Dispater

Dispater was the Lord of Dis and an archdevil whose extreme vigilance almost personified caution. The Iron Duke ruled the Iron City from within his Iron Tower, and was legendary for his impregnable layers of defense.

Description
Dispater appeared as a tall, dark-haired humanoid with sable skin as cold and hard as iron. His infernal heritage was revealed in several aspects of figure: his glowing, red eyes, tiny horns, tail, and cloven left hoof. The devilishly handsome archduke dressed in only the finest attire, such as his velvet gloves or red robes, and always wielded his mace-like rod.

Personality
A master strategist and expert in intrigue, Dispater had a well-earned reputation for being the most carefully calculating of the archdevils. His personal safety was always his top priority and to catch him off-guard would be to outwit one of the most clever and resourceful beings in reality. During every step of his dominion he acted with patient cunning and unshakable discretion. Although he, like the other archdevils, schemed to take over the Nine Hells, he avoided taking big risks, not out of cowardice or insecurity but because of his unique view of the system.

Dispater viewed reality from the perspective of a contestant in an enigmatic game governed by unclear rules, and he analyzed the worth of everything by how it might help him glean its true nature. By solving all the mysteries of the multiverse, he would gain the best chances of winning, allowing him to control the Nine Hells and then the rest of reality. The chance to learn a new secret was one of the few things that could compel him to act against the other archdevils.

Despite his analytical approach, Dispater still held diabolical charisma and carried himself with appreciable self-control. He was calm and composed at all times and was undeniably persuasive, delivering reasonable arguments with the courtesy of a true gentleman. His ability to withhold his anger even when it passionately burned not only made him a dangerously suave entity but was a source of personal pride for him.

However, behind Dispater's sophisticated posturing and soft finery was nonetheless a tyrant's iron fist, much to the chagrin of predatory members of his court. He was a malicious manipulator whose gentle words were laced with deceit and his acts of supposed charity were always political in nature. Even when committing acts of unspeakable evil his chivalrous façade never wavered and if someone did manage to break his iron-clad stoicism he'd rather destroy them than leave them alive to potentially expose his folly.

More recently however, a flaw had appeared in Dispater's seemingly invincible defense; his never-ending vigilance had been slowly transitioning into anxiety and paranoia. Unless otherwise forced to, he never left his city or even his tower, fearing a fate like Geryon or Moloch before him. Noone was trusted, surprises were, at best, unpleasant and he went out of his way to make clear who was in charge. The gloomy archdevil's paranoia affected his every action and the ever-cautious Lord of the Nine had at least nine escape routes and back-up plans at any given time.

Powers
The Iron Duke's touch could have two effects, each devastating on their own but when used in concert could easily fell the most dangerous of foes. The first effect allowed him to turn flesh into iron, rendering almost any organic foe an inert statue. The second effect almost instantly corroded metal, rusting up to a cube worth of material into useless pieces in an instant. Only the most capable warrior could retract their weapon after striking him without it turning into dust first, but magical metal could resist his power and nonmetal items were completely immune. Because those he turned into statues were only made of mundane metal, one of his favored tactics was turning someone into metal before rusting them into oblivion.

Fortunately for those who would try to combat him, Dispater always acted defensively, creating scalding gates of steel and walls of deadly chains to hold back his attackers while he summoned aid. Normally he would already have minions to fight in his stead, ranging from merregon grunts, moderately dangerous war devils and even pit fiends, who would keep the enemy busy while he evaluated their strength. Although pit fiends were his first choice of summon and he was also known for his use of erinyes, other devils might be called based on the situation, such as osyluths, barbazus, cornugons or gelugons.

Dispater's very words were powerful and if he could not persuade someone with their contents he'd do so with their magical nature. Suggestion spells were one way he'd make distance, and when fighting he would section off powerful adversaries from their allies in order to dominate them uninterrupted. He could also blast people back with thunderous speech or utter an unholy word.

Dispater had various other abilities such as the power to create a symbol of pain, surround himself with a terrifying aura, or cause a fear or chill with his gaze. It was also said that those who attacked him would be forced to relive their worst memories in excruciating detail, whether it was as simple as losing a brawl or as supremely humiliating as a celestial's fall from grace. If a battle seemed to be turning against him despite his cautious planning and preparation he wasted no time teleporting away.

Possessions
Rumored to have been empowered at the same time as the Iron Tower, Dispater's rod was both a potent magical artifact and his symbol of ultimate authority. It was long, made either of iron and lead or adamantine, and shaped like two intertwined serpents. It acted as both a rod of rulership and a powerful staff of striking, allowed the wielder to smite the forces of good and could spew stinging acid.

Being focused on defense, Dispater also often equipped a magical iron shield and had been developing a suit of adamantine armor. The suit had a plethora of enchantments applied using methods only known to Dispater himself that could thwart magic, allow for survival in even the most hostile environments and achieve a host of other unknown effects.

Activities
Dispater rarely left the safety of his Iron Tower, much less his city, only exiting if forced to by Asmodeus and always returning as fast as possible. He governed his realm through intermediaries and aspects and relied on minions to do his bidding, his servants being scattered throughout the Nine Hells all working to some elaborate end. Erinyes served as his messengers and heralds but he also made use of imp envoys with messages sown into vests designed to destroy both the messenger and message if removed by the wrong person.

With every archdevil to fall, Dispater's already healthy paranoia grew and his methods became more extreme. For example, the unpredictable and sudden fall of the Hag Countess to Glasya, seemingly with the support of her father drove Dispater deeper into the depths of his tower. After that he double-checked his exits, quadrupled his guards and increased the layers of intermediaries he communicated through, only directly seeing his most trusted servitors and instructing half of his servants to spy on the other half for treachery. Zariel's triumph over Bel only made matters worse and saw him take up residence deep within his libraries. He left daily governance and negotiation with mortal summoners to his herald Titivilus and a greater number of spies to monitor potential threats.

His primary goal was always to consolidate his current power and his plans could take generations to achieve results. After Glasya's ascension he tried to slowly drive out the voluntary, planar residents from his city through harassment, taxation and surveillance, convinced they were all sources of potential treachery. As for actual objectives, his main mission was the elimination of Baalzebul. The two constantly fought in wars of intrigue and expertly played politics, seemingly preventing the Iron Duke from further expansion.

Realm
Dispater's Iron Tower, a nigh-impenetrable fortress, was itself an extremely powerful magic item that amplified his powers and made him nearly invulnerable.

Relationships
Dispater's sole consort was Lilis, the Iron Maiden. Since her intelligence network covered all of Baator, she supplied Dispater with much necessary information.

Malachlabra, Duchess of Hell, was his daughter. She had three long sinuous barbed tails, an obsidian-hued lush human body, and bat wings coming from her shoulders.

In terms of politics, Dispater was allied with Mephistopheles, the Lord of the Eighth. Together, they schemed against Baalzebul, the Lord of the Seventh.

He tried to distance himself from his allies and seek peace with his enemies to avoid having any enemies, a futile goal.

Dispater, along with Mephistopheles, was once an ally of Mammon, but Mammon betrayed them both.