Devils

As the realm of the Fae became a clear and definite thing for humanity, various other "supernal" realms were also inquired on, along with various other, more "infernal" realms. While the Elves knew of other realms, mainly due to the wars the Faelords sometimes decided to wage, sometimes on a whim, against other realms, they became far more aware of them as they came to reality, as it seems many of those supernatural creatures wanted nothing more then to come into this realm.

The first one humanity had experience with appears to have been the Devils, residents of what became known as the Nine Hells, name inspired by Dante Alighieri's Inferno. Whether those Devils are the same creatures that tortured early Christians, were sealed by the Key of Solomon or anything along those lines is not quite well understood, but a few things were made clear from the contacts the Terran Confederation had with them.

First and foremost, Devils are evil. There is no two ways around it. Devils appear to exist with the sole purpose of striking deals with mortals in order to acquire their souls (or the souls of multiple beings), which they then use to create more Devils to fuel their eternal war with the other supernal realms. Devils do not care for beauty, art and the finer things in life other than as a mean to attract more souls.

On the other hand, Devils are incredibly orderly and loyal. There is a clear order in the ranks of the Devils, from the lowest imp to the mightiest Pit Fiend, and one has to know very well what his role in the grand scheme of devilish things is. Devil lords rule over their armies and servants, and all serve The Dark Lord, in the end. This lord has many names, depending on who you ask, but Asmodeus seems to be the most common name used in Elven literature for him. Devils will do everything in their power to distort the truth, but in the end, they will speak the truth.

Third, the Devils, like the vast majority of supernal creatures, are bound by rules that seem to date from the creation of the Universe, or even possibly before. While they strike deals and build forces in their internal fights, they will *never* actively invade Reality. They are apparently terrified of the Hunter's Guild Association and their relevant member. It is quite likely a good thing that the Devil's have not attacked reality directly, for their forces seem to far outnumber even the Elven Star Empire and Union of Elven Realms, and while weak devils are fairly easy to dispatch, even a mid-ranking member of this species is far more powerful then any mortal.

## Devil ranks

* Lemures: The end result of striking a deal with a Devil, lemures are physical manifestations of souls that the devils herd and grow, and as they lose their individuality, they solidify and start being actual devils.
* Imps: The least of Devilkind, Imps are small creatures with limited powers, generally employed more as cheap labour and messengers among the devils. Many wizards throughout the Empire and Union have Imp servants bound to them, but it is unknown if this is enough to damn one soul or not.
* Barbazu (Bearded Devils): The "common grunt" of the Infernal army, Barbazu do not work on damning souls on their own, but will happily trade souls for service to mortals, generally in larger groups for a large amount of souls. To believe that Barbazus are weak due to their apparently common appearance amongst the devils is a huge mistake many military officers made.
* Erynie (Furies): The step up in the hierarchy from the Barbazu, Erynies are devils with women's appearances and black feathered wings who act mainly as enforcers for devilkind and as a particularly form of pact making: trading a soul for the death of an opponent, generally as a mean of vengeance. Erynies are not too picky about *which* souls they gather and often enough, they are content with damning the soul of those they hunt rather than the person asking them for the hunt.
* Hamatula (Barbed Devils): The "special forces" of many Infernal armies, Hamatulas are also tasked with guarding the many gates of the Nine Hells. Hamatulas damn souls in many ways, but one of the common one is that they bring treasures from hell to their summoner.
* Osyluth (Bone Devils): If the devil's armies needed police officer and political officers, it would be the role of the Osyluths. The torturers, inquisitors and truthseeker of devilkind, osyluths damn souls in exchange for secrets.
* Cornugon (Horned Devils): The officers of the armies of devilkind, Cornugon are massive creatures that revel in combat and ordering troops to conquer their enemies.
* Gelugon (Ice Devils): If Cornugons are the officers leading the troops in battle, Gelugon are the tacticians of the armies of devilkind. It is said that they are made of two souls merged together and a frozen mortal heart, all of which they use to achieve higher reason and understanding.
* Pit Fiends: Pit Fiends are the supreme generals of the armies of hell, generally serving directly under one of the Dukes of Hell. Terrans witnessing one of the Pit Fiends generally see them as the physical manifestation of flames, hatred and power.

## Known Devils

* Baal: Lord of War, The Betrayer, Baal is a bogeyman for most Devils, the only devil to ever escape the grasp of The Dark Lord. Only rumours of his existence remain.
* Baphomet: The Lord of Laughter. A goat-headed devil of great power, Baphomet is one of the devils that was most active in regards to the Terrans, apparently damning souls from Earth (now Terra) for thousands of years.
* Belphegor: The Lord of Riches. A Baron of Hell who rose into the ranks recently, he represents the \*Reason\* of \*Capitalism\* within the ranks of Hell, and owns a majority of the factories which pump out the weapons in use by devils and their allies.
* Kerberos: The True Gatekeeper, the Guard Dog of Hell. While minor Kerberi and hellhounds do exist, they all come from the brood of one Kerberos, the Devil tasked with guarding the main gate of the Nine Hell. A beast of redoutable size and power, it is rumoured to be the size of a small starship.