Buy me a coffeeThe Presence of Hell
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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The summoning of devils results in a variety of effects on the surround land, none of them beneficial. Of course, different devils institute different reactions when in the Mortal Coil. In spite of these differences, all devil’s, even those beyond the bounds of Hell’s Hierarchy, promote the will of Hell by reinforcing attitudes and concepts typical of Lawful Evil. And, in the case of the Courtiers of Perdition, a bit of Hell truly enters into the Mortal Coil.
When common devils are summoned into the material plane, the vast majority are summoned for a very brief period of time by spellcasters or by potent magic items to provide some kind of service. Most familiar with this kind of monster summoning typically expect such a spell to be used in combat. However, a fair number of conjurors will bring devils into the mortal realm for other tasks including transportation, information gathering, and physical labor. Common devils summoned in this manner typically have little time to cause much strife in the world they have been dragged into and, realizing this, generally do whatever service is asked of them quickly and efficiently. The vast majority of such devils have established arrangements with Lawful Evil and/or Neutral Evil gods who grant them special boons for promoting Lawful Evil acts during their short stays so long as they do nothing to bring harm to the caster. As a result, this method of summoning has the least impact on the world-at-large and next to no risk to the conjuror.
The behavior of an allied or bound devil is markedly different from that of a summoned devil. The allied devil is typically a servant of a god or some other cosmic or divine patron of a divine spellcaster and, unless the conjuror behaves in a manner grossly out of bounds in the eyes of his god, the devil will usually serve the divine spellcaster to the best of its ability (of course, this does not preclude the devil attempting to aggrandize itself). Many extremely powerful clerics have potent allies among the likes of cornugons and gelugons, relying on these entities for advice and in combat; while such conjurors do not go so far as to trust their diabolical allies, they do everything in their power to ensure their satisfaction with their role in the Prime. Indeed, many such clerics and divine spellcasters are virtually human devils and engage in acts of cruelty and evil rivaling that of their diabolical allies.
Such an amiable relationship does not exist between most arcane casters and bound devils. When a devil is bound to the material plane, such an affront is enough to ensure that the devil will do everything in its power to avenge itself against the mortal that dared chain it. Such devils, particularly those of osyluth rank and higher, are adept in not only tearing down the binds that hold them, but in following everything but the intent of the demands made by mortal conjurors. In most cases, if a devil manages to free itself from a binding, it will attempt to scare the wits from its tormentor, promising a terrible price for the humiliation it suffered before returning to Hell to begin carrying out its promise. Only rarely does the devil immediately seek to rend the conjuror limb from limb (some devils are more prone to violence than others in this regard).
For both alliances and bindings, devils begin to threaten the world at large. This is especially true in an alliance. The devil is not only a willing participant in whatever malice in which its mortal partner partakes, it also has a great deal of personal authority to do as it wishes. Such devils can turn an entire town into a terrible state within a few short hours with strategic use of enchantment and illusion magicks.
As mentioned earlier, the gate spell clearly outstrips the power of the various monster summons, alliances, and bindings. This one spell can bring dozens or more devils into the material plane at one time. And these devils in turn (like allied and bound devils) can summon even more allies. Within an hour, a battalion of devils can be on an unsuspecting mortal coil, bringing untold woe to the surroundings. Even beings as powerful as a member of the Dark Ministry can be called to the material plane by a gate. However, gates are limited in that they cannot be used to call Dukes of Hell and higher ranked Courtiers of Perdition. Magic far outstripping even the gate spell is required for such a feat. However, when a devil be it a common devil or a noble devil is called into the Mortal Coil, its presence is guaranteed to have an adverse impact on the world.
The effect caused by a devil called to the Mortal Coil, known by most as a spiritual wound, depends on the kind of devil. The following lists the different wounds and associated symptoms that infect a certain radius extending from the point in which the devil was called. The wounds can be avoided only when a magic circle against evil is used to call the devil, its power focused inwards; this works only with alliances and bindings, and never with gates, incantations, or epic spells. Consider the material on common devils as variant rules while the material on Dukes of Hell, arch-devils, and Lords of the Nine is always applicable when such beings are called to the mortal realms.