Mammon (mam-mon)

Relationships:
Despite being one of the Lords of the Nine, Mammon was considered a lesser archdevil in Hell's political sphere. He was hopelessly lacking in allies among the other Lords of the Nine, and even Tiamat despised him for stealing her dragon worshipers by appealing to their greed. Though he was once in an alliance with Dispater, and by extension Mephistopheles, he likely never trusted the Iron Duke in the first place. He almost instantly began grovelling before Asmodeus the moment the Overlord proved victorious, betraying both his partners without a second thought, thus earning him the suspicion and scorn of every other archdevil.

Mammon had a particularly complex relationship with the relatively new archdevil and his former consort, Glasya. It was said that her position as Mammon's concubine wasn't something she had set out to claim, but a form of punishment placed upon her by Asmodeus. The spoilt Princess of Hell, accustomed to the comforts of Nessus, was forced to endure the disgusting advances of the Serpent and the backwater slum that was his lair. Still, others posited that she came to Minauros willingly, possibly out of some form of genuine affection or merely as a way to annoy the other archdevils, particularly her father, before the Lord of Nessus broke off their relationship.

Mammon put up little to no resistance against Asmodeus's demands, possibly earning Glasya's scorn, and his attitude towards his former consort was similarly enigmatic. On one hand, he was potentially embittered towards her for her supposed manipulation and frightened of her rise to archduchess. On the other hand, he was thought to want her at his feet when he conquered the Nine Hells. Whether the two had rekindled their old spark outside of Asmodeus's eye or still passionately resented each other was truly unknown. However, given the twisted nature of infernal romantic intrigue and the backwards, Baatezu approach to relationships, both could be true.

Dukes:
While Mammon was the master of Minauros in name, he often neglected it, leaving such matters to his seneschal Focalor. Respectful but silent, Focalar handled the administration, diplomacy, and security of Minauros in his master's absence, as well as the protection of Glasya during her time as his consort. Despite appearing completely loyal and resisting the constant temptations by rival archdevils to win him over to their side, Focalar hated his master for his incompetence and irresponsibility. He willingly worked with Glasya as her bodyguard, using his political awareness to undermine Mammon with the intent to destroy him.

Mammon was also reliant on his powerful vassal dukes, who dwelt far from the Sinking City amidst dead woods and volcanoes, to protect the realm. His chief vassal was the Bronze General Bael, a tactical mastermind whose unending triumph over Abyssal legions with his 66 barbazu companies earned him great acclaim. Although he struggled with baatezu politics, Bael still plotted to take over Minauros by overthrowing both Focalor and Mammon. Other important servants included Caarcrinolaas, a duke aware but seemingly indifferent to Bael's motives; Melchon, an outwardly loyal duke who had earned Focalor's suspicion; and Glwa, a new, obscure consort. It was believed that, without the wisdom of Focalor, the military genius of Bael, and the strength of his other dukes, Mammon would be an easily supplanted adversary.

Ironically, despite his dependency on his dukes and the political minefield his court became due to his paranoia, the unworthy archdevil's servitors all seemingly schemed to dethrone him. While the lesser leaders, Caarcrinolaas and Melchon, both independently conspired to murder Bael to seize his forces with the hope of using them to defeat Mammon, Focalor, along with Glwa, planned to use the Bronze General to their advantage by forcing him into a situation where he would have to overthrow their master. Afterwards, Focalor would be the power behind the throne, puppeteering the new archdevil from the shadows.

Mammon also had a daughter, Baelzra, born of neither Glasya nor Glwa but an affair he had with the bloated archdevil Sagirsa, queen of Jangling Hiter. The Chain Princess lacked the unsightliness one would expect from the child of Mammon and a former paeliryon, but only because her inner grotesquery surpassed even that of her father. Her illegal soul-harvesting operation on Avernus secretly netted the King of Greed some soul-profit, and he still doted on her despite her exile.

Servants:
Desiring absolute loyalty from his servants, Mammon surrounded himself with devils known for their obedience. Brutish barbazus were common, used to haul carts and sometimes to trade between other circles of the Nine Hells in search of souls worthy of becoming narzugons. Despite their hatred for Minauros's humidity, his armies were led by gelugons and mostly comprised of osyluths and hamatulas. Hamatulas in particular were prevalent throughout Minauros, partly due to the long distance petitioners had to travel to harvest stone from the volcanoes, which made them vulnerable to escape. When prisoners escaped, sometimes intentionally released by a hamatula to hunt them for sport, Focalor or Mammon would have to pursue them personally if their minions were incapable of recapturing or killing them.

Mammon's minions were experts in transactions involving the soul, but even such experienced harvesters often found themselves shocked at the low prices for which immortal souls were offered. Using a guidebook known as The Accounting and Valuation of All Things, they could assess a soul's value in relation to various other goods, allowing for a minimal drain on Mammon's treasury. They generally attempted to imitate his behaviour in the hopes of winning his goodwill, and they shared traits, including greed. Commonly, devils only viewed treasure as a valuable tool to be discarded as needed, but Mammon's agents might take moderate and even extreme risks just to protect their gold.