Cult of Asmodeus
Asmodeus had been varyingly described as having no need for worship and desperately craving true divinity. Regardless, he desired the souls of mortals and maintained a following among them.
Indeed, Asmodeus was unquestionably the dominant figure in regards to those who knowingly worshiped devils. He was often the first choice of all civilized, prospective devil worshipers, with those known as such almost always being his followers, and had by far more cultists on the Material Plane than any other archdevil, arguably even combined. Furthermore his cult subsumed all others, for technically every diabolic cult was simply a subdivision of his own and every leader of such a group was mandated to acknowledge his power and pledge allegiance to him. Mortals who drew their power from infernal sources ultimately drew power from him, and he was the final authority on what benefits an archduke was allowed and even mandated to provide.
Asmodeus had followers of practically every race and influenced all levels of society even within the greatest bastions of good. Most sects were based in the settlements of humans, halflings, dwarves, elves, and gnomes, although the cult did claim some monstrous adherents. He courted influence among organized races of lawful evil humanoids, such as hobgoblins, with many creatures of evil revering him as the patron of might and tyranny.
Following this aspect, all Asmodeus's clerics aspired to wealth, prestige, and most of all, power, and most cultists used his organization as a stepping stone to these goals. In following him they saw their way to great power, a path providing access to the otherwise unattainable. They were imperious figures whose great personal magnetism made them natural leaders and who already possessed much political power, such as merchants and wealthy nobles. The cult functioned as a secret and sinister mutual-aid society whose members used their pre-existing influence and affluence to raise each other into higher positions of prominence. In societies devoted to him, all advancement whether political, social, or economic was tied to membership of the cult.
In predominantly lawful evil societies, Asmodeus's temples dominated the landscape and typically operated openly. If allowed in societies predominantly of other alignments they openly followed him but kept their true natures and activities secret. In areas hostile to lawful evil, temples were hidden in subterranean complexes and the nature of their god hidden to unproven initiates. All temples were full of his symbols; his ruby-tipped rod emblem was used for subtlety while his skull-gripping clawed fist was used in devil-dominated societies, but sometimes an inverted pentagram would suffice. All were well-appointed and protected through the financially empowering favour of Asmodeus.
Having no soul quota of his own, Asmodeus was no stranger to subcontracting cults to other figures and inventing fictional figures for devotion (such as in his schemes to inspire faithlessness) and had an interesting relationship with the cults of his two most powerful rivals. In an arrangement that frustrated the narcissistic Mephistopheles to no end, he traditionally operated cults for Asmodeus. Often confused for his master, he did not exert much influence on the Material Plane (though his relatively recent discovery of hellfire helped him escape this somewhat). Meanwhile, members of Baalzebul's cults (the third most popular infernal cult) were often better insurgents than governors, and so occasionally he and Asmodeus swapped temples. A victorious church of Baalzebul would be taken over by Asmodeus and Baalzebul would gain a secret shrine to Asmodeus within an area in need of subversion.
Asmodeus also maintained several unconventional mortal casters. In fact, the most common origin of warlocks in the Realms was infernal, and of all the archdevils, it was Asmodeus who maintained the most of such pacts, at least among those with fiendish blood. The great effort he spent in this endeavour served to grant him influence on different planes and solidify his supremacy, and only Mephistopheles rivalled his rate of creation and control. There were also his domineering disciples of darkness, callous in their quest for unlimited power, ruthlessly striving for nothing less than world domination. The best were often already spellcasters, and the most powerful could draw some of Asmodeus's power into themselves. The most worthy cult leaders, whether directly in his cult or not, were granted the power to drain the vitality of their allies, even doing so automatically when unconscious.
After Divinity:
Since attaining his divinity during the Spellplague, Asmodeus's mortal follower base had been ever-expanding. His faith was still considered a form of devil worship, for he was known to humans and demi humans alike as Lord of the Nine Hells, but while his priests, called the mordai, were known to conduct vile rituals in his name, doing so was no longer actually necessary to channel his divinity, unlike with other lesser lords of Hell. In his capacity as a true god, Asmodeus had a very different appeal and sphere of influence than in his diabolic aspect. Great and quick rewards were offered to those willing to submit their souls to him and he fully allowed for indulgence in the pleasures of life, as well as offered special favours for those who tempted others into his service. He was even willing, through authorized intermediaries, to send a priest to cast true resurrection on one who had died. All these temptations however were merely lures on his hook that inevitably came at the cost of the signatory's soul, sentencing them to eternal damnation in the Nine Hells. The mordai preyed on greed and impatience, and all who they corrupted were bound just as they were to never falter in word or deed as they acknowledged Asmodeus as their true master, to be obeyed absolutely and served without stopping. Furthermore, in line with his motivations, Asmodeus's church subverted the divine order. In the aftermath of the events surrounding his ascension, charismatic individuals appeared with small followings offering a confused populace answers and absolution. To those without great ambition, alive or dead, they offered reprieve from the torturous wait for a god's response through delights, distractions and company and, if at a price after death, the possibility to hide their transgressions from divine eyes. After decades of struggling for acceptance, the church had made some inroads, for while shrines were still rare and temples practically unheard of, many had taken to asking Asmodeus for reprieve from their sins. To the more aspiring, mordai offered a chance at both power and pleasures immortal in the hierarchy of Hell, a path by which they could master their own fates and achieve their goals over eternity rather than serve at another deity's leisure. In truth, even the powerful were not exempt from eternal service, although the greatest of his mortal servants could receive instant transformation into pit fiends upon death. Tieflings:
After the Spellplague, Asmodeus and a coven of warlocks known as the Toril Thirteen performed a ritual where the Lord of the Nine marked all tieflings in the world as his descendants. Regardless of their true heritage, he cursed them to bear his "blood" thus changing them to better resemble him. Even in modern times he was still willing to offer transformation into a tiefling with a direct infernal bloodline to himself, at the cost of the soul of whoever would seek such a thing. Contrary to some beliefs, Asmodeus's great ritual granted him no special control over the agency of his so-called children. Some actively rejected infernal politics and others aligned themselves with opposing fiendish factions (enough to lend some weight to the suspicion that they were all fiend worshipers). Other infernal bloodlines had also remerged, though those bearing Asmodeus's mark were still by far the most numerous. Even so, many tieflings did choose to follow the Lord of the Nine, the most frequent provider of warlock pacts to their kind. The existence of the Ashmadai, an active and violent cult of Asmodeus in Neverwinter (where the largest tiefling population was found in North Faerûn) created an atmosphere of distrust towards all tieflings there. Others:
A few shadar-kai of Netheril revered Asmodeus. Since Laduguer's death (and after his revival), Asmodeus was known to impersonate him and other duergar deities, convincing many duergar to swear oaths to the devils in this guise to heighten their desire for vengeance and tyranny.
Since attaining his divinity during the Spellplague, Asmodeus's mortal follower base had been ever-expanding. His faith was still considered a form of devil worship, for he was known to humans and demi humans alike as Lord of the Nine Hells, but while his priests, called the mordai, were known to conduct vile rituals in his name, doing so was no longer actually necessary to channel his divinity, unlike with other lesser lords of Hell. In his capacity as a true god, Asmodeus had a very different appeal and sphere of influence than in his diabolic aspect. Great and quick rewards were offered to those willing to submit their souls to him and he fully allowed for indulgence in the pleasures of life, as well as offered special favours for those who tempted others into his service. He was even willing, through authorized intermediaries, to send a priest to cast true resurrection on one who had died. All these temptations however were merely lures on his hook that inevitably came at the cost of the signatory's soul, sentencing them to eternal damnation in the Nine Hells. The mordai preyed on greed and impatience, and all who they corrupted were bound just as they were to never falter in word or deed as they acknowledged Asmodeus as their true master, to be obeyed absolutely and served without stopping. Furthermore, in line with his motivations, Asmodeus's church subverted the divine order. In the aftermath of the events surrounding his ascension, charismatic individuals appeared with small followings offering a confused populace answers and absolution. To those without great ambition, alive or dead, they offered reprieve from the torturous wait for a god's response through delights, distractions and company and, if at a price after death, the possibility to hide their transgressions from divine eyes. After decades of struggling for acceptance, the church had made some inroads, for while shrines were still rare and temples practically unheard of, many had taken to asking Asmodeus for reprieve from their sins. To the more aspiring, mordai offered a chance at both power and pleasures immortal in the hierarchy of Hell, a path by which they could master their own fates and achieve their goals over eternity rather than serve at another deity's leisure. In truth, even the powerful were not exempt from eternal service, although the greatest of his mortal servants could receive instant transformation into pit fiends upon death. Tieflings:
After the Spellplague, Asmodeus and a coven of warlocks known as the Toril Thirteen performed a ritual where the Lord of the Nine marked all tieflings in the world as his descendants. Regardless of their true heritage, he cursed them to bear his "blood" thus changing them to better resemble him. Even in modern times he was still willing to offer transformation into a tiefling with a direct infernal bloodline to himself, at the cost of the soul of whoever would seek such a thing. Contrary to some beliefs, Asmodeus's great ritual granted him no special control over the agency of his so-called children. Some actively rejected infernal politics and others aligned themselves with opposing fiendish factions (enough to lend some weight to the suspicion that they were all fiend worshipers). Other infernal bloodlines had also remerged, though those bearing Asmodeus's mark were still by far the most numerous. Even so, many tieflings did choose to follow the Lord of the Nine, the most frequent provider of warlock pacts to their kind. The existence of the Ashmadai, an active and violent cult of Asmodeus in Neverwinter (where the largest tiefling population was found in North Faerûn) created an atmosphere of distrust towards all tieflings there. Others:
A few shadar-kai of Netheril revered Asmodeus. Since Laduguer's death (and after his revival), Asmodeus was known to impersonate him and other duergar deities, convincing many duergar to swear oaths to the devils in this guise to heighten their desire for vengeance and tyranny.
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