Zariel

Angel, Devil, and Wandering Immortal

Zariel

Zariel is an immortal wanderer that has been, at various points in her past, a solar of the Seven Heavens and an archdevil general of the Nine Hells, serving for a time as the Archduke of Avernus.
Opinions on Zariel are as many as the years she's spent alive, though few know her outside of the legends she dominates.

History

A Soldier of Heaven

Zariel was born eons ago in Mount Celestia, and is old enough to have served in the legions of heaven during the early formation of the Outer Wheel.
As a soldier, Zariel served during the Averniad, the epic struggle between the forces of the Seven Heavens and Elysium to take control of the paradise plane of Avernus. At the end of the Averniad, the Celestial Marshal, Ashmedai, betrayed the Seven Heavens and claimed Avernus for himself, placing it in the Eight Hells and using it as a stagign ground to counquer Hell for himself. Zariel's commander, Chazaqiel, was among the celestial legionaires that chose to follow Ashmedai to Hell, but Zariel remained loyal to heaven and fled Avernus before it arrived in Hell, losing many comrades in the escape and planar upheaval.
Fueled with bitterness and anger at Ashmedai's betrayal, Zariel isolated herself to recover from Heavens' loss. During this time, Zariel met Lulu, a hollyphant in Lunia, the lowest of the Seven Heavens. As a gentle and kind soul, Lulu aided Zariel in refinding peace within herself, and when Zariel returned to the legions of Heaven, Lulu came with her as a friend and warmount.
Zariel and Lulu, aeons later, were in attendance during the trial of Ashmedai, who now called himself Asmodeus. As the crimes brought against Asmodeus were near endless, Primus, Lord of Mechanus and judge of the trial, declared that sufficient accusations had been made long before Zariel was given an opportunity to recount her own story. Angered, Zariel broke procedure and demanded to speak, to accuse Asmodeus of the comrades his actions had killed, but Primus ordered Zariel silenced. Zariel refused, and a brawl brought out in the courtroom, ultimately leading to Zariel being dragged away. Asmodeus would later be found to have only acted according to Law and would be released, though he would also be ordered to ensure that every deal made with a mortal was upheld.

A Leader of Men

In the 9th Century CR, the demon lord Yeenoghu was terrorizing the settlements of the Winding Water on Faerun on the planet Toril. Zariel, now at the command of a celestial host, arrived on the Material Plane to put an end to the demon's rampage, intercepting Yeenoghu outside the village of Idyllglen. However, before confronting the demon lord, Zariel's force encountered an infernal legion, led by Glasya, daughter of Asmodeus and future Archduke of Malbolge, who had arrived on the Material Plane for the same purpose. Glasya invited Zariel to talk before the two sides came to blows, and after their talk, Zariel and Glasya decided to work with one another against Yeenoghu. Side by side, the angels and devils emerged victorious, banishing Yeenoghu back to the Abyss, and the two sides parted without coming to blows themselves, their common purpose fulfilled. In thanks, Idyllglen raised a statue in Zariel's honor.
In the early 10th century, decades later, a group of bandit ogres began ravaging and attacking the settlements along the Winding Way. The people of Idyllglen raised a local militia to defend themselves, led by the daughter of a local farmer named Yael. The people of the village also prayed to the statue of Zariel to save them once again. Hearing their prayers, Zariel and Lulu returned in 912 and worked with Yael to lead the Idyllglen militia to victory over the ogres. Zariel and Lulu also found themselves forming a strong friendship with Yael, and when the two celestials returned to Heaven, they did so with a heavy heart, not expecting to see Yael again.
However, meeting Yael lit a fire in Zariel. For centuries, Zariel had been growing increasingly angered at Heaven's seeming unwillingness to get invovled in the Blood War, allowing the demons of the Abyss and devils of Hell to fight themselves using mortal souls as pawns. During one venting conversation with Lulu, the hollyphant suggested that the two of them take direct action, training Yael's bandit-fighting force to disrupt the balance of the Blood War, invading the Abyss and opening a bulwark, forcing Heaven's hand.
In 918, Zariel and Lulu returned to Idylglen, finding that Yael had turned her militia into a regional peacekeeping force. When she heard about the celestials' plan, Yael was instantly onboard, encouraging the three of them to keep dreaming bigger.
Over the next two years, the Idylglen militia expanded and was shaped into a Zarielite Crusade. In 919, High Rider Olanthius of Elturel pledged his cause to the crusade, moving its headquarters to Elturel and causing the crusaders and the Riders of Elturel to become synonymous. The crusade was also joined by Haruman, Lord Knight of the Far Hills, and his forces. Together, Haruman, Olanthius, and Yael became the three mortal generals of the crusade. Olanthius and Yael also feel deeply in love with one another, though their dedication to the cause prevented them from acting on it.
In 920, Yeenoghu, hearing about the crusade's plans, began attacking settlements along the Winding Water, hoping to bait the crusaders into a trap. His ploy succeeded, and the Zarielites attacked Yeenoghu's forces outside of Idyllglen, which Yeenoghu had chosen for a battlefield to exploit Zariel and Yael's emotional connection to the village. In the resulting battle, the crusaders appeared ready to entirely rout the demonic force before Yeenoghu broke through the mortal lines, captured Yael, and ripped open a portal to Avernus in the Nine Hells. Olanthius and the other crusaders charged after their captured comrade and fell into Yeenoghu's trap, as infernal legions of Hell arrived to stop what they saw as an invasion. Many of the crusaders, led by Jander Sunstar, retreated back to the Material Plane before the portal closed, but Olanthius, Haruman, Zariel, Lulu, and Yael, who fought and freed herself from Yeenoghu, remained defiant to the end and managed to destroy an infernal legion before a second one arrived, killing nearly all of the crusaders.

Zariel, broken by the fight, sent Lulu and Yael away with her sword, in which she placed a piece of her divine essence, out of fear that she would be corrupted by this loss. Her fear was justified, as Asmodeus himself arrived in the battle's aftermath and convinced Zariel to be reborn as an archdevil to continue her war against the Abyss. Haruman, seething with anger at Yeenoghu's deception, remained loyal to Zariel and became a justicar in her infernal service. Olanthius was horrifed at Zariel's choice and killed himself rather than join her. However, the oaths Olanthius swore in life to Zariel bound him in death, and he rose again as a death knight in Zariel's service.

A Servant of Hell

Upon her fall, Zariel was made a member of the Dark Eight, one of the eight generals of Avernus under the command of Bel, Archduke of Avernus. Zariel wasted no time in aggressively fighting the forces of the Abyss, winning victory after victory, though often in a manner that brushed aside the careful politics of Hell and put her at odds with Archduke Bel. She also gathered the bodies of her fallen crusaders and entombed them in the Crypt of the Hellriders, which was guarded by Olanthius when he wasn't called to fight at her side. Meanwhile, Haruman, driven to a cold maddness by the betrayal of the crusaders that fled the field of battle, began collecting the souls of those dead and crucifying them on a spot that would be called Haruman's Hill, taking particular pleasure in placing Jander Sunstar's soul at its peak.
One of Zariel's first actions in the Dark Eight was repelling the invasion of Hell by the exiled archdevil Gargauth and the dark gods of Faerun, Bane, Bhaal, Myrkul, Talona, and more. This invasion was rebuffed, and Gargauth was trapped inside of the Shield of the Hidden Lord as punishment by Asmodeus.
In the 13the century, the Reckoning split Hell in an all-encompasing civil war. Zariel, who may have been in a secret alliance with Glasya, the one speculated to be the cause of the war, spent most of the Reckoning besieging Dis, moving her supply lines through Tiamat's Lair. However, at the war's end, Tiamat turned on Zariel, cutting off her supplies and retreat. Zariel was defeated and imprisoned by Tiamat.
In 1411, the Rift War broke out in Avernus when a massive army of baatorians through the forces of Hell and Archduke Bel into chaos. After a string of military failures, Glasya visited Tiamat. It is widely unknown what occurred during this time, but whether through bribery, a deal, or force, Zariel was freed from her imprisonment, and she raced across Avernus, rallying the forces of Hell. Under her command, the devils dealth their first decisive blow against the baatorian threat at the Battle of Lost Memories, and Zariel's command would continue unrelenting until the war ended in 1414 with the Rift Siege.
In recognition of her prowess and achievement, Asmodeus bestowed upon Zariel the title of Archduke of Avernus, demoting Bel to the ranks of the Dark Eight. Zariel's tenure as archduke would be marked by Hell pushing the frontline of the Blood War far Disward, though Zariel's brashness would undermine her own effectiveness at scheming. However, Zariel was still a devil, and the schemes of immortals are often far greater than those of humanoids.
Early in Zariel's reign, she was contacted by Gargauth, still residing in the Shield of the Hidden Lord, with an offer. As part of the pact Gargauth made with Asmodeus to have his life spared, Gargauth needed to bring 13 cities into Hell. Gargauth offered to work with Zariel, as any new cities Zariel helped Gargauth bring would go towards her ongoing war effort. Zariel agreed.
It is unknown how many cities fell victim to Gargauth's manipulation, but in 1447, Zariel was made aware of an ongoing situation in Elturel, the headquarters of her once-crusade. The city was suffering from a vampiric civil war led by the city's vampiric High Rider Klav Ikaia, and the leader of the resistance, Naja Bellandi, was growing desperate. Zariel, through her cultists, approached Bellandi and offered a pact to get rid of the vampires in exchange for the entire city being taken by Zariel in 50 years. Bellandi initially refused, but after the High Harvest Slaughter felt she had no choice and accepted. The Companion, a large artificial sun, appeared over Elturel at Zariel's commmand, eradicating nearly all of the vampires and restoring order ot Elturel.
Gargauth remained in Elturel, assisting the cult of Zariel in spreading its influence throughout the upper ranks of the Elturian, and later Elturgardian, governments. Shortly before the city's teleportation into Avernus in early 1497, Gargauth and the Zarielite leader of Elturgard, Thavius Kreeg, were covertly transported to Baldur's Gate to assist another Zarielite, Duchess Thalamara Vanthampur, in finding a way to bring Baldur's Gate to Avernus as well.
During the Damnation of Elturel, Zariel spent most of her time continuing to fight on the front lines of the Blood War while leaving the responsability of securing Elturel with her underlings. However, she did put out a bounty on the Shield of the Hidden Lord when she learned that the Lost Star Detectives, a group of adventurers attempting to save Elturel, had inadvertently brought Gargauth into Avernus with them.
As the Damnation wore on, more and more kinks started being thrown into Zariel's plan to sink Elturel in the Styx, claiming its souls. The rate at which the city was lowering had slowed significantly, as the population was signing fewer infernal contracts. Gargauth had been accidentally freed from his imprisonment by the Lost Star Detectives and was making a power play to regain his status in Avernus, fueding with Bel. Yeenoghu, Zariel's old enemy, was also on the move, gathering a force of demons and gnolls to attack Elturel and slaughter its population before they could be inducted into Hell's service through their planned Stygian baptism. Zariel was also proccupied for part of the damnation by a summons from Asmodeus, who gathered Zariel, Bel, and a recently free Gargauth for a secret meeting.
These various complications necessitated Zariel's personal involvement, and her Flying Fortress was moved to dock contra-Dis from the city. While there, she summoned Olanthius and Haruman to her side to plan for their defense of Elturel. However, Olanthius had secretly been in contact with the Lost Star Detectives and smuggled the adventurers onboard, who used the opportunity to sabotage the controls to the chains behind Elturel. Doing so set of the alarms, and the adventurers fled by jumping from the flying fortress' roof, inadvertently passing by Zariel's window. The adventurers only manageed to fly by without dying due to Zariel's suprise at seeing Lulu among the Lost Star's members.
During the Battle of Elturel, Zariel led her forces against Yeenoghu's demon hordes while Haruman and Olanthius were dispatched to defend the Companion from being tampered with by the Lost Star Detectives. Following Haruman's death, Zariel redirected her focus on the adventurers, finding in their possession the Sword of Zariel. At Lulu's suggestion, the Detectives made a gamble and gave Zariel her sword, reuniting her with the spark of goodness she had implanted in it centuries ago. Her own spark replayed for Zariel the moment where she chose to fall to Asmodeus, and with the encouragement of the Detectives and Lulu, Zariel recognized her own cruelty, weakness, and loss of her ideals, reclaiming her celestial nature.
Redeemed, Zariel freed Olanthius from his obligation to her, allowing him to die and join Yael in Heaven, and fought to defend Elturel from the demons and devils that wanted it, giving enough time for the energy of the Companion to be reversed.

A Wandering Immortal

As Elturel was being transported back to the Material Plane, Zariel was given a moment between time by the gods Torm and Lathander to speak with and thank the Lost Star Detectives. As one of her last acts of Archduke, Zariel traded knowledge to Gargauth, who was well on his way to becoming the next Archduke of Avernus, in exchange for the soul of Emmeryn Sinaran, the wife of the Detective Katya Sinaran, and Alcor Miursa, father of the Detective Arcus Miursa. She also expressed her unworthiness of her own celestial nature and her fear of misuing her innate power as she had in the past. Upon Lulu's suggestion, she bestowed her celestial powers upon the Detective Alesine Zadava, changing her into a full solar. Doing so altered Zariel as well, leaving her unable to age or die of natural causes, but without the Heavens-sent power she was born with.
Following Elturel's return, Zariel attempted to help with the city's rebuilding as an anonymous helper and grew acquianted with each of the Lost Star Detectives. As Elturel struggled to find new leadership, the city torn between the Hellrider Alcor Miursa and the vampire Klav Ikaia, who had survived the Companion's arrival fifty years ago, Zariel covertly aided the Hellrider faction, ensuring that Ikaia would never again rule Elturel, in a way honoring the pact she had made with Naja Bellandi decades before.
Following Elturel's stablization, Zariel took it upon herself to wander the Material Plane, staying out of extraplanar affairs and helping people as humbly as she could. She was often joined by Lulu, who split her time between her and Alesine.

Divine Domains

WAr

Tenets of Faith

As an archdevil, worshippers of Zariel were those that wished to fight but were unable to do so, lacking experience, bravery, skill, training, or more. Worshippers of Zariel were often rewarded with strength and power, and often allowed to live out their full lives, so that when they were taken to Hell upon death they could use those experiences in service of the Blood Legions.
Zariel's aggressive strategies in the Blood War also meant that she was in constant need of new soldiers for her forces, and her cults were encouraged to find ways to secure large masses of souls.

Physical Description

Identifying Characteristics

As an angel, Zariel was best identified by her brilliantly shining blue hair, flawless skin, four blue-tinted wings, and the blindfold she kept around her eyes.
As a devil, Zariel skin grew ashen gray, her wings grew leathery and were reduced to just two. A halo of fire burned over her head and her eyes, now exposed, were constantly aflame.
As she is today, Zariel still maintains a supernatural beauty, but it is weathered by her time as a devil. Her hair, now growing back, remains blue, but she keeps it shaved and close cropped. Her left arm, lost when she became a devil, remains missing.

Specialized Equipment

AS a solar, Zariel wielded a celestial blade that would bear her namesake, a brilliantly powerful blade that exxuded the power of Mt. Celestia.
As an archdevil, Zariel favored dual wielding. Attached to her left arm, which had been severed during the Charge of the Hellriders, Zariel affixed a powerful flail. In her right, she wielded Matalotok, an the ancient hammer once wielded by the demon lord Kostchtichie before Zariel defeated and imprisoned him.
As an immortal wanderer, Zariel has no such specialized equipment, instead making due of a simple longsword she wields with supernatural prowess.

by Ashley

Zariel, the now wandering immortal, and her best friend Lulu

Divine Classification

Solar (once), Archdevil (once)

Religions

• Cult of Zariel
• Order of the Companion

Current Status

Wandering the Material Plane

Church/Cult

Cult of Zariel

Honorary & Occupational Titles

Lord of the First, Archduke of Avernus

Previously Held Ranks & Titles

• Archduke of Avernus

Sex

Female

Hair

Blue, shaved

Other Affiliations

• Dark Eight

Ruled Locations

• Crypt of the Hellriders

Zariel as an solar

by Wizards of the Coast

Zariel as an archdevil