Lords of Hell as Elven Deities

[Eldan]

So, there's this really interesting thread a few posts down, Demon Princes as Dwarven deities. And I thought the combination of a classically lawful culture (the dwarves) with chaotic evil deities was really interesting. Then, I thought, why not do the opposite? Lawful deities for a chaotic culture. So, what's the opposite of dwarves? Elves. What's the opposite of demons? Devils. Therefore, we'll try and write an elven culture that worships the lords of hell.

In this post, I'll just brainstorm a few ideas I had last night, then I'll try to develop the different lords in a separate post. So. First, inspirations. I have two, one from D&D lore and one from mythology and/or pop culture.

The flight of the Elves
It's an idea that has been developed in different ways in multiple settings that elves have fey blood and even come from a faerie plane originally and somehow migrated to the material plane. In at least one setting, elves are specifically former slaves of the fae, who escaped their masters to the material world and now live in fear of them.

We can develop this a bit further, by stealing some inspiration from Changeling for world of darkness and maybe the Eldar from Warhammer 40k. The fey are creatures of chaos and this chaotic nature also deeply affects the elves. Elves have impulse control problems by nature. They are flighty, inconsistent, passionate, wild-tempered, even aggressive at times. But this brings with it problems. If they fall too far into these extremes, their former fey lords gain a measure of control over them. So elves (or some elves) have developed systems of self control and meditation (they even medidate instead of sleeping, since their dreams are too wild and connected to their wild desires. And fairies often have dream magic) to reign themselves in and become civilized. We refer to these as the High Elves.

The Tithe of Hell
It's an idea that I've seen in some mythology - Scottish I think, though I could not name the original source - that the nation of faerie owes some kind of debt to hell. They have to sacrifice either themselves, or humans they have stolen to go in their place, to hell. So our elves have made a deal with hell, which saved them from their fae overlords, but now they owe a regular blood debt to the archdevils

Therefore, the story
While still enslaved by the fey lords, the elves turned to hell for help. Hell is only too happy to help anyone who is desperate and willing to make bad deals. And if there is one thing the infernal war machine is good at, it's teaching discipline. The elves learned self-control, military discipline and meditation from hellish envoys, which helped them win their freedom and escape the feywild.
Now they owe an eternal debt to hell, which must be paid regularly.

The Sacrifices
The elves must ritually sacrifice great minds and great warriors and condemn their souls to hell. I imagine this turning out a bit like the Aztec flower wars: pre-arranged ritual wars (or maybe duels) between city states, with the main goal of taking captives that can be sacrificed instead of their own population. Another idea is the Wild Hunt: regular slave raids by magically-enhanced elvish cavalry on surrounding non-elven territories, with the express goal of capturing only the most desirable sacrifices.

The Religion
The way I imagine it, the nine Archdevils would stand for nine virtues or traditions that the elves must adhere to. Each would come with a list of taboos and behaviours that all elves must follow, in order to prove themselves "civilized". Elves who fail to do so would be outcast from their societies and join the wild elves, bands of raiders, bandits and pirates who desperately try to stave off their own insanity as the fey overtake them.
Each Archdevil also demands a certain kind of sacrifice, made in a certain way. Some demand the strongest warriors, others the most beautiful, the greastest artists, sages, architects, or the wisest rulers.

[Grim Portent]

Which set of 9 Arch-devils are you thinking of going for?

Also perhaps you could take another leaf from the mythology and the elves could use changelings to help abduct suitable victims for their needs, with the elves raising captured babies from other races to become good sacrifices. Sort of fey/devil homunculi created to take the place of children to buy the elves time to flee with their stolen captive.

[Eldan]

I haven't quite decided on it yet. A few are quite clear to me: Mephistopheles, for magic, Asmodeus, who only accepts the sacrifice of Kings, Dispater, maybe Architects.

Bel, Zariel or Tiamat is a toss-up, really. Not Geryon. Mammon, Levistus and Baalzebul are in mostly for lack of opposition. I don't really like either Fierna or Belial. Glasya I don't like and the Hag Countess has no material, really. We'll have to see how this goes.

If I could find a way to have both Bel and Zariel, I would. Bel is an usurper, but one of the archdevils who actually shows something like a real sense of duty, doing the job no one else wants. And Zariel has the best quotes: "My legions are the only thing standing between your precious Seven Heavens and the bottomless hunger of the Abyss. I did not fall into the clutches of evil. I rose to shoulder a cosmic burden."

[Evil DM Mark3]

Funny, I've recently been toying with a Devil cults as a usurped and driven underground state religion idea. I used Bel and Glasya and had the double act as a double act.

Some ideas: Firstly the fact that Fierna and Belial basically share a cult is president for other situations and may solve your First Layer problem. If you have Zariel back in power but have Bel still retain enough power to run a cult, if possibly one with limited actual divine power. Zariel is the Deity of Strategy, Political Warfare, Military Authority, the things the officer class are concerned with, the big important reasons for why they fight. Bel, on the other hand, handled Discipline, Combat, Duty, the more ground in, day to day enlisted man's side of the military. Officers meet before a major battle to discuss grand strategy and battle-plans and sacrifice on the altar of Zariel, while the enlisted gather around their fires, listen to their marching orders, and pass the senior NPC's sword around the circle by the blade, getting small amounts of their own blood on it as it goes.

Prince Levistus is a political outsider, so I don't imagine he has much of a following in the mortal world. Still I can see his cult as assassins or monster-hunters for hire (mine masquerade as a duelling society). What is is really doing, and he does it despite knowing full well he is being used by Asmodeus because its this or nothing, is act as a source of false hope. Just as he wants to escape his prison there are elves who will want to escape their compact with Hell and if either of them can find the right loophole Asmodeus is bound to let them get what they want. Of course Levistus doesn't want his followers to be successful at least not until they find a way to spring him, but in the meantime he is willing to play the captive opposition. Its the only seat he likely to be offered.

With Fierna and Belial I find it works better if you dial down the sex and dial up the desire, of which sex is one of the lowest on the totem pole. Magic, power, money, status, fame, they are masters of controlling people by what they want. I imagine they probably expect their sacrifices to be volunteers manipulated into agreement by their cult.

Baalzebul makes a surprisingly compelling patron of the arts, if you view art as a series of elaborate and appealing lies. This has the added benefit of meaning that all artists who follow him view their art as manipulation and ultiltarian, sullying it in a nice mirror of how he soils everything around him.

My setting has a general early-medieval/late western roman empire feel so I just picked a lot of stuff wholesale for Glasya from medieval witchcraft superstition, made her patroness of rural areas and the harvest and gave all her clerics an Imp familiar and the feat Mother Cyst from Libris Mortis (both to do double duty as a witch's mark and because evil tumor magic fits her really well).

[Grim Portent]

There's always the option of having multiple unique devils be deific figures rather than just the nine reigning arch-devils. So Zariel and Bel could be gods in a fiendish pantheon simultaneously even though only one can be the lord of the first at a time.

[Tzardok]

Hmm, a set of nine virtues, one for every Lord of the Nine...

Bel: Discipline.

Dispater: Prudence/Cautiousness

Mammon: Subservience.

Fierna: Devotion.

Levistus: Mental Fortitude/Detachment.

Glasya: Filial Duty.

Baalzebul: Perfectionism.

Mephistopheles: Ambition.

Asmodeus: Nobility/Power.

[Eldan]

Actually, I had started my writeup with Asmodeus and he got a sort of mixture of Pride and Dilligence, though it also goes into Nobility. And Responsability, I suppose. His maxims are mostly along the lines of leadership guidelines. The failure of a subordinate is a failure of his superior, as it indicates . Reward competence, demote incompetence, punish complacency.

I do like the rest. I'll also have to think about what they'll want sacrificed. Bel I can see just wanting warriors. Asmodeus will absolutely get kings who sacrifice themselves when they get too old for the job, or captured enemy rulers.

[Tzardok]

Ah yes, good old Noblesse oblige.

You want sacrifices? You can't handle the sacrifices!

Dispater: Smiths/metalworkers.

Mammon: Merchants.

Fierna: Beautiful and graceful people.

Levistus: Mavericks/lone wolves. (In other words, those who are isolated and skilled/talented/etc. enough to survive and thrive that way)

Glasya: Fertile parents (those who have lots of children). Glasya is again the most difficult one of the group, but I think I found the contact points between "Filial Duty" and the pure fecundity of Malbolge.

Baalzebul: Architects.

Mephistopheles: Arcanists and sages.

[Eldan]

Interesting. I would have given architects to Dispater, which did leave me with a bit of a gab for old slugface. For Glasya, how about instead of children sacrificing themselves for their parents?

Going back to my original post, I just had another idea for Asmodeus. He's a serpent, who wore the pits of Baator open in his fall to Nessus. And I did mention Aztec flower wars.

It would be fun to therefore bring in another Mesoamerican tradition and have the traditional way to sacrifice to Asmodeus be flinging the victims into deep pits. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_Cenote

[Tzardok]

Baalzebul was difficult, but I remembered his obsession with building cities. Before, I was thinking of advisors and advocats (Lord of Lies, y'know)

Now we're talking sacrifice methods?

Bel: Beheading. Bel's too overworked for fancy executions.

Dispater: Pour molten lead down their throat.

Mammon: Drowning in a swamp.

Fierna: Adorn them with oils, jewelery and so on, then encase them in amber. (There must be a spell that creates a giant drop of resin, don't you think?)

Levistus: The ritualist works himself into a rage and then stabs the sacrifice with a rapier to death. And stabs her a few times more. And again, just to be sure.

Glasya: Cast 'Enlarge Person' on them and then eviscerate/skin the giant sacrifice.

Baalzebul: Feed them to dire maggots. (Lord of the Flies, anyone? )

Mephistopheles: Kill them with a fire and a cold spell at the same time. Wasn't there a frostfire spell of some sort? I think that one would be great. (I call this execution method "Synphonia of Ice and Fire" )

Well, that was fun!

[Eldan]

I hadn't yet considered all of them, but my ideas were:

Bel: War. Going to war is Bel's sacrifice. Beheading works.
Dispater: I was thinking of walling someone in. Lead is nice.
Mammon: Definitely drowning.
Fierna: Agreed on the beauty and finery. The Amber is good, didn't think of that. Perhaps a bit too magical, for a low-tech society, but these are still elves. I was considering strangulation with a silk cord, Ottoman style, as it was also considered a special form of execution that didn't draw blood.
Levistus: angry stabbing works. I was thinking exposure, like tying them to a rock high up in the mountains in winter.
Glasya: That, or just general flaying and disembowelment for the less magical version.
Baalzebul: yeah, old Sluggo is tough. Maybe for him it's not actually execution, but something like amputation or scarification, turning someone beautiful ugly.
Mephisto: I was considering just good old burning at the stake, but the addition of ice has a certain attraction.

[Evil DM Mark3]

I disagree with some of your victims/methods, as I said I gave some thought to this in a different set up recently.

Bel: Military prisoners executed in methods that mirror military punishments, such as floggings, wagon draws, forced marches. Bel is about discipline in the ranks. You could even send the sacrificial prisoner column off to a "detention camp" and kill them by death-marching them. This also allows officers or NCOs who are in trouble and feel they need extra divine aid to stage additional sacrifices as punishment details that go too far.

Despater: I had them brained with a rusty mason's hammer. Incorporates the urban and iron.

Mammon: Drowning or exposure.

Fieria: OK so that amber thing is brilliant, but I still feel that the mistress of desires would prefer people who have been twisted into wanting it.

Levistus: Personal combat, obviously not fair of course (as in, hungry, tired, unarmed prisoner in chains Vs priest in armour and holding a sword who has just had a relaxing pre-ritual massage and warm up session). Yes, this means the priest sometimes becomes the sacrifice, but it would be very rare and Levistus REALLY wants to upend the order if he can manage it (plus its hilarious when it happens and he needs something to keep him entertained). Anything that mirrors his own disgrace is a really dumb idea, you don't gain a god's favour by making it remember why its stuck in a giant slab of ice.

Glasya: My Glasya cult was basically the rural faith, with all the old tropes about witches and pagan sacrifices. Captured farmers or hunters would work, eaten alive by wild beasts (thus creating the hierarchy of Us over Beasts and Beasts over Them).

Baalzebul: My ideas don't transfer, they are too tied to the hidden cult nature of my setting.

Mephistopheles: Fire (you need them to burn) or Hellfire if you can manage it. I agree a nice frozen hillside might make a good location however.

Asmodeus: Still working on him, but part of me wants to suggest just a quick slice of the throat or even just opening the sacrificial vault, loading the sacrificial victims in and closing it until next year. Make the pefunctory and disinterested nature of the ritual underline how far above The King of Hell is from all present and how unimportant mortals are in the grand scheme of things.

[Eldan]

You two are confusing, with your same avatars.

[Eldan]

Asmodeus: Still working on him, but part of me wants to suggest just a quick slice of the throat or even just opening the sacrificial vault, loading the sacrificial victims in and closing it until next year. Make the pefunctory and disinterested nature of the ritual underline how far above The King of Hell is from all present and how unimportant mortals are in the grand scheme of things.

I went the opposite direction with this one. The sacrifice has to be meaningful to the one doing. So I went with the idea of sacrificial kings. Asmodeus' "Big" sacrifice is the King sacrificing himself to Asmodeus, by flinging himself into a pit or off the walls of his fortress. It is done when a king becomes too old to do his duty, or after a particularly great loss of face. Asmodeus' more ordinary sacrifice is to make someone "King for a day" on the winter solstice, then throw them in a pit.

[Evil DM Mark3]

I went the opposite direction with this one. The sacrifice has to be meaningful to the one doing. So I went with the idea of sacrificial kings. Asmodeus' "Big" sacrifice is the King sacrificing himself to Asmodeus, by flinging himself into a pit or off the walls of his fortress. It is done when a king becomes too old to do his duty, or after a particularly great loss of face. Asmodeus' more ordinary sacrifice is to make someone "King for a day" on the winter solstice, then throw them in a pit.

That also works, you either want to go quality or quantity in a big way.

[Tzardok]

You two are confusing, with your same avatars.

What do you think how I feel about it?

I hadn't yet considered all of them, but my ideas were:

Dispater: I was thinking of walling someone in. Lead is nice.

I chose molten lead because it's easier to use than molten iron.

Fierna: Agreed on the beauty and finery. The Amber is good, didn't think of that. Perhaps a bit too magical, for a low-tech society, but these are still elves. I was considering strangulation with a silk cord, Ottoman style, as it was also considered a special form of execution that didn't draw blood.

The problem with Fierna is that I wanted a method of sacrifice that doesn't marr the victim's beauty. Strangulation... does. Also, the idea of preserving the sacrifice in some way didn't let me go. The only realistic thing I could think of was certain poisons and then coating them in some kind of clear lacquer, but that was too modern for me. Covering them in molten glass was the next idea, but... burns. And then I remembered one of my favourite songs: "Bernsteinmeerengel", a song about fallen angels being conserved in amber till Judgment Day. Presto, an idea!

Glasya: That, or just general flaying and disembowelment for the less magical version.

Bah! Anybody can rip out hearts and burn them in coal basins! Let's be creative.
Besides, I really like the imagery of reenacting Malagarde's death.

[Eldan]

Now I wonder how feasibly it is to turn someone into a giant toad, then have a giant crow pick their liver out.

[Tzardok]

That is a creative, but slightly risky method of execution. I take my head off to you.
Now, how in the nine hecks did you come up with that?

[Eldan]

Google "Exploding toads". It was a thing that really happened. Toads in Germany were swelling up and bursting and no one could figure out why. They actually burst with enough force to deposit their entrails several feet away. Scientists managed to exclude toxins, fungus, parasites or a virus.

Turns out it was crows, because crows are bastards. Livers are one of the few parts of that particular kind of toad that is not toxic. Crows would land behind the toads, sneak up on them, and rip their livers out through their backs. In response, the toads would inhale a lot of air and puff up, as that is their normal defence mechanism. But because a major interior organ was missing, this would cause their lungs to rip and the pressure would tear them apart.

[Tzardok]

Hahahahahaha! Oh boy, that's a funny image! And so fitting for the old hag!

By the way, the logical consequence of this thread and the one with the demon lords is "The Hebdomad as Orcish Deities". Did anybody do that yet?

[Eldan]

Oooooh.
Is there a standard lawful evil race? Hobgoblins? Can we do The Court of Stars as worshipped by Hobgoblins? Halflings worshipping the General of Gehenna?

[Tzardok]

I always put kobolds as standard Lawful Evil. You do know that now we have to find a typical Neutral Evil race (drow... maybe?) and put them under the Six Companions and something typically lawful neutral (dwarfs... goddamnit!) for the Slaad Lords?
I am so glad the rilmani don't have any leaders...

[Eldan]

What would anti-neutral even be.

Given that the iconic drow is a good-aligned ranger, I'm sure we could make them fit the companions.

And I'd love to see if anyone can make Dwarves worshipping slaad work. That's probably weirder than Halflings worshipping Harishek ap Thulkesh the Blind Clockmaker.

[Tzardok]

Anyway, I thing I distracted you enough, so to return to the topic have a holiday:

The Baptism by Fire
On the hottest day of the year, elves of artistic talent will gather in the morning to start a competition of art. Without food and water, without rest and repose, each participant will create an artwork to Fierna's glory beneath the burning sun. The contest ends when the last competitor collapses. Glory is awarded to those whose work is the best and to those who endured the longest. Those who die, but managed to finish their work get a honorable mention and are counted among Fierna's sacrifices for the year. The winning works will be gifted to the temple, and the winners either get a luxurious burial or the temple's patronage, a feast in their honor and preferential treatment with the temple's prostitutes (of course Fierna's church has sacred prostitutes, what did you think? )

Edit: And here another thing:

The Faustian Academies
Elves are beings of magic. The chaotic energies of Faerie course through their veins. So Mephistopheles, the Archwizard of Hell, took it upon himself to teach them how to tame their sorcerous talents. This is the reason why "Wizard" is the elf's prefered class. Each single settlement has a wizard college dedicated to the Lord of the Eight, where the young are taught how to channel their powers in strict paths. Magical and other theory, calcified in law, theorem and lemma, is part of the main education. The dedicated pupils who study wizardry in earnest learn to treat magic not as something wondrous or dangerous, but as a tool that gives them control over the world around them the same way their meditation gives them control over themselves.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Which set of 9 Arch-devils are you thinking of going for?

I haven't quite decided on it yet.
[...]
Bel, Zariel or Tiamat is a toss-up, really. Not Geryon. Mammon, Levistus and Baalzebul are in mostly for lack of opposition. I don't really like either Fierna or Belial. Glasya I don't like and the Hag Countess has no material, really. We'll have to see how this goes.

If I could find a way to have both Bel and Zariel, I would.

Why choose just one set? The religion of Baatorianism can simply have multiple different sects. You have your Orthodox Baatorites, the majority sect who follow Bel, Levistus, and Glasya as the lords of the First, Fifth, and Sixth; you have your First Church of Baator, an old-school sect who instead follow Zariel, Geryon, and Moloch, respectively; you have your Reformed Church of Baator, a sect that values a diversity of non-baatezu viewpoints and so follow Tiamat and Malagarde over Bel and Glasya; you have the late and unlamented Schismatic Church who mumbled something once about Asmodeus and Lucifer and collectively went up in a cloud of brimstone; and so forth.

This works out flavorwise, since the elves could have been helped out by multiple different sets of Lords of the Nine at different times if the Fey lords have been constantly trying to get the elves back, so choice of which sect to belong to depends on whether an elf feels that one set deserves more thanks and sacrifice than another for being the original set that helped them escape vs. the set that helped them resist the Fey Lords for a long time vs. the set currently aiding them against their former masters. And if you don't like or don't have enough information about a given one, you can always say the sect devoted to them is a small and/or upstart one, making them obscure and disliked both in-game and out.

It also works out mechanically, since canonically deceased and deposed planar beings can still grant power to mortals and gain power from them (see Geryon as a vestige and Tenebrous as a god) and power can be redirected between objects of devotion (see Yeenoghu's relationship with Erythnul), so you could decide as a DM that one of the sects is the true one and any other sects' sacrifices merely empower the "right" set of archdevils by proxy.

[Eldan]

That is of course tempting. I always like having competing sects of almost anything. That would even mean that we could have some cults that are illegal in some cities but still practiced.

[Eldan]

I think I should get down to some actual writing, if this is to turn into anything. let's start with the easiest.

Asmodeus
The Lodestar of Kings, Beautiful Son of the Morning, The Serpent Most Wise and Proud, Ouroboros of the Deeps

The Old Way
The Fey Queen is cruel and capricious. She follows her whims and through her inconsistency, the realm suffers. She knows no law, save her mood. To her, competence is a threat to her power, flattery is loyalty to be promoted. Thus her rule only ends in degeneracy and weakness.

The Right Way
King, be just and be strong. From the king, strength follows through his subordinates and into the realm. Thus, the righteous king allows no weakness in himself, and allows no weak link in the chain of power.

King, recognize competence. A skilled subordinate is like a flowering tree in a gardener's hand, to be pruned and shaped into something more beautiful than wild growth. A loyal subordinate is like a blade on a smith's anvil, hammered, tempered, tested and sharpened, into a tool that is an extension of the king's arm.

King, reward accomplishment. Thus is loyalty earned. Do not reward the unworthy. By raising up the incompetent and the lazy, you sully and shame those who have earned this honour and will breed resentment in those who would be most fit to serve you.

King, on your head rests all responsibility. The failure of any subordinate is also the king's failure, as the shame for the hand's failure falls on the head. The king put them in place to fail and so must bear the blame. Find new application for the subordinate, who tried and failed, for while failure is not to rewarded, persistence is a virtue in itself.

King, earn respect. The King is not respected for his office, he has his office due to respect, and he earns respect for his accomplishment.

Sacrifice
King, sacrifice only thyself. The King who sees failure and weakness in himself, removes himself from power. Cast thyself from thy highest tower, so that all may see the King's last act of pride, that he died in strength and did not descend into decreptitude and humiliation. That he had the wisdom in his final moment to pass his office into more competent hands.

Make no other sacrifices to Asmodeus. Through your Dilligence you will make your Devotion known to him, and all other offerings are beneath his proud gaze and worthless before his throne.

Above all, be not ostentatious. Let your accomplishments speak for themselves. There is no glory in monuments, the glory is in what they commemorate.

The Priesthood
The king is also high priest of Asmodeus. In many elven cities, with kingship also comes great clerical power. The symbol of each priest-king is the golden serpent crown, holding a ruby star on the king's brow, and the feathered cloak. Lesser priests serve as advisors, inquisitors or generals to nobility and wear the serpent-and-star symbol on their chest.

Addendum: 3.5 clerical domains
Community, Compedition, Darkness, Destiny, Inquisition, Law, Nobility, Planning, Pride

[Tzardok]

Curse you, Eldan! How dare you inspire me when I'm supposed to do my studying!
I made you my favourite Lord of Hell. I tried to emulate the style you wrote Asmodeus in. Didn't quite work out. Do you like it, or do you have ideas for improvement?

Mephistopheles
The Striving One, The Most Supreme Archmage, Tamer of The Fire

The Old Way
The magic of Faerie flows unbound and unbridled, surging hither and yonder. The world and the denizens, both of them are playthings to it's wild and feral whims. They all are mastered by the eldritch floods, unable to know or understand.

The Right Way
Strive for control. The forces flowing through your veins are yours to command. Chain and bind them, that you may master your own soul and forge yourself into a being of greatness.

Strive for power. The world's forces will endeavor to crush your defiance, to toy with you again. Every piece of power, be it so insignificant, reverses the stream and lays the world at your feet on your way to greatness.

Strive for knowledge. Secrets bind those who don't know them. Learn and experience that you may unbound. Experience becomes knowledge, knowledge births understanding, from understanding and endeavor is wisdom forged and wisdom begets greatness.

Strive for magic. The arcane arts are the greatest force in the world, being both of power and of secrets. Learn to leash them, and you leash the world to your will. This is greatness.

Sacrifice
will add later

The Priesthood
Priesthood to Mephistopheles is often connected to wizardry, with the highpriest usually being a mystic theurg. The symbol of his church is a open tome with letters of fire. Advancement in the highly ambitious priest hood is usually done through magic duels.

Domains:
Competition, Domination, Envy, Fire, Magic, Pride, Spell, Knowledge

[Eldan]

I like it. Works pretty well, I think.

Right, so Baalzebul. What are his themes, exactly, that can be worked into a guideline for a civilization.
Perfectionism... he had that, but then was punished by being turned into a perfect form.
Treason is not a guildeline for a civilization. Ambition, maybe? But Mephi has that covered aleady. He kind of weaseled out of proper punishment, almost, compared to say Levistus. Or those who were banished from power entirely. Something about doing your job despite being punished for failure?
Lying? That alone is not civilized. Art was mentioned, which is something. Propaganda, maybe? Spycraft?
Given his hatred of Asmodeus, he could be a patron of Vengeance. Or expanded to a civilization, Retribution and Punishment.


Architecture is interesting, in that we kind of have three architecturally-aligned archdevil. I'd say that Baalzebul can have civil architecture - beautiful public works, boulevards, monuments, statues - while Dispater can have military architecture. Minauros probably works better as a kind of metaphor: one of Mammon's decrees could be about endlessly striving against entropy and how only constant vigilance can keep entropy at bay.

[Grim Portent]

Baalzebul could be a disgraced or lesser member of the pantheon despite his position as an archduke. He and Levistus are both beings who fume and scheme against their master but have no hope of ever besting him. Just because you're disgraced doesn't make you stop being a deific figure though, so the elves are still obligated to provide some place for them because while barely worthy of respect anymore they do still deserve to be acknowledged at the least.

They are above all else icons of failure and treachery and the insurmountable authority of Asmodeus, and by extension the elven king. Unwilling patrons of liars, cheats, criminals and traitors. Public ceremonies to them being mockery as much as supplication, their true devotees worshipping them in secret.