Vaelor

Vaelor is one of the oldest deities known to mortalkind. By all accounts the ruler of the Nine Hells and the devils who make the infernal plane their home, what exactly Vaelor is and what his relationship to mortalkind entails differs significantly between faiths. For many, Vaelor is a wicked tempter who lures otherwise good people into committing terrible deeds, so as to corrupt new souls to fuel his infernal machinations in Hell. For a few, Vaelor is the god of justice without mercy, whose domain is punishment for the undeserving, but purgatory for the truly faithful, a place where all mortal weaknesses are burned away from the soul in the purifying hellfire.

As a god of absolute, unyielding order, he demands unquestioning obedience from his most favored; those who displease him are condemned to millennia in soul-scorching hellfire. In the eyes of both his servants and his enemies, Vaelor is a god to be feared.

Common depictions of Vaelor among those who do not devote their lives to his service depict the Prince of the Nine Hells as a crimson, horned horror. In contrast, the faithful of Vaelor commonly depict their god as a being of superlative beauty and wisdom. Even some theologians of heavenly gods suspect that Vaelor may take a less sinister form... if only to conceal his black heart and lure goodly souls to damnation.

Cults
Throughout most of Andaria, the general populace are unwilling to worship a god with as dark a reputation as Vaelor. After all, what incentive would the common person have to worship a god who promises, at best, temporary hellfire, when they can instead beseech kinder gods who promise bountiful harvests and pleasant afterlives?

Yet Vaelor has some worshipers in communities all across Andaria. For the most part, these faithful are isolated, ambitious individuals, who are willing to pledge their immortal souls in exchange for some benefit to be enjoyed during mortal life. Vaelor is a god who is willing to contract for followers; and, while he is implacable in his pursuit of satisfying such contracts, he is known to be generous to those willing to pay the necessary price. To such mortals (and those who fear such infernal contracts), Vaelor is referred to as Asmodeus, the god of temptation and of contracts for souls.

Only fools would willingly bargain an eternity of torment for temporary benefit, however, and as such, these customers of Vaelor remain relatively few and far between. Yet a different form of "worship" occasionally emerges, even among the most informed of mortalkind. In more developed societies, ranging from Rhom'Shar to even Althoria, groups of academics and philosophers sometimes form societies dedicated to studying the nature and philosophy of Hell itself. Individuals engaged in such circles swear that they have no desire to serve Vaelor himself--and most honestly mean this. All the same, members of such societies carefully argue that the structure of Hell and its guarantees of absolute justice are of interest to civilization, and ought to be carefully considered... if only so that the gods of good might understand more fully the difference between Hell's crude justice and Heaven's enlightened justice.

Yet, inevitably, some of these "infernalists" or "legalists" fall through the cracks, and find themselves wholly devoted to the teachings of Vaelor. Such cultists act as truly subversive infiltrators in otherwise godly societies, and their presence is rarely tolerated outside of the most liberal societies (such as Lordsleague, where any ideology that does not obstruct commerce is allowed).

In a few, rare cases, martial orders (be they of mercenaries or knights) find themselves involved in the worship of Vaelor. In most cases, such as that of the knights of the Black Fist or the soldiers of Banoch, this "devotion" simply manifests itself through the use of borrowed imagery and mantras, with very little energy devoted towards sincere worship towards Vaelor. Such "cultists" borrow the generally rigid authoritarianism inherent in Vaelor's teachings, as well as some diabolical imagery specifically selected for inflicting the most terror on opponents in the battlefield. Commonly, these soldier-worshipers use the name Bane rather than Vaelor.

Kalathim Infernalism
In the dread realm of Kalathar, the faithful of Vaelor have attained unprecedented depths in spreading the Prince of Light's teachings. In that ancient, dread realm--and there alone--the worship of Vaelor takes the form of an organized religion, embodied in its central institution, the Infernal Ecclesiarchy of Vaelor.

The Infernal Ecclesiarchy is, in many ways, similar to the Celestial Orthodoxy of Belinor. This is appropriate: after all, the founders of the Infernal Ecclesiarchy were once heretics of the Celestial Orthodoxy (although phrasing this historical fact in these terms is a heresy punishable by burning to death in the Ecclesiarchy). The Ecclesiarchy is headed by a single figure--the Ecclesiarch--and under him are arranged a labyrinthine series of orders and organizations, wherein any individual, be they clergyman or layman, holds and understands his exact place in the hierarchy of the church.

Yet even in Kalathar--the heart of Vaelor's power--the Ecclesiarchy holds primarily an advisory role to the ruling caste of the Kaal. The nobility of Kalathar engage in all manners of worship, as is their ancient birthright. The Ecclesiarchy does not deign to infringe upon the Kaal's right to worship pagan, heathen, or demonic gods. Instead, the Ecclesiarchy focuses its attention upon the common populace, indoctrinating them into the ideals of obedience towards their betters. The Kaal are therefore willing to tolerate the wilder of the Ecclesiarchy's sermons regarding damnation for demoniacs, so long as the Ecclesiarchy can guarantee the obedience of the common folk and the slaves.

Philosophy
Fundamental to the understanding of Vaelor's teachings is Vaelor's claim to authority. According to the faithful of Vaelor, the Prince of the Nine is the oldest remaining god in existence, and is thus owed deference, if on no other ground than primacy. While it is true that he had a twin, and while it is true that the primordial forces of Law and Chaos predate Vaelor, the faithful of Vaelor argue that the twin, Ahman, has long since died, and the "gods" of Law and Chaos did not materialize until after Vaelor's coming into being. As such, Vaelor has the rightful claim among gods as their elder, as a father lords over sons.

With the authority of Vaelor thus established, it is necessary to examine what sort of ethic Vaelor imposes on all creation. To put it bluntly, Vaelor requires absolute obedience, and tolerates no differences in opinion among followers, be they archdevils or mortals. After all, Vaelor supposedly knows all: to contradict him in word or deed is to engage in foolishness and blasphemy, punishable by hellfire.

Above all else, Vaelor is a god of punishment, and acknowledgement of this fact is key to understanding the First God's philosophy. Vaelor is a god of Justice without Mercy, entrusted with administering the prison of the damned. Whosoever would defy the edicts of the Prince of Light defies Truth itself, and must burn. So exacting are the demands of Vaelor that all mortals inevitably fall short. For this reason, Hell serves two functions: for those who are wicked without loyalty to Vaelor, Hell is an eternal prison and a place of eternal punishment. For mortals faithful to Vaelor, Hell is instead a purgatory: the shortcomings of the mortal soul are purged in cleansing hellfire, and from the furnaces of Hell emerges a pure being of absolute justice.

Yet the rewards of Heaven are well-documented, and seem to expose a fundamental flaw in Vaelor's philosophy. After all, if defiance of Vaelor is punishable by hellfire, why is it that those who defy Vaelor in the name of the Gods of Good escape punishment altogether, to live in paradise eternal? To this, the faithful of Vaelor have a well-rehearsed answer: those who engage in the weaknesses of mercy may seem to evade Vaelor's will, but only for so long as Vaelor is kept from finalizing his primacy among the planes. Inevitably, preach the faithful of Vaelor, the First God will come into power over all creation. Thereafter, those who have always lived by Vaelor's teachings will already be in positions of power, while the defiant--even those who were good and merciful--will take their turns in Hell's furnaces, to emerge as the least of Vaelor's servants. So it shall come to pass that those who were faithful all along will be lords among new subjects. Disobedience is postponed by Heaven, but Vaelor's will shall be done.

These theologies aside, a fundamental ethic emerges for those who would serve Vaelor's will: punish the wicked by any means necessary. To forgive a repentant foe is to embrace the foe's sin, and such blasphemy will be punished as severely as the initial sin. In order to execute Vaelor's will, it is necessary to rise to positions of power so as to punish the wicked. As such, the faithful of Vaelor are commanded to reach the pinnacles of mortal power. And, once there, the faithful of Vaelor are to impose the will of the First God to the utmost extent possible.

Quotes
''"What are you?" "The necessary evil." "Have you no mercy?" "No. Mercy is weakness, a temptation against Justice.  I have no need of it." "Have you no doubt?" "No. My qualms will not interfere with the extermination of my foes." "Why are you necessary?" "Because greater evil than myself exists, and must be stopped." "Why are you evil?" "Because good men lack the conviction to do what is necessary." "What are you?" "The necessary evil."'' -- Creed of the Ordo Infernalis

''"Sages of the Green Kingdoms often conflate devils and demons, and for understandable reasons. Both classifications of fiends have interests utterly incompatible with the well-being of mortal folk and the interests of the Elohim, as well as the interests of the lesser gods worthy of worship.  Yet the error can be deadly: to treat a demon as a devil is to invite treachery and ruin, while treating a devil as a demon is to be ignorant of the terrible machinations that animate all devils.  To the ignorant and the novice, I have this advice to give: devils are fallen angels, while demons are demons.  A devil represents a perversion of the ideals of Heaven: a crude justice that has forgotten the harmony of true justice, a rigid adherence to authority that exists in willful ignorance of whether that authority is worthy of obedience.  With this in mind, understanding the differences between devils and demons becomes easier; and in the struggle of faiths, understanding is everything." -- Ukar Dramal, On the Classifications of the Planes''