Pact

Fire Manipulation Pact is quite adept with the use of fire magic. He can control existing mundane fires in his immediate area (within around 15 meters or so of where he's standing) And he can conjure fire. This fire can either look rather normal and put off an expected amount of heat for a simple flame, or it can be a deeper more reddish 'hellfire' flame, that burns several times hotter. Being a creature of fire he is immune to flames, anything short of being submerged in lava is not going to do significant damage. However, some types of magical fire such as potent dragonfire might still harm him. He is energized by heat, and more comfortable in warmer temperatures, including ones that are beyond what a typical mortal can tolerate. Shapeshifting and Illusion. In his natural form he is a full eight foot tall, with massive wings, horns and a powerful prehensile tail. His feet end in heavy cloven hooves. His flesh is a deep reddish color. His eyes in his true form are always completely black. He is able to shrink himself down to 6'10, and give his flesh a more normal human tone. He can choose to not manifest his wings or tail, although his horns and hooves will remain. His eyes, in this more human form will have normal white sclera, and pale silvery irises. He can easily revert them back to black however, and any intense feelings, such as anger or excitement may cause his true eye color to show. He can hide his hooves and horns with illusion, however this is far from a perfect disguise. A mirror will still reflect the truth, and when he steps one might still hear the sound of hooves rather than booted feet. Touching him, will also risk disrupting the illusion that hides his horns and hooves.

Strength, Resilience and Regeneration. Pact is easily several times stronger than he appears to be in either of his forms. Strongest in his true form, naturally but even in the smaller form he far outmatches even the strongest of simple mortal men. He is also quite a bit heavier than he looks, as some of this strength comes from the fact that his bone and muscle is far more dense than it would be on a human. Even his skin seems somewhat resistant to damage (although he is by no means immune) It would take a great deal of strength to stab into him with a blade, enough for it to really count, and his bones can resist roughly six times the force required to break human ones. He has a great deal of endurance as well, able to keep himself moving or fighting well beyond typical mortal means. He heals quite a bit faster than normal as well. This can be accelerated by eating heavily, particularly raw meat. However, wounds made by holy weapons, take longer than normal to heal, as does any wound rendered by yew wood. Travel Pact is able to slip 'between worlds' into a void dimension. He is unable to see while he is there, as it is fully black, and even magic or torches cannot penetrate the depth of the darkness. However, he can use it to travel from one point to another. A quarter of a mile in the void, equals roughly three hundred and fifty miles across land. He can use this to travel where he pleases, but he can only enter the void from dense shadows or a dark room, and can only step out from such. He cannot enter into a person's private dwelling, unless invited. He cannot manifest inside any space considered 'holy' The greatest benefit to this is he is able to 'hear' those who are most in need of his assistance. The more desperate they are, the further off he can hear them. Someone frantic and half-mad, screaming and begging for -anyone- to come help them, could be heard from far away. More petty desires, he might only catch a whisper of right as he passes that spot. He is able to speak to the person, quietly in their ear. This is how he manages to get invited into private dwellings. However, he cannot speak to those inside a holy place, and he cannot manifest there under any circumstances.

This particular magical ability is a power wielded only by select sub-species of Infernal Demons. The magic is difficult to understand, unless one is a demon themselves. There are a great deal of rules applying to how a Demon can gain a binding magical contract over a mortal. (and in rare cases, an immortal)

- The contact must be explained fully to by the one being bound, or they must have a chance to read the contract, if there is already a written one being provided. There cannot be hidden additions that are not mentioned until after the deal is sealed.

- The demon cannot force the person to sign, in any way. This includes use of threats, or physical force. The demon is not allowed to harm the individual if they refuse to accept. However, they can charm, or manipulate them into signing, or even just -happen- to look really intimidating or imposing, they just cannot directly use any sort of force.

-Payment for whatever is granted depends on a great deal of factors. As a general rule, the greater the boon, the heavier the price. Prices are based off what it will cost the individual, not a flat rate. Example: If a human male of fifty gives up ten years of his life, that is worth far, far more than a creature with a 5000+ year lifespan giving up a hundred years. Sometimes the demon will let the person offer up what they are willing to pay, typically the demon is the one to name the price.

The magic of a demonic pact is actually based on the sacrifice itself. Giving up something important for a dire need or desire, creates an energy that the demon can more or less capture and either consume to build their own personal power, or feed it into another source.

- Contracts made are final. Depending on the nature of the pact, (and sometimes the preference of the demon) it may be sealed by signing, bloodletting or a kiss. The only way to 'get out' of a contract is to offer up something grand enough it pays off the 'price' more than twice over. Even then, it is at the demon's discretion to accept, and some may refuse simply out of spite.

- Short of granting world-breaking god level powers, or automatically killing someone, there is not a great deal the demon cannot do. The problem is, the price will always be insanely high whenever a great boon is granted. Often, even to the most greedy and foolish, it is clearly too great a price to pay.

Pact, began life as Mephestalas, a low ranking 'grunt' of a demon, one of 1000s forged in some lower region of the infernal realm. He stood perhaps around six foot tall or a bit more, was broad and burly, bald and had tusks, and short blunt bull-like horns. Certainly not as hideous as some, he was created to perform simple labor tasks, not be nice to look at.

He was however exceptionally clever for one of his rank, and found it endlessly tedious being amongst a bunch of meat-heads with no ambition. His days consisted of near endless toil and drudgery, working in the mines, breaking rocks, digging for ores or simply digging tunnels. The only time it was interrupted was when it was his turn to work the great bellows for one of the smelting furnaces, or some other repetitive task.

Many times he tried to weasel his way into a promotion. At the very least he would have been able to accept (for a time) being the overseer of these simple peons. At last, this life he'd endured for more than a century was too much. He escaped, breaking his chains and fought his way up to another part of the realms, using mostly underhanded deceptive methods to avoid capture.

For around a twenty years he ended up serving some mid ranking demon, more or less as his butler, in exchange for being allowed to stay. It was not ideal, but far better than his previous life. He gained an appreciation for the finer things in life as well, as his 'master' was quite the hedonist. Booze, drugs and sex became part of his day to day existence rather than slave labor. Still, it wasn't all fun and games, the demon who ruled over him slowly began to treat him more and more like a pet at his beck and call, and was prone to extreme violence when the mood struck him. One evening, Meph caught him off guard, managed to drive a meat skewer into his throat. While that alone would not have killed a demon of his sort, it certainly evened the odds enough that the smaller and weaker demon overpowered him. By the end of it, he'd smashed the other demon's face into an unrecognizable mess of blood, teeth and what looked like raw sausage meat. For good measure, he ate his heart afterwards.

He was 'free' once more, and it was there he decided to take what he had learned during those years and apply it, so he could continue to climb the ranks. His old Master's job had intrigued him, and he wanted that role for himself, to be able to manipulate mortals into contracts and gain power from their foolish choices.

The first Demon Prince he sought out, laughed at him and broke both his legs, leaving him to crawl away and hide until he could heal. The second one, kept him in chains for nearly a year, using him as bait to get his hell-hounds worked up before a hunt. He only managed to escape by shoving his hand, wrapped in excess chain into the alpha's mouth, leaving him with a broken mangled hand, several missing fingers.. but a snapped chain.

By the third one he'd wised up and he managed to escape only with a barbed spear embedded in his side, when he realized the high ranking demon had no interest in taking his offer.

The ninth demon cast him deep into the void... thousands of miles into nothingness.. and told him if he could find his way back to him, they would have a deal. Time lost all meaning for Mephestalas, as the void was a place not bound by it's rules. He estimated the walk back had to have taken him at least eight or nine years. In that time he did not hunger, thirst.. he did not really feel much of anything.. there was only endless blackness, and walking. From time to time he encountered others in the void, madmen trapped there by their own foolishness, demons or other creatures who used the Void to travel.. always he pressed on. It was there that anything left in him that could have possibly blossomed into humanity was carved away. He grew to hate the one who'd done this to him, even more than he had the demons who'd broken his body in various physical ways.

But it was in that blackness that he learned to listen more keenly than any of his kind ever would. In the void, one could hear echos of the mortal realm... and oh the things he heard.

He listened in on prayers of those dying.. He listened to men and women conspiring to overthrow their King or Queen. He heard their confessions, desires.. and he learned so very much. That was something the one who had cast him here, had not counted on. Moloch had underestimated the lower ranking Infernal. No doubt he'd expected him to perish, or get lost in the endless sea of blackness, forever.

So, when Mephestalas burst through into Moloch's private chambers, blind from years spent in pure darkness, battered by dozens of injuries sustained in the void, his hooves worn down by walking for ages at a time without stopping to rest.. The demon had no choice but to keep his word, and they began to lay out the terms, something Moloch had foolishly given Mephestalas far too long to think on.