Asmodeus

Asmodeus

(Deity)

Titles

The Archfiend
Dark Prince
The First
God-Fiend
King of Hell
Lord of Darkness
Lord of Hell
Lord of the Pit
Master of Witches
Prince of Darkness
Prince of Devils
Prince of Hell
Prince of Law
Ruler of Hell

Adjective

Asmodean

Realm

The Catafalque, Nessus, Hell

Alignment

Lawful evil

Areas of Concern

Contracts
Pride
Slavery
Tyranny

Worshipers

Slavers, bureaucrats, tyrants, diabolists, lawyers, those who seek rulership or discipline

Edicts

Negotiate contracts to your best advantage, rule tyrannically and torture weaker beings, show subservience to your betters

Anathema

Break a contract, free a slave, insult Asmodeus by showing mercy to your enemies

Follower Alignments (1E)

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Domains (1E)

Evil, Fire, Law, Magic, Trickery

Subdomains (1E)

Arcane, Ash, Deception, Devil, Divine, Legislation, Smoke

Follower Alignments (2E)

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Domains (2E)

Confidence, fire, trickery, tyranny
Alternative: duty, glyph

Favored Weapon

Mace

Symbol

Red pentagram: the Archstar

Sacred Animal

Serpent

Sacred Colors

Black, red

Images of Asmodeus

Source: Book of the Damned, pg(s). 26ff. (1E)
Gods & Magic (Second Edition), pg(s). 14f. (2E)

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Asmodeus (pronounced as-MO-dee-us) is the most powerful of the nine archdevils that inhabit Hell, and the only one of Hell's rulers to claim full divinity. It was he who is credited with the penning the contract of creation, within which his followers believe is hidden the means for their patron's eventual rise to supremacy.

Appearance

A depiction of Asmodeus.

While he can take any form he wishes—an ability he frequently uses to his advantage—Asmodeus is generally depicted in art as a tall, muscular man with red skin, cloven hooves, and black hair and horns, surrounded by a pale flame nimbus and bearing a contract. Though many believe that this is his true form, some speak of another form less comprehensible to mortals that bears a constantly bleeding wound supposedly received in his battle with Ihys. In art and otherwise, he is rarely seen without the Archstar, an artifact forged before the Exodus from Heaven that bears his pentagram symbol and takes the form of a flaming ruby mace, rod, or staff. His pentagram symbol has become synonymous with this artifact.

History

The exact details of Asmodeus' history vary wildly across different accounts and exist only in myths and legends, but all agree that he is one of the oldest deities in existence. According to the Book of the Damned, Asmodeus is one of the two primeval entities with his brother and equal, Ihys; together, they are known as the First. This story is endorsed by Asmodeus' church and the Script of Flies but rejected or resented by most others. According to the Windsong Testaments, Asmodeus and his brother were two of the first deities of this incarnation of creation, born when Pharasma used the Seal to will existence into being.

Another account claims that Asmodeus actually began his days as an angel empyreal lord of Heaven. During his travels across the Great Beyond, Asmodeus discovered an enigmatic land, a shadow of Heaven which he explored for an age, during which he learnt to hear and commune with the realm's voice, which calls itself Hell. When he found the seemingly impossible ruins of a temple, Asmodeus was greeted by a serpent, and in the following age, he learnt much about its people, the asuras, as well as their neighbours, the velstracs, and many other beings beyond Heaven. He in turn shared many of Heaven's truths and innovations to the asuras and velstracs before returning to Heaven, keeping the route to Hell a secret to all but himself.

During his Fall (as the chronicles of Heaven call that event), Asmodeus led his followers, including his protégé Baalzebul, his creation Belial, and his lieutenants Moloch, Dispater, and Nybbas, to Hell, promising an escape from Heaven's bureaucracy and obsession with mortal life. Asmodeus found Hell greatly changed from his previous visit: many once-empty expanses were now claimed by asuras, velstracs, or gigas who welcomed neither his presumption nor his people.

Soon after Heaven's exiles claimed the bastion of Dis for themselves, the serpent, who recognised Asmodeus and remembered all they had learned from one another, petitioned to enter Dis and spoke in private to him. As they negotiated, a truce held between the invaders and defenders before the serpent exploded from Asmodeus' keep and nearly destroyed Dis.

The serpent then gathered 812 tyrants of Hell to unite their armies against Heaven's outcasts, only to devour them all and grant Asmodeus a foothold in Hell. His generals then conquered layer after layer of Hell, leaving only the serpent's own domain of Stygia alone. When the war ended, Asmodeus gathered his greatest followers, bequeathed boons to them and named himself Lord of Hell. Having to learn from Hell's ancient consciousness and make it bend before his new regime, Asmodeus then delved into the depths of Hell and tore its flesh from its bones, giving it a body, the name Mephistopheles and a place among his lieutenants.

The Birth of the First

The Book of the Damned claims that the First were born spontaneously from the mysterious source of life known as the Seal and began as formless motes of energy. When the Seal birthed other, lesser motes, the First became self-aware. Eons passed, and slowly the First, and the lesser motes, began exploring creation. These were the first gods.

One of the First came upon a sigil upon the Seal, and with its discovery, symbols and meaning came into existence. His brother uttered the first sound and discovered speech; he named himself Ihys. His brother, the creator of meaning, he named Asmodeus.

Creation of mortality

Ihys and Asmodeus, together with the lesser gods, began to sculpt creation to their liking and slowly introduced the concept of order into reality, creating stars, planets, and the fundamental laws that bind them. Then Ihys forever changed their creation: he created the first mortals, discovering the concept of souls and worship, and the other gods followed his example. Ihys bestowed upon mortals free will, causing the first schism of the gods, between those (like Asmodeus) who viewed mortals as mere tools and those (as Ihys) who desired freedom for their creations.

War in Heaven

Asmodeus, devastated by his brother's actions, showed Ihys the chaos and destruction that he had sowed; but Ihys, believing good came from mortals' free will, opposed Asmodeus. War tore the gods, the first conflict between order and chaos. Ihys defended the right of mortals to choose their own destiny with the empyreal lord Sarenrae at his right hand. Finally, on a distant world, Ihys and Asmodeus met for the last time on the field of battle. Asmodeus offered his hand in brotherhood, and then performed the first act of treachery, murdering Ihys with a great spear.

Exodus

In a last act of sympathy for his brother, Asmodeus allowed Ihys's dream of freedom to stand. He then created Hell as a monument to the old ways of absolute, merciless order and as a warning of what he would one day make anew.

Other deeds

Asmodeus forged the contract of creation, then accepted by all the gods and rumored to contain a secret that will one day lead to its author's rise to power above his fellow deities. The God-Fiend also played a key role in the defeat and imprisonment of Rovagug. The Rough Beast was sealed away in the Pit of Gormuz, the only key to his prison kept by the Prince of Darkness himself.

For obvious reasons, the Prince of Hell is quite interested in the nation of Cheliax, and is believed to have personally been involved with its rulers twice in the last century. His first interaction was with Queen Abrogail I, with whom he made the infernal bargain that still binds that nation to Hell, an agreement said to have taken place in the Barrowood. His second was with her granddaughter, Queen Abrogail II. He is thought to have recently sent the erinys Lrilatha to serve as her personal advisor and tutor.

According to the Concordance of Rivals, when the End Times come, a desperate Asmodeus will free Rovagug in the hope that he will consume the other apocalypse. Indeed, Rovagug will devour the rest of creation before consuming himself, leaving behind only Groetus to turn off the light of the cosmos and a Survivor to rebuild it anew.

Relationships

Other gods find the Prince of Darkness the easiest of the evil deities to deal with, though they realize his aid is not to be sought, or accepted, lightly. For his part, Asmodeus regards other faiths with mild amusement, seeing them as weak, temporary distractions to mortal worshipers. Unsurprisingly, he gives more respect to other deities who stress the rule of law, but has an ongoing feud with Irori, who dislikes the Prince of Hell for tearing down and undermining the hard work of others. Asmodeus is allies with Abadar due to their shared views on order and lawful societies. He has a great disdain for Grandmother Spider after she stole his keys and crafted copies, while also reweaving fate to avoid his retribution.

Religion

Asmodeus' faith is strongest in Infernal Cheliax and several of its vassal states, including Isger and Nidal, but he also has a significant following among the Chelaxians throughout the Inner Sea region. Asmodeus allows the worship of other deities and demigods as long as he is acknowledged as the greatest of them and their worship is not antithetical to him. Worship of Grandmother Spider is expressly forbidden.Laura-Shay Adams, et al. “Religion” in The Mwangi Expanse, 136. Paizo Inc., 2021

Clergy

Asmodeus' priests usually dress in clean and orderly red-accented black dress, and often wear horned masks or helmets for ceremonies. Clothing worn is usually expensive, and clearly so, as the faith preaches that wealth attracts wealth. In countries not under Cheliax's yoke, priests are expected to abide by local laws and take sacrifices only from willing victims. It is also common for individual priests to offer the sacrifice of a small animal before preparing spells. Clerics of Asmodeus may prepare lesser geas and a variant of geas, and the Prince of Darkness grants access to infernal healing and greater infernal healing.

The ranks of the Asmodean hierarchy are detailed and heavily tiered, much like the nobility of Cheliax and the rulership of Hell itself. High ranks include cardinal and demicardinal, and other ranks include high priest (a local position). Other ranks have largely not been specified.

Dogma

Asmodeus believes that the strong should rightfully govern the weak, who in turn owe their masters unwavering obedience. He loves negotiations and contracts, especially those that give one of the parties a distinct, hidden advantage over the other. He expects and appreciates flattery, but its never fooled by it, seeing it as a negotiation tactic, as well as a duty those in inferior positions owe their betters.

Worshipers

A priestess of Asmodeus.

The Prince of Hell preaches strict discipline and unwavering devotion from his worshipers; the strong should rule the weak. The Prince of Darkness expects flattery from his followers, appreciating it for what it is, and delights in deals and contracts that secretly favor one party over another. Followers of the Prince of Darkness often include nobles and bureaucrats, especially those participating in the slave trade and in those nations where his worship is openly accepted.

Knights of Asmodeus wear the typical black and red associated with the Dark Prince, often wielding a spiked mace. They seek out order to gain power. Some call themselves paladins to give their behavior a gloss of righteousness.

Non-human worship

Beyond humans and other "civilized" races, Asmodeus is commonly worshiped by kobolds. His dogma of subjugation of the weak through trickery appeals to kobolds, who live in a society with a strict hierarchy and use deception to make up for their physical weakness. Asmodeus is also a god of fire, which kobolds use extensively in mining and metalworking. Kobold priests of Asmodeus appeal to their kindred's insecurity and lust for power, making them easily manipulated pawns.

Organizations

The Church of Asmodeus is taking an active role in caring for the orphans left by Isger's Goblinblood Wars. Monasteries have been established to look after these unfortunates, and indoctrinate them in the worship of Asmodeus. The most well known are the Sisters of the Golden Erinyes.

The Hellknight Order of the God Claw venerates the lawful aspects of Asmodeus, along with those of a number of other deities, but is independent, and not part of the church hierarchy.

Temples and shrines

A cathedral of Asmodeus.

Public temples dedicated to Asmodeus contain many diabolical motifs, and can be found throughout Cheliax and its dependencies, often existing alongside and within the nation's government buildings. In other places he is worshiped in secret houses that exist throughout Golarion. Many of his temples were originally dedicated to other gods, and later acquired by his faithful to serve their profane purposes. While in the churches of other deities Asmodeus is most often depicted as an adversary or foil, the Church of Asmodeus always shows him in a position of dominance, with other gods bowing down before him.

Religious symbol

The Prince of Darkness's religious symbol is a red pentagram known by his faithful as the Archstar, after Asmodeus's mace.

Obedience

Some devoted followers of Asmodeus are granted special powers from a daily ritual whereby they use a knife with a ruby blade to draw blood from another—ideally unwilling—sentient creature, use the blood to draw a pentagram on the ground, kneel within the pentagram, and focus on the glory they intend to bring to Asmodeus.

Religious text

A prayer book of Asmodeus.

The Asmodean Monograph

This text records a simplified version of the doctrine of the Prince of Darkness, although it relies on many supplemental volumes and appendices.

Holidays

Asmodeus cares little about marking specific days or months as more important than others, but his church still recognizes some holidays based on mortal traditions, often set as opposites to holidays of more holy faiths. The following are some of the more common ones:

10 Sarenith

This holiday is meant to counter Sarenrae's Burning Blades.

16 Arodus

This holiday is meant to counter Iomedae's Armasse.

Leap Day on 31 Arodus

This is seen by Asmodeus' worshippers as an extra day to serve and offer prayers to their god.

Favored animals

Gods are often associated with certain animals, either because they possess a quality that the god favors, or because the god's faithful feel a special kinship to it. Asmodeus's favored animals include snakes, lions, goats, and roosters.

References

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.

External links

• Asmodeus (real-world demon) on Wikipedia
• Asmodeus (D&D character) on Wikipedia