#dnd cambions

[drownedrow]

Cania, The Eighth Layer (Envy)

[nepherit]

This is the Nine Hells fashion collection, first piece of the series:

Avernus, featuring Raphael and Zariel

It's time to make good use of all the fancy costume designs I sketched for Raphael 😆

[sabbathism]

THE APPLE AND THE TREE.

My piece for @silkandsulphur !!! A retelling of Brian Valenzuela's Glasya and Asmodeus portrait.

[junorsky]

"Go on then, try to conquer the Hells. Shop around, beg, borrow, and steal, Raphael. Exhaust every possibility until none are left." — a conversation that could probably happen between Raphael and Mephistopheles in the past, the topic being Raphael's ambitions.

~

I tried to project some features of the devil we know on his father to show that even though they're related, they're still very different monstrosities. Also I picked the blue color for Mephisto for artistic purposes (okay he is canonically red I suppose, let's just consider it an option)

[oriixxc]

[apricoctopus]

I saw some posts speculating why Raphael looks the way he does. Not only he does not look like Haarlep (don't tell him that), but also cambions are not supposed to age past their twenties according to DnD 4e lore. Not sure about 5e tho, but that' irrelevant.

Some people supposed that Raphael's look is an illusion he puts on to make himself seem more mature and imposing. While I like this theory, let's be real: Raphael is exactly that type of person who claim they look so unbelievably young they have to show their ID to buy alcohol.

Like this man will have a meltdown if you call him daddy.

And then the truth was revealed to me in a vision.

[lystik]

Doing a lot of research on Cambions rn and-

Raphael is lowkey the only Cambion I know of with a human name. I wouldn´t put it past Mephistopheles to give him one just to annoy him with it-

Now wouldn´t that be a plottwist...

Confirmation that Raphael has a soul of his own, as well as that signs of character development and redemption are in fact possible.

also

The Heart of a human, the instincts of a Fiend

[oniishi]

mlem

[pengychan]

Raphael's class

So, @sabbathism and I were talking about the unique spells Raphael has in the fight. We talked about how there is so much about him that screams BARD and yet the way he casts is a bit different - specifically how soul charges double as both spell slots and sorcery points.

We also discussed Raphael's ability to use Hellfire - one literal hell of a feat for anyone who's not an Archdevil - and joked about how much that might annoy Mephistopheles.

And it hit us that actually, wait up - yes he did. Everything would make perfect sense if we assume Raphael was multiclassing. So we looked a few things over, and remembered that Mephistopheles tieflings do have a natural affinity with arcane magic (think how Burning Hands, a wizard and sorcerer only spell, is available to Mephistopheles tieflings as a race trait).

So @sabbathism looked up a few things about sorcery and

There is also the fact Raphael is seen making things appear - the contract, the Orphic Hammer - very casually with a snap of his fingers, and no verbal component at all. This is something consistent with a sorcerer using a Subtle Spell sorcery point.

In conclusion: Raphael as a sorcerer who multiclassed and leveled up as a bard cause being just a sorcerer was not Dramatic enough.

Which is kind of hilarious because Mephistopheles is literally a wizard and wizards notoriously have beef with sorcerers.

"What the fuck do you MEAN I had to WORK for it and this brat is just BORN WITH IT--"

[fat-mabari]

Screw it, I’ve been sitting on this for like over a month. My fellow Raphael simps need to know about this. This is my first crack at creating a design for Antilia, who has no official art.

She is canonically Mephistopheles’ daughter.

Yes, Raphael has a sister. A bard sister who has remained loyal to their father.

(full disclosure I cheated and drew over a render of Mizora JUST for the wings because this started out as something lazy)

This half-elf half-devil was added by the Book of Vile Darkness (pages 163-164) for DMs to fling at their epic level parties dumb enough to try taking on archdukes of Hell. Here is the important excerpt though:

You guys don’t know how many headcanons I have about her but I NEED to share one right now even though it’s genuinely a bit campy:

I think we can all agree Raphael has youngest child energy, so let’s just assume she’s his big sister. But immortals grow slow so I think they did grow up together. And yeah I’m about to make fucked-up evil half-devil childhoods cute. Because guys she is a bard. Can you just imagine two cambion kids running around the ice palace making up their own little twisted and evil plays to perform for the pit fiends? Grab a few of Meph’s debtors to play parts (and probably do horrible things to them but listen they’re the ones who sold their souls to the archduke of Cania).

I also like to think she and Haarlep have a thing just because they’re both spies for Meph. I also just really like the idea of him being sent to seduce the son but he’d rather be messing around with the daughter. 😭

Anyway!! I hope other people find this tiny sliver of lore fun, and I’d love to see it built upon. I’m gonna be working on her design more and adding some things. She actually has a robe of eyes in her equipment list I just didn’t have the spoons to add that to this one by the time I noticed that. If people have ideas for the design I’d LOVE to hear them! I just think there’s so much potential for headcanons and fanworks here, both silly and serious.

[adarlingmess]

𝖎𝖓𝖋𝖊𝖗𝖓𝖆 𝖛𝖎𝖈𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖎𝖆

Raphael is definitely arrogant and narcissistic enough to have himself painted triumphing over an archdevil

Some close ups, as a treat:

[drownedrow]

“Mephistopheles was in something of an irritating situation when it came to worshippers, as despite being second only to Asmodeus, he had one of, if not the, smallest followings out of all the Archdevil’s. Mephistopheles had been so effective in making himself the image of the Lord of Hellfire that he had become generic in the eyes of many mortals, frequently confused with and believed to be the same as Asmodeus. Not only that, but further blurring any sense of identity was his symbol, or rather symbols, since he constantly adopted new icons and forms to represent himself. As someone who adored worship as a god, this mistaken identity was frustrating to no end.”

[nepherit]

Another Raphael in fancy outfit for the Nine Hells fashion collection 🤣

This one has some of my favorite things: lot of draping fabric ✔️ghost forest/swamp ✔️ eerie atmosphere ✔️ purple and green 💜💚

[gaeldricge]

Raphael, Archduke of Cania, presenting his consort, Jostina Arrnquaress (Tav) - a fey'ri who embraced her demonic side.

I commissioned the talented @azperja for this and the result is perfect ❤️ look at the details!!

[syqkos]

Valfirith - first raffle prize for @/TinyTop_Hats (on Twitter)🖤

[cambion-companion]

So a good point was brought up on one of my Raphael poll posts.

What exactly has he accomplished?

The man is a cambion. The outcasts of devil society. Usually such half-breeds are canon fodder for Zariel's armies. Some of them escape that bleak outlook and make something for themselves. However they always remain under the dictatorship of a higher devil. Not Raphael. Who is he beholden to? Himself. That's very unique.

Raphael is the son of an arch devil. You'd think that gives him an advantage. Perhaps. I also think it is a severe detriment. Because he is, quintessentially, a bastard.

Raphael has been hustling and busting his devil ass to accumulate power and wealth all his own. He can even turn into an ascended fiend form which is literally unheard of in cambion circles (thanks Larian).

I mean hell, his own father had to send a personal incubus to spy on Raphael and prevent him from power grabbing so much. Did it work? NO!

As if his stats aren't enough of a giveaway, this guy isn't your normal half-fiend.

I'd also be remiss not to mention cambions do not increase in power the same way normal devils do. For all intents and purposes, they're stuck. They do not advance. Raphael has.