I wondered silently through the vast hallways of my newest and most ornate palace. I currently found myself in a hallway that had enormous glass windows, allowing me to see the beautiful night's sky since it was the wee hours of the morning of my eighth consecutive day in Gehenna.

Like all good palaces, the place was not inactive even in the earliest hours of the day. As I silently made my way towards my throne room I could hear all manner of activity. I heard warrior devils, those tasked with guarding my palace, sharpening weapons, or on patrol in other parts of the palace. I heard leyes, another type of extraplanar entity, conversing with one another in their own distinct language. I heard devils sharing and comparing plots and means through which they had acquired souls.

I didn't see anyone else as I quietly and swiftly wandered from one portion of the palace to another. All of the palace's doors were closed, giving each of the thousands of creatures in the palace some measure of privacy.

I made my way deeper into the palace, eventually leaving behind hallways with windows as my walk took me deeper and deeper into the massive building itself. When I stepped out of places with natural lighting I began to step into areas lit by electronic lights, ones that were motion sensitive and painted my palace in a harsh light.

I only had to wander into the depths of my palace a little bit longer before finding myself in an enormous chamber filled with a number of unique decorations. My throne room's key feature was the Scarlet Seat, the unique artifact I had taken from my oldest foe: Agustino.

The gigantic seat sat at the back of the throne room, atop a dais. It was an empty throne at the moment, and I wondered if I'd soon sit in it, but for the moment I didn't plan to. I had only once sat in the throne since I had acquired it, and as a potent force for evil, the throne was a strange place to sit.

The seat couldn't hurt me, I was its owner, but it still radiated powerful good-aligned energies and so when I sat on it I quickly found myself wanting to get off of it. The artifact didn't quite have a personality of its own, but it was powerful enough that I, still far away from being as powerful as an overgod, was not fond of just how powerful it was. In time I planned to become a powerful enough force for good that I could fully utilize the seat comfortably but I wasn't yet that powerful when it came to the goodness alignment.

That wasn't the only notable piece of furniture or decoration inside of my throne room either. The dais on which the throne was placed was made up of four circular steps, and on each of the first three seats were a pair of devilish statues.

The first pair of statues were modeled after a type of warrior devil, spear-wielding devils known as glabiels. The statues were enormous, standing taller than even the tallest humans and the spears in their hands were made from a magical metal known as orchicalum, a potent metal known for its ability to cause wounds that wouldn't heal naturally.

The humanoids that the glabiel devils most closely resembled were orcs. They had the same fierce facial features as male orcs, the same dismal skin tones as orcs, and had the same innate spark of hatefulness and vicious violence that many orcs had, especially the more brutal tribes of orcs that inhabited many violent worlds.

The second pair of statues were clearly inspired by the chivalrous devils known as "Infernal Heralds". Infernal heralds were on the lower end of the top tier of the infernal hierarchy, the caste system which dictated how much influence any devil had in devilish society. Infernal heralds were akin to devilish knights, powerful champions of either other devils at the top of the hierarchy, or in the ancient past the champions of archdevils, and other powerful dictators of Infernius.

The statues of infernal heralds that were mere meters away from the statues were of human height but they were clad in "armor", which was itself a part of their design. They held a shield and a long-sword in their hands and were positioned to glare at those who approached the throne, so as to intimidate them.

The final pair of statues were of the infamous blitzkrieg devils, the top-ranking warrior-type devils who commanded mighty legions of lesser devilish warriors. They were of a pair of devils, one male, and one female. Both devils looked like a fusion of dragons and some nondescript type of humanoid.

The devils were taller than the human-like infernal heralds and each held a distinct weapon in whichever of their hands were closer to the throne, as well as a spear in their other hands. One, the one to the left of the throne, held a trident in its right hand and a spear in its left. That statue was the male blitzkrieg devil.

The female blitzkrieg devil held a war hammer in its left hand and a spear in its right hand. Both statues were made with their eyes closed, their eyes were hidden behind stone eyelids.

Unsurprisingly given that I was their creator, all six statues were actually capable of animating if I mentally ordered them too. I had created them to serve me as weapons and as a way to demonstrate my power, should any enemies ever dare to strike at me in my own palace. That said, for now, they were merely fanciful ornaments meant to accentuate the aesthetic of the Scarlet Seat.

Throughout the room vast pillars extended from the floor to the ceiling, and acted as powerful supports for the building should it ever come under attack. They were unnecessary but for the most part, as in some rooms I didn't follow this trend, I didn't want the palace to be obviously, visibly impossible and reality-defying so I often chose to abide by conventional laws of physics and architecture when making my infernal home.

The pillars were made from white stone, and so they provided a sort of natural light source which made it so that the electric lights that illuminated many of the interior chambers and rooms of the palace with a harsh and unfaltering light were not necessary here.

My vision wasn't my only sense that was being stimulated within the throne room of my palace. Music drifted to my ears from an area to the left of the Scarlet Seat. Not far from the throne itself was an array of statues that were playing a diverse collection of instruments. The statues themselves were also creations of mine, things I had created to fill this vast room with beautiful music.

The statues were moving slowly, aside from their fingers or their lips, depending on which instrument each of them was using. I was still for a moment, as I watched them fulfill the purpose for which they had been created. The music they created gave the throne room a pleasant, welcoming feel, which made sense given that at the moment I was the only person in the room.

The throne room's non-artistic features included a vast table to the right of the throne room. I went and sat at the table, which I had created from wood grown from a tree I had created deep underground and grown using my powers over nature in a test world where I wasn't an apocalyptic force of nature but rather a god of kindness and nature.

The table was made from dark wood and it contrasted well with a nearby white pillar. I began to quietly contemplate how to best proceed from here. As I did I rose a hand and summoned several different creatures.

The first creatures I summoned were a pair of angelic beings of knowledge who stood atop the hierarchy of angels in my service. They appeared at first to be floating books, who swiftly reformed themselves into two men, each of which had six wings. They nodded respectfully at me, a glint of fanaticism visible in their eyes, and sat down on either side of me. They smelled like the deepest, untouched, unclean corners of a long-forgotten archive.

The second pair of creatures I summoned were two of the Mi-Gos who had joined me in the wake of my universe-wide call to their kind. They were among the smartest members of their species. The two monstrosities were human-sized beings who resembled nightmarish fusions of bees and crustaceans. They didn't bother sitting down, but upon seeing the angels quickly surmised what was going on here and greeted the angels with polite nods before beginning to silently pray, to me.

The third pair of creatures I called to me were unique in that they were actually artificial intelligence in mechanical bodies I designed even as I called them to me. I quietly created elven bodies for the A.I.'s to inhabit and control, and when the elven A.I.'s appeared they sat down and acknowledged their peers and myself.

The fourth pair of creatures I called to my side were devilish sages, powerful and knowledgeable devils who knew the history and folklore of Infernius.

I spent the next few minutes of the earliest part of my day summoning many different scholars, sages, heroes, and strategists. The long table had many rows of seats and by the time I was done, I had summoned many pairs of creatures. Elves, angels, some abominations, robots, leyes, and more were seated at the table.

"Hello and welcome to the first council of Stygia. Today is a historic day, as it is the day that we and others shall begin to plan our next steps for total domination of Infernius and the rest of the universe. You all are but one group of sages, scholars, and strategists that I plan to consult in planning my next move." I explained, speaking proudly and powerfully to the creatures I had called to my side.

The last display of my power that I put on before beginning the council was a strange one. I began it by creating a single empty chair on the other end of the table. The empty chair stayed empty for a moment before a shimmering mist in the rough shape of a person filled it. The shimmering mist was immobile for a second before I rose a single hand and aimed my empty palm at it.

Divine power coursed through the air between myself and the shimmering mist. The divine power wasn't invisible, indeed it caused the air between myself and the mist to glow tremendously brightly for several moments as it went from where I was, and kept moving until it hit the mist. When it did the mist began to react violently, shaking as if it were in the middle of an earthquake only it was affected by.

The mist shakes violently for almost an entire minute, drawing more and more eyes as its shaking continues. It eventually begins to slow down, and settle into a peaceful state, before turning a strange, ephemeral shade of blue and beginning to speak.

"Greetings oh most strange and powerful creatures of knowledge, curiosity, and secrets. I am most humbled to be able to join you, and to be able to speak to you. Before we begin, Althos, may I introduce myself properly to your council?" The being, a familiar friend and force of nature I have long considered an ally asks respectfully.

I do not hesitate and nod, giving the creature permission to truly introduce itself. The shimmering mist nods back at me, the motion a subtle one since it doesn't have a physical body. It continues to speak, speaking more confidently now.

"I am a sort of being known as a 'domain'. 'Domains' are conscious embodiments of concepts and we were known to the collective assembly of races known as the higher beings. Gods especially were capable of communing with and influencing us. I am the domain known as the domain of knowledge, and it is my great honor to be the first domain that Althos chose to allow to exist in the physical world." The domain revealed, its voice being heard quite easily by every single being seated at the table.

The beings gathered at the table all began to visibly grow quite surprised by this strange but welcome guest. I heard many different hearts speed up, and I heard the thoughts of dozens of creatures react with considerable shock to the words of my friend, the domain of knowledge.

It brought a smile to my face, and internally I mused that I had certainly made the correct choice by allowing this domain to be the first to truly walk the lands of the living and the dead since the end of the mythic era. This domain had long been one of my favorites, and I was overjoyed to use the ultimate power of true godhood, the "Manifest concept"power to bring the being to true life.

With this usage of my "Manifest concept" power the domain of knowledge would be even more sure to aid me faithfully in the days to come, especially since after this I planned to give it a true body, not just a shimmering, intangible form.