Warlock Covens of Anuheim

The warlocks of Anuheim are remnants of an age before the Demonic Wars, when their kind worked in the shadows, forging pacts with infernal entities to secure power and influence. Though the war shattered many of their ambitions, scattering them into isolation, their purpose has never wavered. Across the lands, these secretive covens continue their work, growing their power, spreading their corruption, and seeking to reclaim what was lost.

The Nature of a Warlock Coven

Warlock covens are small, secretive, and disconnected from one another. Each coven is an independent force, bound not by hierarchy but by mutual ambition and a shared reverence for demonic power. Unlike other magical orders, warlocks do not share knowledge freely. The secrecy of their spells and the nature of their pacts make them wary of even their own kind.

Where a warlock coven lingers, the world itself begins to change. The land beneath their rituals darkens, the soil hardening into something resembling obsidian, jagged and lifeless. Demonic trees rise from the earth, their roots acting as conduits to the demon realms, allowing warlocks to strengthen their connection to the abyss. These trees pulse with an unnatural energy, their bark covered in shifting infernal runes, and their branches curling into claw-like forms.

No natural animals live in these areas. Instead, they are replaced by lesser demons that wander about, doing what demons do best—sowing chaos, hunting intruders, or simply destroying anything they find. Occasionally, these creatures venture beyond the coven’s territory, stirring terror in nearby settlements before vanishing back into the cursed lands.

The Soulbound Scrolls

A warlock is not truly a warlock until they have abandoned their mortal name. Upon initiation, a warlock relinquishes their former self, sealing their birth name within a scroll. This scroll is their greatest treasure, yet also their greatest weakness. Should it ever be read aloud, the warlock's very being unravels, casting them into the demonic realm, never to return. To protect this artifact, warlocks bind them within enchanted staves, hidden compartments, or weave them into powerful relics—objects so guarded that even the most desperate of enemies hesitate to risk their wrath.

The Eternal War

Not all warlocks share the same ambitions. Some covens seek dominion over mortal society, others crave personal ascension into demonhood, while a select few whisper of a darker purpose—one that has been forgotten by all but the most ancient of their kind.

The Demon Lords Must Return.

Though the world believes the Demonic Wars ended with the banishment of the Demon Lords, certain warlocks know otherwise. Across forgotten ruins and within shadowed groves, rituals are performed to unseal ancient bindings, to crack the prison walls that separate Anuheim from its lost overlords.

It is said that one warlock was captured attempting such a ritual, sealed within a magical prison before he could finish his work. Among his possessions was a single journal, its pages filled with maddening scripture, yet one passage remains untranslated to this day.

"The world sleeps, blind to the truth. You lock your doors and whisper prayers to dead gods, but the walls of this realm are thin. I have seen the flicker of his shadow in the dark. I have heard his voice in the quiet places of the world. He is not gone. He never was."

The War for the Gem of Xor

One warlock coven, known as the Coven of the Hollow Veil, is locked in conflict with the necromancer An’cax. They seek an artifact in his possession—the Gem of Xor—a stone the size of a human heart that once adorned a Demon Lord’s ring. During the Demonic Wars, it was used to open portals, allowing demons to spill into Anuheim, fueling the horrors of that era.

An’cax has been unable to wield its power for his own necromantic ends, but he fears what the warlocks would do should they reclaim it. Knowing the coven’s hunger, he holds onto the Gem of Xor as a bartering chip, leveraging its dark potential to negotiate with other powerful mages who might seek his downfall.

The Skragglins, unknowingly caught between these two forces, have begun to see strange phenomena creeping into their forests. The blight from An’cax’s experiments has met the abyssal taint of the warlocks, and the result is something altogether different—an area where the laws of life and death no longer apply, where creatures die and rise again not as undead, but as something else entirely.

The Legacy of the Warlocks

Warlock covens were the primary driver of the Demon Lords’ rise and the reason the Demonic Wars began. They were the conduits between worlds, allowing the Overlords to rule Anuheim and wage war across the entire planet. Though the warlocks themselves were never numerous, their influence shaped the darkest chapter in Anuheim’s history.

When the tides of war turned against the demons, many warlocks were slain, hunted down as betrayers of the world. Those that survived went into hiding, forming the isolated covens that persist to this day.

Notable Covens

The Hollow Veil – At war with An’cax over the Gem of Xor.

The Ember Maw – Seek to reforge the pacts of old, calling upon forgotten Demon Lords.

The Forsaken Word – Their members speak with many voices, possessed by countless demonic spirits.

The Ashen Grin – Warlocks who consume the souls of others to expand their own existence, believing immortality is earned through sacrifice.

The warlocks remain a hidden yet ever-present danger. Their cursed lands spread, their influence lingers in whispered prophecy, and the shadow of the Demon Lords still looms over the world. Anuheim has forgotten its darkest days—but the warlocks have not.