Belhifet

Belhifet was a powerful devil.

Gathering an Army
Belhifet sought to conquer the home plane from which he was banished. To do this, he required an army. The answer to this lay under the temple of the war god, Tempus, in the town of Easthaven in Icewind Dale. It was there that a cleric named Jerrod once sacrificed himself to seal a portal to Baator, creating the landmark of Jerrod's stone. Belhifet then decided that the first step of his conquest of the North would be to secure the town of Easthaven, after which he would destroy Jerrod's stone and reopen the portal. Doing so would bring devils upon Icewind Dale, and the souls of the humans that would be slain would be recruited into Belhifet's army.

Disguising himself as Poquelin, a cleric of the god of suffering, Ilmater, Belhifet began a recruitment drive for the army needed to conquer the North. Among these recruits were the elf renegade Ilmadia Bariel, the drow sorcerer Malavon Despana, a bandit called Marketh, and Saablic Tan, a Red Wizard of Thay. Belhifet also recruited many of the humanoids that inhabited the wilderness of the North, including orcs and goblins. During his travels, Belhifet also discovered the evil magical artifact, Crenshinibon. For his base of operations, Belhifet chose the abandoned dwarven stronghold, Dorn's Deep, where his forces acquired needed equipment for war.

An Ancient Vendetta
However, Belhifet quickly discovered that a demon also had designs on the North—the marilith Yxunomei, who commanded the yuan-ti forces of Dragon's Eye. Belhifet and Yxunomei had an ancient vendetta that was the reason Belhifet was banished from Baator by his superiors. Yxunomei followed Belhifet to the material plane in order to destroy him. It was unknown whether she also was banished from their home plane. Much like Belhifet, Yxunomei was also building up an army: hers to return the Dale to the poisonous swampland it once was, presumably to cause mass destruction and recruit souls like Belhifet wanted to do. It was unknown how Belhifet planned to deal with Yxunomei, although it was assumed that he planned to destroy her before invading Easthaven, in case she should attempt to hinder his plans. However, before Belhifet could slay Yxunomei, others beat him to the punch.

Banishment
The heroes of the Ten-Towns (as they came to be known) managed to kill Yxunomei and much of her forces, but they realized that there was something deeper happening. Eventually reaching Dorn's Deep, the adventurers managed to reach Belhifet and confront him. Belhifet managed to flee and, in the process, capture Easthaven in preparation for opening the gate to Baator. Belhifet also used Crenshinibon to seal the temple of Tempus in Cryshal-Tirith. However, the heroes managed to penetrate the crystal tower surrounding the temple and defeat Belhifet before the gate was opened. Belhifet was banished to Baator, not killed. He would not be able to walk Faerûn again for another hundred years.

Legacy and Return
About thirty years later, the legacy of Belhifet continued. During his time on Faerûn, Belhifet had launched a campaign to take over the Ten-Towns and one of his evil acts involved seeding many human and elf females with his own spawn. One of these, the elven woman Ilmadia was rescued and resurrected by the Ilmatari priestess Mother Egenia, who brought her to live with her in Kuldahar.

After a time it was discovered that Ilmadia was pregnant. With Egenia and the archdruid Iselore's help, she gave birth to the cambion twins Isair and Madae. His bastard children eventually formed the Legion of the Chimera, wreaking havoc across Icewind Dale. Later in their lives, they joined Belhifet in the Blood War.

Years later, Belhifet finally returned to Faerûn, where the Bhaalspawn meddled in an attempt by the Shining Lady to stop him.

Behind the Scenes
The voice actor for Belhifet in Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear was David Ogden Stiers.

Appearances

 * Video Games
 * Icewind Dale &bull; Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear