Asmodeus
Asmodeus was a primal embodiment of lawful evil and a supreme strategist of unparalleled skill. His sinister machinations could take centuries, if not millennia, to come to fruition, and his master plans extended across the entire multiverse. His labyrinthine, insidious intrigues could seem inexplicable to most outside observers, for Asmodeus let even his own servants stew in fear of his next move. With all the planes as his board, the Lord of Lies maneuvered the forces of evil like chess pieces in his grand designs, slowly and subtly manipulating everyone from deities to, when needed, lowly mortals.
Just as Asmodeus was an unmatched schemer, he was an unrivaled orator, a legendary political master of unquestionable prowess. He was the most well-mannered of the archdevils, soft-spoken and eloquent as he lured others into serving his ends. Even when wracked by constant pain, he managed to appear blithely unbothered, and seemed almost chillingly reasonable. However, though he could seem generous, the quickly offered rewards of the archdevil were given to those willing to sign away their souls, after which they would suffer as a pawn in his dark designs.Despite his charisma, Asmodeus was nonetheless a representative of ultimate evil, revealing his true nature at his will.
In truth, Asmodeus was a tyrant, an authoritarian overlord who sought complete control over as many subjects as he could obtain and nothing less than absolute dominion over all reality. Torture was his tool to break the wills of others and impose his own, and knowledge of secrets and dealings his desired instrument to claim others as his. The Prince of Evil was confident in his position as one of the multiverse's strongest beings, and genuinely believed his rule was for the best. Under his rule, and only his rule, the multiverse would be pristine and perfect, with everyone in it having a place and a purpose to fulfill.
In Asmodeus's mind, only he had the strength, insight, and charisma needed to guide all to an ideal utopia, or at least the infernal hierarchy that the Archfiend interpreted as such. His rivals were inferior minds lacking the skill to see his vision through. The forces of the Abyss were loathsome opposition, their very existence a threat to his mastery of evil and their armies a direct threat to his supremacy. The forces of good were foolish, sentimental beings too soft and weak to do what had to be done. This arrogance would have led to his destruction if he lacked the competence to back it up, yet Asmodeus had managed to thwart all conspiracies against him and survive Heaven with nothing but his wit.
Law or Evil
According to legend, Asmodeus attributed his wicked deeds to necessity and the mandates of law, alluding to the rules of Hell in his defense and arguing that his contracts were never broken. He made the case that the souls he harvested served the ultimately noble end of protecting the cosmos, and noted the sanctity of law as what separated him from the demons of the Abyss.[30] Without him and his devils to defend it, he argued, the multiverse would be overrun by demonkind and ultimately destroyed, and in this, Asmodeus might technically be correct.
Although one of the ultimate powers of law, Asmodeus did not uphold the rules out of respect. Despite arguing that his actions were necessary to prevent the rise of chaos and preserve the forces of good, this was mere camouflage to disguise his true intentions. In reality, Asmodeus saw the Abyss as a useful distraction, and when prepared he planned to destroy the Upper Planes and perhaps even use demonkind to accomplish this dark goal. Ironically, in the most extreme scenario, Asmodeus's plan would ultimately be to embrace chaos, to withhold the power of law from the world and let it collapse. With the multiverse broken down and him having survived its fall, he would remake reality as he desired.
To the mind of Asmodeus, the law was merely a tool by which others could be bent to his will. Civilization, as he understood it, was a means of gaining power, the structures and technology created by society instruments to crush his enemies. Chaos made for easy conquest, and to conquer was to bring others under control. Asmodeus would use tradition as his protection and wording as his weapon, appeal to the letter of the law, and frame his deeds as upholding the natural laws of the cosmos. Even his masterfully crafted plans would obey universal laws, such as the Rule of Threes, and he believed himself the multiverse's chosen protector.More than any of these however, Asmodeus was dedicated to obtaining absolute authority for himself, and if necessary, was willing to break every law in existence to do it.
Despite his cunning and charisma, Asmodeus was not intellectually invincible. Though he was not above pretending otherwise, he was capable of being surprised, feigning foreknowledge and acting as if all was going according to plan either way. Furthermore, even Asmodeus was capable of fury, and if he forgot himself could end up bursting into a rage, his mask of civility slipping to unveil the evil that lurked below
Divine Domains
Artifacts
The original Ruby Rod of Asmodeus was created by Asmodeus from the shard of evil, which he broke off from the bottom of the Abyss and killed He Who Was, his superior at the time. This was during the Dawn War. The crafting of the rod required the shard of evil and a huge ruby soaked in the blood of a thousand mortals, Tiamat's drool for its acidic qualities for quenching, and the tears from 777 angels. Given that it required Tiamat's drool, the time frame during which the rod was crafted was between Tiamat's birth, or Io's death at the hands of Erek-Hus, and He Who Was' death at the hand of Asmodeus who used the Ruby Rod for the deed
The Ruby Rod had three protective abilities. One forced people to bow down before the wielder, thereby making it impossible for them to attack the wielder. The second one was about creating a wall of force around the wielder as well as a 50-foot (15-meter) radius antimagic field that magically repaired the wielder, first by making away with detrimental enchantment effects, then with mundane detriments like lost body parts that grow back, diseases, and poison-induced effects, and at last with a full recovery of the wielder's physical health and magical energy. The last ability could be activated intentionally but did so automatically whenever the wielder fell victim to an enchantment effect. The abilities could be used as often as he wanted by Asmodeus, but only once per day by other people.[3][2] Third, it could protect the wielder from spells by absorbing them into the rod. However, this use of the rod was not unlimited.
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