The Pact Primeval

"Not in keeping with our pact? My dear gods and goddesses - read the fine print."

-Asmodeus

The Pact Primeval is a contract spoken of only in rumor, signed by the reigning deities of the time, responsible for the unintentional creation of the infamous infernal contracts allowing devils to bargain for mortal souls.

Terms

The Pact Primeval purportedly contains many clauses, terms, and stipulations which were not readily apparent at first, but whose implications have later become known. It is even said the Pact Primeval contains within it a scheme allowing Asmodeus to rise above the gods, while others have postulated that the war between the Hells and the Abyss rages eternally because the pact remains in effect only as long as the war continues.

Rulership of the Hells

One section of the pact gave Asmodeus control over the Hells and their form, and established it as the home plane of devils. This section also established the infernal hierarchy, enabling devils to be promoted or demoted and their forms altered by those higher-ranking devils they had sworn fealty to.

Some rumors assert this section also contains non-interference clauses, greatly restraining or altogether forbidding the deities from interfering with Asmodeus and the war so long as the pact remains, though it is unlikely the gods would ever admit this, if true. Mortals, however, appear free to interfere by the terms of the pact.

Torment of Mortal Souls

The main purpose, or so the reigning deities believed, of the Pact Primeval was to encourage mortals to engage in right action through the damnation of a small portion of mortals who, during their lifetime, either failed in service to their deity and were sentenced to the Hells or who served no deities but who shared the plane's alignment. In accordance with the pact, the souls of the damned are subjected to long torment, boiled down into the power fueling the Hells. Some souls survive this process and enter the infernal hierachy, while others are simply snuffed out.

Infernal Contracts

Perhaps the section with the single biggest impact on history concerned the making of infernal contracts. All infernal contracts rest in the power of the Pact Primeval, made inviolable by it and the signatures of the gods. While all the intricacies of infernal contracts are unknown to mortals - and perhaps unknown to all except Asmodeus - the pact establishes that such contracts must be made between two mutually consenting parties making an exchange. A mortal cannot be forced into an infernal contract against his or her free will (though many have felt forced by circumstance to consent to them) and must both give something of value and receive something of value; neither party may give something for nothing. Whether or not the exchange is a fair one or not is left to be decided between the two parties before consenting to the contract.

According to some sources, this section of the pact was included to allow the legions of Asmodues to requistion resources from mortals as needed to fight the war with the Abyss, provided the mortals were justly compensated. Included in the fine print, however, was the clause that, as mortal souls were, according to the same pact, to be used to fuel the power of the Hells, they were also resources, able to be bought and sold like any other trade good.

History

According to legend, the Pact Primeval was written before the ages began to provide a place of dwelling for Asmodeus and his legions and of punishment for damned mortal souls, away from the sight and realms of the gods. The pact was penned by Asmodeus and ratified by the reigning gods, with one copy each being distributed to the plane of Lawful Good, the plane of Lawful Neutral, and the final copy being kept by Asmodeus in the Hells, the plane of Lawful Evil, where he enclosed the document in a massive ruby weighing over 20 tons (~70 ft. in diameter) and placed it under protection, lest anyone should remove his copy from the Hells and strip the devils of their powers.

Some time after signing the pact, the gods came to realize that, while the total number of mortal souls flowing into their realms after death was increasing with the mortal population, the ratio of mortal souls flowing into their realms as opposed to the Hells was decreasing. Investigating, the gods discovered the terrors of the Hells and the use of the infernal contracts. Calling Asmodeus to trial, the gods found he was innocent of violating the pact. Ever since, Asmodeus and his devils have continued to tempt mortals to damnation in the Hells.