But enough of that, let's talk about malignant forces at the heart of the setting: the demon lords and demon queens who manipulate the peoples of the savage desert.
Cinderheim was once a green and verdant land, but it became an arid, abyssal desert due to the corruption wrought by seven summoned demon lords and demon queens—each of whom is trapped beneath one of the desert’s oasis encampments. Although they are incarcerated within Cinderheim, each demon exerts their will over the encampment placed above their prison, shaping the populace to fit their own twisted ideals and predilections. The influence of these demon lords and queens extends to the land itself; their horrid taint has warped the geography, climate, and creatures of Cinderheim to keep tensions high and increase the likelihood of hostilities.
DRUUZ, THE HOARDER OF SECRETS
• Depicted as a hulking, bearded, gargoyle-like figure whose flesh is tattooed with esoteric runes.
• Desires knowledge of how to kill the gods.
• Worshiped through ritual murder.
• Communicates to his cultists through nightmarish dreams and phantasms.
• If he becomes the ascendant force in Cinderheim, the demon sun will become a black void.
NARAH, THE BREAKER OF BONDS
• Depicted as a demonic woman wearing a gown of sundered chains and a crown of shattered bones.
• Desires the cosmos to descend into primal chaos.
• Worshiped through rites of conflagration.
• Communicates to her cultists through talking birds who speak with her voice.
• If she becomes the ascendant force in Cinderheim, the demon sun will shatter into thousands of burning orbs.
RAAZ, THE PRAETOR OF SLAUGHTER
• Depicted as a monstrous, tusked beastman wearing a belt of severed heads and bearing a bloodied great axe.
• Desires bloodshed on a global scale.
• Worshiped through the sacrifice of captured foes.
• Communicates to his cultists through runes and sigils of blood that drip slowly down the walls they appear upon.
• If he becomes the ascendant force in Cinderheim, the demon sun will turn blood red.
THANOR, THE EMPEROR OF EXCESS
• Depicted as a handsome, horned man with blue orchids erupting from his skin.
• Desires that the wills of mortals be corrupted by ecstasy.
• Worshiped in orgiastic rites.
• Communicates to his cultists through a whispering voice carried on the desert wind.
• If he becomes the ascendant force in Cinderheim, the demon sun will become a psychedelic haze.
YAZA, THE MAD QUEEN
• Depicted as a two-faced, snake-skinned woman, her forehead touched by the perilous flame of enlightenment.
• Desires the extinction of rational thought.
• Worshiped through rites involving drumming and dance.
• Communicates to her cultists through messages traced by the paths of snakes in the sand.
• If she becomes the ascendant force in Cinderheim, the demon sun will become a kaleidoscope of shifting colors.
YRKALI, THE DEMON CONQUISTADORA
• Depicted as a jackal-headed warrior queen holding a bladed scepter and whip made of vertebrae.
• Desires that the world be united through violence into a single empire trapped in an endless cycle of tearing itself apart and reconquering its lost territories.
• Worshiped through rites of gladiatorial combat.
• Communicates to her cultists through messages howled by jackals, wild dogs, and hyenas.
• If she becomes the ascendant force in Cinderheim, the demon sun will expand to encompass the entirety of the blighted sky.
ZULOR, THE RED HUNGER
• Depicted as a monstrous vulture-headed locust whose armored exoskeleton is studded with horns.
• Desires the absolute annihilation of the world.
• Worshiped through feasts and consumption.
• Communicates to his cultists through a voice that sounds like millions of insect wings beating at once.
• If he becomes the ascendant force in Cinderheim, the demon sun will writhe and crawl like a swarm of insects.
