Codex Draconis: Phosonith: The Cruel Charmer

Codex Draconis: Phosonith: The Cruel Charmer

Men ought either to be indulged or utterly destroyed, for if you merely offend them they take vengeance, but if you injure them greatly they are unable to retaliate, so that the injury done to a man ought to be such that vengeance cannot be feared.Niccolo Machiavelli

Some individuals possess an intangible quality that not only inspires confidence, but makes those around them feel special simply through acknowledgement. The highly charismatic know when to lay on the charm not only to inspire, negotiate, and perform, but also to erect a pleasant veneer to hide an ugly core. They keep their inner personalities well guarded, and for good reason people would dislike and even fear the person that lies beneath the pleasing exterior. It is normal for people to keep elements of their personalities hidden from others, but there is a deadly deception that occurs when people intentionally mislead others into believing that they are driven by altruism when they in fact live according to their baser, self interested motivations.

Phosonith, one of Hells most promising princes, revels in the pleasant faade he projects, only dropping it in the privacy of his beautiful but twisted towers in Stygias city of Ess. He is a crafty administrator with a reputation for implementing beneficial changes for his city, though he hides angry, cruel, and violent tendencies. Behind closed doors, Phosonith violently lashes out at any who disappoint him or thwart his ambitions. All the while, he impresses Asmodeus with his ability to tempt some of the most noteworthy mortals with the notion that with enough wealth, power, and renown, they may succeed through charm and the appearance of compassion, while they are in practice condescending, cruel, and abusive to those around them.