He Who Was

Good, Peace, Magic, Patron Deity of Humanity

He Who Was emerged from the void at the beginning of time and would remain dormant until the years preceding the Coming of the Gods. It was then that he awoke from his slumber, becoming the patron deity of humanity and granting them the ability to use magic. An Elder God, he battled against the primordials in the Primordial War, and then against of Tharizdun in the War of Many Suns.   After defeating Tharizdun and imprisoning the mad god in a false reality, He Who Was appointed one of his generals, Asmodeus, to guard Tharizdun's prison as punishment for disobeying his orders. Asmodeus had not agreed with the god's approach to the war, and as a punishment for his transgressions and disobedience he was assigned to guard the Chained God's prison. Over time his discontent grew into hatred, and he was visited by the Obyrith lord Pazuzu, who seduced him into overthrowing his master.   Asmodeus then searched the planes for a crystal of pure evil, which he found at the bottom of the abyss. He struck it, causing small shards to fly off of it and across the planes. Asmodeus then took a chunk of the crystal, now called the Shard of Ultimate Evil, and crafted his ruby rod from it. With his new weapon, he led a small army of his compatriots against He Who Was, assassinating him. However, as he died, the Elder God uttered his last words: a curse that banished Asmodeus and his fellow traitors to Baathion, which was thus transformed into Baator. The once beautiful domain of He Who Was turned into a flaming hellscape, being sundered from its greatness in order to serve as an eternal torture for those who betrayed the god.   As a precaution against his return, Asmodeus used some of his newfound power to erase all records, all memories of the dead god's name from the world, for he feared that even a single utterance of his master's name would be enough to return him to life. If that were to happen, devils, Asmodeus especially, would certainly be destroyed by the immense power of He Who Was. For now, the curse uttered by He Who Was confines Asmodeus in Baator, unable to escape it, and dooms all those who betrayed their god to an eternity of torture and dread.