Cult of Dispater
Dispater supported soul harvesting territories able to reliably produce with little effort, rewarded those that managed to improve their yields and was willing to trade territories and minions with other archdevils. He was not above trying new plots and, compared to other devils, seemed focused on engaging in the soul trade, sending his envoys to pursue endless schemes throughout the Material Plane. His interest and skill in the trading of souls was rooted in his obsession with obtaining secrets; he desired the souls of secret-seekers and bargained with those who already had important secrets of their own.
Both Dispater and his soul harvesters recognized the subjective nature of value and the imps under his command diligently explored the Material Plane searching for pieces of, sometimes seemingly random, information to use as bargaining chips, such as the identity of a mysterious figure in a potential mark's life. A peasant that stumbled across powerful arcane magic could be convinced to enter an infernal pact in exchange for information about the future economy, while a powerful archmage could be cajoled into entering their own deal in exchange for the spell.
Dispater was the archdevil, if not most known then most understood, by mortals and the patron of war and intrigue. His followers upheld the principles of planning and strategy, thinking like generals and having the prowess of warriors. Despite being defensive to the point of sequestering themselves they were never truly trapped, as part of Dispater's doctrine was the idea of making contingencies. When combat was necessary, they made sure it was on their chosen battlefield and under their terms.
Dispater's followers showed an extreme attention to detail, particularly devils that lived in Dis and so had to be unerringly wary just to survive. They also had exceptional martial prowess with almost all weapons and armours, especially those of iron. More supernatural abilities included the power to summon erinyes, turn their bodies to iron, cause items to rust, detect the presence of metal, and teleport away in order to escape harm.
Cults devoted to Dispater did exist, but they weren't actually encouraged by the Father of Strife, who instead tempted influential individuals with promises of power. Dispater's agents weren't technically rulers, but rather those who ruled behind the throne by blackmailing the actual authorities with scandalous secrets and hidden weaknesses, such as villainous viziers, ministers and councillors. His true disciples were suspicious to the point of being paranoid, and despite preferring to have others fight for them they typically had few real allies and so had to employ mercenaries and other minions to enact their will.
Dispater's actual cults were similarly secretive and militant, representing evil in its most stable, and thus stagnant, form. They were conspiratorial in nature, often attempting to overtake existing religious and government organizations. Warlike humanoid races like goblins or hobgoblins revered the Iron Duke as the image of indestructibility, and rogue mind flayers occasionally appealed to him seeking knowledge that would allow them permanent freedom from the elder brain.
Rituals:
Initiation into a cult of Dispater involved the ritualistic sacrifice of an intelligent being on an iron altar in the presence of an erinyes supervisor that would report it to Dispater afterwards. Fighters and combat-oriented rogues and rangers were known to submit to him, being powerful soldiers that wielded iron axes and swords. Dispatian clerics donned grey attire and were often covered in iron, from their to their maces to the masks that hid their facial features. Dispater's were often hidden and remote and always easily defensible with various escape routes, secret passages and traps to create options for its occupants. Even if not temples, all disciples mustered the most well-defended bases possible, the greatest owning literal fortresses with armies at their command. Commonly, cultists simply hunkered down in their outposts reviewing protocols and backup plans. Avatars and Aspects:
Dispater's avatar had been described as a 10 ft (3 m), yellow-skinned figure with the horns of a pit fiend and his aspects, which looked similar to himself, wielded weaker versions of his rod and wore clothing as exorbitant and resplendent as their master's. If possible, Dispater always sent aspects to deal with situations outside of Dis that required a certain amount of personal attention, such as tempting intriguing mortals or societies and entreating with the other archdevils in Nessus. Despite often being made to fight, they were hesitant to fulfil their purpose since they shared Dispater's paranoia, in regards to both his safety and their own. Because of this they avoided risky fights, rarely ever committed to battle, had at least one escape planned and when pressed tried to kill the most dangerous opponent as fast as possible to secure their survival. They bewildered their enemies from afar and created iron barriers to keep them from getting close, always looking for potential advantages in combat and surrounding themselves with minions. Aspects were most comfortable when surrounded with devils under their control but saw commanding mortals as a disgusting task for lesser devils. While one might think that, having lived in the paranoia-fuelled Iron City, that the aspects would be able to relax on the Material Plane, the lack of distrust amidst its denizens only further agitated their sense of suspicion. Those around them felt more fearful than what was typical of their race and the aspects went out of their way to foster an environment with the correct amount of paranoia. Notably, the aspects were still more adept at handling society than Dispater himself. Though sometimes summoned or created by cults, many times Dispater's aspects in Faerun were looking for souls that would, or could be made to, experience regret for their misdeeds before death, allowing them to be turned into spectres and used to collect divine energy.
Initiation into a cult of Dispater involved the ritualistic sacrifice of an intelligent being on an iron altar in the presence of an erinyes supervisor that would report it to Dispater afterwards. Fighters and combat-oriented rogues and rangers were known to submit to him, being powerful soldiers that wielded iron axes and swords. Dispatian clerics donned grey attire and were often covered in iron, from their to their maces to the masks that hid their facial features. Dispater's were often hidden and remote and always easily defensible with various escape routes, secret passages and traps to create options for its occupants. Even if not temples, all disciples mustered the most well-defended bases possible, the greatest owning literal fortresses with armies at their command. Commonly, cultists simply hunkered down in their outposts reviewing protocols and backup plans. Avatars and Aspects:
Dispater's avatar had been described as a 10 ft (3 m), yellow-skinned figure with the horns of a pit fiend and his aspects, which looked similar to himself, wielded weaker versions of his rod and wore clothing as exorbitant and resplendent as their master's. If possible, Dispater always sent aspects to deal with situations outside of Dis that required a certain amount of personal attention, such as tempting intriguing mortals or societies and entreating with the other archdevils in Nessus. Despite often being made to fight, they were hesitant to fulfil their purpose since they shared Dispater's paranoia, in regards to both his safety and their own. Because of this they avoided risky fights, rarely ever committed to battle, had at least one escape planned and when pressed tried to kill the most dangerous opponent as fast as possible to secure their survival. They bewildered their enemies from afar and created iron barriers to keep them from getting close, always looking for potential advantages in combat and surrounding themselves with minions. Aspects were most comfortable when surrounded with devils under their control but saw commanding mortals as a disgusting task for lesser devils. While one might think that, having lived in the paranoia-fuelled Iron City, that the aspects would be able to relax on the Material Plane, the lack of distrust amidst its denizens only further agitated their sense of suspicion. Those around them felt more fearful than what was typical of their race and the aspects went out of their way to foster an environment with the correct amount of paranoia. Notably, the aspects were still more adept at handling society than Dispater himself. Though sometimes summoned or created by cults, many times Dispater's aspects in Faerun were looking for souls that would, or could be made to, experience regret for their misdeeds before death, allowing them to be turned into spectres and used to collect divine energy.
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