#I'm divided between Lust and Wrath

[djevelbl]

CHAT. CHAT WHAT DO I DO

[tyrantisterror]

The Fuck's Up With Mammon?

Ok, so, in the grand history of Christian folklore, there are dozens of different ways that the society of Hell and its various demons can be structured. One of the most popular is The Seven Princes of Hell, which divides Hell between seven ruling demons, each of which represents the seven deadly sins (and is opposed by saints who represent the seven heavenly virtues). It's fun because it's got a solid theological theme and not too many working parts - seven is a more digestible number than nine or, like, however the fuck your sort out all the demons in the Lesser Key of Solomon, each of which has some arbitrary number of legions of demon soldiers under their command, and the deadly sins theme gives you a clear way to make each prince's domain stand out.

(Obviously I'm a bit biased here, since I used a modified version of the Seven Princes of Hell for my own story about demons, but still, I think the point stands.)

Now, who the seven princes of Hell are can differ. Binsfield, the guy who coined the name, lists them as follows:

Lucifer, Prince of Pride

Mammon, Prince of Greed

Asmodeus, Prince of Lust

Leviathan, Prince of Envy

Beelzebub, Prince of Gluttony

Satan, Prince of Wrath

Belphegor, Prince of Sloth

However, there are earlier versions of the seven princes that rearrange things. Beelzebub has been given the sin of Envy at times, Belphegor has been given gluttony, and both Belial and Abaddon/Apollyon have taken the role of prince of Sloth. With me so far?

Right, ok, so here's the thing: ALL of these demons have shit going on in folklore outside of their role as potential princes of Hell. Well, all except one. To wit:

Lucifer, despite being a translation error, quickly became the front-runner in the grand race of "Who is THE Devil in the Bible, i.e. the leader of Hell itself?" It helps that said translation error was made by King James in his version of the Bible, which, while a terrible translation, is an amazing piece of poetry in its own right and beloved by many Christians because of it. Notably, Lucifer is The Devil of Paradise Lost, which is up there with Dante's The Divine Comedy in being one of the most important and influential depictions of Hell of all time.

Beelzebub is one of the oldest demons in all of demonology, predating Christianity itself, and is pretty close to Lucifer in the race for "Who is THE Devil," with arguably a better claim to the position despite Lucifer being the more popular candidate for the role.

Satan gets kudos for being one of the few devils that's ACTUALLY named in the Bible... even if it's less a name in context and more a title akin to "prosecuting attorney." Because of that, he's arguably got the greatest claim to being The Devil, and in most works where a different devil gets the title, Satan is treated as one of his alternate titles anyway.

Asmodeus was set up in folklore to be The Devil, and has a pretty strong claim to the title because of that. He's also clearly what Dante based his description of the devil's physical appearance on, with his three different colored heads and all, and that gives him some major props.

Leviathan is also a rare demon who gets mentioned in the Bible, although in the Bible it's pretty clear he's not a demon but rather a big sea monster, and a lot of Christian folklore treats him as such instead of as a demon. So that's a pretty big "other thing going on" for him - sometimes he's not even a demon, but more of a godzilla.

Belphegor was mentioned in a good number of texts predating the concept of arranging demons by the seven deadly sins, and while he was mostly a minor demon (akin to most of the other residents of the Lesser Key of Solomon, like Shax or Marchosias or what have you), that's still something. Becoming a Prince of Hell gave him a greater claim to fame, but still, he had a career before it.

Abaddon/Apollyon is one of those demons whose name is ALSO a synonym for Hell itself, which is a pretty big deal. He can be a demon, or he can be hell, or he can be BOTH, like in the takes where Hell has a literal mouth to swallow sinners and is portrayed as kind of a living monster in its own right. He also got to be The Devil in Pilgrim's Progress, and that's pretty cool.

Belial is one of the absolute earliest demons, having been cast as The Devil in the Book of Enoch, which is kind of the O.G. Abrahamic demon story (as much as any written story could be the source of it, anyway). Thus, while Belial may not have the most popular claim to being The Devil, he arguably has the best claim to it, or at least the earliest. Also, Belial is just as often depicted as a lady demon as he is a male demon, which means Belial is the best candidate for a Princess of Hell.

But that leaves... Mammon. And as far as I can tell in all my research, Mammon's claim to fame is and has always been being the Demon of Greed. Like Lucifer, his existence is owed to a translation of the Bible personifying something that was not originally a person - "mammon" was just supposed to mean money and other material wealth, but then it became, well, Mammon, the demonic personification of Greed.

He's the demon who was made for his sin, rather than being given it after his creation. The only demon whose existence purely hinges on needing a personification of a sin, the only one who has no other shit going on. Lucifer, Beelzebub, Asmodeus, they all have rich histories as demons in folklore, but Mammon? He's just greed.

And that's weird to me. Were there no other, more popular demons who could embody the concept? How does Mammon feel having nothing else to him beyond his sin? It's kinda weird, right?

I've got no greater point to this, I just thought it'd be fun to share.

[sevenish-spheres]

Hell and the Devils: An introduction

Today I'm going to start a series of posts about one of the most well-known of the Outer Planes, and one of the ones closest to its dnd ancestor, Pandorum.

The Nine Hells of Pandorum, sometimes known simply as Hell, is among the most infamous of the Outer Planes, and is home to innumerable Devils, Goetics and a truly staggering number of mortal souls. Hell is located within the Sanguine Sphere, on the edge of the Battlefield Stars. It is divided into nine layers, with each being ruled by a different Archdevil. Below them are myriad lesser nobles drawn from the ranks of powerful Devils, Goetics and, in a few rare cases, other creatures such as Rakshasa. The layers vary greatly in both appearance and inhabitants, but are each based around one of the seven great sins Asmodeus saw in mortals before his fall (alongside the first and last, which serve as an entrance of sorts and Asmodeus’ personal realm respectively). The Nine Layers of Hell are as follows:

Avernas- The Entrance of Hell, and the only Layer where the River Styx Flows. Home to near-constant battles between devils and the warriors of the Battlefield Stars. Ruled by Sathariel

Ephrosia- Layer of Lust and home to the city of Dis, where souls damned to Pandorum are judged. Ruled by Dispater, although his paramour Belial holds almost equal power.

Consuuli- Layer of Gluttony, ruled by Manducare

Vricia- Layer of Greed, ruled by Mammon

Geryona- Layer of Wrath, ruled by Geryon

Kimeron- Layer of Sloth (And more recently, technology), ruled by Belphegor

Icaria- Layer of Pride (and Heresy), ruled by Moloch

Iudecca- Layer of Envy, ruled by Mephistopheles (although Baalzebub still believes himself its true ruler)

Noctis- The Pit, fortress of Asmodeus himself.

A History of Pandorum

Pandorum likely began as simply another one of the Battlefield Stars, and is believed to have been lifeless save for a few Asura till the exile of the former Empyrean of Vengeance, Asmodeus. He was disgusted by the sin of mortals, and feared the rise of the Nadir within the River Styx, which already had spawned the first Demons. So, Asmodeus vowed to take sinful mortals himslef, punishing them as he saw fit and, in time, twisting them into the first of the devils.

Asmodeus was not exiled alone, taking numerous Archons with him, and despite their relatively small numbers these early devils (Who would later be known as Elpynarii) swiftly overtook Pandorum's Asura inhabitants.

Shortly after this conquest the first of the Archdevils were named, and although their exact names are lost to history, it is known that Shemihazah the Twice-Fallen, Azazel the Shaitan Prince and Baalzebul the Forsaken were among these early Archdevils.

In the beginning, souls were dragged to Hell indiscriminately, with some perhaps-innocent souls ending up within its depths. Therefore it took relatively little time for the loyal Archons led by Asmodeus' replacement, Nemesis to marshal and attack Pandorum with the aid of numerous Asuras and Usubians.

The ensuing war left both sides devastated, and allowed a vast swathe of souls to be devoured by the Nadir and converted into early demons, and as such a treaty was established. The Devils would be free to take any souls they could convince via a contract to enter Hell's legions, and in exchange they would be allowed effective free reign over Pandorum and the souls within.

Devils

The Devils are among the most infamous of the inhabitants of the Sanguine Sphere, and are perhaps the best known in the Crucible. They are led by Asmodeus and the Archdevils below him, and are organised into a strict hierarchy. Devils begin their life as Pretas, pathetic ghoul-like devils formed from mortals convinced to sell their souls, who crawl out of the Styx where it flows through Avernas. From there, they join great crowds of their kind and make their way to the city of Dis, where they are judged and sent to the appropriate layer of Pandorum. In their assigned layer, the Preta devils are punished, although this is not, as most mortal scholars believe, for the sake of punishment alone. Instead, this punishment slowly concentrates that mortal’s sin and resentment of the gods until they undergo a foul metamorphosis and emerge as a devil better fitting their form. Alongside this, powerful devils can promote their lessers (provided they file the correct paperwork, of course), creating devils not specific to a given sin and allowing devils to step closer to Archdevil status. All devils are immensely jealous of one another, seeking to rise by any means to the top (or bottom, from a certain point of view) of the hells’ hierarchy. However, whilst assassination isn’t uncommon, devils must be careful when doing so, as being caught brings down heavy sanctions, such as demotion to a lesser form. Other than the death of a superior, the main way devils rise in rank is through a contract with a mortal in which the mortal exchanges their soul for some pittance of power. Extensive courts exist within Pandorum to mediate disputes over the rights of a devil to a soul, and the more souls a devil tempts the further it is likely to be promoted, although superiors frequently take percentages of credit through further internal contracts made between devils. The majority of devils (generally excluding Serf Devils) wear masks and armour forged by the Mekurabe, a form of fiend who pledged their allegiance to Asmodeus. The purpose of these masks is unknown, but they seem to often bear enchantments, and even if this is not the case, are regarded as status symbols by other devils.