Villian: Abigos, Duke of Hell, and his Cult of War Eternal
...ruling 60 legions of demons. He discovers hidden things and knows the future of wars and how soldiers should meet. He also attracts the favor of lords, knights and other important persons...
-The Ars Goeta
“I am war, you were made to serve me, to live in me, and die in me”
- War, Good Omens
Background: Patron of warmongers, tyrants, and those who seek domination through right of conquest, the grand Duke Abigos (called also “The Final General” and “ Lord of War” ) and his eternal legions are feared across the planes for their strength, cruelty, and ever expanding reach.
While some other devils are dedicated to punishing mortals for their sins or tempting them to the path of wickedness, Abigos cares only for the next battle, the next campaign, and the acquisition of the weapons, troops, and other means by which he may wage them. There is no peace on the horizon for the eternal legion, no final triumph, no point at which they will have “won”, there is only victory over the current foe, and the readying for the next excursion. While they may hold territory, they hold it only insofar as it holds tactical or logistical benefit to them, and the duke of conquest has been known to abandon whole planes previously subjugated to his will. To Abigos and his followers all existence is an extended military operation, with objects or people only holding value insofar as they serve the war effort.
Adventure Hooks:
The party may encounter Abigos’s influence in a number of forms,
A party of revolutionaries on the verge of success may find their oppressor bolstered by infernal allies. Emissaries of the Final General seek out mortal commanders in the midst of intractable martial conflicts. Usually appearing disguised as mercenary captains, or battle mages willing to lend their talents, these agents almost universally side with entrenched power structures, as “bringing order” is seen as a universal good in the doctrines of Abigos’s followers.
Behind the scenes, groups or individuals who advocate for needless conflict are often unwitting fronts for the Cult of War eternal. When his agents help to win a conflict, they leverage their role as key allies into a position of influence within the newly reestablished state. From their vantage, they then begin to spread the Grand Duke’s ideology, tacitly cultivating battle-minded individuals through military academies or martial orders. Over decades, these war-blessed individuals are guided into positions of power, where their ingrained ideology can begin to shape their culture into a more tyrannical, conquest hungry one.
Old Strongholds may still be patrolled by garrisons of demonic conscripts. Not one to spend his forces recklessly, the Final General does not have the time to micromanage every detachment of his endless regiments. Often mortal petitioners will bargain a tithe of souls or war-material in exchange for the services of a hellish retinue, and while their citadels may fall or their bloodlines perish, the deals stands.
The Duergar Legions: Though the mercenary armies of the grey dwarves are loath to swear allegiance to any one patron ( that’s the point of being mercenaries after all), it is impossible to contest that their lifestyle, outlook, and entire ethos of constant martial pursuit aligns perfectly with that of Abigos. His cult flourishes among the Duergar encampments, promising a life of deathless conquest among the fiends and other horrors of Abigos’s army.
