The Seven Banes of Heaven

When the Demon Queen set her sights on conquering all of creation she tapped her personal attendant, and six of her most powerful servants to become generals and lead her army onto the fields of war. To aid their efforts the Queen created seven items that would allow the Generals to transcend the normal limitations of their powers. "The Banes of Heaven" as they would come to be known during the war allowed the seven Generals to go toe to toe with the twelve archangels of the Divine Six, and even stand their ground against the members of the six if the numbers were in their favor. Banes in hand, the Queen and her Generals led the demonic hordes against the divine choirs battling to the deadlock that led the Divine Six to take the drastic measure of the Divine Prison spell they created. When the prison was cast and the 8 of them were locked away, the Banes were lost. Some believe they went into the prison with them, others that they were scattered/hidden throughout the world to keep them out of the hands of would be successors. The truth lies somewhere in between, a mix of the two seems most likely given the chaos that unfolded at the inception of the prison as the Queen and her Generals were pulled into the anchors and sealed away. The true power of these items can not be understating, a man who truly believed in them would be driven to do almost anything to either find them or protect himself from them falling into the hands of foes. What unjustified horrors might be done in response to such justified fears?

Summary

In ages long past there was a tremendous war between ancient gods and a demon army, a war for all of creation. The demons were commanded by 7 generals, each general possessed a gift from their queen. Each item enhances the general's unique abilities making them a much more significant threat. When the generals and queen were locked away in their prison the items were lost, where to and what some of the items actually were is contested by varied recountings of the myth but they all agree that a General in possession of their Bane is truly a waking nightmare. 7 Generals, 7 Banes:

Envy's Mirror
Gluttony's Helm
Lust's Focus
Greed's Deck
Sloth's Spear
Wrath's Twin Blades
Pride's Tome

Historical Basis

'Concrete' evidence is a matter of opinion, the story derives from the teachings of a now defunct religion, a lot of the details were a matter of faith more than fact. The few remaining temples, artifacts, iconography and writings that can be dredged up detail the events of the war in a very stylized fashion, with more than a bit of bias in favor of the gods they worshiped but the depictions do seem to confirm the existence of these so-called "Banes" with at least as much validity as the non-existent gods who battled against them.

Spread

The complete legend is largely lost at this point, though fleeting traces of it can be found across most of the world mainly centered within the kingdoms on Reedan.

Variations & Mutation

The two biggest variations in the myth are the name of the items, and how the items are described. The "Banes of Heaven" are also known as "Angels' Banes", "Banes of the Heavens", "Seeds of Sin", "Cardinal Sources", "Implements of Evil", " Infernal Instruments", "Corruptors of the Faithful", "The Generals' Aides", "The Queen's Favors" and a few other titles. The items themselves vary just as much, for instance "Envy's Mirror" is described as everything from a hand mirror, to a highly reflective shield, to a wall hanging full length mirror. For most of the 'Banes' the varied depictions at least generally agree on a theme or concept but there are exceptions there as well. "Gluttony's Helm" has also been a mug, a fork, a trident that resembles a fork, a breastplate, a shield. It's almost like they're just making it up as they go along in some of these stories. Sloth definitely wields a melee weapon of some sort but it's been everything from an massive ax to a precision rapier. "Greed's Deck" believed to be the source of the myths about a deck that could bless/curse and reshape reality, is also depicted as "Greed's Dice", "Greed's Wheel" and other gambling paraphernalia. There are a few myths that claim different sources for the items, some assert the Queen made them herself using some form of ritual magic while others that she commissioned the work from an unidentified master craftsperson of some kind.

Cultural Reception

In present times the myth is largely disregarded, in large part due to the Empire's Unification of Faith decree. Over the years varying attempts to find some of the Banes or establish provenance on magic items as possible candidates have been made but as far as official sources are concerned no such items have been uncovered. It was believed that in the hands of a mortal these instruments would cause some major catastrophes throughout history before those foolish enough to wield one ultimately self destruct under the burden of the item's power and the raw evil it radiates in tune with the sin of its General. The idea that gods and demons that would dwarf those known to exist in the modern era is simply a laughable assertion, which undermines the validity of the Banes myth, with many dismissing it out of hand given the lack of proof.

In Literature

The Banes appeared in a variety of cautionary tales, the harm they do in the hands of mortals a metaphor for the harm the sins they supposedly embodied would cause in your life.

In Art

Much of the art that would depict the war, the generals and the items they wielded on the battlefields have been lost in the purge of heretic faiths that occurred.

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