Zariel
Archduchess of the First
Zariel is the most recent addition to Asmodeus' menagerie of archdevils. She was a former angel of Tyr, the Watcher, who grew impatient and frustrated with the lack of assistance and inaction by the the Prime Dieties in the Blood War. She watched the war play out obsessively, watching each strategic blunder by the devils with gritted teeth. It is said that Asmodeus himself was behind the campaign of losses that took place in Avernus that pushed the angel Zariel to descend upon Avernus and fight back the demons herself, surrounded by loyal fighters. When the Prince of Pleasure found her among a pile of slain demon foes, he offered her control over Avernus with a contract.
Thus, the angel had fallen and the Archdevil had risen. Zariel is a warmonger obsessed with battle, someone who lives to fight and judges others on their combat skills and willingness to use them. She prizes zealous fury as much as discipline and training, and leads her troops into battle herself with iron resolve, leaving many a structure in ruin as she carves her war path. However, neither her own battle prowess nor that of her forces could disguise the fact that Zariel is reckless and rash, relying on her troops' berserker rage and her own determination to win her fights.
Zariel is no politician. She lives to fight, and she bases her assessment of those she meets on a combination of their combat skills and their willingness to use those skills. In Zariel’s eyes, zeal and fury are as important in a fight as iron discipline and extensive training. That outlook has made her something of a political pariah, since she has spurned overtures of alliance from other Lords of the Nine and elected to swell the ranks of her armies through the aggressive recruitment of mortal souls. Her agents offer gifts of martial skill and courage to any who are willing to bargain. Zariel needs souls that yearn to prove their worth on the battlefield.
