The Ballad of Navros and Valgaxad

The Ballad of Navros and Valgaxad is not well known, and it would be something of a warning tale for some, a triumph of love for others, and an origin story for a horrific abomination. This ballad begins with the introduction of its two players. The first would be a red dragon known as Navros, the Dark One. He was known as such because he was overly fond of flame and fume and burned to such an extent that his teeth are glassy black, and his red scales are blackened with soot. The dragon was the bane of a number of kingdoms, a slayer of nations, and a collector of magic wonders that involved flame and shadow.

The second member of the ballad would be named Valgaxad, and the pit fiend considered himself the Prince of the Blood Moon, the Doom that was Promised, and the Seducer of Volcanoes. The devil prince was a tall and commanding being, with a great fortress and legions of servitors devils and slaves. 

The Jewel of Extinction

The Jewel of Extinction is a black diamond of immaculate cut and unimaginable size. The Jewel has a number of origin myths, that it was cut from the breast of a marilith devil, that it was ripped from the brow of a dracolich, or that it was created in the depths of the underrealms by ages of mindflayer worship. The origin of the Jewel itself is of little consequence to the Ballad, the only thing that matters is that the jewel was great and dark and powerful, and that it was desired by both Narvos and Valgaxad. 

The Ballad details that the Jewel of Extinction was found, or rumor of it was. A great number of interested parties came for the Jewel, and both the dragon and the devil. The location of the Jewel changes from telling to tellings, a fortress, a monastery, a mountain lair, all that matters in the ballad is that the encounter is filled with dramatic fights. The song turns that from one direction, the dragon filled caverns with flame and slew many with fang and claw. From another direction, the pit fiend sent forth his hordes, and slaughtered with flaming sword and burning whip. 

The dragon and the devil met in the middle and they both laid their hands/claws on the jewel at the same time. They met, eye to eye, claw to claw. They fought one another, and what had survived the first battle was destroyed in their scrap. Neither proved capable of destroying the other, and then they came eye to eye, exhausted but not defeated, and found something they had never thought to find. An equal. 

The Balladeer will sing of the violent courtship of Navros and Valgaxad, and how they sought to impress one another with feats of destruction and barbarism, who could slay the greater foe, who could cause the most destruction in the name of the other. Valgaxad would offer up forests and cities, stoking them into furnaces to draw his lover's attention. Navros brought captives and slaves, breaking cities and forcing their people into chains and to worship the pit fiend's name. This courtship was highly destructive and the leaders of the upright and lawful nations gathered to deal with the increasing damage from this dance. This meeting was tense as some of the less lawful good factions sent their own ambassadors, as the lust of the two had shown no restraint where it's savagery fell.

The Rite of Polemi Rizacao

The answer presented was the Rite of Polemi Rizacao, an arduous and challenging spell that had a heavy list of requirements, but it was not insurmountable. The dark magi and the paladins were able to commit heresy and meld their powers just long enough to power the ritual. It was expected that the rite would rid the world of three evils: the dragon, the devil, and the Jewel. 

The Rite worked, but not in the manner expected. All three were devoured by the magic, and were fused together into one horrific abomination. The Navros-Valgaxad-Jewel were one entity, appearing as a semi-humanoid form, but of draconic size, with massive leathery wings. The dragon body was surmounted by Valgaxad's squat hideous head, and the arms were most definitely devilish in origin. The rear legs were dragonic, as was the tail, but the most visibly disturbing fact was that Novras's neck and head protruded phallus like from between the abomination's legs. The jewel was itself gone, but it's powers were not. The Abomination turned day into night just by being present, a walking eclipse. Night was made lightless by its presence, and the moon refused to shine when it showed its face. 

The Abomination was filled with joy, and unleashed horror against the world, blotting out the sun, burning and destroying, and with the powers of it's pit fiend half and the Jewel of Extinction, triggered an environmental cataclysm. The Doom of Nav-Gaxad caused volcanoes to erupt, filling the sky with ash and causing massive destruction around them. Great waves smashed the shores, sinking ships and ruining ports. Plains flooded and became brackish lakes or swamps, many peoples of all races perished, and most who lived were displaced. The suffering and destruction was such that the gods took notice and were forced to act.

The Exile of Nav-Gaxad 

The Doom of Nav-Gaxad did draw the gods old and new to come forth in their strength and they did battle with Nav-Gaxad, but the gods were proud, as such beings are prone to being. Nav-Gaxad didn't destroy the first foolish gods to challenge it, it devoured them, took their power into itself and became a nascent god itself. By the time this was discovered, the abomination had consumed a number of lesser gods and had become even more powerful. The greater gods suffered as they sought to contain the horror that was Nav-Gaxad, and many were maimed, broken, consumed, or just unmade. 

It seemed that nothing could stop the abomination, it's power had increased by several magnitudes. It was a lesser god of strangers, bastards, and liars who saved the world, as it put strife between the abomination's two heads. The two were made painfully aware of the fact that they were no longer individuals and that they had been made into a horror, they could not be lovers and companions when they were one individual and would never mean solitude or privacy. 

Nav-Gaxad's rampage came to a halt and as it shuddered through a psychotic breakdown, the remaining gods gathered their strength and used it to exile the abomination into the outer darkness. The effort was ruinous, and a number of the gods were depleted or consumed by the act, others were permanently changed, lessened by it. Nav-Gaxad was left to float in the void beyond the gates of creation, and it was assumed that the abomination would be torn apart, or dissolve in the nothingness. This was not the case. Being part devil, the negative energy of the outer void was something it could draw strength from. The fury of Navros fed on the fury