> [!infobox]+ Asmodeus > > <div class="infobox-coat-of-arms"> > <div style="text-align: center; padding: 5px;"> > <div class="character-name-container"><div class="character-main-name">Asmodeus</div><div class="character-epithet">the Lord of Lies</div></div> > </div> > </div> > <div style="text-align: center; padding: 0.2em;"> > <img src="AsmodeusSymbol.png" alt="Asmodeus" style="max-width: 250px; height: auto;" class="internal-image"> > </div> > <table class="infobox-table"> > <tr><td class="infobox-label">Province</td><td class="infobox-data">God of Lies, Tyranny and Domination, Lord of the <a href="Nine Hells.md" class="internal-link">Nine Hells</a></td></tr> > <tr><td class="infobox-label">Alignment</td><td class="infobox-data">Lawful Evil</td></tr> > <tr><td class="infobox-label">Symbol</td><td class="infobox-data">A crown of spiked onyx between curling horns</td></tr> > <tr><td class="infobox-label">Holy Day</td><td class="infobox-data"><em>None</em></td></tr> > <tr><td class="infobox-label">Type</td><td class="infobox-data">Greater <a href="Deities.md" class="internal-link">Deity</a></td></tr> > <tr><td class="infobox-label">Home Plane</td><td class="infobox-data">His fortress of Nalsheem in Nessus, the ninth and deepest layer of the <a href="Nine Hells.md" class="internal-link">Nine Hells</a>, which he has ruled since leaving the <a href="Material Plane.md" class="internal-link">Material Plane</a> by pact at the end of the <a href="Dawn-War.md" class="internal-link">Dawn-War</a></td></tr> > <tr><td class="infobox-label">Divine Champion</td><td class="infobox-data"><em>Not Known</em></td></tr> > </table> ### About Asmodeus, the Lord of Lies, is the greater god of lies, tyranny and domination, the Lord of the [[Nine Hells]] and one of the [[Betrayer Gods]]. He was once one of the Pantheon, the evil that existed so that good could have meaning, and it was only when the other [[Deities]] cast him out alongside the gods they called evil that he turned his back on them. His words are honeyed and carefully crafted, soothing and corrupting the mortal heart, and the punishments awaiting those who cross him are the stuff of nightmares. The [[Nine Hells]] he made to punish the wicked have long since become a realm of bargains, where mortal souls are bought and collected. Unlike the other [[Betrayer Gods]], Asmodeus is no prisoner. At the end of the [[Dawn-War]] he left the [[Material Plane]] of his own accord, by a pact whose terms have never been revealed, and he now rules his fiendish hordes from his fortress of Nalsheem in Nessus, the deepest layer of the [[Nine Hells]], free to roam the Outer Planes as the [[Prime Deities]] do. ### Depiction Asmodeus is depicted in many tomes and murals as a handsome humanoid with deep red skin and long black hair. Two curling horns rise from his brow, and his lips bear an eternal, knowing grin. His holy symbol is a crown of spiked onyx set between curling horns. ### Divine Domains Asmodeus' clerics are most often granted powers of Trickery or War. ### Holy Day Asmodeus has no holy day. His followers hold that any day is fit for a bargain. ### Commandments of Asmodeus - Assert dominance and power over others. Show your strength of will in the image of Asmodeus. - Repay cruelty done unto you with further evil. If others show you kindness, exploit it. - As you ascend to power, do not pity or show mercy to those you climb over to get there. Compassion is for the weak. ### Enemies of Asmodeus The enemies of Asmodeus are numerous, even among the [[Betrayer Gods]], many of whom have only ever followed him out of fear of his immense power. His archnemesis is [[Avandra]], the Changebringer, whose mischief and cunning have vexed him throughout the ages. It was she who defeated him in the [[Dawn-War]] by tricking his armies into attacking one another, and it was from her that he stole the [[Kiss of the Changebringer]]. He holds a lasting contempt for [[Raei]], the Everlight, whom he deceived and betrayed, and for [[Pelor]], who sealed him away in the [[Age of Founding|Schism]]. Above all, Asmodeus resents the [[Prime Deities]] who rejected him, and none more than [[Erathis]]. The Lawbearer was given the place of goddess of civilisation and law, so close to his own, yet where he is feared, she is loved. It was with [[Erathis]] that he struck the bargain that ended his part in the [[Dawn-War]], and it is said that he has never forgiven her for it. ### History - #### The Age of Founding In the [[Age of Founding]], Asmodeus stood among the Pantheon as the evil that gave good its meaning, a necessary darkness against which the light of the other [[Deities]] could be measured. Like many of the gods, he created a plane of his own, the [[Nine Hells]], a realm mirroring [[Aeborhia]] itself, where the souls of those who had lived evil lives would be punished. Many such Hells are thought to exist across the multiverse, but the [[Nine Hells]] of [[Aeborhia]] are his creation. When the gods began to argue over the fate of their creations, before the [[Age of Founding|Schism]] broke out, Asmodeus first took the side of the [[Prime Deities]]. Yet the Pantheon treated him no differently from the other gods they called evil, and, spurned by those he had stood beside, he turned his back on them and joined the [[Betrayer Gods]]. Throughout the [[Age of Founding|Schism]], he led armies of devils against the Pantheon, until, at the end of the [[Crusades of Dawn|Crusade of Dawn]], [[Pelor]] and his [[Pelor's Swords|Swords]] sealed him within his own [[Nine Hells]]. - #### The Age of Arcanum Asmodeus spent the [[Age of Arcanum]] sealed within the [[Nine Hells]], ruling over the devils and damned souls of his realm. Over the long ages of his imprisonment, the Hells changed with their master. What had been made as a place of punishment for the wicked became a realm of bargains, where souls were no longer simply judged but bought, traded and collected, gathered by Asmodeus and his devils as currency and power for their own ends. - #### The Dawn-War At the start of the [[Dawn-War]], Asmodeus was released along with the other [[Betrayer Gods]]. His greatest triumph of the war was his betrayal of [[Raei]], the Everlight. He came to her as a broken god, claiming to have turned against the other [[Betrayer Gods]] and begging her mercy and protection. Over many years, he played the part of the helpless penitent so well that she came to trust him completely, and once he was welcomed among her followers, he struck, slaughtering every one of them in a single stroke and leaving the Everlight herself grievously wounded. It is said that it was [[Avandra]] who nursed [[Raei]] back to health, and the followers of the two goddesses have been bound in fellowship ever since. At some point in the war, Asmodeus stole the [[Kiss of the Changebringer]], [[Avandra|Avandra's]] Vestige of Divergence, from the goddess's own neck. It was never returned to her and was lost to [[Aeborhia|the world]]. Rumours of it surface from time to time, along with fragments of history and tales of an item matching its description, but its true fate remains unknown. [[Avandra]] had her revenge on the battlefield, defeating Asmodeus by tricking his fiendish armies into attacking one another. By the end of the [[Dawn-War]], when [[Bahamut]] and [[Erathis]] defeated [[Tiamat]] at [[Rexsall]], Asmodeus was the only [[Betrayer Gods|Betrayer God]] still free. After lengthy negotiations with [[Erathis]], he left the [[Material Plane]] of his own accord, taking [[Tiamat]] with him and imprisoning her on Avernus, the first layer of the [[Nine Hells]]. The terms of this deal have never been revealed, though many myths and rumours are whispered about them. - #### Post Dawn-War Since the [[Divergence]], Asmodeus, like all [[Deities]], can no longer enter the [[Material Plane]] or the inner planes. Unlike the other [[Betrayer Gods]], however, he is no prisoner. He rules the [[Nine Hells]] from Nalsheem, and roams the Outer Planes as freely as any of the [[Prime Deities]]. ### Modern Worship of Asmodeus No nation worships Asmodeus openly, and his faith is outlawed across [[Aekacira (Country)|Aekacira]] and [[Stacia]]. Yet he has more followers than most of the [[Betrayer Gods]], for he offers power to any who are willing to bargain for it. Warlocks are drawn to him, and secret cults gather among the ambitious, nobles, merchants and officials who believe that the right contract can raise them above their rivals. Evil entities pay him tribute alongside his devils, and the [[Tieflings]] of [[Aeborhia]] are descended from mortals who struck bargains with the [[Nine Hells]]. His cults are patient and organised, and at times bold. Before 3021 PD, one even assaulted the Hall of the Sun, the great temple of [[Pelor]], in an attempt to tear open a portal to the [[Nine Hells]], until the [[Pelor's Swords|Swords of Pelor]] and [[Trentyn Feller]] drove back its devils. ### Known Worshippers of Asmodeus #### Champions *Not Known* #### Other Worshippers - [[Hans]] - The imp familiar of [[Sorcerer Jack]].