Deowyn Centhos, also known as the Jackal and the devil Burvakos, was a powerful devil that occupied the body of an elven member of the Council of Dreamers, stationed at the Council branch in Hymathel. He masqueraded as an altruist, and is highly involved with humanitarian efforts in and around the city, but in actuality he simply used his position to orchestrate the devils in the area to further the goals of Etarus. He was once the teacher of Yoxxel, and taught her magic; however, at some point he became obsessive over her, eventually kidnapping her and transporting her to hell in order to transform her into a devil. He was killed in the hellish planes by Phaelnah Ellarian, and his soul destructed into oblivion.
Description
Appearance
In his elven form, Deowyn was a somewhat tall elf. He had brown, straight hair and lightly tanned skin. Small, faintly visible freckles lined his cheeks under his kind, but tired-looking golden eyes. He generally wore a kind smile on his face. He had a refined and straight-standing posture.
Deowyn dressed neatly and formally, wearing dark vestments with purple and green accents, the colors of the Council of Dreamers. He wore dark dress pants with faint vertical lines down the sides. As many of his ventures were diplomatic, he did not wear more traditional wizard's robes.
In his devilish form, Burvakos was a strangely bloated devil with dark purple-greyish skin. Two goat-like horns grow from his forehead, and he has a series of 3 mouths seated inside each other, the largest of which was capable of extending far down his neck. He was rather large in stature, nearly around 12 feet tall and 5 feet wide.
Personality
Deowyn's front-facing persona was understanding, amicable, and polite. He exuded elven refinement even through difficult scenarios, but took great care not to come across as pompous. He was generous and well studied. He made it a point not to speak ill of others, giving his words greater impact when he actually decided to do so. He was ravenously fond of food, but hated bananas.
After being revealed as a devil, Deowyn showed himself to be a shrewd, intelligent, calculating individual. He had very little passion for anything, rarely getting excited even in circumstances that directly threaten his life. When Etarus still lived, Deowyn worked tirelessly on his behalf, stating that he was simply a part of a machine, fashioned to do a specific job. Beyond his cold and manipulative nature, Deowyn seemed to harbor a strange attachment to Yoxxel.
After Etarus' defeat, Deowyn's nature became more unhinged as he no longer had purpose, and had little to distract him. Instead, he began to focus on his bizarre, fatherly affections for Yoxxel, and apparently took pleasure in causing suffering for her parents by turning her against them.
Skills and Abilities
As a member of the Council of Dreamers, Deowyn was a powerful and accomplished wizard. His powers as a devil were even greater, so he often feigned weakness to reinforce his façade.
Truesight
Somehow, Deowyn was able to locate an invisible censor created by Vyloxen Shurilas. This was likely due to his power as a devil.
Spellcaster
Deowyn has been witnessed manifesting the following:
- Dispel Magic
- Sending
- Some spell that allowed him to freely converse with Vyloxen
- Circle of Death
- Confusion
- Ray of Enfeeblement
- Dimension Door
- Teleport
- Banishment
- Hiding a number of objects with a powerful invisibility spell that could not be interacted with unless they could be seen
- Manifesting a persistent portal to a constantly moving location
- Creating the Unknown
- Engineering a portal to Grudesh
History
At some point after some war that took place in the hells, the devil Burvakos was placed into the body of Deowyn, and resided there for hundreds of years, slowly climbing the ranks of the Council of Dreamers and increasing his power in Hymnethas.
In 930 IaC, Deowyn discovered the wizard Iratha's powers of life alchemy, and feared that they could be capable of ousting devils from their possessed bodies. Using his clout as a Dreamer, he slandered Iratha as a necromancer, and with the public turned on him, Iratha's disappearance was not questioned when he was stolen away by Deowyn. Deowyn kept Iratha prisoner for many years in the Unknown, torturing him for information, but taking care not to let him die for fear of his soul escaping.
In Iron 946, Deowyn discovered a young Yoxxel wandering the roads of Sanaris and took her in as his apprentice. He was soon tracked down by Inglis Alexandar, who was in search of Yoxxel, and the two made fast friends. At this point, Deowyn was aware of the fact that Inglis had previously been in hell fighting devils, so he chose to keep him close and guide him down the wrong paths. Deowyn told Inglis of the Jackal, his own psuedonym, filling Inglis with purpose to defeat the devils of Hymnethas as Yoxxel stayed behind to continue learning magic. At the time, Deowyn decided to keep Yoxxel close in the case that Inglis ever found out who he was.
Deowyn tutored Yoxxel in magic for around 5 years alongside Ryla Mulaweyrn, encouraging her unorthodox approaches. In this time, Deowyn continued to organize the efforts of the devils in the region, orchestrating a takeover of Peralas so that it could be used as a staging ground for their plans with Lake Faelance. He also began twisting Yoxxel's mind, turning her against her father, who he painted as an unhinged zealot attempting to fight a threat that didn't even exist. In the Devil's Nook, Deowyn began conducting various experiments on his prisoners in search of a method of turning people into devils.
In 951 IaC, the adventuring party the Peas arrived in Hymathel, including Yoxxel's mother, Phaelnah Ellarian. Deowyn received the Sallow Stone from the party, a transaction that Razodon Goswin later admitted was initiated by Deowyn himself. He paid the party handsomely for the stone, and hired them to guard a relief caravan to Peralas, as trade route had been disrupted by the Divine Branch. According to Inglis Alexandar, this relief caravan held implements of corruption that were used to foul the waters of Lake Faelance and further solidify the hold the devils had on the region.
When Hymathel was attacked by the Bottle Demon Deowyn did not directly participate in the battle, claiming he was not offensively capable, and that his skills would be of better use outside the danger zone. He refused to allow Yoxxel to enter the corrupted district, encouraging the disgraced Vyloxen Shurilas to go in her stead. In a meeting following the purification of the Nevald District, Deowyn was star struck by the appearance of Selathwin Muleyr, and fainted in the meeting hall of the mayor.
As time passed, Deowyn's obsessions with Yoxxel grew more dire, perhaps exacerbated by the close proximity of her parents. Using the Sallow Stone, Deowyn began crafting clones of Yoxxel and placed devils within them to bolster his ranks. At this point, both Phaelnah and Inglis had discovered his true nature, so he began a defensive plan. He placed one of his clones in his office to satisfy the Shadow Guard, who wished to use Yoxxel as bait for the Peas. Deowyn sequestered the real Yoxxel in the Unknown, apparently convincing her that it was for her own safety, and that her parents had become a threat to her. During this time, he began using the fruits of his experiments to inundate Yoxxel with the souls of devils, placing her in a hazy and suggestive state.
The Peas later confronted Deowyn in his tower, catching him off guard. Dissatisfied by his responses to their questions, they eventually subdued him and escaped with him after being chased out of Hymathel by the Emerald Guard.
Deowyn was initially resistant to further questioning by the Peas, but after falling under the influence of a Suggestion spell, he revealed many of his machinations, including the nature of his relationship with Etarus. However, by speaking around the topic, he managed to keep the location of Yoxxel secret. Deowyn was pulled into the Nightseeker's shadows when she ambushed the Peas in the mountains of Taerin Ucarin, but did not end up in the Tomb of Vortek with the rest of the Peas. Inglis Alexandar later revealed that Deowyn had been pulled into the Nightblight itself alongside him. With his bindings falling off in the process, Deowyn quickly escaped into the chaos, leaving Inglis to wander in search on an exit on his own.
Somehow, Deowyn was able to escape from the Nightblight, perhaps through the use of his devil magic. He soon found that many of his operations had been upended due to the destruction of the Sallow Stone during the rebirth of the demigod Vortek, which eliminated all his clones of Yoxxel. Even worse, only weeks later, Etarus was killed at the hands of the rogue Wander, leaving Deowyn aimless and increasingly erratic. He escaped with Yoxxel to one of the hellish planes where he sat in wait with an ambush, keeping Yoxxel in a vegetative state so that he could delight in the despair of her parents when they inevitably sought her out.
Both Phaelnah and Inglis did arrive later, alongside Ryla, Tyerjon and Iratha, who had been freed from his prison. Deowyn waited as the group fought through his forces of devils, with Yoxxel sitting as his feet. As he was approached by his foes, Deowyn gloated from behind a magical barrier, and completed his research in front of Yoxxel's rescuer's; using his tail, he pierced Yoxxel's body, burning her into a crisp, as a new erinyes emerged from the ashes. He then lead his forces into battle against the invaders, but his ambush that was lying in wait was waylaid by the powers of Iratha, who had created an army of ghosts to fight against them. The group took down the forces in Deowyn's throne room, save for the erinyes that Yoxxel had become, soon focusing their efforts on Deowyn himself. His elven form was soon torn asunder, revealing his true, devilish nature as Burvakos. Tired of the charade, Burvakos repeatedly knocked around Ryla, eventually killing her, despite the efforts of Phaelnah. His attacks nearly dropped other others, but with a final evocation of the Nightblight, Phaelnah was able to destroy Burvakos, tearing him to shreds with tendrils of pure malice. Following Burvakos' defeat, the erinyes fell to ashes, though Yoxxel's soul was grabbed by Iratha before it entered the Soulcaster.