Asmodeus

Titles and monickers: Sire of the Nine Hells, the Archfiend, Dark Prince, the First, the God-Fiend, the King of Hell, Lord of Darkness, Lord of Hell, Lord of the Pit, Master of Witches, Emperor of Devils, King of Archdevils, Prince of Law
Areas of concern: Autocracy, contracts, pride, forbidden lore
Followers: Rulers, bureaucrats, slavers, witches and warlocks
Domains: Order, Blood and Trickery
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Asmodeus reigns over contracts, pride, slavery and autocracy, and He delights in tempting mortals to the path of evil. He promotes strict hierarchies where everyone knows their place, and He takes advantage of order for his own selfish benefit.
While he can take any form he wishes Asmodeus is generally depicted in art as a tall, muscular man with red skin, cloven hooves, and black hair and horns, surrounded by a pale flame nimbus and bearing a contract. Though many believe that this is his true form, some speak of a more fiendish form with constantly bleeding wounds, supposedly received in an ancient battle. In art and otherwise, he is rarely seen without the Archstar, an artifact forged before the Exodus from Heaven that bears his pentagram symbol and takes the form of a flaming ruby mace, rod, or staff. His pentagram symbol has become synonymous with this artifact. Asmodeus's favored animals include snakes, lions, goats, and roosters.

Territories

The Church of Asmodeus is a recognized institution in Zalia, Pentaland, Monteneria and Suncalia, but it is regulated in its practice even there, mostly to bar nefarious rituals and human sacrifices, and specifically in Suncalia it is confined in the Brass Embassy quarters. It is tolerated by the Trade Company of Ultramoesia, mostly because it has not enough control on the territory to enforce its laws everywhere, but in major cities the cult is effectively banned. Everywhere else, Ashmodai are either imprisoned or possibly killed, but the presence of secret cults makes the Church of Asmodeus somewhat present even amongst the upper echelons of Neustrian otherwise devout nobility.

Mythology & Lore

The exact details of Asmodeus' history vary wildly across different accounts and exist only in myths and legends, but all agree that he is one of the oldest deities in existence. According to His own Church, Asmodeus was one of two brothers who were the first gods of creation, together with Pharasma. This tale contradicts the other popular belief that Asmodeus was exiled from the Mount Celestia, whose circumstances are themselves widely debated amongst scholars and theologians of any faith.
Asmodeus is the most powerful of the nine archdevils that inhabit Hell, and the only one of Hell's rulers to claim full divinity. It was he who is credited with the penning the contract of creation, within which his followers believe is hidden the means for their patron's eventual rise to supremacy.
The Book of the Damned claims that the First were born spontaneously from the mysterious source of life known as the Seal and began as formless motes of energy. When the Seal birthed other, lesser motes, the First became self-aware. Eons passed, and slowly the First, and the lesser motes, began exploring creation. These were the first gods.
One of the First came upon a sigil upon the Seal, and with its discovery, symbols and meaning came into existence. His brother uttered the first sound and discovered speech. His brother created meaning to those words.
The two brothers, together with the lesser gods, began to sculpt creation to their liking and slowly introduced the concept of order into reality, creating stars, planets, and the fundamental laws that bind them. Then the first brother forever changed their creation: he created the first mortals, discovering the concept of souls and worship, and the other gods followed his example. He bestowed upon mortals free will, causing the first schism of the gods, between those who viewed mortals as mere tools and those who desired freedom for their creations.
The god who would be known to be Asmodeus, devastated by his brother's actions, showed him the chaos and destruction that he had sowed; but he, believing good came from mortals' free will, opposed Asmodeus. War tore the gods, the first conflict between order and chaos. Ihys defended the right of mortals to choose their own destiny with the empyreal lord Sarenrae at his right hand. Finally, on a distant world, Asmodeus and his brother met for the last time on the field of battle. Asmodeus offered his hand in brotherhood, and then performed the first act of treachery, murdering his brother with a great spear.
In a last act of sympathy for his brother, Asmodeus allowed his dream of freedom to stand. He then created Hell as a monument to the old ways of absolute, merciless order and as a warning of what he would one day make anew.
Another account claims that Asmodeus actually began his days as an angel empyreal lord of Heaven. During his travels across the Great Beyond, Asmodeus discovered an enigmatic land, a shadow of Heaven which he explored for an age, during which he learnt to hear and commune with the realm's voice, which calls itself Hell. When he found the seemingly impossible ruins of a temple, Asmodeus was greeted by a serpent, and in the following age, he learnt much about its people, the asuras, as well as their neighbours, the velstracs, and many other beings beyond Heaven. He in turn shared many of Heaven's truths and innovations to the asuras and velstracs before returning to Heaven, keeping the route to Hell a secret to all but himself. During his Fall (as the chronicles of Heaven call that event), Asmodeus led his followers, promising an escape from Heaven's bureaucracy and obsession with mortal life. Having to learn from Hell's ancient consciousness and make it bend before his new regime, Asmodeus then delved into the depths of Hell and tore its flesh from its bones, giving it a body, the name Mephistopheles and a place among his lieutenants.
Asmodeus forged the contract of creation, then accepted by all the gods and rumored to contain a secret that will one day lead to its author's rise to power above his fellow deities. The God-Fiend also played a key role in the defeat and imprisonment of Tharizdun. The Harbinger of Apocalyps was sealed away in the Molten Vault, the only key to his prison kept by the Prince of Darkness himself.

Tenets of Faith

1. Assert dominance and power over others. Be patient and cunning in always achieving the best possible result for you. Show your strength of will in the image of the Lord.
2. Make an example out of your enemies and encourage people to follow you. Repay cruelty done unto you with further evil, but welcome kindness from others, especially if easily gained.
3. Shed yourself from weakness and softness, lest they will be used to strike you. Compassion is unwarranted for the weak.
4. Show subservience to your betters, as they precede you in the Lord's plan.
These actions are anathema to Asmodeus: to break the letter of a contract, to show mercy to an enemy, to act selflessly for anyone but the Lord.

Worship

The Prince of Hell preaches strict discipline and unwavering devotion from his worshipers. The Prince of Darkness expects flattery from his followers, appreciating it for what it is, and delights in deals and contracts that secretly favor one party over another. The more convoluted, the more Asmodeus is delighted. Followers of the Prince of Darkness often include nobles and bureaucrats, especially those participating in the slave trade and in those nations where his worship is openly accepted.
Even before the Silence, Asmodeus was known to be a silent god, who refrains from showing boons and favors to his followers and who prefers to keep a shroud of mistery over his true intentions. Yet Asmodeus is known to reward those who serve him well.

Priesthood

Public temples dedicated to Asmodeus contain many diabolical motifs. They are built in black marble and porphyry, but they otherwise mimick the style already present in their surroundings. In places where the Church is banned he is worshiped in secret houses that exist throughout Cevasia. Many of his temples were originally dedicated to other gods, and later acquired by his faithful to serve their profane purposes. While in the churches of other deities Asmodeus is most often depicted as an adversary or foil, the Church of Asmodeus always shows him in a position of dominance, with other gods bowing down before him.
The Church of Asmodeus operates in different ways depending on its legal status. Human sacrifice is a tradition of the Church, but it usually renounced in exchange for legal recognition. The Church of Asmodeus also manages charities, which are used to recruit new people and for propaganda, especially orphanages, where children are indoctrinated in the cult of the Lord of Hell. Where the Church is banned, it operates as a secret cult and concentrate its efforts in few and selected targets, mostly powerful and wealthy people.
Asmodeus' priests usually dress in clean and orderly red-accented black dress, and often wear horned masks or helmets for ceremonies. Clothing worn is usually expensive, and clearly so, as the faith preaches that wealth attracts wealth. It is also common for individual priests to offer the sacrifice of a small animal before preparing spells.