Fierna
In the flaming realm of Phlegethos, Fierna and Belial rule in strange tandem. They are variously thought of by mortals as mother and son, daughter and father, wife and husband, or ruler and consort, but none of those terms can capture the paradoxical nature of their partnership. The Nine Hells is a hierarchy in which two individuals can’t normally hold the same position as ruler of a single layer. Yet Asmodeus allows these two to claim dominion over Phlegethos as partners and rivals.
Fierna appears as a nude feminine form, often with a great pair of horns sprouting from her head, in contrast to Belial, she shows as much of her fiendish flesh as possible. Her form however often changes to suit the preferences of the mortals she seeks to make a deal with, with the great crown of horns atop her head often appearing in one form or another.
Like the rulers of the other layers, Belial and Fierna have a quota of souls they must meet. Belial largely leaves this task to Fierna, even turning over to her the mortals that directly contact him. Fierna offers her supplicants the gift of personal influence, endowing them with a glib tongue and the ability to mold others’ emotions as they see fit. Her agents typically concentrate on swaying mortals who already seek to manipulate others. Mortals who are desperate to attain positions of power and status entreat her, as do those who — for whatever reason — need to be loved, feared, or respected.
Fierna takes a direct interest in the soul trade. Her prodigious intellect allows her to glean the best information from the mountains of reports generated by her agents on the Material Plane. Fierna sometimes personally takes a role in bending a mortal’s emotions to her will, as a way to better understand the workings of mortal hearts and minds. What she or Belial intends to do with their accumulated knowledge none can definitively say, but rumors exist that Fierna has stolen the secret of how to travel freely between the Nine Hells and the Material Plane from the archlich Vecna. The fact that the denizens of the Nine Hells take such rumors seriously is a clear indication of their respect for Fierna’s power.
Fierna’s charisma, equaled only by that of Asmodeus, makes her a brilliant manipulator capable of filling mortal and immortal hearts with whatever emotion she chooses to evoke. Belial, meanwhile, doesn’t attempt to sway others with his interpersonal skills and focuses on the duties of ruling a layer of the Nine Hells. The two seem to hate and admire one another in equal measure and are in constant competition. Every time Belial outthinks Fierna, she talks her way out of whatever trap he has devised. Fierna stages insurrections against Belial, but his contingency plans rescue him from possible disaster. Other devils might gain a brief advantage over the two lords because of their infighting, but whenever any true threat to their rule arises, the seeming enemies cooperate to dispatch pretenders to their shared throne.
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