Baazelbul
Archduchess Baazelbul (a.k.a. Lady of the Flies, The Slug Archduchess, The Fallen One, Lady of Lies, Triel the Fallen)
Baalzebul, formerly an archon known as Triel, was the lady of Maladomini and most infamous archdevil next to Asmodeus herself. She was known as the Lady of the Flies because her webs of intrigue were so tightly woven that not even flies could escape, but the form she was cursed with by Asmodeus earned her a new title; The Slug Archduchess.
Triel was once renowned as among one of the most beauteous denizens of Celestia but was physically altered after her corruption. Her new form was that of a 12 ft (3.7 m) tall humanoid with shimmering, sable skin and the jittering, compound eyes of a fly. Still angelically stunning even after her fall from grace, Asmodeus put a curse upon her as punishment for a later crime, forcing her into an even more demeaning form.
The former celestial's mutated form was that of a 25 ft (7.6 m) tall slug, a grotesque abomination infamously unpleasant even to other devils. The Lady of the Flies was constantly surrounded by swarms of the buzzing, scuttling creatures that earned her her title. Her body glistened with mucus and thanks to her curse, faecal matter and other rancid filth manifested in piles wherever she went, resulting in her notoriously noxious stench. Her deformed arms rested at her front and were more comparable to prehensile tails in functionality. Replacing her handsome visage was a gross, human-like face with torpid lips, incapable of properly pronouncing words without a slimy, wet lisp.
However, even when reduced to such an unsightly state, faint glimpses of the Slug Archduchess's previously glorious appearance could still be made out. She had recently managed to work off her punishment, partially freeing her from Asmodeus's curse and allowing her to return to her humanoid form.
Personality-
Of Baazelbul's numerous flaws, her most crippling was her perfectionist extremism. Her unfiltered dedication to achieving physical flawlessness and greater dominion was what caused her initial fall from the Seven Heavens, as such callous ambition was more befitting of a devil. Seemingly incapable of realizing when she had gone too far, her utter arrogance led her to undermine her own plans by overreaching. She might have even been able to defeat her rival Mephistopheles if in her overconfident scheming she didn't also aim to defeat Asmodeus, causing her to fall even further than before. Baalzebul made an effort to seem calm on the surface, often withholding her true feelings from others. In truth, the Lady of the Lies had viewed her transformation into a slug not simply as an obstacle to be overcome but as a humiliating experience. She had become an abusive taskmaster during her time in Hell, a sadistic torturer that displaced her anger on her subjects and loved disheartening them, but after being cursed she became neglectful and miserable herself. Often times she ignored her depressing duties in favour of plotting revenge and fantasizing about regaining her original, Triel form. Despite her flaws, Baalzebul was still dangerously cunning and charismatic. Even if trapped as a slug, she was still the Lady of the Lies, whose every deception and false statement was made with ease. She was not to be mistaken as a pathological liar as she told each untruth with a purpose in mind and indeed managed to keep a hold on her layer for several millennia without lying, at least to other devils. Activities-
After her mortifying experience as a slug, Baazelbul limited her open plotting to the Lady of the Eighth and focused her energies on sneaking more spies into Asmodeus's court while also appealing to her, primarily by making her rivals look incompetent by comparison. The curses inflicted on her by her mistress effectively neutralized her ability to properly forge alliances with her peers, so much of her time was spent completing her actual duties as an archduchess and overseeing the soul-driven bureaucracy of her layer. Edicts, policies, treatises and other documents were kept in the underground archival labyrinth that Maladomini had made after her defeat, protected by traps, devils and confounding classification systems. She jealously guarded all the power and secrets she could from the other archdevils, particularly Asmodeus and Mephistopheles, in order to eventually enact her take over of Hell, and at one point hoarded souls with intent to perform a ritual to escape her sluggish form. https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Baalzebul Incapable of admitting his own fault, Baalzebul placed the majority of blame for his curse on Mephistopheles. The Cold Lord was the greater of his rivals and the two could be said to be quite similar, particularly in their insatiable hunger for power and recognition. Both believed that the key to their success was to defeat the other, making them the second greatest archdevil and strong enough to potentially overthrow Asmodeus. Each spent much of their time either machinating against their archenemy or having their forces engage in skirmishes and battles in a constant stalemate,[4][1] which ironically was part of the reason Asmodeus tolerated them. A keeper of many secrets, Dispater's hatred for Baalzebul was the most well-known in Baator as the two constantly fought wars of intrigue. Even with the support of Mephistopheles, the forces of Dispater and Baalzebul slowly whittled down each other and protecting himself from such plots appeared to consume much of Dispater's time and distract him from further plans of expansion.[25] Part of the reason behind his utter loathing of the Fallen One was that he viewed him not as a true baatezu but just an exiled celestial undeserving of the respect he showed Mephistopheles[4] More recently however, Dispater sought to politely distance himself from his allies and make peaceful gestures to his foes, however impossible being a truly neutral party in the Nine Hells was. Although he feigned subservience, Baalzebul's primary target of hatred was Asmodeus for cursing him, yet the Lord of Nessus occasionally favored him for seemingly no reason, possibly viewing him as a worthy opponent.[5][1] Despite Baalzebul keeping them in his castles and having them as servants and bodyguards, he only begrudgingly allowed pit fiends into Maladomini, suspecting them of being puppets or spies for Asmodeus. One of the curses inflicted by Asmodeus upon Baalzebul was that any deal struck with him would inevitably end in catastrophe for the other party, a decree that generally warded off other devils from doing so.[16] Despite this, Baalzebul still had his allies, such as the Lord of the Fourth Belial, who had been with him both before and after the Reckoning. Their relationship was kept private after Baalzebul was demoted but both sides would come to the other's aid if they were in danger, although in Baalzebul's case that was based on the assumption he could find some benefit in doing so.
Of Baazelbul's numerous flaws, her most crippling was her perfectionist extremism. Her unfiltered dedication to achieving physical flawlessness and greater dominion was what caused her initial fall from the Seven Heavens, as such callous ambition was more befitting of a devil. Seemingly incapable of realizing when she had gone too far, her utter arrogance led her to undermine her own plans by overreaching. She might have even been able to defeat her rival Mephistopheles if in her overconfident scheming she didn't also aim to defeat Asmodeus, causing her to fall even further than before. Baalzebul made an effort to seem calm on the surface, often withholding her true feelings from others. In truth, the Lady of the Lies had viewed her transformation into a slug not simply as an obstacle to be overcome but as a humiliating experience. She had become an abusive taskmaster during her time in Hell, a sadistic torturer that displaced her anger on her subjects and loved disheartening them, but after being cursed she became neglectful and miserable herself. Often times she ignored her depressing duties in favour of plotting revenge and fantasizing about regaining her original, Triel form. Despite her flaws, Baalzebul was still dangerously cunning and charismatic. Even if trapped as a slug, she was still the Lady of the Lies, whose every deception and false statement was made with ease. She was not to be mistaken as a pathological liar as she told each untruth with a purpose in mind and indeed managed to keep a hold on her layer for several millennia without lying, at least to other devils. Activities-
After her mortifying experience as a slug, Baazelbul limited her open plotting to the Lady of the Eighth and focused her energies on sneaking more spies into Asmodeus's court while also appealing to her, primarily by making her rivals look incompetent by comparison. The curses inflicted on her by her mistress effectively neutralized her ability to properly forge alliances with her peers, so much of her time was spent completing her actual duties as an archduchess and overseeing the soul-driven bureaucracy of her layer. Edicts, policies, treatises and other documents were kept in the underground archival labyrinth that Maladomini had made after her defeat, protected by traps, devils and confounding classification systems. She jealously guarded all the power and secrets she could from the other archdevils, particularly Asmodeus and Mephistopheles, in order to eventually enact her take over of Hell, and at one point hoarded souls with intent to perform a ritual to escape her sluggish form. https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Baalzebul Incapable of admitting his own fault, Baalzebul placed the majority of blame for his curse on Mephistopheles. The Cold Lord was the greater of his rivals and the two could be said to be quite similar, particularly in their insatiable hunger for power and recognition. Both believed that the key to their success was to defeat the other, making them the second greatest archdevil and strong enough to potentially overthrow Asmodeus. Each spent much of their time either machinating against their archenemy or having their forces engage in skirmishes and battles in a constant stalemate,[4][1] which ironically was part of the reason Asmodeus tolerated them. A keeper of many secrets, Dispater's hatred for Baalzebul was the most well-known in Baator as the two constantly fought wars of intrigue. Even with the support of Mephistopheles, the forces of Dispater and Baalzebul slowly whittled down each other and protecting himself from such plots appeared to consume much of Dispater's time and distract him from further plans of expansion.[25] Part of the reason behind his utter loathing of the Fallen One was that he viewed him not as a true baatezu but just an exiled celestial undeserving of the respect he showed Mephistopheles[4] More recently however, Dispater sought to politely distance himself from his allies and make peaceful gestures to his foes, however impossible being a truly neutral party in the Nine Hells was. Although he feigned subservience, Baalzebul's primary target of hatred was Asmodeus for cursing him, yet the Lord of Nessus occasionally favored him for seemingly no reason, possibly viewing him as a worthy opponent.[5][1] Despite Baalzebul keeping them in his castles and having them as servants and bodyguards, he only begrudgingly allowed pit fiends into Maladomini, suspecting them of being puppets or spies for Asmodeus. One of the curses inflicted by Asmodeus upon Baalzebul was that any deal struck with him would inevitably end in catastrophe for the other party, a decree that generally warded off other devils from doing so.[16] Despite this, Baalzebul still had his allies, such as the Lord of the Fourth Belial, who had been with him both before and after the Reckoning. Their relationship was kept private after Baalzebul was demoted but both sides would come to the other's aid if they were in danger, although in Baalzebul's case that was based on the assumption he could find some benefit in doing so.
Divine Domains
Filth, Lies, Evil
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Baalzebul was originally the archon known as Triel, and one of the most powerful and beautiful ones to be found in Celestia. Unfortunately, Triel's selfish acts in the name of achieving her perfection resulted in her corruption and exile from the Seven Heavens. After her fall, Asmodeus, perhaps out of some lingering sense of sympathy, favoured and quickly promoted Triel to the ranks of baatezu nobility.
Her ruthless lust for power served her well in Hell, and before long Baalzebul, as she had begun to call herself, mastered diabolical politics. She not only displaced the ancient, original Lord of the Seventh but managed to expunge her identity and accomplishments from infernal history. She had become the only archdevil to rule two layers of the Nine Hells, although she ruled Malbolge through Moloch and even that was a continual struggle, and created her own mosquito-like ayperobo devils from lemures.
However, Baalzebul later attempted to take the Dark Lady's throne, although the manner with which she did so to get her punished was disputed. Some claimed that she was cast down for masterminding the Reckoning of Hell, but more recently it was thought that she altered documents to confuse the bureaucracy of Hell and make Asmodeus seem incompetent, a plan upended by the unpredictable Blood War before her actions were discovered. Maladomini was thought to have become a warzone between Baalzebul, who was attempting to hide her actions, and the other archdukes trying to expose her conspiracy, supposedly resulting in the ruined state of many of Maladomini's cities.
Whatever her crime, a series of bizarre penalties befell Baalzebul; a retroactive curse turning her into a slug for a year per each lie she had told to a devil, her inability to strike deals without disaster befalling her associate, having her castle turned to excrement and filled with filth and having her dominion of Malbolge stripped from her. She recently returned to her old form, as her vanity forbade her from further extending the duration of her punishment.
Even as a slug, Baalzebul still held great influence and managed massive feats of deception, such as supposedly creating the meazels by promising to save a kingdom from dying of an awful, hunger-inducing blight. Whether they knew of her identity was unclear but upon agreeing they found themselves rendered immune to the plague but still suffering from its torturous symptoms and only able to feed upon the flesh of sentient beings, although Baalzebul's creations had a tendency to ally with the cults of his enemies.
Divine Classification
Archdevil
Alignment
Lawful Evil
Species
Realm
Church/Cult
Birthplace
Children
Current Residence
Pronouns
She/Her
Ruled Locations
Comments