THE NINE HELLS IN AD&D/by yigal roitman --------------------------------------- HOW TO USE THIS TEXT?:this text is a work of fiction written as an accesory to the ad&d role playing game.the text consists new ideas (plus some old ones)to aid you,the game master,understand more deep -ly this potentially great realm for adventuring -hell. NOTE:any of you who read the text may disagree with my view of see ing the nine realms of hell,and you all are welcome to make up your own hell,as you see it,and this text or whats written in it are not to force you in any way,only to suggest.if you like,you may comment this work in any of the local systems,and ill be glad to aid or develop the idea further upon any requests! DOWN TO BUSINESS:what exactly is this hell? according to "Longmans" dictionary:/"hel"(especially in christian and muslim religions) /a place where the souls of bad people are said to be punished after death/. since the game term 'hell' reffers to a certain place (another plane of existence),without the use of a specific religion that is worldly believed in our days (with obvious reasons),my suggestion is that if you want to use hell in your campaign,use some religion of lawful evil beingsand the place where souls of sinners are sent to. whats more,i suggest that if you use hell as your campaign's existance plane of evil,make it also the only one,and the major evil in your campain-the lawful one,or else it will lose its specific beauty.(same is true for all evil planes,of course.) once hell is established in your campaign,(as an opposite to some good and saintly plane of existance)it neads believers. you must understand that believing in hell doesnot mean worshiping it, as many mistake,but quite on the contrary,it means fearing it. believing in hell means fearing hell,fearing devils,fearing the evil archdevils,and trying to cast them of by various folkly conjurations. the more people on your realm who believe in hell,the more powerful and influential they get on the realm.(the devils' aim,of course.) now that you have a campaign world and you have its folks fearing hell and believing in it,you must place your NPCs in it. cleric:the closest character class to hell and devils is the cleric. clerics are the spiritual guides to the people.(both good and bad) good clerics try to convert people from ways of evil,and make them more holy and worthy.they battle evil spirites and try to dispell devils and diabolic influences from the world. evil clerics:since we have already established that you use hell as the major cause of evil and pandemonium in your realm,it is only obvious that clerics of evil worship devils(unlike the normal folk who fear devils).clerics of lawful evil are the carriers and disputers of the word of arch-devils and dukes of hell on the realm. every cleric of hell("devil-worshipper")has a certain deity,one of the lords in hell,whos word he carries around and tries to distribute. usually the most powerful clerics are servants of the most powerful 'arch'.following that path,it is also concludable that clerics of rival 'arches'will be rivals themselves.(about devil rivalry later..) magic user:another person that has a special contact with devils and hell is the evil sorcerer.it is common among lawful evil mages to make pacts among themselves and the dwellers of hell.in their ultimate strive for power they make bargains with greater devils (or "lower" ones) for help in case of danger,an evil familiar,or other inspirations gained by the mage.those all have a price,and a dire one at that.once the bargain is struck,the devil waits maliciously until the mage has made use of the he had given him,and from that point on,the mage is in debt of the devil. consequenses:the mage moves one step toward L.EVIL if he isnt one already, he grows a powerful hatred towards all that is good,he begins growing differant unnatural limbs,such as a barbed tail,horns,glowing red eyes, and the like in a comulative way.he may also be asked by 'his' devil to perform a certain quest,witch hed better perform(!) note:devils rarly do pacts with beings obviously more powerful than they. note:devils are known to twist the verbal meaning of the pact to their own good(usually the beings bad),though they will never actually break the pact. HELL:now that we have the effect of devils and hell on your campaign land,we must actually go down to hell it self,and see what are that planes features and contacts. hell dwells in the lawful evil side of the outer planes,but not many people really know that.it is best believed by the folk that hell is THE evil plane whereto all evil souls are sent. it is accostomed to think that hell is the plane below.not quite true because the outer planes form a circle,but very comfortable indeed. down in its dwell the hell is devided to nine levels,called layers,each bearing its own devilish features and its own evil dwellers. MAP OF HELL ----------- layer current ruler its dukes ----- ------------- --------- 1. avernus tiamat amduscias-29 abishai, goap-3 erinyes malphas-40 abishai 2. dis dispater alocer-36 erinyes arioch -avenger baalzephon-prime minister bel-3 malebranche biffant-provost(mayor) bitru-70-erinyes furcas -12 bearded trivilus-nuncio(pope,bishop) lilis -consort merodach-21 barbed 3. minauros mammon bael-66 barbed caarcrinolaas-36 barbed focalor -seneschal glacya -consort melchon-18 erinyes zimimar -6 bone 4. phlegethos belial balan-40 bearded bathym -30 barbed chamo -legate(meesenger priest gaziel-11 bone naome -consort zaebos -lieutenant 5. stygia geryon agares -31 bone amon 31 bone cozbi-consort fecor -8 malebranche gorson bailiff(property tax col.) herodias -magistrate machalas -11 barbed 6. malbolge moloch bethage -9 malebranch bileth -tribune herobaal -16 bone lilith-consort tartach-legate(messenger priest) 7. maladomini baalzebul abigor-60 malebranche barabatos -marshal bensozia -consort gorson -bailiff moloch-viceroy(colony ruler) neabaz -herald(messenger) zepar -28 malebranche 8. caina mephistopheles adonides -steward baalphegor -consort barbas-chamberlain (housekeeper bifrons-26 ice hutijin -2- pit nexroth16 malebranche 9. nessus asmodeus adramelech -chancellor(legal rank) alastor -executionair baalberith-major domo(head servant) bensozia -consort buer -15- pit bune30 malebranche martinate -constable(police) morax -9- pit phongor -inquisitor rimmon -5ice zegum -30 barbed the layers of hell bear each differant dwellers and beings.it is structable that the lower you get down hell,the fiercer creatures will you meet.each of the layers of hell is infinit in size,and most of them hold more creatures than the devils themselves.(although this is very herd to both devils and other creaturs to admit.the majority of the layers contain devils of lesser sort and the least types(lemure,nupperbilu) that roam on their bussiness,building,carrying,marching,torturing,being tortured,and the like.the layers of hell are all full of dead souls, in ponds of lava,in hang sceens,slowly transmuting to least devils, horribly being tortured,wandering alone.the lesser devils are most under suppervision of officials,working for the barons and lords,who are mostly greater devils(sometimes a powerful lesser)and are the high society of hell they themselves are in turn servvants of the dukes of hell,who form the political judicial,ecocomical,or state chancelors,army generals,and consorts of the ruling arch devils. note:the more powerful the vassals of a given devil are,the more influence he has. note:as the layers go deeper,the place is considered a better place,as in closer to the heart of society.realms far are considered desolate,and for a pit fiend to go on a job in the first layer for example,is like a punishment.(as the rule goes,political power is worth your own manipulation ability dealt to the distance ^2;if you dont get it you should study some physics). SOME GENERAL INFO.:after the world was created long ago,by the all mighty god(s),there had been quite a long time,through out which there was no evil.all the souls dwelt on top,and there was nothing to fear of. then one day,gods head angel,and major domo,satan,began disliking the way the multiverse was ruled.he quarreled with the all mighty,and deserted him, with several angels who agreed with him,and went down to live in their own realm.with this crack of absolute good,the world changed,to build several soulish spheres:heaven,the realm of the allmighty,earth,the neutral realm, and hell,the realm of satan. satan ruled for long eons.he was an iron fisted monarch.at his time basic mischief was brought upon the earth.deseases,plagues,phamon,fluid small wars,and the like.(early ages,the dark ages) a time came,and his major underlings,baalzbub especially,began conversing among them selves,that they disliked the tight monarchy,and wanted more freedom in their acts.gathering his alies;adramelech,malkishon,moloch,and more he challenged satan.satan was banished from hell,and baalzevuv came to rule under him.through the time of his ruling,he had great dire difficulties though.he had to give the devils the freedom he promiced them,and a pandemonium broke loose.differant devils were supporting people who were fighting among themselves,quarrels began on treasures and the people lost their belief and fear of the devils,a cause for instant loss of power. Asmodeus was a politician.he had a great many contacts in the courts of hell and he knew every thing that happened before every one else. the respect to him grew as he made some important voyages,that strengthened the devilish influense.most people in the courts of hell in the time of baalzebub who had any power,didnt want to risk their position.adramelech the treasurer, mammon,and all else.asmodeus decided to summon but limited help,and with the agreement of most devils,he performed a 'quiet' overthrowing,and became the monnarch of hell.in order to keep the unbalanced realm in balance, he only made bbalzevuv change his name,and slightly reduce his power.still keeping two layers under his fist. since then asmodeus is the one on top.he stayed there by his great skill in throwing the devils one against the other,and never leting one know exactly all that is going on. the major groups of power in hell are thusly devided: the ruling group:asmodeus has his group well disorted;his faithful hound in the gates of hell-tiamat,informs him of all thats going on in the entrance geryon,in the fifth plane,and he him self in the throne layer-the ninth. the mephisto:mephistopheles,ruler of the eighth layer,in alianse with dispater and mammon,with an aim to wrentch the 7th layer from baalzebub,and thusly challenge asmodeus. the third group is the joining of baalzebub,stillaiming to regain control of hell,with his viceroy,moloch,and their cunninng ally -belial. as was already said,up till now asmodeus has managed to remain ruler by cunning and deception. A NEW DEVIL: ----------- Malphas (the guardian) ---------------------- fre:vr ac:-2 move:12"/24" hit dice:89 hp % in lair:95% tt:a # of at:2(two spear strikes) damage/attack:(2-8)+4 sa:portcullis sd:nil mr:60% int:exeptional al:le size:10'tall pa:240 a/d:a/a xpv:29,000(x10 whan in hell) malphas is one duke of hell,vasal of tiamat,and posted by asmodeus as the door keeper of the nine hells.he appears as a hunchbacked bearded devil,only with a pair of devilish wings instead of the large tail,and he is much taller.malphas is in such position that might in some cases duouble his loyalty(asmodeus/tiamat).this thing hasnt happened yet since in the mean while their interests are much the same.any way,the position of 'gate keeper'is much more powerful then some suspect.by this position malphas may decide wether to pass through all regulations of passage,thus delete the passers greatly,or hop on the regulations,thus increasing passers speed.if he is defied he summons any force of abishai(MMII)of up to 40 companies (1 company = 1000 ind.)(40,000 abishai of all sorts). normally if he is attacked,he fights with a spear +4 that strikes twice per round in his hand.whan in 1 mile of the gate the spear can hit any lesser or greater being,no matter who he is (orc/thor).he is always aided by 4 stone guardians with max hit points(LE) of course. - W R I T T E N B Y YIGAL ROITMAN - Bibliography:Monster Manual;devil (pg.20-23) Monster Manual II;devil (pg.44-48) best of dragon II Manual of the planes;the nine hells. (pg.109-113) (the writers are not responsible for any text violations that occur when passage is made from editor to file) ...thats about it,rather..