Plots and Schemes of the Lords of the Nine (Looking for Input)

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Veltharis ap Rylix's picture
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Plots and Schemes of the Lords of the Nine (Looking for Input)

Hello all. Long time reader, all-too-rare poster, here, looking for some input. Also, my apologies if this is in the wrong forum (can't recall what belongs where... Sticking out tongue ).

I've had the beginnings of a massive story and/or possible campaign surrounding a major upheaval in Baator (tentatively entitled "The Reckoning: Part Deux") swirling around and fermenting in my head for some time now. While I am an amateur writer (at best), and an even more amateur DM, I have recently been trying to pin down and elaborate on the various motivations that drive the various dukes and archdukes so as to get a better understanding of how they interact with one another, as well as what specific plans they may have in action at the start of the story. Having written out a fair amount on most of the LotN thus far (4-8), I was hoping to get some feedback on what I have so far (plausibility, potential complications, outright errors, ideas, etc.) so that when/if I get around to writing the whole thing out, I will have a more solid foundation to build the overarching plot upon.

For the record, Baator exists largely as depicted in the 3.5e Fiendish Codex II, modified where necessary to conform to earlier Planescape lore (for example, the role and purpose of the Dark Eight). The "death" of Malagarde, the transformation of Malbolge, and the ascension of Glasya as Lord of the Sixth is still quite fresh, though it might be as much as ten years old by this point.

As a starting point (largely because I write most everything on notebook paper first and this is all I have typed up at present), here is what I have for Belial. Questions in bold are things I still haven't fully worked out an answer to (and would be more than happy to hear suggestions on), but feel free to comment on anything and everything.

* * *

Belial

- Belial's consort Naome advised and orchestrated the transfer of power to their daughter Fierna, inspired by Mammon's willful change in form that a self-inflicted punishment might allow her Lord to avoid an even harsher reprimand, such as those suffered by Baalzebul and Moloch, at the hands of Asmodeus himself. Shortly afterward, Naome was slain by an unknown party - Belial suspects on the order of the Lord of the Ninth, as one final censure against him for his part in the Reckoning.

- Prior to the ascension of Glasya as Lord of the Sixth, Belial had been plotting invasions to seize Stygia and Malbolge from their rulers (I seem to recall Hag Countess/Malagarde and Baalzebul had a falling out after the Reckoning. Can anyone confirm?). Afterward, he put said plans on hold to assess the new situation: gathering intel on the new archduchess, determining how an assault against her would be taken by Asmodeus, and so forth, as well as a growing concern over the burgeoning relationship between Glasya and his own daughter, Fierna.

- Seemingly with her new friend's support, Fierna has taken an increasingly active role in baatezu politics and the governing of Phlegethos – areas where previously, despite having nominally held the title of Lord of the Fourth since the Reckoning, she had delegated much authority to her father. Belial fears that she, goaded on by Glasya, may eventually move to oust him and assume full control of Phlegethos herself.

- As such, in recent years Belial has put a large amount of energy into efforts to covertly monitor Fierna's actions and conversations – with moderate success – as well as portray Glasya as a less attractive role model – with little success. Recently secured the cooperation of Chamo, the legate of Abriymoch, to serve as a “spymaster” of sorts, charged with keeping track of Fierna's dealings and reporting them to Belial regularly. (What could Belial offer in exchange? How could he ensure Chamo would remain loyal to him?)

- While still too uncertain to risk moving against Malbolge, Belial has recently renewed his preparations for an invasion into Stygia. (Why? Concern over growing too complacent? Fierna's insistence? Baalzebul? Another factor?)

- Within Phlegethos, Belial counts the dukes Balan and Gaziel as firm allies, but has no official consort – rumors persist, however, that Fierna has assumed that role on many occasions in the past. Among the Lords of the Nine, has maintained a long-term alliance with Baalzebul.

EDIT: Note to self - Rewrite this; figure out how to incorporate Telchur and Vatun.

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Re: Plots and Schemes of the Lords of the Nine (Looking for ...

Levistus and Cryonax have struck up an alliance for an unknown reason. Cryonax has agreed to seek a way to release Levistus from his frozen prison.

In my writings, the reason is elaborated-- the glacier Levistus is trapped in is generated by an uber-powerful (more powerful than the Rod of 7 Parts) artifact-- or to be more specific, a piece of that artifact.
It is one of the 99 (or was it 999?) pieces of the Winter's Ressurection, a super powerful orb used a short time after the end of the Law-Chaos war to tip the Inner Planes back into balance (for a long time the war had resulted in Fire and Earth becoming dominant over Air and Water-- with Air nearly annihilated by Fire, after Imix went on a rampage over the death of Brista Pel, the Princess of Good Fire and his lover. The artifact worked too well and skewed the balanxe towards Air and Water, causing an ice age on multiple prime worlds. However, the power of the artifact was too great for its physical form to contain, and it shattered, spreading across the Inner Planes. Many of the shards have since been procured by various elementals and outsiders, some from the Outer Planes. it should be obvious as to why Cryonax wants to repair and use this artifact.)

I included this in the summary of an Elemental Planes adventure path, where, if the PCs don't prevent Cryonax from gathering all of the shards, Levistus is freed from his prison, which will likely have a major impact on the planes for the next batch of heroes to deal with-- entailing a major upheaval whereupon Levistus seeks revenge and the Lords of the Nine scramble immediately to stop him.

Though not a scheme, in the Timeline topic (titled "was the Law Chaos war" or something like that), I elaborate upon Asmodeus/Aeshma's fall. Essentially, he spent too long in the Abyss (the lower planes are EXTREMELY distressing and uncomfortable for a celestial, as they are cut off from the nurturing essence of their native plane *it's doubly distressing if that lower plane also possesses philosophical *e.g. law-chaos* opposite of the celestial.* During one particular campaign, he spent 66 years uninterrupted there.) Even more significant factors are that many of his superiors, most of whom had never even stepped foot in the Abyss, chastised him for the non-good and evil means he resorted beginning with that campaign in order to annihilate Obyrith. Asmodeus became very frustrated, feeling that his superiors did not understand the degree of evil and the threat that the Obyrith posed.
However, what truly sent him down the path of evil was some of the disturbing events that took place during that 66 year campaign. The Abyssal lords developed a new type of Obyrith which agonizingly parasitized Celestials, feeding off their very essence and eventually devouring their souls (not even a wish can restore them). The monstrosities parasitize their victims by entering the nearest orifice they have access to.
Asmodeus's first encounter with these abominations was when he found his BEST FRIEND parasitized and in agony, begging him for help. His appearance was highly distressing-- his flesh and body possessed a wrinkled, somewhat wasted appearance and his skin had turned a dusky pale gray. In addition, his abdomen was extremely bloated, with several undulating lumps protruding. When Asmodeus tried to heal him, the creature went into death throes and burst forth from his abdomen, killing him, and, at the same time, his body dessicated into a shriveled husk. The dying parasite sprang upon Asmodeus, who quickly dispatched it.
Later on, Asmodeus came upon a horrifying sight-- a brood pit filled with infected celestials, bound to the floor with some sort of sticky mucus or similar exudate. One of them was his LOVER, who appeared to be in agony and a state of advanced parasitization. Similar to the first victim, her abdomen was horribly bloated, but her condition did not appear to be the same. Asmodeus wasn't sure what to do-- by that time he knew that the parasites could not be killed immediately with healing powers, and that any attempt to do so would cause it to burst from the victim's body during its death throes, killing the victim off.
Within minutes, his lover began to scream in utmost agony as her body tensed up; Asmodeus could only watch on helplessly. She.. (this is a bit more graphic than the above) essentially "gave birth" to the parasite as it burst forth from her body, upon which she turned into a dessicated husk. The parasite attacked Asmodeus, and when he was about to kill it, it attempted to catch him off-guard by pleading for mercy using the voice of his dead lover.
In the meantime, several of the parasites were bursting forth from celestials (there were over 100 in that brood pit), and while many of them attacked Asmodeus and his troops, several of them also escaped the pit. Asmodeus was forced to resort to desperate measures in order to ensure that more of these creatures could not escape in order to infect other celestials, and, though less important, out of a glimmer of hope that some remnant of his fellow celestials' soul could be saved. His fellow celestials refused to take such a measure and instead stood ready to slay the parasites as they emerged.
Asmodeus... was forced to slay his own fellow celestials. After that event, Asmodeus swore to wipe out every last Obyrith using any means available to him, no matter how reprehensible-- the Obyrith had to be stopped before more celestials were killed, and before the planes of good could possibly be corrupted or infected... he was also motivated by hatred and vengeance.
As he employed such extreme and reprehensible means, he became more and more corrupted.
This story is the TRUE origin behind the Blood War-- it is not just about law vs. chaos, nor merely about competition for resources. (That said, in my writings, Asmodeus hates the Obyrith far more than he hates the Tanar'ri-- and you KNOW how much he hates the Tanar'ri.)
There is an artifact-- an ancient religious book somewhere in the Multiverse, written by Asmodeus himself long, long ago, that chronicles this story, and from his point of view.

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Re: Plots and Schemes of the Lords of the Nine (Looking for ...

Oh, sorry, I'll read your entire post and get to the input in a little while (that said, I'm not an expert on the Outer Planes-- hopefully Ripvanwormer will appear and post-- he's a living encyclopedia of Planescape and D&D lore)

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Re: Plots and Schemes of the Lords of the Nine (Looking for ...

While I'm certainly looking for input regarding my own plots and schemes, I'm more than happy to read those written by others as well. Feel free to share. Laughing out loud

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Meant to have a couple more of these done by now. Unfortunately, I am a frustratingly slow - and worse, obsessive - typist... You have no idea how long it took to put this together. >_<

* * *

Mephistopheles

Mephistopheles has built up a tremendous amount of debt in recent centuries, due primarily to his extensive efforts to stimulate the growth of his hellfire cults across the multiverse. Most of the Lords of the Nine hold at least a small portion of this debt, but the vast majority is held by Dispater and Levistus.

Somewhat counter-intuitively, the Lord of the Fifth has been a particularly "safe" creditor for Mephistopheles. Levistus is widely viewed to be utterly untrustworthy and many suspect that, should he ever escape imprisonment, he would quickly betray Baator to its enemies in his quest for vengeance. Yet Mephistopheles reasons that Levistus' burning desire for freedom, along with his lack of any real allies within Baator, make it extremely difficult for the Lord of the Fifth to risk betraying any who do business with him, however minor, for fear of alienating a contact that might help to secure his eventual release.

Recently, however, Levistus turned this relationship on its head, simply by offering to forgive his portion of Mephistopheles' debt in full, should the Lord of the Eighth free him from captivity. As daunting a prospect as so blatantly moving against Asmodeus' will may be, Mephistopheles has concluded that the reward outweighs the risk of reprisal - particularly because he expects that Levistus would suffer the brunt of the Overlord's wrath.

To that end, Mephistopheles has sent low-level functionaries to Stygia to test the application of hellfire upon Levistus' iceberg tomb, with modest results. Scaling up, he has instructed his consort Baalphegor to design a powerful hellfire engine and boring device, intending to drill a tunnel directly to the core of the iceberg. Meanwhile, the School of Hellfire, under its dean Quagrem, is preparing the infrastructure and resources to actually build the machine. A corresponding frame is already under construction adjacent to the Tomb of Levistus, beneath the surface of the Stygian Ocean it floats in.

Curiously, the displaced gelugons of Nebulat have been providing their expertise on magically-enhanced ice to aid the project, despite harboring a long-standing hatred of the growing prevalence of hellfire in Cania, along with Quagrem in particular. As the Tomb of Levistus has proven extraordinarily resistant to damage in the past - with new layers of ice forming as rapidly as it could be melted or chipped away, if not faster - many in Baator believe that an artifact of some sort that generates the iceberg's intense cold (blatantly stolen from...er, "inspired by" Hyena's post above) is trapped in, on, or near Levistus' body, and Mephistopheles suspects that the Lord of the Fifth has promised the artifact to the gelugons' leader Tuncheth in return for their assistance.

While the prospect of the ostracized band gaining control of an artifact powerful enough to imprison his fellow archduke for eons is disconcerting, all evidence currently implies that the gelugons' foremost concern is regaining favor with the Lord of the Eighth - through standard tactics to discredit the proponents of hellfire research, as well as the development of an as-yet theoretical icy counterpart, known as "the Plume". Consequently, Mephistopheles anticipates that he personally has little to fear from Nebulat, at least for the foreseeable future.

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(blatantly stolen from...er, "inspired by" Hyena's post above)

^_^

And that could certainly be nasty. If Levistus has promised the shard to more than one group, Cryonax's attempts to retrieve it could spark a major skirmish between the groups (granted, the Baatezu would hold a huge advantage over the Paraelementals-- seeing as this is their native plane, thus they are stronger and immune to planar hazards on Stygia that the paraelementals aren't *namely the waters of the Styx*, though they'd probably bring some of the more trustworthy gelugons and white abishai among their ranks, along with any half-baatezu-fiend creatures among their ranks)

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Oh, and re-reading your opening sentences-- I forgot to mention a huge thing I've done on planar ecology (based on real-world ecology. I don't know if it made it in the Planewalker mag or not)

Essentially, the purpose of outsiders and elementals is to further and expand the influence of their native plane, and protect it from foreign alignments/elements/influences.
The relationship between them and their native plane goes even futher than this however-- natives to a plane (even the irreverent 'loths!) tend to revere their homeplane, and many worship it outright. They view it as a nurturing mother-figure, and as fate incarnate. Most outsiders and elementals also view their native plane as a sentient being, which has birthed them to further its will. Of course, a major source of contention is over what EXACTLY the plane's will actually is.
Among outsider and elemental cultists/priests, some view a deity or quasideity of their plane as nothing less than the avatar or aspect of their home plane, and worship their plane through that embodiment. This is more common on the inner planes than it is on the outer, however (although many Tanar'ri view Pale Night as the feminine aspect of the Abyss-- of course, cultists of the Demon Princesses tend to object to this idea and view the Abyss as female. Granted, there are others who view the Abyss as a hermaphrodite. The Yugoloths certainly view the Gray Waste and Gehenna as a hermaphrodite, if the individual assigns a gender to that plane at all-- 'loths don't place as much importance in sex or gender as most outsider races do. For example, in my writings, there is a 'loth princess/archdaemon of seduction *for the purpose of subterfuge*, assassination, and spilled secrets who takes the form of a woman, but erm- in scientific terms *and I don't think this is too graphic as I once used euphamisms alone and the next poster spelled it out scientifically*, in scientific terms, she can elongate and further stiffen her clitoris to resemble a penis. And of course she's not picky about the gender or sexual orientation of her cultists and followers-- all types are needed for the purpose of subterfuge. I should specifiy that what she represents in particular is using sex and seduction on a general or high enough ranking soldier with info in order to trick them into revealing intelligence. They also use sex for the purpose of lowering said individual's guard in order to assassinate them or steal from them *usually artifacts or something relating to intelligence. Of course, they'll also resort to sabotage if that can be accomplished by sleeping with the general or soldier.)

On a similar note, I also came up with the physical apprearance of the elusive and mysterious Gerneral of Gehenna-- were he to be approached and gazed upon, he would appear as little more than a dark, shadowy humanoid silhouette with glowing red eyes to a diurnal creature, and a vague humanoid shape with shadowy, coal-black, almost light-devouring eyes to a nocturnal or light-sensitive being. Even True Seeing does not penetrate this, and because it is both supernatural and extraordinary in nature, and Antimagic Fields cannot dispel it, either.

Oh, on another similar note, in one topic I came up with names for D&D world fetishes, as well as some STDs. The most hilarious one (I don't recall its name) results from sex with celestials and results in a permanent Light effect emanating from the patient's mouth or genitals. Most beings find it painless, though it causes physical discomfort to fiends. Malcanthet uses nude slaves infected with this malady to light the hallways of her stronghold >_>

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Well, in truth, “inspired” is the more accurate word... I've got something different in mind for what the artifact in question truly is - something powerful, but substantially lower-key than your Winter's Resurrection shard. For my purposes, Cryonax isn't involved - at least not in a direct manner, though he may still be interested in it. I'm not so up-to-date on Inner Planar affairs, so I'm saving that angle for later. Sticking out tongue

Fascinating reading, by the way... That said, a celestial STD? XD

* * *

Baalzebul

The Lord of the Seventh has suffered greatly in the many years since the Reckoning. As the primary instigator of the diabolic civil war, Baalzebul was punished severely by Asmodeus - the majestic form he had possessed for eons, a corruption of that which he held as the archon Triel, was stripped from him, replaced with the vile, slug-like body that he has been forced to endure ever since. For a creature so fixated on perfection, seemingly no fate could be worse than being forced to live in constant filth and squalor - save perhaps demotion. To the uninformed outside observer, the Lord of Lies has taken the rebuke admirably, continuing his masterful scheming and political manipulation without pause. Those within Baalzebul's inner circle, however, have been privy to a very different portrait of their master.

The loss of his "perfect" form was a far harsher blow to the Lord of Flies psyche than he is willing to admit. Ever since his chastisement in the wake of the Reckoning, Baalzebul has been sliding ever deeper into a spiral of manic-depression - planning schemes during his bursts of manic activity and having them put into action during the long periods of dormancy that follow. In an effort to minimize the effects of his depressive episodes, the Lord of the Seventh excessively indulges in his fantasies of power and domination, focusing the vast majority of his attention on his long-term goals - namely ridding himself of his chief rival Mephistopheles, plotting his revenge upon Asmodeus, and restoring himself to his rightful body - to the detriment of the less grandiose, but quite fundamental tasks of effectively managing his realm. As Baalzebul is too concerned with maintaining control to cede any additional authority to his underlings, the increasingly neglected bureaucracies of Maladomini have been decaying at an alarming rate - mistakes are being made and not punished as severely as they previously would, spies for the other archdukes are slipping into positions of influence while the Lord of Flies' own spies are becoming compromised, and perhaps most worrisome, the loyalties of long-time subordinates are being tested as never before.

Already, the Lord of the Seventh has lost one of his most ancient allies: the duke Tartach, who once served in the court of Baalzebul's viceroy Moloch as legate and returned to serve in Maladomini after Moloch's downfall, abandoned the Lord of Lies in recent years to serve the newly-ascended Glasya, and it has been suggested that his (secondary) consort Lilith is considering doing likewise. At the same time, the new Archduchess of Malbolge has struck up a friendship with Baalzebul's nominal ally Fierna, the Lord of the Fourth. In truth, the alliance is something of a legacy, left over from the time of Fierna's predecessor and father Belial, but despite the loss of his official title, Belial has long remained the power behind the throne in Phlegethos - or at worst, as its co-ruler alongside his daughter. However, since the rise of Glasya and the beginning of their relationship, Fierna has been growing increasingly independent, leading Baalzebul, Belial, and many others to suspect that - encouraged by her friend - she may eventually move to oust her father and seize full control for herself.

Consequently, Baalzebul is very much interested in any intelligence regarding the new Lord of the Sixth he can get his hands on, in order to help develop an understanding of the new archduchess and her intentions. While information regarding her history prior to the Reckoning - during which time she served as consort to Mammon - has proven forthcoming, very little has been unearthed beyond that, leaving the period following her forced removal from the Lord of the Third's court to the inner workings of her own court in Malbolge relatively unknown. Similarly, he has advised extreme caution to Belial in relation to Fierna, stressing that he should consider delaying his planned invasion of Stygia until he better understands her objectives.

During a recent depressive episode, Baalzebul reached a new depth of despair - possibly worsened by the recent departure of Tartach. While submerged in that psychological nadir, the court of the Lord of the Seventh was visited by a powerful, yet widely unknown night hag countess who introduced herself as Cereza, "sister" to the late Malagarde. (For my purposes, a "hag countess" is any night hag who has reached such an age and level of personal power that they are functionally as superior to their lesser kin as an archfiend is to lesser fiends - essentially, the Ravel Puzzlewells of the race.) The hag offered Baalzebul her services as a master apothecary and has since been a fixture in his palace. It is rumored that she is researching a method to return the Lord of Lies to his original form based on the rituals the night hags developed to create the altraloths, though what Cereza has been promised in return remains, at this point, unknown.

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Right, so in essence, your definition of a hag countess is one that has reached quasi-deity stage (same stage as the demon princes, archomentals, celestial paragons, etc.), do I understand that correctly?

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Pretty much...

In general, they are roughly the same level of power as lower-tier demon lords and baatezu nobles (those that don't yet rule a layer of their own), but some more extreme examples might reach quasi-deity (or, depending on your interpretation of Celigune, full deity) levels. They aren't "rulers" of their race in the manner that actual archfiends are - for the most part, they're no more well known than your typical night hag, just as reclusive, and likely hold only small domains with a handful of servants (for example, Cereza's is a small farm plot in a remote corner of Niflheim that she "shares" with her three daughters). A few exceptions - Baba Yaga, Malagarde, the aforementioned Celigune - might become the creatures of legend that the Lords of the Nine and various Demon Princes are, but by and large they are simply exceedingly dangerous examples of their lesser sisters.

That said, my use of the title "hag countess" is really just for the sake of discussion - the way I see it, they don't have any "official" ranking system other than "Note to self: don't mess with that one"... Some might call themselves countesses, others queens, baronesses, and so on, while still others prefer to use no titles at all.

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What am I doing up at this hour!?

* * *

Fierna

Despite being the daughter of the Belial, the Lord of the Fourth, and his late consort Naome, Fierna was never particularly interested in accruing political power, insofar as such a thing is possible for a baatezu noble. Had her father's ally Baalzebul succeeded in crushing Mephistopheles and his allies, then deposing the Lord of the Ninth himself during the Reckoning, she suspected that she would become the consort of one of the new archdukes - or at most be given a layer to rule as Belial's viceroy - but Asmodeus' resounding triumph over his rebellious subjects seemingly crushed that dream before it could even begin. As such, she was duly surprised when her mother suggested soon afterward that Belial step down and cede lordship of Phlegethos to Fierna, and shocked all the more when he agreed to the ploy.

The young duchess understood the reasoning, of course - hidden behind her wanton hedonism rests a keen mind that many fail to recognize - yet being so suddenly thrust into a position of actual power and responsibility overwhelmed Fierna completely, forcing the new Lord of the Fourth to rely heavily upon the expertise of her parents to keep her layer under control. When Naome was assassinated shortly afterward, that reliance shifted entirely to Belial, making Fierna's father the sole stabilizing force in her domain for a great many years. It was during these early years of her rule that two highly persistent rumors are believed to have been seeded: the first, that Fierna is nothing more than Belial's marionette, a figurehead who “rules” only by her father's leave; the second, that their relationship has become, or perhaps has always been, something more than simply father and daughter. As is so often the case, there is a grain of truth to this gossip, yet the reality, as ever, is more complex.

The relationship between Belial and Fierna has fluctuated over the years, drifting between from one extreme to the other - from puppeteer and puppet to apparent equals - as dictated by the mercurial moods and whims of father and daughter. Their incestuous affair has always served as a means for Belial to exert control over his nominal successor, and it is during those periods when their “love” is most readily consummated that the former Lord of the Fourth's political might is at its greatest. Some have speculated that Belial has molded her to be submissive to him, and that when his hold over his daughter is strongest, she applies that same obedience to her rule over Phlegethos. By contrast, when she focuses the bulk of her attention upon her actual consort - the pit fiend duke Gazra, with whom she assumes a dominant role - the balance of power between Fierna and her father tends to equalizes. While neither begrudge Fierna's numerous casual affairs, this wavering of her ultimate sexual loyalties between Gazra and Belial, between her official and unofficial consort, has long been the most significant source of conflict within the courts of Phlegethos. This is particularly true from Gazra's end of the spectrum - a fact which Levistus has attempted to use in the past to lure the pit fiend away from his mistress and into the Lord of the Fifth's service, seemingly without success.

This twisted, yet somewhat predictable dynamic has essentially defined the internal politics of Phlegethos for ages, but much to the frustration of all who have attempted to manipulate Fierna's relations to their advantage, the ascension of Glasya as Lord of the Sixth has destabilized everything. No one knows precisely when the two young - relatively speaking - archduchesses struck up their friendship, but the daughter of Asmodeus quickly became Fierna's greatest confidant and advisor, with the latter spending a significant amount of time in recent years visiting the new palace of Ossiea in Malbolge. Since the onset of their relationship, observers have noted a marked uptick in the Lord of the Fourth's level of assertiveness and involvement in her government, despite having previously been thought to be entering another “submissive” period. Belial in particular is worried that she is beginning to think about ousting him - with good reason, as she recently implied that he was being far too hesitant with his planned invasion of Stygia and was considering taking charge of the project herself. What he doesn't know, is that Fierna already has a plan to wrest full control of her realm away from her father in the works.

Intimately aware of Belial's long alliance with Baalzebul and the highly dubious prospect of the Lord of Lies siding against her father in the event of a civil war, Fierna recently established a secret alliance with Mephistopheles. Buying the Lord of the Eighth's trust with valuable intelligence and the promise of future economic aid, Fierna has been meeting with an instructor from the School of Hellfire during her periodic stays in Malbolge for many months. Furthermore, she is aware of Mephistopheles' current efforts to free Levistus from captivity, and has thus been covertly manipulating her father's war plans so as to synchronize the impending invasion with the Lord of the Fifth's freedom - the intent being that those soldiers in Phlegethos' armies loyal to her will turn upon her father's troops at the same time that the forces of Stygia, emboldened and empowered by the presence of their Lord, mount concerted assault against the invaders, allowing the two to crush Belial's armies between them. Gazra's past contact with Levistus' minions has proven instrumental in covertly coordinating this plan with the Prince of Stygia.

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Working on Levistus...

Setting that aside for now, however, I'm particularly uncertain as to how to make use of the upper three archdukes - Bel, Dispater, and Mammon... I have little bits and pieces (the imprisoned Zariel, Mammon and Glasya's history as lovers, etc.) that I want to deal with, but by and large I don't know how to approach them.

As such, any ideas regarding those three would be especially helpful.

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Are you going to incorporate my stuff on Levistus and Cryonax? (just curious)
Bear in mind when you work on the Levistus stuff that my idea was inspired by Dragon 347, which states that Cryonax has allied with Levistus and promised to find a way to free him from his prison, but it's unknown what Cryonax gets out of the deal.

The Winter's Ressurection is originally from my "When Was the Law/Chaos War" aka "Primordial Timeline" thread. The original purpose of that thread was to ask Rip about when the Law/Chaos war took place compared to some Ice Age events and the like, as I came up with an idea to explain why so many prime worlds have identical natural histories based on Earth's (of course, the thread evolved into a still-in-progress timeline topic). My solution to answer that was that goings on on the elemental and positive/negative planes affect the rest of the multiverse (in Planescape, they make it fairly clear that currently, the outer and inner planes are at an equilibrium). I did this for the purpose of explaining similar mass extinction events on multiple earth-like prime worlds, as well as their similar evolutionary histories (e.g. dinosaurs, mammals, etc.) Of course there are exceptions to that rule, such as Avadnu *Violet Dawn setting prime world* where cynodonts still exist (whereas on Earth-like primeworlds they appear to be extinct), as well as Athas (granted, Athas, unlike Avadnu, doesn't meld too well with the main canon-- much like Eberron)

And, if you're interested in reading it (I believe "Law Chaos War" will yield the thread-- I'm too lazy to look up and link to it right now), other topics covered are, as detailed in my first or second post, Asmodeus's fall (where he appears as a sympathetic character and the celestial paragons appear to possess serious personality flaws, which I believe makes for a far more interesting world), Brista Pel's fling with Imix and her death at the hands of Chilimba and Ekhak (and the related story about Quaereim, The Traitor's Fork-- the horrible sentient artifact of Quasielemental Ash used to slay Brista Pel and annihilate her soul *actually, it acquired sentience when Chilimba used it to deliver the coup-de-grace to Brista Pel*, and its goals to slay the rest of Brista Pel's family (Imix and Zaaman Rul that is), how it has already slain its forgers/creators, and its ultimate goal to slay Chilimba, its former wielder (The Traitor's Fork was borne from betrayal-- the betrayal of Chilimba against Brista Pel, and it has a personality to match!)
And on that same subject, Imix's subsequent rampage across the fire planes, fuelled by his wrath over Brista Pel's murder, his framing by Chilimba, Ekhak, and Vesvolch *forgotten Paraelemental Prince of Evil Magma-- slain during Imix's rage*, and a long story about his relationship with his illegitimate son (the story is quite sad-- you'll feel for both Zaaman Rul and Imix-- even though the latter acts like his typical evil self, I nonetheless made him somewhat sympathetic like I did Asmodeus)
Another story covered is the Vast Gate Incident, and yet another is one inspired by Greco-Roman myth and the whole Primordial nonsense in 4E. The first generation of powers-- the Protogenoi-- elemental beings (by elemental, this also includes beings made of pure shadow, protomatter, starlight, personifications of celestial bodies, etc.) who played a major role in the creation of the Outer Planes, who also created the four progenitor races of the alignments (e.g. the Baernaloths) They were the ones who went to war with the Draeden (planet-sized Cthulu-like beings from the Mystara setting, referenced at least twice in the canon as "The Sleeping Ones" on Paraelemental Ice, and also one constitutes as the core of one of the Abyssal layers or Carcerian spheres or something like that) As per Greco-Roman mythology, most of the Protogenoi were done in during the Titan rebellion.

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Re: Plots and Schemes of the Lords of the Nine (Looking for ...

As I said before, I'm not really up to date on Inner Planar affairs, but I don't want to exclude them outright.

Sadly, I don't have access to most of the Paizo-era Dragon and Dungeon issues - not for lack of interest, just bad timing and no disposable income - so I honestly haven't read that article regarding Cryonax. I am thinking of including him in the equation, but will probably take his role in a different direction than you suggested. While I'm more than willing to let it inspire me, I try not to copy and paste someone else's work.

My main issue at present is that, if he is going to be involved, I want it to be more substantial than simply "Free Levi -> Get paid -> Go home". Levistus' plans go far beyond merely escaping from his prison; he's out to bring Asmodeus to his knees and is in the process of building up a powerful military toward that end, which I feel Cryonax's forces would bolster nicely.

As to what Cryonax gets in return for his aid, I'm thinking that at least part of his compensation is "the Plume". One of the major factors that makes hellfire so deadly is its ability to burn things that cannot be harmed by normal fire (mundane or magical), and one of the goals of the gelugon researchers is similarly being able to circumvent a creature's resistance or immunity to cold, and I think this would interest Cryonax immensely. I imagine that Levistus has an agent in Nebulat who will turn over the secrets to the Plume (and more) once it has been successfully realized and perfected.

That said, this is just preliminary... I still have a lot to put together.

And I'll definitely get to reading that timeline thread when I can.

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Re: Plots and Schemes of the Lords of the Nine (Looking for ...

What I mentioned is prettymuch the entirety of what Dragon 347 says about Cryonax's involvement with Levistus (and that Cryonax is more than intelligent enough to know he needs to watch his back and read the fine print when dealing with Levistus, considering his portfolio is beyrayal.)

Cryonax might actually be more interested in the Plume for the purposes of circumventing or destroying it as opposed to utilizing it-- such a thing could pose a threat to him, his herald (character from my writings; also immune to any type of cold and able to inflict cold damage on creatures immune to cold. Most of his other higher-ups also possess feats or salient/class/etc. abilities to penetrate cold immunity.) Not to mention that he'd likely view the very existence of such a thing as The Plume as a blasphemy, or at the very least highly, highly offensive.

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So perhaps Levitsus' agent in Nebulat is subverting their efforts instead, working to keep the Plume from becoming anything more than theoretical as part of Levi's deal with Cryonax. Definitely puts an interesting spin on things...

EDIT: Reading through your "Project Ice" thread, at the moment. Perhaps, Levistus has promised to help Cryonax destroy one (or more) of his rivals, such as Albrathanilar or Kostchtchie.

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Levistus

With his long imprisonment and fairly recent return to political prominence, it is easy to forget that Levistus is a truly ancient figure in Baator - among the current Lords of the Nine, only Dispater and Asmodeus himself can genuinely claim to predate him, though Baalzebul and Belial are considered part of the same “generation”. During his early days, however, Levistus was something of mystery. Barring unusual cases such as the rapid assimilation of the fallen archon Triel, new baatezu nobles generally come from one of two sources: either the promotion of exceptional pit fiends who worked their way through the diabolic ranks, and thus have an extensive record to draw upon; or the authorized children of other baatezu nobles, and therefore have an established lineage. Levistus, however, appeared to have neither, seemingly having manifested out of thin air when he joined the court of his predecessor - a long dead Stygian archduke whose name and legacy has been lost to history - and predictably became a favored topic of gossip and discussion for many years, until the record of his known accomplishments began to outweigh the novelty of his unknown past. A scarce few of Baator's elite are privy to the secret of Levistus' origins, and each has been sworn to silence.

Perhaps the most notable event in the Prince of Stygia's history was his murder of Bensozia, the consort of Asmodeus. The exact reasons for the crime have long been speculated by scholars versed in baatezu lore, yet they remain largely unknown - the prevailing theory is that Levistus was plotting a coup d'etat and attempted to turn the she-devil against the Lord of the Ninth, but was rebuked and killed her in a rage. Regardless of the motives, the Dark Lord of Baator's vengeance was swift and decisive. Usually known for acting through intermediaries - spies, assassins, and saboteurs, to say nothing of the countless baatezu sworn to enforce his will in a more straightforward manner - Asmodeus chose to act in person when stripping Levistus of his archduke status. Dragged by the neck into the suddenly - and temporarily - hollow core of an iceberg floating in the Stygian Ocean, the Lord of the Ninth bound the deposed “Prince” within, then gradually flooded the chamber with seawater until he was fully encased in ice. Rule of Stygia was turned over to Geryon, while Levistus was quietly dismissed and forgotten. No one, least of all the fallen Prince himself, ever thought he would one day be given a chance to return to Baator's grand political stage.

Ages later, during the aftermath of the Reckoning, that opportunity presented itself. Despite the Wild Beast proving the only archduke to remain loyal to the Lord of the Ninth in the midst of the civil war and playing an instrumental role in the ultimate defeat of his fellow archfiends, Geryon was cast out, alongside Moloch, then Lord of the Sixth - the only two archdukes to be removed from power by Asmodeus as a direct result of the upheaval. Whatever his motives, the Dark Lord of Baator chose to restore Levistus to his former status as Lord of the Fifth, though he remains confined within his frozen tomb. Most would consider themselves extraordinarily fortunate to be given a second chance after committing such an audacious crime, perhaps coming to view their punishment as a harsh, yet appropriate chastening for over-playing their hand. The Prince of Stygia, however, feels only bitterness and resentment. His desire to tear down the haughty Asmodeus has grown to become his primary driving force, informing his every thought and action.

In the years since his reinstatement as Lord of the Fifth, Levistus has kept busy making preparations for the day when his ambitions can be realized. Being bereft of any true allies within Baator's current power structure, he has turned to a number of outside forces to bolster his armies. One such force is the former Oinoloth Anthraxus, who is rumored to be plotting a coup of his own. The outcast altraloth, despite his long absence from power, still commands a substantial amount of influence within the yugoloth hierarchy and has agreed to covertly pull some strings to help the Lord of the Fifth secure a large army of daemonic mercenaries at an abnormally low price. In return, the Prince of Stygia is contractually bound - as only those who deal with a 'loth can be - to provide assistance of his own, when Anthraxus finally makes his move to retake Khin-Oin from his successor. At the same time, the altraloth is keenly aware of the not-so-remote possibility of Levistus failing and being slain or imprisoned once more as a result, so he is working to ensure that most of the mercenaries being hired are allies of Mydianchlarus, the current Oinoloth. Even if Levistus becomes unable to fulfill his end of the contract, Anthraxus' intends for his usurper to suffer the brunt of the losses.

Similarly, the archomental Cryonax has entered into a contract with the Prince of Stygia. Once freed from his prison, Levistus has agreed to take part in a swift, brutal campaign intended to topple the Great White Wyrm, Albrathanilar - the primary opposition to Cryonax's dominion over the Paraelemental Plane of Ice. In return, the Bleak Monarch has pledged military aid of his own, in support of the Lord of the Fifth's uprising against Asmodeus. Reasonably wary of the potential for treachery, Cryonax has insisted that Levistus uphold his portion of the deal first, to which the archdevil assented - and indeed, plans are in place to begin the assault within days of his escape - on the condition that he be provided suitable collateral in return: temporary ownership of the soul of Cryonax's prized herald, Frigidora, to be returned upon the fulfillment of the archomental's half of the arrangement.

Perhaps most surprising, however, is Levistus' secret dealings with the new Lord of the Sixth. Approaching the recently ascended archduchess was a thoroughly brazen decision - having murdered her mother long ago, Glasya had plenty of reason to hate the Prince of Stygia. But at the same time, she had a well documented history of rebellion against her father's will, particularly during her days as consort to Mammon. Information about Glasya becomes less reliable after her removal from Mammon's court and “promotion” to Queen of the Erinyes in Asmodeus' Nessian court - and almost entirely absent in the years immediately prior to her ascension - yet Levistus determined that the chances of success were strong enough to justify the attempt. And while Glasya was understandably hostile at first, she ultimately proved receptive to the Lord of the Fifth's offers. Unlike Cryonax and Anthraxus, however, Glasya has opted to keep her aid entirely covert.

While preparations for his future conquests take up a substantial portion of his time, Levistus knows full well that his most pressing concern is securing his bodily freedom from his frozen prison. Making use of the substantial economic pressures at play upon the Lord of the Eighth at the moment, he has managed to bait Mephistopheles into aiding his escape using the Lord of Cania's patented hellfire magic. Simultaneously, a small cadre of sorcerers - on loan from Cryonax - are conducting secret rituals to artificially soften the ice of his tomb, so as to ease Mephistopheles' efforts. Different rituals with distinctly similar effects are being performed by cultists of Levistus at various locations throughout the Prime Material: most notably, the iceberg city called Icerazer, under the direction of a half-baatezu, half-harpy named Azediel.

Levistus is aware of Belial's impending invasion - initially through Glasya, then later through Fierna herself - but is utterly unconcerned. He plans rally to abandon Stygia to Belial's armies as soon as he is freed, taking his armies with him, and let Fierna's attempt at betraying her father tie them both up in a civil war for the foreseeable future. Levistus no longer cares about Stygia; his ambitions lie far higher - or, indeed, far lower.

Finally, Levistus knows one of the most highly guarded secrets in Baator - a secret that, if made public, would plunge the Nine Hells into chaos. This knowledge has allowed him to subvert one of Asmodeus' closest advisors, drawing a highly influential figure to his cause and creating a chink in the armor of the Lord of the Ninth's administration.

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Actually, I was under the impression from reading the Fiendish Codex II that Glasya wants revenge on Levistus, and all the recent happenings since 2E (both Levistus becoming one of the Lords of Nine and Glasya's hand in destroying the Hag Countess) is part of a plot on both hers and her father's part to:
1. Install Glasya as a lord of the nine (as per Asmodeus's plan)
2. Move things along for eventual vengeance against Levistus (though honestly, I can't recall how I came to this conclusion as it's been awhile)

And, as for Cryonax, just for any other DMs interested in fleshing out his relationship with Levistus, here are the possibilities I can think of:

1. Levistus is in possession of an artifact Cryonax wants, but it's on his person or near the core of the ice (IMHO, I always found this to be most likely-- esp. if the artifact is the source of the prison's power. Both quasipowers would be well aware that this bargain would be difficult for either to violate-- Cryonax cannot obtain the artifact without freeing Levistus, and Levistus is likely to be so incredibly revolted by the object of his long imprisonment that he won't want anything whatsoever to do with it and won't care who takes it so long as it's taken far out of his sight by someone who isn't an enemy.)

2. Levistus has promised Cryonax his aid against one of his enemies in return for freeing him (not to be critical, but this seems a tad less likely to me unless Levistus fulfills his end of the bargain first-- Cryonax would be an idiot to expect Levistus's aid at any point after freeing him, considering the quasipower's portfolio and past *betrayal, that is*. Cryonax will generally hold to his end of the bargain so long as it isn't more logical not to (which would take a lot, considering that in his view, it's a good idea to keep one's bargains for reputation's sake, or else nobody will want to negotiate with you).

3. Levistus has promised to give him a steady supply of unusual/rare lab victims that his army wouldn't be able to get (although, this would be stupid on Levistus's part, come to think of it-- Cryonax is likely to assume that the Baatezu's end of the bargain ends once he is freed, and thus take his pretty time in freeing him.)

4. In order to free Levistus from his icy prison, Cryonax and his forces must discern how exactly it works, which is almost guaranteed to entail deactivating or dispelling it. This plot is by far the most simplistic, and unlike 2 or 3, sounds like something that would actually work (neither party can back out of the deal after getting what they want)

There may be other possibilities, but those are the only ones I can think of. DMs must bear in mind, if they wish to think up another possibility, that it must entail a scenario where neither party can back out of their bargain and still get what they want-- otherwise, given what is well known of the other's behavior, they would be complete idiots-- not exactly in-character when both Levistus and Cryonax are schemers. In essence, the deal has to entail that one side achieving their goal automatically entails that both parties get what they want.

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As to Glasya, for now I will simply say that her actions are part of a larger plan and that she very much intends to have her revenge in the end. A bit of delayed gratification, if you will.

And you are right, the Cryonax connection is rather rudimentary (as is the Anthraxus one, for that matter). I'm still working on it. I just wanted to go ahead and get the Levi post up... Feedback is the main reason I'm doing this, after all. Smiling

EDIT: Updated the Cryonax portion to better detail the dynamic between the two. In order to minimize the chances of betrayal, both have insisted on a form of collateral - the campaign against Albrathanilar must occur first, but Levistus gains ownership of Frigidora's soul until the archomental's half of the contract is fulfilled.

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I'm going through these, great stuff.

Hyena - I'm good with putting in the planar ecology stuff into the zine, though it'll likely be in Issue 5 which is the elemental issue.

For Zariel, I have Bel draining her power beneath a citadel of bronze but her conscious mind is an old crone in Sigil who tells stories about the ancient planes. This separation keeps her identity as a Lord of Nine from being reconnected to her consciousness.

I figure some ancient group that would become the modern Sign of One aided him in this, which is is why he maintains an alliance with that faction.

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Updated Levi's deal with Anthraxus a bit. Mostly just wording changes, but hopefully gives him an appropriate 'lothy feel.

Thanks a bunch for the input, sciborg. I'm always happy to receive feedback.

Working on Bel now... I'm thinking of giving him a connection to Rilith herself (the founder of the Sign of One) and/or some of her contemporaries, presuming the timing makes it plausible. There doesn't seem to be an actual date for the birth of the Signers in the way there is for the Harmonium.

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I'm actually surprised at how quickly I was able to throw this one together - though to be fair, most of it is just backstory. Still, it's amazing what a bout of insomnia will get me to do, sometimes...

* * *

Bel

A highly decorated soldier who rose through the ranks to command the armies of Dispater, the pit fiend Bel is credited with being both the principal architect of, and actor in, one of the most daring acts of Blood War espionage in baatezu military history. Referred to as the “Four-Cross” and spoken of with near reverence, this operation was a carefully crafted ruse to establish Bel as a triple-agent for the tanar'ri, allowing him to then lead the demonic hordes into a long-planned trap that crippled the Abyssal war machine for almost a decade - sources are mixed as to whether it was this plot or his later treachery that earned him the moniker “the Pretender”. As a reward for his successful gambit, the pit fiend was elevated to General of the Third Command - all too often disparaged as the least prestigious of the Three Commands, but nevertheless a substantial promotion and a position he has held ever since.

At some point, however, Bel's ambitions turned to the political sphere - as even the most military minded baatezu is wont to do. Permanently stationed in Avernus with the vast majority of his troops, the pit fiend dealt frequently with the court of Zariel, then Lord of the First, and ever so slowly - some would say meticulously - managed to insinuate himself into her confidence, eventually becoming the archduchess' trusted advisor and consort, all the while retaining his Blood War command. That trust ultimately lead to the Lady of Despair's downfall.

In the years immediately proceeding the Reckoning, Bel is believed to have become aware of a mortal woman by the name of Rilith - the individual later credited with founding the faction known as the Sign of One. Her newly refined philosophy, championing the power of positive and negative thinking, struck a chord with the pit fiend general, prompting him to make contact with the growing sect through a less overtly fiendish intermediary. Over time, Bel was convinced of the potential inherent in the early Signers' abilities, particularly when used en masse, and is said to have made a deal with the group. Rilith, or perhaps one of her disciples, instructed the members of the sect to attempt an experiment in order to test the full range of their newfound powers - they began to collectively envision Bel being presented with an opportunity for advancement and successfully capitalizing upon it. Soon afterward, the Reckoning broke out.

Zariel, like all of her contemporaries, eagerly took part in the baatezu civil war, siding with Baalzebul in the fallen archon's bid for power. And in the end, like all of her contemporaries, the armies of the Archduchess of Avernus were soundly defeated by those loyal to the Lord of the Ninth. While all of the rebellious archdukes were chastised for their role in the uprising, the allies of the Lord of Lies suffered the harshest punishment: Baalzebul's perfect form was stripped from him; Moloch was banished outright; and Belial proactively stepped down from power in order to avoid a similar fate. Before Asmodeus could mete out an appropriate punishment for Zariel, however, the Pretender made his move. In a quick, bloody coup, Bel managed to successfully overthrow and imprison the Lady of Despair, then proclaimed himself the new Lord of the First - an insolent act that could have easily drawn the Dark Lord's ire down upon him. Instead, he was greeted by the Constable of Hell, the pit fiend duke Martinet, who congratulated him on his ploy and extended Asmodeus' offer to affirm Bel's new position, provided the general continue to fulfill his obligations as head of the Third Command.

It seemed too good to be true, and indeed it was. With his established proficiency for deception and treachery, none of the other archdukes have been particularly willing to deal with the new Lord of Avernus. Furthermore, Bel's duties to the Blood War leave him little time for political intrigue, combining with his lack of allies and incessant need to maintain the Dark Lord's favor to make him the only Lord of the Nine not actively plotting against Asmodeus. In addition, his rank in the military hierarchy has not changed: on matters of war, the Pretender must continue to report to the Dark Eight - a fact which frustrates him to no end. Still, Bel is abnormally grateful for the efforts of the early Signers. He has maintained contact with the faction over the centuries, even as those he originally dealt with faded into history and the Sign of One's organization and ideology evolved into its present form, vowing to one day provide them a favor of equal magnitude as the one that was once provided to him. It has been suggested in some circles that perhaps this vow is a sign of more than a simple payment for services rendered - that perhaps Bel secretly subscribes to the faction's beliefs himself and has long been an undocumented member of the Sign of One.

The Lord of the First's actions in recent years, barring those related purely to his military obligations, have been largely focused around securing his realm and currying favor with the Lord of the Ninth. Bel is in the process of forging an alliance with the dragon deity Tiamat, who also makes her home upon Avernus, in order to bolster the might of his personal armies - the rather meager forces allotted to him as an archduke, as opposed to those he leads as a Blood War general - with abishai and dragonspawn. For the moment, however, the exact terms of this contract have yet to be written and the Chromatic Dragon is sure to demand an exorbitant price. At the same time, Bel is also working to expand his relatively young network of spies in the courts of the other archdukes, and relaying what they learn to Martinet and Asmodeus so as to stay in the Dark Lord's good graces.

As to Zariel, rumor has it that she remains imprisoned somewhere beneath the Bronze Citadel, undergoing constant torture as the Pretender slowly drains the remaining strength from her body - periodically stopping to dine on his former master's flesh and reduce her to serving as his own consort in turn. Her boundless rage is said to give focus to the fireballs that rain from Avernus' skies, sending them flying towards clusters of creatures wandering the blasted landscape: baatezu, tanar'ri, and outsiders alike.

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I'm not particularly happy with Bel, but I feel I can't really flesh it out any more until I get a fix on Zariel. At the same time, I'm still unsure how to approach Dispater and Mammon... So, with that in mind, I stepped back a little and wrote up an entry for one of the notable non-archduke figures in Baator that I'd been wanting to explore - in part, due to the fact that it turns out I do have a copy of Dragon #347 and noticed he had a tie to one of the other archomentals.

Hyena, what have you done to me!? >_<
I was always strictly an Outer Planes guy until you brought Cryonax into the picture! Sticking out tongue

* * *

Gazra - Consort to Fierna, Commander of Phlegethos, and Lord of Abriymoch

A talented military commander that has long served as the nominal ruler of the infernal city of Abriymoch, the pit fiend Gazra was unexpectedly catapulted into the sphere of baatezu nobility when the newly-ascended Fierna chose him to serve as her consort, and from the start, he has faced an uphill battle for the archduchess' attentions against a firmly entrenched rival: Fierna's father and predecessor, Belial. Precisely when the incestuous affair between father and daughter began is subject to much debate, but Gazra quickly became aware that his influence with the Lord of the Fourth was all but nonexistent so long as she was under the thumb of the mighty Belial, and has consequently worked to draw the two apart ever since, to varying degrees of success.

The pit fiend, notably weaker in both personal and political might than the former archduke, is unable to confront his foe openly and has therefore been forced to battle through guile and intrigue, skills which Belial has long mastered. Combined with Fierna's mercurial temperament, this shadow war soon settled into a somewhat predictable pattern, in which the duchess' affections alternate over time from one consort to the other and back again. Much to their mutual frustration, neither Gazra nor Belial have managed, thus far, to secure Fierna's sexual loyalties for long enough to fully excise the other. Attempting to capitalize on the periodically strained relations between the lord of the Fourth and her consort, Levistus has made a number of highly generous offers over the years in an effort to draw the pit fiend into his service. Thus far, it seems as though Gazra has declined, though many assume that - unless his position in Phlegethos becomes more stable, likely through the removal of Belial - it is only a matter of time before he accepts the Prince of Stygia's proposal.

As Lord of Abriymoch, Gazra is aided by the duke Chamo, who serves as Legate and holds primary control over the “civilian” portion of the city's government. Formerly a top advisor to Belial during his eons as Archduke of Phlegethos and noted rival to the lord's late consort Naome, Chamo has remained stubbornly neutral throughout Fierna's reign - avoiding siding too strongly with either former or current Lord of the Fourth. The two don't particularly like one another, but generally aim to stay out of each other's way, with Gazra exercising his full executive authority only rarely.

Hidden in the depths of Abriymoch lies a heavily guarded portal to the Elemental Plane of Earth, letting out into an equally guarded chamber in the fortress of Stonemire, the principal stronghold of the archomental Ogrémoch. The Stone Tyrant has had a special arrangement with Gazra for many years, seemingly buried beneath a guise of more typical business and trade relations - any goods being shipped from one side of the portal to the other must go through the pit fiend and elemental prince's established channels or face long, meticulous inspections and steep tariffs. The true nature of their deal is uncertain, but two leading theories have developed over time.

The first speculates that Ogrémoch is ever-so-slowly building up a military force to seize the Great Dismal Delve from the dao, who have maintained an extremely wary truce with the Master of Black Earth for eons. Adherents of this theory believe that the Prince of Evil Earth Creatures has bought Gazra's support with the promise of a share of the avaricious genies' riches. The second claims that the Stone Tyrant is constantly searching for a villain of truly unrepentant evil - that also meets certain other standards - to petrify, mold, and chisel into a mighty champion of magma and stone, intended to spearhead Ogrémoch's efforts to crush his rival archomental Sunnis once and for all. According to this reasoning, Gazra has been tapped to keep watch for potential candidates interacting with, or imprisoned by, the baatezu hierarchy and sending them to the Master of Black Earth for further evaluation. What the pit fiend receives in return for this service is unknown.

In addition to these, another rumor regarding the relationship between Ogrémoch and Gazra has been circulating recently: in this, the Stone Tyrant has offered a permanent position at the head of his armies to the pit fiend, in a manner similar to the archomental's younger sibling Imix and the pit fiend Asgeroth, who abandoned his position in Baator to seek greater power by serving the Eternal Flame.

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As should be obvious, there is very little to go on regarding Zariel, so this is primarily a mix of inference and original work, drawing heavily from Johndowson's portrait and description of Zariel on deviantart (here).

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Zariel - The Lady of Despair, Prisoner of Bel, and former Lord of the First

Since the establishment of Baator's Three Commands long ago to serve as the baatezu's primary military force, none of the archdukes have actively participated in fighting the Blood War save the Warlords of Avernus. The current Lord of the First does this out of duty, since the conditions of his promotion require that he continue to serve as lead general of the Third Command, his previous position, as well. By contrast, his predecessor Zariel, known as the Lady of Despair, committed her soldiers purely out of practicality. Avernus, being the most accessible of the Nine Hells, was and is frequently invaded by tanar'ri hordes looking to bring the Blood War to the doorstep of their eternal foes. Endeavoring to minimize potential disruptions to her administration, Zariel often provided support to the Three Commands' war efforts upon the layer, both with her loyal armies and, occasionally, in person - the Lady of Despair was known to be a terrifying warrior with a penchant for bloodlust. Frequent dealings with Bel, the general charged with commanding the masses of baatezu infantry, eventually led to the pit fiend being chosen to serve as the archduchess' consort - a choice she would later come to deeply regret.

During her many centuries as Lord of the First, Zariel maintained a strong relationship with the dragon goddess Tiamat - possibly the reason that, for a time, the Chromatic Dragon was mistakenly believed by scholars to be the ruler of Avernus. The baatezu nobles Amduscias and Malphas, as well as the pit fiend Goap, who have long served the deity, are believed to be ancient gifts from the Lady of Despair's court to the dragon queen. Similarly, the archduchess' weapons of choice - a mighty greatsword and poleaxe - were supposedly tempered in the fiery breath of Ephelomon, a long-deceased red wyrm who was one of the more infamous of Tiamat's many consorts.

For reasons that are largely unknown, the Lady of Despair is known to harbor a particular hatred for the Celestial Hebdomad, the tome archon rulers of Celestia's seven-tiered mount. While baatezu politics and the unending war with the tanar'ri occupied the majority of her attention, a number of the diabolic cults devoted to the archfiend were said to labor tirelessly to undermine the Hebdomad's holy works - most of these sects have since disbanded or fallen into anarchy, though a few are said to linger in the far-flung corners of the multiverse. A number of scholars have postulated that Zariel was an archon - or perhaps an aasimon - of Celestia herself once, but fell from grace at some point in the distant past to light upon Avernus' blood-drenched shores. One theory makes note of the similarity in names between the archduchess and Raziel the Crusader - ruler of Mertion, the Platinum Heaven - to suggest a possible “familial” connection, but nothing of substance is truly known.

In the wake of the failed uprising known as the Reckoning, most of Zariel's forces were shattered alongside those of her contemporaries. Each of the rebellious archdukes were in a highly perilous position, severely weakened both politically and militarily - able only to watch and wait as the wrath of Asmodeus was brought down on each of them in turn. However, as the Lady of Despair made preparations in hopes of withstanding her coming punishment with minimal impact, she left herself open to an attack from within. Zariel's consort, the pit fiend Bel, took advantage of his mistress' weakness - as well as an all-too-rare lull in the fighting of the Blood War - to stage a daring coup d'etat, making use of the massive armies allotted to him as general of the Third Command and his own inside knowledge of her administration to seize the Bronze Citadel in a matter of hours. The Lord of the First was quickly captured and bound, her loyal underlings slaughtered almost in their entirety - a few are believed to have escaped the carnage, but their identities and current whereabouts are unknown.

Bel quickly declared himself the new Warlord of Avernus and, rather than punish the pit fiend for his hubris, Asmodeus chose to endorse it instead, granting the Pretender his profane blessing as the new Lord of the First on the condition that Bel continue to serve at the head of the Third Command as well. Zariel spent much of the next decade in a series of secret cells and torture chambers beneath the Bronze Citadel, many of which were known only to herself and her former consort. After a while, however, the Lady of Despair was moved into a more permanent abode, a newly constructed vault designed specifically with her in mind, and has remained there ever since. Bel puts his former mistress through a near constant regiment of torture, designed to magically leech away the archdevil's strength and empower her usurper in turn.

The small cadre of outside scholars who know of Zariel's continued existence are mixed as to why the pit fiend keeps her alive. Most suggest he is using her to gradually grow his, comparatively weak, personal power to rival the might of the other archdukes, in order to make himself a true equal in their eyes. A few, however, believe that he is forced to do so - that Asmodeus granted Bel the authority of Lord of the First, but never actually elevated him to the level of a true archdevil. Only by parasitically draining energy from his predecessor is he able to bridge that gulf in power, sustaining the illusion that he is something more that a mere pit fiend. Both agree on one thing, however: despite her imprisonment, Zariel's control over Avernus has not been entirely stripped away. It is said that the seemingly random fireballs that routinely fall from the skies above the blasted wasteland are a manifestation of her unending fury.

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Mammon - Lord of Avarice, Viscount of Minauros, and Lord of the Third

The Viscount of Minauros is perhaps the most reviled archdevil in Baator, having publicly shamed himself by groveling at the feet of the Lord of the Ninth the moment it became clear the Reckoning had failed to unseat the Dark Lord - shedding his original, pit fiend-esque form for a serpentine body, similar to that possessed by the loyal Geryon, in a pathetic attempt to prove his change of heart. No more, or less, treacherous than most of the archdukes, he is by far the least respected - even the imprisoned Levistus and the upstart Bel are given some measure of recognition for their accomplishments, while Mammon has been treated as pariah since the upheaval. Formerly an ally of Dispater and Mephistopheles, the Lord of the Third can no longer count upon any of his contemporaries for support, and so has devoted much of his energy towards endeavors outside of baatezu politics for many years now.

Generally, these projects are undertaken through his cult, which has used the glorification of wanton greed to swell into the second largest faith associated with the Lords of the Nine - surpassed only by that of Asmodeus himself. This success has brought Mammon obscene levels of wealth - both in damned souls and more traditional forms like gold, gems, and magic items - but due to his position amongst his peers, the Lord of Avarice is forced to trade with them at utterly dismal rates, when he is able to do so at all. The Viscount's most recent scheme is the long overdue “renovation” of the Sinking City of Minauros. His cult has been working hard for centuries to transform the most prosperous kingdom on a particular Prime world into a highly corrupt economic superpower - decimating and exploiting the resources of surrounding nations in the process. Mammon is worshiped openly there and construction has recently begun on a grand cathedral to the archdevil - an opulent fortress encrusted with unimaginable treasures - while at the same time, his agents gradually seed the countryside with carefully crafted glyphs and symbols, hidden in the layouts of roads and villages. Once complete, they will become the focus for an immense diabolic ritual, designed to rip the kingdom from the Prime and draw it into Baator, where it will become the foundation upon which a new and greater Minauros will be built. This task is being supervise by Mammon's greatest mortal servant, Zbavra the Witch-Queen. It is rumored that, upon the completion of the project, the Lord of Avarice will reward the cultist with devilhood and nobility for her service, allowing Zbavra to bypass the usual means of entering the baatezu fold with her memories and personality intact.

In recent decades, Mammon has been endeavoring to strengthen the ties between his realm and the kytons of Jangling Hiter. To that end, he has removed the former “Overlord” of the City of Chains - the hamatula known as Pollus Windscreamer - from power and allowed a rising star in the city named Sagirsa to assume the mantle in his place. As past efforts by the baatezu to impose their unique form of order on their city have been largely ignored, the Lord of Avarice believes that allowing the chain devils to be ruled, however informally, by the newly christened Kyton Queen - who has secured the backing of a number of prominent figures in the Torture City, including Quimath, the Lord of Panos Qytel - while secretly cultivating a personal relationship with her will allow him a far stronger and far more subtle means of influencing and controlling the unruly inhabitants of Jangling Hiter. Already rumors circulate that Mammon and Sagirsa have spawned a child together, though its identity remains utterly unknown.

The rather unexpected ascension of Glasya as Archduchess of Malbolge has seriously unnerved the Viscount of late. During her years as his consort, the Princess of Hell was privy to a great many of Mammon's secrets, and the Lord of the Third always suspected that she has harbored a grudge over his quick acquiescence to their forced separation in the wake of the Reckoning, demanded by her father though it may have been. Out of an all-too-rare abundance of caution, the Viscount has instructed Focalur - his ever loyal seneschal - to increase the guard detailed to his current consort, the rather unknown and secretive Glwa, lest she become a victim of jealousy-fueled vengeance by his former lover. Since her promotion to Lord of the Sixth, Glasya - like the other archdukes - has made no real effort to deal with the Lord of Avarice. The two have exchanging the expected pleasantries on the few occasions they have met in person, but little else.

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This one took a while - appropriate for a character known for his meticulous nature. Sticking out tongue

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Dispater - Iron Duke of Dis and Lord of the Second

Supremely conservative and cautious well past the point of paranoia, the Lord of the Second has reigned over the Scorching City of Dis since time immemorial, his impenetrable Iron Tower looming above Baator's second pit longer that the seemingly eternal Blood War. It is said that Dispater was one of the very first archdevils, granted his position by Asmodeus shortly after the baatezu seized the Nine Hells from whatever mythical beings laid claim to it in the truly distant past. Most of his peers have since faded into obscurity: some were slain over the course of the eons; others were banished; and the rest long ago stepped out of the political spotlight, retired to advising the succeeding generations from behind the scenes. Of the original Lords of the Nine, only the Iron Duke and the Dark Lord himself have endured.

Consequently, Dispater cannot help but view Baator's current set of archdukes with a measure of contempt - seeing them as little more than a selection of children: immature, impulsive, and impatient; though admittedly, not without their uses. He accords some respect to those who have clawed their way to the top through long centuries of service - such as the pit fiend Bel, who once commanded the armies of Dis - but by far the greatest metric the Iron Duke uses to assess another's worth is simply whether or not he considers them to be true members of the baatezu race. Proper children of the Nine Hells are viewed on their merits, no more or less likely to meet with the archduke's approval than any other, but outsiders assimilated into Baator's hierarchy, particularly former celestials, are among the Lord of the Second's most hated enemies - this is most notably true of Baalzebul, the fallen archon once known as Triel. It is suitably ironic that, through his long shadow war against the Lord of the Seventh, Dispater's greatest ally would turn out to be Mephistopheles - who, prior to the Reckoning, was the youngest archdevil of them all.

In addition to his extremely patient and meticulous plotting - rarely, if ever, taking a risk until all possible outcomes are identified and contingencies have been prepared, often several times over - there are two other prominent factors that have helped to keep the Iron Duke's position secure. The first is Dispater's consort, a she-devil sometimes called the Iron Maiden. Nearly as ancient as the archfiend she serves, Lilis has established herself as one of the most formidable figures in Baator - operating a spy network for her master believed to rival that of the Lord of the Ninth, which purportedly answers only to herself. While not physically imposing, the Iron Maiden's keen intellect and seemingly limitless knowledge combine with caution and prudence to ensure that threats to her lord are dealt with long before they might come to fruition. The second factor is that of the Iron Tower, an immense structure that serves as the heart of Dis' political sphere as well as the personal stronghold of the Lord of the Second himself. Not content with entrusting his safety solely to details of highly trained sentinels, complex webs of wards and enchantments, and mazes of deadly traps - though each of these are still used extensively - Dispater's palace is functionally a singular artifact of unimaginable defensive power, rendering the archduke seemingly invincible so long as he remains within its confines. Few have ever managed to penetrate the Iron Tower uninvited, even fewer have returned from the excursion alive, and evidence suggests that all of these cases occurred only with the Iron Duke's covert blessing - presumably in efforts to either test his fortifications or further one of his many schemes.

Dispater weathered the Reckoning better than most of his contemporaries, having been drawn into the conflict by one of its primary instigators - Zariel, then Lord of the First - laying siege to his city at Baalzebul's command. While he ultimately endeavored, along with the other archdukes, to unseat the Lord of the Ninth at the climax of the war, Asmodeus chose to grant the Iron Duke some strange measure of mercy - if such a sentiment is even possible from an archfiend - by meting out fairly minor punishments that Dispater's extensive preparations were more than prepared to mitigate. At the same time, the Dark Lord's actual message was well received: if he had chosen to, Asmodeus could have done far, far worse. It is likely that the Lord of the Second will require substantial incentives before considering acting against the Lord of Nessus again.

In a move somewhat at odds with his extreme aversion to risk, Dispater has been spearheading a number of projects intended to expand Baator's understanding of Sigil and the Lady of Pain, with the ultimate goal of securing the City of Doors for the baatezu. For example, a large section of Dis was leveled centuries ago to make room for a life-sized replica of the Cage, which has been painstakingly updated with each new fragment of information received from agents within the city itself. Populated with slaves and actors filling the roles of notable individuals, the replica is used to familiarize operatives with the city before their deployment, as well as to train strike forces to prepare for an eventual invasion. At the same time, the Iron Duke is well aware of the power associated with Her Serenity - especially the stories which claim the Lady is capable of slaying a god with apparent ease - and as a result, limits the actions of his researchers to information gathering exclusively. Dispater has no intention of provoking the Lady of Pain, to say nothing of actually moving against her, until the danger she poses is properly understood and accounted for - something which many believe will never happen.

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