Baalzebul

Baalzebul, formerly known as Triel was the lord of Maladomini, the seventh layer of the Nine Hells, and one of the most powerful archdevils. His latest title, The Slug Archduke, referred to the form he was cursed with after the Reckoning of Hell; a filth-covered giant slug with tiny arms.

Description
Triel was once renowned as among one of the most beauteous denizens of Celestia but was physically altered after his corruption. His new form was that of a tall humanoid with shimmering, sable skin and the jittering, compound eyes of a fly. Still angelically stunning even after his fall from grace, Asmodeus put a curse upon him as punishment for a later crime, forcing him into an even more demeaning form.

The former celestial's mutated form was that of a tall slug, a grotesque abomination infamously unpleasant even to other devils. The Lord of the Flies was constantly surrounded by swarms of the buzzing, scuttling creatures that earned him his title. His body glistened with mucus and thanks to his curse, fecal matter and other rancid filth manifested in piles wherever he went, resulting in his notoriously noxious stench. His deformed arms rested at his front and were more comparable to prehensile tails in functionality. Replacing his handsome visage was a gross, human-like face with torpid lips, incapable of properly pronouncing words without a slimy, wet lisp.

However, even when reduced to such an unsightly state, faint glimpses of the Slug Archduke's previously glorious appearance could still be made out. He had recently managed to work off his punishment, partially freeing him from Asmodeus's curse and allowing him to return to his humanoid form.

Personality
Of Baazelbul's numerous flaws, his most crippling was his perfectionist extremism. His unfiltered dedication to achieving physical flawlessness and greater dominion was what caused his initial fall from the Seven Heavens, as such callous ambition was more befitting of a devil. Seemingly incapable of realizing when he had gone too far, his utter arrogance led him to undermine his own plans by overreaching. He might have even been able to defeat his rival Mephistopheles if in his overconfident scheming he didn't also aim to defeat Asmodeus, causing him to fall even further than before.

Baalzebul made an effort to seem calm on the surface, often withholding his true feelings from others. In truth, the Lord of the Lies had viewed his transformation into a slug not simply as an obstacle to be overcome but as a humiliating experience. He had become an abusive taskmaster during his time in Hell, that displaced his anger on his subjects and loved disheartening them, but after being cursed he became neglectful and miserable himself. Often times he ignored his depressing duties in favor of plotting revenge and fantasizing about regaining his original, archon form.

Despite his flaws, Baalzebul was still dangerously cunning and charismatic. Even if trapped as a slug, he was still the Lord of the Lies, whose every deception and false statement was made with ease. He was not to be mistaken as a pathological liar as he told each untruth with a purpose in mind and indeed managed to keep a hold on his layer for several millennia without lying; at least to other devils.

Powers
Various spell-like abilities were at Baalzebul's command, such as the power to manipulate and create light and flames, create powerful undead, enchant and mentally command others, turn invisible and use various types of divination magic. His more powerful abilities let him create symbols of pain and insanity, speak unholy words and even use wish. He could choose to summon barbazus, erinyes, gelugons or pit fiends but particularly cornugons. Normally however, Baazelbul's spells were his fallback plan used when his other supernatural powers, proved unsuccessful at dealing with his enemies.

When in his slug form, Baazelbul's first tactic was normally to belch out gargantuan clouds of flesh-devouring flies, an ability he had to wait a few dozen seconds to reuse. Although the flies normally dispersed after being spewed, he could cause them to swarm and envelop his form if he so desired for about a minute, protecting him from harm as the flies didn't attack his grotesque mass. The flies could be blown away by a strong gust of wind, but even without them shielding him, Baazelbul's stench was so putrid that simply trying to get anywhere close to him was sickening. Despite being more sluggish than he once was, he was able to burrow underground and his adhesive slime-coated form was adept at scaling surfaces.

His arms were so feeble that he normally relied on his servitors to perform tasks like turning pages, opening doors and feeding him, but they served a purpose in combat besides wielding weapons. Blood, muscle and sinew quickly withered away with even the slightest touch from the Slug Archduke's atrophied limbs, although immortals like devils or demons were immune to the effect. Like an actual slug however, limbs and body parts removed from Baazelbul simply grew back, although his regeneration was supernaturally fast, allowing him to regrow body parts in a few minutes and reattach severed limbs. His regenerative powers were less effective when he was harmed with good-aligned spells and holy weapons.

Although many of his powers were a result of his slug form, Baazelbul possessed some before his metamorphosis, such as the ability to fly or shapechange. Another was his direct gaze, which combined the powers of a fear and ray of enfeeblement spell to leave his victims trembling in terror even after he stopped staring at them. His slug form shared his gaze, but couldn't use it properly when surrounded by flies.

Possessions
Several magical artifacts of great power could be found within Baazelbul's domain but, presuming one could avoid his cornugon guardians, were practically impossible to find amidst the collapsed structures and random refuse. The Book of Vile Darkness once made its way into his personal library, and of the six full copies known to exist, at least one contained extra pages added by the Lord of the Flies.

Relations
Baalzebul was allied with Belial, but opposed Mephistopheles in all things, and desired revenge on Asmodeus for his humiliation during the Reckoning.

Realm
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.

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.

History
Originally an archon named Triel, Baalzebul was cast down into the Nine Hells and promoted to devilhood by Asmodeus himself in a dread ritual. Baalzebul was a perfectionist, and this served him well as he climbed the ranks of devilhood. 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. 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.

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, 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.

During the Reckoning, Baalzebul's forces challenged Asmodeus himself, but were thwarted when Mephistopheles's troops turned on his own. To punish Baalzebul for his insubordination, Asmodeus changed his formerly angelic form into a melted, sluglike one. Suffering from depression, Baalzebul's perfectionism has lapsed, and his layer of hell shows the signs. 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.