Is there a regular promotion schedule for devils (like the military's Time in Serivice/Grade) deal? Or is it based solely on merit?
And while I'm on the subject...are their any female pt fiends or balors? See, I was thinking about succubi/eryines. If they've been genderless or male their whole careers up 'till then, why would they want to get promoted to that rank/form? And if they retain a gender their entire career doesn't that mean that there are female pit fiends and Balors?
And yes, there are female balors and pit fiends. Tanar'ri have this little habit of swapping out genders like people switch clothes, but it gets more rare as you rise in rank and power as a Tanar'ri since it's a waste of resources in the mad, psychotic power scrambles of the Abyss. Baatezu tend to be assigned one or the other and stick with it IIRC. 'loths are either hermaphrodites (all lesser 'loths are at least), or as greater 'loths they do that, or they adopt one gender and stay with it. ("Dirty lies, that first suggestion, I tell you! Ignore the fact that I have 'king' in my name of station!")
And while I'm on the subject...are their any female pt fiends or balors?
At least one of the dark eight is female (and they're all pit fiends), IIRC.
If he meets expectations he gets a slight bump up in his brimstone allowance.
If he fails to meet expectations he is put on probation which, if he fails to satisfy the terms of the probationary period, may result in disciplinary action up to and including termination (of the painful and extremely permanent variety.)
Devils that exceed expectations for the review period are elligible for more generous increases in brimstone allotments and extended vacation days.
Devils who receive an excellent rating for 3 consecutive annual reviews are elligible for consideration for promotion upon recommendation by their supervisor.
;)
Wait a second. I may be mixed up. I'm not sure if that is hell or the place where I work. Oh well, same difference.
All baatezu castes, except for erinyes, nupperibos, and lemures, have precisely equal proportions of each of their three genders: male, female, and neuter.
Baatezu often alternate genders as they climb up the ranks, for the sake of knowing the full spectrum of temptation (mmm... neuter temptation). You might notice they also tend to alternate fleshy and scaly/chitonous forms, although this pattern usually isn't perfect. This is always at the discretion of the baatezu's superiors; devils below the rank of pit fiend have no choice in the matter.
Pit fiends, alone of the baatezu castes, have the ability to change sex without being promoted to a new rank. The price is three days in the Pit of Flame and some... manipulation. Sometimes pit fiends are assigned to different genders for various purposes by members of the Nine.
Baatific nobles are bound to the gender they start out [as nobles] with, though most have shape-changing magics and illusion with which to hide these things if they desire.
This is all according to Faces of Evil.
Aha! I knew it! One more question then. How long does it normally take for a devil to become a pit fiend. I heard it was over 1,000 years.
Well, the last stage of advancement is in gelugon status, and they must serve as gelugons for 777 years of flawless service before even being considered for promotion. After that they are cast into the Pit of Flame for 1001 days (I think), so that is nearly 780 years just as a gelugon and for promotion. I'm sure that there is easily another 220 years worth of time in there after being promoted to spinagon. I wouldn't be surprised if most pit fiends spent more time as a lemure than as any other type of 'zu. There are just so damned many of the sloppy least critters that they must average near a millenium of service before an opening occurs and they are chosen to fill it.