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Baalzebul (pronounced: /ˈbeɪlzɛbʊl/ BAYL-ze-bul[1] 
listen) was the lord of Maladomini, the seventh layer of the Nine Hells, and one of the most powerful archdevils. Formerly a celestial archon known as Triel, he bore the titles Fallen One, Lord of the Flies, Lord of the Lies, and the Slug Archduke. The last refers to the form he was cursed with after the Reckoning of Hell; Asmodeus has made his natural form that of a filth-covered giant slug with tiny arms.[2][3]
Relations
Baalzebul was allied with Belial, but opposed Mephistopheles in all things, and desired revenge on Asmodeus for his humiliation during the Reckoning.
History
Originally an archon named Triel, Baalzebul was cast down into the Nine Hells and promoted to devilhood by Asmodeus himself. Baalzebul was a perfectionist, and this served him well as he climbed the ranks of devilhood.[2] Eventually he ascended to the status of Lord of the Seventh, not just deposing the former Lord but expunging all knowledge of that entity from existence.[citation needed]
Baalzebul was, for a long time, one of Asmodeus's favored. He controlled not only his own layer of Hell but the Sixth as well, through his viceroy Moloch.[citation needed]
During the Reckoning, Baalzebul's forces challenged Asmodeus himself,[2][3] but were thwarted when Mephistopheles's troops turned on his own.[citation needed] To punish Baalzebul for his insubordination, Asmodeus changed his formerly angelic form into a melted, sluglike one.[2][3] Suffering from depression, Baalzebul's perfectionism has lapsed, and his layer of hell shows the signs.[citation needed]
Information
Baalzebul, the Lord of the Seventh, rules over the layer of Maladomini. He was once an archon of Celestia named Triel, but he was cast down into the Nine Hells, and soon after, Asmodeus promoted him to devilhood in a dread ritual. Baalzebul climbed the ranks of devilry, eventually becoming Lord of the Seventh, deposing the earlier Lord and expunging all mention of that entity. The Slug Lord is the only Archduke to have two official consorts: Baftis, his first and actual consort and Lilith, his viceroy's former consort whom he reined in due to her fairly large amount of worshipers on the Prime Material Plane. While Baftis is too scared of Baalzebul and too spineless to even think of acting unauthorized, the strong-willed Lilith is not exactly loyal to the Slug Archduke and has schemes of her own.
Baalzebul once strove for devilish perfection in all things. Thus, Maladomini is dotted with ruined, abandoned cities, and petitioners were constantly building new cities for the Lord of the Seventh. Newer cities are built atop the ruins of older ones. As each city is finished, Baalzebul's dissatisfaction forced his subjects to begin anew. Baftis is sealed up in one of these ghost towns that she had refused to leave.
To punish Baalzebul for plotting against him during the failed rebellion known as the Reckoning, Asmodeus transformed Baalzebul's formerly angelic body into a melted, slug-like form. As a result, although Baalzebul now only openly plots against Mephistopheles, Lord of the Eighth, his undying anger still burns for Asmodeus, as does his eternal ambition for the throne of the King of the Nine Hells.
Baalzebul currently resides in the city of Malagard, formerly a beautiful city still under construction, with perfectly straight boulevards, fountains of delicate yet terrible visage, and towers that reach faultlessly straight into the blood-black sky. Recently, Baalzebul has given up on trying to prevent its demise, allowing its archways to droop and bridges to crumble as dispirited devils shuffle through ever-expanding rivers of trash. The fatalistic melancholy of the Lord of the Flies has struck the entire layer, interrupted only by occasional (and short-lived) frenzies of cleaning and repair. Baalzebul spends most of his time in the Palace of Filth, a building-shaped pile of fecal refuse that was once his grand castle. He periodically hollows out new rooms and reinforces slumping ones with layers of slime that ooze from his bloated body.
Appendix
References
- ↑ Frank Mentzer (January 1985). “Ay pronunseeAYshun gyd”. In Kim Mohan ed. Dragon #93 (TSR, Inc.), p. 25.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Monte Cook (October 2002). Book of Vile Darkness. Edited by David Noonan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 158–159. ISBN 0-7869-3136-1.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Robin D. Laws, Robert J. Schwalb (December 2006). Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells. Edited by Chris Thomasson, Gary Sarli, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 151–153. ISBN 978-0-7869-3940-4.