Mephistopheles
Mephistopheles keeps his realm churning with punishing storms. He doesn’t entertain visitors, and Asmodeus has charged him with maintaining a stout security force around Nessus. Travelers that aren’t protected against the environment, which is cold enough to kill a creature in seconds, have little hope of surviving.
The foremost wizard in the Hells, Mephistopheles suffers nothing that would compromise his intellectual focus. He hates distractions and allows only particular devils to speak to him without first being spoken to. He has been known to disintegrate minions for the smallest transgressions, and sometimes carries out an execution simply because he suspected that a devil was about to do something to annoy him.
Mephistopheles is able to devote almost all his time to his research thanks to the loyalty of Hutijin, his top lieutenant. Even though Hutijin commands enough power to threaten his master’s position, he is content to remain at the right hand of the throne, at least for the time being. Operating from his great tower, the icy citadel of Mephistar, he conducts a never-ending series of experiments that expand his understanding of arcane magic and of the planes of existence. Mephistopheles and his followers specialize in luring wizards and sages into making compacts with the Nine Hells. Of all the Lords of the Nine, he has the lowest quotas but the highest standards. He harvests the souls of skilled wizards and cunning sages, exactly the sort of folk he needs to further his research. Curiosity and ambition are motivating factors that entice such souls into his service — often, a mage who gets an opportunity to join the cause of Mephistopheles sees that invitation as proof of one’s ascension to greatness.
The downside to this arrangement is the true nature of Mephistopheles, which is apparent only after a new contract is signed. He can be charming when he recruits a soul directly, and his agents are careful to avoid making any promises about his actions or attitudes. But once a soul arrives in the Nine Hells to serve him, it invariably faces decades of routine work or tedious study.
Thus, few who join his stable of arcanists remain happy with their decision, but they would be well advised not to show any discontent. Mephistopheles fills his contracts with cleverly worded clauses that allow him to annihilate any of his servants with a word. As further protection against dissent, he isolates his minions, allowing them to gather in small groups only when needed to carry on their work. Even then, the law of Mephistopheles prohibits all but the most vital communication, limited to why they have come together. Some of the most skilled but most gullible former wizards of the Material Plane now toil eternally in Cania, alone except for their books, their tools, and their regrets.
