Mephistopheles

Mephistopheles

(Deity)

Titles

The Crimson Son
Devil King
Lord of the Eighth
Merchant of Souls
Seneschal of Hell

Adjective

Mephistophelean

Realm

Hellfire Testament, Caina, Hell

Alignment

Lawful evil

Areas of Concern

Contracts
Devils
Secrets

Worshipers

Con artists, evil barristers, the immoral and desperate, wicked gaolers

Edicts

Master laws and use them to your benefit, enable the desperate, excoriate others with veiled mockery

Anathema

Break a contract you made, get caught breaking the law

Cleric Alignments (1E)

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Domains (1E)

Evil, Knowledge, Law, Rune

Subdomains (1E)

Devil, Language, Memory, Thought

Cleric Alignments (2E)

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Domains (2E)

Glyph, knowledge, secrecy, tyranny

Favored Weapon

Trident

Symbol

Trident and ring

Sacred Animal

Mockingbird

Sacred Colors

Red, yellow

Images of Mephistopheles

Source: Breaking the Bones of Hell, pg(s). 70ff. (1E)
Gods & Magic (Second Edition), pg(s). 124f. (2E)

Mephistopheles

(Creature)

Type

Outsider
(devil, evil, extraplanar, lawful)

CR

30

Environment

Any (Hell)

Alignment

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Adjective

Mephistophelean

Images of Mephistopheles

Source: Bestiary 6, pg(s). 28–29

The archdevil Mephistopheles (pronounced mef-uh-STOF-uh-leez) is the ruler of Caina, the Eighth Layer of Hell, where he keeps many of Hell's greatest secrets and contracts.

Appearance

Mephistopheles is a humanoid, red skinned devil with three pairs of wings and four pairs of horns. He has a pair of red draconic wings, two of black feathers, and two of flaming bones. Two large curved horns extend from his forehead. Two smaller curved horns extend from the sides of head, and a pair of straight ones from the top. The last set of horns are short and thick, protruding from the back of his head. Mephistopheles wears the impressive jewels and robes of planar princes and emperors he has outwitted.

History

Mephistopheles originated as the consciousness of Hell itself, predating Asmodeus' discovery of the plane. When Asmodeus and his followers entered Hell following their Exodus from Heaven, Asmodeus traveled into Caina and made a pact with Hell known as the Sealed Skein. Once the deal was struck, Asmodeus tore Hell's very flesh from its bones, reshaping it into a being he named Mephistopheles. The newly formed entity, the first true devil, pledged to oppose Asmodeus' enemies as if they were its own, and became one of Asmodeus' closest lieutenants. This story is recorded in the Book of the Damned.

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Religion

Unholy symbol

Mephistopheles' official and true unholy symbol is, in essence, a crimson trident piercing a golden ring, with the three prongs of the trident alluding to the spires of Caina. His symbols are rarely seen, however, as owing one's allegiance to Mephistopheles is most often kept secret. Simpler, alternative versions of his unholy symbol exist, including a red sun eclipsed by three mountains; a tongue pierced with three studs; and a scale surmounted with a feather, topped by a bone. The latter evokes Mephistopheles' three sets of wings.

Unholy Text

While Mephistopheles has no interest in creating a religious text, the gelugon Aolectres tasked a Keleshite scholar Volzajal with creating one as penance for attempting to break an infernal contract. Volzajal wrote around 600 pages of simplistic sayings on how to become a master deceiver titled Three Lies. He was then required to create 4,443 more copies, and whether intentionally or not, the versions differ from grammatical errors to entire proverbs being altered. Worshippers of Mephistopheles claim that only three versions were created the same, and that those versions revealed the techniques of true deception. Regardless of this view, few of his faithful actually study Three Lies, instead viewing the tome as a lesson on deception in and of itself.

References

Paizo published a major article entitled "Mephistopheles, the Crimson Son" in Breaking the Bones of Hell.

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.

External Links

• Wikipedia:Mephistopheles (real-world demon)
• Wikipedia:Mephistopheles (Dungeons & Dragons) (D&D character)