Asmodeus is the Lawful Evil God of Fire, Law, Magic, Trickery and Contracts. To some, however, notably the
Church of Pelor, he is not a god at all but rather a fallen angel cast out of
heaven for rebelling against the rule of Pelor. His followers claim this is a lie made up
by the Peloreans. In their account he is the original creator god and the subject of a rebellion by the other gods who refused to
acknowledge his legitimate right to rule them.
Both the Peloreans and his own followers agree, however, that he is the ruler of a fiery plane known as Hell. The Peloreans, however,
say he is the ultimate betrayer for in Hell all souls are tortured. His own priesthood on the other hand say that, although Asmodeus of
course owns the souls who have contracted to him, Hell is just a very ordered society where status depends on how well the individual
has served Asmodeus in life. Unlike many gods he encourages the use of arcane magic by his followers, even those who are desginated
as 'priests' and this has given encouragement to the idea that as an entity who is 'not a proper god' he unable to grant divine magic to
his priesthood.
In places where he is worshipped openly, such as
Westcrown, his attraction is that he is a very lawful god and although he does not discourage his followers
from telling lies he is fundamentally against them breaking contracts. On the other hand he expects his followers to negotiate contracts
in bad faith in that they should play down the highly specific penalty clauses and emphasise the badly defined benefits (much of course as
he would do). In general although he is in favour of a ruthlessly enforced hierarchy he favours advancement by cunning rather than violence.
Asmodeus is frequently portrayed as a red-skinned humanoid with wings and horns but scholars note that human portrayal of him is very dependent on the culture of the illustrators. His priesthood maintain he is capable of appearing in any shape he pleases. Many have had initial contact with him as a charming, rational and intelligent human who can quickly persuade the unwary of the falseness of other
gods and religions and the hollowness of human intitutions.