Prometheus takes immense pleasure in the despair of living beings. He also delights in the desperate yearning of mortal beings. His tool of trickery and cheating has a name, the False Fruits. The False Fruits are corrupting fire given form; if a being looks upon the Fruit for too long, they are driven to madness and subjugated to the service of the devil Titan of Titans. Prometheus stole from the Celestials eons ago a shard of divine flame, when the Gods came looking, he stowed the fire within his heart.
The Gods punished Prometheus for millennia, long after they themselves were dead. Sometimes, being dead is better than being abandoned, and this drove Prometheus mad, and the hatred that festered in his heart poisoned the divine flame he hid away all those years ago. When he was freed, he found empty the realm in which he was trapped, save for a few other inhabitants, and made himself king, implementing these fellow inhabitants as his generals.
He found at the bottom of the realm a tree forsaken and withered. Prometheus named it Tsaqqum, and poured the divine fire of hatred from his heart into the tree, rejuvenating it. At its foot, he found who would become his Empyrean, Tantalus, who had been condemned to eternity beneath the tree. He freed the man, and installed him as his Empyrean and Sylph and after some time, the tree of Zaqqum began to bear fruit. Prometheus gifted these fruit to the other Titans for them to use to tempt mortals and divine alike. Just as Prometheus had his destiny, his free will stripped from him, he and the other Titans use these fruits to steal destiny from others to fuel their power.
The False Fruits have been used countless times throughout history, most times it is offered to an individual in return for some boon. However, there are some events that have had lasting effects of empires, species, and in special cases, Gods. Over the years, the False Fruits have been a device to keep Prometheus in charge of the Nine Hells, but it has also created two groups of mortal beings, the Fire Giants, and the Hobgoblins.
Hobgoblins were a group of Dwarves that Mnedis corrupted not long after Prometheus assumed the position of Supreme Titan of the Nine Hells. A King now known only as the King of Roses, ruled over a Dwarven kingdom now long forgotten. He wished for a loyal populace over which he could rule and shape into an devoted militia. Midas offered him the power for both and he accepted immediately. Only after eating the fruit did he realize his mistake, for Midas had drained the kingdom’s coffers, turning each coin into a baby. With a new abundance of babies and an absence of wealth, the king’s citizens turned on him, usurping and killing him. Unfortunately, the king also paid the ultimate price on top of his life, his soul became the possession of Midas. These children became known as Hobgoblins, and although many of them were slayed in the years following their creation, some managed to survive and reproduce, continuing the lineage to this day.
Some tell tales that long ago, an envious King Ingolfr convinced the Fire Giants to aspire for more than they were given. Rather than obey the caste Lokke had installed, they turned away from him and sought out a new God. The Hecatonchire heard their pleas and granted them their wish. It came to them, masquerading as an Empyrean of Brigantia, offering a holy flame. Before Ingolfr and the Fire Giants could discover the flame was a fraud, they were touched by its sinful embers. The False Fruit scorched their skin a Stygian black. Eoten, as punishment for their disobedience, marked them with their distinctive obsidian horns.