Pathfinder - Chronicles - Book of the Damned - Vol. 1 - Princes of Darkness.pdf - Chronicles - pillowbookworm

Book of the damned Vol. i

™

PRINCES OF

By F. Wesley Schneider

PRINCES OF

DARKNESS

PRINCES OF DARKNESS

BOOK OF THE DAMNED VOL.1

A Pathfinder Chronicles Supplement

Table of Contents

HellandtheArchdevils 4

TheCityofDis

Devilkind

Order

Diabolatry

HierarchyofHell

Diablerie

Exodus

Author : F. Wesley Schneider

Cover Artist : Kieran Yanner

Cartography : Rob Lazzaretti

Interior Artists : Jeff Carlisle, Alan Lathwell,

Francis Tsai, Eva Widermann, Kieran Yanner

Credits

Publisher : Erik Mona

Paizo CEO : Lisa Stevens

Vice President of Operations : Jeff Alvarez

Corporate Accountant : Dave Erickson

Director of Sales : Pierce Watters

Sales Manager : Christopher Self

Technical Director : Vic Wertz

Events Manager : Joshua J. Frost

Editor-in-Chief : James Jacobs

Editing and Development : Christopher Carey,

Sean K Reynolds, and James L. Sutter

Editorial Assistance : Jason Bulmahn

Editorial Interns : David A. Eitelbach and Hank Woon

Art Director : Sarah E. Robinson

Senior Art Director : James Davis

Special Thanks : The Paizo Customer Service

and Warehouse Teams

Paizo Publishing, LLC

7120 185th Ave NE

Redmond, WA 98052-0577

paizo.com

Product Identity: The following items are hereby identified as Product Identity, as defined in the Open Game License version 1.0a, Section 1(e), and are not Open Content: All trademarks,

registered trademarks, proper names (characters, deities, etc.), dialogue, plots, storylines, locations, characters, artwork, and trade dress. (Elements that have previously been designated

as Open Game Content or are in the public domain are not included in this declaration.)

Open Content: Except for material designated as Product Identity (see above), the game mechanics of this Paizo Publishing game product are Open Game Content, as defined in the Open

Gaming License version 1.0a Section 1(d). No portion of this work other than the material designated as Open Game Content may be reproduced in any form without written permission.

Paizo Publishing, LLC, the Paizo golem logo, Pathfinder, and GameMastery are registered trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC; Pathfinder Chronicles and the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game

Printed in China.

Before

G leaned through the tales of the most ancient, communion with the beyond, and that

Before

The first feeble glimmer of light stirred here, and reality has been aflame ever since.

What was, we know from it; what is, grew from that root; and what will be—our inevitable

dissolution—burns amid its fires. The Seal is called many things, for it is the beginning and end of all.

Nothingness begat nothingness, and so it was throughout the time before time. Our realm is not

the place of wonders that gods and other manipulative things would have us believe. All comes from

somewhere, be it natural or arcane, and all of creation knows its boundaries.

But such is not the case with the Seal. From whence it came or how it fell unto our world, none—not

even its first children—can say. It is that it is, and that is all we, with our feeble minds and intervals,

can ever know.

A shining beacon in the endless, starless night of oblivion, the Seal’s glow lit the darkness, revealing its

infinite possibilities. Eons passed like drops in a river, and the first light never flickered nor diminished,

nor did any spark or whisper join it in the darkness. And so the moment came and went without

thought, and reality entered a new age as the Seal was joined by twin radiant motes of its own creation,

barely perceptible candle flames amid its great brilliance.

In a way of understanding, these were the first lives,

fundamental essences learning for the first time what

it was to live. Through ages untold, these motes slowly

came to know motion, playing over the surface of the Seal

even as they drew sustenance from its power. Countless

millennia saw these flickers wander and dance, little

more than sparks upon the sun, beautiful but trivial.

Their endless, unthinking lives knew only the simplest of

sensations, and reveled in the cold of the void and the

warmth of their Seal.

Then it happened again, and the motes were joined.

A slight puff of life expelled dozens of new motes forth

to orbit the Seal, and the First discovered that they

had grown. Larger and faster than these new lives,

the First collected and consumed their siblings, and

grew greater. Slowly they discovered control of their

forms, and the first deliberate shapes began to appear

amid the Seal’s radiance. Perhaps in response, the Seal

unleashed more and more of its motes, until there

were too many for the First to hunt and consume.

Gradually these new motes began to grow as their elder

siblings, and life spread across the Seal.

Thus, a distinct progression began in the time before time. There was the Seal, those newly created,

and the First, who braved each new and evolving state of being. Through the epochs, the children of the

Seal grew in size and complexity and ability. The motes began to take on favored forms and gradually

m ou nti ng step s o f H eav en, fr om whi ch

s prin gs the go od and th e r igh t. I n t he

n am e o f th e O rde rs, Pow ers, Thr one s, a nd

Choi rs, who wit nes s al l ab ove and be low. In

the na me of the Lor ds o f t he E mp yre an,

who me asu re a ll kn owl edg e an d s ee t hrou gh

lies. An d i n t he nam e o f t he first gr eat

Lord , h e w ho was ta ken an d w hose pe ople

kno w s orro w f or him st ill, I s wea r t hat

wha t f ollow s a re t he visi ons of m y tra vels,

the th ough ts of s ouls an d t he soull ess, the

nat ure of cre ati on, and th e t rut h u nto

all thi ngs.

—T abr is, f rom th e in tro duc tion to the

Bo ok o f th e D am ned

lore of Hell extant before the advent of blasphemies and lies, these pages summarize the

chronicle of the being Asmodeus, known as the Prince of Darkness, the God-Fiend, and—

in an age before reason—the First.

F r o m T h e B o o k o f t h e D a m n e d

I n t he nam e of t he host s a nd the sev en

became as great animals, wandering and feeding, exploring and interacting. The First, as the oldest and

most powerful, became leaders and predators, adding the ever-advancing essences of their lesser brethren

to their own, and in so doing growing always greater. Life was as a spiritual wilderness in this prehistory,

and the first impressions of emotion—of companionship, and fear, and wonder—came to form. And what

followed in pursuit and avoidance of these sensations was thought.

Having spent untold eons together, what were once motes and the first of the Seal’s creations became

brothers and the greatest of its children. With minds came power, and as they realized their needs the

First unwittingly reshaped the power of the Seal to provide. Painting new wonders in the ancient light for

unknowable spans, one of the First happened upon a strange sigil, and meaning came into being. Symbols

and meaning emerged through the following age, the First spinning across the Seal, journeying among

their lesser kin, and venturing as far from the light as they dared in discovery of new concepts.

Eventually, as its brother had discovered the power of symbols, the other made its own discovery, reshaping

itself and uttering the first intelligent sound. With speech came the potential for new knowledge, and

the words of the First rang through an eternity that could no longer be called empty. Reaching into the

depths of itself, the being that had once been nothing more than a mote crafted the first word, a name

for itself, and came to be called Ihys. And for his brother, who had been his companion for all that he

knew, he lovingly crafted a second name—Asmodeus.

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