in 2e Baalzephon is also a pitfiend, and member of the dark eight (the ruling body of Baator in early 2e, when they temprarily did away with the concept of arch-fiends)
(and note that a quick scan of the BoVD does not reveal any claims that they are the same entity.)
Obviously, whatever the devilish ally of Ivid, he must have been an arch-devil or something very close in power given the kind of help Ivid got out of the deal.
WG8 Fate of Istus reveals that "Baalzy", Ivid's god of "prosperity" is actually the archfiend Baael.
According to the 2E MMII, this could be "Bael", duke of Hell and vassal to Mammon.
WGR6 Ivid the Undying, however, states that Baalzephon is indeed one of the Dark Eight.
The fact that 3.XE changed (again) how Hell's power structure is handled only complicated matters
Note that 3.XE doesn't say that the Dark Eight don't exist anymore. I even wonder if I didn't read somewhere that they had gone from "ruling body of Hell" to "warcouncil for the Bloodwar"
Another problem is that Baalzephon is hardly tough enough to handle Duke Szeffrin's abyssal lord ally.
Moreover, demons and devils alike are known to have hundreds of aliases to utterly confuse any would-be conjurer.
So, likely 3.XE candidates for major player in this infernal plot are: Dispater (if it's truly Baalzephon, his "prime minister"), Mammon (if Baalzephon is actually Bael), and Baalzebul (which, given his title of Lord of Lies, could be him hiding behind an alias).
In all three cases, these bad guys have been described in the Book of Vile Darkness.
Link: http://community.dicefreaks.com
Another problem is that Baalzephon is hardly tough enough to handle Duke Szeffrin's abyssal lord ally.
just because he is a pitfiend according to the sources doesn't mean that he is a normal pitfiend... in 3.5 by advancing him HD, and/or giving him class levels you could easily make him the match to most abyssal lords or even a lesser demon prince...
That said, I doubt simply advancing him and giving him a few levels would make him a match for an Abyssal Lord. The latter is above and beyond a demon-prince given the abyssal lord actually controls one (or more) layer(s) of the Abyss. No easy feat, and certainly one that not all demon-princes have managed to pull off.
As for Dispater having a problem... considering that he never leaves the iron tower, and that he is virtualy invulnerable there, I don;t see him having much of one. ;)
I always thought that it went something like this:
demon-lord < demon-prince < abyssal lord
but I could be wrong
just because he is a pitfiend according to the sources doesn't mean that he is a normal pitfiend... in 3.5 by advancing him HD, and/or giving him class levels you could easily make him the match to most abyssal lords or even a lesser demon prince...
One can always figure in betrayal too...
I know what this thread is about to lead to!
Every two or three weekends they come to my castle, hit me with their burning magic swords, blast me with their fireballs and curse me with their wish-rings.
ADVENTURERS!! :headexplo
I am soooo tired of that!
Why don't you slay some Bandit Kings or try to butcher the Old One? Or free some slaves from the Hellfurnaces?
No way, YOU have to come to MY home and leave it a mess just to *how do you call it* gain character LEVELS.
No, instead of helping your mommy to clean up the kitchen, YOU must go and hunt me through the ruins of what your friends spared when you gave me a visit the last time!
If you want to exhaust your energies, I've heard of that kind little village named Hommlet. Why don't you go and bully people THERE?!
There, there
I don't think you have much to fear from them now that your home city has become the only location on Oerth where the space-time continuum has been messed with hopelessly.
Hmm .. that said, if it turned into a planar nexus, you could become a highly visited Planescape resort :D
I don't think you have much to fear from them now that your home city has become the only location on Oerth where the space-time continuum has been messed with hopelessly.
Can all the info about the space-time continuum mess be found in Ivid the Undying? Hate to mark myself as a newbie but I wouldn't mind reading about that.
You might want to read this first and then go through the websites of the Splintered Sun metaregion in search of more info.
This is not so hard to grasp politically. The president of the United States is not a military man and does not directly oversee wars, he has military leaders reporting to him who do so on his behalf.
Baalzephon had a good reason to be interested in Oerth. With Iuz ruling an entire empire and Graz't and Pazrael nosing around the place, a prudent general would want to make sure the planet wasn't used as a base by the Abyssal forces to outflank the Baatezu. From a strategic perspective allowing that to happen would be negligent.
So from Baalzephon's point of view the most attractive scenario would be to gain control of the most powerful potentially Lawful Evil nation on Oerth and use them as proxies. That would provide the devils with a beachead, as well as resources culled from the Prime to use in the Blood War. Coordinating all this would enahnce Baalzephon's political status in the Nine Hells and strengthen his position.
Remember that position in the Hells is not fixed. Climbing the ladder is possible. Bel, a Pit Fiend, is now lord of the first layer for example. Baalzephon probably has ambitions that he thought could be furthered by the Aerdy as well.
The weak link was Ivid who, being mad as a hatter, ended up dragging down the Flanaess's most powerful empire through sheer irrationality.
However, fiendish politics would fit right in with the Machiavellian morass that is Ahlissa, and a clever devil might be able to salvage much by backing the more sane Xavener. So who knows what's going on in the halls of Aerdy power now. I doubt Baalzephon would be supporting any more gross mayhem (like the creation of animuses). But diabolic resources could be put to use in other ways...
The weak link was Ivid who, being mad as a hatter, ended up dragging down the Flanaess's most powerful empire through sheer irrationality.
:sad: :sad: :sad:
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Indeed, I share Psionycx point of view.
The next bigger event for the Flanaess is likely to be such a confrontation of demonlords, fighting on Oerth for the rule of hell...
*Reminds me a bit of Diablo*
I am currently thinking of a campaign concentrating on another big war in the former Aerdy Kingdom, a battle between Iuz and Ivid as the champions for their hellish masters. The war shall start in 598.
;)