Archdevil
Ervenian Era, 1051 AB
The Archdevils are the supreme rulers of Hell, each presiding over one of its nine descending layers. They are the pinnacle of Lawful Evil, immortal tyrants who embody the cold, rigid cruelty of the Infernal order. Bound by the ancient Pact Primeval, they maintain the cosmic role of Hell: to tempt, corrupt, and claim mortal souls in exchange for lawful contracts that bind for eternity.
Structure
The Archdevils are nine, one for each plane, though there are rare occasions where devils can reach archdevil status, but are lesser in status than the nine planes:
- Zariel, the Fallen Solar, Archdevil of Avernus. Once a general of Heaven, she was cast down when her zeal to destroy the Abyss eclipsed her loyalty to the Celestial Host. Now she commands the infernal legions of Avernus, the first front of Hell. She rules from the Scourging Citadel, a fortress rising from volcanic stone amid endless war camps and siegeworks. Her creed is fire and iron: no weakness, no mercy, no retreat. Her flaming greatsword, Solaris Perdura, is said to burn with the last light of her shattered halo. She favors uncompromising crusades, vows kept unto death, and armies forged into weapons sharper than any blade.
- Dispater, the Iron Duke, Archdevil of vigilance, cities, and suspicion. Dispater rules from the Iron Tower, a needle of mirror-black steel that reflects nothing but you. He favors information over annihilation, possession over destruction, and permits over pitched battles. His edicts keep the streets immaculate and the population terrified.
- Mammon, The Gilded Serpent, Archdevil of greed, debasement, and possession. Mammon rules from The Crawling Vault, a mobile palace of adamantine barges and telescoping stilts that step from hummock to hummock, never letting his wealth touch the mud. He prefers liens to lashes, foreclosure to war.
- Fierna and Belial, the Co-Sovereigns Of Phlegethos, also known as the Lady of Fire and the Lord of Secrets, Archdevils of passion, temptation, and ruinous indulgence. Fierna rules from the Burning Courts, where flame takes the shape of dancers, courtiers, and lovers, each more perilous than the last. She whispers of pleasures unearned and loves forbidden, her voice a caress that brands the soul. Belial, her father and consort, prefers the shadows of her court, feeding her subtle schemes while masking his own. Together they weave sin as performance, all flame, no mercy, drawing mortals into their embrace until nothing is left but ash and obedience.
- Levistus, the Prince in Ice of Stygia, the Archdevil of betrayal, treachery, and hollow oaths. Levistus lies imprisoned within a colossal glacier at the heart of Stygia, entombed for crimes so severe that even Ashmedai himself could not permit release. From his frozen crypt, he whispers promises to the desperate and the damned: freedom in exchange for fealty, vengeance for a price. His agents are those who would knife their masters in the back, courtiers who smile with poisoned wine on their lips, and generals who abandon their armies for survival. Though chained in ice, his influence seeps everywhere like cold water, corroding loyalty into self-preservation.
- Glasya, Princess of Thieves in Malbolge, the Archdevil of deception, corruption, and forbidden rebellion. Glasya makes her seat in the Broken Palace, a labyrinthine sprawl of ruined halls and shattered courtyards where conspiracies take root like weeds. Once the favored daughter of Ashmedai, she learned treachery from the greatest deceiver of all — and turned it inward. Now she plays the dutiful servant, but every theft, every bribe, and every scandal within Hell bears her sigil. She rules the gutters and the thieves’ guilds of Malbolge as comfortably as she plays courtesan to the court of Nessus. To swear loyalty to Glasya is to swear to a cause she will betray, but her betrayal is always the most profitable bargain in Hell.
- Baalzebul, the Lord of Flies of Maladomini, the Archdevil of corruption, pride, and ruin. Baalzebul broods in the Filth Hive, once a city of shining towers now drowned in rot and swarms. His grandeur is a mask over decay: once called “the Beautiful”, his fall into corruption left him a bloated mockery of what he was. Yet his voice remains honey-sweet, his promises gilded with the veneer of salvation. Baalzebul offers order through degradation, unity through infestation. His servants, like flies upon carrion, multiply in squalor and spread corruption wherever they go. To follow him is to feast upon waste and to be feasted upon in turn.
- Mephistopheles, the Arch-Magus of Cania, the Archdevil of ambition, heresy, and forbidden power. Mephistopheles rules from Mephistar, a fortress-palace encased in glaciers and warded by hellfire that burns cold. Where other archdevils make war with armies, he wages war with knowledge. He dangles sorceries before mortals that even gods dared not wield, offering secrets that scorch the soul but reshape the world. His greatest heresy is the belief that even Hell should be remade, not endured, and his ambition is nothing less than the throne of Ashmedai. Every grimoire whispered by devils, every forbidden ritual carved into mortal dreams, carries the echo of his laughter.
- Ashmedai, the Primordial Warlord of Avernus in Nessus, the Archdevil of tyranny, conquest, and unbreakable oaths. Known as the First General, Ashmedai once commanded Hell’s armies before Zariel’s fall. Though his throne rests deep within Nessus, his influence lingers over Avernus, where his war banners still smolder across the blasted plains. He is a figure of absolute authority, the iron fist that brooks no dissent, the unyielding commander who expects obedience unto death. Mortals call upon him when they seek dominion over others, or when they would bind themselves in chains stronger than steel. To swear to Ashmedai is to surrender freedom in exchange for certainty: the certainty of conquest, and the certainty of damnation.
Culture
Though united in defending their realm from outside threats, the Archdevils are in constant political conflict, vying for dominance without ever fully breaking the infernal laws that bind them. Each commands legions of devils, controls vast infernal armies, and wields nearly godlike power within their own domains.
The Archdevils are not gods, but they are worshipped by mortals who see in them the ultimate promise of power, vengeance, or order at any costm as Ameros. Many cults disguise their allegiance behind elaborate codes or secular titles, masking their devotion until their oaths are too deeply bound to break.
Public Agenda
The Archdevils are not remote abstractions, for they they are the active players in the planar game. Each has agents on the Material Plane: lawyers, generals, seducers, and assassins, all working to expand their master’s influence. They are rivals to the Mezzofiends Princes of Gehenna and oppose the Demon Lords of the Abyss, though they are known to form uneasy alliances when fighting the Celestials of Mount Celestia or the Aeons.
Alternative Names
Archduke, Archduchess;
Leader
Controlled Territories
Notable Members
Related Myths
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