Appearance

The only credited form Nilestromus is believed to have taken is that of a horrific leviathan so monstrous and terrifying that to gaze upon its countless limbs and writhing tentacles is to become intimately familiar with madness itself.

Methods and Motivations

Nilestromus’s motivations are beyond the comprehension of mortal beings. It seems uninterested in the affairs of any known being. It has been suggested that Nilestromus is a being so foreign and alien to this world that even other Demon Princes and deities fear to speculate on his motivations.

Powers and ABilities

There is no credible lore that defines what Nilestromus can do should he awaken and the confines of his Midnight Mountain be removed. Cultists claim that upon that fateful day he will devour the dreams of all mortals, driving all of Arthos insane and making them his for eternity.

While sleeping, his tentacles reach out to touch the dreamscape. Dreams are a gateway to the mind and a sleeping mind is most vulnerable to his incursions. Corrupting that mind, though the infliction of nightmares, horror, and madness, slowly wears away the sanity of his victim. This condition is hastened if the victim is already mad, the target of his cultist’s rites, or, heaven forbid, simply willing.

Should a target dream themselves, or be pulled through some other means, into the Far Realm, they enter the domain of the Kaiser of the Abyss. Death in this place means death for the physical body as well, although there are fates there far worse than that in the realm he calls home.

Nilestromus is also a vast repository of arcane and forbidden knowledge. He is said to know every thought and memory that has ever been forgotten and indeed he feeds on them for sustenance. Those brave or stupid few who seek him in their dreams, to answer a question or provide access to forbidden lore or magic, risk both losing their minds and their lives. Those precious few that are strong enough to survive the encounter are said to glean terrific insight.

Weaknesses

Nilestromus largest weakness is his inability to take direct action or command in the demon war, while imprisoned in his perpetual dreaming state. The only known means by which Nilestromus communicates his horrific desires is through dreams of the sleeping and visions bestowed upon the fragmented minds of the insane. While his demonic forces often speak for him, their words are to be taken with a grain of salt, as loyalty has little weight in hell. Nilestromus’s distance to other principalities is an advantage as well as a weakness. While few demonic forces would dare attack him in his Midnight Mountain, it also leaves him far from the traditional battlefields of the hell planes.

Domain

Principality

Nilestromus’s principality is far from the other strongholds of his demonic kin. Cast down by the Hell King, Nilestromus resides on the far edge of hell, in an area overlapping into the Far Realm. Upon his sleeping form sits the Midnight Mountain. It is so large that it can be seen from anywhere in the Far Realm and even in some places in the realm of Fae. The Midnight Mountain, so named by the fact that it is so high that it rises past the sun, always in darkness or in shadow. Those that try to reach its base on foot find themselves walking interminably, but never drawing nearer. It is only through dream that mortals can approach the Mountain. It has even been said that one who climbs to the peak discovers it was not up they were going, and instead finds themselves at the bottom of a mountain sized pit.

The mountain itself is littered with pock marked caves and passages. Here the demons of Nilestromus live, tormenting the lost spirits, driving mortal minds insane and enforcing the will of their slumbering master.

Demonic Hosts

[Coming soon.]

Cults

Mortal Cultists

[Coming soon.]

Preferred Sacrifices

Nilestromus feeds on the madness and knowledge of mortals. Mortal minds fuel his hellish spirit. Those who would empower the Sleeping Horror often sacrifice dreams and memories, the more disconcerting and obscure the better. Even more valued are the dreams and memories taken by force from others. Unlike other Demon Princes, Nilestromus does not seek to take lives, but instead to see that which gives life meaning.

Summoning and Rites

Maddening Wisdom

This rite is performed by those who seek the answer to a question. The supplicant must keep themselves awake for days, usually to the point of paranoid hallucination. A fae must be captured and sacrificed in the name of the Nightmare. At the point of death and the spirit attempts to resurrect, a single question is to be asked. Once this is done, the cultist must then find a means to forget this act and finally succumb to sleep. It is believed that, if pleased, Nilestromus will visit the seeker in their dreams and either provide the answer they sought, whatever it may be, or drive them insane – or both.

Mania

This is a common rite used by cultists who wish to inflict nightmares and madness upon an unlucky victim. To enact this terrible curse an effigy of the intended victim is created. The effigy is then tied to a Discord catalyst and placed within the victim’s sleeping quarters and present while they sleep. The effigy then must be retrieved by the time the sun is at its highest the next day and both it and the catalyst must destroyed by the cultist. This is believed to thin the veil between the dreamscape and Far Realm, causing the victim maddening nightmares the next time they sleep. Success is never guaranteed, but the closer the likeness of the effigy to the victim and the closer its proximity to them while they sleep are thought to increase the chance. While a single night of nightmares may not have a lasting effect, continual exposure and persistent use of this rite over long periods of time has been known to inflict paranoia, delusions, hysteria and even permanent madness.

Psycholucidity

This grisly rite is used to invade and observe the dreams of others. For every individual who wishes to step into the dream, the brain of a still living sentient creature must be consumed. This in itself makes this rite difficult for those without surgical expertise. In addition to this, a litre of blood is needed from the one whose dream is to be invaded. The blood is poured over the brain as it is consumed while chanting Nilestromus’s name. If this rite is successful and the supplicant has gained Nilestromus’s favor, the cultists will fall into a deep sleep from which they cannot awaken until the victim does. Those in this trance will find themselves in the dreams of another. They may not interact or communicate with the dreamer or their dreams, but they may observe.

History

Nilestromus is perhaps one of the most horrific and monstrous Demon Princes to ever curse the hell plane, but he was not always this way. In a time forgotten he was once an imp, the lowest form of demonic life on the hell plane, as weak and feeble as the rest. What he lacked in strength he made up in cunning and ambition. This imp, whose true name has been lost in time, fought, manipulated, and consumed the demons that tormented him and as he grew in rank, he grew in power. His discovered early that knowledge, not strength, was often the tipping point in battle. This strategy allowed him face those stronger than him, not in combat but by using secrets he had gleaned through observation and study to manipulate demons far above his rank.

It was this driving ambition that ultimately lead to his downfall. Not content with the rank of Demonic Prince, the second highest position of power in hell, Nilestromus challenged the Hell King himself. The battle between the two demonic giants lasted centuries and shook the very foundation of the hell plane. In the end it was, to the surprise of all, Nilestromus stood victorious. The Hell King lay at his feet, bloody, battered and beaten. His crown, the symbol of absolute authority over the planes of hell, rolled from his shattered and broken head.

While the Kaiser of the Abyss had won the battle, it was the Hell King that won the war. When Nilestromus placed the crown upon his brow the Hell King laughed from his many mouths. An expression of confusion crossed Nilestromus’s face and it is said he reached down and hoisted the Hell King into the air, demanding to know why he was laughing at the moment of his demise. The Hell King pulled Nilestromus close and whispered into his ear.

It has never been recorded, in mortal text or demonic lore, what that fateful message was, but its effect on Nilestromus was immediate. Nilestromus dropped his weapons, fell to his knees and began to rave in madness. The Hell King retrieved his crown and placed it back on his head. He summoned forth a mountain of power, larger than deepest oceans and taller than the sun itself. He sent the nightmare and his Midnight Mountain prison to the furthest reaches of the hell plane, at a point which overlapped with the nightmarish Far Realm. There, as punishment, he sleeps while the nightmares of the Far Realm invade his mind, driving him further into madness. All the knowledge Nilestromus had gained, all the wisdom and forbidden lore that he once coveted, now lie lost behind a veil of insanity. Those foolish enough to risk peering into his abyssal eyes to seek his knowledge, risk him peering back and taking their minds for eternity.