The Fallen Ones

The Fallen Ones are the ruling body of archfiends that govern the nine circles of Hell. Most of them were once archangels, but after a failed rebellion against their holy brethren, they were exiled from Heaven and thrown into the nascent Infernal Plane. As part of this punishment, their celestial beauty was stripped from them, along with their wings, transforming into what the people of the Multiverse now know as devils.

Patron Domains: Ambition, Fire, Pain, Tyranny

Barbatos

Duke of Fear

Barbatos is a figure shrouded in mystery, for he did not take part in the rebellion against Heaven, nor is he one of Hell’s original inhabitants. Rather, he just showed up one day from out of the blue and requested a meeting with Asmodeus, which would last for forty days and forty nights. Nobody knows what words were exchanged, but by the time their tête-à-tête was over, Barbatos had been appointed to his current high-ranking position. His physical form is equally mysterious, with a beard of thorny flesh that protrudes from beneath the hood of his ratty cloak, and a many-eyed face that remains hidden to all but an unlucky few. Siring the sin of cowardice, Barbatos rules over the First Circle of Hell, Avernus, a desiccated wasteland of rocky spires and rivers of creeping lava, which endlessly choke the sky with fumes as they melt the sand into jagged trails of black glass.

Dispater

Duke of Iron

Dispater is perhaps the most dangerous of the Fallen Ones; not because of his strength or his sphere of influence, but because of his table manners. Unfailingly dressed to the nines, with angular horns and stony gray skin, he’s almost unassumingly polite, willing to sit and converse with supplicants at any time. However, it must be known that, like all devils, Dispater always has an ulterior motive, for he spends every waking moment of his existence obsessing over one idea: passive growth. Over time, he has slowly perfected the means of achieving this, forging a place to amass him power that he joyfully refers to as his “Iron City.” Siring the sin of sloth, Dispater rules over the Second Circle of Hell, Dis, a labyrinthine city that was meticulously designed to lull visitors into a false sense of security, where congregations of devils conspire and barter for the souls of mortals.

Mammon

Duke of Riches

Mammon is a profoundly evil creature, even as far as devils go. He preys on the vices of mortals, exploiting the weaknesses within them in a way that very few could even imagine. And, worst of all, he barely has to lift a finger to do so, for his name is invoked in more diabolic contracts and rituals than any other Fallen One (besides Asmodeus himself, of course). Mammon’s physical form is as glamorous as it is utterly repulsive, with golden skin that hangs in heavy flabs, rows of serrated silver teeth, and beady eyes that shine like diamonds to distract from his cruel countenance. Siring the sin of greed, Mammon rules over the Third Circle of Hell, Erebus, a vast network of fetid tunnels, which serves as both a sewer system for the city of Dis above and an impenetrable vault to hold the infinite wealth of Hell.

Belial

Duke of Depravity

Belial is said to have been the first of Asmodiel’s followers in Heaven, and is therefore one of his most trusted allies in Hell. Mesmerizingly handsome, he possesses a malleable body that he can shape into anything he pleases; though, he could never begin to emulate the angelic grace of his original form. His unholy mission is to tempt mortals into participating in acts of carnal pleasure, thereby making them more susceptible to other debaucheries. Siring the sin of lust, Belial rules over the Fourth Circle of Hell, Phlegethon, an unnervingly beautiful realm of pleasure gardens and dungeons, where the damned are twisted into grotesque forms more suitable for eternal punishment. However, at some point in the past century, Belial’s presence in Phlegethon suddenly ceased. There are rumors that he went missing while sojourning somewhere in the Otherworld, leaving his seat of power precariously empty for the time being.

Geryon

Duke of Lies

Geryon is an opportunist of the most treacherous variety. Just after the first devils were thrown into Hell, Asmodeus personally surveyed each of its nine regions. While carving a path through the middlemost circle, one of the native asuras saw him approaching an area that the clueless devil was unlikely to escape. Sensing the potential for upward mobility, he approached Asmodeus in the guise of a serpent to warn him of the danger, offering his counsel and eternal loyalty in exchange for mercy. If it weren’t for the assistance of that serpent, whom Asmodeus gave the name Geryon, the asuras likely would have defeated the (then unorganized) devils once and for all. Siring the sin of deceit, Geryon rules over the Fifth Circle of Hell, Stygia, a crumbling mountain range full of bones and strange ruins, which still resembles the Infernal Plane as it originally existed before the arrival of the Fallen Ones.

Moloch

Duke of Hate

Moloch is a truly monstrous devil in both form and temperament, who was handpicked by Asmodeus to be the general of all infernal legions, for his tactics are simultaneously bloodthirsty yet subtle. Standing twenty-feet tall and weighing over twelve tons, his sinewy limbs are reinforced with plates of blackened armor, and his horns are like those of a sacrificial bull: blunted from thousands of years of violence and wreathed in an unquenchable flame. Moloch’s tremendous strength is derived from the hellfire that burns within his heart, which only grows hotter as he gets angrier, meaning that the longer he engages an enemy on the field of battle the more powerful he becomes. Siring the sin of wrath, Moloch rules over the Sixth Circle of Hell, Malebolge, a smoldering forest of charred trees, where the forces of Hell gather their strength in eager anticipation for an inevitable second war against Heaven.

Baalzebul

Duke of Flies

Baalzebul is a thoroughly loathsome presence to suffer, with an appetite for only the most heinous of delicacies. Unsophisticated and vain, he ravenously craves the sorrow and hopelessness of virtuous souls, which he often describes as tasting “tart, but not overly so, with a slight hint of sweetness.” However, since the day was struck down by the radiant blade of the archangel Erathiel, Baalzebul is no longer able to maintain a corporeal form. Beyond the cloud of gnats and droning insects that he uses to commune with his servants, he has been reduced to a mere disembodied voice, permanently accompanied by an array of abjectly disgusting odors. Siring the sin of gluttony, Baalzebul rules over the Seventh Circle of Hell, Cocytus, a churning sea of partially frozen blood, where starving mortals are forced to watch as bloated fiends scarf down an endless feast that they’ll never get to taste.

Mephistopheles

Duke of Desire

Mephistopheles is almost certainly the most cunning, conniving devil to ever live. With leathery red wings and a sinister smile, his eyes are as dark as poisoned wine, and his clawed hands have been left wrinkly and crooked from centuries of signing contracts. Uniquely, as a living manifestation of the Infernal Plane itself, he was only born after Belphegor, Duke of Beasts, left his throne in Hell vacant while leading his ultimately fruitless campaign to conquer the plane of Abaddon. Nature abhors a vacuum, however, and so Mephistopheles sprung forth from a vortex of hellfire fully formed, loyal to Hell’s current leader and already itching to make a deal. Siring the sin of envy, Mephistopheles rules over the Eighth Circle of Hell, Caina, a howling chasm that leads into Nessus, filled with cages of blistering iron and hanging archives that contain every diabolic contract ever put to paper.

Asmodeus

Duke of Dukes

Asmodeus is the leader of the Fallen Ones, and thus the undisputed ruler of Hell. Originally, he was an angel by the name of Asmodiel, who had grown tired of the slow, tedious processes that Heaven employed in its governance of creation. So, one day, he rallied a number of other celestials who shared in his dissatisfaction and attempted to usurp Heaven’s authority. However, after his rebellion ended in failure, he and his accomplices were banished. His form, once adorned with the ruddy wings of a cardinal, was the epitome of heavenly beauty, but no longer. Now, horns have supplanted his wings, and his skin is stained red with blood. Siring the sin of pride, Asmodeus dwells in the Ninth Circle of Hell, Nessus, a seemingly infinite expanse of darkness that takes on a different form based on its perceiver, where only the mightiest of devils may hope to reside.