9 Hells & The Abyss
Structure
A strictly hierarchical system that places devils above demons with a psuedo-meritocracy that allows cronism and power to advance up the scale. Led by the king in absentia.
Culture
A culture that is strict about the caste system and prioritizes the privileges of devils over demons. It is built on a massive bureaucracy powered by sentient souls captured through sacrifice or deals. Each demon and devil has a quota to fill and punishments if it is not filled. The entire system was created as a punishment from El and Yahweh on Helel for his rebellious antics which damned all his followers with him. They build their ranks by transforming sentient souls into demons upon arrival in the 9 Hells.
Rulers and their Layers:
- Asmodeus: A rocky wasteland with lakes of ice that hides the fortress of Asmodeus. He lives within and reads, divines, studies and rests away from his subjects.
- Dumiel: The banks of the river Styx where Dumiel, the angel of silence guides the forces of Hell to fight the latter demons of the Abyss as they try to invade the 9 Hells. It is a blistered battlefield of ruined castles, piles of corpses and military encampments.
- Dispater: A god of the underworld who has carved out the 3rd layer as his realm. He operates large forges, mines and earth works that reflect his nature as a mineral god as well as an underworld one. His place in the Hells has made it the underworld for his worshippers on the Material Plane where Dispater acts as benevolent overlord.
- Mammon: A former angel and spiritual accounts keeper turned miser in the Hells. His resentment of his master, Asmodeus, has changed him into a lying, greedy, clutching miser as his layer has inflated Mammon's worst traits over the eons. It is a wasteland stripped of valuables that lay in Mammon's vaults.
- Belial and Uriel: Former angels who followed Asmodeus because he supported their love. These two run a layer that is half archives and half training grounds. Belial archives the worked above, attracting the souls of scholars as his minions while Uriel trains the souls of corrupted clerics and paladins to fight in the Blood War. They argue often but Uriel and Belial are a good couple and are honorable for Devils
- Stolas: An Annunaki who became an Archdevil through cunning. He is a bird like being that offers deals of cunning and cheating death but always with a catch. His realm is a deep forest kingdom.
- Abaddon: A former angel turned Archdevil who became a slothful being that entices gamblers, cheats and thieves with luck. Her realm is a city of carnival and two-faced deals.
- Beelzebub: A former angel whose knowledge of science and alchemy entices the scholarly but with a price. His realm is a decaying swamp and land of flies.
- Mephistopheles: It's rumored Mephistopheles was a mortal who became an archdevil. He is a lawyerly, lawful Archdevil who helps mortals win through crooked contracts, law knowledge and logic. He is the least trusted of the Devils.
- Demogorgon: A beast who values pain and suffering. It was once a god of Olympus who was cursed by Jupiter. It does not remember its life before, only seeking suffering in others.
- Juiblex: A semi-sentient hivemind of slimes that achieved apotheosis. It has created a realm of slime and swamp.
- Zuggtmoy: A local minor goddess of decay that was driven out of her lands. She now plots from the Abyss for her return as she devoured an Elder God to gain more power.
- Leviathan: A dragon god driven by clerics to the Abyss. He swims in an endless sea waiting for a moment to get revenge.
- Tiamat: A dragon goddess who was driven to the Abyss by Marduk. She has created a sanctuary fro dead dragons where she rules as Queen.
- Baphomet: A knowledge god who made a quiet realm in the Abyss. He keeps to himself unless sought for knowledge. He is the most benevolent of the Abyssal lords.
- Orcus: An underworld god who once followed Asmodeus but was betrayed by Dispater. He is now a lord of the Abyss who has mastered the power of undeath.
- Setesh: A chaos god of the Khemaat Pantheon who was driven to the Abyss by horus, his nephew. He rules an endless desert where he builds his power.
- Lilith: A former goddess who was driven to the Abyss by Yahweh. She plots and is forming an alliance to kill him, and to take his place in the pantheon.
Public Agenda
To perpetuate the 9 Hells and capture sentient souls.
Assets
An unknown number of denizens and devils.
History
The 9 Hells and The Abyss (the area below the settled Hells) were originally a plane inhabited by a sect of Anunaki which joined Helel in a rebellion against El and Yahweh. The original Annunaki became demons and the angels of Helel became Devils. They were assigned their bureaucracy as a punishment. Helel, now called Asmodeus, rules in absentia from the 9th layer of Hell, trying to avoid his underlings. Each of the 9 layers is managed by Archdevils, some former angels, some gods who have moved to the 9 Hells. Below the 9 Hells in the Abyss, other rogue deities have carved out domains where they have created new demons from the Aether which assaults the 9 Hells which has manifested in the Blood War around the River Styx.
Founding Date
Unknown
Type
Religious, Pantheon
Alternative Names
Inferno
Demonym
Devil/Demon
Government System
Dictatorship
Official Languages
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