Atlas

TW: Brief descriptions of wounds
Atlas made a deal with a demon as a young adult, gaining power in exchange for his soul and his happiness. He abused this power constantly. He explored forbidden magic and he mingled with the Shade and its followers. With enough time, not only did he lose his soul and the ability to be happy, but he became a demon himself. He constantly hungers for more power and souls, gaining it primarily through dealmaking. It's a cycle where he allows his victims to use his powers in exchange for their souls until they too are no more than demons, and they are forced to feed on souls to sustain themselves like Atlas. When he was in his prime, dealmaking was not necessary to gain power. Before his imprisonment in Suvaalnat, he was strong enough to tear the souls of mortals from their bodies and consume them that way, and it is precisely why he cannot be allowed to reach that level of power ever again.

In his true form, he is a giant otherworldly being with long twisted horns, multiple pairs of pale blue eyes, giant wings, a flowing black mane, and a coat of feathers running down his chest, forelimbs, spine, and tail. The starmap patterns on his skin appear more as wisps of the Shade, constantly shifting and moving, like a starless dusk being claimed by darkness. Sometimes the wisps come out as extra limbs. To regular mortals, he appears as an ordinary Wildclaw, and how healthy he looks depends on how many souls he's eaten.

Even when starved of souls, he doesn't truly die. His body will be weak and frail, and he will only be able to use a fraction of his power. He can only be killed by using the magic of all eleven elements at once. Any less than that, and he can feed off the magical energy, and potentially sap a mage's body entirely of their magic through Shade abilities. Feeding on magic is another method he can use to gain power, but it's far more nourishing to eat souls. Sapping mages of their magic allows him to utilize more than one element at once. Unless he is subdued or killed, he has no limit to how much power he can gain.

He has used this power for many nefarious deeds in the past, but perhaps the biggest event was when he summoned Goetia-born from Suvaalnat and captured them, fed on their magic, and even made deals with them. He even summoned a King named Mythril and absorbed his magic before slaying him. His dominion lasted until Mythril's sibling King Rhamnousia invaded Atlas' lair, freed the imprisoned Goetia-born, and defeated the demon. In the process, King Rhamnousia took the demon's face and dragged him to Suvaalnat where he is still imprisoned today.

The demon wears the skull of a ram to cover his missing face, but if one looks closely, they can see how he constantly drools and never blinks. He is regarded by his captors as a horrible creature who is unworthy of sympathy, and he is sometimes mocked for no longer being powerful after having killed a Goetia-born King. But Atlas brushes off their comments because bit by bit, he is slowly claiming more souls and rebuilding his damaged body. When he regains his power, he will get the last laugh, and it will be their souls he feasts upon. Until then, he allows them to say what they will and treat him how they want. He wants the prison guards to believe he's still helpless and lacks power.

To make things worse, he is still able to communicate with dragons on Sornieth and make deals with them. He is currently harvesting souls, but not eating them to maintain a frail appearance and avoid raising suspicion. In the mean time, Atlas waits for the right opportunity to make his escape, feed on his stolen souls, and enact vengeance on the King who humiliated him and took his face...

Souls claimed:
Savonia
Tatsuya

---

"Easy with the tongue, son, try to listen carefully
What you've seen's scary, but nothing when compared to me
I could show you things to paint all your dreams haunted
I could make you scream if I wanted

Or I can be the bee in your bonnet, your best friend forever
Two peas in a pod flockin' like birds of a feather
And you never have a need to beg, work, or steal
If all this sounds worth it then let's make a deal

All you want in life for the price of your soul
All the money you can fold, power that you can hold
I'll put you in control
Only if you're down to roll down these train tracks tonight"

Song: The Lab Rats - Devil's Train