A Demon's Point of View

Well, a deal’s a deal.
I can’t really tell you much about the politics of the time. Selune sent me to watch over these people that had fled to the icy regions to escape the war. It had already started before I was sent. It was a constant slaughter on all sides. My main task was to kill demons as they came through a massive Rift up at your north pole. It was an easy spot for them to get through because the gods were more concerned with getting rid of you mortals that opposed them. So I was there for a couple decades while Selune worked to close the Rift. Pretty easy stuff really. Even got to meet the mortals there because a bunch of them came to help me hold everything off. She turned six of them into lycanthropes, so they were pretty useful.
That had mostly done it for the Abyss. Demons could summon each other, but if we managed to wipe them all out, then they wouldn’t be a threat again. So I left the ice people and started demon hunting. Saw the whole world as I went. Got sidetracked a lot too. See, I liked you mortals. You had a time limit on life, but you wouldn’t bend the knee. Not to the Nine Princes, not to the Gods. In fact, some of them were so angry, they actively fought back against the gods too, not just the fiends and the confused elementals.
See, the reason the Gods called it the ‘Reclamation War’ was because they still believed Malgrave was theirs. Like you all owed them something because you existed. Not all of them, but a lot of them. The ones that do claimed they were taking Malgrave back from the fiends and the heathens. Lies. Hypocrisy. They left the mortals to rot here and when they began to thrive, they got jealous.
What really got their attention was in the Battle of Broken Crowns. The dragonborn had formally denounced the gods for their neglect. Most of the gods just laughed and continued leaving them unanswered, rather than taking it as the challenge it was. Zariel, one of the Princes… Prince? Princess? Well, point is, she rules one of the nine circles of Hell and she was marching on the dragonborn. The gods turned their backs, thinking it would be an instant massacre. But they stood strong. They were taking the devils one for one. Which meant they were still going to lose, but it halted them in their tracks. Their greatest warrior made it through the battle and challenged Zariel himself. His name was Gol’rosha, and he made a deal with the devil… heh… The deal that was struck was that if Zariel lost, she would have to take everyone from her realm with her, and if Gol’rosha lost, he would be her new general.
Of course it wasn’t that simple. Zariel agreed, but never called off her army. So many dragonborn died while the two fought. Gol’rosha needed no tricks. He was just better. Even as Zariel used every trick she had, he was right there. They went blow for blow for nearly an hour until Gol’rosha finally bested her. He took his maul and smashed her head, shattering her crown in the process and scattering the shards. You know, I’ve seen her since then. She is still so upset that she can’t get it back. But, that’s her own fault. She shouldn’t have made it so fragile in the first place.
Hmm? Oh, right. Well since it was a devil’s bargain, she did take her entire army with her. Since she would have to recover, it essentially removed all support the Hells had from Avernus for the rest of the war. That’s when the gods decided to join the fight. A mortal had killed the most powerful Devil in all the realms without the assistance of a god. That couldn’t be allowed. No realm had ever proven that they could survive without the deities.
That’s about the part where I came in, but I had joined on behalf of the mortals. The real goal of most of the gods though? Clear out everything and demand worship for a job well done. Didn’t really go that way though, now did it. It took us nearly two thousand years just to get rid of the fiends. Had to kill everything we could, then find a Rift, then close it, over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over-
Ah. Well it happened a lot. See, when you get strong enough, you can open your own. And that’s what the Princes of Hell and the Lords of the Abyss kept doing. But you know, somewhere along the way, I realized they weren’t so bad. After all, I’d killed hundreds of them. Thousands of them! They were just trying to have a good time. I like having a good time. I loved their corruption too. It tastes so good. Demon souls are the best of all. Kind of spicy, tons of energy and nutrients. I suppose you wouldn’t understand. You and your solid foods. Plus side, you can kill a fiend permanently if you destroy their souls.
More about the war? But I was getting into my feelings, and I know my best friend wouldn’t be so cruel as to ignore my suffering, would you, Romeo? I suppose I did make a deal though. We’ll put a pin in that then.
Anyway, the mortals were starting to win. While the gods wanted to claim they were the ones that had turned the tides, the truth was orcs and elves were making big moves. Every Lord and Prince that was removed from Malgrave was by the hand of a mortal. Karkano the Corpulent split Demogorgon down the middle so that each head had an equal amount of body. Lady D’straes dewinged Geryon before disemboweling him. Murgoth Greymane ripped off Bael’s head with his bare hands. Borghen the Butcher dismembered Yeenoghu. Wheriden Windsong used his spear to turn Dispater into a spit-roast and Oritha Kursh ripped out Graz’zt’s throat with her teeth.
Those are the only ones I know of, but the point is, no celestial servant such as myself, or even the gods, sent a single leader back to the Hells or the Abyss. This made most of them afraid. Some were proud, but most were afraid. There were talks of invoking the most drastic measure the gods have to assert their dominance. To call the Four Riders. The poor mortals had barely had a chance to breathe before the celestials turned on each other. And they were caught in the middle. Which worked great for me, because I couldn’t get back on the celestial plane. I kept waking up in Nessus and having to find my way back to Malgrave. I never got to see if the Four Riders had been summoned, because a rakshasa named Veeraj put me in my cozy little space here.
But, what I can tell you about them is that they are not capable of being here on their own. They manifest inside someone that suits what they represent. You can kill the shell, but they’ll just go into the next closest body. I feel like I’ve said this before. Have I said this before? Well, anyway, they’ll just body jump as much as they need to until they finish the job. Then they’ll leave. Because of how they’re summoned, they believe that what they’re doing is in the best interest of the world. They can’t help it. They’re not actually gods though, and the gods that claim dominion over them are just what gods are required to summon them.
There are some things that are eternal and can exist where the gods do not. That’s how you get the Riders. Which, weirdly enough means that War is often the weakest of them, but also the most dangerous. Am I making sense? I feel like I’m making sense. You know, it’s been great to talk. Reliving the good old days with my bestest pal, my greatest buddy, my eternal friend. Maybe next time we can talk about you. Or maybe your friends. You’re all so interesting. I’d love to talk to them too. It might be… enlightening.