Asmodeus (æz-mo-DAY-us)

Overview

Open worship of Asmodeus began when small cults with charismatic leaders sprang up in the aftermath of the Spellplague. That catastrophe left many asking why the gods were angry or had abandoned them. To those questioners, the faithful of Asmodeus provided answers and a god who would forgive all their faults. Still, for the next few decades, the cult of Asmodeus struggled for acceptance. In the beliefs of the people of the North — which coincide with many tales told by dwarves, elves, and others — Asmodeus is Lord of the Ninth, the leader of all devils of the Nine Hells. People know devils to be iron-minded and silver-tongued purveyors of temptation, whose price for their boons can be as dear as one’s soul. It’s said that when a soul waits on the Fugue Plane for a deity to take it to its appropriate afterlife, devils approach the soul and offer it a chance at power and immortal pleasures. All a soul needs to do is take one step out of the dust and the milling crowd and put a foot on the first rung of the infernal ladder that represents the hierarchy of the Nine Hells.
The faithful of Asmodeus acknowledge that devils offer their worshipers a path that’s not for everyone — just as eternally basking in the light of Lathander or endlessly swinging a hammer in the mines of Moradin might not be for everyone. Those who serve Asmodeus in life hope to be summoned out of the moaning masses of the Fugue Plane after death. They yearn for the chance to master their own fates, with all of eternity to achieve their goals.
To those not so dedicated, priests of Asmodeus offer the prospect of a reprieve in the afterlife. All souls wait on the Fugue Plane for a deity’s pleasure, which determines where a soul will spend the rest of eternity. Those who lived their lives most in keeping with a deity’s outlook are taken first. Others, who have transgressed in the eyes of their favored god or have not followed any particular ethos, might wait centuries before Kelemvor judges where they go. People who fear such a fate can pray to Asmodeus, his priests say, and in return, a devil will grant a waiting soul some comfort.
Today, shrines to Asmodeus are still rare and temples are almost unheard of, but many folk have adopted the habit of asking Asmodeus for reprieve from their sins. After transgressing against a god in some way, a person prays to Asmodeus for something to provide respite during the long wait. Asmodeus is known to grant people what they wish, and thus people pray for all the delights and distractions they desire most from life. Those who transgress in great ways often ask Asmodeus to hide their sins from the gods, and priests say that he will do so, but with a price after death.

(Baator, more commonly known, as the Nine Hells is the undisputed domain of the Archfiend Asmodeus)

Ethos & Dogma

Asmodeus was a primal embodiment of lawful evil and a supreme strategist of unparalleled skill. His sinister machinations could take centuries, if not millennia, to come to fruition, and his master plans extended across the entire multiverse. His labyrinthine, insidious intrigues could seem inexplicable to most outside observers, for Asmodeus let even his own servants stew in fear of his next move. With all the planes as his board, the Lord of Lies maneuvered the forces of evil like chess pieces in his grand designs, slowly and subtly manipulating everyone from deities too, when needed, lowly mortals.
According to legend, Asmodeus attributed his wicked deeds to necessity and the mandates of law, alluding to the rules of Hell in his defense and arguing that his contracts were never broken. He made the case that the souls he harvested served the ultimately noble end of protecting the cosmos, and noted the sanctity of law as what separated him from the demons of the Abyss. Without him and his devils to defend it, he argued, the multiverse would be overrun by demonkind and ultimately destroyed, and in this, Asmodeus might technically be correct.
To the mind of Asmodeus, the law was merely a tool by which others could be bent to his will. Civilization, as he understood it, was a means of gaining power, the structures and technology created by society instruments to crush his enemies. Chaos made for an easy conquest; to conquer was to bring others under control. Asmodeus would use tradition as his protection and wording as his weapon, appeal to the letter of the law, and frame his deeds as upholding the natural laws of the cosmos. Even his masterfully crafted plans would obey universal laws, such as the Rule of Threes, and he believed himself the multiverse's chosen protector. More than any of these, however, Asmodeus was dedicated to obtaining absolute authority for himself, and if necessary, was willing to break every law in existence to do it.
Asmodeus believes that the strong should rightfully govern the weak, who in turn owe their masters unwavering obedience. He loves negotiations and contracts, especially those that give one of the parties a distinct, hidden advantage over the other. He expects and appreciates flattery, but is never fooled by it, seeing it as a negotiation tactic, as well as a duty those in inferior positions owe their betters.

Religious Orders

• Ashmadai
• Disciples of Asmodeus
• Toril Thirteen
• Infernal Cheliax
• Sisters of the Golden Erinyes
• Order of the God Claw
• Revelations of Ashmael

(Some of the many kinds of devils that serve Asmodeus)

History & Relationships

First and foremost, Asmodeus seeks to preserve the status quo of Baator, that being his station as supreme ruler of Hell. Beyond this he sought to expand the power of lawful evil in the multiverse, tipping the cosmic scales in its favor. All this went towards Asmodeus's ultimate goal, to heal the wounds he suffered from his ancient fall from grace, regain his full power, and instigate Armageddon. Baator ran on a divine energy derived from the souls of the damned, a magical force that could be extracted through the merciless torture, destruction of identity, and overall breakdown of corrupt souls. As horrifying and diabolical as it was, Asmodeus had been toiling on his grand design in the depths of Hell since time immemorial and still was not done. He pursued his malevolent agenda on multiple fronts, his true motivations in each obscured to all and glimpsed by a very small few.

The Blood War

The Blood War, the eternal battle between the fiends of the lower planes, was often described as a kind of philosophical war over which form of evil would reign supreme. The origins of the war were lost to time, and contrary to popular opinion Asmodeus did not start it, although he played a significant part in its existence and development. In truth, the Blood War was merely the continuation of an ancient conflict that perhaps predated even Asmodeus's own fall, a war of law and chaos that defined and nearly destroyed the young multiverse in an Age Before Ages.

Infernal Politics

Standing above the common devils were Hell's nobility, the archdevils, the highest of which were the archdukes who ruled the first eight layers of Hell. Below them were their own courts, filled with dukes, princes, counts, and various other nobles the least of which were the pit fiends. These lords created intricate webs of political plots, intrigues, and deceptions, protecting themselves from ambitious minions below while aiming for the spots of those above, conspiring with and betraying one another and other powers of the planes in their quest for power and dominance. And in this fierce rivalry, Asmodeus's servants spent most of their time fighting each other and not him.

Spreading Disbelief

Asmodeus always hungered for the soul energy of those who had lost faith, particularly those of the powerful. The divine energy he received from the individuality-robbed souls sentenced to Hell could heal his wounds, but that of unbelievers was for whatever reason especially enticing to him. To be specific, it was not mere atheists who he wanted, but those who believed in nothing, no form of divinity, afterlife, or even a reason to continue existing. Souls who died in this state did not become normal petitioners, instead reforming in Nessus regardless of alignment to be excruciatingly consumed by Asmodeus until, fully aware the whole time, every bit of their true essence was obliterated.

(The endless Blood War between devils and demons that takes place on the fields of Avernus, the first layer of the Nine Hells)

Tenets of Faith

• Value yourself, indulge yourself
• Ambition and greed are natural
• Exploit weakness
• Corrupt innocence or destroy it

(The Lord of the Ninth and master of the Ruby Rod, Asmodeus)

Holy Symbol

(The holy symbol of Asmodeus)

Statistics

Titles

• The Lord of the Ninth
• The Cloven
• Old Hoof and Horn
• Supreme Master of the Nine Hells
• Lord of Nessus
• Lord of the Ruby Rod
• The Raging Fiend

Adjectives

• Asmodean

Portfolio and Domains

• Indulgence
• Knowledge
• Order
• Trickery

Common Worshippers

• Infernalists
• Power Corrupted
• Hedonist

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Divine Classification

Greater Deity

Alignment

Lawful Evil

"I am known by many names. The Lord of Nessus. The Raging Fiend. But you know me as― ”
— Asmodeus