Mephistopehles
Archduchess Mephistopehles (a.k.a. Mephisto, Lady of Hellfire, The Cold Lady, The Archdevil of Contradictions)
Mephistopheles, sometimes shortened to Mephisto and once under the name of Molikroth, was the lady of Cania and most powerful archdevil next to Asmodeus herself. Hell's greatest wizard was a walking contradiction, on the surface the cool and calculating Cold Lady and beneath that the grandiose and hot-headed Lady of Hellfire.
Mephistopheles played up her infernal image as much as possible, intentionally appearing as the classic archetype of a diabolical devil. She was 9 ft tall and striking, her beautiful visage and charming yet unnerving smile of self-superiority contrasted by her more monstrous features. Her fiendish claws, bright, crimson red skin, large, bat-like wings and impressive, curling ram horns all left her hellish heritage on proud display. Another source of contrast was her dead-white eyes against her long, straight, black hair, as well as her dramatic, flowing cape as dark as the deepest void.
Earlier reports of Mephistopheles claimed that she once had an image more befitting of Cania. She had blue-black skin across her heavily muscled body; wings, horns, and claws a deep shade of blue, scales of sooty black, and eyes that were pale blue except for the red irises and pupils.
When Mephistopheles was donning her Molikroth persona, she appeared as an obese woman whose gross levels of fatness were frankly absurd. Despite being only 7 ft tall she was still massive because she was wider than she was long, competing with creatures like hill giants in terms of sheer mass. Even when the waddling baron was swathed in clothes made from only the most ridiculously expensive materials that were the height of Sigilian fashion styles, all her foppish finery couldn't hide her ultimately foolish appearance.
Personality-
Mephistopheles was a being of razor-sharp instinct, careful suspicion and prodigious brilliance, a cunning genius with an unparalleled understanding of Hell's political dangers and a great capacity for patient deception. Foremost wizard of Hell, her ordinary speech was like a whispering wind and her cool, pleasant demeanour gave her the outward appearance of a princess. She came off as sophisticated and charming when she spoke, an intellectual force of understated wit, reason and self-restraint. However, this was by no means her ordinary behaviour, but a façade like Dispater's which disguised her true personality, a veneer of elegance as carefully crafted as her traditionally infernal appearance. Despite her courteous persona, Mephistopheles was an unstable individual on the inside, the contrast between her cold surface and fiery core a perfect example of her existence as a walking contradiction. Mephistopheles was a vicious being with an outrageous temper, who when alone in her palace frequently flew into violent rages, her quick wit burning away when met with her underlying hate and frustration. In her shrieking fits of terrible wrath she would start tearing at her own skin and destroying her surroundings in explosive outbursts of fiery, magical destruction, her unpredictable eruptions of rage having been her undoing multiple times in the past. Although her conniving intelligence was certainly real, Mephistopheles was an emotional entity that was ultimately driven by her passions. Obsession-
Mephistopheles suffered no distractions from her focus, her studious pursuits being of upmost importance to her. Though she would entertain visitors purely for her own amusement, a rarity among the archdevils, she hated any unwanted distractions and rarely gave time to anything not worth her personal attention. She was known for disintegrating underlings for the slightest annoyance, only allowing a few devils to speak without being spoken to, and sometimes executed her servitors based on the suspicion that they would bother her. Further cementing her as a contradictory entity was the strong but flickering nature of her focus. Mephistopheles's great intelligence often ended up mixing with her obsessiveness, as in her pursuit of knowledge she became fascinated with the most minor details. Though this allowed her to delve deeper into topics than typical wizards, her unrelenting focus had to be tempered by her responsibilities, and was ultimately undermined by her mercurial behaviour. When forced by some political circumstance to stop what she was doing, there was a chance upon returning that some new project would catch her eye, at which point that research would become her new top priority. Because of this cycle of undivided attention followed by casual neglect, Mephistopheles had many useful discoveries ready to be accessed that she simply didn't know about. Pride-
While her anger and neurotic tendencies were weaknesses, which she could either hide or use to her advantage, Mephistopheles' most damaging issues were her rampantly unchecked megalomania and recklessness in the pursuit of power. Though she'd hate to be compared to Baalzebul, both archdevils seemed incapable of being content and compulsively overextended themselves, Baalzebul's plans collapsing under the weight of her unrealistic expectations and Mephistopheles becoming so absorbed in her plans that she ignored her overall wellbeing. Mephistopheles's manifestation of greed however was somewhat opposite to that of the Lady of the Lies, who hid her goals through skilfully woven deception, since Mephistopheles's execution of wicked plots was always extreme and dramatic, her brazen ambition almost glorious in its nakedness. Mephistopheles was perhaps the most entitled of the archdevils, an avatar of envy who resented the fact that she was "merely" the second most powerful archdevil. Always jealous of others, she couldn't get enough of prestige, wondering where her awards were when another was rewarded for service despite having continually, confidently, and directly told Asmodeus she planned to take her throne. Though willing to fawn if needed, she normally didn't bother to cloak her intent with fake vows of obedience, truly believing that she was the rightful ruler of Hell, that her destiny was to rule it, and that she deserved to be worshiped as a god. She constantly demonstrated this attitude anew each day, and likely wouldn't be satisfied even if she achieved this primary reason for existence. Activities-
From the wizard's tower that was Mephistar, Mephistopheles performed many tests, to discover more about arcane magic and the nature of the planes, her most recent pet project being her hellfire obsession. She had spent a great amount of time mastering and experimenting with the new, magical fire, distracted her from the needs of her formerly favoured minions, the gelugons, her realm's stability and her soul-harvesting efforts. With Cania's old power structure virtually upended, the ice devils fled to the mountain Gelineth and formed a retreat known as Nebulat, which stuck out of the mountain's side like a crystal fungus. Though none would directly condemn her, the discontent devils made many plans to resolve their situation, some scheming to undermine her lead researchers by finding or planting evidence of treachery, creating a new type of ice magic to win back her interest, trying to correct her behaviour and others just plotting to replace her. Meanwhile Mephistopheles's attempt to grow her cult using hellfire had put her in large amounts of divine energy debt to some of the other archdevils, particularly Dispater and Levistus. She was taking a serious gamble, for though her success could ideally grant her the largest and most popular cult, failure would leave her devastated, and her investors would likely sabotage her if her risks seemed likely to pay off. https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Mephistopheles Though Baalzebul was certainly a threat to Mephistopheles, and could possibly have defeated him and become the most powerful archdevil during the Reckoning, the Lord of the Flies tried to achieve too much at once, attempting to dispatch both his master and archnemesis, offending Asmodeus and causing him to intervene. Mephisto meanwhile, was undermined by the sheer instability of his court, relying on Hutijin to keep his great number of pit fiends in check.[17][3][26] His policy of destroying anyone who proved too competent caused his political and military endeavors against Baalzebul to suffer, and perpetuated the stalemate. Also on the Cold Lord's mental radar was the Frozen Prince Levistus, who he carefully kept an eye on.[17] One of Levistus's agents, the half-fiend Zanth, had a taste for good-aligned children, and so Mephistopheles sent minor devils to offer the rare delicacy, subtly influencing his decisions. Then there was Belial, an ally of Baalzebul, and his daughter Fierna who, if Belial came to Baalzebul's aid, Mephistopheles would try to use against her father, ideally as an ally and at worst as a hostage. Among Mephistopheles's actual allies, at least nominally, was the Iron Duke Dispater, the two of which shared seniority and a desire for knowledge.[10][17] Dispater was drawn to Mephistopheles's power and respected him as a true member of the baatezu race, unlike the relative upstart Baalzebul, although recently, Dispater tried to present himself as a friend to all and enemy of none, distancing himself from allies and trying to make peace with rivals in a futile attempt to assuage his paranoia.[1][17][13] On top of that, Mephistopheles's court had to be on constant alert for Dispater's agents, as the secret-loving archdevil was pained by the idea that Mephistopheles knew something he didn't. Perhaps Mephistopheles's strangest relationship was with his master Asmodeus, for he was the Prince of Evil's most dangerous enemy and most capable ally. Despite Mephistopheles making it abundantly clear that he dreamt of the day when he could depose his lord, Asmodeus still seemed to trust his counsel when offered. The relationship was further clouded by the existence of Glasya, to whom Mephistopheles was something of a godfather.[1][9][11] Several reasons behind this relationship, (Mephisto's rivalry with Baalzebul and the usefulness of Baalphegor), had been presented, but a more simple and underlying possibility also existed.[1][11][3] Mephistopheles was potentially the only individual archdevil that Asmodeus feared, whose mastery of hellfire, knowledge of ancient secrets, and duty as guard of his realm made him a deadly and great enough asset to tolerate his threats. Though Mephisto couldn't yet oppose Asmodeus, both watched to see if circumstances changed the nature of the situation, the Lord of Hellfire waiting until his adversary made a big enough miscalculation for him to make his move.
Mephistopheles was a being of razor-sharp instinct, careful suspicion and prodigious brilliance, a cunning genius with an unparalleled understanding of Hell's political dangers and a great capacity for patient deception. Foremost wizard of Hell, her ordinary speech was like a whispering wind and her cool, pleasant demeanour gave her the outward appearance of a princess. She came off as sophisticated and charming when she spoke, an intellectual force of understated wit, reason and self-restraint. However, this was by no means her ordinary behaviour, but a façade like Dispater's which disguised her true personality, a veneer of elegance as carefully crafted as her traditionally infernal appearance. Despite her courteous persona, Mephistopheles was an unstable individual on the inside, the contrast between her cold surface and fiery core a perfect example of her existence as a walking contradiction. Mephistopheles was a vicious being with an outrageous temper, who when alone in her palace frequently flew into violent rages, her quick wit burning away when met with her underlying hate and frustration. In her shrieking fits of terrible wrath she would start tearing at her own skin and destroying her surroundings in explosive outbursts of fiery, magical destruction, her unpredictable eruptions of rage having been her undoing multiple times in the past. Although her conniving intelligence was certainly real, Mephistopheles was an emotional entity that was ultimately driven by her passions. Obsession-
Mephistopheles suffered no distractions from her focus, her studious pursuits being of upmost importance to her. Though she would entertain visitors purely for her own amusement, a rarity among the archdevils, she hated any unwanted distractions and rarely gave time to anything not worth her personal attention. She was known for disintegrating underlings for the slightest annoyance, only allowing a few devils to speak without being spoken to, and sometimes executed her servitors based on the suspicion that they would bother her. Further cementing her as a contradictory entity was the strong but flickering nature of her focus. Mephistopheles's great intelligence often ended up mixing with her obsessiveness, as in her pursuit of knowledge she became fascinated with the most minor details. Though this allowed her to delve deeper into topics than typical wizards, her unrelenting focus had to be tempered by her responsibilities, and was ultimately undermined by her mercurial behaviour. When forced by some political circumstance to stop what she was doing, there was a chance upon returning that some new project would catch her eye, at which point that research would become her new top priority. Because of this cycle of undivided attention followed by casual neglect, Mephistopheles had many useful discoveries ready to be accessed that she simply didn't know about. Pride-
While her anger and neurotic tendencies were weaknesses, which she could either hide or use to her advantage, Mephistopheles' most damaging issues were her rampantly unchecked megalomania and recklessness in the pursuit of power. Though she'd hate to be compared to Baalzebul, both archdevils seemed incapable of being content and compulsively overextended themselves, Baalzebul's plans collapsing under the weight of her unrealistic expectations and Mephistopheles becoming so absorbed in her plans that she ignored her overall wellbeing. Mephistopheles's manifestation of greed however was somewhat opposite to that of the Lady of the Lies, who hid her goals through skilfully woven deception, since Mephistopheles's execution of wicked plots was always extreme and dramatic, her brazen ambition almost glorious in its nakedness. Mephistopheles was perhaps the most entitled of the archdevils, an avatar of envy who resented the fact that she was "merely" the second most powerful archdevil. Always jealous of others, she couldn't get enough of prestige, wondering where her awards were when another was rewarded for service despite having continually, confidently, and directly told Asmodeus she planned to take her throne. Though willing to fawn if needed, she normally didn't bother to cloak her intent with fake vows of obedience, truly believing that she was the rightful ruler of Hell, that her destiny was to rule it, and that she deserved to be worshiped as a god. She constantly demonstrated this attitude anew each day, and likely wouldn't be satisfied even if she achieved this primary reason for existence. Activities-
From the wizard's tower that was Mephistar, Mephistopheles performed many tests, to discover more about arcane magic and the nature of the planes, her most recent pet project being her hellfire obsession. She had spent a great amount of time mastering and experimenting with the new, magical fire, distracted her from the needs of her formerly favoured minions, the gelugons, her realm's stability and her soul-harvesting efforts. With Cania's old power structure virtually upended, the ice devils fled to the mountain Gelineth and formed a retreat known as Nebulat, which stuck out of the mountain's side like a crystal fungus. Though none would directly condemn her, the discontent devils made many plans to resolve their situation, some scheming to undermine her lead researchers by finding or planting evidence of treachery, creating a new type of ice magic to win back her interest, trying to correct her behaviour and others just plotting to replace her. Meanwhile Mephistopheles's attempt to grow her cult using hellfire had put her in large amounts of divine energy debt to some of the other archdevils, particularly Dispater and Levistus. She was taking a serious gamble, for though her success could ideally grant her the largest and most popular cult, failure would leave her devastated, and her investors would likely sabotage her if her risks seemed likely to pay off. https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Mephistopheles Though Baalzebul was certainly a threat to Mephistopheles, and could possibly have defeated him and become the most powerful archdevil during the Reckoning, the Lord of the Flies tried to achieve too much at once, attempting to dispatch both his master and archnemesis, offending Asmodeus and causing him to intervene. Mephisto meanwhile, was undermined by the sheer instability of his court, relying on Hutijin to keep his great number of pit fiends in check.[17][3][26] His policy of destroying anyone who proved too competent caused his political and military endeavors against Baalzebul to suffer, and perpetuated the stalemate. Also on the Cold Lord's mental radar was the Frozen Prince Levistus, who he carefully kept an eye on.[17] One of Levistus's agents, the half-fiend Zanth, had a taste for good-aligned children, and so Mephistopheles sent minor devils to offer the rare delicacy, subtly influencing his decisions. Then there was Belial, an ally of Baalzebul, and his daughter Fierna who, if Belial came to Baalzebul's aid, Mephistopheles would try to use against her father, ideally as an ally and at worst as a hostage. Among Mephistopheles's actual allies, at least nominally, was the Iron Duke Dispater, the two of which shared seniority and a desire for knowledge.[10][17] Dispater was drawn to Mephistopheles's power and respected him as a true member of the baatezu race, unlike the relative upstart Baalzebul, although recently, Dispater tried to present himself as a friend to all and enemy of none, distancing himself from allies and trying to make peace with rivals in a futile attempt to assuage his paranoia.[1][17][13] On top of that, Mephistopheles's court had to be on constant alert for Dispater's agents, as the secret-loving archdevil was pained by the idea that Mephistopheles knew something he didn't. Perhaps Mephistopheles's strangest relationship was with his master Asmodeus, for he was the Prince of Evil's most dangerous enemy and most capable ally. Despite Mephistopheles making it abundantly clear that he dreamt of the day when he could depose his lord, Asmodeus still seemed to trust his counsel when offered. The relationship was further clouded by the existence of Glasya, to whom Mephistopheles was something of a godfather.[1][9][11] Several reasons behind this relationship, (Mephisto's rivalry with Baalzebul and the usefulness of Baalphegor), had been presented, but a more simple and underlying possibility also existed.[1][11][3] Mephistopheles was potentially the only individual archdevil that Asmodeus feared, whose mastery of hellfire, knowledge of ancient secrets, and duty as guard of his realm made him a deadly and great enough asset to tolerate his threats. Though Mephisto couldn't yet oppose Asmodeus, both watched to see if circumstances changed the nature of the situation, the Lord of Hellfire waiting until his adversary made a big enough miscalculation for him to make his move.
Divine Domains
Magic, Anger, Evil
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Mephistopheles was an ancient entity, a being rivalling even Asmodeus in terms of age, and during her time as an archdevil she had been responsible for many infernal innovations aside from hellfire. Millenia ago, she had entrapped a race of mercenary fiends similar to the mezzoloths in Hell, keeping them in a state of perpetual servitude and giving rise to the gelugon baatezu. The fiendish surgeons within her palace augmented a breed of hell hounds, the fearsome Nessian warhounds, with even greater abilities, making Mephisto's pit hounds even stronger, bigger, crueller and fiery than Asmodeus's. She captured the blood and tears of Baalphegor in a vial to create a powerful artefact known as Baalphegor's Grace, allowing the user to summon a group of erinyes known as the Blessed Angels that were ultimately loyal to her, although she originally intended to loan it to favoured cultists before she lost track of it.
One of her infamous schemes was before the Reckoning, when she donned a secret identity as the archdevil Baron Molikroth. She "deposed" herself using this alter ego and ruled for a great amount of time before finally revealing her true identity. The traitors who co-conspired with Molikroth to overthrow Mephistopheles were ended along with the deception. When the Reckoning actually occurred and Mephistopheles's faction of Dispater, Mammon, and Geryon, went up against Baalzebul's faction of Zariel, Belial and Moloch, her entire plan was undermined by a spy in her ranks; Geryon. Geryon was secretly siding with Asmodeus, and with a blow of his horn, the pit fiend generals of both armies turned against them. Despite the blatancy of her rebellion against Asmodeus, she was perhaps the archdevil that suffered the least, not cursed like Mammon or Baalzebul, cast down like Zariel, Belial, Geryon or Moloch nor left to stew in her own paranoia like Dispater.
Ascension-
Mephistopheles's plans to become a god finally came to some form of fruition during the Spellplague. Mephistopheles had persuaded her half-breed son, Magadon, to release the devil inside of him and therefore bring himself and his fellow companions Erevis Cale and Drasek Riven to Cania through some manipulation of Cale's ability to travel through shadows. Mephistopheles then proceeded to kill her half-breed son after Erevis promised Mephistopheles a portion of the god Mask's divinity. She did this as part of the agreement, not that she discussed it with Cale, saying that she would kept half of Magadon's soul with her as collateral until the delivery. Erevis later returned to Cania and sacrificed his life for the return of Magadon's soul, giving Mephistopheles the divinity she so desired, although with an unexpected cost. It was at this time that Riven, who used his new demigod powers obtained from absorbing some of Masks's divinity to travel to Cania, paid Mephistopheles a visit. Riven attacked and nearly decapitated the archdevil, and told her that if she ever stepped out of her domain that Riven would utterly destroy her. Mephistopheles replied by telling Riven that she would come back and would be waiting for him though she herself seemed to think that Riven would come back under the impression he would return for Cale at some later date. Even in the obtainment of divine power, her defeat withstanding, Mephistopheles was still undermined. Once Mephistopheles had fully recovered from Drasek's ambush attack, the insult to hours of injury revealed itself in the form of an icy cairn at the bottom of her domain, at the bottom of which laid Erevis. The rest of the divinity cheated from her was still down there, but no matter what she used, whether it was the power of hellfire, legions of furious devils, or teleportation, she couldn't enter or even scry what lurked beneath the shadow-leaking ice. Making this worse was that during the Spellplague, Asmodeus had managed to absorb the half-murdered Azuth, who had simply fallen through the Astral Sea into Hell. Mephistopheles's divinity was only a fraction of Mask's power, which itself was only a fraction of the power taken from Kesson Rel, and while she was trying to finish obtaining the last of it, Asmodeus left her second-rate through sheer luck. Though she realized that the unbreakable ice was likely some ploy of the Lady of Thieves, Asmodeus's calls to her domain were filling her with dread and pushing her to act. She feared Asmodeus was prepared to punish her for trying to dethrone her and, befitting her ego, would rather try to obtain godly power and orchestrate a coup in her limited time than beg for mercy while hoping to evade her wrath. As Mephistopheles suspected, Mask was trying to manipulate her, although not exactly in the way she thought. In -1000 BM, after a century of trying to break the ice, Mephistopheles chased the one clue she had, the existence of Erevis's son, Vasen Cale, believing he held the secret to getting to the bottom of the cairn. This was in fact, all part of Mask's plan; Vasen was a powerful and dedicated servant of Amaunator and the reunited father and son duo managed to strip the fragmented remains of Mask's divinity from all holders. Though Vasen intended to have his father receive the power, Riven decided to take on the divinity, effectively becoming the reincarnated Mask. Mephistopheles meanwhile found her plans thwarted, forced to flee the scene through teleportation without any divine spark while choking on her own blood and guts.
Mephistopheles's plans to become a god finally came to some form of fruition during the Spellplague. Mephistopheles had persuaded her half-breed son, Magadon, to release the devil inside of him and therefore bring himself and his fellow companions Erevis Cale and Drasek Riven to Cania through some manipulation of Cale's ability to travel through shadows. Mephistopheles then proceeded to kill her half-breed son after Erevis promised Mephistopheles a portion of the god Mask's divinity. She did this as part of the agreement, not that she discussed it with Cale, saying that she would kept half of Magadon's soul with her as collateral until the delivery. Erevis later returned to Cania and sacrificed his life for the return of Magadon's soul, giving Mephistopheles the divinity she so desired, although with an unexpected cost. It was at this time that Riven, who used his new demigod powers obtained from absorbing some of Masks's divinity to travel to Cania, paid Mephistopheles a visit. Riven attacked and nearly decapitated the archdevil, and told her that if she ever stepped out of her domain that Riven would utterly destroy her. Mephistopheles replied by telling Riven that she would come back and would be waiting for him though she herself seemed to think that Riven would come back under the impression he would return for Cale at some later date. Even in the obtainment of divine power, her defeat withstanding, Mephistopheles was still undermined. Once Mephistopheles had fully recovered from Drasek's ambush attack, the insult to hours of injury revealed itself in the form of an icy cairn at the bottom of her domain, at the bottom of which laid Erevis. The rest of the divinity cheated from her was still down there, but no matter what she used, whether it was the power of hellfire, legions of furious devils, or teleportation, she couldn't enter or even scry what lurked beneath the shadow-leaking ice. Making this worse was that during the Spellplague, Asmodeus had managed to absorb the half-murdered Azuth, who had simply fallen through the Astral Sea into Hell. Mephistopheles's divinity was only a fraction of Mask's power, which itself was only a fraction of the power taken from Kesson Rel, and while she was trying to finish obtaining the last of it, Asmodeus left her second-rate through sheer luck. Though she realized that the unbreakable ice was likely some ploy of the Lady of Thieves, Asmodeus's calls to her domain were filling her with dread and pushing her to act. She feared Asmodeus was prepared to punish her for trying to dethrone her and, befitting her ego, would rather try to obtain godly power and orchestrate a coup in her limited time than beg for mercy while hoping to evade her wrath. As Mephistopheles suspected, Mask was trying to manipulate her, although not exactly in the way she thought. In -1000 BM, after a century of trying to break the ice, Mephistopheles chased the one clue she had, the existence of Erevis's son, Vasen Cale, believing he held the secret to getting to the bottom of the cairn. This was in fact, all part of Mask's plan; Vasen was a powerful and dedicated servant of Amaunator and the reunited father and son duo managed to strip the fragmented remains of Mask's divinity from all holders. Though Vasen intended to have his father receive the power, Riven decided to take on the divinity, effectively becoming the reincarnated Mask. Mephistopheles meanwhile found her plans thwarted, forced to flee the scene through teleportation without any divine spark while choking on her own blood and guts.
Divine Classification
Archdevil
Alignment
Lawful Evil
Species
Realm
Church/Cult
Children
Current Residence
Pronouns
She/Her
Ruled Locations
Comments