Square Nails

Square Nails

Square Nails is an ancient tome penned in the God Era. Written by Demogorgon, for a long time it was
thought to be a war journal. Many reading it for its insight on his war strategies, supplying a demon army numbering twenty legions, and his ideas on the conflict his enemies called the Demon Spawn War. On reading, Square Nails does not come off as one written by one of the Abyss's most brutal and evil demon lords.

Demgorgon writes, "most of us wanted a prosperous land of our own, away from the evil tearing apart Piranoth's Steps." When Demogorgon retreated from Bal-Kriav, returning to what most of his kind called the Abyss, he left Four Nails in the hands of a trusted mortal. The book eventually found its way into someone who could appreciate its value. It was a good read for both historians and war planners, and even interesting to the casual reader. Having looted it from its previous owner, an orc grunt of the Gud-Mortoth tribe came into possession of this book. He passed it on to his war shaman who copied the book and then passed it on to his chieftain, who in turn made copies and passed it on to his sub-commanders. The reprints were the problem with these books. Once someone had copied the words to another book they took on a slightly different meaning. This changed to be something more about Demogorgon's greatness and his desire to raise up the downtrodden and the oppressed. These copies became the books of Demogorgon's first proselytizers.

In the First Epoch, various churches began burning these books. This was based on evidence that the copying process cursed the writer into becoming a Demogorgon cultist. People stopped making copies. Even so, six millennia had passed since the first reprint, thousands of copies were out there. Furthermore, those who made copies spared no expense in getting the book out into the wilds, enlightening the barbarians to the words of Demogorgon.

It is a problem, a serious problem. Square Nails does not portray its writer as a demon, or a pitiless monster bent on destruction and the vilest of deeds. He comes off as a freedom fighter. Reading his flowery words, his great stature, poise, and unmatched strength, you would think he is attractive looking, when in fact he is one of the most hideous of the demon lords.

- Giracian, commenting on the book Square Nails - "Bal-Kriav Affairs, 1890 HE"