Zariel

Zariel was an archdevil of the Nine Hells and the ruler of Avernus.

"I did not fall into the clutches of evil. I rose to shoulder a cosmic burden."

- Zariel

Description
Zariel's original form was that of a beautiful solar with precious skin, gold-feathered wings, and a blindfold covering her eyes.

After her descent, she took on a more diabolical appearance; a halo of fire burned atop her head, her once fine skin seemed scorched, and her angelic wings, ruined by flame, took a leathery appearance. Her blindfold was abandoned, fully revealing eyes that glowed with white-hot rage, and she had lost one of her hands and replaced it with a flail.

Personality
Zariel was a warmonger obsessed with battle, someone who lived to fight and judged others on their combat skills and willingness to use them. She prized zealous fury as much as discipline and training, and lead her troops into battle herself with iron resolve, leaving many a structure in ruin as she carved her war path. However, neither her own battle prowess nor that of her forces could disguise the fact that Zariel was reckless and rash, relying on her troops' berserker rage and her own determination to win her fights.

Her behavior had warped to match that of her peers, for she had also become a cruel being that inflicting psychological torment on her enemies and subjected those that displeased her to horrible fates. She had also grown distrusting to the point of being taken aback by a heroic act of self-sacrifice, having become the kind of plotting person to set numerous schemes in motion at once and deal in contracts to bind people into servitude. While once a purveyor of blind justice, Zariel had allowed her emotions to color her decisions, twisting it into rage-fueled vengeance, and she refused to forgive even decades after being wronged.

Flaws
Zariel was notorious for her foul-temper, her poor-emotional control impeding her ability to act rationally and pragmatically, as exemplified by her refusal to play politics. Her approach of charging headfirst into dangerous situations led by her righteous wrath was the opposite of the carefully calculating Bel. He was, at heart, a realist, aware that the infinite nature of demonkind left him only capable of a stalemate against their innumerable horde. Zariel, despite her cynicism, was an idealist; she genuinely believed that a mere host of mortals would fare well in Avernus, only for a great number of them to flee from the fear-radiating fiends.

The nature of Hell was to corrupt; Avernus in particular specialized in the abuse of a flaw that frequently affected angels: hubris. Angels had a sense of infallibility about their actions, and Zariel's anger was only further inflamed by the righteousness with which she perceived it. Asmodeus had praised her for the strength of her convictions, but it was her unswerving rage that had cemented her downfall. She had become so zealously hell-bent on fighting that she was willing to abandon her principles and sacrifice the very innocent lives she had once sworn to protect in order to destroy the demonic menace.

Hope
Zariel's pride and wrath had limits, and the burden of her duties weighed on her. Confronting the memories of what she had lost to achieve her desire to fight filled her with sorrow, and she hesitated to destroy reminders of her past. Even as she prided herself as a cosmic martyr, she could still be made to feel pangs of shame for the atrocities she committed to reach where she was. Despite her flaws, her conviction in the overall righteousness of her actions was not invincible, and if properly confronted it was possible for the small sparks of good within her to emerge once more.

Abilities
Together with Geryon, Zariel was among the archdevils best known for their unmitigated martial prowess. Such was her power that she could best a balor in one-on-one combat and only need a few seconds afterwards to collect herself.

Following her fall, she was enhanced with fiendish powers, such as the typical archdevil ability to alter their forms. In addition, many of her powers had gained a distinct fire motif: she could create fireballs and walls of fire at will, her weapons seared with hellish flame, and her magical stare could cause spontaneous combustion. Whereas typical solars had the ability to cast resurrection three times a day and could remove ailments such as disease, poison, blindness, or deafness with only a touch, Zariel had instead the power to cast finger of death three times per day and was endowed with a horrid, poisoning touch that inflicted the same conditions that an angelic healing touch would reverse.

Zariel's fall had also come with undeniable drawbacks. She lacked the divine awareness that allowed all solars to detect lies, as well as their truesight, instead possessing the devil power to see through magical darkness.

Possessions
While Zariel was still an angel, she wielded a longsword which she later lost along with her hand during her original descent into Avernus. The Sword of Zariel, as it came to be known, was hidden by her most loyal general Yael and her hollyphant companion Lulu. The sword not only contained an angelic spark but had every ounce of a hollyphant's celestial energies poured into it, enough so that a fortress against the evils of Avernus sprung up around the blade. The sentient artifact was capable of destroying the nigh-indestructible, although only the sword could decide who was worthy of wielding it, and attuning to its power caused an irrevocable physical and magical transformation into an idealized, angelic version of one's former self.

Some time after her fall, Zariel managed to take the hammer Matalotok, an ancient weapon forged by Thrym, from the demon lord Kostchtchie, and started wielding it herself.

Among Zariel's dangerous weapons were her flying fortresses, massive basalt citadels that were usually repaired and serviced at the rusting Stygian Docks and fueled by souls extracted directly from the River Styx. One such vehicle was a colossal structure shaped like a blade, a tall fortress that was crewed by hundreds of devils and could be controlled telepathically only by Zariel herself.

Realm


Originally, the layer of Avernus was a beautiful domain, a bustling paradise filled with lush gardens, rural countryside, trade outposts, cities and other grand locales. It had been so crafted by Asmodeus with the goal of tempting mortals. As a result of the constant demonic invasions coming through the Styx and the continuous carnage of the Blood War however, the pristine land was ruined, leaving behind only remnants of its former beauty such as ruins, mirages, pleasant sensory illusions without source, and ancient relics that caused fleeting moments of pure joy.

During Zariel's rule, Avernus was a domain of ruin, a war-torn wasteland covered in layers of bones, collapsed structures, and enormous, broken war machines as far as the eye could see. The rocky terrain was marked by rivers of blood, piles of corpses and groaning nupperibo hordes that trawled the landscape like living lakes in search of food. Other natural hazards included bubbling tar pits, quicksand, lava lakes, and salt flats made from the mass tears of the damned. Food and drink from Avernus was tainted if not inedible, and even if brought from another source it tasted ashy or spoiled. The rarity of good food encouraged mortal inhabitants to hoard it, and the plane itself supernaturally rewarded selfish behavior.

Avernus's sky was filled by an ambient, blood-red light that seemed to come from nine suns just below the horizon, with no visible celestial bodies in the sky. The light filtered through the nightmarish clouds that obscured the sky, and the constant twilight made it difficult to track the passage of time. A particularly dangerous phenomenon were the seemingly random, motion-tracking fireballs that rained from the sky and left smoking craters in their wake.

The air smelled of brimstone and burning tar and was often blasted by shrieking gusts of hot wind that occasionally stirred dark sandstorms capable of tearing flesh from bone. The air was populated by biting flies, hellwasps, and stirges, which were known to flock on Coward's Way, feasting on the blood of Zariel's Hellrider betrayers as they hung crucified in metal trees.

Lair
The seat of Zariel's power was a massive basalt citadel that spanned an area of. Its walls were festooned with the partially burned bodies of those that disappointed the Lord of the First, many still screaming and moaning in dying agony audible from up to away.

The citadel was manned by hundreds of various devils both inside and out and protected by high turrets that reinforced the walls. The region surrounding the citadel was also altered by Zariel's magic. gouts of flame burst from the ground apart from each other within  of the fortress, as well as sight-obscuring smoke that clouded it between  and  away, and the smell of charred meat and screaming voices that could be perceived from up to  away. Within the bounds of this lair, Zariel could create more fireballs, as well as major images to frighten her enemies; she had a preference for images of loved ones being burned alive.

Activities
Prosecuting the Blood War took up much of Zariel's time and attention, and she had little room to deal with anything else. Her offensive military campaign often had her at the forefront of invasions when she wasn't within a flying fortress overseeing Avernus's defense. She apparently had a penchant for spawning cambions to serve as leaders for her followers.

It was also her responsibility to ensure the defense of the plane against outside attack, the River Styx being a particularly important area for demonic entry and infernal strikes against the Abyss. Styx devils guarded the citadels and outposts overlooking the river, but it fell to Zariel to manage travel to and from Avernus, and she had the final say over who could pass through.

Relationships
Zariel's rule over Avernus was in some ways, at least before Bel's betrayal, less fierce and brutal than his more defensive reign. It was a tight ship held together by fear, and when met with treachery, Zariel brought swift and terrible vengeance. Many Avernian denizens were power-hungry warlords roaming the wastes in infernal machines looking to create and improve their fiefs. Zariel opted to let the pests destroy each other rather than personally exterminate them given her busy schedule of Blood War prosecution. She had a particular arrangement with Mad Maggie, a night hag obsessed with the tragic saga of Zariel's fall, that deal being that if Maggie kept the other warlords in check then Zariel would leave her alone.

Archdevils
Zariel's disdain for governmental machinations and refusal to make alliances had made her a political pariah among her peers, and her origin was just one more justification for the devils scheming to overthrow her. Each archdevil would happily depose her if given the chance, and many had made moves to do so in the past. Her return to prominence had set off the paranoia of Dispater, compelling him to retreat deeper within his Iron Tower, and Mephistopheles was wary of her wrath and sought to gain leverage over her. Asmodeus admired Zariel's passion for warfare and had welcomed her into the fold of the archdevils, the angel turned fiend being something of a jewel in his crown. Despite this, it was said she actually desired vengeance against the Raging Fiend, and planned to drive him from the Hells.

Zariel's most direct opponent was likely Bel, former Lord of the First. Despite instructions by Asmodeus to cooperate, the two utterly detested each other and invented distractions to avoid having to deal with one another. Zariel placed her assigned advisor in charge of weapons production to keep him busy although that did nothing to stop his treasonous schemes. The possibility that Asmodeus supported Zariel meant that Bel couldn't directly challenge her, though he would take steps to make her seem incompetent, and allowed her to continue her reckless maneuvers in the hopes she'd overextend her forces and be removed due to a defeat. He'd even go so far as to help her be redeemed, even despite the low odds of success, since it would lead to him becoming archduke once more.

The haughty and aloof Tiamat had a somewhat complex relationship with Zariel, although it was certainly a hostile one. She resented the draconic goddess for having been at her mercy during the time of her demotion, and the former angel had once sent her agents to steal from her treasure hoards. At the same time, Zariel once gifted a chalk-white sphere to one of her diplomat's successors, and had attempted to help her escape from Hell by assisting mortals with aligning goals. The attempts to free her, however, were only made because Zariel was unable to kill the Dragon Queen, and so seeing her leave Avernus was the next best option.

Others
Zariel relished slaying demons and was known to do so personally when the opportunity presented itself, though she had specific relations with a few of them. She defeated the misogynistic Kostchtchie, stole his hammer, and chained him to the bottom of a chasm in Avernus since killing him would simply cause him to reform, and she wouldn't necessarily be so rash as to directly confront him if he showed up demanding his hammer back. Her and Yeenoghu, Demon Prince of Gnolls, had some history before her transformation into an archduke, for it was his slaughter of a village under her protection before she knocked him back into the Abyss that was potentially the final straw that led to her descent. Yeenoghu, for his part, hated Zariel with a passion and would love to destroy her.

Zariel was friends with the hollyphant Lulu before her descent, a friendship that dated back centuries. Lulu also served as Zariel's war mount and traveling companion, and the two inspired sorrow in each other, Lulu for what Zariel had become and Zariel for the friendship she had lost. Other reminders of Zariel's past were more morbid, such as the horrific fates of some of her knights. There was the mortal knight Haruman, a heartless crusader even before his descent that transformed into a hell knight of undyingly loyalty to her. There was also the death knight Olanthius, who had taken his life due to Zariel's corruption and was brought back to serve her while supernaturally bound. Though he hated her, he partially blamed himself for not seeing the warning signs to her fall, and Zariel felt guilt for having left her loyal friend to a horrible fate.

A few tieflings carried the blood of Zariel. They were stronger on average than typical tieflings and possessed a few innate magical abilities connected to aggression and battle.

Worshipers
"By the power of Avernus, I call on the hordes of the Nine Hells! To me, my servants! Unleash chaos in Zariel's name!"

- A cultist of Zariel

Zariel's worshipers were those that wished to fight but lacked the necessary experience, training, skill, talent and bravery in martial affairs to do so, all of which her agents could offer. Ordinary cultists showed greater ferocity than before, and cult leaders had a keen tactical eye. Her cults were often headed by her own cambions.

Those that wished to prove themselves on the battlefield, those who sought fame and fortune through military achievement, refugees lacking the ability to fight, and simply those who desired the skills needed to survive were all attracted to the cults of Zariel. On the more experienced side, militant conquerors, already established warriors desiring a combat edge, and hobgoblins that escaped the goblinoid pantheon of Maglubiyet were also typical members. Entire orders of knights, fighter's guilds and mercenary companies could fall under the sway of Avernus's Archduchess.

Zariel desired the souls of the greatest warriors and expected only the best from those under her. She allowed them relatively fuller lives, if only so they could hone their skills in life and join her ranks of universally disciplined and capable servants after death. Those mortals that who pleased her while alive were sometimes allowed to keep their memories and be promoted into higher forms of devils rather than become pathetic lemures. She also demanded loyalty from her servants, her hard bargains being eternal and indissoluble things akin to ultimatums.

Manipulation
However, just because service to the former angel had some advantages didn't mean she wasn't willing to use underhanded means to get her way. Prosecuting the Blood War constantly taxed Zariel's armies, her legions always being depleted by the ceaseless fighting. To keep Hell in the war, she aggressively recruited mortal souls and looked for evildoers on the Material Plane who could bring her more, thus ensuring her more infernal soldiers.

Though violence was a crucial tool in the scheme, the methodology of Zariel's lead soul harvesters was nonetheless diabolical. Zariel's cults flourished in regions wracked by war, and her agents effectively acted as war-profiteers, sowing corruption by destroying harmony and stability thus setting up the right circumstances for mortals to perform heinous deeds. They gave mortals the means to harm each other by funding evil organizations and distributing weapons, and incited hatred between them by coercing them into acts of sectarian violence justified by the need to defeat some arbitrary enemy.

Aside from that, another deceptive method of Zariel was the exploitation of the mortal desire for spiritual leadership. A key example of both these strategies could be seen in Gideon Lightward, one of Zariel's most loyal servitors. Zariel took advantage of his fervor by sending devils disguised as angels to offer him power if he would help fight off the demonic menace, slowly eroding his sanity until he was a tyrannical leader obsessed with the destruction of demons on a level reaching madness. Some cultists of Zariel were known to heap praise on her for her tireless efforts to win the Blood War and defeat the demons that threatened to destroy the cosmos.

Size
After Bel's uprising, Zariel's worshiper base entered a period of decline as her followers scattered and her cults crumbled, their devotion having not transferring to the Pretender. Once she was reinstated however, Zariel's cult began to grow once more. If Zariel were to die, and thus all her contracts be voided, a fair amount of cosmic chaos would ensue.

History
According to Reya Mantlemorn, the name "Zariel" meant "Companion of Light".

Zariel was originally an impetuous angel of Celestia, who was tasked with tracking the progress of the Blood War on Avernus. Continued exposure to the plane led her to grow obsessed with the war and developed a growing taste for battle, which eventually led her to believe that an assault from the hosts of Celestia could wipe out both sides of the Blood War in one stroke and free the multiverse of those fiends. Frustrated by her superiors' refusal to engage in the war, Zariel decided to act on her own and led a host of mortal allies into Avernus. Following her defeat, Zariel was brought to Asmodeus, who then stationed her as Archduchess of the layer and named her his champion. She was tasked to protect Avernus from enemies who sought vengeance against the rebellious angels.

Zariel later sided against Asmodeus in the rebellion known as the Reckoning of Hell. Following the conflict, she retained her position as Archduchess of Avernus, but then the Dark Eight were promoted by Asmodeus to take command of the layer's armies. They used this position to stage a coup and overthrow Zariel, establishing the pit fiend Bel as a puppet Lord of the First in their stead. Hoping to reduce Zariel into an empty soul shell, Bel kept her locked in a prison in the Bronze Citadel while siphoning her powers to augment his own abilities. Zariel was constantly tortured by abishai servants of Bel, who continuously carved off bits of her flesh to feed their master.

Some time later, Bel fell out of favor with Asmodeus due to his inability to successfully repel a demonic invasion of Avernus. Zariel reclaimed her title as Lord of Avernus following Bel's demotion. He was forced to serve as Zariel's advisor and remained one of her chief lieutenants, waiting for her reckless tactics to lead to a mistake, so he could claim his title back.

Shortly after her reinstatement as Archduchess, in the late 15 century DR, Zariel allied herself with the Red Wizards of Thay at the time of Severin Silrajin's attempt to summon Tiamat into Toril. She assisted in their efforts by sending out mortal agents and by facilitating rituals of devil summoning. Her efforts, however, were opposed by Bel and his allies, who instead wished to keep Tiamat in Avernus.

Under her rule, Avernus was turned into a wasteland. Where large cities with considerable commercial activity once existed, only ruins remained. The only active sites were defensive citadels, built mostly along the banks of the River Styx or around portals to Dis.

Invasion of Waterdeep
On a Founders' Day in the late 15 century, Zariel was summoned onto Waterdeep's Field of Triumph. She, in turn, summoned a host of devils and bid them spread chaos in the city. Waterdeep briefly became a battlefield in the Blood War, as demons were attracted by the sudden presence of devils. Zariel hoped that strong adventurers would appear to defeat the fiendish invasion, and that she could lure or blackmail them into her service. A group of adventurers, commanded by Blackstaff Vajra Safahr to restore order to the city, was able to defeat Zariel and banish her back to the Nine Hells.

Rumors & Legends
Zariel was mentioned in The Trial of Asmodeus, a theater play written by the aasimar bard Anodius, allegedly based on real events. According to the play, during a long trial in the court of Primus orchestrated by the angels of Celestia to bring Asmodeus to justice for his crimes, then-angel Zariel protested as she demanded to be heard. The confusion turned into battle, as Asmodeus watched, smiling.

Legends held that Zariel also had a measure of environmental control over the entire layer of Avernus. This effect manifested itself as the seemingly random fireballs that constantly detonated throughout the place, which were believed to be generated by the spite and rage of Zariel during her temporary imprisonment. The meteors were also said to be fragments of Avernus's former structures.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus


 * The Rise of Tiamat
 * Comics
 * A Darkened Wish #3 • Infernal Tides
 * Video Games
 * Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms