Ten Years Ago, before the Cataclysm (Shinedown – DEVIL (Official Video) – YouTube)
Mordekai sat at his table in his chambers, writing furiously upon a manuscript in front of him. He dipped the quill in the inkwell, which had a sickly green glow to the glass itself. The inkwell had been given to him by his patron, Adramelech, to assist Mordekai in his quest to gain mortal followers, and therefore power, over the other Dukes of Baator. The ink was corruptive – any mortal not possessed of a strong spirit or some other form of strengthened divine protection that read one of Mordekai’s books, Mordekai’s Musings on Everything, would find themselves enthralled to Asmodeus’ Chancellor, and join the Cult of the Librarian to serve their new dark master. Of course, some clerics had been worn down over time as well, even a priest or two – after all, Mordekai was now putting the finishing touches on Book XX.
There was a whoosh of flame and the brightening of the room for a second as Mordekai put down his quill. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes – his master would likely castigate him for such disobedience, and turned upon the stool to lay eyes upon the large devil who had entered the room. His master had chosen to pay him a visit directly – and that was never a good sign. “Little Mordekai.. Is it complete?” He asked with a soft hiss in his voice as he glided across the room, the Book of Fire upon his hip jostling slightly as he moved. In Baator that was more accurately known as the Book of Infernal Secrets and had the true names of every fiend known upon the planes, though it never really seemed to grow in size. Mordekai mused that it was because as names got added, others were struck upon their demise.
“It is, my Lord Chancellor. Edition twenty of the series – upon alcohol, festivals and religious rites. It has the usual acrostics enchanted with thy name, and has been thoroughly imbued with your corruptive presence.” Mordekai turned back around and took hold of the large stack of papers before proffering them to Adramelech. The Librarian of Baator took them and perused over them with a satisfied nod. “Good. With this volume, our reach and influence will grow. And that is… very important, given my new plans for you.” He droned, before handing back the manuscript. “Hear me, Mordekai. You have fulfilled your pact admirably, and I am pleased. But I have come across knowledge that will be important to you going forward. In ten years, this world will have annihilation visited upon it, caused by the unveiling of a great and terrible secret.”
Mordekai’s eyes narrowed, his head tilted and his mouth curled down into a frown. “So all your work, Lord Chancellor, will have been for naught?”
“Not exactly. When the bodies of the Cult perish, their souls will belong to me, and by extension Lord Asmodeus. No, the reason I am divulging this information is because there are two souls linked to you that may not be saved during such a cataclysmic event… and I am offering you a… modification of our pact.”
Mordekai tilted his head. He knew exactly who Adramelech was referring to – his children, fathered during a night of passion with two fans of his books who had later become members of the Cult themselves. “…Mortheim and Morticia.” He whispered before screwing his eyes closed and biting his lower lip. “Hmph. What do you propose, Lord Chancellor?”
“Simple. I save the souls of your two children, and I grant you a way to survive the coming cataclysm. But in exchange, our pact will continue. Whatever happens, you will continue converting souls to my servitude. And your children will be trained to serve me in their own right – Mortheim as a Knight of Baator, and Morticia as a Librarian under my tutelage. Plus, in recognition of your years of service.. I will grant you two artifacts from my vault.”
What Adramelech wasn’t saying was that both of these artifacts carried great risk, and could easily cause Mordekai to be forced into a stricter form of servitude, rather than being a powerful Warlock pacted to the Lord Chancellor of Baator. But Mordekai knew that somewhere along the line, there would be a catch, or multiple catches to this modification of the pact. His children were born of sin either way, and there would be nothing stopping one of the other Dukes or Archdukes of the Hells collecting their souls and using them. This way at least, they were kept close to him in a roundabout sort of way.
“I accept, Lord Chancellor. At the time of your choosing, summon the Sisters to witness the change to our pact and I will sign it.”
“As you wish, Little Mordekai. You will be my Herald in the times to come, and bring more souls to fight in the Blood War. One.. final hint, to help you upon this path. There is a Guild who is in need of a Librarian or Archivist. Present yourself to them and ingratiate yourself with them. They will be needed in the years to come.” Adramelech gave a small, devious smile before clicking his fingers and returning to Baator in a conflagration of fire around him. Mordekai sighed and closed his eyes, thinking upon the fact that he’d just signed even more of his life away in pursuit of greater power, not to mention signing the souls of his children into his master’s service. “Well then. I suppose I had best find these individuals and become their Librarian…”
Present Day (Mein Herz brennt)
Mordekai was sprawled out over the floor of the Guild castle. He didn’t remember much of what had happened – Lord Adramelech had granted him the Infernal Grimoire of Malakar and the Obsidian Pactstone shortly before the cataclysm, as promised. He didn’t know if his children had been “saved”, but devils were bound to their contracts as much as their servants were. Adramelech would have kept his word otherwise Mordekai would have been able to keep his artefacts and the powers he’d developed through the pact to his master, as a penalty to said devil for breaching a pact. He took a deep breath and realized that he could breathe normally. He thought, at least. Maybe that would change. Maybe he’d need to adapt.
He scrambled up to his hands and knees, before sitting back on his arse. The Tiefling took another deep breath and looked to the other members of the Guild next to him, before looking out over the walls of the chamber they’d been in before the teleportation spell had taken effect. “The air’s breathable, but I don’t know how different it is from “home”.” He spoke plainly, resting his chin upon his fist.
“…Anyone remember what happened? It’s a bit blurry to me.” He continued, waiting to see if the others were indeed alive.
Well… I guess I’m going to have to start a whole new Cult then, aren’t I?