Into The Abyss (Demons of Astlan) (29 page)

A Treatise on The Hierarchy of The Abyss.

By Glashow mac Allum

Sage to the High Lords of Gizzor Del

Demons are, in general, a rowdy and chaotic bunch of malefactors; as such, they respect few rules, except that of force. To the best ability of wizards and sages to determine, demonic society is highly chaotic and disorganized. It is much more strongly feudal than that of humans. Extremely powerful demons lord it over weaker demons, who in turn hold sway over even weaker demons. Even so, the treachery and backstabbing is still extreme. All demons are clever and crafty, always seeking advantages over others, even their own kind and their own leaders.

Even so, at least at the true top levels there is some constant, semi-stable hierarchy based solely on power. The Demon Princes, of which there are very few (13 it is believed) rule unchallenged. The Arch Demons serve the princes and the class IV demons often serve the Arch Demons and from there on down things become tangled. Further, it should be noted that at least some of the Arch Demons and Greater Demons owe only nominal allegiance to those above.

To the best ability of
Astlanian sages to determine, there is or was, one supreme demon over all. Apparently, however, this unnamed being, known only as Demon Father, or the Concordenax, has been gone/dead/missing/out of the picture for the last millennium. Directly below the Concordenax are two incredibly powerful demons who currently, effectively, rule the Abyss. Their true names are of course unknown to all; their calling names however, are Sammael and Lilith. Sammael seems to be the more powerful, male demon, and Lilith is his consort. They rule as emperor and empress. They are referred to as the Cofactors of the Abyss. Below them is the Triumvirate. The Triumvirate is essentially the daily governing body of the Abyss. The Prime Ministers if you will. The calling names of these three demons are believed to be Asmodeus, Baalzebul, and Mephistofeles. Together the Triumvirate and the Cofactors form the Quintenal Cabal. The ministers below the Quintenal Cabal are the Supreme Septat. The Supreme Septat consists of 7 Demon Princes of slightly lower power.

Thus at the base of all is the Concordenax around which all revolves (1), followed by the Cofactors (2) with the Triumvirate (3) the last two of which form the Quintenal Cabal (2 + 3 = 5) and finally the Supreme Septat (7). The numerology is obviously with the demons. (1 + ( 2 + 3 {=5}) + 7 {= 13}), the principal primes adding up so nicely is surely some form of power omen. The full significance
of which is not completely understood by the best of the sages of men.

Below the level of the Demon
Princes, things are not well understood by men. The belief is that the Concordenax is something possibly above a normal Demon Prince there are thus two top levels, the Concordenax and then the Princes. Further, of the Princes there are three groups, (Cofactors, Triumvirate, Supreme Septat). Thus, many sages insist, the third level, the Arch Demons, must, by numerological consistencies consist of five groups (the next prime). In addition they say, these five groups must (following the ordering of 1, 2, 3, (5), 7, (13)), consist of 17, 19, 23, 29 and 31 each in that order of power. Now, this means there are 119 Arch Demons, while this number is not prime, 119 has a prime factorization of 5 x 17, the number of groups times the number of demons in the first group. While not ideal, this is an auspicious enough theory as to hold some weight with the sages. Similar counting arguments can be used to determine the number of Greater Demons on down. However, things become less auspicious and the information gleaned is not sufficient to warrant too much faith.

As to what level of allegiance the various demons owe their overlords, it is not completely clear. What is clear is that the closer demons are to their overlords in physical proximity or their overlord's power base the stronger their allegiance to that overlord. Logical enough.

As for the geography of the Abyss itself. The Abyss is essentially infinite in size. It is reported that the temperature is well over the boiling point of water at all times, and that pillars of stone may rise straight up for miles from red, rocky and otherwise lifeless desert floors. Further, in some regions there are vast mountain ranges easily twice as high as any found in the planes of men. High enough, some say, that snow may be found on their peaks, even though wine itself boils at sea level.

Not only is the heat unbearable for
mortals in the Abyss, but fire itself is a constant enemy. Great balls of fire and heated plasma will suddenly expand from nothing in the middle of the air, engulfing all for hundreds of feet before disappearing as quickly as they came.

In
addition, the mighty River Styx is said to flow through the center of the Abyss on its eternal journey delivering the souls of the deceased to their final resting place. How it is that the river itself does not boil in the infernal heat is not clear, but then nothing about the River Styx or the Abyss itself is clear.

It is further said, that in the Abyss alone, does mighty Charon, the boatman ever relax his eternal vigilance, and sometimes allow a demon to swoop down and scoop up one of the unwary, yet damned, passengers on the boat. What the demons do with the hapless souls is unknown, as is why Charon should allow this. What is
clear is that one should seek to take the boat going the other direction in the afterlife.

This concludes most of what can be said in certainty about the Abyss and the hierarchy thereof. Not much is truly known, for the only way to really know, is to consort with demons. Most demons being unwilling to divulge information freely (most likely they are all merchants at heart) they must be tricked or tortured into confessing what they know.

Needless to say, this is neither an easy nor safe task to undertake. Further, all of what demons say must be considered suspect, since it is well known that among their greatest passions is lying (the others being rape, murder {not necessarily in that order}, cheating, wholesale slaughter, destruction, debauchery, gluttony, and lewd conduct as well as general maleficence. Oh yes, and foremost, thwarting their master's aims and plans and seeing to his eventual ruination). As that is all that can be said, I thank you for your attention.

"Well, yeah, that probably
was a small nuclear device Lenamare activated."  Tom said as he peered through the distance to where the castle had been.  It was dark out, and the ex-castle was far away, but as Tom had discovered, neither was much of an impediment to demonic sight.  Not that the dark mattered too much.  The crater in which Lenamare's castle had stood, except for a small finger on which Exador's army was perched, glowed an unnerving blue.  The trees around the crater had been burned to grayish stumps.

"I'm not so sure it's a good idea for those guys to be camped there,"  Tom commented, thoughtfully.

"Why not?" asked Rupert who was twisting around in Tom's arms to see the encampment.

"Radiation.  If, as the blue glow would seem to indicate, that place is highly radioactive,  everyone inside will get very sick."

"Well good," Rupert said, "they are the enemy after all.  However, while I don't know what this radiation stuff you're talking about is, you can be pretty sure Exador would have taken precautions to protect his people from it.  He's at least as good as Lenamare."

"We can hope so, because enemy or not, radiation sickness is pretty bad from what I've heard.  Besides, we think Jenn is down there.  Right?"

"Oh, yeah.  I guess that’s right."  Rupert conceded.

"So, how do we find out if she's there?"  Tom asked.  "I'm not exactly inconspicuous."

"Well, I thought about that," said Rupert.  "I can walk down there, acting like I'm lost and crying for my big sister Jenn. They capture me and put me with her."

"I don't know," Tom said, unsure.  "One, it sounds kind of corny, and I doubt they'd go for it, and two, it
’s way too dangerous for you.  Finally three, then you're all captured, what good does that do?"

"Well, once they capture me, all I have to do is get a fire going, and I have flint and steel, then I can use your true name to conjure you
; if you are willing, I don't need any spells.  Then, once you are there, you can maul our way out."

"Hmm great," Tom was just thrilled at the prospect of killing more people.  "It's still too dangerous for you."

"Look, they're people, they may be the enemy, but they're not going to kill off a harmless little kid immediately.  At the very least if they know I'm a student they'll want to torture me to make me talk."

"Oh, that really convinces me there."

"Look, if they torture me I can use the flames they heat the irons with to summon you."  Rupert said smiling.  "Look, they're not going to hurt me.  I can take care of myself."

"Uh huh, and what if they've got more demons down there? They might not care, and just see a little wizard kid and kill him."

"I'm not afraid of demons."

"So...I've...noticed..."  Tom said.  "Look, I can't be responsible for you getting caught, hurt and maybe killed."

"Tom," Rupert said, in that way little kids get when they're exasperated with a stupid adult, "I know what I'm doing.  They're not going to hurt me.  It's the only way, unless you can shape change into a little kid? or an animal or something."

"Uhmm."  Tom didn't know about that.  He'd never tried and wouldn't really know where to begin.  "Let me think."  What was he going to do?  He couldn't let the kid go down there and get himself captured.  Even if they did capture him and didn't kill him, there was no
guarantee they had Jenn in captivity or would put Rupert in the same place as her.  He just couldn't think of a better plan. 

This was insane, true
, it was keeping in line with every other thing he'd seen these wizards do, but still.  Sending a nine year old kid into the middle of the enemy encampment didn't seem like the heroic thing to do.  On the other hand, if he just went marching in, a lot of people would get killed including Jenn.

"All right.  It's against my better
judgment, but I don't know what else to do."  Tom conceded.

Rupert just smiled in triumph at getting his way.

~

The ground squished muddily under Rupert's feet.  He was trying to get close to the sentry's position without giving away the direction he'd came from.  He wasn't sure why, since he was going to give himself up anyway, and Tom would be gone back to the Abyss to wait for his call.  It just seemed like the thing to do.  He'd known Tom would see it his way.  It was the only reasonable plan.  Further, for whatever Tom's
protestations, he had to know there was no way the soldiers were going to hurt him.  He'd come up with the plan on the couple hour flight back to the castle, and he was proud of it.  It was his first major battle plan.

His hearing detected the step of a marching sentry nearby.  Quietly, he snuck closer to the sentr
y’s path, and purposefully broke a stick.  The sentry stopped.  The air in the clearing where they were was quiet.  It stunk like ashes, and not even a cricket was chirping.  "Who goes there?"  the sentry called out.  Rupert made a small whimpering noise.  He picked up some ashes and threw them in his eyes to make them water.  "Halt I say.  Stay where you are," the sentry marched closer to Rupert's position, but still didn't see him.

What an idiot
, thought Rupert,
Exador should have him hung
. 
Well, if I've got to do it myself, I do it myself.
  Rupert made another whimpering noise and then tried to bolt through the long grayish grasses that had been concealing him.  He pretended to trip on a root and cried out.  "Got you!" said the sentry as he grabbed Rupert by the shoulder as he floundered.  "Halt or I gut you."

Like I am really scared of you, guy,
thought Rupert.  Nonetheless, he halted and stood trembling in mock fear, tears running down his face.  "Who are you?" asked the soldier.  Rupert just sniffled and trembled some more.  "Come on kid, tell me who you are and I won't hurt you."

Rupert trembled some more and snuffled, "Wupert, sir."

"Rupert?  What are you doing here Rupert?  You know you shouldn't be here." 

"Looking for sissy," Rupert mumbled.

"Looking for your kitty?"

Give me a break
, Rupert thought
, how did these guys ever force us to leave the castle?
  "No, my sister.  She was in the castle...snnnffff...snnnfffff...and now it’s gone...waaaahhh...waaahhh..sniff sniff"

"Hmm, I'd better take you to the major.  If you're from the castle, he'll want to know." 

Take me to your leader!
thought Rupert
.  Let's get on with it already
.   The soldier marched Rupert into the center area of the camp. Rupert shook his head as he pretended to sob and snuffle.
What sort of stuff were they teaching these soldiers?  The man just abandoned his post to take a bawling brat to the commander.
  If only Rupert had had an army waiting in the trees.  Here he was, a little kid and he knew more about strategy and tactics then these grown soldiers in Exador's army.  Rupert just couldn't get over it.

He was led to a large tent.  The tent flap was opened by two other guards as the sentry approached.  "Major?" the soldier called out as they entered the tent.

"Yes," said a tall man in a red uniform with lots of shiny medals. 

"I found this kid out on my patrol.  He was trying to sneak up on the camp. Claims he's looking for his sister."

"He was doing what?"

"Sneaking up on the camp."

"Did you check to make sure there weren't any others as well?"

The soldier paused, looked abashed, "uh, uhm, no."

"You are lucky Lord Exador isn't here, or you'd be regretting it for the rest of eternity.  You take more men and scour that area, immediately or I may just tell him."  The major thundered.  The soldier let go of Rupert's shoulder and ran out the tent.

The major looked down at Rupert.  "Now, were there any others?"  Rupert shook his head no.  "What were you doing out there, son?"

Rupert shrugged, acted scared, he mumbled, "looking for my sister."

"So you told Dobson.  Why did you think she might be here?"

"Cause she was in the castle, and now there's no castle.  What did you do to it?  Did you kill her?!"  Rupert let his voice escalate getting shriller and shriller.

"No, no son."  The major put his hands on Rupert's shoulder, Rupert flinched.  "We didn't do anything, the castle people did it themselves.  It's not clear if your sister survived, but many others did.  If you
promise to be a good boy and stay here with us, we'll find your sister for you.  Ok?"

Rupert nodded shyly.  The major smiled, satisfied that he had a willing prisoner, which he did.  "Now son, for a little while, I'm going to have to make sure you don't cause any trouble, until I know you don't have any friends hiding out there.  So I'm going to have to bind your hands."  Rupert looked frightened.  "It won't be for long, only until I can verify your story and I won't tie them too tight.  Ok?"

Rupert pretended to look scared, but nodded acquiescence.  The major took his nod for agreement, and walked over to a small nearby table.  As Rupert's eyes followed the major, they lit up when they saw what was on the table with the rope, Jenn's robe!  So they did have her.  And there was her not quite a diary beside it.  She'd thought that book quite important.
Was there any way he could get it?
  He thought quickly.  He'd never tried it, but it had been in one of the books in the library he'd snuck a peak at.  He twiddled his finger in the way he thought he remembered, concentrated on the doorway and said under his breath, "Major come quickly!"

Outside the tent, a rather high pitched voice said somewhat indistinctly, "Major come quickly!"  The major looked up, looked over at Rupert and said, "stay there."  He ran outside the tent, the rope in his hands. 

Rupert hurried over to the table, grabbed the book and ran back to where he'd been left.  He stuffed the book down his trouser leg, hoping he could hold it between his thighs, and trusting that his pants, tucked into his boots, would keep the book from falling out if he couldn't.  A few minutes later, the major came back in, looking puzzled, shaking his head.  He walked over to Rupert.  "Strange.  Put your hands together in front of you."  Rupert did, and the major tied them, firmly but gently. 

"Jorgen."  The major called, summoning a guard from outside.  "Lead this lad over to the prisoner tent.  Treat him nicely though, he hasn't done anything wrong, yet."  The soldier nodded and took Rupert by the shoulder.  Rupert shuffled along, pretending fear, and hoping he could keep the book wedged in his pants, between his legs.