History
Prelude
A world brimming with primal energy and chaos was discovered by formless gods. They saw this world as an opportunity to define themselves through creation, and thus they shaped the first races:
- Dragons and Giants were brought forth to inhabit the Prime Material Plane.
- Vampires were forged to dwell within the Shadowfell.
- The seed of the first tree, the World Tree, was planted in the Feywild , giving birth to the Faeris.
These first species, created in the gods’ own image, began to shape the world and its echoes. Asmodeus, at this
Time, was an archangel in the service of one of these formless gods. As an archangel, was tasked with cleaning up the chaos wrought by these creations. The freedom granted to these immortal beings led to constant battles and pointless bloodshed. Though Asmodeus cared deeply for mortals, he believed the gods' methods were flawed, and their creations inherently imperfect. Many gods and angels came to share Asmodeus’s convictions, aligning themselves with his vision.
In 7201 BD this new power disrupted the balance of the world, awakening the wrath of the Primordial forces. In response, colossal primordial rose to destroy the gods’ creations, unleashing cataclysmic devastation upon the world. This conflict created a rift among the gods:
- The Ancient Gods sought to protect their creations and bring balance to the world. They introduced mortal species—beings with short lives—to counterbalance the immortality of the first races and to fight alongside them.
- The Despairing Gods, overcome with grief, believed their actions in this world to be irredeemably flawed. They joined the primordials in their quest to annihilate their creations, hoping to start anew elsewhere.
Dawn war
Asmodeus rallied an army of angels, divines, and immortals to challenge the Ancient Gods, gaining support from those who believed in his cause. His rebellion led to a fateful confrontation with his former master, a god whose name was erased from existence after his
Death. This
Deity is now remembered only as He Who Was.
Freya, Asmodeus’s lover and a fellow archangel, opposed him. She believed that turning against the Ancient Gods and their creations was a mistake and repeatedly tried to dissuade Asmodeus from his path. Their disagreement culminated in a desperate battle. Freya overpowered Asmodeus but could not bring herself to kill him, still seeing the man she loved. Taking advantage of her hesitation, Asmodeus stabbed her and fled, leaving her gravely wounded.
Determined to fulfill his vision, Asmodeus returned with his forces to confront He Who Was. After a ferocious battle, Asmodeus succeeded in slaying the god. However, with his dying breath, He Who Was cursed Asmodeus, transforming him and his army into the first devils.
Despite this Victory, the rebellion was far from over. With the primordial defeated by the Ancient Gods, Asmodeus and his forces were cast into a prison plane, thus forming the first of the
Outer Planes. Together, mortals and the first species defeated the primordials. The essence of these primordial beings fractured into the elemental planes, where they were reborn as elder elementals—now known as the Princes of the Apocalypse.
The Ancient Gods retreated to the Outer Planes they had created, where they could observe and influence the world from a distance. The Dawn War gave way to a prolonged series of skirmishes and battles, eventually evolving into what is now called the Celestial War. Angels and devils clashed ceaselessly, their conflict marking a new era of strife. The most powerful devils became archdevils, granted dominion over layers of the Seven Hells by Asmodeus himself.
Aftermath
With the Primordials defeated, mortal species flourished, and countless other races emerged—some as deliberate creations of the gods, others as spontaneous adaptations in the evolving world. The Celestial War between angels and devils raged on, with neither side willing to concede.
Many sought to end the conflict, yet a truce seemed impossible. Freya, now an archangel leading legions of angels, descended into the Hells alongside her ally,
Sol, to fight Asmodeus's corrupted followers. Zariel, another archangel and a former friend of both Asmodeus and Freya before his betrayal, sought a different path. Hoping to end the bloodshed, Zariel proposed a trial, a chance for Asmodeus to defend himself before the gods and perhaps redeem his actions.
Asmodeus, an unmatched strategist and orator, accepted the challenge. The Ancient Gods also agreed, hoping to resolve the growing tensions. Bahamut, the god of justice, offered to oversee the trial as a neutral arbiter. A contract was drawn to ensure the trial’s fairness, binding all participants to its terms. Asmodeus, unable to leave his infernal domain, sent a puppet crafted in his image to the Prime Material Plane to face the judgment of the celestial beings in a neutral territory.
Accused of corrupting mortal souls to strengthen his infernal army, Asmodeus defended his actions by appealing to the principles of law and cosmic necessity. He admitted to swaying mortals toward evil but insisted that he and his devils had never violated a contract. Every deal was presented with clear terms, and mortals entered into them willingly.
Have we not followed the dictates of law? Is it not mortal ambition, not infernal deception, that leads so many souls astray?— Asmodeus
Asmodeus further claimed that mortals who rejected devilish offers were left unmolested, in accordance with the law. Those who managed to outwit their infernal contracts were even freed from their debts.
A contract is law, and the law is a contract— Asmodeus
Bahamut weighed Asmodeus’s words carefully, listening as angel after angel testified against the Lord of the Nine Hells. Days turned to weeks as an overwhelming number of witnesses recounted his crimes. Eventually, Bahamut declared that the testimonies had gone on long enough and limited further accusations to only a few more voices.
Chaos erupted in the court as angels argued over who should be heard next. Amid the turmoil, Zariel pushed her way to the front, demanding to speak, but her claim wasn't heard. The heated debate escalated into a skirmish, with angels turning on one another. Asmodeus, watching the scene unfold, could not hide his smirk.
In the end, Bahamut declined to issue a definitive judgment. Instead, he rebuked the angels for their descent into infighting but stopped short of punishing Asmodeus. However, he did impose a condition upon him: Asmodeus would carry a mighty artifact, the Ruby Rod, as a guarantee of his adherence to law.
The Ruby Rod, which has remained with Asmodeus ever since, grants him and his followers the right to enter contracts with mortals for their souls. However, it also enforces inescapable punishment upon any
Devil that breaches such a contract.
Unlike the other Lords of the Nine Hells, Asmodeus has no soul quota to meet. Any soul recruited by any denizen of the Hells is pledged to him by default. Likewise, cults dedicated to other devils are also, indirectly, devoted to Asmodeus. This freedom allows him to focus on manipulating powerful beings rather than courting mortals. Occasionally, he draws such individuals into contracts, transforming them into unique devils who strengthen the ranks of the Hells.
Celestial war
After the trial, Zariel, frustrated that her voice was dismissed, withdrew her forces. She had grown disillusioned, believing the conflict to be increasingly futile. However, Freya, unsatisfied with the trial's outcome, refused to relent. Determined to end the infernal threat once and for all, Freya led her legions deeper into the Seven Hells. Her crusade pushed forward until they reached the Fifth Layer,
Ira, where Zariel confronted her.
Zariel questioned Freya's obsession, noting how her actions were becoming darker and more vengeful than those of Asmodeus himself. Freya’s pursuit of vengeance seemed to overshadow her divine purpose. But Freya refused to listen, consumed by her desire to destroy Asmodeus and his forces. Their argument ended in a bitter split, with Freya abandoning Zariel, who was left behind in Ira.
Zariel's Fall
While attempting to regroup, Zariel and her remaining troops were ambushed by a squadron of ice devils. Outnumbered and overwhelmed, Zariel was captured and brought before Asmodeus.
When she awoke in his presence, Zariel pleaded with him to end the war, to surrender, and confessed her love for the Lord of the Seven Hells. Asmodeus listened, and offered her a deal.
He promised Zariel great power and a position as his general. Together, with her unmatched prowess in battle and his scheming intellect, they would halt Freya’s crusade and protect the integrity of the Seven Hells. In return, Zariel would gain the power to seduce any man—a reflection of the love she craved yet never received.
Blinded by her desperation and emotions, Zariel agreed to the terms. With the contract sealed, she was transformed into the first succubus. Zariel then gave in to her carnal desire for Asmodeus, finally acting on her long-hidden feelings. But once the deed was done, she was left hollow.
Asmodeus was no man, but a devil, unswayed by Zariel's beauty. He had indulged her not out of passion but out of pity. Zariel, now cursed by her transformation, realized the price of her choice: she had gained the power to seduce any mortal, but no love she found would ever be genuine. Like all succubi who followed her path—eternally yearning for a love she would never feel.
Bound to her contract, Zariel became Asmodeus’s first archdevil. Commanding her own infernal legion, she was tasked with stopping Freya and her forces. Zariel drove them back to the First Layer, Luxuria, a domain she claimed as her own.
Conflict nowadays
Nowadays, the conflict is still ongoing, battle breaking out in Luxuria daily, but the conflict became something almost usual for the devils and angels, both knowing it won't stop without the complete extermination of the other side.
Expedition to the shadowfell
To fight the forces of mount celestia and bring the fight to them, Zariel ordered Malfuriel, her chancelor,l ed legions of devil into the shadowfel to battle the angels in the Syre Wood: a strategically-located shadow forest that, if conquered, could provide a position for the forces of hell to take the fight away from the first layer,
Luxuria. The legions’ relentless army of martial imps and devils took the forest by surprise, quickly slaying the
Shadar-Kai there and razing the villages in their path as they made their way to the heart of the wood. The forces of mount celestia finaly intervened to stop the infernal army, and
Freya managed to land a debilitating strike on Malfuriel charged with a curse: binding the legionnaires to the Syre Wood and turning Malfuriel to stone.
That night at dusk, Malfuriel’s petrified body suddenly erupted, releasing a foul wave of blood that tainted and stained the Syre Wood—a blight born of his intense hatred. Gushing waves of Malfuriel’s blood swept through the wood, corrupting the beasts that lived there and twisting its plantlife into a grim husk of its former beauty. Protected by Freya’s blade’s aura, the area immediately surrounding Malfuriel’s statue was spared from his lasting corruption: creating the Verdant Heart at the center of what is now known as the Bloodmire.
To this day, the Legate’s thousands of oath-bound servants are afraid of Syre’s blade and magically warded from entering the Verdant Heart. Trapped in this cursed swamp by the sword’s powerful magic, these fiends have slaughtered every fey that dared step outside of the Verdant Heart, and eagerly await their leader’s eventual return.
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