Demon's Mount

The myth of Demon's Mount surrounds the origins of Mount Iuz, a large active volcano on Qopith, and its current active state.

The Story

It is said that once, Mount Iuz was a mountain the same as the other Talons of the Sky - nothing remarkable, nothing to indicate the destruction it would one day wreak upon the continent. Back in these times, during the Era of Creation, monsters and infernal beings roamed the world, bringing chaos and destruction in their wake.

One such infernal being, the demon Iuz, led an army of other monsters. They took up residence on Qopith, embedding themselves and their camps across the continent. They raided the homes of innocents, stealing gold and food, ruining crops, killing livestock. In exchange for sparing their lives, the demon's army took bribes of valuable items, more gold, more food, more anything they could get their clawed fingers on. The folk of Qopith called for help, but no deity answered. They were trapped in the divine war, battling the forces of Brantis, the Abyss. Year after year the Qopitha suffered, losing their whole livelihoods to the dread Iuz and his army. Many lived in a state of starvation - they had already struggled to eke out a meager living in the wilds of Qopith, and now they had to sacrifice most of it to the demons just to keep themselves alive.

Seven years the demon plagued Qopith, seven years of fear and hunger and suffering. After the seventh year had ended, though, one brave soul decided to venture forth to the Talons of the Sky, the heart of the demon's territory, to vanquish the great shadow that stretched over the land. This hero walked for three days through the mountains, searching for the demon court. Finally they found it, in the center of the mountain range, its entrance a gaping hole in one of the peaks. Down the tunnel the hero walked, moving further and further into the heart of the mountain. In some places, the tunnel narrowed so small that the hero had to crawl, unsure if they might become stuck there and die. In other places, the ceiling rose so high that it vanished into the pressing darkness, and even the hero's keen eyes could not see it. All the while, the hero could hear claws scratching on stone, furtive whispers and quiet snickers, as the monsters of the court watched them pass. They were certain that the hero would die at the hands of their leader, Iuz.

At the center of the mountain was a great cavern, lit in orange from the pools of magma far below. Above it, on a platform surrounded by bare walkways of stone, sat Iuz. He sat upon a great throne of iron, the back fashioned into an arcing cluster of deadly spikes. Looking down at the hero who dared to come before him, Iuz grinned and chuckled. He asked how such a weak fool could possiblythink they could defeat him, the ruler of the continent and the king of demons. Iuz pounced, his deadly claws stretching out to tear at flesh and bone. But they closed on thin air. The hero stood calmly, watching the demon from just out of reach. Again Iuz struck, only to miss again somehow, swiping uselessly in the heat of the cavern. Then the hero struck.

A glimmering sword appeared from seemingly nowhere, tracing a silvery arc in the dimness. Iuz jumped back, hissing in pain as a line of black blood rose on his cheek. It was only a superficial wound, of course, but none had dared strike back at Iuz in a very long time. Incensed, the demon summoned his own sword, a blackened spike of iron twice as long as the hero's. The blades clashed, and the real battle began.

The clangs of their swords echoed through the mountain, reverberating off the stone walls until the folk in the plains and heaths below could hear the rumbles. They thought the world might fall apart. Hero and demon struck time and time again at one another, each parrying the other's strikes in equal measure. They fought for days, neither stopping to rest nor replenish. As the time [assed, Iuz began to gain an advantage. Unlike his foe, who was mortal, Iuz could stay awake for days without feeling tired, and only ate and drank for the pleasure of it. Both the hero and demon knew this weakness, and Iuz pressed it as much as he could. The hero began to fall back, strength slipping away like sand in an hourglass. They knew their time was near.

And very near it was, as the demon's sword broke through the hero's defenses, burying itself up to the hilt in the hero's stomach. In a final, desperate burst of strength, the hero made one last move to destroy the demon king. Grabbing the blade of Iuz in one hand, they pulled the demon forward and onto their own blade. In a final, deadly embrace, the hero fell backward off the walkway, pulling Iuz along. As they fell, Iuz struggled, lashing out at the walls rushing past to try and stop the descent toward the magma bubbling below. In his desperation, however, Iuz only managed to break off chunks of stone, pulling the walkways and the throne itself down with him. As the pair landed in the magma, the throne landed upside down upon them. Its iron spikes, built in a display of pride and strength, pierced through the demon king's body, snuffing out his life.

The other monsters, having watched their king die at the hands of a mere mortal, were afraid. They had thought themselves invincible, that they could live forever in this land of plenty, pillaging and stealing whatever they liked. Now, however, their king had been killed, and so too could they. Without a leader to keep them in line, they began to flee. Soon, the folk of Qopith discovered that the dread Iuz had been vanquished. They began to fight back against any monsters who dared show their faces, and the monsters fled faster until they had all but disappeared from the continent.

Impact

To this day, no one knows who the unnamed hero was who had killed the dread Iuz and freed Qopith. The mountain in which this final battle took place was named Mount Iuz after the demon king, as a reminder of what the continent had come from and how it had been freed from the reign of terror. Some believe the demon king is still alive, trapped under rock and iron, in burning agony from the magma surrounding him. When the mountain erupted, many thought that he had finally freed himself and would start a second reign of terror on the continent. The cycles following the eruption were ones of great fear and uncertainty, the whole continent collectively holding its breath until it became clear all was safe. To this day, Mount Iuz is rarely visited for fear that the demon may still be discovered alive.