Buy me a coffeeDevils and Other Fiends
The Gates of Hell (Dice Freaks) Grimoire of Cosmic Entities Volume One By Eli Atkinson, William Church and Serge W. Desir, Jr.
Original Concept by Serge W. Desir, Jr.
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For the past few millennia, a debate has raged as to the nature of the premier fiends of Creation, devils. The epitome of organised, logical, merciless evil, devils are feared across the Cosmos by all manner of life, from the lowest of sentient beings to the powers themselves. This fear of devils is far greater than that associated with the other fiend races
The demons of The Abyss may be more physically threatening than their eternal foes, but their plans possess none of the foresight and long reaching damnation that characterizes the devils. This does not mean that demons are not as intelligent or evil as devils. The nature of Abyssal evil, dedicated to Chaos and the unexpected, pointless misery of existence, does not require planning or logic in its execution. Although this meaningless evil is horrific to many (particularly Lawful beings), there is a measure of comfort in that, ultimately, there is no guiding force behind such evil; therefore, there is no over-arching goal in the long run. This idea can be supported by the manner in which demons “govern” themselves (the idea of government on The Abyss is truly antithetical to the plane’s very nature). There is no one demon prince that rules over all of the others. The balors, paramount of the non-god-like demonic entities, function as gang-lords, fighting with rival balors and greater demons rather than uniting their strengths against their diabolical rivals and the remainder of Creation. The acts of evil and violence of a balor are, as a whole, random and sudden when compared to the millennia-spanning plotting of a squamugon. Does this make demons any less threatening? Certainly not in the immediate sense. These spirits are extremely destructive and vicious, destroying and killing without provocation or forethought. Sometimes, this is part of a greater intent; however, such is usually not the case. Their numbers are apparently infinite and demons often appear to be more intuitive and capable of working beyond perceived boundaries than comparable devils. Yet for all the destruction they can cause, demons‘ evil simply pales in comparison to the sinister and deadly designs of their Hellish rivals.
The daemons are often compared to devils as beings dedicated to intrigue and plotting. To be sure, the daemons, for hundreds of thousands of eons, have schemed to bring the denizens of the Depths Below to their knees under the leadership of Gehenna. This plotting almost worked with the Maeldur Et Kavurik, a being the daemons claim to have created. Supposedly, this monster granted the ability for the three fiend races to teleport across Creation; when the daemons stripped the Maeldur Et Kavurik of its power, many fiends temporarily lost their ability to teleport at will. Additionally, the daemons also are said to have created the four races of fiends as some grand study of the nature of evil. For a time, these tales were the leading theories on the origin and history of the fiends. They also happen to be totally and utterly false. For all their strength and dedication to pure evil, daemons have inherent flaws which will forever render them less threatening than devils. Certainly, they are more subtle than demons. Certainly, they are more shadowy than even devils. Without a doubt, they are consummate liars gifted with the ability to persuade others -even themselves -that the lies they perpetuate are truths. In this sense, they could be considered more dangerous than devils. Many scholars suspect that if daemons constructed a lie both massive and ingenious enough in which the entire Cosmos believed they would eventually come to rule Creation. After all, Belief is Power. Unfortunately for the daemons, not only are they liars but backbiters as well. Unlike demons, who engage in regular and bloody civil wars, the daemons constantly challenge each other’s lies with more lies. They are loath to allow another of their kind to rise to the pinnacle of power. There are a few god-like daemons in the Depths Below, but these entities are not capable of uniting more than a handful of their race. These challenges eternally blunt their evil and prevent daemons from achieving their optimum potential.
Devils, in the end, prove to be the most deadly of the fiend races. Unlike demons, devils are not interested in immediate gratification. Unless necessity dictates otherwise, devils typically will not simply kill an opponent. More often than not, they are not interested just in the death of their adversaries, but in their eternal damnation and loss of faith. Unlike the daemons, who lie as a matter of course, devils lie only when the truth is not more useful. Even then, they rarely lie in the entirety since lies have a nasty habit of backfiring and ruining carefully formulated plots. No, devils are more interested in manipulating fools with just enough truth and the right amount of hyperbole in order to lead them down the path of evil. Devils are logical and organised. Though they possess smaller numbers than both demons and daemons, devils continue to hold their own in The Blood War. Notwithstanding the countless battles they have lost, the percentage of diabolical losses is significantly less than those of the demon hordes or daemon mercenaries. Most terrifying of all, devils have rationalzed their evil. There is a reason for everything they do, and they are more than capable of justifying their positions to any and all, even mighty solar’s (as history has shown on several occasions). Their evil is also guided by a governing force, an intellectual centre. For millennia, it was believed that this force was the Dark Ministry, the supreme generals of the Legions of Hell. Then, it was thought that singular entities, the Lords of the Nine, ruled all devils as a grand council. It is now known that the Lords of the Nine in truth answer to The Lord of the Nine, The Overlord of Hell, Asmodeus. This being, the apex of all that is Lawful Evil, is the overall guiding force of rational and organised evil in Creation. Greater in power than any of the demon princes or the various Nether Fiends, this entity is feared by all who are aware of its true power.
There can be no doubt that devils are the most dangerous of the fiends. Their logical and formulated explanation of their evil, their ability to work together, and their ultimate leader, all contribute to their being the preeminent threat in the Cosmos. The remainder of this treatise will touch briefly on the various types or stations of devil’s.