Devils

Petitioners are the souls of mortals brought to the Outer Planes after death in order to experience their ultimate punishment, reward, or fate. A petitioner retains fragments of its memories from life, and its appearance depends not only upon the shape it held in life but also upon the nature of the Outer Plane to which it has come.

The tormented plane of Hell is the domain of The Damned. These souls, a reflection of their past lives, bear the gruesome scars of ceaseless torture. Every day is a trial, a test of their resilience against the relentless agonies of Hell. For those who can endure the seemingly endless torment, there is a sinister promise – the opportunity to transform into the very devils that once tormented them.

The least of devilkind, lemures roil forth from the ranks of souls damned to Hell, shapeless masses of quivering flesh. What spark of instinct or memory lingers on within a lemure’s semi-consciousness regularly shapes its features to mimic those of its tormentors or the tortured souls around it. Grotesque and useless, a lemure’s features speak nothing of what it once was. Many exhibit multiple terrible visages or are nothing more than churning pillars of cancerous flesh. Only their knobby, flailing limbs work as they should, and those they merely use to destroy any non-infernal life that draws too near. Moving lemures typically congeal in forms over 4 feet tall and weigh upward of 200 pounds, though when at rest these disgusting fiends often appear to be little more than lumps of melted flesh and malformed features. Although among the most loathsome creatures in existence, lemures serve a vital role in Hell’s perverse ecology. When at the end of a mortal life a creature’s soul is damned—whether because it revered diabolical forces or failed in the worship of another deity—it joins the masses of suffering souls filling the plains of Avernus, Hell’s first layer. Here a soul’s torments begin as lesser devils marshal it along with similar spirits in preparation for a long, perilous journey to one of Hell’s deeper layers—typically one suited to the punishments appropriate to the soul’s crimes, or merely the domain of a devil who has need for slaves. Upon reaching the realm of their damnation, souls face untold lifetimes of torment at the hands of devils, other fiendish beings, and the deadly machinations of Hell itself. As the formerly mortal essences slowly go mad, they forget their lives, grow bestial, and eventually become little more than automatons of fear and hatred. After ages of such existence, the cruel processes of Hell either utterly annihilate the soul or—in the cases of the most profane spirits—reconsecrate such forsaken beings into lemures, the building blocks of devils, unthinking waves of filth and diabolical flesh. Such repulsive beings assemble in vast mobs, waves of putrescence thousands upon thousands strong. Greater devils can spot the most corrupt of these fiends and, either through mysterious tortures or the powers of Hell itself, reshape them into true devils, newly born and ready to obediently serve in the legions of the damned.

Born directly from the pits of Hell, imps are among the least of the true devils; these vicious, manipulative fiends, however, hold an important role in the corruption of mortal souls. Unfettered from the ranks and duties of diabolical armies, imps delight in any opportunity to travel to the Material Plane and subtly tempt mortals toward acts of ever-greater depravity. Willingly serving spellcasters as familiars, imps play the role of dutiful servants, often granting their masters cunning advice and infernal insights. In truth, though, an imp works to deliver souls to Hell, assuring that its master’s soul—and as many collateral souls as possible— faces damnation upon death. Imps vary widely in appearance, ranging through a spectrum of bestial traits and grotesque body shapes, though most take the forms of red-skinned, winged humanoids with bulbous features. Such a typical imp stands a mere 2 feet tall, has a 3-foot wingspan, and weighs 10 pounds. One in every thousand imps possesses the ability to communicate telepathically with creatures within 50 feet and the power to change its form into that of any Small or Tiny animal, as per the spell beast shape II. These imp consulars are highly prized by powerful devils, who send them to serve their favored minions or to corrupt mortals with great destinies. An imp consular can be summoned via the Improved Familiar feat, but only by a spellcaster of 8th level or higher. Diabolists tell of other breeds of imps with similarly specialized abilities, but if such creatures truly exist they are an especially rare lot. Unlike most devils, imps often find themselves free and alone on the Material Plane, particularly after they’ve been summoned to serve as familiars and their masters have perished (often indirectly due to the machinations of the imp itself ). With no way to return home, these imps, freed of their bonds to arcane masters, can become dangerous pests or even leaders of small tribes of savage humanoids like goblins or kobolds.

Childlike souls tormented and scoured of innocence by the flames of Hell and then reshaped by the mad whims of the archdevil Baalzebul, accuser devils embody the foul, merciless, and pervasive corruptions of the infernal host. From the depths of the Pit they rise in buzzing, shrieking plagues unleashed to taint the land, despoil weak flesh, and reveal exploitable secrets. En masse they display little of the cunning or subtlety typical of devilkind, spreading ruin at the will of their fiendish masters. Alone, though, a zebub is a craven, deceitful thing, lurking in darkness and filth, endlessly spying and vying for the petty favors of greater evils. Accuser devils are almost exclusively formed amid the cesspits of frozen Cocytus, the seventh layer of Hell. Within the Pit they serve countless infernal lords as messengers and spies, with droves being unleashed upon myriad mortal worlds with a mandate to seek out souls ripe for corruption or those whose sins might lead to greater damnations. Many zebubs overstep the freedoms of such vague missions, seeking to manipulate weak-willed or easily intimidated mortals into all manner of trivial evils, dispensing shrill orders in their buzzing, childlike voices. Despite the fact that many zebub plots end in the zebubs’ own revelation and destruction, few diabolical lords allow the slaying of their spies to go unpunished. The zebub’s ability to grant other creatures visions of what it has witnessed makes it an unusually useful creature to many conjurers. Relatively easy to conjure with a spell like lesser planar ally or lesser planar binding, an accuser devil can be an invaluable spy. One simply orders the foul little devil to become invisible and then infiltrate an area where visual information is hidden, with orders to teleport back to its point of origin to grant visions of what it observed to its master. Those who make use of accuser devils in this manner should take care to watch their own actions or what they reveal, of course, for such a creature can just as easily be bribed or intimidated into revealing visions that some conjurers might not want being made public. It’s common practice among conjurers to kill their accuser devils once they’ve completed their missions of infiltration and observation. These lesser devils stand just over 2 feet tall and rarely weigh more than 25 pounds.

Elite warriors in Hell’s legions, bearded devils—or barbazus—fight savagely in the name of their infernal lords and command mindless hordes of the damned into battle. They collect and train with their infernally forged glaives among the vaults of Hell’s third layer, Erebus, but inevitably return to the first layer, Avernus, to serve at the side of the dread lord Barbatos. Barbazus are fond of making charge attacks with their glaives, and try to maintain a 10-foot gap between themselves and their foes so they can use their signature polearms to great effect. Against a foe that has greater reach (or one able to otherwise avoid the devil’s favored tactic), they drop their glaives and resort to their claws and hideous beards. At attention, bearded devils stand over 6 feet tall (though their squatting battle stances often make them appear shorter) and weigh upward of 200 pounds.

Hunters of souls, magaavs (known as host devils) retrieve Hell’s most elusive property. Whether souls that have long evaded capture upon the plains of Avernus, damned beings who have somehow managed to escape Hell, or creatures that have reneged upon infernal contracts, vast flocks of these winged fiends fly from the Pit to recover their prey. Rarely seen alone, host devils travel in great swarms that often number in the thousands. These four-winged mockeries of the angelic form swarm in enormous columns, moving in tandem as though they were one colossal, infernal beast controlled by a single brain. Magaavs stand 5-1/2 feet tall and weigh 150 pounds, with wingspans reaching 10 feet across. Their fetid breath draws flies that swarm over their bodies.

Fearsome giants of steel and blades, levalochs serve the armies of Hell as potent warriors and tenacious hunters. They stand just over 10 feet tall and weigh 1 ton.

Known by many names—the Fallen, the Ash Wings, and the Furies—the devils called erinyes mock the form of the angelic hosts in their exaction of vengeance and bloody justice. Executioners, not judges, erinyes alight upon the bladed eaves of Dis, Hell’s cosmopolitan second layer, ever attentive for chances to soar into battle, whether in defense of Hell, on the whims of diabolical masters, or at the impassioned summons of jilted mortal summoners. All erinyes weave deadly living ropes from their own hair, which they use in battle to lift their foes into the air, mocking and condemning their victims for their transgressions before dropping them from great heights. Erinyes appear as darkly beautiful angels, augmenting their sensuality with deliberate bruises and scars. Yet despite their beauty, erinyes are not seducers—they lack the subtlety and patience required for such fine emotional manipulations, and instead vastly prefer to solve their problems with swift and excruciating violence. Often, an erinyes will stay her hand before attempting to slay a foe simply so she can draw out the victim’s suffering. Death is usually the only way to escape an erinyes’s not-so-tender attentions, and the most powerful of these devils excel at keeping their enemies alive but helpless so as to extend their torment—many going as far as to keep their victims alive with magic. Rumors hold that the most powerful erinyes torturers have skills that allow their torment to continue even after their subject has died from their attentions. Most erinyes stand just under 6 feet tall and weigh approximately 140 pounds, even with their blackfeathered wings that stretch over 10 feet wide.

Called sarglagons in their Infernal tongue, drowning devils take great pride in being the best-adapted guardians of Hell’s waterways, and are among the few fiends who travel the seas and rivers of the multiverse as part of larger infernal plots. Even in the air or on the ground, a drowning devil moves with a haunting litheness as though it were swimming. A typical drowning devil weighs 600 pounds, and can exceed 15 feet from head to tail.

The interrogators and inquisitors of devilkind, bone devils delight in torturing those weaker than themselves—mortals, souls, and other devils alike. Born of ancient heresies mired amid the Styx-fed swamps of Stygia, Hell’s fifth layer, bone devils—also known as osyluths—enforce infernal order and the will of the archdevils. Powerful fiends favor these terrifying sadists for their unwavering devotion to Hell’s laws and the commands of their masters, as osyluths eagerly report the disobedience of other devils—regardless of standing—and take to the craft of torture like morbid artists. Diabolists risk much to bargain with them, as bone devils glean many infernal secrets amid their nightmarish calcified torture hives. These devils especially delight in journeying to the mortal plane, as their cruel talents and service to evil spellcasters often mean gaining much valuable information, which they might hold in their perfect memories for centuries before reporting back to their diabolical masters. In battle, an osyluth uses quickened invisibility after each attack to confuse foes. Many osyluths carry twisted and eerie bone weapons, but these tools are more for torture and intimidation than actual combat. Osyluths tower over lesser devils at 9 feet tall—though their tails and fearsome but useless wings make them appear much larger—and weigh upward of 400 pounds.

A phistophilus, also called a contract devil, always appears handsome and confident, its chiseled features housing a perpetually smug grin. Contract devils have red skin and black hair and stand near 6-1/2 feet in height, not counting their horns. The thicket of horns around a contract devil’s body increases its height to 7 feet and its weight to 350 pounds. Contract devils serve Asmodeus, archfiends, and the vast bureaucracy of Hell as clerks, scribes, and bargainers for mortal souls. They exist to keep track of the damned, to manage Hell’s endless ordinances, and, when time and opportunity permit, to coax mortals into damnation. Most phistophiluses spend their eternities in the various courts of Hell’s nine layers, particularly in the mazelike fortress-libraries where all infernal laws and oaths are recorded. Occasionally they serve similar roles on the Material Plane when summoned by particularly desperate, arrogant, or foolish mortals. When one of the souls damned by a contract devil is restored to life (typically via powerful magic like a wish or miracle), the phistophilus immediately notices the transgression. Usually, the contract devil recruits the aid of more powerful allies to track down and punish such transgressors and to collect the escaped soul as quickly as possible.

INFERNAL CONTRACTS
While numerous types of infernal contracts exist, the following two are those most often offered to mortals by contract devils.
Evil Wishes: Upon signing this contract, a mortal is granted three wishes, as per the spell. It must use these wishes within 24 hours of signing the contract—if it does not, the wishes are wasted but it remains bound to the contract nevertheless. While the mortal chooses the intention of the wishes, the contract devil decides upon the specifics, allowing for its own diabolical interpretation of the results should the mortal imprecisely phrase a wish.
Infernal Slave: A mortal can negotiate with a contract devil for the lifelong service of a devil. The mortal chooses any type of devil (except for a contract devil) of a CR equal to or less than its own character level at the time of the bargain. Upon signing the contract, the mortal’s infernal slave appears and is bound to do the mortal no harm and follow its orders for as long as it lives. Although the devil must obey its master’s commands, many devils delight in corrupting the intentions of these orders in all manner of cruel or mischievous ways.

BREAKING AN INFERNAL CONTRACT
An agreement with a contract devil can only be broken in two ways. When a contract is signed, a second copy manifests; one copy is retained by the devil and the other is given to the mortal. Mortals are free to do whatever they please with the lengthy, obviously evil documents, while contract devils typically keep active contracts with them at all times. Should both copies of a contract be destroyed, any effects caused by the contract are canceled or reversed and the mortal’s soul goes to its normal place of rest after death and can be resurrected as normal. Merely absconding with both copies of the contract is not enough to break the contract—as long as both copies exist, the signer’s soul remains forever damned. Alternatively, a second mortal might be allowed to adopt the terms of a contract—with its soul replacing that of the original contract signer after death. The mortal who seeks to pay the debt of another must contact the contract devil who holds the relevant contract. The contract devil has a choice of whether or not to allow one mortal to pay another’s debt, but values religious and good-aligned souls over others. Shrewd manipulators, contract devils often only agree to allow one mortal to pay another’s debt in return for some service or proof of worth. If a contract devil agrees to accept another soul in payment, the original contract signer retains all of the benefits of the contract, but is released from damnation and may be resurrected as normal. The new signer, however, receives no benefits, cannot be returned to life upon dying, and spends an eternity in Hell after death.

Sentinels of the vaults of Hell, jailers of the darkest souls, and living weapons of the infernal forges, barbed devils—known as hamatulas to diabolists—enforce the strictures of the damned and safeguard the nefarious works of greater devils. A hamatula enjoys the feel of warm blood on its spines, and prefers to leap into melee when presented with an opportunity for battle. Hamatulas are collectors and organizers, and are favorite allies of greedy summoners as they often bring with them tempting treasures from Hell’s vaults or know the paths to deadly riches. Left to their own devices, the lairs of these devils often bear the pierced trophies of their past victims, hung like perverse bug collections on bloodied walls. Most barbed devils stand upward of 7 feet tall and weigh 300 pounds, though their leanly muscled bodies appear much larger due to the constantly growing and adjusting spines that protrude from their razor-sharp bodies.

Bloated scholars of despair, ayngavhauls collect, create, and spread heresies and apocrypha, sowing disbelief and corruption among all who would seek their foul wisdom. Ayngavhauls are roughly ovular in form, about 10 feet tall with their rolls of wet gristle spreading 13 feet wide.

Strategists and masterminds of Hell’s armies, the insectile ice devils possess some of the most cruelly ingenious minds in Asmodeus’s legions. It is said that each ice devil—known as gelugons among the ranks of devilkind—bears within its chest a stolen, frozen mortal heart, which allows it to make decisions free of all emotion. Born on the icy layer of Cocytus, Hell’s seventh layer, most ice devils migrate to Caina, the eighth layer, where they plot world-damning machinations from courts of freezing steel. Although they are perhaps the most alien and monstrous in appearance of all devils, few breeds are accorded greater respect. In combat, a gelugon prefers to let its minions engage foes in melee so that it can hang back and appraise the foe’s tactics, strengths, and weaknesses. The ice devil supports its minions with its spell-like abilities, always taking care to avoid impacting its minions in the area of effect of its spells—this not from any sense of camaraderie, only a cold and logical truth that its allies can survive longer in a fight if they are not exposed to friendly fire. Gelugons stand at 12 feet tall, and weigh approximately 700 pounds.

Known as handmaiden devils, Mothers of Pain, and Maids of Miscarriage, gylous attend to the whims and schemes of Hell’s few female overlords. Like manipulative matrons amid decadent mortal courts, these deceivers hide their fathomless evil beneath illusions of beauty, graciousness, and tradition. Gylous particularly loathe children. It’s said that the persistent cry of a babe can sometimes cause these fiends to abandon their illusions and viciously attack. As greater devils, gylous can command many lesser devils, yet harbor an exclusive favoritism for erinyes. A gylou weighs 160 pounds and stands stiff ly at 5-1/2 feet— though many wear their head-sprouting tentacles in tall, elaborate coiffures.

Masterful possessors and foul manipulators, belier devils are among the most feared masterminds of Hell. Known as bdellavritras to devilkind, these worm-like fiends avoid physical confrontation. Instead, they target influential individuals for possession, using them to manipulate events by proxy. If their schemes are uncovered, the devils retaliate with all the power at their host bodies’ disposal. A bdellavritra’s voice can emanate from its worm-like maw, from any of its human-like mouths, or from all four at once, as it desires. Each mouth has its own distinct voice, often pleasing to the human ear. Bdellavritras typically reach lengths of 16 feet from worm-mouth to human heads, and weigh 3,000 pounds.

Among the deadliest of the archdevils’ warriors and able commanders of lesser fiends, horned devils spread the rule of Hell wherever they tread. These greater devils are trained, forged, and reforged to be among the most lethal, merciless, and obedient warriors in the multiverse. While rank-and-file horned devils are called cornugons, the greatest of their kind are known as malebranche. A typical horned devil rises to a hulking 9 feet tall, bears 14-foot-wide wings, and weighs 700 pounds.

Regal, fearsome, and unfeeling, deimaviggas seek to turn the faithful from their gods, using cold logic to proselytize the path of atheism, the freedom of the mortal spirit, and the order offered by Hell. Their ever-shifting masks speak envenomed words and give their hollow lies the ring of truth. Speaking out against all deities—except for Asmodeus, whom they subtly tout as a bringer of discipline even as they downplay his divinity—these deadly intellectuals know that those who turn from their deities are more likely to succumb to the temptations of diabolism. Rather than attempting to sway the souls of individual mortals, these cunning fiends take on the roles of prophets of reason, disguising themselves beneath layers of illusion to evangelize the virtues and freedoms of lives unshackled by the demands of egotistical deities. Occasionally one might focus its arguments on a soul of particular piety, delighting in throwing a deity’s most devoted servant into an inescapable crisis of faith. Deimaviggas care little for what gods their depredations affect, disenfranchising the worshipers of the pure and the profane alike.  In their natural shapes, deimaviggas stand 7 feet tall and weigh a mere 120 pounds. When disguised, though, they typically take the forms of wise elders who have lived long enough to understand fundamental truths about the universe, priests who have “realized their folly” and rejected their former dogma, or even “angels” of truth. Though they prefer to fight with words rather than with physical means, deimaviggas attack those who attempt to strip away their disguises and illusions, or who can argue as eloquently as they—though if possible, they prefer to do so discreetly and dispose of the bodies secretly.  Deimaviggas prefer to spend most of their time upon the Material Plane, swaying the weak and corruptible souls of mortals. There they seek out either vast mortal cities, where their heresy might reach many ears, or small communities where the isolated might fall to their blasphemous philosophizing. When in Hell, though, they linger in Caina, tormenting the souls of those trapped upon its lonely islands, developing and testing complicated and often confusing arguments.  Preferring to operate alone, these poison-tongued devils rarely work with others of their kind, even though their status affords them control over their lesser brethren. They find that their arguments benefit from a single voice, and that their endeavors are complicated by even the most obedient minions. They bow to Hell’s hierarchy, however, and serve if compelled to do so. Pit fiends and infernal dukes sometimes utilize deimaviggas as personal majordomos, spies, and spreaders of dissension, though even among devilkind these enigmatic fiends are considered particularly unnerving.   

False gods, fallen demagogues, nemesis devils—all are names for the fiends known collectively as advodazas. They survive from dark ages past, when mortals offered worship to base things and unwholesome spirits that masqueraded as baleful gods. Although time and faith have turned against these beings, the most tenacious of their kind have refused to fade into oblivion, and to these obstinate corruptors and one-time deities the gates of Hell swing wide and welcoming. These lords of cults and masters of forgotten mysteries find renewed vigor in the depths of the Pit, and those seeking to restore their power and lordship over mortalkind undergo terrible indoctrinations and binding rites that transform them over the ages into true devils. What emerge are shades of half-remembered demigods, fallen princes seeking to claim their subjects anew, and fiends of blasphemy: the idol-clad advodazas. Fantastically ancient beings, advodazas rose from spirits worshiped by mortals in distant ages, typically as part of primitive and deranged cults. While humanoids still huddled in crude shelters, begging any power that would listen to protect them from storms, beasts, enemies, hunger, and countless other fears, the spirits of the land, sky, and animals were the first to give heed. Not deities, but elusive influences, these forces heard the early prayers and worked what appeared to be miracles in return for sacrifices and adoration. Slowly, these formless vestiges took shape as idols, fetishes, palladia, and all manner of cult images. Yet as knowledge of true deities and the powers they offered worshipers spread, the old spirits were either forgotten or demonized and rooted out. All advodazas desire to eventually return to the Material Plane, where they might tempt new followers to serve, sacrifice, and raise idols to their names. Though merciless, advodazas appeal to many mortals because of the directness of their interaction and their willingness to grant power or to violently smite enemies for a seemingly paltry price. In death, however, advodazas’ servants find no divine realm, nor do they sit beside some grand deity. When they die, there is only Hell. No two advodazas look exactly alike. Each one embodies the powers and spheres of influence for which it was worshiped in ages past and subsequently anthropomorphized as a monstrous being. Typically, this results in quadrupedal and half-bestial shapes that bristle with terrible wings, hooves, claws, and fangs. Universally, though, they bear the broken remnants of their fallen faith—in the form of cracked idols worn like armor, profane talismans crafted into jewelry, or fearful totems wielded like massive weapons—and bristle with archaic power and unquenchable arrogance. Despite this wide range of appearances, all advodazas possess the same core abilities, though some particularly ancient or powerful fiends possess augmented or even unique abilities. Most advodazas stand about 18 feet tall and weigh approximately 9 tons.

Immolation devils are tyrant warlords and terrifying field generals among Hell’s legions. While many other greater devils manipulate and corrupt subtly and from afar, puragaus surround themselves with lesser diabolical minions, lead interplanar incursions, hold infernal redoubts upon mortal worlds, or strike against any who would defy the will of Hell. Immolation devils stand just over 10 feet tall, with wingspans nearing 20 feet, and weigh 900 pounds.

Rulers of infernal realms, generals of Hell’s armies, and advisors to the archfiends, pit fiends embody the awesome and terrible pinnacle of devilkind. Massive, physically indomitable, and possessed of ingenious evil intellects, these diabolical tyrants hold great autonomy whether in their service to the archfiends, in their rule of vast infernal fiefdoms, or in subjugation of mortal worlds. Thick muscles cling to their gigantic frames, armored over by dense, bladed scales capable of deflecting all but the most potent assaults. Fangs as thick as daggers fill their maws, bestial visages disguising some of the most insidious minds in Hell. Born within the depths of Nessus, the ninth and deepest layer of Hell, pit fiends are raised from the ranks of cornugons and gelugons by the archdevils and their dukes alone. While many travel to higher layers and far from Hell to command infernal legions, most remain in Nessus serving in the courts of Hell’s elite or in dark councils with unknowable purposes. Pit fiends always stand over 14 feet tall, with wingspans in excess of 20 feet and weights over 1,000 pounds. Pit fiends are masters of fire and prefer lands bathed in flame. In Hell, this predisposes them to Avernus, Dis, Malebolge, Nessus, and Phlegethon the layers most likely to harbor their burning temple-citadels. Fanatics obsessed with diabolical superiority and ironclad obedience, pit fiends left to their own devices raise massive armies, scouring the pits of Hell for the most depraved lemures to transform into true fiends. When convinced they’ve formed the perfect legions, they turn their attentions to vulnerable demiplanes and mortal worlds, eyeing them for infernal domination and the glory of conquest. In the service of the archfiends or other unique infernal warlords, pit fiends hold themselves to a greater cause, obeying the wills of Asmodeus’s chosen nobles in the hopes of one day garnering the favor of either the Prince of Darkness or Hell itself. While obedient to the hierarchies of their kind, they are also strict in their enforcement, and should a pit fiend find itself subservient to a master unfit to rule, it holds itself duty bound to cast down such an incompetent lord. Thus, whether as masters or servants, pit fiends embody the will of Hell’s merciless law and assure that only the strongest of devilkind flourish (or dare to). Only the most powerful of mortal spellcasters can or dare summon a pit fiend. These devils’ reactions to summoning are deliberate and swift, usually typified by overwhelming rage that such insignificant beings would waste their immortal time. Those that cannot weather the devils’ burning rage are slain—their souls typically racing the pit fiends back to Hell. Those who manage to keep control of the greater devils, though, intrigue them. A pit fiend might dutifully serve a mortal master for centuries, but its goal is always the same: to further corrupt the mortal soul, assure its absolute damnation, and when the mortal inevitably dies, claim its soul and begin the process of creating a perfectly corrupt lemure servant. Pit fiends know they are immortal and are intelligent enough to indulge in impossibly disciplined patience. As such, the eldest pit fiends see in their legions the faces of countless fools who once presumed themselves the devils’ masters.

INFERNAL DUKES
The most powerful of pit fiends are lords in their own right—members of the elite caste of infernal politics and leadership known as the Dukes of Hell. While not all of the Dukes of Hell are pit fiends, the majority of them are. As a general rule, a pit fiend Duke of Hell has several levels of a particular character class, the advanced simple template, or in some cases unusual spell-like abilities or unique powers over and above those of most pit fiends. Listed here are three sample unique pit fiend duke abilities, but these examples are by no means the entirety of what strange powers an infernal duke might wield.
Deathmastery (Su): The pit fiend duke’s ability to manipulate the souls of the damned extends beyond the standard devil shaping power. Whenever a pit fiend slays a humanoid, it can attempt to transform the slain creature’s soul into a ghost under the pit fiend’s control. The pit fiend may control a number of ghosts in this manner equal to its Charisma modifier.
Master of Magic (Su): The pit fiend duke has additional spell-like abilities (20 spell levels’ worth of 1st–4th level spells usable at will and 20 spell levels’ worth of 5th–8th level spells usable 3 times a day).
Hellfire Breath (Su): The pit fiend gains a devastating breath weapon that it can use once every 1d4 rounds. This breath weapon is a 60-foot cone of fire (10d10 fire damage and 10d10 unholy damage as per flame strike, successful Ref lex save [DC 10 + 1/2 the pit fiend’s racial HD + the pit fiend’s Constitution modifier] half).

Barbatos is a mystery among the lords of Hell, a being from beyond who came into the service of Asmodeus a mere millennium ago. Technically not a devil, Barbatos is nonetheless the archdevil of the uppermost layer of Hell. Since his arrival, he has served as the doorwarden of Hell, guarding its outer layer from angelic invasions and fiendish forays alike, and dealing with an endless stream of damned souls needing guidance to their final purgatory and tearful petitioners willing to risk everything for one final glimpse of their lost loves. Barbatos dresses plainly, rarely showing more than his wicked staff and rumpled cloak, and stands 5 feet tall.

BARBATO'S CULT
Barbatos is the master of the rippling dimensions between worlds, and is worshiped by those who tread the hidden interstitial spaces of the universe, as well as those who manipulate animals and wild beasts, warping them through foul sorceries into sinister servants. His sacred places are found near crossroads, marketplaces, and ports, some accessible only by teleportation. As befits his role as the guardian to the entrance to Hell (and his association with gateways of all types), entrances to compounds are often held with particular reverence by Barbatos’s cult, and the doorways or arches that provide access to his temples or other sites sacred to him often bear his likeness or symbol. Barbatos’s unholy symbol is an inverted triangle with three red eyes—often, the triangle portion of his symbol appears to be three filthy beards, the tangled hairs of which extend in three directions around the eyes at the center. His favored weapon is the quarterstaff. He grants access to the Evil, Law, Magic, and Travel domains, and to the Arcane, Devil, Divine, and Trade subdomains.

EYJATAS
Slot none; CL 26th; Weight 4 lbs.; Aura overwhelming all
Barbatos wields a potent weapon named Eyjatas, a +4 speed unholy quarterstaff embedded with innumerable inhuman eyeballs. Three times per day when striking a creature with Eyjatas, its wielder can rip the target’s eyes out, permanently blinding it and dealing 2d6 points of bleed damage. A creature can resist this effect with a successful DC 30 Fortitude save, but no save is allowed if the attack was a confirmed critical hit. Once Eyjatas rips out a creature’s eyes, it functions as a bane weapon against that target. Three times per day, the wielder of Eyjatas can cast prying eyes. In addition, the wielder can use arcane eye at will, even on other planes viewed through scrying, and can use eyebite (DC 20) at will within 30 feet of the arcane eye.
DESTRUCTION
To destroy Eyjatas, the quarterstaff’s dozens of eyes must be blinded by the purifying light of an unwavering truth spoken by an immortal that has only ever spoken lies in its life. Once the eyes are blinded in this way, the staff must be hurled into a magical portal that has no entrance and that leads nowhere.

Dispater is one of Asmodeus’s oldest and most loyal allies, with a favored place in the hierarchy of Hell. He generally keeps his distance from the machinations of the other archdevils, and of all their number he cares least about the tedious and trivial affairs of the Material Plane. His focus is on building the eternal and glorious perfection of Hell, the model community and system upon which the universe should be modeled. He is calm, creative, careful, and deliberate, in some ways the picture of a just sovereign, yet he is also unforgiving, ruthless, manipulative, and arrogant in the extreme. The rules of rank, station, and courtly life are his meat and drink, and he is swift to deride any who violate the tiniest rule of etiquette, though he quickly discards decorum when necessary to further his elaborate schemes. Alone among the archdevils, he maintains a passing acquaintance with courtly love and marriage, conferring with his advisors on matters of state. Dispater is every inch the image of a devil, 13 feet tall with rippling, rust-colored muscles and a refined and majestic style, eschewing the opulent grandiosity of some of his brethren.

DISPATER'S CULT
Dispater represents devotion to calming order, meticulous planning, and the dark majesty of Hell’s potential to bring peace and unity to the universe, despite the fact that such peace would be bought with blood, chains, and death. His sacred places are grandiose, typically found in palaces or grand monuments. Dispater’s unholy symbol is a heavy black nail piercing a red crown. His favored weapon is the heavy mace. He grants access to the domains of Evil, Law, Nobility, and Trickery, and to the subdomains of Deception, Devil, Leadership, and Tyranny.

Mammon is the master of avarice, a fallen angel long in service to Asmodeus; though slain by his enemies long ago, his spirit lingered in his hellish sepulcher, unwilling to surrender to oblivion. His hunger for life infused his spirit into the obscene wealth heaped about him in death, until he became one with the wealth of ages. The Grasping One is now vault keeper for all of Hell, growing ever more resplendent as he discovers new treasures to incorporate into his form and reporting directly to Asmodeus on Hell’s accounts. Mammon can possess objects and creatures with ease, but most often possesses the Argent Prince, a peerlessly sculpted 8-foot-tall metallic likeness of his former angelic glory, tastefully tainted with accents of his diabolic nature.

MAMMON'S CULT
Mammon is the patron saint of greed, and is worshiped by unscrupulous merchants and rapacious robber barons. His sacred places are often in mansions, museums, and palaces of obscene opulence. Some give offerings to him in secret, while others shamelessly praise his name and the power of greed to all who are willing to listen—and even some who are not. Mammon’s unholy symbol is a midnight blue coin with a horned devil’s head and an infernal inscription of his name in pale silvery blue. His favored weapon is the shortspear. He grants access to the Artifice, Earth, Evil, and Law domains, and to the Construct, Devil, Metal, and Toil subdomains.

Belial, the Pale Kiss, was created by Asmodeus as an object of adoration, a being that would be perfect in form and face in the eyes of every creature. The Prince of Devils granted Belial virtually unlimited malleability of form, enabling them to become whatever and whomever might be most alluring to those the archdevil encountered, along with a boundless imagination to create inspirational art and implements of war. Belial finds equal bliss in pleasure and in pain and revels in the act of creation, whether of innovations in magical or martial fields. The Pale Kiss designs new weapons for the legions of Hell, shapes new manifestations of magic for the minions of devilry to unleash upon foes, and even spawns entirely new races of infernal servitors, though the fiend cares little for creations once birthed, swiftly moving on to new interests. Belial’s true natural form is unknown to all but Asmodeus, who has not shared even with Belial the secret of the archdevil’s infernal genesis. The Pale Kiss changes shape almost constantly, at times seemingly without conscious thought. In council with the other lords of Hell, Belial typically appears as a delicately built humanoid between 5 and 6 feet tall with pale skin and hair but burning eyes, with one half of their body shining and angelic and the other as scarred, misshapen, and grotesque as the most hideous malebranche. Their weapons and gear are always finely crafted, though marred where they defaced them in their erratic rages. Belial’s carnal lust is both expansive and insatiable, and they freely shift form, species, and gender when engaging with mortal and immortal lovers across the universe, leaving innumerable half-fiends of every description in their wake.

BELIAL'S CULT
Belial is revered by those who crave wanton pleasures and forbidden desires but who hide beneath a mask of respectability and propriety. Adulterers celebrate the archdevil’s rites alongside sadists, torturers, and worse; all two-faced deceivers willing to plumb the depths of depravity to fulfill their desires seek Belial’s felicitations. The Pale Kiss’s sacred places are often in large cities or remote and beautiful natural settings that hide grisly boudoirs and orgiastic abattoirs. Belial’s unholy symbol is a split-faced mask, one side of which is smiling and white and the other frowning and red. Their favored weapon is the ranseur. The Pale Kiss grants access to the domains of Charm, Destruction, Evil, and Law, and to the subdomains of Catastrophe, Devil, Lust, and Rage.

Geryon, the source of blasphemies, has ruled in Hell longer than any other archdevil. When Asmodeus and his legions migrated to Hell, Geryon reigned as an asura rana, an emperor among divine mistakes. After bargaining with Asmodeus, Geryon betrayed its brethren, assuring devilkind’s stranglehold over Hell and cementing its continued rule over the bleak marshes of Stygia. Ever since, Geryon has numbered among Hell’s greatest and most enigmatic rulers, a connoisseur of impossible truths and a font of heresies. Geryon is a knot of three 20-foot-long, scaled worms. From its maws it can partially regurgitate and speak with the voices of any being it has ever devoured—be they mortals, fiends, or stranger eldritch beings. As a result of its covenant with Asmodeus, Geryon is now a true devil.

GERYON'S CULT
Geryon is worshiped by those who crave forbidden knowledge. Its sacred places are hidden within libraries or amid the ruined temples of nigh-forgotten gods and fallen kingdoms. Geryon’s unholy symbol is a shadowed, red-and-black serpent’s head. It favored weapon is the heavy flail. It grants access to the domains of Evil, Law, Strength, and Water, and to the subdomains of Devil, Ferocity, Oceans, and Resolve.

HORN OF LIES
Slot none; CL 30th; Weight 15 lbs.; Aura overwhelming all
This horn can be sounded three times per day as a swift or move action to function as a greater horn of blasting with no chance of exploding and an effect duration of 1 minute. Creatures deafened by the horn hear whispers and falsehoods echoing in their minds, twisting their perceptions; they treat all other creatures as if they had concealment and take a –4 penalty on saves against mind-affecting effects as long as they remain deaf. In addition, any competence or insight bonuses are treated as penalties instead until they regain their hearing. The horn can be sounded three additional times per day to grant allies within 60 feet a +4 bonus on saves against divine spells, while enemies within 60 feet become unable to tell the truth (Will DC 25 negates). This includes verbal, written, and any other form of communication, but does not prevent saying things that are neither true nor untrue, such as commands, questions, and verbal components of spells. While compelled to falsehood, Geryon’s enemies also become paranoid and treat no one as their ally; thus, they are unable to provide or benefit from flanking, teamwork feats, or the aid another action, and always attempt to save against harmless effects. Affected creatures are unable to cast divine spells or activate domain powers unless they worship an archdevil. This effect lasts 1 minute. This is a sonic mind-affecting curse effect.
DESTRUCTION
If the Horn of Lies is sounded by a chaotic good divine spellcaster within the Silent Cairns of Elysium, it shatters into 13 fragments, each of which transforms into a serpentine monster. If these 13 serpents are slain within 24 hours, the artifact is destroyed—but if even one serpent remains alive, the Horn of Lies is restored and returned to Asmodeus’s keeping in Hell.

Moloch is the dread general of Hell’s armies, both his own hordes in the pits of Malebolge and the legions serving his lieutenants throughout the plane. He is fiercely loyal to Asmodeus and to Hell itself, and he marshals not only devils but also lost souls, other denizens of Hell, and interplanar mercenaries in brutal, endless campaigns. He can recount the dispositions and particulars of every military formation in Hell, and he brooks no insubordination or disobedience in martial matters, under threat of burning torments that are terrible even by Hell’s standards. Moloch is surprisingly responsive to his mortal worshipers, and he is quite willing to exchange his favor for gifts of provisions, supplies, and soldiers for the infernal armies. Those sacrificed to him in the fires of the mortal world or ritually cremated in his honor after death face an eternity of soldierly slavery in his legions. Moloch is a hulking giant of fire and steel, standing 24 feet tall and weighing 5 tons. What appears to be his armor is in fact his flesh, inside which lies nothing but flames, ash, and bits of scorched bone from previous victims. Despite his fiery appearance, he is a cool and professional tactician who has studied war for eons and has put every known tactical theory into practice in the endless war against the celestial hosts and the fiendish rivals of Hell.

MOLOCH'S CULT
Moloch is worshiped by warlords and tyrants alike. Unlike for many archdevils, his worship is often public, with monolithic temple complexes and pits of eternal flame where sacrifices to the Ashen Bull are made to pass through the fire, or their hearts are cut out and burned to sear their courage into the immortal armies that the Lord of the Sixth marshals at the behest of the high lords of Hell. His sacred places are altars of blackened stone and twisted iron, replete with massive gongs and braziers to sound the knell of death that war will bring to all. Moloch’s unholy symbol is a shadowed red-and-black bull’s head with a sickly yellow flame within. Although he can use any weapon (and favors the battleaxe Goreletch and the longsword Ramithaine), his favored weapon is the whip, as he prefers his worshipers to drive armies by the lash. He grants access to the Evil, Fire, Law, and War domains, and to the Ash, Devil, Smoke, and Tactics subdomains.

Baalzebul was once the chief lieutenant of the Prince of Darkness. The glorious Hell’s Angel sought to rule at Asmodeus’s side, but he was greatly vexed at being relegated to stand alongside other archdevils. When he demanded a higher station, claiming he should rule over multitudes, the Lord of Hell annihilated his magnificent angelic form, replacing it with swarms of insects so he might rule over them in their millions as Lord of the Flies. Chastened, Baalzebul has brooded on vengeance ever since, harboring an insatiable urge to prove himself greatest among Hell’s lords. His knowledge and power are vast, but so are his caprice, ego, love of flattery, and tendency to lash out at any perceived slight. Baalzebul resembles a 15-foot-tall armored angel and has a body composed of flies.

BAALZEBUL’S CULT
Baalzebul’s cultists strive to accomplish triumphs of will in the fields of magic, politics, and beyond, no matter the cost. Once such a victory has been achieved, they gloat over those left behind. Baalzebul’s sacred places are always erected high above the surrounding cities or landscape, often in soaring towers and colossi, the better to literally and figuratively look down on those whose defeat awaits them at the hands of those bold and ruthless enough to will it. Baalzebul’s unholy symbol is a broken black crown tipped at an angle, underneath a shining white diamond inside a broken white halo. Although he prefers the use of the longsword himself, his arrogance prevents him from sharing his favor of that weapon with his worshipers—instead, his favored weapon is the spear. He grants access to the Air, Death, Evil, and Law domains, and to the Devil, Murder, Undead, and Wind subdomains.

Mephistopheles was formed by Asmodeus from the ashes and hellfire of the plane of Hell itself. He is an artist of flattery and guile, a master of the infernal contract, and a warden of the chained prison plane of Caina. He is tireless in his hunt for new souls, and constantly seeks to lure mortals into signing theirs away in all manner of complex bargains and contracts. Mephistopheles appears as a muscular, 12-foot-tall, red-skinned humanoid.

MEPHISTOPHELE'S CULT
Mephistopheles is worshiped by dishonest merchants, crooked politicians, decadent nobles, and cruel tyrants. His sacred places are almost always within large cities, often buried in hidden rooms beneath prisons, palaces, or courts of law, or in secret apartments of corrupt nobles. His unholy symbol is a diagonal scarlet trident piercing a golden halo. His favored weapon is the trident. He grants access to the Evil, Knowledge, Law, and Rune domains, and to the Devil, Language, Memory, and Thought subdomains.

VISINEIR
Slot none; CL 30th; Weight 1 lb.; Aura overwhelming all
This adamantine quill pen is the greatest weapon Mephistopheles has in the corruption of souls. As a full-round action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity, he can use it to inscribe a magic circle against good (or chaos), place a mark of justice, or pen an infernal contract. These contracts can grant any number of boons, but typically do so in the form of a wish spell or the devilbound template. Visineir can be wielded as a +1 adamantine keen wounding dagger, but Mephistopheles rarely does so, preferring his trident in battle. The quill can store a sample of blood from every creature it strikes, storing up to 33 blood samples at a time. The quill gains the bane special ability against any creature whose blood it stores, and it marks the target as if Mephistopheles had used a witch’s scar hex on it, allowing him to use his spell-like abilities on that creature with a range of 1 mile (or with unlimited range, if the creature is in Caina). Mephistopheles can expend one stored blood sample as a full-round action to inscribe a symbol spell of any type he wishes, or to call the creature to him as if he had cast greater planar binding (regardless of the creature’s actual type—this is not limited to calling outsiders).
DESTRUCTION
If Visineir is used to pen a contract that results in Asmodeus having to void the creation of Mephistopheles, the quill crumbles away to ashes, as does Mephistopheles himself.