other part of me that was happy to see their commitment. I added that dinner bit because you never know when these things are going to happen. I simply cannot accept souls when I’m hangry.

After my parents retired, they were granted eternal status, I was bestowed the Ruler's Power, given the keys to the kingdom, and they took off to God-knows-what realm. Anyway, I don’t know what else I would have done. When you’re 11 feet tall with four arms, antlers, and these faintly glowing blue eyes that can gaze into the human soul, your options become limited. I’ll admit it, yes, I was angry at the abandonment.

I needed time to figure out ‘Who am I?” Wrath had been running itself for years at that point. I spent the first days of my rule wandering the palace, reflecting on the loneliness. It didn't help, having it thrown into my face at every turn down these obsidian halls. What did my newfound power mean? How was I going to do anything greater than the demons that raised me? Did I really want to lead? It felt like all the weight of Hell was pressing down on me, like the obsidian walls were shrinking to trap me in a box of loneliness. I ran out of the palace, but the flames were really flaming that day, and they grew up around me, naturally responding to my emotions. I remember thinking I needed to get out of there, and I guess my new powers responded because I teleported to the last spot the humans summoned me.

It was a dark, musty cave. I don’t know why I ended up in that spot, but it must have been fate. Because there, sitting amid the mud on the floor cave. One of my tomes. The humans who had summoned me here ages ago must have left it behind. Moving on to their next adventure without giving my tome a second thought. “Oh, the book we use to summon a demon? Just drop it on the ground and leave it there.”

At first, I was enraged at the carelessness of the humans. Then I thought about it for a moment, and I realized it was my fault for leaving my tomes with the humans in the first place. I was taken by a revelation: a ruler of Hell should never be at the beck and call of mortals. Empowered by this epiphany, I embarked on a mission to reclaim my tomes.

It took less time to find them than I expected, and once I did find them, well, I had to stick around. Electromagnetism, Steam, communications across vast distances, RUBBER. Just when you think they have thought of everything, BAM, they start fighting! Battles of epic proportion and vast evil. Before I knew it, I binged 150 years of watching them advance.

Something to all my Chancellors of Chaos listening.

And I know you are.

I completely understand that a lot of you are pissed at me for leaving and things have gone a bit sideways in the last 200 years. I can’t blame you for being angry; in fact, I want you to be angry.

But I am BACK and more ready than ever to bring my knowledge of the surface to all of you. I'm prepared to make this the best damn circle of Hell it can be. That’s why I am reforming the council!

It’s come to my attention that many of the council members have received the True Death, and many are still missing. Others are simply ignoring my requests for audiences, and honestly, I love that. But, common guys, we all need to pitch in if we’re going to survive future attacks from The Humans.

Are we stuck in a bygone era? Yes. Are most of our forces depleted? Yes. Have our remaining ranks grown too comfortable, basking in the abundance of souls afforded by my parents' reign? Absolutely. Well, I won’t let that stop me!

Sure, without demons, souls would perpetuate their own suffering. We all know that. But that isn’t the point. We serve a purpose here! Like my mother always said, 'Hell's fury is its greatest asset. Channel it, and no force on Earth can withstand us.'

You guys would not believe what has been going on up there. People don’t even worship animals the way they used to. Back when I first placed my tomes, all those years ago, technology was just a way to advance society. But now, I’ve seen, it’s a whole religion.

These humans are truly wild. You might be wondering why I didn’t stop them from attacking our level at the source. I did drop the ball on that one. Let me explain.

For the last 50 years or so, I decided to take a step back from the technology to work on finding myself and realigning my energies. I went to Bali, and this Gygax guy appeared on the scene out of nowhere. In my defence, I was in Bali. And I didn’t get a computer until recently. I did see a headline at one point about a human claiming a relic from Hell, but obviously, I thought that was a joke. A human, killing a demon? I mean, come on! When I found out some game inspired all these “so-called heroes,” I watched all their TikToks, I saw what was happening, and I came back!

I mean, you go to Bali to find your center and boom, the technology advances faster than you can say namaste. Anyway, I did a lot of soul-searching while I was there. When you’re raised only to think of the torment of the damned it leaves little time for self-care. All that time away made me realise I need to embrace my training, embrace my calling. I am meant to lead! Meant to follow in my parents' legacy and leave my mark on Hell. That’s what this PA system is all about! Since no one has been showing up to the council meetings…including the remaining members…I have found a way to bring the council meetings to all of you! Well, more like a non-negotiable council announcement.

So much has changed, I’ve changed, a bunch of my Chancellors of Chaos have been given the true death by some psycho humans, and I know you second stringers are feeling overwhelmed. I mean, really, I don’t even recognize most of you. That might seem harsh, but what can I say? I am an absolute demon. I truly believe that despite all these obstacles, I am going to bring this layer of Hell into the 21st, or at least the 20th…century. Then Catherton from Treachery can absolutely fucking suck it.

Peace out, Hellions!