Powers of the Underworld

In ancient times, the underworld used to have dozens of kings and queens, each with absolute dominion over their section of darkness. However, as Demon Lords were sealed, as Death Gods were deposed, as other Gods left for the Celestial Realm, and as the nature of some gods and demons shifted around, the number of Underworld Rulers became vastly smaller. Currently there are only Seven.

This primordial fire demon goes by a rather absurd number of names, including Prometheus, Surtr, and Adranus, but he prefers Adrammelech. It is possible that all fire spawned from him, or at least the concept of fire came from him. He is the Patron Demon of Fire. He had a habit of teaching ancient humans across the world how to harness fire, which made him the enemy of many different pantheons of gods, who originally took advantage of humans lack of knowledge to gain more worshippers.

Supposedly Zeus finally caught him and chained him to a mountain, where he would stay for all eternity, but Adrammelech created a fake body out of clay that is still chained somewhere in the Caucasus Mountain to this day.

Adrammelech's dealings with mortals usually involves teaching them the secrets of fire. He does not collect any price. Watching the careless mortal burn their souls away each time they cast fire magic is payment enough.

Ba'al was originally a God of Storms and War, spawned from the primordial Sea, which was known as Thalassa, Tiamat, or Nammu. He was once in charge of an entire pantheon of Gods. Now he makes his home in the Infernal Realm and is the patron Demon of Water. As human civilization rapidly changed and evolved, many gods had to evolve with them, changing their names, their positions, and in some cases their aspects. Ba'al however refused to change and was always Ba'al the God of Water, which contributed to his downfall.

As his power waned and gods within his pantheon left to join others, and as Ba'al lost worshippers, he decided to punish everyone. For a hundred years, he held back every storm on Earth and it didn't rain. Even other Water Gods couldn't override his power. Finally, an alliance of Sky Fathers banished him to the Infernal Realm. All the water he held back rained back to Earth at once, causing the Great Flood and destroying numerous young civilizations. Everyone refused to attribute the deluge to Ba'al, instead giving credit to numerous other water and storm gods.

Baphomet is considered one of the most powerful demon lords, but how this power manifests is not well understood by humans. He isn't a Patron Demon of any physical element, but of Wisdom and Wealth. Baphomet was worshipped as a god throughout history though depictions of him vary wildly.

In more recent history, he appeared before Crusading Knights with an offer of wealth and power. The knights quickly subdued him and cut off his head. When the head reanimated and kept talking to the knights, they started to listen. The Knights Templar grew quite powerful and wealthy, listening to the severed head's advice for over a hundred years. They lost all their power and were destroyed when they decided they didn't need Baphomet anymore and went back on their deal with him.

More recent interpretations of Baphomet were quite literally made up. Baphomet actually appears as an old man with goat-like features. His flaming eyes with horizontal pupils are said to be able to pierce any soul. When a deal is made with him, he doesn't collect your soul, as long as you have a material possession of sufficient value to give to him. He usually accepts gold, silver, and blood. If you do double cross or betray him though, you ensured your own destruction and eternal damnation by his hand.

Naamah is sometimes referred to as the Mother of Demons. While some Demon Lords are as ancient as she is, created at the beginning of time, many others are her children like Lili, Mephistopheles, and Valefar. Some humans with a demonic bloodline can trace their ancestry back to Nammah, as can some humans with a Celestial bloodline. Cambions and Nephilim are both descended from her and a Celestial Lord named Samael.

Nammah is the Patron Demon of desire, usually but not always of the lustful variety. She is an expert at all things love and will freely teach her skills to any prey who asks. Caution should be taken with this Demon Lord. She teaches her skills in a very physical way, and there is no level of depravity she won't go to, to ensure her human prey is completely broken by the end of the night, both physically and mentally.

When her prey is sufficiently broken, and she is satisfied, she will teach her prey how to cast various types of [Psychic Magic], which is the same as the mental magics that Succubi and some Vampires have access to. She also lays claim to to the soul of her prey so she can continue to break them after death.

The Greek God of the Dead, and a Judge of the Underworld. In ancient times, Hades sorted departed Greek Souls and sent them to the appropriate place in the afterlife. Some souls went to a pleasant afterlife in Elysium in the Celestial Realm, but most others were sent to some dark part of the underworld to spend eternity. Especially evil souls were sent to his niece Persephone for punishment. Souls that made a bargain with a specific divine being were sent towards them instead.

When many of the other Gods abandoned their duties and went to the Celestial Realm, Hades stayed where he was, only now he sorts souls from across roughly half of the world. King Yama sorts souls from the other half. Hades does not often make deals with mortals and he rarely takes ownership over any souls beyond ruling realms where they reside. He strictly sorts the dead and ensures the Underworld stays an orderly place, free of the chaos that originally reigned supreme here.

Izanami is said to be a creator deity that with her husband Izanagi created the eight islands of Japan. She is said to have died in childbirth. She then went into Yomi, or the Underworld. Izanagi went into the underworld to retrieve her, but Izanami was already bound to death, her rotten body covered in maggots and evil things. Izanagi fled the underworld, sealed it and performed a purification on himself. Izanami's death and Izanagi's purification gave rise to many of Japan deities.

Izanami's corpse in the Underworld is said to be the size of a mountain, long rotted away into a skeleton. From her body numerous demons have spawned. The final being to have spawned from Izanami's flesh is a beautiful demon woman with bloody horns. It is said that she might be the last remaining visage of Izanami herself, still obsessed with taking her revenge.

This visage of Izanami herself isn't very powerful anymore, but she commands such a vast army of demons that she is given a seat at the table and is considered one of the Seven Rulers of Hell.

Also known as King Yanluo, and Lord Enma. He once had the chance to leave Earth and the Demonic Realm behind and live in the Celestial Realm, but he stayed behind.

A third of the world still worships him in South and East Asia, and because of this, he continues his job of judging and sorting recently departed souls, weighing both good deeds and bad. While many other Gods from his pantheon also stayed behind and are also still worshipped across the world, they are unlikely to be physically found or directly interacted with.

Yama's appearance varies wildly between different beliefs, and he often takes on an appearance according to a specific believer when he is judging them, whether that means his skin is blue or red, he has horns, or he has a rather large and glorious beard. If he interacts with someone who is not a believer, then his appearance is of a man with red skin and yellow eyes, and thick black hair. He impartially judges them regardless. While he would send the soul to whatever god they believe in, there aren't enough judges of the dead left on Earth to do that.

There is no shortage of of other Demon Lords and Gods in the Underworld, each with their own aspect or power over something. Some are the descendants of Naamah the Mother of Demons. Others are primordial beings, so ancient that even the ancient kings of hell consider them old. Others were once gods of Earth that came down to the Underworld for various reasons. Some of these powerful beings either serve one of the Kings of Hell or they are in control of their own small domain. Others are so powerful that they are above the petty politics of even immortal kings.

The Patron Demon of forbidden knowledge. Leviathan is ancient beyond measure, said to be more ancient than Primordial Chaos and Primordial Order. He isn't the most powerful being by any measure, except for the knowledge he possesses.

There are many demons who will exchange secrets and knowledge for your soul, but Leviathan will give his freely as he has no need for souls. The secrets he keeps are older than the universe itself and they will drive a normal person mad upon hearing them. Even gods and other demon lords have been driven insane by the truths told by Leviathan.

Leviathan's appearance is rather alien and unfamiliar, even by demon standards. He is always surrounded by dozens of floating eyes, peering into the abyss, peering into souls, and peering into reality itself, gleaming every possible secret and hidden truth that exists. Being in the presence of these eyes always fills someone with dread, even immortal beings.

So difficult is it to comprehend Leviathan's presence that most myths and legends just claim he is a sea serpent, though he is no taller than a human, robed and with a human shape, but at the same time, shapeless and impossible to discern from the surrounding shadows.

A demon that takes the appearance of a older child or a young teenager. There are many stories about her killing children and drinking their blood, but that is actually something Lilith did, an ancient Vampire Goddess and not actually a demon at all. At some point their names were mixed up and Lili became 'demonized', though she is probably one of the nicer demon lords out there.

She often comes across lost children, whether they are literal runaways or they are mentally isolated from family and friends. She befriends them and guides these lost children back to their families, then disappears. She will visit the child several more times to make sure they are no longer lost.

Make no mistake though, she is still a demon lord. With every child she touches, she leaves behind a piece of her essence, a dark corrupted magic that cannot be dispelled and sticks with the child through the rest of their lives. Stories say this is Lili marking their souls for her when they die.

Also known as Mephisto and the patron demon of Secrets and Lies, Mephistopheles is a master shapeshifter and a master manipulator. They primarily deal in knowledge, but will also grant power... for the right price.

When making a bargain with a person, they take on a form that is pleasing to the person they are dealing with, but they always make it obvious that they are still a demon. They give the person every chance to walk away but the allure of the knowledge and power they offer is almost always too great. They are actually just toying with their prey and usually know that the deal will go through. They are so effective in their bargaining they end up collecting more souls than just about any other Demon Lord.

Because Mephistopheles shapeshifts so freely, it is thought that they are the progenitor of all Changlings, something they have denied for as long as Changlings have existed. Still Mephistopheles is the only Demon Lord that allows them to live in their realm. They find it easy to control and manipulate Changlings.

The demonic Realm, the Infernal Realm, the Underworld, Tartarus, whatever you want to call it, is a space of darkness, said to be shaped by the Goddess Nyx countless thousands of years ago. The Twilight Realm was her home and was a lonely dark place.

As humans sprang up, so to did many other gods and demons. When the souls of the dead started to overrun the Earth, the various Skyfathers all came together and decreed that the Twilight Realm is where the souls of the deal shall go after death. Various gods were appointed to watch over these souls to prevent them from escaping to Earth. Nyx rather enjoyed all the extra company, even marrying one of these gods, Hades, and having numerous children with him.

Nyx is an extremely powerful being, second only to Primordial Chaos and Primordial Order. Her equal was the Sky God Aether before he was destroyed and his body turned into the Celestial Realm, which only occurred with Nyx's help. Hades does not command her, and all gods and demons fear her. Fortunately for them, Nyx was never interested in ruling anything or in unmaking reality, instead letting things be as they are.

The Princess of the Underworld... or at least the Greek part. Persephone used to be a nature goddess, but as time went on, she became disillusioned under Olympian rule. She heard stories about the perfect world under Cronos her Grandfather, and was disappointed in how imperfect and abusive the world was now. The last straw was when her Father Zeus tried to force himself on her. So she fled to the underworld and started living under the care of her Uncle Hades. Hades put the girl to work, having her come up with punishments for evil souls, testing to see if she really could stand to live in this hellish place.

Her mother Demeter wanted her back, freezing Greece over. Stories were made about Hades abducting Persephone that persist to this day. Hades temporarily suspended his job of sorting the dead to travel to Olympus with Persephone to set the record straight. This caused spirits to rise all over Greece. An unimaginably large host of shades and demons followed Hades to Olympus.

The resulting war between Zeus and Hades would have broken the Earth, if not for an intervention by Persephone's other Uncle Poseidon. Persephone was allowed to leave to the Underworld and never return. Before fleeing to the Celestial Realm, Demeter would get drunk every year and freeze Greece while mourning the loss of her daughter.

Sylnox, the Shadow Forest, is the Patron Demon of the deep woods and isolation. She is also an Elven deity and is worshipped as a forest goddess. She is the reason the Elves stayed secret and hidden from humans for so long, delaying the Great Revealing for thousands of years.

Unlike Lili, who appears before isolated children and attempts to get them out of their slump, Sylnox will appear before any isolated mortal, and encourage their isolation. She will tempt them with taking medicine to make their isolation feel better, and help them push away their friends, family, their job, and anything else that might make them feel attached to the world. As the mortal starts to feel mentally detached from the world, they start to feel an attachment to Sylnox, as if they are the only thing that cares about them.

It often doesn't end well for the mortal if it reaches that point because after the mortal dies, their soul becomes Sylnox's plaything. She often plants the soul in the ground and causes them to grow into a tree in her sacred grove. There they will grow alongside other lonely souls. They can't interact with each other, only stand together in their eternal loneliness.

Patron Demon of Thieves, Valefar will grant someone the ability to disappear into shadow and call the darkness to their aid. To put it simply, they grant a person access to [Shadow Magic]. The cost however is very high. In addition to the usual demonic toll of giving up your soul after death, you also must give up the souls of every single one of your descendants for all time.

Valefar's bargains will doom an entire bloodline to their fate of serving him after death. He doomed the entire Garou Clan of Werewolves, granting them the ability to cast shadow magic, but also damning their souls.

Valefar is not completely heartless. He will give these doomed descendants a chance to keep their souls, but they must perform an impossible task for him. Usually it involves a great act of thievery, an assassination, or something else that will ruin their lives on Earth. At least they have their souls after they die...

There is no shortage of defeated and sealed Demon Lords and Death Gods. The Underworld itself is said to have been created from the body of Tartarus, or the Abyss, and was shaped into the Twilight Realm by Nyx. Within this realm is not a vast singular connected land, but a constant, ever shifting collection of dimensional spaces that were formed from the bodies of other fallen gods. This is in parallel to the Celestial Realm, which is said to have been created from the body of Aether, or the Heavens, with the broken body of Ouranos and other sky gods forming the many spaces of the Celestial Realm.

While the gods that make up the foundation of the Infernal Realm are mostly lost to time, the many lesser gods that are defeated or sealed are not. There are numerous gods that were imprisoned in pocket dimensions withing the Underworld, and others who, after their defeat, were cut to pieces and scattered across the realms so they couldn't be revived.

The Patron Demon of Insects, Pestillence, and Famine. Beezlebub is a feared entity even among other demons. He appears as a swarm of pixies, each with a distinct green insectoid mask melded to their faces, causing their eyes to glow green and the rest of the face to be indistinguishable. This swarm of "flies" can quickly cover a field, a village, or even a small town, then while casting a power known only as [Decay Magic], cause everything around them to fall apart and corrode, decay, and die.

While virtually all other demons are willing to make a deal with mortal, Beezlebub will not entertain the thought. He only exists to destroy. Even attempting to contact him will cause the person to be immediately overwhelmed with multiple diseases, causing them to expire within a couple of hours.

Fortunately he was sealed in ancient times by all the pantheons of Earth. He was sent to another dimension where he consumed everything until all that was left was a dark void. He has been trying to find his way back to Earth since then.

If Mictlāntēcutli had a different name beyond being called the Lord of the Underworld, that name is lost to time. He hoarded the bones of the dead in his realm. In ancient times a disaster in Mexico, caused by the Gods there, killed most of the population and the Lord of Mictlan took all the bones. Quetzalcoatl and Xolotl were sent to the Underworld to retrieve them so they could revive the people. Mictlāntēcutli had a task for the Quetzalcoatl and made a deal with him. Quetzalcoatl performed the task and agreed to the deal, and was allowed to bring the bones back to the surface.

As part of the deal, Xolotl was made to serve the Lord of Mictlan, guiding the dead of Mexico to his domain. Some say he was tricked and betrayed by his brother, while others say he serves Mictlāntēcutli willingly, knowing a sacrifice had to be made to ensure their success in reviving the people of Mexico.

This cycle repeated itself several times, each time the people of Mexico dying, thanks to the Gods. Mictlāntēcutli made it more difficult each time to revive the people of Mexico, and was gradually gaining more power because of it. This annoyed other lords of the Underworld but they didn't move against him at the time. Eventually the Gods of Mexico left for the Celestial Realm breaking the cycle, though it happened three more times after the first. Before they left, an alliance of gods and demons defeated Mictlāntēcutli once and for all.

Deep in ancient times, before the Olympians ruled Greece, before Ra established order in Egypt, before even the first age of the Sun in Mexico, before Izanami and Izanagi created Japan, there was Cronos. He overthrew the primordial god of the sky Ouranos in Greece. He then violated Divine law by going around the Earth, killing other primordial sky gods, then cast them all into the Aether, creating the Celestial Realms.

Cronos then crowned himself ruler of all the pantheons of the Earth, creating a Golden Age, where there was no strife, where humans lived perfect lives, where all of the gods served him. There was no free will, even among the gods. Order and Chaos came together to create perfect harmony, casting an existence across the cosmos that was long thought impossible. At least, this is what the stories say. Any god that was alive at the time will talk about how terrible of a ruler he was.

He went by many names depending on the location and his name can be traced as a god of time, a god of the harvest, or a god of harmony. Most of these names were struck from history when he was defeated but many myths across the world can be still be attributed to him in some way. His body is split into innumerable pieces and is scattered across the underworld.