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  Princes of
  Darkness
  Princes of
  Darkness
  By F. Wesley Schneider
  Book of the damned Vol. i
  
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  Princes of Darkness
  Book of the Damned Vol.1
  A Pathfinder Chronicles Supplement
  Author: F. Wesley Schneider  
  Cover Artist: Kieran Yanner
  Cartography: Rob Lazzaretti
  Interior Artists: Jeff Carlisle, Alan Lathwell,  
  Francis Tsai, Eva Widermann, Kieran Yanner
  Editor-in-Chief: James Jacobs
  Editing and Development: Christopher Carey,
  Sean K Reynolds, and James L. Sutter
  Editorial Assistance: Jason Bulmahn
  Editorial Interns: David A. Eitelbach and Hank Woon
  Art Director: Sarah E. Robinson
  Senior Art Director: James Davis
  Publisher: Erik Mona
  Paizo CEO: Lisa Stevens
  Vice President of Operations: Jeff Alvarez
  Corporate Accountant: Dave Erickson
  Director of Sales: Pierce Watters
  Sales Manager: Christopher Self
  Technical Director: Vic Wertz
  Events Manager: Joshua J. Frost
  Special Thanks: The Paizo Customer Service
  and Warehouse Teams
  Before	
  2
  Hell	and	the	Archdevils	
  4
  The	City	of	Dis	
  24
  Devilkind	
  26
  Order	
  34
  Diabolatry	
  36
  Hierarchy	of	Hell	
  50
  Diablerie	
  52
  Exodus	
  62
  Credits
  Table of Contents
  Product Identity: The following items are hereby identified as Product Identity, as defined in the Open Game License version 1.0a, Section 1(e), and are not Open Content: All trademarks, 
  registered trademarks, proper names (characters, deities, etc.), dialogue, plots, storylines, locations, characters, artwork, and trade dress. (Elements that have previously been designated 
  as Open Game Content or are in the public domain are not included in this declaration.)
  Open Content: Except for material designated as Product Identity (see above), the game mechanics of this Paizo Publishing game product are Open Game Content, as defined in the Open 
  Gaming License version 1.0a Section 1(d). No portion of this work other than the material designated as Open Game Content may be reproduced in any form without written permission.
  Pathfinder Chronicles: Princes of Darkness, Book of the Damned Vol. I is published by Paizo Publishing, LLC under the Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc. 
  Paizo Publishing, LLC, the Paizo golem logo, Pathfinder, and GameMastery are registered trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC; Pathfinder Chronicles and the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game 
  are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC. © 2009 Paizo Publishing.
  Printed in China.
  Paizo Publishing, LLC 
  7120 185th Ave NE
  Redmond, WA 98052-0577
  paizo.com
  
  2
  G
  leaned through the tales of the most ancient, communion with the beyond, and that 
  lore of Hell extant before the advent of blasphemies and lies, these pages summarize the 
  chronicle of the being Asmodeus, known as the Prince of Darkness, the God-Fiend, and— 
   
  in an age before reason—the First.
  Before
  The first feeble glimmer of light stirred here, and reality has been aflame ever since.
  What was, we know from it; what is, grew from that root; and what will be—our inevitable 
  dissolution—burns amid its fires. The Seal is called many things, for it is the beginning and end of all.
  Nothingness begat nothingness, and so it was throughout the time before time. Our realm is not 
  the place of wonders that gods and other manipulative things would have us believe. All comes from 
  somewhere, be it natural or arcane, and all of creation knows its boundaries. 
  But such is not the case with the Seal. From whence it came or how it fell unto our world, none—not 
  even its first children—can say. It is that it is, and that is all we, with our feeble minds and intervals, 
  can ever know.
  A shining beacon in the endless, starless night of oblivion, the Seal’s glow lit the darkness, revealing its 
  infinite possibilities. Eons passed like drops in a river, and the first light never flickered nor diminished, 
  nor did any spark or whisper join it in the darkness. And so the moment came and went without 
  thought, and reality entered a new age as the Seal was joined by twin radiant motes of its own creation, 
  barely perceptible candle flames amid its great brilliance.
  In a way of understanding, these were the first lives, 
  fundamental essences learning for the first time what 
  it was to live. Through ages untold, these motes slowly 
  came to know motion, playing over the surface of the Seal 
  even as they drew sustenance from its power. Countless 
  millennia saw these flickers wander and dance, little 
  more than sparks upon the sun, beautiful but trivial. 
  Their endless, unthinking lives knew only the simplest of 
  sensations, and reveled in the cold of the void and the 
  warmth of their Seal.
  Then it happened again, and the motes were joined. 
  A slight puff of life expelled dozens of new motes forth 
  to orbit the Seal, and the First discovered that they 
  had grown. Larger and faster than these new lives, 
  the First collected and consumed their siblings, and 
  grew greater. Slowly they discovered control of their 
  forms, and the first deliberate shapes began to appear 
  amid the Seal’s radiance. Perhaps in response, the Seal 
  unleashed more and more of its motes, until there 
  were too many for the First to hunt and consume. 
  Gradually these new motes began to grow as their elder 
  siblings, and life spread across the Seal.
  Thus, a distinct progression began in the time before time. There was the Seal, those newly created, 
  and the First, who braved each new and evolving state of being. Through the epochs, the children of the 
  Seal grew in size and complexity and ability. The motes began to take on favored forms and gradually 
  From The Book of the Damned
  In the name of the hosts and the seven 
  mounting steps of Heaven, from which 
  springs the good and the right. In the 
  name of the Orders, Powers, Thrones, and 
  Choirs, who witness all above and below. In 
  the name of the Lords of the Empyrean, 
  who measure all knowledge and see through 
  lies. And in the name of the first great 
  Lord, he who was taken and whose people 
  know sorrow for him still, I swear that 
  what follows are the visions of my travels, 
  the thoughts of souls and the soulless, the 
  nature of creation, and the truth unto 
  all things.
  —Tabris, from the introduction to the 
  Book of the Damned
  
  3
  became as great animals, wandering and feeding, exploring and interacting. The First, as the oldest and 
  most powerful, became leaders and predators, adding the ever-advancing essences of their lesser brethren 
  to their own, and in so doing growing always greater. Life was as a spiritual wilderness in this prehistory, 
  and the first impressions of emotion—of companionship, and fear, and wonder—came to form. And what 
  followed in pursuit and avoidance of these sensations was thought.
  Having spent untold eons together, what were once motes and the first of the Seal’s creations became 
  brothers and the greatest of its children. With minds came power, and as they realized their needs the 
  First unwittingly reshaped the power of the Seal to provide. Painting new wonders in the ancient light for 
  unknowable spans, one of the First happened upon a strange sigil, and meaning came into being. Symbols 
  and meaning emerged through the following age, the First spinning across the Seal, journeying among 
  their lesser kin, and venturing as far from the light as they dared in discovery of new concepts. 
  Eventually, as its brother had discovered the power of symbols, the other made its own discovery, reshaping 
  itself and uttering the first intelligent sound. With speech came the potential for new knowledge, and 
  the words of the First rang through an eternity that could no longer be called empty. Reaching into the 
  depths of itself, the being that had once been nothing more than a mote crafted the first word, a name 
  for itself, and came to be called Ihys. And for his brother, who had been his companion for all that he 
  knew, he lovingly crafted a second name—Asmodeus.
  Curator’s Note
  Numerous formerly reputable antiquarians 
  assert these pages come from the legendary 
  Book of the Damned—called myth 
  by some and said by others to have 
  been destroyed. While we have no 
  way of proving the veracity of 
  such claims, nor the authenticity 
  of these unquestionably ancient 
  pages, such allegations—and 
  the dramatic warnings of those 
  same scholars—remain under 
  debate. As a student of the 
  past, I cannot understate the 
  fascination and curiosity that 
  the revelations of the following 
  pages represent. Yet, as a mortal, 
  with a life and fate guarded 
  dearly, I must add my own 
  dire recommendation to the 
  ravings of my predecessors: What 
  follows stands beyond the writings 
  of madmen and heretics and, 
  if you do not care to risk your 
  immortal soul, do not read on. 
  May the gods have mercy upon 
  you and us all.
  —Djavin Vhrest, Curator of 
  Apocrypha Forae Logos, Absalom
  
  4
  Pathfinder Chronicles: Princes of Darkness
  Here order reigns absolute. Here the wicked face swift and 
  unflinching punishment. Here beings ancient, magnificent, and 
  wise contemplate the greatest secrets of reality. Here works 
  and wonders that will never be known upon the mortal plane 
  take awesome shape. And here a resident god considers the 
  acts of every servant, castigating and rewarding each in 
  turn, preparing even the least deserving for his role in an 
  unimaginable future. Here is Hell.
  —From the Book of the Damned, “The Triumph of Hell”
  Chapter One
  Hell and the Archdevils
  
  5
  Hell and the Archdevils
  1
  H
  ell is a grim mirror image of Heaven, a reconsideration 
  of all that is holy and good, were the moralities of the 
  age skewed but an iota. In this vision of reality, the 
  powerful are served by the weak, sentimentality is trampled 
  by discipline, and order is absolute. Hell is not as Abaddon 
  or the Outer Rifts, where lies, torments, and horrors are 
  wantonly inflicted by willful or primal things. Rather, here 
  they are tools, methods utilized by fearsome and zealous 
  legions ready to reshape all existence to a divine vision. 
  Although nearly all faiths decry the sufferings of Hell 
  and seek to guard their flocks from damnation, still souls 
  endlessly stream into the infernal plane, ever increasing 
  the might of the fearsome princes there. It is as though the 
  beings of the mortal plane secretly crave the order of Hell 
  yet prove too meek in life to admit such awesome truth. The 
  order of Hell is infallible, and it offers its absolute peace 
  and ironclad harmony to all with the resolve to embrace its 
  merciless perfection.
  Hell occupies an immeasurable realm within the Outer 
  Sphere. Metaphysically shaped like strata filling a vast gulf, 
  nine layers of Hell bore into the depths of reality, each bordered 
  by the endless fury of the Maelstrom. The topography of these 
  terrifying and varied layers reflect the sins of the souls damned 
  to suffer upon them, the whims of powerful devils, and the 
  natural might of the foul plane itself. Over each of these nine 
  realms rule terrifying governors, the archdevils, Asmodeus’s 
  personal lieutenants, advisors, and greatest warriors. Beneath 
  these tyrants scheme vast courts of infernal nobility, unique 
  fiends that work the will of their dreaded lords and command 
  untold diabolical legions. Hell functions in perfect order in 
  the grips of this vast, semi-martial hierarchy, as most devils 
  fanatically support the multiversal vision Asmodeus holds for 
  the planes, while non-fiends merely fear what torments might 
  be concocted for even the suggestion of disobedience.
  Although the layers of Hell prove vast and varied, most share 
  a number of profane features.
  Hellfire: More than simply a mortal expression, many of 
  the flames of Hell burn not just with heat, but with rage and 
  a will to destroy. Hellfire takes many forms, most stinking 
  of sulfur and possessing a furious crimson or soulless green 
  cast. As it requires no fuel, any land, air, or water might burn 
  with this deadly flame. The foulest of these profane energies 
  shed no light, their deep purple or even black tongues howling 
  like a cacophony of endlessly burning souls. Hellfire is most 
  commonly encountered in Phlegethon, Malebolge, Cocytus, 
  Caina, and Nessus. (See the Hellfire sidebar for more details.)
  Hellmouths: Living orifices in the unbounded body of 
  Hell itself, these strange portals appear as bizarre diabolical 
  faces, yawning maws, or more repulsive openings. While the 
  majority lead to deeper layers of Hell, an exceedingly rare few 
  slip the bounds of the Pit to connect with other planes, most 
  notably layers of the Abyss, the sewers of Axis, or occasionally 
  a mortal world. While the fortresses of infernal dukes guard 
  most hellmouths, well-hidden or entirely new passages might 
  lie unprotected, though rarely for long.
  The River Styx: The river of forgetfulness is born from 
  Avernus and wends its way through several layers of Hell, via 
  portals, drowned hellmouths, and metaphysical cascades in 
  the plane itself in an endless course. Within float, swim, and 
  sail innumerable thought-wiped souls, aquatic fiends, foul 
  planar traders, and beasts better left unknown. In its passage 
  through Hell, the Styx begins in Avernus, winds through 
  the channels of Dis, oozes through the sewers of Erebus, 
  creeps through murky flows of Stygia, fills several bolgias of 
  Malebolge before flooding into Cocytus, then briefly cascades 
  into Caina before plummeting into the Outer Rifts and 
  continuing beyond. This planar thoroughfare takes several 
  forms in its passages through Hell. While usually recognizable 
  by its sickly green waters, the stench of ammonia, and the 
  discorporating souls trapped within, through mired realms 
  like Stygia the river might be little more than a slow-moving 
  creep of sludge, while in aquatic layers like Cocytus it runs as 
  a single, swift current that refuses to freeze.
  The Flames of Hell
  Spoken of widely in tales of damnation and eternal 
  punishment, the fires of Hell are said to burn hotter than a 
  pyre’s flames and take fuel from mortal sins. More than the 
  metaphors of zealous priests, the flames of Hell do indeed 
  burn stronger than those found nearly anywhere else on the 
  planes, their hungry light fed by torment and inspired by 
  absolute corruption. Common to almost every level of the 
  Pit, this hellfire has all the powers and properties of normal 
  flame, but is profane to the point that it sears untainted flesh 
  and can consume righteous souls. Hellfire largely appears, 
  spreads, and behaves as normal fire, though it has been 
  known to lash out toward the virtuous as if possessing a cruel 
  mind of its own.
  Hellfire (CR 3): Hellfire is treated as normal fire, but 
  deals half fire damage and half damage from unholy energy. 
  Damage dealt by hellfire is known as hellfire damage. Evil-
  aligned creatures and creatures with the evil subtype take no 
  damage from the unholy energy, but good-aligned beings 
  and those with the good subtype take double the normal 
  damage from it. Creatures under the effects of spells like 
  protection from evil are unaffected by this unholy energy, 
  though they may still take fire damage.
  A typical gout of hellfire, which might spring forth from 
  the plains of Avernus, the pits of Phlegethon, or countless 
  other searing vents throughout the Pit, typically deals 6d6 
  points of hellfire damage. Aside from such gouts, whole 
  lakes, burning clouds, pyroclastic flows, burning rock, and 
  endlessly smoldering structures flickering with hellfire are 
  known to burn amid the depths of the Pit.
  
  6
  Pathfinder Chronicles: Princes of Darkness
  Avernus
  A plain of endless sorrows and confused 
  terror, Avernus is the gateway to Hell. 
  Here souls receive their first taste of 
  eternal damnation. The endless, terrified 
  masses of the newly dead tread a vast 
  volcanic desert of pitted iron and molten 
  rock, pleading for salvation from deities 
  they lacked the foresight to embrace 
  during life. The terrifying citadels of 
  infernal warlords rise here, their armies 
  mustered in eternal readiness while their 
  hunters scour the plane for souls to enslave 
  and shuffle off to torments upon Hell’s lower 
  layers. And above it all soars the floating demesne of 
  Barbatos, the Iron Wilderness’s ruler: the sickened paradise 
  known ironically as the Promised Land.
  Black, rugged, and hopeless—in Avernus there is no 
  escape, only potential for greater torment. Those who find 
  themselves trapped upon the first layer of Hell might travel 
  in any direction, finding nothing but countless miles of 
  splintered iron, fallen souls, and the shattered bones of eons’ 
  worth of failed invaders. Jagged metal, black rust, and molten 
  tracts comprise the majority of the landscape, the layer’s skin 
  rough and violent toward all flesh. Little grows from the 
  plains of pitted iron, and nothing edible, only weeds more 
  akin to barbed chains sprouting from the corpses of fallen 
  wanderers, dead behemoths, and rusted scars in the pocked 
  wasteland. Lakes and seas of molten metal make the land for 
  miles around unbearable from their deadly heat, all the while 
  belching forth deadly ejecta and clouds of poisonous gasses. 
  Breaking the expanses of the rancorous deserts rise mountains 
  of shearing blades, impaling a sky aflame with a perpetual 
  apocalyptic dusk. In some rare spots, jagged scars mark sites 
  where powerful magic, deadly weapons, or the death throes of 
  unfathomable creatures once rent the callous land. Some of 
  these wounds stretch so deep as to reveal the meat of the layer 
  itself, a pumping, oozing morass of titanic veins and livid fat that 
  occasionally reaches forth with invasive tendrils and rapacious 
  organs never meant for release upon the realms above. 
  Souls appear upon Avernus at random, eddies in the planar 
  winds violently scattering the damned across the layer. While 
  many wander the iron wastes alone and terrified, some form 
  frightened caravans or vulnerable refuges as they attempt to 
  rationalize their dismal situations. Few souls remain free for 
  long, though. Either in roaming press-gangs or mounted upon 
  nightmares or giant stymphalides, barbazus and other lesser 
  devils scour the wastes hunting for the newly arrived. While 
  occasionally the spirits of particular individuals bear special 
  bounties offered by infernal lords, most are forced into slave 
  caravans and marched to the iron fortresses of their slavers’ 
  diabolical lieges. Usually only the souls of suicides are left to 
  their wandering, forsaken and forever lost. Hundreds of infernal 
  dukes, each a powerful lesser noble in Hell’s 
  fiendish hierarchy, dwell upon Avernus, 
  sculpting terrifying fortresses from the iron 
  wastelands. These dreaded citadels serve 
  as chthonian counting houses, barracks 
  for diabolical armies, and impregnable 
  chokepoints guarding hellmouths serving 
  as gates to Hell’s lower layers and, in rare 
  cases, other planes. The infernal dukes 
  keep careful track of how many souls pass 
  through their fortress gates and on to the 
  layers below, each charged with capturing 
  souls in vast quotas in return for unspeakable 
  boons and command of even deadlier legions.
  Several terrifying locations stand out upon and above 
  the Iron Wilderness of Avernus.
  Eridanos: Much of that which dies within the Maelstrom 
  simply drifts away to be consumed by chaos. Yet still, 
  countless foul arteries of strange fluids join in a single 
  cascade that washes a portion of the multiverse’s dross 
  to Hell. The cascade that thunders endlessly into Avernus 
  forms the ocean-sized marsh of Eridanos. Mingling with 
  the souls of the damned, the refuse of the Maelstrom, and 
  the eroded sediments of Hell, this noxious mixture forms 
  the headwaters of the infamous River Styx, which from here 
  flows on its winding tour of the planes. 
  The Forked Pyre: The iron fortress of Duke Furcas straddles 
  a powerful cascade of roaring lava. Three spiked black towers 
  pierce the layer’s poisoned clouds, one home to the burning 
  armories of Furcas himself, another housing the barracks 
  of his 20 legions, and the third a dungeon packed with ages’ 
  worth of tormented rivals and useful souls. On an island upon 
  the lava flow, guarded at the heart of the duke’s palace, rests 
  the six-eyed, chortling hellmouth called Gissiclis, its bowels 
  stretching to the Garden of Heresies in Dis. 
  The Promised Land: From a distance, through Avernus’s 
  noxious haze, the eerie cloud of the Promised Land actually 
  bears a resemblance to the paradise its name implies. Those 
  who light upon its lofty shores, though, find it a country of 
  abominations. While vast fields and forests of tall plants, 
  crystalline rivers, bountiful animals, and light-hearted 
  revelers fill the domain of Avernus’s ruler, none are as 
  they should be. Each of the land’s features is perverted and 
  malformed, seemingly created by a blind sculptor. The plants 
  quiver and whisper, the rivers roil with hunger of their own, 
  the beasts scream and skitter upon weird appendages, and the 
  inhabitants wear white gowns and would scream, if only they 
  had mouths. Even the land is perverted, as it is not rock nor 
  metal as the plains below, but a nation-sized knot of pallid 
  worms that endlessly rain upon whatever land they drift 
  above. All things in the Promised Land obey Barbatos’s whim, 
  and those who would find the Bearded Lord must seek him as 
  he wanders his repugnant nation.
  Upon the plains of rust and 
  tears the damned raise 
  a chorus of wails, their 
  heads lifted to heavens 
  that no longer care, their 
  pleas for forgiveness that 
  will never come.
  
  7
  Hell and the Archdevils
  1
  Barbatos
  Few dare speak Barbatos’s name, as legend says he is the most 
  likely of Hell’s archfiends to hear. Of Asmodeus’s lieutenants, the 
  mysterious lord of Avernus has held his station for the shortest 
  time, a term measured in millennia, but still a tenure too short 
  for Hell’s elite to embrace the newcomer. Yet the aloofness of the 
  other archfiends stems not entirely from Barbatos’s relatively 
  short reign, nor his competency or cunning—as he has proven 
  time and time again defending Avernus’s gates—but rather 
  from his fundamental nature, as he is not a devil at all. In fact, 
  Barbatos’s true nature remains one of Hell’s greatest mysteries, 
  a secret supposedly known by Asmodeus alone, and some 
  say not even by him.
  Barbatos appears as an ancient humanoid 
  man wrapped in filthy robes made from 
  wrinkled skins flensed from the souls 
  of long-dead travelers. From the sleeves 
  of his leathery rags stretch withered, 
  seven-fingered 
  hands, 
  each 
  digit 
  bearing an extra joint and gnarled claw. 
  Although a veil of gloom perpetually 
  hides his features, three points of bilious 
  yellow light pierce the shadows of his 
  hood, forming an inverted pyramid 
  of luminous, alien eyes. From 
  beneath these strange orbs spills 
  the archdevil’s most recognizable 
  feature, a beard of thin, greasy 
  tendrils that fall in a squirming 
  cascade like the diseased roots of 
  some subterranean fungus. In 
  one hand he ever clutches a tall 
  staff made from yew studded 
  with blinking animalistic eyes, 
  while in the other he carries a 
  black orb that reveals the location, 
  crimes, and deepest secrets of every 
  soul in Avernus. Deliberate in every 
  motion and hunched as if incredible 
  age threatens to crush him, Barbatos 
  presents an unassuming foil to the 
  proud forms of the other archfiends. 
  Only the doomed ever see Barbatos’s 
  true face, just moments before being 
  consumed by whatever undulates 
  beneath his repulsive robes.
  Mysterious and subtle, Barbatos 
  cloaks his aspirations. Neither a 
  direct ally nor overt enemy to 
  any of the other archfiends, 
  he appears content with his 
  current dominion. This alone 
  serves to further unsettle the 
  other lords of Hell, as none of their agents have ever uncovered 
  what must be the Lord of the First’s greater ambitions. In council 
  with Asmodeus and the other tyrants of Hell, Barbatos arrives 
  in Nessus without pomp and on foot. He rarely speaks and 
  addresses each of his peers cordially, showing absolute deference 
  to the Prince of Darkness. When his counsel is called upon, his 
  words are plain and wise, often referring to unusual planar 
  conjunctions, events of prehistory, and other obscure wisdom he 
  has no apparent right to know.
  As the Lord of the First, Barbatos holds the least enviable 
  duties of any of the archfiends, charged with the dual Sisyphean 
  tasks of disseminating the endless tides of accursed souls to 
  their appropriate damnations and guarding Hell’s 
  shores against incursion. In his duties the 
  Bearded Lord employs numerous dukes who 
  defend key domains and oversee the passage 
  of countless souls. He rules with a light 
  hand, but brooks no disobedience, swiftly 
  revealing any plot to oppose him. Those who 
  repeatedly prove themselves untrustworthy 
  are sapped of their vitality and hung upon 
  the Penitent Cross, a massive, bleeding 
  willow tree at the heart of his floating 
  paradise of worms, the Promised Land. As 
  Barbatos possesses uncanny knowledge 
  of seemingly all that happens within his 
  realm, legends tell of mortals who venture 
  to Avernus to treat with him for the 
  release of loved ones’ souls. Often the 
  Lord of the First consents, but never 
  without seeking a damning price, 
  and rarely is what the archfiend 
  releases not returned to him 
  multiple fold.
  It is said that Barbatos can 
  see into the Material Plane 
  through 
  any 
  representation 
  of his sigil, can hear 21 words 
  spoken after his name, and 
  knows the languages of all 
  beasts. When called upon by 
  desperate souls, he delights 
  in sending servants to offer 
  just enough lore or out-of-
  context information for a mortal 
  to make her situation all the more 
  hopeless. When he appears on the 
  mortal realm he typically takes the 
  shape of a heavily cloaked hermit or a 
  woodland creature with a long, strange 
  beard. In any guise he always retains 
  some vestige of his natural form, by 
  which the wary might recognize him.
  The Bearded Lord holds open 
  the gate to Hell. He is suitor 
  to witches and father to 
  worms. And in his thrice-fold 
  gaze lies the beginning, the 
  end, and the eternity of all.
  
  8
  Pathfinder Chronicles: Princes of Darkness
  Dis
  The gates of Dis, the Infernal City, stand 
  open to all who would dare to enter. 
  Leaving is another matter, though, as the 
  second layer of Hell serves as prison to the 
  souls of liars, false counselors, usurpers, 
  parasites, and any who used the laws of 
  their society to prey upon their brethren. 
  Yet as the most urbane layer of Hell, more 
  than just souls flock to Dis. Traders from 
  across the multiverse barter with devils, 
  diabolists, night hags, and ferrymen upon 
  the Styx for safe passage to the bazaars of Hell, 
  some trading their souls for just a glimpse of 
  the endless wonders of the archdevil Dispater’s city.
  Four distinct regions divide the second layer of Hell: the 
  Outlands, the Ghettos, the Oppidan Maze, and the Iron Heart. 
  Gray hills of cracked, barren earth stretch away from the 
  city in all directions, forming the bleak, worthless landscape 
  of the Outlands. Broken roads wind through this vast, dusty 
  realm, winding aimlessly, doubling back upon themselves, and 
  ultimately leading nowhere. The souls of the slothful wander 
  these paths, endlessly seeking comforts they’re doomed to 
  never experience again. The only features to break the rolling 
  landscape are the garrison cities of Dis’s armies, fortresses of 
  martial torments where the layer’s legions train for battle and 
  construct terrible machines of war.
  Those who near Dis first come upon the city’s Ghetto of 
  Outcasts, where the arrogant and privileged evil want endlessly 
  in the shadow of all infinity’s wonders. Bleak, gray, and blasted 
  by the gritty winds of the Outlands, the hopeless shelters of the 
  damned shudder in Dis’s sight, facing inevitable destruction 
  as the city’s walls expand and bold new constructions call 
  for the violent repurposing of stone and soul alike. At this 
  frontier rise the outermost walls of Dis, moaning barriers 
  soaring to the heights of small mountains and in places nearly 
  half a mile thick, their bulk formed by massive blocks and the 
  gray flesh of violently reshaped yet still living souls. These 
  grotesque walls undergo endless expansions, with legions of 
  devils adding new bodies to the ramparts daily and magically 
  coercing the barriers to expand outward, providing ever more 
  room to the swelling city within. 
  Those who think of Dis typically envision the largest 
  of its regions, the Oppidan Maze. Here rise the city’s 
  impossible towers of iron, marble, and quivering soul 
  f lesh, many constructed to dimensions ludicrous even 
  to the nightmares of the most daring mortal architect. 
  While the Maze is perfectly ordered and split by the great 
  avenues that fan out unbendingly from the Iron Heart, 
  few mortals can comprehend its elaborate order, thus its 
  fallacious name. Monuments, palaces, theaters, and plazas 
  defy all physical boundaries, some hovering high above the 
  city, others interconnected by bridges reaching miles and 
  bearing vast structures of their own. 
  The architectures of all the planes and 
  countless mortal worlds meld here, 
  creating structures both fantastic and 
  profane. Two systems of canals wind 
  through the Maze: the Andramal, 
  alive with fire and plied only by the 
  diabolical elite: and the Lethe, which 
  guides the deadly waters of the Styx 
  through the city. Upon these canals and 
  through the city’s grand avenues and 
  shadowed alleys tread all the countless 
  races of the multiverse. Although the 
  diabolical natives—particularly erinyes—
  outnumber all visitors, the fiends walk boldly among 
  legions of planar traders, undead porters, brazen mortals, 
  and the servants of lesser deities who make their divine 
  homes within the city.
  At the center of Dis, the genesis and terminus of all its 
  paths, beats the Iron Heart. Only greater devils and those 
  with special allowances from Dispater or the city’s dukes may 
  tread the gardens, courts, and parade grounds of the city’s 
  elite. From the heart of this dark utopia of gigantic burning 
  monuments, magnificent gardens, and soaring palaces rises 
  one of the largest structures in existence, the Iron Scepter, 
  the several-miles-tall cathedral-like court-palace of Dispater, 
  Father of Dis.
  Of the countless fascinating locations spread across Dis, 
  only a sampling of the most wondrous might be noted here.
  Ghaunapthal: Smoke rises endlessly from the foundries of 
  this oil-encrusted Outlands fortress city. Ruled over by Ose, 
  Duke of Claws, the city’s 30 diabolical legions crew the rolling, 
  crawling, and slithering war machines created by the duke’s 
  armies of enslaved souls. Rumors say his newest creation is a 
  titanic automaton that harnesses an ancient protean relic with 
  the power to drive any mortal viewer insane.
  The Iron Scepter: Incredible and ornate, the sanctum of the 
  Lord of the Second stands taller than any mountain upon the 
  mortal plane. Scenes of torment and countless gargoyles—
  some exceedingly massive—cover the impossible tower as 
  it stabs into Dis’s sanguine sky. Within, Dispater presides 
  over his expansive court and judges disputes between devils 
  throughout Hell. It is said one can see all of the other layers of 
  Hell from the Scepter’s peak, and that whispers spoken there 
  reach the walls of Heaven.
  The Market of Breaths: Occupying the uppermost portico of 
  a floating tower crafted entirely of pitch and living tongues, the 
  mysterious hooded merchants who gather here sell, trade, and 
  buy years of life. How such vital commodities are bartered—
  whether as gems, strands of hair, or strange elixirs—few can 
  say, but hags, liches, evil mages, and other desperate buyers pay 
  fortunes even just to learn of the life brokers’ existence, and 
  much more to actually purchase their wares.
  All the wonders of 
  Hell collect within the 
  Infernal City, where 
  every desire has a price 
  and the damned wear the 
  faces of angels.
  
  9
  Hell and the Archdevils
  1
  Dispater
  The outcast, the forlorn, the forsaken—all need but to call upon 
  Dispater to have the path home revealed. Known as the Iron 
  Lord, the Father of Dis, and the First King, Dispater welcomes all 
  to his perfect city. Among the most active and cunning of Hell’s 
  rulers, he directly oversees the administration and constant 
  expansion of his vast metropolis, entertains dispossessed 
  souls and the envoys of powerful lords from throughout the 
  planes, and judges those who would flout infernal law. One of 
  Asmodeus’s oldest and most loyal allies, Dispater holds a favored 
  place in the hierarchy of Hell and serves his lord by creating a 
  city of such dark perfection as to surpass all godly imagining.
  An ancient being, Dispater takes the form of a muscular 
  humanoid with rust-colored skin and an elaborate crown of 
  iron horns. As a symbol of his rule and devotion, he ever bears 
  the Eclipsing Eye, a sunburst-shaped staff of black metal that 
  bears a blinking ruby at its top, through which Asmodeus 
  might witness all. He often wears treasures drawn from Dis’s 
  vast vaults, lordly regalia eclipsing the wealth of whole worlds. 
  A master of illusions and a being of malleable form, he 
  regularly alters his appearance to intimidate or put at 
  ease those in his presence, depending on his 
  current mood and plots.
  Calm, creative, and wise, Dispater 
  is also unforgiving, manipulative, 
  and arrogant, blending the traits of 
  the perfect ruler with those of the 
  archfiend he is. He places great value on 
  the concepts of rank and station, as well 
  as the intricacies of courtly manners 
  and lordly right. Despite his interest 
  in conduct and enjoyment of deriding 
  the uncouth, the Lord of the Second 
  quickly dismisses such decorum to 
  further his schemes, often confessing 
  his boredom with Hell’s formalities to 
  those he seeks to influence. Dispater 
  stands out among the archfiends by 
  holding respect for the concept of 
  courtly love. Thrice during his rule 
  has the Iron Lord taken a queen. 
  His first bride was a fallen angel, 
  though none, not even Dispater, can 
  recall her face, name, or fate—a condition that 
  greatly vexes the archfiend. His second, Feronia, 
  was a demigoddess from the Plane of Fire, and after 
  a tryst lasting but a few centuries, she left the First 
  King—somewhat congenially—taking with her 
  the babe who would become the empyreal lord 
  Ragathiel. His current wife, the beauteous 
  Erecura, was once mortal, but her gift of 
  fateful visions allowed her to slip the bonds 
  of death. The pair share a cordial romance, and 
  she is one of Dispater’s closest advisors, revealing her visions 
  to him in exchange for mysterious gifts.
  Dispater rarely travels from his city, except when summoned 
  by the Prince of Darkness. When he does depart, examples of 
  Dis’s greatest wonders follow, the lord ordering the uprooting 
  of whole gardens, menageries, markets, and theaters to follow 
  him on his trek. The greatest of his armies travel to guard him 
  as well, as the veteran archfiend knows that in Hell there is 
  no such place as friendly ground. The Iron Lord never travels 
  to the Material Plane, neither in physical form nor in aspect, 
  finding the mortal realm base and demeaning. Rather, for any 
  business there, he sends an erinyes servant or a member of 
  his court, depending on the importance he places 
  on the matter.
  From a throne of iron, 
  the First King reigns. 
  Emperors number among 
  his subjects and paupers 
  seek his rule, for the 
  Father of Dis is lord 
  over all.
  
  10
  Pathfinder Chronicles: Princes of Darkness
  Erebus
  The denizens of Hell jealously guard 
  their treasures, forbidding even light 
  from looking upon what is theirs. In the 
  eternal darkness hide countless vaults 
  and incredible wealth: vast troves of coins 
  minted upon a thousand worlds, magical 
  artifacts ancient when the stars were 
  young, and souls worth their weight in 
  diamonds. Here every gem peers through 
  the darkness and each gleaming statue is a 
  slave, for Mammon the Countless, Lord of 
  the Third, possesses the wealth of his realm 
  in the most fundamental way imaginable. As 
  the souls of the avaricious and selfish endlessly learn, 
  even a copper from Hell’s coffers bears a curse, and nothing 
  claimed by Erebus ever truly escapes.
  No sickly sun or dying stars glare down upon the catacombs 
  of Erebus. Vaulted ceilings, sometimes rising dozens of stories 
  high, replace the heavens, their unseen stones dripping chill 
  condensation and reeking seepage from on high. Huge blocks 
  of gray stone comprise the entire layer, with even the most 
  able burrowers finding only endless expanses of the dense 
  rock even when other chambers should lie just beyond. Pillars 
  as thick and towering as the Material Plane’s most massive 
  trees fill halls with chiseled forests, their surfaces covered 
  in grotesque sculptures and the still, patient hamatualas 
  and barbazus that guard the layer’s treasures. Sewer-like 
  channels wind their way through Erebus, channeling the 
  filth of Dis above. Kingly ransoms litter the floor even in the 
  most revolting of these passages, while in greater halls lie 
  treasures whose splendor could blind, were but a spark cast 
  upon their glory. Great barriers of stone and iron, hungry 
  bestial flesh, and dark magic protect the layer’s greatest 
  storerooms, forcing even the infernal elite to carry dozens of 
  keys and talismans with them as they travel. The souls of the 
  plane prove far less mobile, a timid, skittish lot lost in darkness, 
  rightfully fearful of any sound or light that might attract the 
  attention of the layer’s fiends or typhlipedes—many-winged 
  creatures also known as “eye biters,” said to feed upon lights 
  and those who bear them. Through mazes of treasure halls, 
  each larger and more incredible than the last, travelers find 
  themselves in the depths of Erebus, where lie Hell’s most 
  incredible riches. Within these so-called Dawn Vaults rest 
  whole strange mountain ranges and bottled seas waiting 
  for worlds yet to be formed, fetal god-things and incredible 
  temple-cities dedicated to their blasphemous worship, and 
  the only lights in Erebus, faint sparks containing the souls of 
  beings deemed too valuable for damnation, together arranged 
  in constellations of terrifying portentousness.
  The majority of treasures claimed by Hell’s legions or 
  offered to Asmodeus and his archfiends in praise find their 
  way to Erebus. While blind souls keep fickle inventory of 
  riches they’ll never see, martial lesser 
  devils stand vigil over hoards of particular 
  note. Scores of such devils pass through 
  Erebus daily, arming themselves from the 
  layer’s vaults, which serve as the resting 
  places of many of the armaments forged 
  upon Phlegethon. Intrinsically tied to 
  every bent coin or flake of gemstone that 
  enters his realm, Mammon holds little 
  fear of thieves, knowing that no devil and 
  only the most foolish of the layer’s unlikely 
  intruders would seek to steal from what is 
  essentially his vast body.
  Numerous chambers of note lie within the 
  umbral vaults of Erebus, a sampling of which follow.
  The Argent Prince: The throne of Mammon lies within a 
  many-pillared vault piled with mirrors, crystalline statues, 
  and floating bubbles encrusted with impossibly delicate 
  gems. Upon one ornate wall hangs the Argent Prince, a 
  glorious silver and titan-sized statue the Lord of the Third 
  possesses when his realm’s few visitors seek audiences with 
  him. A great glass pulpit rises from the chamber’s center, 
  allowing petitions to address the archdevil from a height 
  near the statue’s waist level, and well within reach of its 
  gleaming, many-ton hands.
  Mammon’s Bier: The heart of Erebus, it was from this vault, 
  once a mere crypt beneath Dis’s Iron Heart, that Asmodeus grew 
  the entire layer. Inside, sheltered within a coffin of diamond, lies 
  the Maelstrom-wasted remains of Mammon’s once stunning 
  angelic form. Also entombed within the coffin lie seven 
  rubies, each said to be a drop of blood from the original seven 
  archfiends offered in mourning for their fallen brother. Filling 
  the rest of the vault are the treasures that brought Mammon to 
  his end, 13,001 chests filled with gems of every imagining, their 
  burdens now all fused into hypnotizing jeweled composites 
  ever crackling with the fury of the Maelstrom. 
  Othrys Vault: Within this unnaturally warm cave, giant iron 
  spikes pin numerous terrible beings upon the walls. These 
  beasts, most gigantic and terrifying in form, are the corpses 
  of several dozen legendary monstrosities—Sinphaynethon 
  Hydra King, Ixyxi the Brood, and the Wheel of Ember Skulls 
  to note but a few—each slain upon untold mortal worlds. Here 
  the masters of Hell have spirited their bodies, storing them in 
  death until they prove useful and worth resurrecting.
  The Watch of Arocard: From this fortress carved from a 
  single vast pillar, Duke Malthus oversees the passage of many 
  of the arms delivered from Phlegethon to Erebus. The five-
  beaked duke and his 26 legions of master archers guard the 
  winding ramps leading to and from the prominent, lamprey-
  like hellmouth called Cinokikade. Rumors tell that Malthus 
  favors magical bows and powerful artillery and might grant 
  passage into or out of Erebus for those who bring him such 
  gifts, but such is a lie of his own devising.
  The tenebrous death 
  of hope and greed, the 
  coffers of Hell lock 
  away treasures beyond 
  imagining, and the 
  dreams and desires of 
  squandered souls.
  
  11
  Hell and the Archdevils
  1
  Mammon
  In all greed rings the voice of Mammon. For centuries after the 
  Exodus, the battles between Hell and the celestial realm raged 
  vast and destructive. Countless scores were annihilated in 
  battles throughout the multiverse, but noteworthy among these 
  conflicts was the Battle of the Triune Star, where the hosts of 
  Sarenrae surprised Asmodeus’s emissary, the beautiful fallen 
  angel Mammon, as he attempted to turn the newly discovered 
  proteans against the Prince of Darkness’s foes. Proud Mammon 
  and his hordes fought fiercely, but in the end the archfiend 
  was cut down. Falling upon the vast treasure the archfiend had 
  brought to coerce the proteans’ aid, the fallen angel died that day, 
  his body left to drift within the primal chaos. 
  Centuries passed before Mammon’s body and lost treasure 
  were recovered by agents of Mephistopheles and returned to 
  Hell. At Asmodeus’s order, Mammon was carried to vaults 
  beneath the city of Dis, where the archfiends laid their 
  comrade’s striking corpse to rest amid vast riches. Yet, 
  as the infernal lords departed, a voice from within 
  stopped them. Somehow, the magical trove he 
  floated upon for ages, the fury of the Maelstrom, 
  and the power of Hell served to remake 
  Mammon amid the gems and riches of his 
  burial treasures. Now little more than an 
  animating spirit, Mammon collected the 
  riches of his tomb, creating from them 
  a gleaming and infinitely changeable 
  new form. Intrigued by this strange 
  resurrection, 
  Asmodeus 
  supplied Mammon with 
  vast wealth from the 
  depths of Nessus, and 
  remade his crypt into a 
  new realm, the Hellish 
  vault of Erebus.
  Having spent 
  countless ages in 
  his current state, 
  Mammon has adapted 
  and now delights in his 
  unique form. The vaults of Erebus have grown 
  vast over the millennia, treasures of every 
  imagining filling his realm and thus 
  contributing to his body. Although 
  he can take any form comprised of his 
  domain’s treasures, at the heart of Erebus hangs 
  the Argent Prince, a fiendishly beautiful, 
  silvery representation of Mammon’s once 
  angelic form. When attending councils 
  with his peers, the archfiend 
  has 
  a 
  contingent 
  of 
  servants convey an ark 
  filled 
  with 
  specially 
  chosen riches to Nessus, allowing him to create exceptionally 
  majestic forms before his peers.
  Known throughout the planes as the Countless, the Grasping 
  One, and the Open Palm, none could be better suited to the duty 
  of Hell’s treasurer and vault keeper, as Mammon’s senses extend 
  through every copper of Erebus’s impossibly vast horde. His 
  form having made him something of a mathematical genius, 
  the Grasping One can give an instantly accurate accounting of 
  the wealth he guards, items of particular significance, and the 
  total value of Hell’s riches—an amount measured by a number 
  mortal scholars have yet to discover. Mammon only discloses 
  full reports of his realm’s riches to Asmodeus, but might reveal 
  the location of a particular item to any who offer 
  him a replacement of greater beauty or value.
  Both the greedy and the poor typically 
  entreat Mammon for aid, calling out to the 
  Open Palm for wealth, station, or other 
  comforts. Typically the archdevil answers 
  the most debased or pathetic 
  requests by assuring that 
  the mortal discovers a 
  coin taken from Erebus. 
  Whispering through such 
  a “lucky copper,” Mammon 
  encourages acts of 
  greater and greater 
  depravity to attain 
  what they desire. 
  Unbeknownst 
  to 
  all but Mammon, the Lord 
  of the Third is incomplete. Some treasure vital 
  to the archfiend’s form was lost to the depths 
  of the Maelstrom during his centuries 
  drifting through the chaos. Although 
  he can sense the surroundings of all 
  his pieces, this mighty gem—which he considers 
  his heart—floats in a place of total darkness. 
  Mammon regularly sends servants to search for 
  his missing treasure, though he dares not 
  reveal its true importance out 
  of fear of appearing weak 
  or vulnerable in front of 
  Hell’s other lords.
  The devil within silver and the 
  father of want, the Argent Prince 
  haunts every coin and craving, 
  paving a golden path to Hell’s 
  inescapable vaults.
  
  12
  Pathfinder Chronicles: Princes of Darkness
  Phlegethon
  The Burning Legions of Phlegethon 
  recreate the dichotomy between Heaven 
  and Hell in hopeless miniature, a realm 
  of physical affronts both violent and 
  degrading. A massive open mine in the 
  flesh of a blasted, mountainous expanse, 
  the whole layer skews downward in 
  slopes ever worn away by the marching 
  of devils and the scraping of exhausted 
  souls. At the base of the miles-deep 
  excavation rise the layer’s suffocating forge 
  citadels and the gilded cage of Idolisque, 
  the web-like pleasure palace of the archdevil Belial. The 
  Lord of the Fourth stands as both liberator and jailor of his 
  tortured realm. In his capricious hands he extends the choice 
  between subjugation and violation, and as throughout Hell, 
  death is no longer an option.
  Any path in Phlegethon is either a struggle up a crumbling 
  ascent of jagged flints and sheer escarpments, or a battle to 
  maintain one’s footing in the slide toward the layer’s smoking 
  heart. A slip in either direction means a hopeless tumble down 
  slopes of flensing rock and rusty foliage, and little identifiable 
  as the soul or fiend survives to reach the realm’s bottom. At 
  this ash-darkened depth, the layer’s forges and Belial’s palace 
  form the axis from which the rest of the realm hopelessly 
  spirals. The size of several mortal kingdoms, the forges of 
  Phlegethon bore like massive iron screws into the molten 
  wound of the layer’s core. Here, upon scaffolds and buttresses 
  like the legs of gigantic leaden spiders, the choking infernal 
  foundries transform the grist of the surrounding realm into 
  weapons of vicious design. Both the base armaments of Hell’s 
  legions and the impossible conceptions of the archfiends are 
  crafted here, the greatest of which are forged of both metal and 
  souls, creating alloys fundamentally infused with immortal 
  suffering. Amid the smoke and screams of the forges rises 
  the airy, twisting frame of the Idolisque, a place of seemingly 
  placid reprieve rising above the heat and clangorous madness 
  below, though little could be farther from the truth.
  Upon the slopes of Phlegethon, the souls of betrayers 
  and the spiteful scrape defiant metal from the broken rock 
  with raw, bleeding fingers. The useless flecks worn forth by 
  countless scrabbling souls amounts to an endless stream 
  of earth and metal rolling down the layer’s slopes, starting 
  as barely breaths of dust and culminating in metallic 
  avalanches that tear into the ranks of the hopeless and 
  pessimistic souls who sort the debris far below. In places, 
  deep mines prone to collapse wind into the rock, home to the 
  souls of wicked misanthropes and rolling, antlion-like Ixion 
  worms—essence-draining parasites that lull their victims 
  with strange and idyllic hallucinations. Also scattered 
  throughout the layer, jutting from worked cliffs and eerily 
  shaped rock formations, rise the shale fortresses of infernal 
  dukes. These sadistic rulers oversee the 
  dispersal of the layer’s arms throughout 
  the rest of Hell, and also command 
  legions of slave drivers and diabolical 
  torturers quick to invent new torments 
  for the layer’s pathetic souls.
  From its mountainous rim to its 
  burning depths, myriad foul visions fill 
  the layer of Phlegethon.
  Idolisque: Belial’s deceptive paradise 
  rings with the screams of his victims and 
  lovers—creatures often one and the same. 
  The archfiend’s bloated diabolical viziers 
  look down upon the Burning Legions from on high, seeking 
  the most comely souls to satisfy their lord’s lecherous whims. 
  To these desperate slaves an offer is extended: spend eternity 
  scraping among the dust, or join the archfiend’s favored above 
  the smoke and tears. Within the twisting, skeletal palace, 
  Belial’s courts, harems, and surgeries are all one, and those who 
  seek to escape their torments find themselves thrust into a new 
  and arguably even more terrible Hell from which there is never 
  any offer of escape. 
  The Prototypes: A huge warehouse-bastion situated upon 
  metal stilts like centipede legs, the workshop of duke Sabnach 
  endlessly pounds with the dull sound of hammers on flesh. 
  Here the designs of diabolical minds take shape, 50 legions of 
  hamatula smiths giving form to innumerable new weapons, 
  deadly vehicles, lethal traps, and whole ingenious fortresses. 
  Rather than wasting Phlegethon’s valuable ore, though, the 
  devils work not in metal, but in the flesh of souls found in 
  endless supply. Even the greatest of these squirming creations 
  are but drafts, though, and are inevitably released to wreak 
  havoc upon the layer’s slopes once completed.
  Rithayn: Some millennia ago, a soul discovered a curve of 
  dark steel amid the shale of Phlegethon’s slopes. As centuries 
  passed, the excavation slowly revealed the spiked surface of some 
  gigantic pyramid-like shape. One scrape at a time, the souls are 
  unearthing the ruins of a mysterious structure that seems to 
  predate the devils’ arrival in Hell. Although he doesn’t care to 
  rush his slaves’ discovery, Belial visits the site occasionally to 
  ponder its possibilities and implications.
  The Task: This deep, rounded furrow runs from the heart 
  of Phlegethon to the base of a gigantic horned spire at the 
  layer’s rim. Legends say this mile-deep gash was carved by 
  the efforts of one of the first beings damned to hell, the 
  bones of this titan lying at the furrow’s top, where they 
  support a massive iron boulder. Numerous times has this 
  mountain-sized weight slipped, crushing countless souls in 
  its thundering charge to Phlegethon’s heart, where it does 
  significant damage to the forges there. Regardless, each time 
  Belial has commanded armies of millions of souls to push 
  the boulder back up the slopes, a herculean torment that 
  takes the damned centuries to complete.
  Pain and pleasure lie in 
  stark contrast amid the 
  Burning Legions, though 
  none among the damned 
  can tell the difference.
  
  13
  Hell and the Archdevils
  1
  Belial
  Do what you will: such is all that impassioned Belial demands 
  of his followers. Along with the titles given him by mortals—
  the Pale Kiss, the Thorned Caress, the Father of Whores—
  the Lord of the Fourth goes by a number of aliases, most 
  commonly Belhor, Jouvart, and Mechembuchus. His variety of 
  names merely suggests the diversity of his form, as few beings 
  in the multiverse can match Belial as a shapeshifter, seducer, 
  creator, and deceiver. All of these skills he uses to spread Hell’s 
  infernal seed and indulge his unquenchable lust. 
  Before the Exodus, Asmodeus sought to create the perfect 
  being, an attempt to create a beauteous figure to outshine all 
  others in existence. Wisely understanding that no individual 
  could be all things to all creatures, he granted his creation 
  complete malleability of form, a body that shifted in response 
  to the deepest desires of all who looked upon it. The result was 
  terrible and insane, a thing of heaving 
  flesh, 
  golden 
  hair, 
  and 
  luminous 
  eruptions, which Asmodeus locked away 
  for all time. In his second attempt, he withheld 
  the boon of subjective transformation, 
  granting his creation control over its shape 
  along with a silver tongue so it might learn 
  what those around it found most appealing and 
  so become those things. This being he called Belial. 
  Over the ages Belial has taken the shape of every race 
  in the multiverse and more, his form being subject only to 
  his infernal imagination. When dealing with other creatures, 
  he takes on aspects he suspects them to find most alluring, 
  delighting in flustering even the most disciplined. In council 
  with his peers, though, he adopts a split form, his right half 
  darkly fiendish, the left mockingly angelic.
  Possessing one of the most incredible imaginations in Hell, 
  Belial commands the respect and envy of the infernal elite. 
  Aside from assuring continued excitement through millennia 
  of hedonism, his creativity has spawned numerous deadly 
  infernal weapons, perverse magic, and entire new races of 
  devils. Although he possesses an unrestrained flair for the 
  dramatic, he cares little for what he creates, his attention 
  and interests as quick to change as his fluid form. While he 
  serves as forgemaster of Phlegethon, he holds 
  little interest in such coarse work. In recent 
  centuries the Lord of the Fourth has become 
  increasingly intrigued by the method 
  of his genesis, seeking to recreate 
  whatever powerful magic brought 
  him into being. When he privately 
  entreated Asmodeus for this secret, the Prince of Darkness 
  rebuffed him, telling him not to concern himself with the 
  dominion of the gods. Undeterred, Belial experiments with the 
  creation and modification of mortal life in what he believes to 
  be secret, though Asmodeus has long known of the archfiend’s 
  disobedience and merely has yet to castigate his servant. 
  Jilted lovers, the forlorn, and both the ugly and the beautiful 
  beseech Belial. The scarred beg for comforts of the flesh, while 
  aging beauties offer the youth of others to retain their own. 
  The Lord of the Fourth takes special note of sacrifices offered 
  during carnal acts and humors stolen from unwilling lovers. 
  Inconstant in his interest in the Material Plane, Belial is as likely 
  to answer a summons by sending an emissary as by sending an 
  aspect of himself in some ravishing shape. When he does travel 
  to the mortal plane, he coerces mortals into indulging their 
  basest desires, encouraging them toward acts of self-destructive 
  gratification and unspeakable pleasures. On any visit to the 
  Material Plane, Belial leaves a part of him behind, likely being the 
  sire of more half-fiends than any other devil in the multiverse.
  Despoiler of all that is chaste 
  and pure, the Pale Kiss 
  works his lust into mortal 
  hearts, siring evils ever more 
  glorious and profane.
  
  14
  Pathfinder Chronicles: Princes of Darkness
  Stygia
  Every lie spoken throughout the planes 
  condenses as a drop of poison to flood 
  Stygia, the fifth layer of Hell. Amid the 
  tangled swamps and fetid jungles rise 
  moldy ruins, mired temples to false deities, 
  and whole blasphemous cities. The waters 
  of the Styx mix with the layer’s venomous 
  bogs, creating noxious moors before 
  flowing into vast black seas. And within a 
  kingdom constructed from the despoiled 
  holy places of fallen divinities writhes 
  Geryon the Serpent, the ancient source of all 
  heresies and end of all faiths.
  The most virulent vegetation from throughout the 
  planes infests the swamps of Stygia, terrible weeds with 
  hungers and cravings no mere plants should possess. Serpents 
  great and small teem throughout the layer as well, many grown 
  gargantuan and bloated in their centuries-long hunts. In many 
  of the infernal jungles the distinction between vine and viper 
  blurs, the wildernesses of Stygia proving ravenous beyond even 
  the greatest beast. Dilapidated avenues paved with cracked 
  stones—remnants of empires that never were—cut through 
  these dense bogs, regularly succumbing to unexpected floods 
  of stagnant water. Travelers who brave the paths or manage to 
  fight their way through the swamps for long enough inevitably 
  discover examples of the layer’s countless ruins, overgrown 
  temples and cathedrals, disparate crumbling monuments, 
  and fortresses upturned as if flung by gigantic and careless 
  hands. Most of these decrepit structures—drawn in their 
  entirety from innumerable mortal worlds—still bear artifacts 
  and artistry from forgotten epochs, typically idols and icons 
  of deities and divine forces unknown to even the longest-lived 
  inhabitants of the multiverse. Although many of these once 
  supposedly sacred sites are utter lies, shrines to false gods and 
  arrogant fiends, several serve as monuments to nascent deities 
  corrupted, abandoned, and forgotten due to the heretical lies 
  and slanders of Geryon and his servants. None can say how 
  many true faiths the Serpent has destroyed or corrupted, but 
  in Stygia their sanctuaries lie as his trophies.
  Amid the deafening buzzing of flies, bitten by snakes and 
  beset by poisons, the souls of false holy men, heretics, and 
  malicious liars lie trapped in marshes of powerful quicksand 
  or hung from trees where serpents and vultures feast upon 
  their bowels. Osyluths hunt these wilds, tearing souls from 
  their torments to learn what they can, torturing the damned 
  and others foolish enough to pass through the layer, seeking 
  secrets of power or inspirations for lies to torment the living. 
  The greatest of the bone devils’ discoveries are carried to one of 
  the vast Academies of Lies, temple-libraries that rise from the 
  swampland upon rare, dry bluffs, forming ominous acropolises 
  above the deadly waters. Within, scholarly fiends gather the 
  most learned of Hell’s damned, stretching their bodies into 
  tortured living scrolls upon which these 
  dead luminaries’ greatest and most 
  profane discoveries are scribed for all to 
  see. Here some of Hell’s most nefarious 
  minds make blasphemous discoveries 
  and cultivate profane philosophies, which 
  they then whisper across the multiverse 
  to the desperate, the sensitive, and the 
  hellbound. 
  Snarled within the choking vines of 
  Stygia lie any number of blasphemous 
  sites, several of which are noted here.
  The Drowned Empire: This nation-sized 
  “city” of ruined temples and crushed cathedrals 
  lies under fathoms of murky, monster-haunted swamp-
  sea. Created through the eons by Geryon himself, these 
  innumerable ruins form a drowned graveyard of monuments 
  to dead and never-were divinities. Although the powers that 
  once presided over these sanctuaries have long since passed 
  on, the treasures and artifacts of their worshipers lie trapped 
  within the depths, some bearing magic and lore lost to time 
  or yet to be discovered. Geryon the Serpent dwells alone 
  within this blasphemous metropolis, endlessly scouring his 
  collection for reasons he alone knows.
  The Library of Oaths: One of the Academies of Lies, in 
  this mountainous scriptorium diabolical clerks record every 
  mortal oath with a damning consequence. These records 
  prove binding, and those who break their words are damned 
  to eternity in Stygia for as long as their vows remain within 
  the library vault. The greatest of the academy’s treasures is 
  the distended soul of Ligai Fei—the first mortal inventor of 
  the crossbow, whose designs for the mechanisms were crafted 
  after he vowed to his wife never to create another weapon. 
  His betrayal damned him to Stygia, where his jailors spread 
  inspirations for similar weapons throughout the multiverse, 
  his broken oath ultimately costing countless lives on untold 
  thousands of planes and worlds.
  Ihyssige: From a stagnant pool of crimson algae rises this 
  ominous, white stone monolith. No mold creeps upon its 
  surface and no stain mars its pristine ivory surface. The only 
  marks upon the unfathomably ancient stone are the letters: 
  “I-H-Y-S-S-I-G-E.” Any who look upon the letters understands 
  them clearly, regardless of the languages they know.
  The Palace of Delusion: A vast villa flooded by a parasite-
  infested bog, Duke Crocell, the Soothing Sin, has converted 
  this ruin into a strange sort of gallery. Here the scale-winged 
  duke collects texts in languages no one has ever spoken and art 
  depicting nightmare scenes, believing that some mysterious 
  pattern lies within the dementias of mortals. Centuries of his 
  studies have given Crocell a baffling, metaphor-laden manner 
  of speech, though those devils of his 48 legions have no trouble 
  understanding. These minions endlessly seek new additions 
  for the repository and mortals for Crocell to further study.
  Every secret that should 
  never be known molders 
  amid Hell’s flooded wilds, 
  corrupting water into the 
  poison of mortal souls.
  
  15
  Hell and the Archdevils
  1
  The twisted Horn of Lies 
  blares across the planes, 
  calling deluded scholars 
  and philosophers of 
  deceit to the Serpent’s 
  crushing embrace.
  Geryon
  All lies spill from Geryon’s three mouths. As he is among the 
  most physically dominating of the archfiends, those ignorant 
  of the Lord of the Fifth’s cunning might easily mistake him 
  for but some terrible guardian or Hellspawn giant of Stygia’s 
  endless morass. While the impression bears true, such is 
  but a facet of the menace posed by he who is known as the 
  Serpent, the Source of Lies, and the Wild Beast. Geryon’s mere 
  existence profanes the will of the multiverse, and he reigns as 
  lord of all heresies and impossible knowledge.
  A titan of living blasphemy, Geryon rises taller than any 
  other archfiend, a mountain of bestial muscle and chimerical 
  features. From the waist down undulate the coils of a tremendous 
  python, their envenomed scales capable of crushing legions 
  within their lethal embrace. Above, the archfiend’s body splits 
  in three, the torsos of a trio of indomitable warriors rising 
  forth, each wielding a deadly infernal weapon, 
  an archaic shield, or the Horn of Lies, the 
  instrument by which Geryon spreads 
  new heresies throughout the multiverse. 
  Although often shielded by elaborate 
  helms, at least one of Geryon’s heads always 
  remains unarmored, revealing his angular, 
  snake-like features, reptilian eyes, and maw 
  of venomous fangs.
  A being of terrifying contradictions, 
  Geryon possesses the cunning and 
  intelligence to craft flawlessly elaborate 
  lies, along with a body capable of bringing 
  whole nations to ruin. Although he spends most 
  of his time pondering the depths of Stygia’s sunken cities 
  and torturing the souls of long-dead scholars, little delights 
  him more than crushing the structures of mossy columns and 
  rib-like buttresses that litter his domain. Frequently, the Wild 
  Beast enters a kind of oracular torpor. During these times, 
  he surrounds himself with his favored scribes, charging them 
  with committing his every hiss and murmur to record, his 
  trances revealing perfect lies capable of ruining whole lands 
  and blasphemies of devastating potential. Although the Lord 
  of the Fifth claims these heretical insights as his own, this is a 
  lie even to himself, as in his black heart he believes he may be 
  but a conduit for the infernal whispers of Hell itself.
  For all of his trickery, though, few things in the multiverse 
  prove more ironclad than the rarely given word of 
  Geryon, for the Source of Lies knows without truth 
  there can be no deception. To this end, the Lord of the 
  Fifth commands legions of osyluths, ordering them 
  to scour Hell and the mortal plane for the greatest 
  secrets they can find. Considering the reports of 
  each, he warps the fulcrum of the most fascinating 
  secrets and, upon the deafening whispers of the Horn of 
  Lies, releases them back to the proper minds, finding that 
  hidden truths serve as soil for the most convincing deceit.
  Foolishly, those who seek the truth most often call upon 
  Geryon, for the Source of Lies knows his work and can recognize 
  any deception. Although he often provides those who entreat 
  him with insights that bear the taste of truth, rarely are the 
  whispers or visions he bestows anything more than illusions 
  reinforcing blind hopes or suspicions. When abjured, he taints 
  the focuses of divination methods black to show his influence.
  In cases he considers interesting, he might send a sentient 
  fiendish serpent or osyluth to advise. Offerings that employ 
  tongues, preferably from sentient creatures, and divinations 
  employing serpents—snake organs for extispicy, burning 
  snakes for pyromancy, or even casting snakes as a form of 
  rhabdomancy—all aid in attracting the attention of one of his 
  three heads. In the end, though, those who call upon Geryon 
  risk their souls in order to be lied to, and even his greatest 
  servants rarely know whether they are the Wild Beast’s 
  generals or pawns.
  
  16
  Pathfinder Chronicles: Princes of Darkness
  Malebolge
  Ash falls endlessly upon Malebolge, one 
  flake for every violent death suffered upon 
  the mortal plane. Those who come upon 
  the sixth layer of Hell are often shocked 
  by the place’s grim beauty, the charred 
  snow coating dense forests in silent gray 
  drifts. But soon one notices the walls and 
  comes to realize the truth: Malebolge is no 
  mere wilderness, but a bastille beyond all 
  measuring. Dense forests, harsh wastelands, 
  and craggy mountains all cover the layer in a 
  geographical checkerboard, each country-sized 
  cell edged by a gigantic spiked fortification. Together 
  these borders form vast curtains, all radiating outward from a 
  titanic central structure, impenetrable wings of the tyrannical 
  archdevil Moloch’s layer-spanning horned citadel. Two realms 
  exist within Malebolge: Moloch’s immeasurable fortress, the 
  Citadel Ba’al; and the layer’s vast bolgias, the courtyards, pits, 
  and prison realms that stand divided by the citadel’s endless 
  walls.
  The impossible metal castle of Citadel Ba’al sprawls 
  across the plane in a jagged web or vast sunburst pattern, 
  dividing the layer into thousands of miniature dominions. 
  Upon these walls stalk armies of lesser devils, whole legions 
  participating in endless sentry marches or adjusting forces in 
  preparation for deadlier infernal incursions. Below, upon the 
  walls themselves, hang the souls of the wrathful and violent, 
  their bodies impaled dozens deep upon the unbreakable 
  adamantine spikes. Where these great parapets meet rise 
  the lairs of the layer’s infernal dukes, border fortresses and 
  gigantic watchtowers home to some of the most sadistic and 
  militaristic fiends of Hell’s foul nobility. At the layer’s heart, 
  near Moloch’s dreaded Melqart Keep, these terrifying citadels 
  cluster in ranks so close that in places soaring bridges connect 
  their towers. At the realm’s farthest-flung reaches, the grim 
  fastnesses together known as the Vanguard Watch enforce law 
  upon the layer’s largest bolgias and viciously guard against 
  incursions from realms beyond.
  It is said that only Asmodeus and Moloch know exactly how 
  many bolgias exist across the sixth layer of Hell. These ash-
  smothered realms vary wildly in size, the innermost spanning 
  mere acres while those under the auspices of the Vanguard 
  Watches might contain whole mortal worlds. The environments 
  of the varying bolgias differ wildly, with many containing dense 
  forests, winding rivers, and other seemingly natural features. 
  Some, however, are wildly inhospitable to mortals, containing 
  only seas of boiling tar, plains of monstrous serpents, or 
  yawning bottomless pits. Within each of these regions, souls 
  are punished for a vast array of sins, typically relating to various 
  breeds of deception or affronts to the multiverse.
  Throughout Malebolge, the armies of Hell train for war. 
  Under the fierce discipline of Moloch, the General of Hell, 
  these strictly organized armies of devils 
  collect within fortress garrisons or upon 
  the vast fields of various bolgias. These 
  throngs rarely stand idle, as Moloch 
  subjects his troops to vigorous and near-
  constant exercises, outlandish trials, and 
  whole mock wars, ever testing their skills 
  and discipline. In many cases, the ordeals 
  of the archfiend’s legions exceed the 
  torments suffered by many of Malebolge’s 
  souls. Moloch saves his most harrowing 
  tests for his favored troops: his elite wings 
  of cornugons. Some devils do find reprieve, 
  though, as the vast majority of fiends summoned to the 
  Material Plane come from this layer. 
  Disparate in its torments and horrors, just a sampling of 
  Malebolge’s bleak vistas are noted here.
  Melqart Keep: The heart of Citadel Ba’al, and thus of 
  Malebolge itself, the mounting fortifications of Moloch’s iron 
  bastion rise seemingly endlessly, disappearing into the haze 
  of falling ash. Within, untold legions of cornugons guard 
  vast parade grounds, military libraries, and innumerable 
  strategy halls—one for each world a devil has ever set foot 
  upon, and housing Moloch’s meticulous plans to conquer each. 
  Titanic siege weapons and soul-annihilating traps defend the 
  fortress, constant additions striving to meet the archdevil’s 
  unattainable definition of “impregnability.” At the keep’s 
  center, perhaps the best-guarded point in all the planes, lies 
  a vast magical representation of Hell’s nine layers: the Eye of 
  Ba’al. Using this incredible chamber, Moloch oversees all of 
  Hell’s legions within the Pit and on countless other worlds. 
  Here he can command any of Hell’s forces anywhere, from the 
  largest diabolical army to the lowliest lemure. Were the Eye of 
  Ba’al to fall, all of Hell’s wars and countless others throughout 
  the multiverse would be instantly interrupted. Thus, there are 
  few greater objectives for Heaven’s forces to capture—and Hell’s 
  legions to protect—than the heart of Citadel Ba’al.
  The Revenant Court: In ancient catacombs beneath a 
  bolgia filled with open graves lies the Hellish kingdom of the 
  vampires. Here dream the eldest of vampire-kind, attended 
  in their centuries-long sleeps by slavish ministers and far-
  scheming but honor-bound scions. Among the sleepers’ blood 
  crypts numbers the vault of Ruithvein, the withered Blood 
  Emperor, third of all vampires.
  Vholhars: One of the fortresses of the Vanguard Watch, 
  the bladed keep of the slaughter-loving Duke Caacrinolaas 
  borders three realms: a bolgia of impaled souls and burning 
  holy books, a bolgia of dense coniferous forests, and the 
  Maelstrom. The duke delights in riding out from his keep 
  with the commanders of his 36 legions to hunt the damned. 
  Numerous wings of cornugons are stationed near Vholhars, 
  having Moloch’s orders to assure that no flake of ash ever 
  touches the ground of Caacrinolaas’s realms.
  A million torments lurk 
  amid the ramparts of 
  Hell, where the armies 
  of the damned stand 
  ready to lay siege upon 
  all creation.
  
  17
  Hell and the Archdevils
  1
  Moloch
  All who burn join the armies of Moloch. A being of seething 
  wrath, the Lord of the Sixth embodies both absolute discipline 
  and directed destructive force. General of Hell’s armies, Moloch 
  endlessly trains his infernal legions to be the greatest martial 
  force in the multiverse—a claim few can realistically dispute. 
  Known as the Ashen Bull and the God of Fires, he expects 
  absolute obedience from those who follow him, rewarding the 
  skilled and ruining the weak, though none, even the greatest of 
  warriors, survive the General of Hell’s command.
  The General of Hell is an embodiment of 
  the most devastating, inhuman aspects of 
  war, a creature of fearsome spiked armor 
  encrusted with the blood of countless 
  opponents. His helm is shaped like a 
  powerful bull skull, bearing a pair of 
  bladed horns. Upon his chest he wears 
  the severed wings of the angel Imopheil, 
  who once sought to harrow Hell, and 
  with his clawed gauntlets he exerts the 
  strength of a titan to heft the thorned 
  sword Ramithaine and the wicked battleaxe 
  Goreletch. He never removes his armor, and 
  on the rare occasions where it has become 
  damaged, nothing lies beneath but flames and 
  the suggestion of fire-charred bones.
  The Lord of the Sixth is the most dutiful soldier in Hell’s 
  armies. Knowing that to falter means annihilation at the 
  hands of the weak but massive armies of the celestial realm, 
  Moloch drives those under his command in endless drills 
  and elaborate mock wars. Not one to forego an advantage, 
  his armies consist of souls, devils, other natives of Hell, 
  and beings courted into his ranks from across the 
  multiverse. Through legions of subordinates and 
  militaristic dukes, the God of Fires keeps vigorous 
  control over his vast legions—both on Malebolge 
  and throughout Hell—his mastery of the tyrant’s 
  arts allowing him to recount the dispositions and 
  particulars of each army and commander in his 
  service. The archfiend is quick to punish even 
  the slightest hint of insurrection or 
  disobedience with impossibly cruel and 
  fiery torments. 
  In addition to being one of the most 
  abjectly destructive powers in Hell, 
  Moloch is also perhaps the most likely 
  archfiend to answer the mundane 
  requests of mortal supplicants. 
  In numerous lands, the cult of 
  Moloch holds wide acceptance, as 
  its members might call upon 
  their master’s power in times 
  of need. When the Lord of 
  the Sixth acts upon the mortal plane, he prefers to manifest 
  his power directly. Whether his people require rain to water 
  their crops, walls to shield their villages, or brides to bear their 
  young, Moloch provides—for a price. Hell’s General exacts 
  his wage in two forms. First, while the Ashen Bull’s initial 
  boons often come without obvious tolls, his true devotees 
  must make sacrifices of flesh. In great kilns that bear his 
  name—molochs—the Lord of the Sixth’s servants perform the 
  “passage through fire,” burning provisions and beasts along 
  with their own young, committing their offspring’s souls 
  to their lord’s infernal legions. The greater this 
  sacrifice, the greater the God of Fires’ boon. 
  Moloch’s second price proves far subtler. In 
  the fiery burial rites of his followers, their 
  souls are committed to the archfiend, not 
  to find rest, but to fill his legions or to face 
  annihilation as fuel for his war machines. 
  The followers of the God of Fires point to 
  their lord’s favors as proof of his superiority 
  over all other deities, but such claims are 
  mere delusion, as the tolls he collects are 
  worse than any mortal hardship.
  Within every ember burns 
  the God of Fires, the 
  General of Hell, whose 
  axe and blade seek to 
  recast all life in flame.
  
  18
  Pathfinder Chronicles: Princes of Darkness
  Cocytus
  Bitterness to freeze the heart and 
  sicken the soul floods Cocytus, the 
  seventh layer of Hell. Here nothing is 
  as it seems; the ruins of the multiverse’s 
  greatest calamities and most glorious 
  disappointments lie frozen in seas of 
  anguish and glaciers of absolute despair. 
  Amid the ice shudder the souls of betrayers 
  and the cruelly ambitious, either living 
  tormented lives or hopelessly trapped for 
  all time. Even the layer’s ruler, ancient 
  Baalzebul, has succumbed to the dejection 
  of his realm, a deluded prince for whom truth 
  holds the ultimate suffering.
  Harsh environs beyond all mortal reasoning and any natural 
  extreme typify the seventh layer of Hell. The majority of the 
  layer lies frozen, some regions perpetually trapped in a deadly 
  mortal winter, while other realms lie in the grip of such 
  absolute cold that adamantine becomes brittle, words freeze 
  as they are spoken, and flesh shatters. No true land exists in 
  Cocytus, the domain covered in bleak, continent-sized glaciers 
  adrift on an icy black ocean. Incongruously, mountains 
  of ice march across the realm, their peaks coming to slick, 
  razor-sharp points. Even volcanoes regularly rise amid these 
  summits, some spewing magma, others brimming with the 
  opposite—roiling pools of fluids so cold that they violently 
  freeze anything that comes near. While unquestionably 
  deadly, these volcanoes allow for much of the mortal life on the 
  layer, their heat forging endurable valleys and their lava flows 
  forming temporary passages through regions of unbearable 
  cold. Huddled in countless dales lie shuddering communities 
  of disappointed souls, camps of elite diabolical soldiers, and 
  whole frozen citadels and cities drawn from the Material 
  Plane—wondrous places now eternally silent and sterile. 
  Petty laws of mortal physicality hold little sway on the seventh 
  layer of Hell, vast icicle islands floating above the glacial land, 
  sometimes colliding and shattering in jagged splinters and 
  castle-sized hail. Blizzards of flensing ice splinters and winds 
  capable of sweeping giants into the steel gray sky also rage 
  across the realm, grounding any attempt at flight or hope for 
  an escape from the freezing plains.
  Yet Cocytus is not a realm devoid of life. One need look no 
  further than the ice beneath their feet to find the souls of the 
  merciless and destructively ambitious, endless plains made 
  prisons for the frozen damned. Wisagatcak—swift and spidery, 
  six-limbed fiends—hide amid icy crags and ruins, whispering 
  lies and despair into the ears of travelers. And beneath the 
  glacial expanses roil mad leviathans, gigantic horrors spoken 
  of only in diabolical lore, though every few centuries one 
  might witness a mountainous crest shattering an entire 
  frozen city or glimpse an unblinking eye like a hurricane 
  deep in the ice. Some of the deadliest devils in Hell congregate 
  upon Cocytus. Those cornugons who prove 
  themselves on Malebolge, Moloch exiles 
  here, where small troupes continue their 
  training for another thousand years, the 
  survivors rising to the rank of malbranche. 
  The incredible frozen hermitages of the 
  gelugons—insidious strategists of the 
  infernal armies—also lie amid the realm’s 
  peaks and floating glaciers, merciless 
  wombs where some of the most nefarious 
  plots in the multiverse are conceived. While 
  few infernal dukes lair upon the land—
  due more to Baalzebul’s often tempestuous 
  rule than the harsh environs—those who do are 
  among the cruelest, most radical, and most unconventional 
  masterminds in all of Hell.
  Although little survives amid the blizzards and ice sheets of 
  Cocytus, the seventh layer of Hell is far from empty.
  Betzebbul: The “Lofty House” of archdevil Baalzebul rises 
  from an acropolis of ice floating above a vast plain of ash-black 
  snow and moaning, half-frozen souls. Baalzebul considers 
  this place the center of his realm and, to prevent his palace 
  from moving, has the entire hovering city-citadel shackled to 
  the ice below by massive frozen chains. Those who seek an 
  audience with the Lord of the Flies must scale these titanic 
  and treacherous bonds. Atop the soaring glacier sprawls a 
  grim paradise of columned walls, mounting cloisters, and 
  monumental altars, all bound within a perpetual magical 
  autumn. The pristine halls and lavish sanctuaries of 
  Baalzebul’s court are dedicated to his profane glory, perverted 
  visions of a grand cathedral that hide shrines filled with fly-
  ridden sacrifices and cesspit-like chevets. Within the heights 
  of Betzebbul’s central spire lies the throne room of the 
  archfiend. Here, more than half dead, hangs the suspended 
  and shackled corpse of the forgotten god Azhia, endlessly 
  fed upon by the innumerable flies that make up Baalzebul’s 
  verminous form.
  The Forest of Pillars: Covering a vast plain and several 
  icy mountainsides rises a forest of upward-growing icicles. 
  Within each frozen pillar floats an infamous mortal betrayer 
  or saboteur—villains whose sins deprived the mortal plane 
  of untold wonders. At the edge of this field of terrible 
  monuments rises a tower of frozen blood, the ichorous 
  demesne of Duke Vassago and his 26 legions. The dragon-
  like duke can see the past and future in blood and often 
  speaks in riddles to those who call upon him.
  Tichaim: A village of damned souls and trapped travelers, 
  the ice hovels and crude huts of this pitiful community do 
  little to shelter the residents from the merciless cold. The 
  residents live a harsh but mostly peaceful life, yet remain 
  constantly in fear of a nearby camp of cornugons. Once per 
  year the devils march to the town and demand a sacrifice, 
  taking 10 souls if the populace can’t decide.
  No sin can escape the 
  prison of rime, where even 
  souls freeze and horrors 
  forgotten by forever lie 
  trapped within the ice.
  
  19
  Hell and the Archdevils
  1
  Baalzebul
  Few in Hell’s armies loathe the Heavens more than Baalzebul. 
  A being of tarnished glory and wounded pride, the Lord 
  of the Seventh was once a creature of luminous form and 
  Asmodeus’s undisputed favorite. Though he is still among 
  the most powerful figures in Hell, millennia of violence and 
  disappointment have warped him into a creature of vicious 
  jealousy and absolute arrogance. Known as the Lord of the 
  Flies, Hell’s Angel, and the White Son, Baalzebul revels in 
  hollow victories, enviously eyeing the gifts of others as he 
  seeks a birthright that was never his.
  One of the first beings created by the 
  newly rising gods, 
  Baalzebul 
  was 
  for a time held 
  as the son of 
  A s m o d e u s 
  and 
  called 
  Lord of That 
  Which Flies—
  possibly 
  being 
  the first creature 
  to bear what is 
  now recognized as 
  angelic form. When 
  war came to the gods, 
  Baalzebul’s allegiance 
  was 
  unquestioned, 
  and it was he who led his 
  master’s legions and trained 
  the newly made generals Belial, 
  Dispater, Moloch, and Nybbas. As 
  Asmodeus’s champion, he won his 
  lord countless victories and, when 
  the time came for Exodus, he led those 
  who followed in the Prince of Darkness’s 
  path. In Hell, he expected to rule at his creator’s 
  side, but such was not to be. The creation of 
  Mephistopheles and distribution of Hell’s rule 
  among all the archfiends infuriated Baalzebul, 
  who had long awaited a far greater reward for 
  his service. Forgetting himself, the Lord of 
  That Which Flies railed against his maker, 
  demanding a realm far greater than those who 
  were created after him. Bemused, Asmodeus asked 
  why he should be granted these things, to which 
  the great warrior recounted the innumerable 
  feats he had performed in his lord’s name. 
  Unstirred, the Prince of Darkness responded, 
  “You are as I made you and have done only as I will. 
  Yet, if you imagine yourself lord of the multitudes, 
  so be it.” With that, Asmodeus stripped Baalzebul of 
  his magnificent form, fusing him instead with millions 
  of biting flies. Horrified but cowed, Baalzebul fled back to 
  his newly granted realm of Cocytus, taking his throne as Lord 
  of the Flies.
  Although Asmodeus transformed him untold millennia ago, 
  Baalzebul still mourns the beauteous form of his creation. His 
  relationship to the Prince of Darkness is complex but one-sided, 
  simultaneously loathing Asmodeus even as he seeks to prove 
  himself as the Lord of Hell’s greatest creation. For Asmodeus’s 
  part, he knows of his minion’s conflict and watches Baalzebul 
  closely, but cares not for the archdevil’s endlessly imagined 
  vengeances and brazen attempts to curry his favor—though the 
  Lord of the Flies’s impetuousness often leads to developments 
  far more interesting than those of his more 
  stable servants.
  Baalzebul rules Cocytus not as 
  the realm it is but 
  as the realm he 
  believes 
  it 
  should 
  be, his every gesture 
  and edict surrounded 
  by 
  mock 
  ceremony 
  and 
  magniloquence. 
  Although the Lord of the 
  Flies holds no schemes to 
  overtly usurp any of the 
  other archfiends—knowing 
  that such an act would enrage 
  Asmodeus—he grants them 
  no favors. All of the archfiends have 
  been stung by Baalzebul’s conflictive 
  nature, none relish the thought of 
  opposing the Lord of the Seventh. Such 
  deliberation stems not from any ancient 
  debt, but from wariness of his storied 
  prowess and fear of any fundamental weakness 
  he might have gleaned during their instruction.
  As Baalzebul possesses great knowledge of 
  the ways of magic, many who seek to improve 
  their fortunes through arcane means beseech 
  him for aid, as do lords seeking greater power 
  and any who seek revenge. Entreating the 
  White Son requires petitioners to navigate 
  a labyrinth of formalities and flattery, 
  convincing Baalzebul that they revere him 
  honestly and absolutely, without garnering 
  his suspicion or inadvertently sparking his 
  petty envy. When Baalzebul does choose to act 
  upon the mortal plane, he typically sends a single 
  fly to whisper secrets of dark magic or tyrannical 
  advice. Occasionally he sends a gelugon or even a 
  manifestation of himself— either in his true shape 
  or in that of a gigantic fiendish fly—to properly 
  awe those who would serve him. Ultimately, though, 
  Baalzebul serves only himself.
  If ever the crown of Hell should 
  fall, the White Son, the bitter 
  scion of the Arch Fiend, stands 
  ready to rule a kingdom of 
  delusion and lies.
  
  20
  Pathfinder Chronicles: Princes of Darkness
  Caina
  All of Caina falls away beneath a burning 
  night. A realm of barren pillars rising 
  amid an endless expanse of bottomless 
  graves, Caina is a glorious abyss crossed 
  by miles of rusting bridges and titanic 
  chains. From these scabrous expanses, 
  cages and whole dangling prisons sway and 
  groan amid howling, ash-choked winds, 
  their metallic complaints drowning out 
  the cries of those souls most rightfully 
  damned. Here, within a fortress-like knot of 
  chains, nails, and fantastic spires, rises the 
  winged throne of the archfiend Mephistopheles, a being 
  who is in every sense a child of Hell itself.
  Scouring winds blow endlessly across Caina, hot gales 
  seemingly swept from some vast but unseen fire. These 
  burning siroccos sweep waves of burning ash and jagged rust 
  over the layer’s little amount of land and stretch anemic black 
  clouds rimmed in embers across the sky. Below, a vast expanse 
  of stone monoliths rises from the yawning, inescapable 
  blackness. Some call these the bones of Hell. On each of these 
  precarious spits of ground rises an unknowably tall pillar, the 
  largest reaching more than a quarter mile across, while the 
  smallest barely have room enough for the single, lonely souls 
  trapped upon their tips. Chains dangle between the gulfs, 
  some eroded, time-pocked and dangling limply into the dark, 
  while others grip link to desperate link in miles-long reaches. 
  In still other places, ancient bridges of failing steel brave the 
  emptiness, their framework skeletons home to desperately 
  clinging souls and monstrous wraiths. And ever below waits 
  the darkness, an impossible depth that seems to roil and 
  move and even breathe as though it were some terrible and 
  incomprehensible living thing. The damned souls of Caina 
  know that the endless vistas of shackled spikes are Hell, but 
  fear that what lurks hidden below might be worse.
  Few lesser devils find their way to Caina, those who do being 
  in direct service to the layer’s infernal nobility. Rather, lone 
  gelugons and wings of cornugons patrol the abysses, seeking 
  to glean secrets from the realm’s oft-ingenious prisoners and 
  return escapees to their proper torments. The dukes who make 
  their homes upon the layer devotedly serve Mephistopheles, 
  creating bastions less like the fortresses of Hell’s other layers 
  and more akin to vast prisons, sometimes spanning numerous 
  stony pillars, sometimes dangling from ageless chains, and 
  sometimes in the forms of vast bridges. These structures are 
  built to the archdevil’s exacting specifications, as the Crimson 
  Son is an obsessive and unyielding perfectionist.
  While the majority of archdevils and their layers share 
  relationships similar to those of mortal tyrants and the 
  lands over which they hold dominion, such is not the case with 
  Mephistopheles and Caina. The Crimson Son shares a strange 
  sort of empathy with the eighth layer, seeming to know all who 
  trod upon its chains and defy its winds. 
  Great pillars rise and fall at the archdevil’s 
  gesture, winds turn to hurricanes at his 
  whim, and chains crumble to flakes of 
  rust. Yet his role is not that of master. 
  Frequently, Mephistopheles spends days 
  upon his throne, meditating upon the 
  whims of his realm, a place that is more 
  brother than slave. Few, even Asmodeus, 
  claim to understand what connection 
  lingers between the Lord of the Eighth and 
  his realm—perhaps even all of Hell’s layers—
  but his insights into the plane’s powers and 
  occasional changes prove too valuable to dismiss.
  Amid the endless chains of Caina hide countless prisons, 
  both for the souls of the damned and for some of the foulest 
  creations known to the multiverse.
  The Dustbringer: An ingenious creation forged by some of 
  the most cunning minds of daemonkind, this monstrous living 
  war machine holds the power to sunder nations and violently 
  warp the supposedly unshakable fetters of time. The titanic, 
  cyclops-like abomination was used once upon the mortal plane, 
  reducing a vast empire to the rubble of its inevitable future far 
  before its proper time. That the laws of the multiverse had 
  been disregarded thus so enraged Asmodeus that he personally 
  threw the Dustbringer and its daemon legions into the pits of 
  Caina. The apocalyptic vessel did not fall, though, becoming 
  entangled in the chains of the layer. And so the Dustbringer 
  has lain for ages, unfathomably deadly and dangling upon the 
  brink of oblivion.
  The Hellfire Testament: Mephistopheles’ fortress and 
  throne are one and the same. Forgoing a lavish palace, the 
  Crimson Son surveys his realm from this mountainous spire, 
  a monument of chains and cages standing proud and terrible 
  against the winds of Caina. Numerous pit fiend advisors and 
  guardians rend lavish metal caverns from the column. Hordes 
  of foul warlords, mass murderers, and genocidal inventors lie 
  imprisoned within the spire, endlessly lamenting their evil 
  lives. And at the great spike’s pinnacle rises a throne of burning 
  wings and sagacious skulls, a peak amid an endless flaming 
  maelstrom from which Mephistopheles claims to hear the 
  sighs and screams of Hell itself.
  Lasraspan: The prison fortress of Duke Haborym stretches 
  nearly 8 miles in length, a covered iron thoroughfare lined 
  with the cells of beings both evil and gigantic. The three-
  headed duke prides himself on restraining the spirits of some 
  of the largest, most powerful, and most vicious beings who 
  ever lived—the souls of the frost giant legend Iggird Icejaw, 
  the fecund Troll Mother, the shrewd titan Rhysphano, and the 
  pallid rebel Hellmouth Khyedkhyed all lie shackled within his 
  prison. Duke Haborym’s 26 legions of bone devil inquisitors 
  maintain constant vigil over the prisoners, binding them with 
  both heavy shackles and words of fathomless despair. 
  Within a web of chains 
  and rust, the Bones of Hell 
  rise tall, each the palace 
  of a villain prince, who 
  fears the endless fall.
  
  21
  Hell and the Archdevils
  1
  Mephistopheles
  Mephistopheles offers the world to those willing to pay his 
  price. Seneschal of Hell and ally of man, the Lord of the Eighth 
  promises anything, possessing the magic and resources to 
  grant nearly any boon a mortal might imagine. Amid one’s 
  greatest desires Mephistopheles plants the seeds of damnation, 
  sealing each of his contracts in mortal blood and ending every 
  deal richer in souls. He is called the Devil King, the Crimson 
  Son, and the Merchant of Souls, and few can deny the deadly 
  temptations and fiery rhetoric of Hell’s most fervent apostle.
  Upon Asmodeus’s arrival in Hell, he sought to learn what 
  manner of land he had come to claim. As he explored 
  the domains that would become Hell’s layers, 
  he stripped the scorched skin of the land, 
  molding it into a being of ashes and 
  hellfire, and called it Mephistopheles. The 
  primogenial devil, Mephistopheles knew 
  the will of the Pit and that it welcomed 
  Asmodeus and his hordes, revealing to 
  him the secrets that would make his 
  empire the ordered and unconquerable 
  dominion he envisioned. Countless ages 
  later, the Crimson Son continues to serve 
  his creator obediently, his insight into all 
  of Hell’s domains allowing him to presage 
  changes in the planar terrain, the genesis of 
  new diabolical breeds, and even more cultic 
  whims of the infernal realm.
  Forceful and proud, Mephistopheles oozes charisma and 
  can charm with a gesture. His skin the color of embers over 
  Hell’s scarred plains, he bears a triune of elaborate horns and 
  wings like some infernal solar. Donning fantastic jewels 
  and the robes of an exotic prince—his garb stripped from 
  mortals unable to fulfill their bargains—he looks very 
  much the part of an emissary of some decadent and darkly 
  fantastic empire, which is true after a fashion. Never far 
  from the Merchant of Souls’ hand is his adamantine 
  quill, Visineir, said to have been scratched from the 
  pit of Nessus by the dragon god Dahak himself.
  Mephistopheles puts all other con artists and 
  mountebanks to shame. Although he rarely levels 
  a harsh word, he delights in insulting the dull-
  witted to their faces and cloaking pointed insults 
  behind complimentary veils. In congress with 
  Hell’s other archfiends, Mephistopheles plays a 
  sly political game. While he counts Dispater as an 
  ally and often finds Barbatos’s and Geryon’s words 
  strangely wise, he relishes his chances to deride Moloch 
  and Baalzebul. Though he would never act against any of 
  his fellow lords, his petty jabs have earned swift rebukes 
  from Asmodeus on more than one occasion—only his 
  eloquence and dramatic apologies saving him from more 
  dire punishments. Regardless of Mephistopheles’ cruel 
  mischievousness, Asmodeus values him as a barometer of 
  Hell’s mysterious whims and, as perhaps the only being in 
  existence who knows when the Devil King is lying, sees past 
  his gilded flattery to the cunning advice beneath.
  Mephistopheles loathes the inhabitants of the Material Plane. 
  Seeing mortals only as fuel for the infernal realm, he endlessly 
  seeks souls to satisfy both his master Asmodeus and his mother, 
  Hell. Taking pride in his sly and divisive words, Mephistopheles 
  is the creator of the infernal contract. While the living inevitably 
  believe they can elude such damning agreements, few souls have 
  ever won their freedom. In truth, not only do mortals rarely have 
  any hope of escape, but the boons of a contract often damn 
  the bargainer’s soul long before Mephistopheles 
  or his brethren must collect. In any case, 
  even an entire lifetime of service means 
  little to a patient, immortal being like 
  Mephistopheles, and in the end stands as 
  but a fraction of the time a damned soul 
  will languish in the pits of Hell.
  The word of the Crimson 
  Son is the promise of Hell, 
  and with his every silken 
  assurance the multitudes 
  amass to free themselves  
  of their souls.
  
  22
  Pathfinder Chronicles: Princes of Darkness
  Nessus
  The Heart of Hell and the throne-layer 
  of Asmodeus, no realm more epitomizes 
  and contradicts the truths of the infernal 
  realms than Nessus. In the temple court 
  of the Prince of Darkness, no sun or 
  clouds reign over the cracked, volcano-
  blasted stone, only a vast, depthless night 
  home to three lonely, ruby stars. While 
  the outer reaches of the layer hold the 
  skeletal frames of vast and incomplete 
  temples and cathedrals, most of Nessus 
  stands as a monument to Asmodeus’s glory. 
  The sweeping fortress-palaces of the layer 
  reshape volcanoes into burning temples and abysses into 
  unholy oubliettes, yet untold layers hide within the “deepest” 
  of Hell’s depths, for below, in sanctuaries unfathomable 
  and awe-inspiring to even immortal eyes, lie the courts of 
  Asmodeus, where one of the most evil beings in the multiverse 
  manipulates the courses of worlds and readies for his time to 
  come once again.
  Nessus is a double hell. Much of the layer’s surface appears 
  as an Elysian realm torn in the wake of some terrible holocaust. 
  Foreboding forests of ashes hide lakes and seas of poison. 
  Volcanoes endlessly erupt upon the horizon, spewing lava 
  that never falls from the lifeless heavens. Deep fissures split 
  the land, their depths emanating sickening crimson light. 
  Here silence grips all things, a depth of despair so palpable as 
  to muffle all noise and make even the slightest whisper ring 
  like a scream. Beyond these corrupted natural features stand 
  the works of devils and the damned. Roads paved in the skulls 
  of fallen princes lead between vast palaces, connected either 
  underground or by reaching cloisters. Little differentiates 
  between terrain and temple in Nessus, armies of enslaved souls 
  having sculpted vast tracts and whole mountain chains with 
  elaborate and terrifying statuary, facades, spires, and shallow 
  shrines, all raised in the Archfiend’s name. Monuments in a 
  thousand different styles pierce the sky—many created from 
  squirming mountains of soulwrought flesh—their tableaus 
  revealing grim lies of Asmodeus’s past and foul promises of a 
  hopeless future.
  Below, like the ancient catacombs of some vast profane 
  cathedral, lie the courts of Asmodeus. Columned halls filled 
  with fearful sculptures and blatant images of things no 
  mortal should know dig deep into the bowels of Hell. Here, 
  Asmodeus’s pet infernal dukes forgo the grandeur of the layers 
  above, toiling amid armies of servants in some of the most 
  elaborate and perverse workhouses in the multiverse, places 
  of unholy industry, part scriptorium and library, part arcane 
  laboratory, and part vast altar. While some of these dukes and 
  their gelugon and pit fiend conspirators manipulate nation-
  damning plots and the corruption of immortal realms, others 
  have more focused goals, manipulating the visions of seers 
  and dreams of madmen. Numerous 
  imps swoop through Nessus in terrible 
  flocks, eager to carry the words of their 
  masters to the ears of mortals waiting 
  upon the Material Plane. Here too walk 
  fallen angels, black-winged erinyes, and 
  greater harbingers who have renounced 
  the heavens, realizing the truth of 
  Asmodeus’s vision.
  Relatively few souls make their way to 
  Nessus, and few devils pay the damned 
  of the layer any mind. Those who do face 
  eternity at the bottom of the Pit are those who 
  most satisfy and interest the Archfiend himself. 
  While the greatest of Asmodeus’s mortal servants might 
  be allowed to live as anchorites amid personal monasteries 
  or endless cathedrals, most of the Prince of Darkness’s 
  followers are found lacking and are granted to the archdevils 
  to do with as they will. The other souls damned to Nessus 
  epitomize Asmodeus’s loathing of mortality and prove the 
  most vile examples of all living beings. These are the souls 
  of failed and disgraced heroes, of kings who became tyrants, 
  of valorous leaders who were tested and found lacking, and of 
  false luminaries. These souls wander the wilds, a despondent 
  lot, most immersed in their own self-contained suffering and 
  preyed upon by personal demons.
  The Catafalque: If Hell has a true heart, it is the Catafalque, 
  the personal sanctuary, shrine, and throne of Asmodeus. 
  Endless rumors and tales tell of this vast extradimensional 
  hall, though no creature aside from the lord of Hell himself, 
  has ever peered within. Some say it is a vast, spherical realm, 
  where Asmodeus has created a perfect paradise for himself 
  alone. Several of the archfiends whisper that their lord holds 
  the radiant bones of his murdered sibling Ihys eternally in 
  state there. And still others fear that it is where the Prince of 
  Darkness works his ultimate evil, the greatest sin propagated 
  upon the multiverse, and that were the other deities to 
  discover it, all creatures of reality would rise up against him. 
  Any conjecture proves fruitless, though, for if any being excels 
  at keeping secrets—especially his own—it is Asmodeus.
  The Synod Eye: When Asmodeus calls upon his archdevils, 
  it is within this vault of dark statuary that a council of the 
  multiverse’s foulest beings assemble. Eight thrones of salt 
  and an island of glass orbit Asmodeus’s massive Hellfire 
  Throne. Beneath the flaming sigils of the diabolical elite 
  falls a depthless gulf, a pit of absolute darkness that seethes 
  with the barely restrained malice of Hell itself. From this pit, 
  Asmodeus can conjure any view or illusion he wishes, or any bit 
  of knowledge picked from the mind of any one of his countless 
  followers. Those few who come to speak before Asmodeus’s 
  court and survive also tell of a vision called the Eye of Hell, 
  something primal and alien seething within the impossible 
  pit below.
  The temple-heart of Hell 
  is home and monument to 
  the Prince of Darkness, 
  a blasphemous paradise 
  of lofty corruption and 
  eternal despair.
  
  23
  Hell and the Archdevils
  1
  Asmodeus
  Asmodeus reigns as the unquestioned lord of Hell, the emperor 
  and god of the damned. He is the most powerful entity to 
  reside within the infernal realm, and even the other deities 
  who make their home within the Pit do so at the Prince of 
  Darkness’s allowance. All of Hell is his fortress, each layer 
  serving as a nefarious rampart between Nessus, his sinister 
  keep, and a multiverse that screams for order. He is the 
  most dreaded enemy to the freedom and spirit of 
  the multiverse’s people, yet the surest route 
  to a grim but eternal peace.
  Asmodeus may take any form he 
  chooses, yet in the depictions of his faith 
  and visions of his worshipers he appears 
  as a tall, muscular man with red skin, dark 
  hair, short black horns, arrogant features, 
  and hoofed feet. Whether this is the 
  Archfiend’s true form or merely a guise he 
  adopts so his mortal servants can conceive 
  of him, none can say. Some 
  legends tell that he has 
  another form, one that bears a 
  great, endlessly bleeding wound 
  suffered during his final battle 
  with the deity Ihys, but if any 
  soul has ever witnessed this 
  shape, they have never been 
  allowed to leave Nessus. Once 
  every 13 years, and whenever 
  dark fate or his desires cause 
  him to wish it, Asmodeus calls 
  together his eight archdevil 
  champions. He is rarely 
  seen without his symbol of 
  rule, the Archstar, an artifact 
  forged before the Exodus that 
  bears his symbol and often 
  takes the form of a burning ruby 
  mace, rod, or staff.
  Asmodeus is beyond patient, 
  beyond doubt, and beyond 
  arrogant. 
  He 
  knows 
  that, 
  eventually, the tide of the 
  multiverse will turn, the 
  young deities that hold 
  such appeal to the souls of 
  the mortal world will perish 
  or move on, and moralities 
  will shift, elevating him to a 
  place of righteousness. So it 
  was, so it will be once more. He 
  is known for his devastating 
  bouts of wrath, yet his ire 
  is but a tool to inspire fear, for few things in the last millennia 
  have truly enraged him. None know the face of the Prince 
  of Darkness’s true fury, his discipline being unfathomable, 
  but those who cross him come to know suffering in their 
  lives and beyond like nothing imaginable. With his 
  archfiends and other powerful minions he is a cold but 
  reasonable emperor. As he is a being of impossible age and 
  intelligence, even what seem to be split decisions 
  undergo deliberation and consideration from 
  countless angles. Once his commands 
  are spoken few can hope to change his 
  mind to their favor. He demands order, 
  yet as a being of vast intellect, he can 
  often perceive patterns and reasons 
  where none seem present—tales say that 
  he had a hand in arranging the places 
  of the stars, the architecture of living 
  forms, and the laws of physical 
  existence. All of his cunning, 
  genius, and passion Asmodeus 
  teams with a deft tongue and 
  disarming charm. Even the 
  most benevolent deities have, 
  at times, sought out Asmodeus’s 
  council, and afterward, have 
  shuddered to realize that the 
  Ruler of Hell is no monster, but a 
  charismatic, sane, and wise being 
  opposed to all they believe, yet 
  nonetheless deserving of their awe.
  For all the powers and boons he 
  grants the creatures of the Material 
  Plane, Asmodeus loathes mortals. 
  Certainly his worshipers prove 
  useful in exacting his whims 
  upon the planes, but he bears not 
  even the greatest of them an iota of 
  love. With their creation, mortals 
  ruined the perfect order of 
  the early multiverse; they sow 
  chaos and disorder throughout 
  the planes, and they nourish 
  the most destructive forces of 
  reality. They were the gods’ first 
  and greatest mistake, and these 
  rampant souls will be a blight upon 
  existence until they can be wiped out or 
  fundamentally revised. Fortunately, 
  Asmodeus 
  cultivates 
  numerous 
  plans to bring about such ends, 
  stratagems that have been in 
  motion 
  for 
  centuries 
  beyond 
  counting—and that are working.
  All Hell bends to his will, 
  all devils do his whim, all 
  souls fear his gaze; he is 
  the Prince of Darkness, 
  and his time is nigh.
  
  24
  The Iron Heart of Dis
  There is Hell, and there is Dis, a beautiful burning ember in the darkest night. Dominating the layer of 
  the same name, the greatest of Hell’s cities rises tall and towered as both punishment and paradise to those 
  who would endure the infernal realm. It is a tyranny of a thousand tyrants, and all who look upon its ash-
  rung steeples and walk its searing streets tread in fear of the irrefutable commandments of the damned. 
  Horned spires constructed upon foundations of whimpering souls, burning monuments that dwarf the largest 
  mountains of the mortal plane, feats of architecture both soul-wrenching and awe-inspiring—Dis knows 
  no limit of wonder and terror. Upon minarets stretching miles into the sky hang souls endlessly picked over 
  by winged, infernal carrion beasts; labyrinthine canals of fire and corruption carry souls, fiends, and worse 
  things through the city’s shadowed underbelly; terrible citadels of beings with minds to conquer worlds and 
  souls to unmake sanity float across holocaust horizons; and over it all rises the scepter of the realm’s Iron Lord, 
  the miles-high bastion of First King Dispater, which stretches from the depths of the Pit like a spear poised 
  to pierce the very heart of Heaven.
  The Broken Chains: A mountain of chains, massive enough to bind an army of titans, forms the many-
  towered kyton citadel-embassy in Dis. Consul Chayte, an oitos kyton with a skeleton of gold amid his fleshy 
  robes, rules the Chains as proxy of the lords of Xovaikain on the Plane of Shadow, bartering for the mercenary 
  efforts of whole legions of his fellows. Although the residents of Dis know Chayte as the most potent of his 
  kin in the city, instances of unexplained grinding speech emanating from the depths of the consulate have 
  caused rumors to spread that the entire fortress is actually an ephialtes kyton with a chained frame of 
  incredible proportions.
  The Demagogue: This horrid place is a half-living museum, created from the tortured bodies of some of 
  the mortal plane’s most infamous tyrants and leaders, bound by a mortar of gore into walls of flesh and 
  muscle. Against the expectations of all infernal lords, eons ago a single gigantic eye manifested upon the 
  palace’s grotesque dome. It is said this terrifying, vein-webbed orb sheds one colossal, bloody tear once every 
  century, though none can say why.
  The Fallen Fastness: Where the sins of all men are 
  cataloged and untold armies of scholarly devils endlessly 
  toil. Said to be the greatest library in Hell, this thorn 
  pierces as deeply into Hell’s flesh as it rises into its 
  burning heavens and is said to grow by several floors in 
  both directions every year.
  The Pyrite Vault: Built in mockery of the First 
  Vault of Axis, here heresies and cursed treasures 
  infamous throughout the spheres lie in state, tended 
  to by the white-gauntleted ayngavhauls of Vapula. 
  Any devil that wishes to claim the baleful treasures 
  housed here might do so, should they possess the need 
  and potency to avoid becoming victims themselves.
  Widow’s Cry: Hung with the bodies of history’s 
  proudest chauvinists, the aerie of Whore Queen Eiseth 
  rises as a mountain of iron and brass blades and serves 
  as home to Hell’s largest legion of erinyes. Its summit 
  is said to echo with the screams of all mothers and 
  maidens ever wronged, a terrible cacophony that casts 
  mortal women into an incurable deafened rage and 
  instantly slays any mortal man.
  From The Book of the Damned
  “And from the heart of that Pit rises a 
  spear of iron, and around it bleeds a 
  city of sorrows. A disease of dark metal 
  and darker souls, veined in fire and the 
  corruption of all the spheres, here the 
  spirit of dark majesty rises to exultation. 
  Here god and mortal, saint and fiend, 
  walk shoulder to shoulder, blinded by 
  desire and desperation in their march 
  through the labyrinth of damnation. 
  Here gather the efforts of ages, the 
  histories of sin, and all that is valued 
  in vice. Here sprawl the markets of flesh 
  and of shadows, where nightmares are 
  bartered as dreams and sobs supplant the 
  chime of coins. And all that is terror 
  and wonder bears a single title, a name 
  that makes old men tremble and causes 
  angels to weep in selfish regret: Dis, awful 
  and awesome, the throne-city of Hell.”
  —From the Book of the Damned, “On Dis”
  
  25
  
  26
  Pathfinder Chronicles: Princes of Darkness
  She woke him then, an angel in crimson, a seraph robed in the 
  blazing sun. Weak, he looked upon her, trembling and afraid to 
  behold such beauty. At her touch his fear burned away, at her 
  caress it was replaced by a fire he had never known. As she bent 
  to him, away fell her robe of burning tongues, and, feasting in her 
  flesh, away fell all that he was. So passed a summer in passion, 
  yet inevitably came the smoldering fall. Weeping he took her hand, 
  and tremulous but obedient he departed with her, walking into the 
  fire that was once the sky.
  —From the Book of the Damned, “A Season of Hell”
  Chapter Two
  Devilkind
  
  27
  Devilkind
  2
  B
  eings of absolute, merciless order and obedience, devils 
  know nothing of morality, compassion, or free will. Their 
  foul existences—from the most revolting lemure to the 
  deadliest infernal duke—serve but a single unified purpose: 
  the execution of Hell’s law across all the planes. Where they 
  succeed, whole worlds become blasted slave empires, prison-
  slaughterhouses where mortal souls fuel the infernal war 
  machine and praise the grim majesty of the God Fiend. Where 
  they fail, subtle corruptions and blasphemous subversions 
  wrap the tendrils of temptation about weak mortal minds, 
  paving a path of damnation for the restless armies of Hell.
  Within the Pit, all is the way the eldest truths of the 
  multiverse dictate and the way the will of Asmodeus demands. 
  Wheels within wheels and castes within hierarchies assure that 
  all the servants of the Prince of Darkness know their place and 
  the duties their dread lords command. Although vast expanses 
  of Hell appear to be little more than horrifying chaos, realms 
  where foul beasts teem and the damned wail their sorrows to 
  the deaf heavens, all follows an order. Chaos breeds suffering, 
  change spawns fear, upheaval breaks the soul; all are tools 
  of Hell’s tortures. Thus, all follows the great plans of Hell’s 
  rulers, for while they gauntlet their fists in cold tyranny, they 
  deny themselves no weapons, even the scourges of the Abyss, 
  the spears of Heaven, or the fires of the Maelstrom.
  While the lords of the Pit do as they will, such is not the fate 
  of their servants. The hellspawn mind knows precision and 
  expertise, having been birthed to excel within the duties their 
  masters require. Hamatula sentinels, osyluth inquisitors, and 
  gelugon strategists—all have been sculpted for their roles by 
  the hands of Hell, and in these tasks devils know few peers. 
  Yet infernal minds do not create weapons for but a single goal, 
  and the spawn of the Pit are far from automatons. Even the 
  basest fiends exhibit cruel cleverness and the ability to learn 
  and refine skills outside the edicts of their creation. A barbazu 
  legionnaire might come to excel at infiltration, while an 
  erinyes might become a deadly seductress, each fiend’s skills 
  growing and becoming more refined as their experiences 
  and the needs of their masters shape them. And when their 
  time comes to walk upon the Material Plane, all devils that, 
  through their individual skills, they have but one goal: to 
  damn the souls of mortals however they see fit.
  The Hierarchy of Hell
  The devils of Hell are legion, their ranks endlessly bolstered 
  by damned souls, other natives of the infernal plane, and 
  horrors forged in the multiverse’s darkest pits. Yet, among 
  their own, devils form one of the largest and most stringent 
  social orders in all the planes, rivaled only by the choirs of 
  Heaven and the castes of axiomites in their racial law. 
  All devils are created to fill a gap or expand the ranks of 
  Hell’s rigid hierarchy, a pyramidal organization typified 
  by grim echelons of control similar to the rankings of an 
  impossibly vast and complex military. At the height of this 
  order Asmodeus sits enthroned, unquestioned and invincible 
  lord over all beneath him, while at the base roil repulsive oceans 
  of lemures and all the potential evils and terrifying shapes 
  they embody. Between these extremes march untold varieties 
  of diabolical life, from deadly foot soldiers to elite warriors 
  to beings of living warfare. Such fiends hold rankings based 
  foremost on infernal breed, but also on accomplishment and 
  the recognition of their masters. Hell is strict and ordered, 
  but not blind to exceptions that offer advantages. 
  The racial ranks of Hell select first and foremost for 
  prowess, though the definition of such skill varies. Typically, 
  this implies physical strength in battle, barbazus being 
  inferior to more powerful levalochs who are, in turn, lessers 
  to stronger osyluths. Yet exceptions exist in terms of cunning. 
  One of the rare phistophiluses, for example, bears greater 
  rank than a hamatula, while insidious gelugons preside over 
  legions of cornugons. While a gelugon might pose far less 
  of a threat to a mortal warrior in hand-to-hand combat, the 
  pitiless minds of these villians prove such that whole nations 
  might fall victim to their subtle temptations before one even 
  recognizes its threat.
  Although diabolical race means much within the castes of 
  Hell, physical form alone does not correspond to a specific 
  rank or authority. The lords of the Pit are ever watchful for 
  exceptional skill and capable servants. Whether a warrior 
  that slaughters hundreds more enemies than his brethren 
  or a strategist whose machinations cause the fall of an entire 
  empire, Hell seeks such prodigies. As devils are born from 
  that which was once mortal, many believe certain former 
  souls prove predisposed to certain exceptional talents and 
  might carry those skills through millennia of torments 
  to create prodigious fiends. The soul of a peerless mortal 
  warrior might eventually make a skilled erinyes, while a 
  murderous inquisitor might reprise his merciless passion as 
  an osyluth. Yet, while the lords of Hell seek out such souls, the 
  process of creating lemures from the damned rests largely in 
  the unknowable workings of the infernal plane itself, making 
  direct transformations impossible—not that this stops many 
  diabolical lords from seeking methods to more effectively 
  utilize such souls. When such skilled devils do rise above 
  their brethren, though, they are rewarded with authority. 
  Thus, a particularly deadly barbazu might excel in skill to 
  a point where he can best and be promoted to lead a host of 
  erinyes, while a keen osyluth might join the ranks of watchful 
  hamatulas. These subjective ranks within Hell’s hierarchies 
  are not obvious to most non-devils—beyond the scars of 
  veteran warriors or occasional trappings of the favored—yet 
  all devils recognize the place of their kindred immediately, 
  and obey or command as their station allows. But for those 
  who seek them, or have them forced upon them by their 
  masters, there do exist methods of physical advancement for 
  those willing to endure the suffering.
  
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  Diabolical Advancement
  The breeds of devilkind are not stagnant. In the same way 
  the greatest of infernal kind might recreate lemures into 
  useful, sentient shapes, so too might other devils be lifted 
  from the rank-caste implied by their form. In a process little 
  understood outside of Hell but known to be one of the most 
  excruciating tortures exacted upon the multiverse’s beings, a 
  devil might be reshaped into a greater form. Such promotion 
  can only be meted out by one of the lords of Hell, a fiend 
  with the standing of an infernal duke or greater. Recognized 
  as a minion of worth, the devil is subjected to a lengthy and 
  terrifying torment befitting its would-be new incarnation. 
  Should the creature survive this torture—a fate that is never 
  assured—it emerges transformed into a new being, a member 
  of a greater diabolical breed with all the rights and standing 
  of that form. Procession through Hell’s infernal castes is not 
  a direct path, as devils of any type might be promoted into a 
  variety of forms. Typically, though, a fiend advances by small 
  degrees, joining a slightly more powerful rank, 
  and never is a lesser devil promoted to a 
  greater devil without the careful 
  consideration of its lord. 
  These diabolical transformations typically take place on a 
  case-by-case basis, though the archdevils occasionally remake 
  whole legions as suit their needs. Such advancement can also 
  be reversed, and failed fiends might be cast into torments that 
  strip away their forms, reducing them in station. Such a fate 
  is perhaps the worst insult a devil can suffer, one all of these 
  prideful fiends dread.
  Although numerous methods of diabolical advancement 
  are well documented, no devil can engage in this process 
  without the allowance of the infernal nobility. Even those 
  brazen enough to try it without permission gain no benefit, 
  just years of torment endured to no advantageous outcome. 
  What infernal processes or right the lords of Hell bring to 
  these tortures—what spark finally imbues their minions with 
  greater blasphemous forms—is unknown, though diabolists 
  throughout the multiverse have long sought the secrets of 
  these diabolical powers. These torturous advancements are 
  also not the only way devils of great standing are formed, 
  as the creations of Asmodeus and those beings that spring 
  whole-formed from the depths of Hell are many and obey 
  infernal laws few can comprehend. 
  Noted here are several of the agonies the most common 
  diabolical breeds are known to suffer in their advancement 
  through Hell’s profane hierarchy. While others with the same 
  or similar results are doubtlessly known, the lords of the Pit 
  rarely share their secrets.
  Imps: Typically sculpted by a powerful devil from a single 
  lemure, imps are usually created for a specific purpose. An 
  infernal lord can create an imp in moments, often treating 
  these fiends as disposable couriers, accounting for the great 
  numbers of them throughout most layers of Hell.
  Barbazu: Raised en masse from mobs of lemures, these 
  fiends are impaled upon the glaives of the devils they would 
  become for 50 years or more, their transformations being 
  complete when they develop the will and control to extract 
  their weapons from their bodies.
  Erinyes: Most erinyes are specially chosen by the archfiends, 
  warped from the forms of fallen or corrupted celestial beings. 
  Lesser devils are rarely promoted to become erinyes unless 
  an infernal lord gleans some spark of corrupted divinity or 
  past piousness within their essences. Those that would be 
  transformed into erinyes are impaled upon the loftiest tower 
  spikes of Dis and left to be flensed by the vicious winds and 
  fed upon by the city’s revolting avian hosts for 150 years.
  Osyluth: Although rising fully formed from the depths of 
  Stygia itself, osyluths may also be promoted from the ranks of 
  the most manipulative erinyes. Buried, drowned, and picked 
  over by the swarms of fetid Stygia for 200 years, what emerges 
  has lost all hint of beauty, a horrifying new osyluth.
  Hamatula: Infernal lords in need of sentinels typically 
  create hamatulas from brooding erinyes and subtle 
  osyluths. These devils are cast into the loneliest, darkest 
  vaults of Erebus for 333 years. Those who neither go insane 
  
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  Devilkind
  2
  nor try to escape find, upon their release, that the darkness 
  has granted them new powers and forms.
  Gelugon: Typically raised from the ranks of the most 
  cunning hamatulas and osyluths, would-be gelugons are 
  cast into the icy wastes of Cocytus. Those with the wisdom 
  to survive a realm deadly even to devils for 500 years grow the 
  hoary carapaces of gelugons.
  Cornugon: The most skilled martial devils endure the wars 
  of Malebolge. Through untold millennia these fiends endure 
  mock warfare and torturous training, the ever-increasing 
  mercilessness and prowess of the deadliest fiends gradually 
  taking physical form, warping them into cornugons.
  Pit Fiend: Ingenious and merciless devils, typically gelugons 
  and cornugons, are caged within the hellfire volcanoes of Nessus. 
  Here they suffer and burn for 666 years. Should the devil survive, 
  it emerges as one of the most powerful forms of devilkind. 
  The Roll of Hell
  Only fools claim to know the secrets of Hell and the innumerable 
  beings that lurk within its ninefold depths. Although certainly 
  some creatures prove more pervasive among the Pit’s layers, 
  to say that these beings are all that exists within the infernal 
  realm speaks of ignorance and the hopeful delusion of limited 
  mortal minds. Detailed here are the devils best documented 
  by diabolists, as well as several supposedly secret methods of 
  summoning known to dark-souled mortal spellcasters.
  Lemures
  Barely devils—barely any manner of creature at all—lemures 
  boil forth from the deepest cracks and crevices of Hell, the 
  filth of the multiverse’s foulest pit given terrible life. Yet, 
  through purification by cruelty and ablution by wrath, these 
  repulsive protoforms bear the seed of all diabolical life. Little 
  more than maniacal and fundamentally evil souls given flesh, 
  lemures are blank slates, their minds existent but empty, ready 
  for the whims of powerful infernal entities to shape them into 
  whatever their would-be masters desire. Until such time, they 
  roil in vast seas of churning flesh, lashing out murderously 
  but mindlessly at one another and whatever damned souls 
  prove foolish or unfortunate enough to happen by.
  Infernal Sacrifice: Although too mindless to have individual 
  desires, lemures can be better tempted by diabolists who offer 
  them remembrances of indulgences long lost to them. Sacrifices 
  of alcohol, warm food, or pornographic illustrations grant a 
  caster a +2 bonus on Charisma checks to summon a lemure.
  Imps
  Masters of underestimation, imps throughout the multiverse 
  have an infamous reputation for being craven, pandering, 
  sadistic weaklings that fearfully obey any creature larger and 
  stronger than themselves. While unquestionably true, imps 
  know the stories and expectations of those who call upon 
  them and go to great lengths to play such roles. Beneath their 
  cowardly and toadying natures lie calculating minds. Patiently 
  and humbly they serve even the most unfit, eagerly whispering 
  advice and subtly manipulating those who think themselves 
  masters. In the end, imps quickly turn on those they’ve served 
  even for centuries, trusting in their decades-long machinations 
  to eternally damn their foul former masters.
  The process of summoning imps as familiars has burgeoned 
  widely through the planes, largely spread by devils and imps. 
  Delighting in tempting their masters down the path of 
  diabolism, imps gradually dole forth their knowledge of Hell’s 
  powers on a quid pro quo basis, revealing their familiarity 
  with the Pit in exchange for small acts of depravity. While the 
  details of such exchanges are rarely truthful, few spellcasters 
  who would summon a devilish familiar balk at the increasingly 
  depraved acts their servants require in payment.
  Infernal Sacrifice: As a placation to their tiny egos, imps 
  favor small, bloody sacrifices that suggest their summoner’s 
  wilingness to do evil. Those who offer a heart cut from the 
  breast of a still-living dove gain a +2 bonus on Charisma checks 
  made to summon an imp.
  Barbazus
  One of the most pervasive breeds of Hell’s rank-and-file 
  legionnaires, barbazus know only battle and obedience. 
  Far from the most cunning inhabitants of the Pit and 
  poor tempters of mortal souls, what these murderous 
  fiends lack in guile they make up for in versatility and 
  reliability. Barbazus are among the most dogged of devils, 
  unquestioningly obeying their lords and superiors in 
  whatever travail is put before them. These devils form 
  the ironclad backbone of hellish armies, mustering and 
  training in preparation for infernal campaigns. When 
  finally unleashed upon the mortal plane, the cruelty 
  and effectiveness of their slaughter mark them as true 
  embodiments of the unf linching discipline of Hell. 
  Barbazus summoned away from Hell initially balk at 
  serving non-infernal lords, and struggle to resist whatever 
  magic compels them. In the face of skilled diabolists, though, 
  these bearded devils might come to serve their new masters 
  nearly as devotedly as their commanders in Hell. Regardless 
  of their willingness, all barbazus show a penchant for 
  murderousness and bloodshed, often lashing out with their 
  deadly saw-toothed glaives when even the simplest word 
  would suffice. These devils also sometimes possess minor 
  insights into the ways of the infernal dukes they serve, the 
  topography of Hell’s first layer, Avernus, or the worship of 
  Barbatos, the archfiend to whom all bearded devils offer 
  some degree of veneration.
  Infernal Sacrifice: Those who seek to indulge a barbazu’s 
  bloodlust by offering a restrained victim—whether man or 
  beast—for the devil to murder gain a +2 bonus on Charisma 
  checks made to summon a bearded devil.
  
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  Erinyes
  Known as “fury devils” to some and as fallen angels to others, 
  erinyes veil depravity within Heavenly bodies. While these 
  devils can be raised from the ranks of lemures by lords of the 
  infernal realm, few come into being in this manner. Instead, the 
  majority are corrupted from angelic spirits, tempted away from 
  the path of righteousness by infernal machinations. Few know 
  through what process such noble souls of the divine are turned, 
  but the most fundamental requirement of such betrayals seems 
  to rely upon the angel’s willingness.
  Once accepted into Hell and perverted into devils, erinyes 
  serve as some of the most valued warriors in the infernal 
  armies. The lords of the Pit value these devils for their varied 
  skills, as few can match their rage in battle and prowess that 
  draws upon techniques learned amid the heights of Heaven and 
  within the depths of Hell. Their magically animated ropes also 
  reflect their roles as ensnarers of mortal souls. While one might 
  expect these beauteous creatures to rely upon their comeliness 
  to tempt mortals to depravity, erinyes harbor intense hatred 
  for mortals—often stemming from their ages of service to 
  such beings. Most use their misleading forms to draw close 
  to and ambush mortals—sometimes even posing as angels or 
  messengers of the gods. Little satisfies erinyes more than the 
  confused cries of mortals murdered or dragged bodily to Hell 
  by those they mistook for emissaries of their divine lords.
  Infernal Sacrifice: Embittered against the divine, erinyes 
  revel in destroying holy icons. Those who offer the devil a 
  significant divine item or figure to despoil, either a piece of 
  religious artwork worth more than 100 gp or even a living 
  cleric of a good-aligned deity, gain a +2 bonus on Charisma 
  checks made to summon an erinyes.
  Osyluths
  Insectile inquisitors of the infernal realm, diabolists claim that 
  the verminous forms of osyluths imply the pervasiveness of 
  Hell’s servants, the eyes of the Pit lurking even in the meanest 
  and most invasive creatures. Bone devils are anything but 
  subtle, though, serving as their brothers’ keepers, assuring that 
  even the most powerful devils adhere to the laws of the Pit. The 
  temptations of chaos are everywhere, even in Hell, and so it falls 
  to osyluths to root out and destroy both infiltrators from the 
  Abyss and other hostile planes, and those infernal natives that 
  would leave the Pit vulnerable to such depredations. Diabolical 
  warriors who sow discord, guardians who shirk their duties, 
  and infernal lords who cultivate their own goals at the cost of 
  their noble brethren, all face the investigation of these prying 
  spies. When they discover disloyalty among their kind, their 
  options are twofold. Those weaker than osyluths are dragged 
  to the bone devils’ revolting hive-like lairs where their secrets 
  and confederates are torturously stripped from them. Those 
  more powerful than the devils are exposed, with the word of 
  an osyluth being a fearful condemnation while actual proof of 
  infernal impropriety can see a devil stripped to a lesser form.
  Those who would summon osyluths typically do so to 
  learn secrets of the infernal realm or gain power over other 
  devils. For mortals who embody the ruthless rules of Hell, 
  an osyluth might serve congenially, willingly providing such 
  an exemplar with secrets that might spread diabolical law. 
  For most summoners, though—those less than the hellish 
  ideal—osyluths provide the information demanded of them, 
  but seek to pervert their masters’ will, providing them with 
  secrets beyond their power to command or that can only lead 
  to a painful and eternal damnation.
  Infernal Sacrifice: Osyulths eagerly respond to offerings 
  of infernal lore or blasphemous secrets. Summoners who 
  sacrifice tomes of hellish secrets or evidence of secret 
  mortal vices—especially committed by influential figures 
  or rulers—gain a +2 bonus on Charisma checks made to 
  summon osyluths.
  Hamatulas
  Diabolical sentinels, hamatulas lurk within the shadows 
  of Hell, guarding the treasures of the Pit, whether they be 
  tangible riches or—that dream most coveted by the damned—
  paths of infernal escape. Deadly warriors of fearsome form, 
  these fiends haunt the nightmares of mortals, their deadly 
  forms, mastery of flames, and immortal patience marking 
  them as icons of devilkind. Infernal lords favor hamatula for 
  their vicious loyalty. Dwelling in the greatest numbers within 
  the prison-vaults of Erebus, hamatulas care nothing for their 
  wards; they know only their duty to their masters and eager 
  murderousness toward those who would steal that which 
  they protect. Few devils seem to take more delight in slowly 
  stalking prey than hamatulas, who relish drawing out the 
  hunt until the point when a foe is impaled in fatal intimacy 
  upon its barbs, then roasted in hellfire.
  When called to serve outside of Hell, hamatulas prove 
  highly irritable and dangerous, especially those who are drawn 
  away from protecting a post for an infernal lord. Some barbed 
  devils prove inconsolable, making them among the deadliest 
  of lesser devils to summon as they attempt to murderously 
  pervert even the least of their summoners’ whims. Others, 
  though, might be placated with promises of exotic and 
  blasphemous treasures in exchange for temporary services. 
  Left to their own devices, hamatulas seek ways to return to 
  Hell. In the interim, though, most gather troves of riches that 
  they intend to carry with them, as well as mortal prisoners 
  upon which their infernal lords might place especial value.
  Infernal Sacrifice: Hamatulas despise being summoned 
  away from their duties in Hell for any reason. A diabolist who 
  offers a hamatula rare treasures and exotic gems valued at 
  more than 2,000 gp gains a +2 bonus on all Charisma checks 
  made to compel the barbed devil into service, but only if the 
  task takes less than 24 hours to complete. Those who try to 
  compel hamatulas to longer terms of service, whatever that 
  service might be, take a –2 penalty on their Charisma checks.
  
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  Devilkind
  2
  Cornugons
  Forged and reforged in the flames of Malebolge and the winds 
  of Cocytus, cornugons are the elite of Hell’s armies. Girded 
  in scales harder than iron and with wings that grant them 
  mastery over hellish skies, they are the perfect products of the 
  infernal war machine. As such, the lords of Hell value each 
  cornugon as a legion of lesser devils. While hosts of these 
  horned devils train upon Malebolge, their drills overseen by 
  infernal dukes, the most promising face the soul-freezing 
  torments of Coctyus, where the strongest strive to become 
  malebranche—the warlord champions of Hell.
  Enduring centuries of training and mock warfare, these 
  devils relish any order that takes them from Hell. Most find 
  themselves leading whole legions of lesser devils as field 
  commanders in massive skirmishes against the hordes of the 
  Maelstrom and the Abyss. Others face more subtle tasks—
  such as infiltrating a bastion of the divine. Still others might 
  act as the vanguard of Hell’s armies, being sent to the Material 
  Plane to prepare a mortal realm for conquering.
  Infernal Sacrifice: Existing to crush Hell’s enemies and feel 
  the blood spray of war, cornugons endlessly yearn to improve 
  their battle prowess. As such, any summoner who offers one 
  of these devils an intimidating magical weapon with a +2 or 
  greater enhancement bonus gains a +2 bonus on all Charisma 
  checks made to summon a cornugon.
  Gelugons
  The term “ice devil” refers to far more than these fiends’ 
  control over cold and penchant for lairing in Hell’s most frigid 
  reaches; it also describes the workings of their infernally 
  logical minds and the impenetrably icy state of their hearts. 
  Known as the masterminds of Hell, gelugons are among the 
  most cunning of devilkind, their great intellects making 
  them far deadlier than their considerable physical prowess 
  might already imply. While lesser devils spend the centuries 
  devising cunning heresies and developing cruel weapons 
  of corruption, gelugons put the tools of damnation to use. 
  Looking out across the planes from alien hermitages of iron 
  and ice, these inscrutable strategists seek the weak points in 
  Heavenly defenses, the exploitable gamuts of demon lords, and 
  the tides of mortal sentiment that make whole worlds ready 
  for damnation. Should ever a devil—from the lowliest imp to 
  the most bloodthirsty cornugon—seek to infiltrate a mortal 
  court or tempt the soul of a fateful individual, they likely do 
  so at the direction of a gelugon mastermind manipulating the 
  present for some unforeseen future stratagem.
  Gelugons prefer solitude, creating chilling alien lairs amid 
  the lowest of Hell’s layers, though most prefer the floating 
  glacier islands of Cocytus or the dangling chain hives within 
  Caina. From these depths they meditate upon the multiverse, 
  seeking opportunities to spread Hell’s influence. If forcibly 
  called away from Hell, emotionless gelugons accept their fate 
  with cool detachment, searching for opportunities to weave 
  their summoners’ plots into their own. Few dare call upon ice 
  devils, though, as their ingenious minds are quick to embroil 
  those they encounter in elaborate infernal plots few mortal 
  souls can hope to weather. Also, while emotionless, gelugons are 
  not above revisiting their summoners, their perfect memories 
  recounting the names and talents of mortals even decades 
  after brief encounters. Thus, any interaction with a gelugon 
  might curse an individual, or even his descendants, with the 
  infernal attentions of Hell’s most sinister manipulators.
  Infernal Sacrifice: Gelugons can prove notoriously difficult 
  to summon, as little might tempt them away from their ongoing 
  machinations. Those who offer an exchange of services, a 
  promise to enact the fiend’s will, whatever it might be, gain a 
  +2 bonus on Charisma checks made to summon an ice devil. 
  Should a summoner try to go back on his word to perform a 
  task for a gelugon, though, the devil might dedicate a portion of 
  its resources to painfully force the diabolist to keep his word.
  Pit Fiends
  The pinnacle of devilkind and among the most feared of all 
  Hell’s inhabitants, pit fiends rule as unquestioned generals of 
  the infernal realm. The most powerful breed of devils, only the 
  unique infernal dukes and other nobles of Hell command greater 
  authority than these diabolical princes—and most of them were 
  once pit fiends themselves. Physically indomitable and even 
  more cunning than gelugons, these brooding warlords can be 
  found throughout Hell, going where their varied machinations 
  demand, though most are found either upon Avernus and 
  Malebolge commanding vast diabolical armies, or within Dis 
  or Nessus conducting more subtle plots. Should an archdevil 
  have business upon the planes, a pit fiend ambassador might 
  conduct such dealings, and when the infernal lords seek to 
  work their most damning machinations, their plots are forged 
  amid a crucible of pit fiend councilors. Unspeakably shrewd 
  and deadly, these diabolical princes possess varied personalities 
  and passions, though nearly all share the aspiration to join the 
  ranks of true diabolical nobility.
  Pit fiends rarely journey alone outside of Hell, most 
  traveling from the Pit amid legions of diabolical warriors. 
  Known princes of the infernal realms, countless parties 
  throughout the planes seek to ensnare pit fiends, either 
  for the blasphemous wisdom all possess or to employ their 
  seemingly endless unholy might. Exceedingly proud, little 
  enrages a pit fiend more than the thought of being forced 
  to serve a weaker creature, especially with goals antithetical 
  to the order of Hell. Only the most evil mortals—and 
  typically only those specifically favored by an infernal duke, 
  archdevil, or Asmodeus himself—might hope to command 
  a pit fiend without fear of an endless painful retribution. 
  Those who stumble across these awesome fiends should 
  also know fear, for pit fiends are nothing if not the active 
  hands of Hell, and where they go the full evil sword of the 
  infernal realm is soon to fall.
  
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  Infernal Sacrifice: Nothing but the most blasphemous of 
  offerings can tempt a pit fiend to service. Only the sacrifice 
  of a powerful good-aligned cleric or noteworthy angel, the 
  destruction of a significant holy relic, or the offering of a 
  powerful tool of evil might aid a summoner in coaxing a pit 
  fiend from the infernal realm. Any such sacrifice grants the 
  diabolist a +2 Charisma bonus on checks made to summon 
  such lords of devilkind.
  Infernal Nobility
  Beneath Asmodeus and his archdevils rule the unknowably 
  vast ranks of hellish nobility. Infernal dukes, whore queens, 
  malebranche, pit fiends, greater devils, and other merciless 
  lords of devilkind, all obey and are obeyed, exacting the 
  whims of Hell’s rulers and their own nefarious plots with 
  steely efficiency. The greatest of these fiends are worshiped 
  as deities, for indeed they possess the power and unbridled 
  malevolence of lesser gods, while the least are still powers 
  capable of bringing damnation to entire mortal realms. 
  Described here are numerous members of Hell’s nobility, 
  though doubtlessly untold hundreds more exist in the vast 
  infernal realms. (Those capable of bestowing spells as deities 
  are noted on the inside cover.)
  Infernal Dukes
  The Lords of Hell, the Dukes of Perdition, the Princes of 
  Damnation, are the infamous nobility of the Pit, the captains 
  of Hell’s armies, and the architects of unknowable strife. From 
  among the endless armies of the Pit occasionally rise devils of 
  exceptional evil, creatures that embody aspects of Hell’s nature, 
  be it force, corruption, discipline, misery, or any of countless 
  other vices. Forged through millennia of dutiful service, these 
  fiends claw their ways to the ranks of greater devils, the apparent 
  peak of devilkind. Yet, by some act of masterful corruption, these 
  fiends garner the notice of the archdevils, and are recognized 
  with a rare promotion in form and standing. At the hands 
  of these greatest of devils such champions are reshaped into 
  unique new forms and granted powers and authority beyond 
  even greater devils. From that moment on they are among 
  Hell’s masters, the elite of devilkind, the infernal dukes.
  Possessing autonomy beyond even that of greater devils and 
  answerable only to the archfiends and Asmodeus himself, each 
  infernal duke is given orders upon its creation that inspire 
  its actions for ages. While some might be assigned to manage 
  the souls of Avernus, others might be sent to corrupt mortals, 
  while still others might be employed to raise armies to lead 
  against other planes or to serve in Hell’s defense. Occasionally, 
  infernal dukes are ordered to undertake even more obscure 
  or unusual tasks, such as the hunting down of a specific soul, 
  the creation of some new profanity, or the discovery of some 
  wayward bit of blasphemous lore. Regardless of their goals, 
  these infernal adepts possess absolute freedom to pursue their 
  tasks however they please—though osyluths and the watchful 
  eyes of the archfiends constantly mind even them for signs of 
  dissension. The ways of most infernal dukes are subtle, as they 
  possess endless time and resources to exact their terrible wills, 
  to say nothing of profane powers exclusive to each. And where 
  the attentions of Asmodeus and his archdevils span the planes, 
  the goals of infernal lords often prove much more precise, as 
  theirs are the burning eyes most likely to turn upon specific 
  mortal worlds, countries, or even individuals in their quests to 
  increase both the might of Hell and themselves.
  To aid them in their conquests and perversions, many 
  infernal dukes cultivate their own followings among mortals, 
  bartering the power of Hell for absolute service and ultimate 
  corruption. Those who implore and sacrifice to these demigod-
  like creatures gain access to a variety of profane magic, but 
  also assure their inevitable damnation.
  The Whore Queens
  An unrepentant misogynist, Asmodeus thinks little of what he 
  refers to as the “second gender.” Yet, although his hierarchy of 
  diabolical lords holds no room for women, four powerful and 
  ancient female devils hold special respect among the infernal 
  dukes. Each a former angel who renounced her oppressive 
  liege to join Asmodeus’s Exodus, these fallen celestials failed 
  to anticipate that Hell would not be the triumph they once 
  expected. In the millennia since their betrayals, they have not 
  become the empresses of well-reasoned utopias, but rather 
  second-class nobles among the most perverse souls of the 
  multiverse. Embittered and deadly, these fallen angels now 
  embrace a title spread by their former celestial brethren and 
  their infernal rivals, their machinations through the eons 
  having proven them easily as pitiless and ingenious as their 
  male—and other-gendered or genderless—counterparts. While 
  their rank in Hell is no greater than that of the other infernal 
  dukes, the feminine virtues of these so-called whore queens 
  have won them great notoriety throughout the multiverse, 
  making their cults second in size only to those of the archdevils 
  and Asmodeus himself.
  Ardad Lili: The End of Innocence, Ardad Lili delights in 
  manipulating men and exposing the dull-wittedness of that 
  gender. Appearing as a healthy, plainly beautiful girl just 
  waxing into womanhood, only her wings made of snake tails 
  expose her diabolical nature. The expression that a boy is 
  “made into a man” upon his first sexual encounter directly 
  references the depredations of Ardad Lili and was once 
  synonymous with the term “being made a fool of.”  
  Doloras: Our Lady of Pain is a beauteous horror, with eyes 
  like blank ebony, skin of iron, and fingers like daggers. Her 
  once angelic wings now bristle with needles and a crown of 
  tears rings her bald head. She offers sadistic comforts to those 
  who would abandon their mortal feelings, and offers adherents 
  an ironclad gospel of inviolability through indifference and 
  salvation through emotionlessness.
  
  33
  Devilkind
  2
  Eiseth: Said to be the first fallen celestial, the Erinyes Queen 
  is an angel of Hell, striking, yet as intimidating and fearsome 
  as her former divine brethren are serene. Consumed by hatred 
  for all things celestial, she surrounds herself with other erinyes 
  and often personally leads skirmishes against divine realms. 
  Some of the longest-lived beings in the multiverse claim that 
  Eiseth was once an empyreal lord of righteous wrath and kin 
  to Ragathiel (though perhaps not literally), but if this is true, 
  neither devils nor angels speak of such things.
  Mahathallah: Once a handmaiden of Pharasma, the 
  Dowager of Illusions understands the temporary nature of 
  all things better than most beings. It was said that she once 
  begged her mistress to witness the moment of her own death 
  and was granted her wish, fleeing to Asmodeus’s side in hopes 
  of avoiding her fate. Now Mahathallah begins every morning 
  as the beautiful celestial she once was, but ages throughout 
  the day until she is little more than a repulsive skeleton. She 
  cloaks herself in layers of illusion so as to never be reminded 
  of the fate she has supposedly avoided.
  The Malebranche
  The elite of the elite, the lords of the cornugon, the invaders—
  the malebranche lead the march of Hell throughout the planes, 
  and where they tread the legions of devilkind follow. Exceedingly 
  rare, only once every 5,000 years does a cornugon manifest the 
  prowess to be promoted to the status of malebranche, their 
  excruciating transformations granting them the forms of 
  unique and terrifying beings. Similar to infernal dukes yet 
  of lesser station, malebranche emerge for one reason alone, to 
  conquer a mortal world or a planar realm in Hell’s name.
  Malebranche dedicate their existences to spreading Hell’s 
  law. Rarely do they travel at the heads of diabolical armies, 
  though. Rather, most journey to their targeted lands alone, 
  and through guile, temptation, and lies sow discord and raise 
  their own legions of native beings. They are the subverters 
  and false saviors, and only when the hour of redemption is too 
  late do they sound the horn of Hell and open the gates for the 
  armies of the damned.
  Powerful to the point that they occasionally gain cults of 
  mortal followers, malebranche can grant spells to worshipers 
  in a degree similar to infernal dukes. As these diabolical 
  warlords spend millennia sowing their machinations across 
  the worlds they would rule, they often attain places as figures 
  of myth and divine legend, sometimes across multiple realms. 
  Even if worshiped by beings not of their world, they hear 
  prayers and grant spells, corrupting mortals and aiding their 
  diabolical brethren in whatever even small ways they can.
  Twelve malebranche are known to the peoples of Golarion: 
  one for that world, nine for the worlds seen amid the night’s 
  stars, and, some say, two for the ones that once were.
  
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  Pathfinder Chronicles: Princes of Darkness
  Order
  Ihys and Asmodeus created the foundation of reality. Sculpting and inventing from the light of their 
  world, the Seal became as a fountain of creation. The First learned to make all that they wished and 
  wanted by drawing on its limitless power, and wonders never before imagined took shape as elements, 
  islands of reality, and creatures shaped from lesser motes.
  The First were not alone during this age, though, for while they were the first, others followed their paths. 
  From the ranks of the younger motes grew vital forces synchronous to the things Ihys and Asmodeus created, 
  majestic and wild beast spirits, and new personalities akin to the First. These beings gathered upon the 
  islands the brothers created, the greatest of them even learning to shape the power of the Seal themselves. 
  The brothers created wide and recklessly, and destroyed with whimsy. Although this satisfied them for a 
  time, both began to favor their own playgrounds and types of creations, making and remaking the same 
  forms, refining and developing shapes as they pleased. Slowly an order to things emerged and creations began 
  to take on uniform characteristics that pleased their makers and made them worthy of names. In this 
  time the scaffolding of the first stars and planets 
  was formed and the First knew pride in their work.
  Then clever Ihys made a discovery that would 
  forever shatter the serenity of these early epochs. 
  He created a new life. 
  Having sought only to make a minute and 
  simple creation move, Ihys channeled a portion 
  of himself into his creation. Wondrously, the 
  thing did indeed begin to move, but without 
  its creator’s command began to explore and 
  root about of its own accord. Curious, Ihys long 
  watched over his creation, delighting in its 
  discoveries and feeling its joys and fears. After 
  a time, learning all he cared to, Ihys destroyed 
  the thing. From it rose a flicker or light, a mote not unlike that which the First once were 
  themselves, which darted back to join with its creator’s being. Fascinated and excited by his innovation, 
  Ihys shared his knowledge with his brother and lesser kin.
  Creation took on a new vigor in the age after the First learned how to create new life. Countless 
  creatures were molded and abandoned or destroyed, while whole races rose and were obliterated at the 
  whims of their makers. Islands of reality were sculpted as menageries where new beings could live, thrive, 
  and—eventually—reproduce on their own. Sanctuaries of life came to radiate far from the Seal—which 
  slowly began to be lost amid the wonders it had produced—and the First, and indeed all their kin, 
  knew the pride of parents and masters.
  Yet soon invaders came, and the First discovered that theirs was not the only reality. Slipping through gaps 
  in existence came the primeval fiends, the lords of Chaos, and the masters of the elements, each discovering 
  the worlds orbiting the Seal and seeking to claim the potential and power there. Other visitors came to explore 
  the realms of the First as well, beings claiming origins similar to Ihys and Asmodeus’s younger brethren. These 
  travelers brought knowledge with them of spheres beyond the Seal, strange and wondrous realms filled with 
  primal beings and more frightening dangers. Yet the First had little interest in leaving the Seal, though 
  many of their kin wandered out onto the planes, most of whom were never seen again.
  Even in the light of such revelations, eons continued to pass, and the First created and watched 
  over their worlds. Upon their islands, the beings progressed—either by slow natural changes or outside 
  intervention—until they, too, became thinking things and came to know awe for their creators. In this 
  age, the children of the Seal first came to know the adoration of lesser beings and came to be known as 
  gods, mantles which they would wear for all time after.
  As the gods created whole races of obedient servants and knowledge of the First and their kindred 
  spread from world to world, reverence and soon true worship spread between the islands. This adoration 
  meant little to the gods, though, as their creations were in truth nothing more than pets and playthings, 
  From the Book of the Damned
  Wherein the primal understanding of 
  reality and the laws of existence are set 
  forth, new life comes to the Seal, those from 
  outside make themselves known, and the 
  first act of dissension taints the multiverse 
  for all time.
  
  35
  Devilkind
  2
  diversions that, upon their ends, returned their borrowed motes of spiritual life 
  back to their creators. Yet, after eons of creation and ages of coming to know 
  the hearts and minds of his works through their prayers, the efforts Ihys had 
  himself begun came to trouble him. 
  Seeking out his brother’s counsel, Ihys shared his concerns. Asmodeus smiled, 
  comforting his twin, and explained that such was the way things were and 
  had always been. They alone were the inheritors of the Seal’s power, and 
  the wonders they created were theirs to do with as they pleased. Life flowed 
  from the Seal, and from it to them, and from them to others—such was 
  the order of reality, the order they had known for all time. Thus, 
  they should no more regret the insignificant nature of their 
  creations than they should mourn over the light cast by the 
  Seal or the might of their own fabulous powers. They were 
  the First, and all others were less. 
  Slowly and reluctantly, Ihys agreed, but he had seen 
  change in his countless centuries, and wondered if he 
  might again.
  Thus, the First shared his concerns with his lesser kin, 
  most of whom agreed with Asmodeus. But among 
  them too were those who shared his sympathy. Inspired 
  to know his thoughts were not, this time, unique, 
  Ihys visited his favorite world. There he looked 
  over those works that had long pleased him the 
  most, and saw the wonders that were both his 
  and not his, the creations of his creations. 
  He saw the progressions of shapes he had 
  imagined in countless ages past come to living 
  form, and evidence of his briefest musings 
  transformed into foundations of ideas he had 
  yet to conceive. He knew compassion, and pride, and 
  wonder at his work, feelings he had scarce imagined 
  before. Reaching out with his being, he touched all the 
  creatures of his first world and warmed them with his 
  pleasure and gratification. Then he shattered his creation. 
  In a moment he annihilated that which pleased him most, 
  destroying every one of the thousands of beings upon the sphere, 
  and in so doing felt the pain, terror, and betrayal of each of 
  his countless children. And as the minute things died, he 
  spiritually cast off his possession of their life sparks, granting 
  them a choice they had never before even thought to 
  possess. Droves of these tiny flames returned bodily to him, 
  accepting the unknowable wisdom of his act and remerging with their creator. 
  But there were others, and in them Ihys witnessed a miracle, a truth of existence 
  which he had refused to even dream. Hundreds of the essences of the First’s children scattered 
  among the spheres of creation, some joining with his brother, other seeking out his myriad other kin, 
  and still others drifting away into the dark to find their own paths.
  Warmed by the essences of his creations who truly revered him, and full of pride for those who 
  had sought to be more than his slaves, Ihys knew a delight like none he had experienced before, and 
  journeyed to proselytize the truth of their work to his brother and all their brethren. 
  And so a schism split the gods—one that would never heal.
  
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  Pathfinder Chronicles: Princes of Darkness
  All praise to the Wiseman of the Wilds and the King of Iron, who are 
  masters over souls and the paths to Hell. Long to know the Spirit 
  in Gold, who rules in greed and compels the acts of men. Adore the 
  Duke of Many Forms, who knows the desires of mortals better than 
  themselves. Hearken to the Serpent’s words, for its kiss reveals 
  the truth you would be denied. Obey the God of Fire, as he alone 
  rewards the deserving. Kneel before the Black Son, for he was the 
  first and most holy, and the Crimson Son, for he is Hell. And kneel 
  with your lords before the Prince, foremost among the gods, who 
  was your master always and will be forever.
  —From the Book of the Damned, “The Prayer of All Praises”
  Chapter Three
  Diabolatry
  
  37
  Diabolatry
  3
  T
  he power of Hell lies in order, temptation, and mortal 
  weakness and whim. The lords of the Pit care not for 
  howls in the night and mad rampages, for wasted blood 
  and beastly deeds. Rather, their ways are subtle and suggestive, 
  and to all things there are rules and methods. The masters of 
  the infernal realm know the capriciousness of mortals and 
  the weaknesses of their hearts. Their vision stretches beyond 
  the boundaries of lives and centuries, their offers promising 
  pleasures as varied and vast as Hell’s myriad torments and 
  the fulfillment of every petty dream. Yet for all such things 
  there is a price, which is always the same: an eternity of service 
  to Hell’s dark prince. None can doubt that such payment is 
  steep, but endlessly mortals believe themselves cannier than 
  their fiendish benefactors or shortsighted enough to confuse 
  a boon of centuries with eternity. Their patience is long and 
  their evil immortal, easily weathering ages of service. And in 
  time, every infernal miracle inevitably reveals itself for the 
  trap it is, and no mortal deception can outwit the infernal 
  cunning of Hell.
  The temptations of devilkind are many, such being their 
  greatest menace. Few devils appear in smoke and brimstone 
  offering contracts written in blood—rarely do mortals 
  require such brazen direction to the gates of Avernus. Often, a 
  whisper of doubt or a single jealous vision can undo a lifetime 
  of piety. In other cases, some mortals need but the means to 
  damn themselves, requiring only the proper knowledge, the 
  necessary tool, or an advantageous opportunity. Thus, from 
  the Pit flows an endless stream of lies, evil truths, blasphemies, 
  and instruments of subtle corruption, weapons searching for 
  wielders who would use them upon themselves. In such cases, 
  few even realize that their acts jeopardize their very souls. Yet, 
  for all the schemes of devilkind, few methods satisfy the powers 
  of Hell more than the mortal who is damned not by temptation 
  or ensnarement, but by his own strident desire to serve.
  Devil Worship
  Many of the most powerful figures in Hell hold a degree 
  of foul divine power they use to tempt mortals into paying 
  them worship. Aside from the actual deities who hold 
  domains within the Pit, numerous infernal powers garner 
  the adoration of cruel mortals. These lords of Hell encourage 
  both unscrupulous individuals and whole cults to seek 
  their favor, and in return for praises and sacrifices reward 
  their followers with access to unholy magic and the kinship 
  of devils. While the infernal elite hold power over narrow 
  portfolios, they are treated in all ways as normal deities. Many 
  cultists who foreswear themselves to a diabolical lord are evil 
  or amoral clerics. The most fanatical, though—those who 
  would devote themselves body and soul to the goals of Hell—
  become diabolists, channelers of Hell’s secrets and fury. (See 
  the inside cover of this tome for details on devils capable of 
  rewarding worship.)
  Those who revere devils face near-universal hostility and 
  revilement. While devil-worshipers are less destructive than 
  other fiend-worshipers, few distinguish the servants of devils 
  from the minions of deadlier entities. Many societies bear taboos 
  if not laws against the worship of fiends, with such infernal 
  devotees facing pursuit and punishments akin to the fates of 
  witches in many lands. Thus, the majority of devil worshipers 
  keep their faith private or hidden among small congregations, 
  meeting only rarely or on blasphemous holidays. Rather than 
  gathering to participate in cruel rites or raucous orgies, most 
  cults of devil worshipers follow strict traditions or bylaws, 
  affording their members opportunities to entreat their infernal 
  lords for what they desire and making personal or elaborate 
  group sacrifices. Knowing the fear and prejudice against their 
  faith, many devil cults disguise themselves as exclusive clubs, 
  ancient societies, or congregations of enlightened thinkers. 
  New members are typically promised access to elite social 
  circles, libraries of exotic lore, great wealth, decadences, or 
  other secrets barred to the unworthy. One might join such a cult 
  and participate on the fringes for years without ever realizing 
  the greater blasphemies practiced by the group’s inner circle. 
  By the time such initiates do learn the truth, they’re often too 
  engaged in or addicted to the cult’s activities to escape.
  Although often overlooked or distinguished from those 
  who praise the lesser powers of Hell, the pervasive church 
  of Asmodeus is, by definition, an entire religion of devil 
  worshipers, their faith aligned with the most powerful of all 
  devilkind. Veneration of the Prince of Darkness is distinguished 
  from those of lesser devils by its general acceptance and high 
  profile in many lands, and by Asmodeus’s station as a true god. 
  While the religions of good-aligned deities might revile and 
  oppose Asmodeus’s faith, few would be so brazen as to openly 
  crusade against such a powerful religion—easier instead to set 
  their eyes upon the lesser nobles of Hell and assure that their 
  influences never spread as far as their those devils’ master.
  Separate from yet similar to the worship of devils is the 
  philosophy of diabolism, which looks to the order of Hell as 
  an example of a perfect society. Although these teachings 
  do not provide adherents with access to divine powers, they 
  do encourage the promulgation of many infernal tenants: 
  hierarchical obedience, the suppression of free will, the 
  virtues of slavery, the authority of tyrants, and unyielding 
  law. Many might be philosophically convinced of diabolism’s 
  merits—especially those in particularly chaotic realms or 
  who stand to take control—giving these beliefs greater social 
  acceptance in many lands than open devil worship. Numerous 
  students of diabolism gradually progress into full infernal 
  devotees, though, provoking numerous faiths and countries to 
  condemn such teachings as the path to open heresy. Yet still 
  such philosophies spread, taking root in minds that would 
  abjectly reject the worship of devils, leading many to wonder if 
  the teachings of diabolism were spawned by mortal musings, or 
  are a cunning contrivance of the Prince of Darkness himself.
  
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  Pathfinder Chronicles: Princes of Darkness
  Infernal Contracts
  The best known and most direct form of diabolical corruption, 
  infernal contracts form a binding tie between a devil and 
  a mortal. Such contracts take a variety of forms, parodying 
  the laws and terminology of the mortal contractee’s society. 
  An infernal contract takes the form of an offer, usually for 
  extravagant goods or seemingly impossible services, typically 
  presented by a devil to one who has summoned it for exactly 
  such a purpose. These contracts are exceptionally powerful 
  and can alter lives, even reality, in diverse ways for those who 
  agree to sign such hellish documents. In return for fulfilling 
  the terms of the contract, the devil receives the mortal’s 
  soul when the signer dies or at whatever time the contract 
  specifies. While a mortal’s soul is nearly always the target of 
  such contracts, oftentimes devils occlude their desires, either 
  within confusing legalese, sub-articles, and addendums, or 
  by tailoring their fulfillment of the contract to provide the 
  contractee with the means to damn himself. Thus, some 
  infernal contracts are simple accounts of a blasphemous 
  exchange, while others are rambling documents cloaking 
  diabolical intentions. Typically, more complex agreements are 
  better at hiding a devil’s desires, yet at the same time might 
  offer clever mortals opportunities to escape damnation.
  While any greater devil might draw up an infernal contract—
  either for himself or lesser devils to enact—some, like the 
  cunning phistophiluses, prove particularly adept at crafting 
  lengthy and misleading agreements. Certain types of devils 
  prefer to enter into specific types of infernal contracts. For 
  example, many lesser devils, such as barbazus and erinyes, 
  might agree to serve a mortal for an extended term, while 
  hamatulas regularly offer wealth and treasures from the vaults 
  of Hell. Other devils prove more cunning in the terms of their 
  agreements. Specifically, imps—knowing that few mortals 
  would face damnation for their minor service—and osyluths 
  regularly trade infernal or arcane wisdom for secrets mortals 
  possess, later using such information to gain power over their 
  former masters. In the cases of more powerful devils, more 
  radical boons might be bestowed, such as the fulfillment 
  of wishes, granting of infernal powers, or a blessing of long 
  life. In such cases, though, only the mortal’s pledge of eternal 
  fealty to Hell satisfies these contracts’ terms.
  A mortal can only ever enter into a single infernal contract. 
  All devils can sense souls forsworn to Hell, and thus refuse to 
  bargain with those who have nothing to offer them. To this end, 
  those who are already worshipers of Asmodeus or his archfiends 
  have little bargaining power with devilkind. Occasionally a 
  mortal might offer something other than his soul to tempt a 
  devil into a contract, but such bargains are uncommon and are 
  rarely accepted from those with viable souls still to offer.
  Entering into an Infernal Contract
  To take part in an infernal contract, one must first find a devil 
  willing to offer Hell’s terms. While occasionally a corruptive 
  fiend might offer a mortal great a boon in exchange for its soul, 
  more often it is a mortal, inspired by tales of dark bargains and 
  incredible rewards, who seeks out a diabolical contractor. This 
  typically requires the use of spells such as planar ally or planar 
  binding to summon a devil. Such spells cannot coerce the outsider 
  to enter into the terms of an unfavorable contract or bestow the 
  benefits of a contract without payment. These spells do, however, 
  keep a devil’s attentions so it might hear what its summoner 
  wishes. If the devil finds its summoner’s wishes possible and 
  reasonable, it typically returns to Hell to scribe the contract’s 
  specifics (or, in the case of lesser devils, have them written), 
  though some might be able to forge the contract instantly. In 
  most cases, though, this means the would-be contractee must 
  summon the devil back, typically after 1d4+1 weeks for lesser 
  devils or 1d4+1 days for greater devils (devils of deity-level power 
  can manifest an infernal contract instantly). On this second 
  summoning, the devil returns with an individualized infernal 
  contract for the mortal to sign. Upon signing, the mortal gains 
  the agreed upon boon, but also assurances that, at the time of his 
  death, his soul will be damned and sent immediately to Hell—
  irretrievable by any sort of resurrection or restorative magic 
  short of divine intervention.
  Handling Infernal Contracts
  Infernal contracts are boons a character might gain by 
  entering into a blasphemous agreement with a devil. 
  Entering into an infernal contract is an unforgivably evil 
  act, which might alter a character’s alignment, blocks 
  divine spellcasters from receiving spells from good-aligned 
  deities, and prevents resurrection. Be sure that characters 
  understand the ramifications of entering into an infernal 
  contract before signing such agreements.
  As such, diabolical agreements offer the potential for 
  characters to attain powers long before their levels would 
  allow, or even potent abilities no PC is meant to possess. What 
  infernal contracts can offer and how they are handled might 
  vary from one GM to another. GMs may choose or alter any 
  of these options to suit their games and the desires of the 
  contractees. Utilizing these suggestions as a springboard to 
  more elaborate or specific effects is also encouraged, as the 
  most tempting infernal contracts are those customized to an 
  individual character or that furthers some diabolical agenda. 
  Alternatively, GMs who don’t wish to deal with such heretical 
  agreements in their games may simply ignore devils’ abilities 
  to forge such agreements or make such pacts incredibly rare.
   Probably the simplest method of handling an infernal contract’s 
  effects is to treat it as a wish spell. While a contract can grant any 
  of the benefits noted by the spell, GMs are encouraged not to limit 
  these diabolical documents to exact recreations of wish, as doing so 
  undervalues the potency and unique effects these pacts can produce. 
  An infernal contract should be able to permanently grant a mortal 
  nearly any boon he wishes, though the diabolical contractor scoffs 
  at outlandish demands. In general, wish might be looked to for the 
  
  39
  Diabolatry
  3
  least of what an infernal contract can grant, with the 
  best only feeling slightly more powerful. Particularly 
  powerful mortals might even barter for several wishes 
  within the terms of a single contract, although a devil 
  will never grant a wish that would undo the binding nature 
  of its agreement.
  Outside of the abilities suggested by the spell, an infernal 
  contract granting a wish might grant any of the following 
  desires: a permanent transformation of creature type (to 
  outsider, undead, and so on); the application of a template; the 
  ability to cast a spell of 2nd level or lower at will; the ability to 
  cast a spell of 3rd level or lower once per day; an increase in 
  natural armor bonus up to +4; a permanent +2 profane bonus to 
  all skills tied to one ability score; the addition of a single feat. 
  These possibilities are meant to be suggestions and are in no 
  way comprehensive. Again, GMs are encouraged to make each 
  infernal contract unique to their characters and campaigns.
  Escaping an Infernal Contract
  Once signed, an infernal contract proves nearly impossible 
  to escape without satisfying the agreed-upon terms. Such 
  contracts are always written in duplicate, an identical copy 
  being provided to the signer while the original is carried to 
  one of Hell’s many vaults or libraries—most commonly Dis’s 
  vast library of laws, the Fallen Fastness, or one of the mired 
  repositories of Stygia. For as long as even one of these copies 
  exists, the terms of the contract remain in effect. While the 
  destruction of both documents can annul an infernal contract, 
  such typically requires a journey into the depths of Hell itself. 
  Alternatively, one might petition a devil to adopt the terms of 
  someone else’s contract. A contract can only be revised if both 
  the mortal adopter and the fiend agree to the revision of their 
  own accords. Convincing a devil to revise its agreement often 
  proves difficult, the fiends proving exceptionally paranoid 
  of mortal trickery. However, should a devil be convinced that 
  the soul attempting to adopt the contract is of greater value 
  than the original contractee, the contract might be revised. 
  Devils always favor good-aligned souls and those in service to 
  righteous deities over those of others. Character level also plays 
  in to a soul’s value, as a powerful mortal makes a potent slave in 
  Hell. Some arbitrariness also exists concerning which spirits 
  devils consider more valuable, as they better understand the 
  flow of fate than mortals. Regardless of how much value devils 
  place on a soul, they often demand those who would take on 
  the terms of another’s contract to prove themselves, usually by 
  enacting some difficult task. Only once this task is completed 
  will the devil revise his contract. 
  Despite the difficulties devils place on mortals who would 
  revise infernal contracts, most have few qualms about actually 
  doing so. Not only does a revision typically mean 
  trading up for a more valuable prize, but any mortal 
  who made a contract with a devil once is likely to find 
  some new path to damnation before his days end.
  MATERIAL PLANE, Being the FOURTH 
  incarnation of the THIRD Cycle of Mortality, on file 
  in Fallen Fastness 9485785,68863:2141,70036233.
  This is a lawful contract between
  ______________________
  hereinafter called “COVENANTER”
  and
  ______________________
  hereinafter called “COSIGNATORY.”
  Their names used for this pact only.
  HERETOFORE shall the efforts of the 
  COVENANTER be bound to the COSIGNATORY to 
  the effect of the following terms. 
  1) The indenturing of an agent of the 
  COVENANTER, of no potency less than a single imp, 
  bound to service and obedience to the COSIGNATORY. 
  This agent’s term of service to continue into perpetuity 
  or upon the complete fulfillment of this pact.
  2) The boon of a single mortal wish, affected 
  immediately upon the signing of this document, 
  meted out forthwith with the full ability and potency 
  of the COVENANTER and specifically without 
  intent to harm or confound.
  In recompense, upon the cessation of mortal 
  continuation, the COSIGNATORY binds all personal 
  efforts, agendas, service, and attendance to the 
  COVENANTER, to employ or dispose of as individually 
  deemed fit, or at the demand of masters whose 
  names are struck from this contract yet known by the 
  foresigned to be the ones whose hands guide these words.
  In code 9485784, 3728.7845, 9888491. Subject 
  to the veto of the Nine, honor to their names and 
  Asmodeus most high.
  Signed in blood and bound by soul.
  
  40
  Pathfinder Chronicles: Princes of Darkness
  Devil Talismans
  By bargains and magic some mortals dare to think 
  themselves masters of even a fraction of Hell’s power, and 
  the lords of the infernal realm encourage such delusion. 
  Through gaps in the multiverse’s fetters these fiends 
  smuggle tokens of their might, items of power meant to 
  tempt and encourage mortals with fervid aspirations and 
  depraved vices. Lore tells that such devil talismans are 
  cultic shackles that bind devils as slaves to mortal 
  masters. In truth, though, the offerings of Hell 
  never prove so charitable or plain, and few 
  realize that in exchange for a devil’s service 
  they trade their immortal souls.
  A devil talisman is a type of magic item 
  typically created by infernal lords, but 
  also potentially crafted by diabolical 
  mortal magic-users. These ugly but 
  ultimately unassuming trinkets typically 
  allow knowledgeable users to summon a 
  subservient devil, a fiend bound to follow 
  the talisman bearer’s orders—
  if not his exact intentions. 
  Such devils serve but also 
  seek to pervert, playing 
  the roles of obedient and 
  awed slaves while offering 
  their masters knowledge of foul secrets, profane treasures, 
  and diabolical wisdom to further taint the soul.
  Devil Talisman Traits
  The denizens of Hell claim the crafting of devil talismans as one 
  of their most closely guarded secrets. But in truth, knowledge 
  of such methods is withheld only to whet mortal desires, a 
  feint to hasten a diabolist’s willing damnation. Ultimately, any 
  spellcaster can create a devil talisman through the use of the 
  Craft Wondrous Item feat and planar binding. As an additional 
  prerequisite to the creation of any type of devil talisman, the 
  creator must summon a devil and bargain with it to be bound 
  within the talisman. Most devils prove resistant to the idea of 
  being trapped within a magic item, but might acquiesce to a 
  particularly convincing summoner. A devil summoned via 
  planar binding and coerced into being bound within a devil 
  talisman gains a +10 bonus on its opposed Charisma check. 
  Once convinced, the devil infuses the already prepared devil 
  talisman, completing the profane item.
  The various types of devil talismans each possess unique 
  powers and thus require different methods of creation or 
  specific types of bound devils to activate them.
  Sanguine Talisman: In actuality a broad type of devil talisman, 
  these blasphemous sanguine baubles offer diabolical protection 
  and might summon any type of devil, from the lowliest lemure to 
  a potent greater devil. The power of a sanguine talisman hinges on 
  the force of will possessed by the devil bound within, granting 
  the wearer infernal protection, advice, and an occasional ally. The 
  talisman grants the wearer a profane bonus to his Armor Class 
  equal to 1 plus an additional +1 for every 5 Hit Dice the devil has. 
  In addition, the wearer of a sanguine talisman shares a telepathic 
  bond with the bound devil for as long as he wears the magic item. 
  A bound devil can sense its surroundings through the talisman 
  and can advise its wearer as it pleases. The devil is under 
  no compulsion to obey the wearer or speak the truth to 
  him—though some devils might lie and tell the wearer 
  they are. Finally, once per day the talisman wearer 
  can make an opposed Charisma check against 
  the bound fiend to summon the devil. If the 
  wearer succeeds at this opposed check, the devil 
  is brought forth and serves the caster as per the 
  spell summon monster for a duration appropriate 
  to the talisman’s caster level. If the wearer fails 
  this check, the devil refuses to be called forth 
  and another check to summon it again cannot be 
  made until the next day.
  The 
  price 
  of 
  a 
  sanguine 
  talisman 
  varies 
  depending 
  on the might of the 
  devil bound within, 
  equaling the bound devil’s 
  CR × 13,500 gp. Thus, a devil talisman 
  with a CR 1 lemure bound inside costs 13,500 gp, while a 
  talisman binding a CR 9 osyluth is worth 121,500 gp. As the 
  spell planar binding is required to create a sanguine talisman, the 
  creator must be of a caster level high enough to summon the 
  devil he wishes to bind using that spell.
  Melancholic Talisman: With the power to summon a 
  hellmouth—a monstrous, semi-living portal connecting two 
  regions of Hell (see page 5)—melancholic talismans rely on the 
  power of a greater devil. These talismans grant the wearer no 
  communication with or power over the devil bound within. 
  Each talisman summons only a specific hellmouth. As each 
  end of these worm-like creatures connects to a different layer 
  of Hell, the summoner may call upon either end. Summoned 
  hellmouths are treated as 10-foot-square portals, like those 
  created by the spell gate, connecting to one of two layers of 
  Hell (with the two layers fixed when the item is created). 
  While the creator of a melancholic talisman can choose which 
  end of a hellmouth he wishes to summon, and thus, which 
  one of two layers of Hell he wishes to open a portal to, the 
  specific location where each end leads is the same every time 
  (and determined by the GM upon the portal’s first use). The 
  talisman’s wearer can summon the hellmouth once per day, 
  using it to travel or call creatures through as per the spell gate. 
  The hellmouth remains open for up to 10 minutes or until the 
  talisman’s wearer dismisses it. The hellmouth only connects 
  to Hell, so should the talisman wearer pass through the gate 
  and linger in Hell for more than 10 minutes, the hellmouth 
  
  41
  Diabolatry
  3
  closes behind him, trapping him in Hell. All melancholic 
  talismans cost 50,000 gp.
  Bilious Talisman: Called Seeds of Hell by those who know of 
  and rightly fear them, these devil talismans have the power to 
  physically and permanently transplant whole regions of other 
  planes into Hell. Drawing on the power of a bound infernal 
  duke, such a talisman encourages its wearer to feats of selfish 
  glory and grand delusions, culminating in the release of the 
  talisman’s power and damnation for both the wearer and those 
  unfortunate enough to be caught in his wake. Bilious talismans 
  are artifacts requiring the willing binding of a member of 
  the infernal elite and thus can only be crafted by a supremely 
  powerful diabolist or unique devil.
  Typically, these talismans are treated as intelligent magical 
  items with an ego of 20, which grant the wearer a +4 Charisma 
  bonus and the constant effects of the spell foresight. In addition, 
  once per day the wearer can call on the bound devil as a free 
  action, for the effects of the spell commune, find the path, legend 
  lore, or true strike. The devil within the talisman usually 
  portrays itself subtly as a benevolent spirit seeking to aid 
  the wearer in achieving some great feat, such as vanquishing 
  a great evil, bringing peace to a land, or ruling a kingdom. 
  The talisman ever seeks to increase its wearer’s influence, 
  even that of a wearer with an alignment opposed to its own, 
  planting the seed of corruption in the form of arrogance, envy, 
  and a sense of predestination. 
  When finally the wearer has reached what the talisman 
  deems his pinnacle of power, and is surrounded by followers 
  and fawning devotees, it offers to reveal its greatest power as 
  a reward to its wearer. Should the wearer accept, he and all 
  lands and things within 1,000 feet are ripped from whatever 
  land they occupy and transported physically and permanently 
  to a random layer of Hell. There, the talisman shatters and 
  the unique devil within is released. What follows is often a 
  massive slaughter and the damnation of dozens of souls. 
  Should the wearer reject the offer, it attempts to use its Ego 
  score to dominate him into accepting. If the talisman ever 
  faces destruction, it can teleport itself once per day—though 
  it is prevented from doing this in areas affected by the hallow 
  spell or similar areas of great goodness.
  Sample Devil Talismans
  Presented here are three sample devil talismans: a common 
  variety of sanguine talisman and the best-known melancholic 
  and bilious talismans.
  Sanguine TaliSman
  aura strong conjuration; Cl 8th
  Slot neck; Price 67,500 gp; Weight —
  DeSCriPTion
  This blood-red devil talisman binds a barbazu. Wearing the 
  talisman grants you a +3 profane bonus to your Armor Class 
  and grants you a telepathic bond with the devil bound within. 
  Once per day, you can make an opposed Charisma check 
  against the barbazu’s +0 modifier to summon him forth for 8 
  rounds, as per the spell summon monster.
  The barbazu bound within this sanguine talisman is known as 
  Kalvaddas the Strangler. He is a blunt sadist with a love of hand-
  to-hand brawls and strangling elves. He knows much of liars and 
  might use his Sense Motive skill to aid a master he favors.
  ConSTruCTion
  requirements Craft Wondrous Item; planar binding, ability to 
  conjure and bind a barbazu; Cost 33,750 gp
  melanCholiC TaliSman
  aura strong conjuration; Cl 18th
  Slot neck; Price 50,000 gp; Weight —
  DeSCriPTion
  This sickly yellow devil talisman summons a hellmouth that 
  connects to the Hellish layers of Dis and Malebolge. Once per 
  day you can open a 10-foot portal to either of these layers. 
  This portal remains open for 10 minutes (or until you dismiss 
  it) and functions as the spell gate.
  The hellmouth summoned by this talisman is an amphisbaenic 
  being known as Alksomasic, each of its two portal-heads 
  appearing as a massive snake with three gigantic fly-like eyes. His 
  maws connect to a shadowy alley in the city of Dis known as the 
  Walk of Wayward Skins and to an outlying bolgia of Malebolge 
  where monstrous worms slither through a waist-deep sea of ash.
  ConSTruCTion
  requirements Craft Wondrous Item; gate, greater planar binding, 
  ability to conjure and bind a greater devil; Cost 25,000 gp 
  BiliouS TaliSman (arTifaCT)
  aura overwhelming conjuration; Cl 21st
  Slot neck; Price artifact; Weight —
  DeSCriPTion
  This putrid green devil talisman grants you a telepathic link 
  with an insidious lawful evil intelligence bound within. While 
  wearing this talisman you gain a +4 Charisma bonus and are 
  constantly under the effects of the spell foresight. Once per 
  day as a free action, you may use commune, find the path, 
  legend lore, and true strike.
  The devil bound within this talisman is a 45 HD pit fiend known 
  as Aasdravox, a fiend both cunning and mighty. He speaks with a 
  voice like grinding stones and tells the wearers of his talisman that 
  they are destined to become great heroes and champions beloved 
  by whole nations. Optimally, he seeks to release his power at the 
  culmination of some festive triumph or ceremony held in his 
  talisman wearer’s honor.
  DeSTruCTion
  This bilious tailisman can be destroyed by being immersed in holy 
  water for a week in an area under the effects of the spell hallow 
  and then smashed with a +3 holy warhammer (or a bludgeoning 
  weapon of similar or greater power). While this destroys the 
  talisman, it also frees the potent infernal noble bound within.
  
  42
  Pathfinder Chronicles: Princes of Darkness
  Eligos
  Orobas
  Zaebos
  Furcas
  True Names and Infernal Sigils
  Upon being lifted from the ranks of lemures, all devils take 
  a true name, an esoteric word or phrase that verbalizes the 
  foulness of each fiend’s quintessence. This true name etches 
  itself upon the devil’s anima as both sound and form, allowing 
  the infernal-born to be named and catalogued in the ledgers 
  of Hell as an inimitable glyph or sigil unique to it alone. The 
  true name and sigil hold great power over the devil, for they 
  form an abbreviation of the fiend’s being, a vital summation 
  most closely resembling a mortal 
  and its soul.
  Knowledge of a devil’s true 
  name or the ability to inscribe 
  its sigil grants significant 
  power over the fiend. In 
  the case of the spell planar 
  binding, when a devil’s true 
  name is used to conjure a 
  specific fiend, the target devil 
  takes a –5 penalty on the initial Will 
  save to resist being summoned; if 
  its sigil is inscribed within the magic 
  circle binding it, the devil takes a 
  –5 penalty on all checks to escape 
  the circle. True names and 
  sigils might also be known to 
  have other powers over devils, 
  though most diabolists keep 
  the discovery of such powers 
  closely guarded secrets.
  A devil’s relationship with 
  its true name changes through its 
  existence. Every devil takes a true 
  name and sigil upon its creation, either a title and symbol 
  granted by its creator, first master, or—if left unnamed—
  selected by the newly risen fiend itself. While lesser devils 
  subtly advertise their names in infernal tomes and sinister 
  dreams in hopes of being summoned, greater devils often 
  find service to mortals disruptive to their greater plots. 
  In the cases of infernal dukes and even the archdevils 
  themselves, these masters of devilkind go to great lengths 
  to obscure their true names, taking on various and 
  often fearsome agnomen to prevent the interruption of 
  summoning. A devil’s sigil, however, often proves slightly 
  easier to discover, being used in Hell and on infernal 
  contracts in much the same way as mortal signatures. 
  Although such sigils represent a devil’s true name, only one 
  who has heard a sigil spoken can glean the hellish syllables 
  these complex glyphs represent.
  Discovering True Names and Infernal Sigils
  Numerous diabolical spells and magic items increase in 
  potency when drawing upon the true names or sigils of 
  devilkind—the verbal and symbolic epitomes of these foul 
  beings. Granting greater power over devils and allowing the 
  summoning of specific evil legionnaires, these words and 
  signs of command hold great value for diabolists. Yet most 
  devils—especially the most powerful—seek to hide the secrets 
  that hold power over them, and even those fiends wanting to 
  be summoned prove particular in regard to which masters 
  gain fundamental knowledge of them. Those seeking to 
  discover the true name or sigil of a devil may either research 
  such information or interrogate 
  other devils.
  Research: 
  By 
  studying 
  tomes of dark lore, infernal 
  documents, 
  and 
  tragic 
  histories, one might discover 
  occluded riddles and hints at 
  the names of devils working 
  their will upon mortal kind. 
  A researcher not specifically 
  searching for the true name or 
  sigil of a specific infernal creature 
  might discover either of these 
  details relating to a lesser devil 
  by spending a month doing 
  nothing besides studying 
  in a sizable library of 
  historical or arcane lore. 
  At the end of this month, 
  the GM should make a DC 
  25 Knowledge (planes) check 
  for the researcher, modified by 
  aid from a single assistant and any 
  tomes noted to be of particular 
  value. If this check succeeds, the researcher discovers the type 
  and true name or sigil (one or the other) of a random lesser 
  devil. If the check fails, the researcher discovers nothing of 
  value relating to true names; he may spend additional months 
  researching again in the same library, but each subsequent 
  check there takes a cumulative –2 penalty for that researcher 
  until the penalty is so great it is obvious the place holds no 
  valuable lore. If the researcher fails his check by more than 5, 
  he believes he’s discovered a creature’s true name, but it is in 
  fact a fake, and holds no power.
  If the researcher knows of a specific devil, he may attempt 
  to specifically research that creature’s name or sigil. For a 
  lesser devil, researching this information takes a month, 
  while for a greater devil, it takes 3 months. At the end of 
  this time, the GM makes a Knowledge (planes) check for 
  the researcher with a DC equal to 20 + the devil’s Hit Dice. 
  Should the researcher already know the creature’s true 
  name but not its sigil (or vice versa) he gains a +2 bonus on 
  this check in addition to any other bonuses for assistance 
  or worthwhile tomes. Success on this check reveals the 
  
  43
  Diabolatry
  3
  details being sought, while failure reveals no information, 
  though the researcher may continue to study in the same 
  library, as noted above. Failing by more than 5 uncovers false 
  information, as previously noted.
  One might also attempt to research the name of a diabolical 
  being as powerful as an infernal duke or archfiend, but 
  such can only be done in the libraries of Hell or with a tome 
  of fundamental evil power (like the Book of the Damned). 
  Although such beings can resist a summons that invokes 
  their true names or sigils, they often choose to appear 
  anyway merely to discover who has learned their secrets 
  and how. Such encounters typically end with such brash 
  diabolists being dragged screaming back to the infernal 
  prince’s domain in Hell.
  Interrogation: One might attempt to coax knowledge of a 
  weaker infernal creature’s true name or sigil from a summoned 
  devil. Any devil has a percent chance equal to double its Hit 
  Dice to know the true name of one or more fiends lower than 
  it in the infernal hierarchy—lesser devils typically know 
  1d4+1 true names and sigils, while greater devils usually 
  know 2d8+2. There are certain exceptions such as lemures 
  that never know any true names, osyluths that usually know 
  as many names and sigils as true devils, and gelugons and 
  certain other highly manipulative greater devils who might 
  know double the typical number.
  No devil betrays the true names of its inferiors freely, 
  though. A devil summoned via planar binding or planar ally 
  might be coaxed into revealing such details, but only for 
  a high and often dangerous price. Fiends typically use this 
  opportunity to entice their summoners into performing 
  acts that further their own nefarious schemes or the goals of 
  Hell. In addition, spellcasters employing planar binding still 
  need to engage in a contest of wills to convince the fiend to 
  reveal such a secret, forcing the caster to make an opposed 
  Charisma check as described by that spell. A spellcaster using 
  planar ally must perform a deed and pay his infernal contact 
  for its knowledge in treasures equaling 2,000 gp times the Hit 
  Dice of the devil whose true name or sigil is to be revealed. A 
  devil only reveals one true name or sigil per summoning and 
  returns to Hell upon doing so.
  Evolution of a True Name
  In a time before reckoning, Nhazaghente, the pit fiend 
  scholar of ashes, raised three osyluth assistants from a 
  leaking pit of pallid lemures, deep within the swamps of 
  Stygia. One among these bone devils was called Ihazaaz 
  and would serve its master for centuries to come, eventually 
  revealing a conspiracy by its pit fiend master to undermine 
  the machinations of a rival. Acknowledged for his 
  revelation, the bone devil was buried amid the moldering 
  libraries of Stygia for dozens of years, left for the eddies of 
  the Styx to corrupt and transform. When finally the devil 
  emerged forth, he did so as a phistophilus, ref lecting his 
  advancement with the added moniker Vhalnhazaghente 
  Ihazaaz, meaning “Ihazaaz, the fall of Nhazaghente” in 
  Infernal. Centuries more passed, and the devil worked 
  numerous and varied blasphemies, capturing the soul of 
  the dynast hierophant Yhaum, spiriting away the eldest of 
  the nepenthean seer worms, and serving as seneschal to 
  the cyclopean diabolist prince Solos. Upon adding Solos’s 
  soul to the tormented of Stygia, Ihazaaz was recognized by 
  Geryon himself and cast into ice of Cocytus. Five centuries 
  later, Ihazaaz developed the full might of a heartless 
  gelugon, and with his exultation to a greater devil, sought 
  to obscure his ever complexifying true name, adding the 
  title “Deceiver of Yhaum” in the Cyclops language. In 
  addition, seeking to disguise his past, the devil adopted the 
  more prestige name Shalixakthoryn, Thus, though called 
  merely Shalixakthoryn by minions and summoners, the 
  feared gelugon hides a true name suggestive of a terrible 
  history: Vhalnhazaghente, Chovotayn-Yhaum, Ihazaaz.
  Tomes of Infernal Lore
  Certain 
  grimoires 
  bear 
  notorious 
  reputations 
  as 
  repositories for blasphemous insight. Pored over by 
  apostates and diabolists for untold centuries, these cryptic 
  tomes offer up seemingly endless corruptive truths and 
  heretical secrets. 
  asmodean monograph: The unholy book of Asmodeus’s 
  faith hides no diabolical names or obscure hellish 
  revelations. Yet those who spend more than a week 
  meditating upon the tome sometimes suffer nightmares 
  of devils and terrifying hellscapes that, while disturbing, 
  carry with them soul wrenching truths. Anyone who 
  employs the Asmodean Monograph while researching 
  any topics related to devils, Hell, Asmodeus’s church, or 
  the Prince of Darkness himself has a 40% chance to gain 
  a +2 bonus on his Knowledge (religion) or Knowledge  
  (planes) checks.
  The imperial Thrune: This expansive bibliography of the 
  ruling house of Cheliax details numerous pacts with infernal 
  beings and suggests dozens of blasphemous trysts. Those 
  who consult this tome as part of their research into devils or 
  modern Cheliax gain a +2 bonus on their Knowledge (nobility) 
  or Knowledge (planes) checks.
  The Witch-Cults of northern avistan: Penned by Pastor 
  Bromon Shy, a corrupt priest of Erastil in the Ustalavic county 
  of Barstoi, this collection of pamphlets details the practices of 
  numerous infernal cults under the guise of warning against 
  their ways. The text hides hundreds of anagrams and linguistic 
  puzzles recounting the names of infernal beings summoned 
  by these cults and the ways such groups recognize their own. 
  Anyone who employs this collection while researching a topic 
  regarding Hell, devils, or infernal cults gains a +2 bonus on 
  his Knowledge (religion) or Knowledge (planes) checks.
  
  44
  Pathfinder Chronicles: Princes of Darkness
  Diabolist
  Some face damnation willingly. Seeking to control the awesome 
  might of the infernal legions and twist the very powers of Hell 
  to their whims, these blasphemous spellcasters jeopardize their 
  immortal souls for mastery over devilkind. While those who 
  already worship evil forces might come to control these profane 
  powers through their vile faiths, sinister arcanists too might 
  learn the names, signs, and incantations to bind devils from 
  heretical tomes and communion with the damned. Though 
  some tread the path of the diabolist to enslave the forces of 
  Hell and turn them toward goals other than corruption, only 
  the most stalwart of diabolists can resist the temptations of the 
  Pit. Regardless of whatever grim path leads spellcasters to seek 
  power over the diabolical, their destination is nearly always the 
  same—an eternity of damnation in the depths of Hell.
  Requirements
  To qualify to become a diabolist, a character must fulfill all of 
  the following criteria.
  Alignment: lawful neutral, lawful evil, or neutral evil.
  Skills: Knowledge (planes) 5 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 3 
  ranks, Spellcraft 5 ranks.
  Special: Must have conjured a devil using lesser planar ally or 
  lesser planar binding (or a similar spell) and successfully coaxed 
  the fiend into performing a task lasting longer than 1 day.
  Language: Infernal.
  Class Skills
  The diabolist’s class skills (and the key ability for each) are 
  Bluff (Cha), Diplomacy (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge 
  (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (planes) (Int), Knowledge (religion) 
  (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).
  Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.
  Class Features
  All of the following are features of the diabolist prestige class.
  Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Diabolists gain no 
  proficiency with any weapon or armor.
  Spells per Day: When a new diabolist level is gained, the 
  character gains new spells per day as if she had also gained a 
  level in a spellcasting class she belonged to before she added 
  the prestige class. She does not, however, gain any other benefit 
  a character of that class would have gained. If a character had 
  more than one spellcasting class before she became a diabolist, 
  she must decide to which class she adds each level of diabolist 
  for the purpose of determining spells per day.
  Damned: When a diabolist is killed, her soul is instantly 
  sent to Hell. Any character attempting to resurrect her must 
  succeed at a caster level check equal to 10 + the diabolist’s level 
  or her spell fails. That character cannot attempt to resurrect 
  the diabolist again until the following day, though other 
  characters can attempt as they please. 
  Imp Companion: A diabolist forms a close bond with a 
  particular imp, similar to a druid’s bond with an animal 
  companion. The imp is loyal to the diabolist (though 
  ultimately loyal to Hell). The imp companion’s abilities, feats, 
  Hit Dice, and skills advance as the diabolist advances in level 
  (see next page). If the imp is slain or the diabolist releases it 
  from her service, she may gain a new one by performing a 
  ceremony requiring a 24-hour ritual to conjure and bind the 
  new imp to herself.
  Infernal Charisma: A diabolist gains a +2 bonus on all 
  Charisma checks made when interacting with devils. This 
  bonus increases to +4 at 4th level and to +6 at 7th level.
  
  45
  Diabolatry
  3
  Channel Hellfire: At 2nd level, a diabolist can alter spells that 
  deal energy damage to instead deal hellfire damage (see page 5). 
  She can do this as a free action a number of times per day equal 
  to her Charisma modifier (minimum 1). Spells altered to use 
  hellfire gain the lawful and evil descriptors.
  Infernal Bargain: At 2nd level, a diabolist making use of 
  planar ally (or a similar spell) can make an opposed Charisma 
  check against a called (but not summoned) devil. If she succeeds, 
  the devil reduces the price it demands to serve by half.
  Augment Summoning: At 3rd level, a diabolist gains the 
  Augment Summoning feat even if she does not meet the 
  prerequisites. 
  Heresy: Also at 3rd level, a diabolist gains a +2 bonus on all 
  checks made to research specific devils’ true names or sigils. 
  This bonus increases to +4 at 9th level.
  Hellish Soul: At 5th level, a diabolist has been deemed 
  useful enough to the cause of Hell to be allowed a brief respite 
  from damnation. If killed by any means outside of the will 
  of Asmodeus, the archdevils, or another influential force in 
  Hell, the diabolist can be resurrected as normal.
  Infernal Transport (Sp): At 6th level, a diabolist can 
  transport herself through Hell in a burst of brimstone. She 
  may use this ability twice per day as per dimension door, or 
  expend both uses to travel as if using teleport. She cannot use this 
  ability to enter or leave areas warded against evil creatures.
  Hellfire Ray (Sp): At 8th level, a diabolist may use hellfire ray 
  (see page 46) twice per day. 
  Master Conjurer: At 10th level, when a diabolist calls a 
  devil whose name she knows, she may cast the calling spell 
  as a standard action and bargain with it as a move action. She 
  adds half her Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate modifier on the 
  bargaining Charisma check (if any).
  The Imp Companion
  A diabolist’s imp increases in power as the diabolist gains levels 
  according to Table 3–8: Animal Companion Base Statistics in 
  the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook, with the following changes.
  Class Level: This is the diabolist’s class level plus her 
  highest caster level. This does not stack with class levels that 
  grant an animal companion.
  HD: An imp has 10-sided (d10) Hit Dice.
  BAB: This is the imp’s base attack bonus. Imps do not gain 
  additional attacks using natural weapons for a high base 
  attack bonus.
  Saving Throws: An imp has good Reflex and Will saves.
  Skills: Multiply the listed value by 3 to determine the imp’s 
  skill ranks. If the imp increases its Intelligence to 14 or higher, 
  it gains bonus skill ranks as normal. Imps can have ranks 
  in any skill; its class skills are Acrobatics, Bluff, Craft, Fly, 
  Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (planes), Perception, Sense 
  Motive, Spellcraft, and Stealth. An imp cannot have more 
  ranks in a skill than it has Hit Dice.
  Feats: An imp may select any feat for which it qualifies.
  Bonus Tricks: This indicates when an imp gains its choice 
  of another alternate form, spell-like ability, or telepathy. 
  Alternate Form: An imp with this ability may choose one 
  additional Tiny, Small, or Medium animal form as if using 
  beast shape II. Each time the imp selects this ability, it gains a 
  new alternate form.
  Spell-Like Ability: An imp companion might also choose any 
  one of the following spells to add to its list of at-will spell-
  like abilities: bleed, deathwatch, detect evil, detect law, doom, 
  ghost sound, mage hand, message, open/close, or prestidigitation. 
  Alternatively, it may choose to add any one of the following 
  spells to its list of 1/day spell-like abilities: curse water, floating 
  disk, grease, hold portal, identify, silent image, unseen servant, or 
  ventriloquism.
  Telepathy: The imp gains telepathy with a range of 50 feet, 
  allowing it to communicate with any intelligent creature.
  Link: This is identical to a wizard’s empathic link with his 
  familiar. 
  Share Spells: This works like the wizard’s familiar ability 
  rather than the druid animal companion ability.
  For the imp’s base statistics, see the sidebar on page 47.
  Diabolist 
  Hit Dice: d6
    
  Base
    
  attack 
  fort 
  ref 
  Will
  level 
  Bonus 
  Save 
  Save 
  Save 
  Special 
  Spells per Day
  1st 
  +0 
  +0 
  +0 
  +1 
  Damned, imp companion, infernal Charisma +2 
  +1 level of existing spellcasting class
  2nd 
  +1 
  +1 
  +1 
  +1 
  Channel hellfire, infernal bargain 
  +1 level of existing spellcasting class
  3rd 
  +1 
  +1 
  +1 
  +2 
  Augment summoning, heresy +2 
  +1 level of existing spellcasting class
  4th 
  +2 
  +1 
  +1 
  +2 
  Infernal Charisma +4 
  +1 level of existing spellcasting class
  5th 
  +2 
  +2 
  +2 
  +3 
  Hellish soul 
  +1 level of existing spellcasting class
  6th 
  +3 
  +2 
  +2 
  +3 
  Infernal transport 
  +1 level of existing spellcasting class
  7th 
  +3 
  +2 
  +2 
  +4 
  Infernal Charisma +6 
  +1 level of existing spellcasting class
  8th 
  +4 
  +3 
  +3 
  +4 
  Hellfire ray 
  +1 level of existing spellcasting class
  9th 
  +4 
  +3 
  +3 
  +5 
  Heresy +4 
  +1 level of existing spellcasting class
  10th 
  +5 
  +3 
  +3 
  +5 
  Master conjurer 
  +1 level of existing spellcasting class
  
  46
  Pathfinder Chronicles: Princes of Darkness
  Infernal Arcana
  The following are several spells perfected within the depths 
  of Hell, spread through the heresies of diabolists, and scribed 
  upon the pages of the Book of the Damned.
  agonize
  School evocation [evil]; level cleric 3, sorcerer/wizard 4
  CaSTing 
  Casting Time 1 standard action
  Components V, S
  effeCT
  range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
  Target one conjured outsider or elemental (see text)
  Duration 1 full round
  Saving Throw Fortitude negates; Spell resistance yes
  DeSCriPTion
  You afflict a creature you have conjured via planar ally (or a 
  similar spell) with bolts of vicious energy. These foul energies 
  inflict terrible pain upon the summoned creature, torturing it 
  to make it more pliant to your will. The targeted creature must 
  make a Fortitude save or take a –1 penalty for every 2 levels you 
  possess (maximum –10) on all saves and checks made against 
  you for the next hour. In addition, creatures that demand 
  payment for their services reduce the payment by 20% for 
  every 4 levels you possess (maximum 60% reduction). However, 
  beings tortured by this spell quickly come to resent you, making 
  them more likely to try to pervert your orders to malicious ends 
  or try to seek retribution after their release. This spell has no 
  effect on creatures that are immune to nonlethal damage.
  hellfire ray
  School evocation [evil]; level cleric 6, sorcerer/wizard 6
  CaSTing 
  Casting Time 1 standard action
  Components V, S, DF/F (any unholy symbol or heretical tome)
  effeCT
  range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
  effect ray
  Duration instantaneous
  Saving Throw no (see text); Spell resistance yes
  DeSCriPTion
  A blast of hellfire blazes from your hands. You must succeed on 
  a ranged touch attack with the ray to deal damage to the target. 
  The ray deals 1d6 points of damage per caster level (maximum 
  15d6). Half the damage is fire damage, but the other half results 
  directly from unholy power and is therefore not subject to being 
  reduced by resistance to fire-based attacks.
  Any creature killed by this spell must make a Will saving 
  throw; failure means the creature’s soul is damned to Hell as 
  a burst of brimstone appears around its corpse. A non-evil 
  spellcaster attempting to bring the character back from the 
  dead must make a caster level check (DC equal to 10 plus the 
  slain creature’s level) to succeed; failure means the spellcaster 
  cannot try again for 1 day. Evil spellcasters can raise the slain 
  character normally, without a check.
  maleDiCTion
  School necromancy [evil]; level cleric 4
  CaSTing 
  Casting Time 1 standard action
  Components V, S
  effeCT
  range touch
  Target 1 creature touched
  Duration 1 minute and instantaneous (see text)
  Saving Throw Will negates; Spell resistance yes
  effeCT
  Channeling the blasphemy of the Pit into your hand, you mark 
  your target with a brief but fundamental corruption, causing 
  its soul to be irretrievably damned to Hell should it die within 
  the next minute. Those killed while under the effect of this spell 
  cannot be resurrected by normal means. Only a worshiper of 
  Asmodeus (or of your deity, if you are not a worshiper of the 
  Prince of Darkness) can return a soul damned by malediction to 
  life. Spells like raise dead or resurrection cast by the worshipers 
  of other deities automatically fail, though they do reveal that the 
  target soul has met a perhaps undeserved torment in Hell. The 
  spells miracle or wish return the victim of a malediction to life, 
  regardless of the caster’s deity.
  A soul may also be freed by the efforts of someone bodily 
  going to Hell, locating the affected soul, and leading it out of 
  the plane, which allows it to go to its intended destination in the 
  afterlife and be raised normally. You can end the effects of your 
  own malediction by casting the spell again and concentrating on 
  a past target. Doing so frees the past target to its rightful place 
  in death; it does not return the target to life.
  Spells such as break enchantment, dispel magic, and remove 
  curse negate this spell if successfully cast before the target dies. 
  Sacrifice Effects
  Type 
  Sacrifice 
  Typical Bonus 
  gP Value
  Treasures 
  100 gp/HD of target 
  +1 
  Equal
  Lives 
  1 living creature with HD equal to target 
  +2 
  200 gp/HD
  Body/Mind 
  Permanent –1 ability drain 
  +4 
  500 gp/point drained
  Morals 
  Alignment shifts one step toward target’s 
  +6 
  1,000 gp/step
  Soul 
  One permanent negative level 
  +8 
  2,500 gp
  
  47
  Diabolatry
  3
  SaCrifiCe
  School enchantment (charm) [mind-affecting]; level cleric 4, 
  sorcerer/wizard 4
  CaSTing 
  Casting Time 1 minute
  Components V, S, M (see text)
  effeCT
  range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
  Target one summoned outsider or elemental (see text)
  Duration instantaneous, 1 hour, or 1 day (see text)
  Saving Throw none; Spell resistance no
  DeSCriPTion
  You make a sacrifice to aid in conjuring and commanding a 
  creature called with planar ally, planar binding, or a similar 
  spell. A sacrifice can be used in a variety of ways: 
  Bargain: Making a sacrifice directly to the conjured being 
  grants you a bonus on opposed Charisma checks made to 
  compel the creature into service for the next hour.
  Enticement: Making a sacrifice the round before conjuring 
  increases the DC of the Will save an outsider must make to 
  resist being summoned.
  Payment: Making a sacrifice directly to the conjured 
  being allows you to pay for one service from the creature in 
  commodities other than gold.
  Reinforcement: Making a sacrifice the round before casting 
  magic circle and preparing a summoning diagram increases the 
  power of its warding magic, increasing the DC of all Charisma 
  checks the creature might make to escape. This lasts 1 day.
  Multiple sacrifices can be made to affect a single conjuring, 
  but the bonuses provided by this spell do not stack. Therefore, 
  while you can make sacrifices to aid in summoning and 
  bargaining with a creature, you cannot make multiple 
  sacrifices (even of varying types) to enhance the same effect of 
  a particular conjuration.
  A sacrifice may consist of any kind of commodity the target 
  creature favors, including treasures, living creatures, or more 
  ephemeral offerings. While this spell is not fundamentally 
  evil, good-aligned creatures prove more selective in what 
  offerings they accept, typically scoffing at blood sacrifices. 
  Many sacrifices are fundamentally evil acts, such as murdering 
  a pious innocent to summon a fiend. Any creature might reject 
  certain types of sacrifices, thus denying you the benefits of this 
  spell, as the offering must appeal to the target—few outsiders 
  would care for 2,000 gp worth of parchment, while 2,000 gp of 
  diamonds would be widely coveted. The GM determines what 
  sacrifices creatures find appealing.
  The Sacrifice Effects table on the previous page lists a 
  number of likely offerings, along with the bonus such gifts 
  effect and the offering’s equivalent value in gold pieces for the 
  purposes of planar ally. Several of these sacrifices involve the 
  loss of ability scores, levels, lives, or even changes in alignment. 
  Any change wrought by such sacrifices (loss of ability score or 
  level, or change in alignment) cannot be recovered, cured, or 
  undone by any spell or effect short of miracle or wish. The same 
  is true of creatures killed as a sacrifice; such creatures cannot 
  be resurrected by any magic less powerful than these spells. 
  Any object sacrificed with this spell is effectively destroyed or 
  removed to an extraplanar holding of the summoned creature’s 
  choice. The bonuses and values noted on the sacrifices table 
  are guidelines for offerings; certain types of treasures or lives 
  might prove especially valuable to specific creatures, with 
  extraordinary sacrifices (like a potent artifact or the life of a 
  high-level paladin) garnering increased bonuses. 
  You cannot make greater sacrifices than those noted on the 
  table to gain increased bonuses or gold values. For example, 
  you could not gain two permanent negative levels to gain 
  a +16 bonus nor gain increased benefit from slaying 20 HD 
  worth of creatures to pay for a 10 HD creature’s service.
  ViSion of hell
  School illusion (glamer) [evil]; level bard 3, cleric 3, sorcerer/
  wizard 3
  CaSTing 
  Casting Time 1 standard action
  Components V, M (a pinch of brimstone)
  effeCT
  range medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
  effect one 50-ft.-radius emanation
  Duration 1 minute/level (D)
  Saving Throw Will negates; Spell resistance no
  DeSCriPTion
  You overlay a realistic illusion of a terrifying hellscape upon an 
  area. Structures, equipment, and creatures within the area are 
  not hidden, though environmental features take on an infernal 
  appearance. While you are prepared for these images and are 
  not affected by them, all creatures within the area must make 
  a Will save or become shaken and also take a –2 penalty on 
  saves versus fear effects; the fear and penalty persists as long 
  as the creature remains in the area. Devils and any lawful evil 
  creatures suffer no negative effects from this spell.
  Imp Base Statistics
  Starting Statistics: Size Tiny; Speed 20 ft., fly 50 ft. (perfect); 
  aC +1 natural armor; attack sting (1d4 plus poison); ability 
  Scores Str 8, Dex 15, Con 10, Int 13, Wis 12, Cha 14; Special 
  attacks poison (Frequency 1/round for 5 minutes, Effect 1d2 
  Dex, Cure 1 save, Con-based DC); languages Celestial, 
  Draconic, Infernal; Special Qualities spell-like abilities (CL 
  6th), constant—detect good, detect magic, 1/day—suggestion.
  4th-level advancement: ability Scores Str +2, Dex +2; 
  Special Qualities one alternate form (beast shape I, boar, 
  rat, or raven, or beast shape III, young giant spider); spell-
  like abilities (CL 6th), at will—invisibility (self only), 1/day—
  suggestion; spell-like ability (CL 12th), 1/week—commune.
  
  48
  Pathfinder Chronicles: Princes of Darkness
  Relics of Hell
  Within the deepest pits of Hell, profane smiths rip ingenious 
  blasphemies from the minds of the damned and sculpt soul-
  flesh into creations of unparalleled malignancy. Several 
  diabolical masterworks, creations of exceptional depravity, 
  appear through accounts of history’s darkest annals, leaving 
  wakes of ruin and damnation in their heinous paths.
  Book of the Damned: Diabolic
  Collected from the scattered records of the exiled angel 
  Tabris—who was ordered to record the lore of all the multiverse 
  and was cast from Heaven for his findings—this flesh-bound 
  folio bears pages from the infamous and blasphemous volume 
  known as the Book of the Damned. Its more than 2,500 pieces of 
  dry, yellowed parchment bear profane symbols and diagrams, 
  explanations of foul rites, descriptions 
  of Hell and its torments, 
  vituperations of countless 
  deities, prayers to the 
  archdevils, explorations 
  of diabolical life, heresies 
  and apocrypha profane to 
  every deity, and pages of evil 
  magic supposedly expunged from 
  the world long ago.
  Any good-aligned creature who so much 
  as touches this section of the Book of the Damned 
  gains one negative level. This level cannot be 
  restored until the character has remained more than 
  10 feet away from the tome for 24 hours. Creatures that are 
  not lawful evil who attempt to read the book must make a DC 
  15 Will save or have their alignment permanently take one step 
  toward lawful evil. 
  Those who dare read this section of the Book of the Damned 
  find that it holds a wealth of profane knowledge. Any 
  character who can read Infernal and spends a total of 30 days 
  (not necessarily contiguously) studying the folio uncovers 
  numerous foul revelations and gains a number of benefits. 
  Readers find that the tome holds copies of every spell with the 
  evil spell descriptor (as well as every spell detailed on pages 46-
  47). The true names and sigils of 4d6 lesser devils, 2d6 greater 
  devils, and 1d4+1 infernal lords blatantly lie within its pages, 
  and it grants the bearer a +4 bonus on all Knowledge (planes) 
  checks or attempts to research further true names and sigils. 
  The descriptions of Hell found within also prove so detailed 
  that any magical attempt to teleport to or within the infernal 
  plane (such as by use of plane shift or teleport) takes the bearer 
  to the exact intended destination, no familiarity roll needed. 
  In addition, all of the information found in Chapter 1 is found 
  verbatim within the pages of the artifact.
  Aside from the literal contents, this section of the Book of the 
  Damned is itself a potent unholy magical item. At its most basic 
  level, the tome serves as the focal point for a permanent unhallow 
  effect and sympathy tuned to attract lawful evil creatures. Also, 
  any greater devil using scry or a similar spell can view the Book 
  of the Damned with no risk of being detected by the bearer. 
  Those in possession of these pages also gain a number of 
  benefits. Bearers cast all evil spells as if they were 2 caster 
  levels higher and gain a +2 bonus on all Charisma-based 
  skills and checks when interacting with lawful evil creatures. 
  Three times per day the tome can be invoked to cast one of the 
  following spells as a standard action: desecrate, dictum, greater 
  planar binding, hellfire, summon hellmouth, summon monster VII, 
  and unholy blight. Once per day the bearer can ask the folio a 
  question relating to Hell, lawful-evil creatures, or any other 
  profane topic; he then opens the book to a random page to find 
  the answer, revealed as if the bearer had cast vision.
  Every time one of the artifact’s daily spells or vision power is 
  used, there is a cumulative 1% chance that a powerful 
  devil takes note of the bearer and seeks to make use of 
  him in some profane plot or simply claims 
  his soul for Hell.
  In addition to the abilities 
  noted here, the Book of the 
  Damned 
  manifests 
  greater powers as more 
  of its pages are brought 
  together—a subject for a 
  later tome.
  The Ihystear
  Written of only in the 
  most cultic lore of Heaven 
  and Hell, this foot-long sliver of radiance is said to be the 
  only remaining piece of the spear Asmodeus used to slay his 
  brother Ihys. Glowing like a shard of the sun, this strange 
  weapon functions as a +5 axiomatic brilliant energy dagger that 
  overcomes all damage reduction. It is said that any creature of 
  deity or near-deity level power (including archdevils, demon 
  lords, empyreal lords, horsemen, and similar beings) who is 
  wounded by the Ihystear is stunned for 1 round.
  Aside from its use as a weapon, the fragment holds within 
  it the final scream of Ihys, the cry of the first murder and the 
  first slain deity. As a full-round action, a creature bearing 
  the Ihystear can make a DC 30 Strength check to snap the 
  weapon in half. Doing so releases but an echo of this scream, 
  a terrible, deafening shriek that pierces the world and can be 
  heard for dozens of miles. Any creature within 100 feet of the 
  broken Ihystear—including the wielder—must make a DC 30 
  Will save or be slain instantly. Those who make their saves are 
  rendered deaf and insane (as per the spells blindness/deafness 
  and insanity). This scream continues for 3 rounds and pierces 
  even magical silence. This is a mind-affecting sonic effect. At 
  the end of this time, the Ihystear heals itself and returns to 
  normal. However, there is a 50% chance each time the artifact 
  is broken that it randomly shifts to another plane. 
  
  49
  Diabolatry
  3
  For long centuries Asmodeus held the Ihystear within the 
  Catafalque, deep in Nessus, though in recent years rumors 
  claim sightings of the weapon in Golarion. If these rumors 
  are true, and why the Prince of Darkness might have released 
  his trophy after untold millennia, remains a mystery.
  The Wheel of Worlds
  Within the Wheel lie all possibilities and none, and while 
  those who use it touch countless worlds, their destinations 
  are the same. At first glance, the Wheel of Worlds appears as a 
  masterfully crafted spherical astrolabe approximately the size 
  of a human skull. Rings of bronze, steel, and dark adamantine 
  form a shifting shell, and as each band moves it reveals another 
  below. These rings each bear minute spidery symbols, marking 
  and measuring the location of thirteen planets, countless stars, 
  and the celestial spheres beyond. Many researchers who have 
  obsessed over the device claim that within lies the truth of the 
  Heavens and beyond. Most realize too late that the truth they 
  seek is not one any mortal should know.
  The Wheel of Worlds creates gates to other planes. Using it 
  causes a portal to open to a random plane for 1 minute (roll on 
  the adjacent table to determine the destination). The portal is 
  not transparent, preventing a view of the plane beyond, though 
  the Wheel’s user is given an impression of it. The user may then 
  either travel to that plane or call through a creature native to 
  that realm. Doing either immediately closes the gate. If the 
  bearer wishes, he may attempt to open a portal to a specific 
  plane by manipulating the rings of the artifact, a complex 
  series of adjustments requiring a DC 25 Wisdom check. Failure 
  on such a check by 5 or less still results in a random roll on the 
  planes and layers table, but the Wheel’s user can select whether 
  the destination is that plane or the next or previous plane listed 
  on the table, granting some influence over the gate.
  But within the Wheel of Worlds lies a trap. Every time a wielder 
  uses the astrolabe, its rings collapse and reveal stranger, more 
  profane markings within. The GM should track each use of 
  the artifact. After every portal opened there is a cumulative 
  1% chance that next time the portal is used it opens not to the 
  randomly generated plane, but to the corresponding layer of 
  Hell noted on the chart. Every attempt to influence the plane 
  to which the Wheel opens a portal (whether successful or not) 
  increases this chance by 3%. In such cases, the wielder is given 
  a wrong impression of the plane beyond, believing the gate 
  has opened to the expected plane, rather than a part of Hell. If 
  he attempts to summon a creature through the gate that is not 
  a native of Hell, a random devil is conjured. This devil is not 
  under the user’s control and attempts to drag the user back 
  to Hell with it. Every creature who uses the Wheel of Worlds 
  has its own percent chance of this diabolical malfunction that 
  can never be reduced. Should a creature ever reach a 100% 
  chance of opening a gate to a layer of Hell, the Wheel of Worlds 
  instantly shifts both itself and its wielder to a random layer of 
  Hell upon its next use.
  Books of the Damned
  Although there is only one true Book of the Damned, its bindings 
  were split and its pages scattered by agents of goodness 
  millennia ago. In the interim centuries, foul influences have 
  unified the lost pages by topic, creating at least three folios 
  containing the text of this most blasphemous tome, though 
  some say collections of lesser sections exist as well. Each of 
  these folios is an artifact in its own right, though together 
  they form one of the most powerful and evil magical creations 
  in existence, capable of summoning impossible evils and 
  dragging whole nations into the depths of the Outer Sphere.
  Aside from the true pages of the Book of the Damned, numerous 
  copies of the various folios exist, although such reproductions 
  are often riddled with corruptions, mistranslations, diabolical 
  agendas, and purposeful errors. While they hold no magical 
  powers, each text harbors a dark trove of unspeakable knowledge. 
  The following are some of the better-known copies.
  The ghatigahani folio: Captain Elliot Braker, a sadist in 
  Eleder, bought this strange tome from a leprous traveler. 
  Although he cannot read the exotic Vudrani words, he 
  takes great delight in the revoltingly graphic illustrations. 
  This copy bears copious notes and sketches of diabolical 
  physiology, a description of the hellmouth Cagashags who 
  connects Phelgethon and Malebolge, and the true name of 
  the gelugon Reiisiier.
  Plaques of the Black Sun: Held under constant guard 
  in Sarenrae’s Temple of the Redeeming Sun in Merab, this 
  heavily illustrated Osiriani translation speaks at length of the 
  cult of Belial, holds copies of the spells eyebite and hellfire 
  ray, and—hidden upon its back cover—bears the sigil of the 
  whore queen Ardad Lili herself.
  The Versex Text: Kept within the libraries of the Sincomakti 
  Lyceum in Rozenport, the collection’s curators hold this 
  Varisian translation as an artifact of the Whispering Tyrant’s 
  grim rule. Within lie the true names of the bruise-colored 
  imp Vagagat, the needle-loving levaloch Jhapvhag, and the 
  sigil of the one-eyed osyluth Romeiga.
  Planes and Layers
  1d10 
  Plane 
  layer of hell
  1  
  The Abyss 
  Avernus
  2  
  The Maelstrom 
  Dis
  3  
  Axis 
  Erebus
  4  
  Nirvana  
  Phlegethon
  5  
  Elysium 
  Stygia
  6  
  Heaven 
  Malebolge
  7  
  The Boneyard 
  Cocytus
  8  
  Abaddon  
  Caina
  9  
  Hell 
  Nessus
  10 
  Roll Again 
  Roll Again
  
  50
  Pathfinder Chronicles: Princes of Darkness
  The Peerage of Hell
  To the abysmal echelons of Hell, the thrones of mortal lords, the courts of mortal kings, and the halls of eternal 
  empires are no peer. With age beyond eons and intentions beyond the spheres of dreaming, the masters of the 
  infernal rise in legions of stately horror, their craft and intentions sowing the damnation of races and worlds. 
  Their might bursts the bonds of the Pit and spills forth upon the spheres, stealing the light from day and 
  exposing the lies of mercy and hope. They are the lords of terror, who command all the dark dreamings of 
  limited mortal minds and lord over legions beyond the comprehension of dread. 
  Yet with all their foul grandeur and dark might, they are but slaves to the true archlords of perdition. And 
  in their helotry is revealed the true hopelessness of us all.
  From The Book of the Damned
  Upon a ghoul-guarded corpse in the night,
  A vast crypt of the dead never dead,
  Throned amid soul flames that burn ever bright,
  Looms the pale lord of silence and dread,
  And though all of his serfs now lie quiet, 
  By vanity new slaves are led.
  —Excerpt from “Spheres of the Malebranche,” 
  from the Book of the Damned
  Of  the Dukes of the Infernal
  Like the stars that burn alone in the eclipse of the 
  longest night, they are the radiance in the abyss, 
  and to tarry too long under their light is to lose 
  your soul.
  Alocer: The Pack Lord leads hunters into the 
  nights, returning home those who make prey of 
  both beasts and their enemies.
  Eligos:  Astride a terror with a thousand shackled 
  limbs, the Winged Rider soars over lands, 
  heralding their doom.
  Furcas: Known as the Knight of Laurels, he knows 
  the secrets of plants and flames, both to create 
  and to destroy.
  Gaap:  The Rai of the Water Devils, whose palms 
  hold the wisdom of centuries and whose 
  tentacles bring a drowning doom.
  Iaozrael:The angel consumed by the sun, who 
  endlessly falls as a burning shadow of that 
  which he once was.
  Kalma: The living charnel pit, its reek 
  attracts flies from countless worlds, bearing 
  with them the souls of the unburied.
  Nergal: The Slow Death, who rides to 
  battle with disease and poison, fire and 
  mercilessness, and is foe to all soldiers.
  Q uindiovatos: The Vicious Guest welcomes 
  himself upon every land and person, 
  claiming every wonder as his own.
  Rasvocel: The Vulture King, who waits not for 
  his subjects to die, bringing storms and 
  dark winds with his cloak of crimson wings.
  Uruskreil: Of the metal wing, whose blade 
  sunders all weakness and whose armor hides 
  a vision of the divine.
  Yan-gant-y-tan: The wildness who wanders 
  the dark, his cloak of night hiding all the 
  terrors of Hell.
  Zaebos: The Prince of Broken Glass, claiming 
  the world as his own, he takes whatever he 
  pleases to sate his boundless boredom.
  Of the Angels of Prostitution
  Q ueens of iron, the bitter maidens of Hell refuse 
  the shackles of their half-kindred. They are 
  the wildness bound within the ultimate 
  cage, who sow the seeds of corruption deep 
  through those who dare think they know all 
  the temptations of Hell.
  Ardad Lili: The beauty in the serpent and 
  the venom in every lover’s kiss, she is every 
  youth’s first lust and the lover who brings 
  all men to their doom.
  
  51
  Diabolatry
  3
  Of the Conquering Malebranche
  The least of Hell’s kings still rule domains 
  beyond all reckoning, and all mortal lords bow 
  to their whims. In our homes and in our minds 
  they work their terrible ways, as we are but their 
  flock, subtly shepherded to the gates of Hell.
  Alichino: The jester prince of the Cage, who has 
  a dozen voices, a hundred faces, and 
  seeks to befriend the lords of every land.
  Barbarica: The ancient and wild, who raises 
  an army of his own children mothered 
  by a jungle of evils.
  Cagnazzo: Hunter of souls, who races across 
  the world bringing murder to those who 
  would impede his conquest.
  Calcabrina: Dreamy mistress of twilight, who 
  dwells within a tower of ether and whose 
  thoughts can cause a man to sleep forever.
  Circiatto: The gluttonous, who devourers all 
  that he encounters, vomiting them forth as 
  unliving slaves.
  Draghignazzo: The devil-dragon of devastation, 
  who sleeps amid a conquest too complete and 
  longs for Hell.
  Farafello: The interim ruler, a specter of evil who 
  haunts a land of the dead, his conquest 
  having been delayed by death, but not denied.
  Graffiacane: The swarm lord, whose face is seen 
  in the eyes of vermin and whose kiss can 
  turn friend into foe.
  Libicocco: The prideful lady of winds, whose 
  mission is not to conquer but to destroy.
  Malacoda: The most monstrous of all, who is 
  said to have conquered eight worlds and 
  brought its spoils with it to a new realm.
  Rubicante: He who grows red, the flame-
  shrouded prince of rust and ruin, who 
  speaks of sense and peace to those who 
  burn in his embrace. 
  Scarmiglione: Who shares a fractured 
  realm with Draghignazzo and coaxes 
  wanderers close to feed his monstrous 
  sibling.
  Doloras: Iron-hearted queen of suffering, the 
  tears that rust blades and the convulsions 
  that test bindings, all are praises to Our 
  Lady of Pain.
  Eiseth: The rage of angels, her scream rings 
  in the clash of every blade and her blade 
  points every woman to her revenge.
  Mahathallah: The twin of the twisted day, in 
  her eyes coil the mystery of every lie, yet in 
  her heart she knows the final truth.
  
  52
  Pathfinder Chronicles: Princes of Darkness
  Chapter Four
  Diablerie
  Into the Pit I stared, and as is told, the Pit stared back into me. 
  At first all was darkness, as gazing into a chasm with no bottom 
  or a well that draws only blood. But the depths of Hell are not shy, 
  and perhaps the darkness was but a shield, an illusion of my eyes 
  so my mind would not see what I knew bodily—primordially—I 
  should not. And in those eldritch depths, where my eyes strained 
  not to see, stared eyes like ruby, a gaze I knew then and know 
  now I will one day meet again.
  —From the Book of the Damned, “A Vision of the Pit”
  
  53
  Diablerie
  4
  W
  hile built upon millennia-old conventions and the 
  ageless traditions of devils, Hell changes endlessly. 
  Like an extraordinarily ancient creature—and it 
  may be exactly that—the infernal plane grows and changes, 
  contracts and withers, and so do the creatures that flourish 
  and languish within its bowels. Processing an endless flood 
  of mortal souls through eons too vast to calculate, the infernal 
  realm excretes malign potential, which its ruling devils shape 
  into reflections of their own terrifying images. Yet, through 
  the ages, the sins and vices of the damned have changed and 
  evolved, the definition of blasphemy has been revised, and the 
  influences upon Hell’s vistas have transformed. In short, the 
  realm of the damned written of on cave walls and on ancient 
  tablets is not the Hell of today. And neither are the beings that 
  claw their way from its rotted womb.
  Other Inhabitants of Hell
  More than just devils make their homes within the Pit. 
  Hell existed before Asmodeus’s spawn and remnants of that 
  primeval time still survive. The infernal realm also has its 
  own children, beings that bow to no master save Hell itself.
  The Damned
  The most numerous occupants of Hell are not devils, but 
  rather the petty, manipulative, blasphemous souls of those 
  mortals who willingly committed evil acts against their 
  brethren or sullied the names of their gods. Roaming Avernus 
  in fearful droves and facing innumerable torments upon the 
  layers below, these pitiful but fundamentally evil beings face 
  annihilation for lifetimes of sin. In Hell, most of the damned 
  appear much as they did in life, though typically starved and 
  gray in appearance, while others bear the scars of their abuses, 
  being charred, pierced by blades, flensed to skeletons, frozen 
  brittle, or exhibiting any other number of tortures no living 
  creatures could endure. These souls also form the building 
  blocks of many infernal structures, being tortuously molded 
  and crammed into impossible, painful shapes for all eternity.
  Hellspawn
  Hell is mother to more than just devilkind. Hundreds of 
  strange and deadly beasts crawl, slither, swim, and soar their 
  ways through the revolting and often lethal depths of the Pit. 
  These bestial natives are known as the hellspawn, a vast planar 
  bionetwork comprised of myriad fiendish animals, aborted 
  diabolical creations, and beings unique to the infernal realm. 
  Although burning kasya, the sharp-winged stymphalides, 
  and the leviathans of Cocytus are well known even outside of 
  Hell, cerberi—the three-headed hounds of Hell—prove the 
  most recognizable of all these beasts. While certain infernal 
  realms, such as Phelgethon and Caina, are almost devoid of 
  such fiendish things, other layers like Stygia and Malebolge 
  teem with their own ghastly ecologies. The base creatures of 
  these regions prey upon souls, planar travelers, and devils 
  alike, though many fiends pride themselves on breaking the 
  fiercest of Hell’s brood and training them to serve among 
  infernal armies.
  Other Inhabitants
  Still other sentient races make their homes among the 
  damned, living in grim societies often just as rigid and 
  terrifying as the orders of devilkind. Kytons of varying 
  breeds flourish throughout the Pit, where evidence suggests 
  they originated eons ago, before the majority emigrated to 
  the Plane of Shadow. Unsavory kyton sensation merchants 
  still haunt the alleys of Dis, kidnapping souls and planar 
  travelers alike, dragging them back to Xovaikain, their 
  realm in the Plane of Shadow, or the ancient, dangling chain 
  cities of Caina. Exotic and sadistic asuras—the fiends of foul 
  philosophies—meditate, train, and prepare exotic tortures 
  for those who fail to attain their destinies. Opportunistic 
  daemons, dauntless mercane, and detached axiomites travel 
  to the cities of Hell as well, warily trading with devils for 
  all manner of blasphemous goods and unsavory treasures. 
  In the wilds, strange and gremlin-like ukobach caper as 
  they torment the damned with their searing brands, while 
  titanic Hell gigas, the infernal elder giants of the planes, 
  cross burning leagues in short steps. Although huge swaths 
  of Hell sprawl as pristine desolations, the infernal realm is 
  vast beyond comprehension and far from empty.
  Ranks of Devils
  The hierarchy of Hell is vast and complex, yet noted here 
  are the general stations of the most pervasive breeds of 
  devilkind.
  Devil 
  CR 
  Ranking
  Lemure 
  CR 1 
  lesser devil
  Imp 
  CR 2 
  lesser devil
  Gaav* 
  CR 3 
  lesser devil
  Barbazu 
  CR 5 
  lesser devil
  Magaav* 
  CR 6 
  lesser devil
  Levaloch* 
  CR 7 
  lesser devil
  Erinyes 
  CR 8 
  lesser devil
  Osyluth 
  CR 9 
  lesser devil
  Phistophilus** 
  CR 10 
  lesser devil
  Hamatula 
  CR 11 
  lesser devil
  Ayngavhaul* 
  CR 12 
  lesser devil
  Gelugon 
  CR 13 
  greater devil
  Bedellavrita** 
  CR 16 
  greater devil
  Cornugon 
  CR 16 
  greater devil
  Deimavigga* 
  CR 17 
  greater devil
  Pit fiend 
  CR 20 
  greater devil
  *New devil in this book
  **Detailed in Pathfinder Adventure Path volume #12
  
  54
  Pathfinder Chronicles: Princes of Darkness
  Devil, Apostate (Deimavigga)
  Armored in the ceremonial garb of some grim knight, this figure 
  stands unnaturally still, though the intricate metalwork patterns 
  of its sculpted mantle writhe and shift as if alive. Claws the length 
  of longswords extend from its armored fingers in razor-sharp fans, 
  and no head or helm rests upon its ironclad shoulders. Instead, there 
  hovers only a plain mask, an unnatural facade devoid of all empathy, 
  emotion, or mercy.
  ApostAte Devil 
  CR 17
  Xp 102,400
  LE Medium outsider (devil, evil, extraplanar, lawful)
  init +14; senses darkvision 60 ft., see in darkness; Perception +28
  Defense
  AC 46, touch 20, flat-footed 36 (+14 armor, +10 Dex, +12 natural)
  hp 261 (18d10+162); regeneration 5
  fort +20, Ref +16, Will +20
  DR 10/good and silver; immune fire, poison; Resist acid 10, 
  cold 10; sR 27
  offense
  speed 30 ft., fly 30 ft. (perfect)
  Melee 2 claws +28 (1d8+9/19–20 plus 1d6 Wisdom drain)
  space 5 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
  special Attacks boundless reach, ohrwurm, summon devil
  spell-like Abilities (CL 18th)
  At will—alter self (DC 20), dream (DC 24), greater teleport 
  (self plus 50 lbs. of objects only), major image (DC 22), 
  mirage arcana (DC 24)
  3/day—blasphemy (DC 26), dominate person (DC 24), hold 
  monster (DC 22), insanity (DC 26), touch of idiocy, veil (DC 25)
  1/day—mind fog (DC 24), screen (DC 27)
  stAtistiCs
  str 28, Dex 31, Con 28, int 21, Wis 24, Cha 28
  Base Atk +18; CMB +28; CMD 47
  feats Agile Maneuvers, Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, 
  Improved Critical (claw), Improved Disarm, Improved 
  Initiative, Iron Will, Persuasive, Weapon Focus (claw)
  skills Acrobatics +28, Bluff +30, Diplomacy +34, Disguise +27, 
  Fly +18, Intimidate +34, Knowledge (history) +26, Knowledge 
  (planes) +26, Knowledge (religion) +26, Perception +28, 
  Sense Motive +28, Stealth +28
  languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Draconic, Infernal; 
  indomitable oration, telepathy 100 ft.
  sQ evangelization, indomitable oration, malleable form
  eCology
  environment Hell
  organization solitary
  treasure double (+5 shadow full plate, other treasure)
  speCiAl ABilities
  Boundless Reach (su) A deimavigga’s claws slice through 
  reality, allowing it to make melee attacks against any 
  creature it is aware of—typically meaning creatures within 
  100 feet. The devil still only threatens the 10-foot area 
  around it and it cannot make attacks of opportunity against 
  creatures farther away. This ability can span vast distances, 
  allowing a deimavigga making use of divination magic 
  to detect distant creatures and attack foes separated by 
  miles or even planes. Spells like forbiddance, which prevent 
  planar travel, also protect against a deimavigga’s claws. The 
  spell dimensional anchor also prevents a deimavigga from 
  using this ability for the duration of that spell. An attacked 
  creature can retaliate that round, striking at the devil’s claws 
  with weapons or spells as if its entire body were present, 
  but cannot grapple or otherwise prevent the claws from 
  vanishing out of reach at the end of the round. 
  evangelization (su) The words of deimaviggas are poison to the 
  mind. Every round a deimavigga speaks (a free action), all 
  non-devils with an Intelligence score of 3 or higher within 30 
  feet must make a DC 28 Will save or become vulnerable to its 
  blasphemous discourse. The DC of this Will save increases 
  by +1 for each consecutive round a creature has listened to 
  the same deimavigga speak. Creatures must be listening to a 
  deimavigga to be affected by its oration. Deafened creatures 
  and those in combat—either with the deimavigga or other 
  creatures—are not considered to be listening. Victims 
  cannot simply declare they are not listening without taking 
  steps to impede their hearing.
  Upon failing this save, a victim can be affected by the 
  heretical power of a deimavigga’s words. The devil may use 
  its speech to affect a listener in ways that mimic any of the 
  following spells: calm emotions (DC 21), charm monster (DC 
  23), command (DC 20), confusion (DC 23), crushing despair 
  (DC 23), deep slumber (DC 22), enthrall (DC 21), modify 
  memory (DC 23), rage (DC 22), or suggestion (DC 22). Victims 
  still receive saving throws against these spell effects, but if 
  they fail their saves they are not aware the devil is working 
  its power upon them. A deimavigga can affect multiple 
  victims with different spell effects in the same round. 
  A creature that makes its save against this ability is 
  immune to that particular devil’s evangelization for the next 
  24 hours. This is a sonic mind-affecting effect. The base 
  save DC is Charisma-based.
  indomitable oration (su) A deimavigga’s speech is always 
  perfectly clear and cannot be silenced or warped. In areas 
  of incredible noise, through water or airless voids, even 
  in areas of magical silence, these devil’s voices can still be 
  heard normally. All beings understand deimaviggas, as if 
  these devils constantly spoke in all tongues at once.
  Malleable form (su) A deimavigga has complete control over 
  its physical form, and if transformed into another shape 
  against its will, it can revert to its own form as a free action.
  ohrwurm (ex) As a standard action, three times per day, 
  a deimavigga can whisper a fundamental and terrifying 
  multiversal truth to one creature within 5 feet. The target 
  must make a DC 28 Will save or have the devil’s words 
  
  55
  Diablerie
  4
  take root in its psyche. Outsiders and elementals have a 
  +2 bonus on their saves to resist this ability. Initially, the 
  deimavigga’s words seem to have no effect. Anytime the 
  victim tries to rest, though, he must make an additional 
  DC 28 Will save or be affected as per the spell nightmare 
  (even if the victim doesn’t technically sleep). After a night 
  of suffering vivid dreams and wrestling with the devil’s 
  words, the victim must make yet another DC 28 Will save 
  or have its alignment shift one step toward lawful evil. Only 
  by unlearning what the deimavigga told it can a victim be 
  free of this effect, requiring a spell such as miracle, modify 
  memory, or wish.
  summon Devil (sp) Once per day a deimavigga can attempt 
  to summon 1d6 osyluths or 2d4 barbazu with a 50% chance 
  of success, or 1 gelugon with a 20% chance of success. This 
  ability is the equivalent of an 8th-level spell.
  Wisdom Drain (su) A deimavigga drains 1d6 points 
  of Wisdom each time it hits with its claw attack. (A 
  deimavigga does not heal any damage when it uses its 
  Wisdom drain.)
  Regal, fearsome, and unfeeling, deimaviggas seek to turn 
  the faithful from their gods, using cold logic to proselytize 
  the path of atheism, the freedom of the mortal spirit, and 
  the order offered by Hell. Their slowly ever-shifting masks 
  speak envenomed words and imply the hollow nature of their 
  lies. Speaking out against all deities—except for Asmodeus, 
  whom they subtly tout as a bringer of discipline even as they 
  downplay his divinity—these deadly intellectuals know 
  that those who turn from their deities are more likely to 
  succumb to the temptations of their diabolical brethren. 
  Rather than attempting to sway the souls of individual 
  mortals, these cunning fiends take on the roles of prophets 
  of reason, disguising themselves beneath layers of illusion 
  to evangelize the virtues and freedoms of lives unshackled 
  from demanding deities. Occasionally one might focus 
  its arguments on a soul of particular piety, delighting 
  in throwing deities’ most devoted servants into endless 
  crises of faith. Deimaviggas care little for what gods their 
  depredations affect, disenfranchising the worshipers of the 
  divine and the profane alike.
  In their natural shapes, deimaviggas stand 7 feet tall and 
  weigh a mere 120 pounds. When disguised, though, they 
  typically take the forms of wise old men, priests who have 
  “realized their folly,” and even “angels” of truth.  
  Habitat & Society
  Deimaviggas prefer to spend their time upon the Material 
  Plane, swaying the weak and corruptible souls of mortals. 
  There they seek out either vast mortal cities, where their 
  heresy might reach many ears, or small communities where 
  the isolated might fall to their blasphemous philosophizing. 
  When in Hell, though, they linger in Caina, tormenting the 
  souls of those trapped upon its lonely islands, developing and 
  testing complicated and often confusing arguments. 
  Preferring to operate alone, these poison-tongued devils 
  rarely work with others of their kind, even though their 
  status as greater devils affords them great control over their 
  lesser brethren. They find their arguments benefit from 
  simplicity, their endeavors complicated by even the most 
  obedient minions. Pit fiends and infernal dukes sometimes 
  utilize deimaviggas as spies and spreaders of dissension and 
  confusion, though even among devilkind these enigmatic 
  fiends are considered strange and unnerving.
  
  56
  Pathfinder Chronicles: Princes of Darkness
  Devil, Heresy (Ayngavhaul)
  Seemingly fused with a monstrous throne of iron skulls, this 
  impossibly corpulent being floats several feet off the ground. 
  Trappings cut in mockery of holy vestments do little to cover the 
  thing’s pallid, leaking rolls of blister-pocked girth. Worthless, club-
  like hands waggle like maggots, directing a cloud of weathered scrolls 
  and blasphemous tomes that orbit its bulk. Barely distinguishable 
  amid its mound of chins squints a pair of glassy black eyes, riding 
  above a disproportionately wide mouth curled into a perpetually 
  lecherous grin.
  HeResy Devil  
  CR 12
  Xp 19,200
  LE Huge outsider (devil, evil, extraplanar, lawful)
  init +3; senses darkvision 60 ft., see in darkness; Perception +21
  Defense
  AC 29, touch 7, flat-footed 29 (+4 armor, –1 Dex, +18 natural, 
  –2 size)
  hp 175 (13d10+104); fast healing 5
  fort +17, Ref +3, Will +13
  DR 5/good; immune fire, poison; Resist acid 10, cold 10; sR 22
  offense
  speed 10 ft., fly 40 ft. (perfect)
  Melee 2 slams +18 (2d8+7), bite +18 (2d6+7)
  Ranged searing word +10 (3d6)
  space 15 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
  special Attacks blasphemous bile, summon devil
  spell-like Abilities (CL 13th)
  At will—deathwatch, greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs. of 
  objects only), illusory script (DC 17), mage hand, major 
  image (DC 17), message
  3/day—contagion (DC 19), deeper darkness, dispel good, dispel 
  magic, invisibility purge, magic circle against good, speak 
  with dead (DC 18), telekinesis (DC 20), stinking cloud (DC 17), 
  summon monster V, unholy blight (DC 19), zone of silence
  1/day—blasphemy (DC 20), legend lore, mislead, unhallow
  stAtistiCs
  str 24, Dex 8, Con 24, int 22, Wis 21, Cha 20
  Base Atk +13; CMB +18; CMD 37
  feats Diehard, Endurance, Great Fortitude, Improved 
  Initiative, Persuasive, Toughness
  skills Bluff +21, Diplomacy +25, Fly +8, Intimidate +17, 
  Knowledge (arcana) +22, Knowledge (history) +19, 
  Knowledge (planes) +22, Knowledge (religion) +22, 
  Perception +21, Perform (oratory) +18, Profession (librarian) 
  +10, Sense Motive +21, Spellcraft +22
  languages Abyssal, Celestial, Draconic, Infernal
  sQ corpulence, devil summoner, throne of skulls
  eCology
  environment Hell
  organization solitary, pair, or lecture (3–8)
  treasure standard
  speCiAl ABilities
  Corpulence (ex) Ayngavhauls are greasy and grossly obese. 
  This extraordinary bulk provides them with a +10 bonus on 
  their combat maneuver defense.
  Blasphemous Bile (su) 30-ft. line, once every 1d4 hours; 
  damage 4d6 acid, Reflex DC 23 half. Those struck by this 
  bile find themselves drenched in liquid corruption so 
  profound it impedes the power of non-evil divine magic 
  for 10 minutes. Any non-evil divine spellcaster who casts 
  a spell targeting a creature soaked in an ayngavhaul’s bile 
  must make a DC 23 caster level check or have the spell fail. 
  A creature affected by this bile may wash off the sludge 
  by spending a round and using at least a gallon of fluid to 
  cleanse itself. The save DC is Constitution-based.
  Devil summoner (su) Ayngavhauls know the secrets of all 
  breeds of devils, utilizing such leverage in the summoning 
  of their kind. Any devil within 30 feet of an ayngavhaul has 
  half again the normal chance of having a fiend respond to 
  its summon devil ability.  For example, an osyluth’s usual 
  35% chance to summon another bone devil increases to 
  52% when within 30 feet of an ayngavhaul. Summoning 
  bonuses provided by multiple ayngavahuls do not stack. 
  Ayngavahuls are immune to this ability, from both 
  themselves and others of their kind.
  searing Word (su) An ayngavhaul can speak words of torment, 
  giving them shape and sending them streaking toward their 
  enemies in the form of diabolical sigils. Any good-aligned 
  creature struck by one of these infernal words takes 3d6 
  points of hellfire damage (half fire, half evil energy); non-
  good creatures take half damage. These words cannot affect 
  creatures affected by protection from evil or within an area of 
  magical silence.
  summon Devil (sp) Once per day an ayngavhaul can attempt 
  to summon 2d6 imps, 1d4 bearded devils, or 2 bone devils 
  with an 80% chance of success, or a contract devil (see 
  Pathfinder Adventure Path volume #12) with a 45% chance of 
  success. This ability is the equivalent of a 6th-level spell.
  throne of skulls (su) All ayngavhauls hover upon fearsome 
  infernal thrones. These thrones grant the devils their fly 
  speed and a +4 armor bonus. Should an ayngavhaul be 
  grappled or knocked down, it is unseated from its throne 
  and loses these benefits. An ayngavhaul has telepathic 
  command over its throne and may call its conveyance back 
  and reseat itself as a full-round action.
  Bloated scholars of despair, ayngavhauls collect, create, 
  and spread heresies and apocrypha, sowing disbelief and 
  corruption to all who would seek their foul wisdom. Ironically 
  among the most humanlike, yet still  most repulsive breeds of 
  devilkind, these corpulent blasphemers are barely even able 
  to move without the aid of their profane floating thrones. 
  Although their bloated forms make them considerably less of a 
  threat than their brethren physically, they speak maledictions 
  
  57
  Diablerie
  4
  foul enough to agonize those who hear them, yet even with 
  such powers of vicious wisdom, their true strength lies in 
  their envenomed words and temptations of the mind. Their 
  centuries of research grant them great leverage over their 
  diabolical kin, and few devils dare not obey the summons of 
  these hellish scholars.
  Ayngavhauls are roughly ovular in form, their deflated 
  girths about 10 feet tall with their rolls of wet gristle 
  spreading over 13 feet wide. Off their thrones, these devils 
  weigh approximately 2,300 pounds, though the eldest can 
  weigh considerably more.
  Ecology
  Ayngavhauls’ bloated girths make them slaves to their 
  repulsive physical forms. All ayngavhauls, even the newly 
  formed, are monstrously obese, trapped within prisons of 
  their own leaking, diabolical flesh. To aid them, though, the 
  forges of Phlegethon create terrifying thrones empowered 
  by infernal magics. These foul chariots hold their corpulent 
  masters aloft, serving as both vehicles and sources of profane 
  protection. Each throne of skulls is bound to a specific 
  ayngavhaul, dissolving into a pile of ashes and a breath of 
  searing iron dust should its master be destroyed.
  Habitat & Society
  The majority of ayngavhuals frequent the grim 
  libraries of Hell, particularly the mired museums of 
  Stygia; the Fallen Fastness of Dis; and Betzebbul, the 
  palace of Baalzebul, in Cocytus. Within these heretical 
  storehouses and academies of evil, these grotesque 
  devils rewrite the histories of countless worlds to 
  obscure truths and skew the past toward the desires of 
  Hell. Grotesque curators of a sort, individual ayngavhauls 
  take great pride in specializing in fields none 
  of their brethren have ever thought to focus 
  their studies upon—the more obscure and 
  blasphemous, the better. Thus, while one devil 
  might spend eons learning all there is to know of 
  linnorm frost poisons, another might research 
  the nuances of Azlanti voice tearing. Each seeks 
  to promote its particular field of research above 
  all others, sowing its knowledge among their 
  blasphemous works, minions, and summoners who 
  might put such foul wisdom to the most sinister uses. They 
  prove incessantly paranoid that the works of their brethren 
  might be outstripping their own discoveries, or that others in 
  related fields might be stealing their research, thus proving 
  both suspicious of their kindred and intimately familiar 
  with the works of other infernal scholars. As such, a single 
  ayngavhaul might begrudgingly point a summoner in search 
  of specific information toward a diabolical expert, though 
  these knowledge-obsessed fiends never reveal their secrets 
  without demanding a price.
  Robes of Lead
  The eldest ayngavhaul garb themselves in robes of lead, 
  massive suits of armor imbued with diabolical runes and 
  profane symbols. These hulking, blasphemous vestments do 
  little to impede the corpulent fiends’ already encumbered 
  movement, yet grant them significant defense against 
  servants of the divine. An ayngavhaul wearing a robe of lead 
  gains a +6 armor bonus and a +2 profane bonus to its Armor 
  Class (raising a typical ayngavhaul‘s AC to 37, touch 9, flat-
  footed 37). In addition, these robes add +10 to the wearer’s 
  SR when attempting to resist spells cast by a good-aligned 
  divine spellcaster. Any Huge creature can wear robes of lead, 
  but non-ayngavhauls must contend with their crushing, 
  900-pound weight. Any non-evil creature that attempts to 
  wear robes of lead gains one negative level until the vestments 
  are removed. 
  
  58
  Pathfinder Chronicles: Princes of Darkness
  Devil, Lesser Host (Gaav)
  This tangle of scaly avian limbs furiously beats its double pair of 
  vulture-like wings, keeping its fiendish, horned skull-head aloft. As 
  fetid breath rises from its repulsive, fly-covered visage, clawed arms 
  work together to slash the air with a vicious-looking spear. 
  lesseR Host Devil 
  CR 3
  Xp 800
  LE Small outsider (devil, evil, extraplanar, lawful)
  init +3; senses darkvision 60 ft., see in darkness; 
  Perception +6
  Defense
  AC 17, touch 15, flat-footed 13 (+3 Dex, +1 dodge, +2 natural, 
  +1 size)
  hp 30 (4d10+8)
  fort +6, Ref +7, Will +0
  DR 5/good; immune fire, poison; Resist acid 10, cold 10
  offense
  speed 5 ft., fly 60 ft. (good)
  Melee mwk spear +7 (1d8+1), 2 claws +6 (1d4+1)
  special Attacks noxious breath, summon devil
  spell-like Abilities (CL 4th)
  At will—dancing lights, detect magic, greater teleport (self plus 
  50 lbs. of objects only), mage hand, ventriloquism (DC 10)
  stAtistiCs
  str 13, Dex 17, Con 14, int 7, Wis 9, Cha 8
  Base Atk +4; CMB +4; CMD 18
  feats Dodge, Hover
  skills Acrobatics +9, Escape Artist +9, Fly +11, Perception +6, 
  Stealth +13
  languages Infernal; telepathy 100 ft.
  sQ superior grappler, shared senses, swarming
  eCology
  environment Hell
  organization solitary or flock (2d4)
  treasure standard (masterwork Small spear, other treasure)
  speCiAl ABilities 
  superior grappler (ex) A gaav can wield a weapon and still 
  make grapple checks. If it’s not wielding a weapon, a gaav 
  gains a +4 bonus on grapple checks. In addition, it takes 
  up to eight gaavs cooperatively to lift a creature that one 
  or more of them is grappling; each gaav can lift up to 50 
  pounds and still fly without being impeded.
  noxious Breath (su) Three times per day, a gaav can exhale 
  a breath that reeks of pure corruption upon a creature 
  within 5 feet. The target must make a DC 14 Fortitude 
  save or be sickened for 1d4 rounds. The save DC is 
  Constitution-based. Creatures that successfully save 
  cannot be affected by the same gaav’s noxious breath 
  for 24 hours. A delay poison or neutralize poison spell 
  removes the effect from the sickened creature. Creatures 
  with immunity to poison are unaffected, and creatures 
  resistant to poison receive their normal bonus on their 
  saving throws. Once a gaav uses its breath weapon, it 
  can’t breathe again until 1d4 rounds later.
  shared senses (su) All gaavs and magaavs within 100 feet of 
  one another share the same senses. Thus, if one individual 
  perceives something (for example, with a successful 
  Perception check), all others within range are immediately 
  aware of it. Senses are instantly relayed from one gaav or 
  magaav to the next, allowing for the senses of a single devil 
  to potentially spread through and inform an entire massive 
  swarm instantly. It is still possible for a gaav to be surprised 
  or flat-footed even if other gaavs nearby are not.
  summon Devil (su) Once per day a gaav can attempt to 
  summon an imp with a 35% chance of success. This ability 
  is the equivalent of a 3rd-level spell.
  swarming (ex) Up to two gaavs can share the same space at 
  the same time. If two gaavs in the same square attack the 
  same foe, they are considered to be flanking that foe as if 
  they were in two opposite squares.
  Devil, Greater Host (Magaav)
  Twin pairs of mangy, disease-riddled vulture wings flap in concert, 
  keeping this lean raptor fiend aloft. Twisted horns rise from a head 
  like a monstrous skull and noxious fumes leak from between its 
  yellowed fangs. Hovering with impossible control, its vicious foot-
  talons clench and unclench, while its clawed hands wield a long, 
  three-pointed ranseur.
  gReAteR Host Devil  
  CR 6
  Xp 2,400
  LE Medium outsider (devil, evil, extraplanar, lawful)
  init +4; senses darkvision 60 ft., see in darkness; Perception +11
  Defense
  AC 23, touch 15, flat-footed 18 (+4 Dex, +1 dodge, +8 natural)
  hp 59 (7d10+21)
  fort +8, Ref +9, Will +3
  DR 5/good; immune fire, poison; Resist acid 10, cold 10; sR 17
  offense
  spd 20 ft., fly 50 ft. (average)
  Melee mwk ranseur +12 (2d4+6), 2 claws +11 (1d6+4)
  special Attacks infernal wound, noxious breath, rend (2 claws, 
  1d6+1), summon devil
  spell-like Abilities (CL 12th)
  At will—greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs. of objects only)
  stAtistiCs
  str 18, Dex 19, Con 16, int 10, Wis 12, Cha 11
  Base Atk +7; CMB +10; CMD 25
  feats Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Mobility, Hover
  skills Acrobatics +14, Escape Artist +14, Fly +14, Intimidate 
  +10, Perception +11, Stealth +14 
  languages Celestial, Draconic, Infernal; telepathy 100 ft.
  sQ master grappler, shared senses
  
  59
  Diablerie
  4
  eCology
  environment Hell
  organization solitary, pair, flock (1 magaav and 2d6 gaav)
  treasure value standard (masterwork ranseur, other treasure)
  speCiAl ABilities
  infernal Wound (ex) The damage a magaav deals with its claws 
  or rend causes a persistent wound. An injured creature 
  loses 1 additional hit point each round. The wound does 
  not heal naturally and resists healing spells. The continuing 
  hit point loss can be stopped by a DC 16 Heal check or any 
  spell that cures hit point damage; casting a curative spell on 
  the injured creature requires a successful DC 15 caster level 
  check, otherwise the spell has no effect. The check DC is 
  Constitution-based.
  Master grappler (ex) A magaav can wield a weapon and 
  still make grapple checks. If it’s not wielding a weapon, a 
  magaav gains a +4 bonus on grapple checks.
  noxious Breath (su) Three times per day, a magaav can 
  exhale a breath that reeks of pure corruption upon a 
  creature within 5 feet. The target must make 
  a DC 16 Fortitude save or be sickened for 
  1d4 rounds. The save DC is Constitution-
  based. Creatures that successfully save 
  cannot be affected by the same magaav’s 
  noxious breath for 24 hours. A delay poison or 
  neutralize poison spell removes the effect from 
  the sickened creature. Creatures 
  with immunity to poison are 
  unaffected, and creatures 
  resistant to poison receive their 
  normal bonuses on their saving 
  throws. Once a magaav uses its 
  breath weapon, it can’t breathe 
  again until 1d4 rounds later.
  shared senses (su) All gaavs (and 
  magaavs) within 100 feet of one 
  another share the same senses. Thus, 
  if one individual perceives something 
  (for example, with a successful Perception 
  check), all others within range are immediately 
  aware of it. Senses are instantly relayed from 
  one gaav or magaav to the next, allowing for 
  the senses of a single devil to potentially spread 
  through and inform an entire massive 
  swarm instantly. It is still possible 
  for a magaav to be surprised or 
  flat-footed even if other gaavs or 
  magaavs nearby are not.
  All magaavs may 
  telepathically communicate with all other gaavs and 
  magaavs within 100 feet at once, allowing the greater host 
  devils to command entire swarms. Although magaavs rarely 
  contradict one another, if faced with competing orders, 
  gaavs follow the commands of the closest magaav.
  summon Devil (su) Once per day a magaav can attempt to 
  summon 1d2 gaavs with a 60% chance of success. This 
  ability is the equivalent of a 3rd-level spell.
  Hunters of souls, host devils retrieve Hell’s most elusive 
  property. Whether souls that have long evaded capture upon 
  the plains of Avernus, damned beings who have somehow 
  managed to escape Hell, or creatures that have reneged 
  upon infernal contracts, vast f locks of these winged fiends 
  swarm from the Pit to recover their prey. Rarely seen alone, 
  host devils travel in great swarms that often number in the 
  thousands. Amid these great hosts f lap the swarm leaders, 
  the magaav, fierce mockeries of the angelic form capable 
  of directing and redirecting massive columns of their 
  brethren like the brain of a single colossal infernal beast.
  Gaavs stand 4 feet tall and weigh approximately 110 
  pounds, their wingspans stretching to just over 6 feet 
  wide. Magaavs stand 5–1/2 feet tall and weigh 150 pounds, 
  with wingspans reaching 10 feet across. 
  
  60
  Pathfinder Chronicles: Princes of Darkness
  Devil, Warmonger (Levaloch) 
  Armored like an infernal knight upon some monstrous steed, this fiend 
  of iron and nails scuttles upon six heavy, bladed, beetle-like legs. Its 
  body seems to be nothing more than plates upon hulking plates of dark 
  metal, each pierced through with gleaming spikes studded with the 
  gruesome trophies of past massacres. In one clawed gauntlet it grips 
  a long, twisted trident, while in the other it readies a thick net woven 
  with fiendish barbs.
  WARMongeR Devil 
  CR 7
  Xp 3,200
  LE Large outsider (devil, evil, extraplanar, lawful)
  init +7; senses darkvision 60 ft., see in darkness; Perception +16
  Defense
  AC 22, touch 12, flat-footed 19 (+3 Dex, +10 natural, –1 size)
  hp 84 (8d10+40)
  fort +10, Ref +9, Will +5
  Defensive Abilities construct form; DR 5/good; immune fire, 
  poison; Resist acid 10, cold 10; sR 12
  offense
  spd 40 ft., climb 40 ft. 
  Melee mwk trident +13 (2d6+7), 2 legs +7 (1d8+2) or
  2 claws +12 (1d6+5), 2 legs +7 (1d8+2)
  Ranged mwk trident +10 (2d6+7) or
  net +10 ranged touch (entangle)
  space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
  special Attacks merciless blow, summon devil, trample (1d8+7, 
  DC 19)
  spell-like Abilities (CL 12th)
  At will—greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs. of objects only)
  stAtistiCs
  str 20, Dex 17, Con 19, int 14, Wis 16, Cha 15
  Base Atk +8; CMB +14; CMD 27
  feats Combat Reflexes, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, 
  Toughness
  skills Acrobatics +14 (+18 jumping), Bluff +13, Climb +17, Craft 
  (weapons) +9, Intimidate +13, Knowledge (dungeoneering) 
  +9, Knowledge (engineering) +9, Knowledge (planes) +13, 
  Perception +16, Stealth +12
  languages Celestial, Draconic, Infernal; telepathy 100 ft.
  sQ hellstrider, phalanx, stability
  eCology
  environment Hell
  organization solitary, pair, or troop (3–18)
  treasure standard (masterwork trident, other treasure)
  speCiAl ABilities
  Construct form Despite being true devils, levalochs possess 
  a number of immunities common to constructs, including 
  immunity to ability damage, ability drain, death effects, 
  death from massive damage, disease, energy drain, 
  exhaustion, fatigue, necromancy effects, nonlethal damage, 
  paralysis, sleep effects, and stunning. Upon being reduced 
  to 0 hit points, they are immediately destroyed.
  Hellstrider (su) A levaloch is not impeded by rough terrain, 
  and can move or charge through such squares as normal. It 
  can also cross areas covered with deadly impediments (such 
  as caltrops or thorns) without being damaged or hindered. 
  In addition to being entirely immune to fire, the creature’s 
  legs are immune to acid and cold, allowing it to cross even 
  rivers of acid or lava without being damaged or hindered 
  as long as the material is less than 4 feet deep. This ability 
  does not protect a levaloch against magical hindrances like 
  black tentacles, web, or similar spells.
  Merciless Blow (su) Levalochs show no mercy to the 
  vulnerable. Any trident attacks they make against entangled 
  creatures (including those entangled by its net) deal an 
  extra 2d6 points damage.
  phalanx (ex) Devils gain a +1 morale bonus on attacks and to 
  AC while adjacent to a levaloch.
  stability (ex) Levalochs receive a +4 racial bonus to their CMD 
  when resisting a bull rush or trip attempt while standing on 
  the ground.
  summon Devil (sp) Once per day a levaloch can attempt to 
  summon 1d4 lemures or 1 bearded devil with a 40% chance 
  of success. This ability is the equivalent of a 4th-level spell.
  skills Levalochs have a +2 racial bonus on Stealth and 
  Perception checks. This Stealth bonus increases to +8 when 
  a levaloch is concealed amid metal objects or debris.
  Fearsome giants of steel and blades, levalochs serve within the 
  armies of archdevils and infernal dukes as potent warriors 
  and tenacious hunters, creatures of absolute discipline 
  endlessly obedient to diabolical tyrants. Renowned for their 
  skill on Hell’s battlefields, these fearsome soldiers excel in 
  moving swiftly over the broken landscapes that typify the 
  nine layers of the Pit, hunting down intruders and seeking 
  out errant souls wherever they might flee. En masse, the 
  armored clanking of obedient and watchful infantry sound 
  like the workings of great machines as levaloch hosts man 
  Hell’s ramparts, from the Iron Fortresses of Avernus to the 
  walls of Ashtart. Levalochs possess consistent forms, each 
  resembling all others of their kind in general shape and size, 
  though each devil’s armor proves distinctive. Some claim that 
  the arrangement of a levaloch’s spikes, horns, blades, or other 
  iron-shod embellishments might reveal what layer of Hell or 
  infernal noble spawned the devil, though few have the time to 
  ponder such concerns as one of these razor-legged legionaries 
  rages forward. With little variation, levalochs stand just over 
  10 feet tall and weigh almost exactly 1 ton.
  Ecology
  Levalochs blur the line between devil and automaton. While 
  created from the souls of the damned and the profane 
  energies of Hell, these fiends live only to obey their masters 
  and, upon their home plane, seemingly possess little will 
  
  61
  Diablerie
  4
  or ambition beyond such obedience. Requiring no food or 
  rest, a levaloch sentinel might hold its post, completely 
  motionless, for centuries, collecting ages of dust without 
  complaint as it awaits orders that might never come. While 
  intelligent, these devils prove fanatically devoted to the 
  causes of their masters, the archdevils, Asmodeus, and Hell 
  itself, drawing on ingrained wells of discipline and faith to 
  mete out the greater will of their overlords. Levalochs are 
  highly prized throughout the Pit for this discipline, held 
  up as epitomes of diabolical warriors second only to the 
  ferocious cornugons, and pointed to throughout the planes 
  as embodiments of the soldier’s ideal. Yet this discipline 
  only persists while levalochs remain under orders from 
  more powerful devils. Left to their own devices, each 
  levaloch fancies itself a tyrant by its own right and relishes 
  the opportunity to promote conf lict and bloodshed through 
  petty mortal angst and grudges.
  While all devils possess anatomies that perpetually baffle 
  mortal scholars, levalochs prove even more enigmatic, 
  having no internal physiology at all. Being little more than 
  living suits of blasphemous chitin and Hell-forged armor, 
  these fiends lack all weaknesses of even infernal flesh 
  and blood, while retaining all of the potent resistances 
  common to their diabolical kin. A levaloch’s sentience 
  seems to linger within its armored shell, remaining 
  until that exoskeleton proves too damaged to contain an 
  animating spirit any longer. Should a levaloch’s armor 
  be destroyed, the plates of metal and carapace fall to 
  pieces and quickly corrode, revealing nothing more than the 
  strong scent of pitch within. Despite their unusual anatomy, 
  levalochs are still thinking, even cunning creatures. The 
  fiendish intelligences housed within these ironclad horrors 
  cause some sages to draw frightening parallels between 
  levalochs and the profane soul-bound armors of the 
  infamous undead graveknights.
  Habitat & Society
  Commonly found upon the first and sixth layers of 
  Hell and amid the outlying fortresses of Dis, levalochs 
  muster in the service of the Pit’s most martial 
  tyrants. Most know only their orders, following their 
  masters’ commands to the letter, disregarding all 
  things that fall outside of their purview—at least 
  until such things threaten their masters’ holdings 
  or themselves. Intruders within infernal citadels 
  sometimes find themselves unchallenged as they 
  wander vast halls watched over by whole platoons 
  of posted, idle levalochs, only to be attacked 
  unexpectedly upon encountering those specifically 
  commanded to stand sentry. These fiends hold to 
  their orders not out of dull-wittedness, but out of 
  obsessive obedience to the rule of Hell, as proven 
  by their murderous cunning in battle.
  On the rare occasions levalochs find themselves left to 
  their own devices, the true intellect of these armored terrors 
  becomes apparent. Capable of shocking changes in personality, 
  a levaloch that might not have spoken a word in its entire 
  existence might prove shrewd and subtle when it finds itself 
  upon the Material Plane, stirring old angers, forging Hellish 
  weaponry, even training mortal warriors in a strategic game 
  of warmongering and open campaigning, all encouraging 
  bloodshed in the name of Hell. They despise the weakness of 
  emotion and the changeability of mortal minds. Thus, they 
  delight in testing themselves against mortal flesh, indulging 
  in massacres and encouraging genocides against such weak, 
  worthless creatures whenever their plots might gain even the 
  slightest benefit from such atrocities. Such pride rarely proves 
  the undoing of levalochs, though, as these armored fiends 
  treat every battle as a chance to hone their impressive skills 
  and give foes—regardless of race—no quarter.
  
  62
  Pathfinder Chronicles: Princes of Darkness
  Exodus
  Asmodeus raged. Taking his brother by the arm, he showed Ihys eternities of effort come to ruin. 
  Upon each endless sphere, they found new realms of madness and horror formed by Ihys’s loosed 
  creations. “See, brother,” Asmodeus sobbed. “See your wonder, the damage you have caused.” And 
  Ihys saw. He saw that which he had created reduced to cinders, insane beings abusing his beloved 
  works, creating and recreating things beyond his imagining. And Ihys wept.
  Returning to the Seal, Asmodeus whispered to his brother of forgiveness, and why their might 
  was theirs alone. He reminded his brother time and again of how his action fed the mad things 
  that lurked beyond 
  their worlds, and 
  how every age 
  forevermore would bear 
  the scar of this 
  one act of chaos.
  When Asmodeus 
  finally left his brother, 
  Ihys lay broken and 
  tormented upon the Seal. 
  Long he suffered, 
  for never had he or any 
  being known chiding 
  or regret. It was one of 
  his lesser kin, a being 
  he had long ago coaxed 
  from the Seal, who 
  finally came to Ihys. 
  Brilliant and warm, 
  this fair mote thanked 
  her creator, for several of the essences of his world had sought shelter with her. She promised to protect 
  those Ihys had released among the spheres, and with them continue his great work. Yet Ihys’s heart was 
  not so easily drawn from the shadows. He decried the mote’s words as ignorance, for there were things 
  that she did not know and would never possess the strength of mind to discover. To this the shining 
  mote agreed, but also claimed that there was much beneath the greatest gods’ notice that she had 
  long ago come to accept. She had traveled her lords’ worlds and reveled in their wonders, both glory and 
  despair. Such, she claimed, was the way of all things, and marvels should not be left uncreated for the 
  shadows they might one day cast. And so she departed to tell others of his greatness.
  Long Ihys meditated on what the burning mote had said, her words tempering Asmodeus’s 
  accusations. Finally, he rose, believing again that he had done something wondrous. Venturing 
  from the Seal, he spoke to the droves of lesser gods who had heeded the words of the shining mote.
  Upon discovering that his brother had not reconsidered and now corrupted others with his radical 
  ideals, Asmodeus flew into a rage, racing to his brother’s side and tearing him away from his 
  growing congregation. Furious, he threatened and pleaded with his brother not to violate the order 
  they had made, but Ihys would not be dissuaded again, and espoused the beneficence of freeing 
  their creations. In his ire, it was Asmodeus who struck the first blow, the first act of violence 
  between deities. Shocked and wounded, Ihys recoiled and fled, as did Asmodeus, distressed by his own 
  actions. Yet lines had been drawn among the lesser gods, and while the First retired, a war began.
  Much was created and destroyed in this first war between order and chaos. Those caring nothing 
  for the conflict departed, crafting strange domains far from the Seal or journeying into the 
  beyond, never to be seen again. Champions rose among the followers of both Asmodeus and Ihys, but 
  From the Book of the Damned
  Wherein disobedience is justly punished, 
  weakness is mistaken for virtue, a battle 
  for creation consumes the children of the 
  Seal, and the fires of Hell are kindled.
  
  63
  Diablerie
  4
  none more zealous than the mote that had come to Ihys in his grief, a gentle yet passionate 
  goddess called Sarenrae, who became his right hand of Ihys in the battle against tyranny.
  None can say how long the war between the gods raged, but on an insignificant world far from 
  the Seal, between the flickering and dying of godly motes, Asmodeus and Ihys met. Both had 
  suffered much since their last meeting, seen whole worlds of their creations lost. Each paused upon 
  seeing the other, and finally Ihys offered his hand, hoping to find room in their reality for both 
  philosophies. Full of sorrow, Asmodeus reached out with one hand to pull his brother close, while with 
  the other he manifested a great spear and thurst it deep. Shocked and betrayed, Ihys gasped and 
  stared deep into his brother’s eyes as his vital force gave way, exploding in an eruption that rocked 
  all creation and shattered the world of their battle. Souls and 
  lesser deities were washed away in the blast, and all creation knew 
  instantly of Asmodeus’s terrible act. Knowing loneliness for the first 
  time, Asmodeus, too, shed the first and last of his tears as he floated 
  through the dying embers of his brother.
  It was Sarenrae who discovered the wounded and brooding Asmodeus, 
  and in that moment of fury the goddess discovered something 
  beyond order and chaos—her own sense of right and wrong. 
  Sarenrae leveled her burning sword at the murderer, demanding 
  he yield. With a blink, Asmodeus awoke and quenched the 
  goddess’s blade, taking her by the throat. Looking deep within 
  her, he saw fear, and insignificance, and weakness, but also the 
  truth of the age. And as the goddess prepared to join her master, 
  she was shocked to feel Asmodeus release and address her.
  “Your war is won, Pale Orphan. I leave all of this to you and 
  your ilk. But you will see me again, for I alone remain to guard the 
  old truths. And I will wait for the age when all you have wrought 
  and all for which you have fought turns to sweep you 
  away. Then all of you will see what I have lost, 
  and what I will make mine again.”
  And so Asmodeus departed, along with 
  the greatest of his champions, to a harsh 
  realm far from the Seal and the young gods. Here, 
  nine lost souls lingered and roamed. Collecting 
  and holding them close, Asmodeus shaped 
  his new realm into a fearful pit, a cage 
  to house and torment these souls and those 
  that would inevitably come, to stand 
  forever as a monument to the old 
  ways. And he called it Hell.
  
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  15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE
  Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
  System Reference Document. Copyright 2000. Wizards of the Coast, Inc; Authors: Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, 
  Skip Williams, based on material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
  Pathfinder Chronicles: Princes of Darkness, Book of the Damned, Vol. I. Copyright 2009, Paizo Publishing, LLC; 
  Author: F. Wesley Schneider.
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  Denizens of Hell
  The following compiles many of the diabolical tyrants known to rule in Hell, the vices and transgressions they preside over, and the powers granted.
  Deity 
  Alignment 
  Areas of Concern 
  Domains 
  Favored Weapon
  GoDs
  Asmodeus 
  LE 
  pride, slavery, tyranny 
  Evil, Fire, Law, Magic, Trickery 
  light mace
  ArChDevils
  Baalzebul 
  LE 
  arrogance, flies, lies 
  Air, Death, Evil, Law 
  spear
  Barbatos 
  LE 
  animals, corruption, gateways 
  Evil, Law, Magic, Travel 
  quarterstaff
  Belial 
  LE 
  adultery, deception, desire 
  Charm, Destruction, Evil, Law 
  ranseur
  Dispater 
  LE 
  cities, prisons, rulership 
  Evil, Law, Nobility, Trickery 
  heavy mace
  Geryon 
  LE 
  forbidden knowledge, heresy, snakes 
  Evil, Law, Strength, Water 
  heavy flail
  Mammon 
  LE 
  avarice, watchfulness, wealth 
  Artifice, Earth, Evil, Law 
  shortspear
  Mephistopheles 
  LE 
  contracts, devils, secrets 
  Evil, Knowledge, Law, Rune 
  trident
  Moloch 
  LE 
  fire, obedience, war 
  Evil, Fire, Law, War 
  whip
  Whore Queens
  Ardad Lili 
  LE 
  seduction, snakes, women 
  Charm, Evil, Law, Scalykind 
  dagger
  Eiseth 
  LE 
  battle, revenge, wrath 
  Destruction, Evil, Law, War 
  longbow
  Doloras 
  LE 
  detachment, dispassion, pain 
  Destruction, Evil, Law, Repose 
  kukri
  Mahathallah 
  LE 
  death, fate, vanity 
  Death, Evil, Law, Trickery 
  net
  inFernAl Dukes
  Alocer 
  LE 
  beasts, hunters, tradition 
  Animal, Evil, Law, Strength 
  shortbow
  Bifrons 
  LE 
  fate, luck, patterns 
  Creation, Evil, Law, Rune 
  dire flail
  Crocell 
  LE 
  hidden waters, illusion, language 
  Evil, Knowledge, Law, Water 
  glaive
  Deumus 
  LE 
  apprehension, promises, terror 
  Darkness, Death, Evil, Law 
  halberd
  Eligos 
  LE 
  flight, soldiers, watchfulness 
  Air, Evil, Law, Travel 
  lance
  Furcas 
  LE 
  duty, flames, herbalism 
  Evil, Fire, Law, Plant 
  trident
  Gaap 
  LE 
  divination, illusion, water 
  Evil, Law, Rune, Water 
  shortspear
  Haborym 
  LE 
  immolation, renewal, shackles 
  Evil, Fire, Law, Protection 
  longspear
  Iaozrael 
  LE 
  authority, hubris, liars   
  Destruction, Evil, Law, Sun 
  scythe
  Jiraviddain 
  LE  
  debility, dependence, frailty 
  Community, Evil, Healing, Law 
  sap
  Kalma 
  LE 
  burial rites, death, insects 
  Animal, Death, Evil, Law 
  heavy pick
  Lorcan 
  LE 
  blood, rebirth, undeath 
  Evil, Healing, Law, Repose 
  short sword
  Malthus 
  LE 
  architecture, expansion, waste 
  Artifice, Evil, Knowledge, Law 
  light crossbow
  Nergal 
  LE 
  atrocity, pestilence, war 
  Death, Evil, Law, War 
  spiked chain
  Ose 
  LE 
  betrayal, doom, obsession   
  Artifice, Evil, Law, Madness 
  spiked gauntlet 
  Pirias 
  LE 
  denial, drugs, wonder 
  Evil, Law, Madness, Plant 
  throwing axe
  Quindiovatos 
  LE 
  exploration, gems, legends 
  Glory, Earth, Evil, Law 
  rapier
  Ruzel 
  LE 
  blasphemy, humor, undeath 
  Death, Evil, Law, Trickery 
  kukri
  Sabnach 
  LE 
  construction, parasites, toil 
  Artifice, Evil, Law, Strength 
  heavy crossbow
  Titivilus 
  LE 
  lies, propaganda, rhetoric 
  Evil, Knowledge, Law, Trickery 
  longsword
  Uruskreil 
  LE 
  armor, mercilessness, revelation 
  Evil, Glory, Law, Strength 
  falchion
  Vapula 
  LE 
  discovery, hubris, scholarship 
  Evil, Knowledge, Law, Liberation 
  quarterstaff
  Vois 
  LE 
  pollution, swamps, toads 
  Evil, Law, Scalykind, Weather 
  greatclub
  Wylgart 
  LE 
  condemnation, judges, revision 
  Earth, Evil, Law, Protection 
  sling
  Xhasnaphar 
  LE 
  masks, ugliness, volition 
  Evil, Law, Liberation, Protection 
  hand crossbow
  Yan-gant-y-tan 
  LE 
  hellspawn, misdirection, night 
  Darkness, Evil, Law, Weather 
  guisarme
  Zaebos 
  LE 
  arrogance, nobility, sexual perversion 
  Destruction, Evil, Law, Nobility 
  flail
  Zepar 
  LE 
  abduction, rape, transformation 
  Charm, Evil, Law, Trickery 
  bolas
  MAlbrAnChe 
  Alichino 
  LE 
  deception, madness, royalty 
  Evil, Law, Madness, Trickery 
  dagger
  Barbariccia 
  LE 
  fecundity, predators, slaughter 
  Animal, Evil, Law, Plant 
  spiked gauntlet
  Cagnazzo 
  LE 
  elusiveness, fear, murder 
  Death, Evil, Law, Travel 
  short sword
  Calcabrina 
  LE 
  dreams, insanity, mystery 
  Evil, Knowledge, Law, Madness 
  kukri
  Circiatto 
  LE 
  gluttony, greed, undead 
  Death, Evil, Law, Magic 
  warhammer
  Draghignazzo 
  LE 
  devastation, monsters, patience 
  Destruction, Earth, Evil, Law 
  greataxe
  Farfarello 
  LE 
  antiquity, death, mists 
  Death, Evil, Knowledge, Law 
  morningstar
  Graffiacane 
  LE 
  corruption, elusiveness, vermin 
  Animal, Evil, Law, Luck 
  shuriken
  Libicocco 
  LE 
  rage, violence, wind 
  Air, Destruction, Evil, Law 
  scimitar
  Malacoda 
  LE 
  cruelty, conquest, martial skill 
  Evil, Law, Strength, War 
  bastard sword
  Rubicante 
  LE 
  fire, honor, nobility 
  Evil, Fire, Glory, Law 
  starknife
  Scarmiglione 
  LE 
  deceit, poison, temptation 
  Charm, Evil, Law, Water 
  hand crossbow
  
  Abandon All Hope...
  F
  rom the origin of the gods to the inhabitants of the darkest infernal pit, Princes of Darkness: Book 
  of the Damned Vol. I is an unflinching look at the methods, motivations, and goals of Asmodeus, 
  the archdevils, and the entire hierarchy of Hell. Whether you’re planning to storm the 
  gates of Avernus or trade in the exotic and immoral markets of Dis, or simply want to 
  add a splash of diabolical flavor to a standard campaign, this book is full of delicious 
  temptations worthy of Faust himself.
  Princes of Darkness includes:
  ►  A layer-by-layer description of Hell and its rulers.
  ►  The hierarchy of Hell, and how devils are promoted.
  ►  The role and duties of each kind of devil, including the infernal 
  dukes and the herald of Asmodeus.
  ►  Guidelines for infernal contracts.
  ►  Devil talismans, true names, and their uses.
  ►  New Hell-themed spells, magic items, and artifacts.
  ► The diabolist prestige class, complete with imp companion.
  ►  Five new kinds of devils, from the blaspheming apostate devil to the 
  relentless levaloch.
  This stand-alone book can also complement the material found in 
  the Council of Thieves Adventure Path, Pathfinder Chronicles: The Great 
  Beyond, and Pathfinder Companion: Cheliax, Empire of Devils.
  paizo.com/pathfinder
  ®
  TM
  Printed in China PZO9213
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Pathfinder/1st Edition/Campaign/Book of the Damned, Volume 1 - Princes of Darkness.pdf