机翻第十七弹
The politics of Hell
by Alexander von Thorn
(Author’s note: The following article cannot be considered the official doctrine of either the ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® game or the Roman Catholic Church. However, it is compatible with the AD&D® rules, and except for the parts about Asmodeus it is not in conflict with works on demonology as generally accepted by Catholic exorcists, thus enjoying tacit approval by the Church. However, this article does not have a nihil obstat: Much of it is original, and it approaches the subject from a different angle than a religious tract would, and should not be considered as such. The rise of Asmodeus is not documented in any major text on demonology, but very little original work on the subject has been done since the Middle Ages, so it is possible that the situation has changed. Perhaps Mr. Gygax has more accurate sources of information...)
Once upon a time, there were no devils. Only God and the angels were in heaven. (The term God is used to refer to the Creator of the Universe. He is called Yahweh by some, Allah by others, and is known by many other names.) The most powerful, most intelligent, and most beautiful of all the angels was called Satan. He was given these traits by God in order to carry out the most arduous task among all the angels — that of testing the merit of mortal men.
Satan used temptation and suffering to try to get men to choose evil instead of good. He usually succeeded in his work, because most men had something (or someone) which they held near and dear, over and above considerations of ethics, and so Satan came to hold the majority of mankind in contempt.
Satan was not happy in his work, because he had to cause the downfall of many men who otherwise would have led relatively blameless lives. Sometimes he had to cause great suffering in the lives of good men, like Job, which he didn’t like to do, either. Job had done nothing to deserve the problems that Satan gave him, and Satan came to feel sorry for Job and those like him.
Satan felt that God was being unfair. In coming to the conclusion, he valued his own judgement above the wisdom of God. His thinking gradually came around to the idea that there were better ways of organizing the universe than the way God had set it up. He came to think that he could do a better job than God. Satan discussed his ideas with other angels, and many agreed that he had some valid points.
Eventually, Satan challenged God, and many angels supported him. But God and his supporters were victorious, and Satan and his supporters were sentenced to hell for all eternity unless they repented their sins. Satan responded, “Better to rule in hell than to serve in heaven!” With that, he passed to hell in a brilliant flash, and from that time on his followers, human and supernatural, gave him the name of Lucifer, "Prince of Light,” and the star of the morning was named for him. The French claim that when Satan passed through the earthly plane en route from heaven to hell, he went down through the island of Mont St. Michel, off the coast of Brittany.
Some scholars theorize that the influence of the devils, who were now actively working against God and good, was the reason that God sent his son to Earth, although that belief is not universal among Christians. However, parts of the Book of Isaiah which refer to a Messiah are thought to have been written during the Babylonian exile of the Jews, which happened shortly after the fall of the devils (at least as far as this writer can figure out). It is also said that God misses Satan, and that He hopes that he will repent and ask God’s forgiveness, which of course He will grant to any of the fallen angels (although God may require some service to be performed, in order to test their rededication to the cause of righteousness. It is thought that it is this possibility that holds many of the devils back from repentance. Whatever the reason, no devil has ever repented).
And so, Satan became the lord of hell. All the devils worked for the damnation of men and the promulgation of evil and suffering. Satan found it ridiculously easy to accomplish anything he wanted, using his talents of temptation and suffering. The mere threat of his immense power kept the other devils in line. A group of humans who were obsessed by power, or evil, or both, developed a cult around Satan, and they set up a tight hierarchy in order to pursue their goals through evil. Even some of the illiterate peasants occasionally said a prayer to Satan when God didn't seem to answer their prayers.
(作者注:以下的文章不能被认为是高级地下城与龙游戏或罗马天主教会的官方教条。然而,它与ad&d的规则是一致的,除了关于阿摩德斯的部分,它与被天主教驱魔者普遍接受的魔鬼学著作并没有冲突,因此得到了教会的默许。然而,这篇文章并没有一个虚无的障碍:它的大部分是原创的,而且它从一个不同的角度接近主题,而不是一个宗教的领域,并且不应该被认为是这样。Asmodeus的兴起并没有在任何关于恶魔学的主要文献中被记录下来,但是从中世纪开始就很少有关于这个主题的原创作品,所以情况可能已经发生了变化。也许Gygax先生有更准确的信息来源……
从前,没有魔鬼。只有上帝和天使在天堂。(“上帝”这个词用来指代宇宙的创造者。他被一些人称为“耶和华”,被其他人称为“安拉”,并被许多其他的名字所知。最强大、最聪明、最美丽的天使被称为撒旦。上帝赋予他这些特质,以便在所有的天使中执行最艰巨的任务——检验凡人的价值。
撒旦用诱惑和痛苦试图让人们选择邪恶而不是善良。他的工作通常都是成功的,因为大多数人都有自己的东西(或某人),而这些东西是他们所珍视的,而不是道德上的考虑,因此,撒旦开始蔑视大多数人。
撒旦在他的工作中并不快乐,因为他必须导致许多人的堕落,否则他们就会过着相对清白的生活。有时他不得不在好人的生活中造成巨大的痛苦,比如工作,他也不喜欢这样做。约伯没有做任何事,不应该受撒旦给他的麻烦,撒旦开始为工作和像他这样的人感到难过。
撒旦觉得上帝是不公平的。在得出结论的时候,他认为自己的判断高于上帝的智慧。他的思想逐渐产生了这样一种想法,即有更好的方式来组织宇宙,而不是上帝安排的方式。他开始认为自己能比上帝做得更好。撒旦与其他天使讨论他的想法,许多人同意他有一些有效的观点。
最终,撒旦挑战了上帝,许多天使支持他。但是,上帝和他的支持者们都取得了胜利,而撒旦和他的支持者们却被判了地狱,除非他们忏悔他们的罪恶。撒但回答说:“在地狱里掌权,胜过在天上事奉。”于是,他灵光一闪,从他的追随者、人类和超自然的人那里,给他起名叫路西法的名字,“光明之王”,而晨星就是以他的名字命名的。法国人声称,当撒旦从天堂到地狱的途中经过尘世的飞机时,他穿过了布列塔尼海岸外的蒙特圣米歇尔岛(Mont st . Michel)。
一些学者认为,魔鬼的影响是上帝把他的儿子送到地球上的原因,尽管这种信仰在基督徒中并不普遍。然而,《以赛亚书》中提到的弥赛亚被认为是在巴比伦的犹太人流放期间写的,这是在魔鬼陷落后不久发生的(至少在这位作家所能指出的范围内)。也有人说上帝想念撒但,他希望他会悔改,祈求上帝的宽恕,当然他会赐给所有堕落的天使(虽然上帝可能需要一些服务来执行,以测试他们对正义事业的重新献身)。人们认为这种可能性会让很多恶魔不悔改。无论什么原因,没有一个魔鬼曾经后悔过)。
所以,撒旦成为了地狱之主。所有的魔鬼都为人类的罪恶和邪恶和痛苦的传播而工作。撒旦发现,用他的诱惑和苦难的天赋来实现他想要的一切都是非常容易的。他那巨大的力量的威胁使其他的恶魔们保持了一致。一群被权力,邪恶,或两者纠缠的人,在撒旦周围形成了一种崇拜,他们建立了严密的等级制度,以通过邪恶追求他们的目标。甚至连一些不识字的农民偶尔也会向撒旦祈祷,因为上帝似乎并没有回应他们的祈祷。
The forces of evil were strong, and flourished in the ignorance of the Dark Ages. Satan schemed and plotted, for he believed that he had simply been outmaneuvered by the forces of good because he had failed to plan his first assault properly. He felt that if he took the time to develop a strategy, to take advantage of his own strengths and minimize his forces’ weaknesses, while capitalizing on the weaknesses and neutralizing the strengths of the enemy, then he had a good shot at winning the final conflict.
But Satan was an arbitrary ruler. He took it for granted that all the fallen angels would follow him without question. However, some of the other devils were also proud, and they did not agree with all the orders Satan gave, just as they had (like Satan) disagreed with God. Beelzebub, in particular, felt that he and the other devils should have more of a free hand in encouraging acts of evil, and more of a say in matters of general policy in hell. Beelzebub discussed this with the other important devils — Adramelech, Astaroth, Moloch, Nergal, Amaimon, Belphegor, and many others — and most agreed with Beelzebub, after promises of more power and freedom under a new order. The others were noncommittal, for they were afraid of the wrath of Satan and would not speak against Satan even in private, although they did not reveal Beelzebub’s plan to Satan. Those devils who supported Beelzebub would once in a while question a minor order from Satan, or neglect to perform a trivial task. When these rebels were discovered, Satan sent Belial, his personal lieutenant, to deal with them. Belial became hated by the other devils and at the same time grew in the esteem of Satan.
Eventually, Beelzebub challenged Satan, and when it was seen that more of the powerful devils supported Beelzebub, the other devils flocked to his cause, leaving only Belial on the side of Satan.
So Satan and Belial became exiles from hell, forced to find other places within the multiverse to hide out and make their abode, while Beelzebub became the new lord of hell. With Belial gone, Moloch became the new supreme commander of the armies of hell, and Asmodeus became the devil in charge of politicians and bureaucrats, while Adramelech became second in the overall hierarchy after Beelzebub, serving as chancellor of hell, which was the equivalent of a prime minister of a government of which Beelzebub was the president or king.
However, the armies of hell remained secretly loyal to Belial, and they helped him whenever they had the opportunity to do so without being caught. Also, Belial kept his old contacts, and retained a great deal of his influence with politicians and bureaucrats for some time. Satan, for his part, remained very powerful, because the covens remained faithful to him. In fact, most people (including the majority of the clergy) were not aware of the change in the leadership of hell. To this day, when people think of “The Devil,” they think of Satan, and if the name of any devil is mentioned in a Catholic sacramental ritual, it is his (e.g., when the celebrant asks, “Do you reject Satan?" etc.).
Of course, the exorcists and demonologists knew about the change, and after the fall of Satan his name was left out of the hierarchies compiled by them. The time of this event is not certain, but evidence suggests that it probably occcurred at about the time of the Renaissance. Indeed, it may have been partially responsible for the Renaissance, because Satan had tried to keep mankind steeped in mystery and ignorance, while Beelzebub thought that new areas of knowledge could lead to new forms of evil. During the Middle Ages, warfare had been a very personal affair. Lords battled over matters of vengeance, or family honor, or simple greed. They were followed by loyal men-at-arms and their bows, and everyone went home at harvest time. Then came the rise of national empires, and men were drafted into armies in the names of kings they’d never seen, to fight with guns and cannons over matters of politics, or religion, or just strategic objectives. Arbitrary and capricious monarchs gave way to systematic dictatorships of terror. Ignorance and superstition were replaced by science and technology totally devoid of morality. Of course, things were not so bad in every respect, but Beelzebub does seem to have made his point.
邪恶的力量是强大的,在对黑暗时代的无知中蓬勃发展。撒旦阴谋策划,因为他相信他只是被善良的力量打败了,因为他没有正确地计划他的第一次进攻。他认为,如果他花时间制定战略,利用自己的优势,最大程度地减少敌人的弱点,同时利用弱点,中和敌人的优势,那么他就能在最后的冲突中取胜。
但撒旦是专制的统治者。他想当然地认为所有堕落的天使都会毫无疑问地跟着他。然而,另一些恶魔也很骄傲,他们不同意撒旦给的所有命令,就像他们(像撒旦)不同意上帝一样。特别是贝西卜,他觉得他和其他恶魔应该有更多的自由来鼓励邪恶的行为,在地狱的一般政策中也有更多的发言权。Beelzebub和其他重要的恶魔们讨论了这个问题——Adramelech,Astaroth,Moloch,Nergal,Amaimon,Belphegor,还有许多其他的人——大多数人都认同Beelzebub,因为他在新秩序下承诺了更多的权力和自由。其余的人都不确定,因为他们怕撒旦的愤怒,也不愿私下跟撒旦说话,虽然他们没有向撒旦揭露别西布的计划。那些支持恶魔的恶魔曾一度质疑撒旦的小命令,或者忽视了执行一个微不足道的任务。当这些叛乱者被发现时,撒旦派遣他的私人副手贝利亚尔来对付他们。伯利兹被另一个恶魔所憎恨同时也受到撒旦的尊敬。
最终,Beelzebub对撒旦发起了挑战,当看到更多的强大的恶魔支持贝西卜的时候,其他的恶魔们纷纷涌向他的事业,只留下了撒旦的一面。
于是撒旦和彼列尔从地狱中被放逐,被迫在多元宇宙中寻找其他地方躲藏,并使他们的住所,而彼尔西卜成为地狱的新主人。随着恶魔的消失,莫洛奇成为了地狱军队的新最高指挥官,阿斯莫德斯成为了掌管政治家和官僚的恶魔,而在他担任地狱大臣之后,阿德米勒在整个等级体系中位居第二,这就相当于一个政府的总理,他是总统或国王。
然而,地狱军队仍然秘密地忠于彼列尔,只要有机会,他们就会帮助他,而不会被抓住。此外,贝利保留了他的旧联系人,并在一段时间内保留了他对政客和官僚的极大影响力。但撒旦仍然很强大,因为他的契约仍然忠实于他。事实上,大多数人(包括大多数神职人员)都没有意识到地狱的领导权的变化。时至今日,当人们想到“魔鬼”时,他们会想起撒旦,如果在天主教的圣典仪式中提到了魔鬼的名字,那就是他的(例如,当司仪人问:“你拒绝撒旦吗?””等等)。
当然,驱魔师和恶魔学家知道这一变化,在撒旦堕落之后,他的名字被排除在他们编制的等级之外。这一事件的时间并不确定,但有证据表明,这一事件可能在文艺复兴时期出现。事实上,这可能是对文艺复兴的部分原因,因为撒旦曾试图让人类沉浸在神秘和无知中,而比尔西卜则认为新的知识领域可能会带来新的邪恶。在中世纪,战争是一件非常私人的事情。贵族们为复仇、家族荣誉或单纯的贪婪而战。他们被忠实的士兵和弓箭跟随,每个人都在收获时回家。然后是国家帝国的崛起,人们以他们从未见过的国王的名义被征召入伍,用大炮和大炮来对付政治、宗教或战略目标。任意而反复无常的君主都屈服于系统的独裁统治。无知和迷信被完全缺乏道德的科学和技术所取代。当然,从各方面来说,事情都没有那么糟,但毕泽布比似乎已经表明了他的观点。
However, Beelzebub had difficulty controlling the devils. He could not order them about the way Satan had, because he had gained power by promising more freedom of action. In fact, some of the more powerful arch-devils told him (in a roundabout way) that his authority would be in jeopardy if he tried to assert himself too much. So, the only means that Beelzebub could use to get things done in hell were by persuasion or by doing favors for the devils. Needless to say, these were not enough, even if Beelzebub had had the time to talk to all the arch-devils in order to explain why things had to be done, or to do all the errands that he had to do to get things done. The devils ended up aiding humans against each other, with little coordination, so that they fell into disrepute because they could not fulfill their conflicting promises. Beelzebub’s attempts to restore order were futile because the more powerful arch-devils would not agree with Beelzebub on how to resolve some of the more important conflicts. In fact, some of them preferred to let the situation deteriorate so that they could increase their personal power.
Also, the spirit of anticlericism and atheism that the devils had succeeded in creating worked against them; people rejected the idea of devils, writing them off as mere superstition, when they rejected the idea of a God.
Many devils were dissatisfied with the rule of Beelzebub, but there was no apparent successor. Astaroth, the next most powerful devil, was happy in his role as treasurer of hell, and he almost always achieved his objectives without needing the mantle of authority that came with being lord of hell. Adramelech was not a very personally strong devil, and he was rather ineffectual when things were as disorganized as they were. Dispater and Geryon were strong, but they lacked the necessary talents of leadership. Most of the other arch-devils were satisfied to increase their power at the expense of Beelzebub's, because they thought that the position of lord of hell was a thankless job, and that if someone with less sheer power than Beelzebub held the post, hell would be worse off than it already was.
However, one figure — Asmodeus, one of the lesser archdevils — felt differently. He was like an administrative assistant to Amaimon, the devil in command of the largest of the four armies of hell. Asmodeus took care of non-military matters for Amaimon. He was also the devil in charge of politicians and bureaucrats, as noted previously, and with the rise of democracies in the 18th and 19th centuries, the influence of Asmodeus became even greater.
Asmodeus was a master of deception, and he had great skill in finding things out (especially concealed treasures), which were invaluable traits in dealing with politicians. Asmodeus was therefore well known in hell, and he was well informed on important matters in hell, but most devils saw him as a minor functionary in the upper echelons of hell. However, the skills of diplomacy and negotiation which he had developed in order to better help human politicians were very useful in hell, because of the disorganized, uncertain situation there. More and more often, Asmodeus found himself mediating disputes and helping to form a consensus among the devils on important policy matters. The devils came to respect his judgement, and set him to organizing some of the more important projects.
With this visible support to reinforce him, Asmodeus decided that his administrative skills were just what hell needed. So he approached some of the more powerful devils and suggested that he might make a better ruler than Beelzebub. Support for his plan in the upper echelon was lukewarm at first, so he sweetened the proposal by doing a number of one-shot favors, or promising to do something that individual devils especially wanted. After a while, many devils came to side with him, but a significant number still thought that Beelzebub’s power was necessary to maintain any semblance of order in hell.
Asmodeus found a solution: He promised to keep Beelzebub in hell at the top of the hierarchy, second only to himself. The devils agreed to support him so long as they did not have to resort to violence, promising in return that they would, if necessary, refuse to obey Beelzebub’s orders in a show of solidarity. Even Astaroth agreed that Asmodeus would probably be a more capable ruler.
然而,Beelzebub很难控制魔鬼。他不能像撒旦那样命令他们,因为他通过承诺更多的行动自由而获得了权力。事实上,一些更强大的大恶魔(以一种迂回的方式)告诉他,如果他试图表现得过于强势,他的权威就会岌岌可危。所以,唯一的意思是,魔王可以通过说服或帮助魔鬼来完成地狱的事情。不用说,这些是不够的,即使是Beelzebub有时间和所有的大恶魔交谈,来解释为什么事情必须要做,或者做所有他必须做的事情来完成任务。恶魔最终帮助人类互相对抗,几乎没有协调,因此他们因为无法履行彼此矛盾的承诺而声名狼藉。Beelzebub试图恢复秩序的努力是徒劳的,因为更强大的“恶魔”们不会同意Beelzebub在解决一些更重要的冲突方面的问题。事实上,他们中的一些人宁愿让局势恶化,这样他们就可以增加他们的个人权力。
而且,魔鬼已经成功地创造了反教主义和无神论的精神;人们拒绝了魔鬼的想法,把他们当作迷信,拒绝了上帝的想法。
许多恶魔不满意Beelzebub的统治,但是没有明显的继承者。阿斯塔罗斯,下一个最强大的恶魔,在他作为地狱司库的角色中很快乐,他几乎总是能实现他的目标,而不需要作为地狱之王的权威的外衣。阿达米勒并不是一个非常有个性的魔鬼,当事情像他们那样杂乱无章时,他是相当无能的。但他们缺乏必要的领导才能。大多数其他的大恶魔都满足于增加他们的权力,而牺牲了魔王的地位,因为他们认为地狱领主的地位是一份吃力不讨好的工作,如果一个人的权力比魔王少,那他的处境将会比现在更糟。
然而,有一个人物——阿斯莫德斯,一个较小的大恶魔——却有不同的感觉。他就像一个恶魔,掌管着地狱四军中最大的一个。阿斯莫德斯负责Amaimon的非军事事宜。他也曾是政客和官僚的魔鬼,正如之前所指出的,随着18和19世纪民主的兴起,阿斯莫德斯的影响力变得更大。
Asmodeus是一名欺骗大师,他在寻找东西方面有很大的技巧(尤其是隐藏的宝藏),这是与政客打交道的无价特质。阿斯莫德斯在地狱里是有名的,他在地狱的重要事务上得到了充分的了解,但是大多数的恶魔都把他看成是地狱上层的一个小职员。然而,他为了更好地帮助人类政治家而发展的外交和谈判技巧在地狱里非常有用,因为那里的局势混乱、不稳定。越来越多的情况是,阿斯莫德斯发现自己调停争端,并在重要的政策问题上帮助魔鬼达成共识。恶魔们开始尊重他的判断,并让他组织一些更重要的项目。
有了这种明显的支持,阿斯莫德斯决定,他的管理技能正是他所需要的。因此,他走近一些更强大的魔鬼,并建议他做一个比魔王更好的统治者。对他在上层的计划的支持起初是冷淡的,所以他做了一些一次性的支持,或者承诺做一些个别恶魔特别想做的事情,从而增加了这个提议。过了一段时间,许多恶魔都和他站在一起,但有相当多的人仍然认为魔王的力量是维持地狱秩序的必要条件。
阿斯莫德斯找到了一个解决方案:他承诺让Beelzebub在等级制度的顶层,仅次于他自己。魔鬼们同意支持他,只要他们不需要诉诸暴力,只要有必要,他们就会拒绝服从Beelzebub的命令,以示团结。甚至阿斯特罗斯也同意阿斯莫德斯可能是一个更有能力的统治者。
With the support of the devils assured, Asmodeus revealed his plan to the lord. Asmodeus demanded that Beelzebub voluntarily reduce his personal strength in order to prevent any possible future challenges to his authority, and that he change his name from Beelzebub, meaning "Prince of Devils,” to Baal- zebul, meaning “Lord of the Flies” (i.e. little devils). The reason for that was so that the old rituals of power invoking the old name would not work. Beelzebub was enraged with that, and almost attacked Asmodeus, until Asmodeus told Beelzebub to see which side the other arch-devils, such as Astaroth, were on. Beelzebub hesitated, and then reconsidered his attack. He summoned Astaroth. Upon his arrival, Astaroth greeted them with, “Hello, Baalzebul. Hello, Lord Asmodeus.” And with that, Beelzebub knew that he had been overthrown.
Thus it was that Asmodeus became lord of hell. Shortly thereafter, the “war to end all wars” was fought, and then came Mussolini and Hitler, the death camps and purges, the A-bomb and other atrocities in a war that claimed more than 15 million soldiers in battle and countless other lives. One could say that Asmodeus has known some success.
Through his politicking and playing one devil off against another, Asmodeus manages to keep a fairly tight rein on the activities of the devils. Baalzebul still secretly schemes to retake his former position, and there are a few other devils now who think that they could handle the leadership of hell, but none have yet dared to openly oppose the rule of Asmodeus.
Asmodeus has reorganized hell to suit his purposes. Satan had originally divided hell into nine distinct planes, in order to keep track of which damned soul went where. Asmodeus has dispensed with the old structuring and doled out the planes as sort of fiefdoms under his suzerainty. He kept the ninth plane as his personal demesne and granted the sixth and seventh to Baalzebul, out of respect for his previous service, making him the only devil to rule two entire planes personally. Dispater and Geryon were also granted entire planes because they were the first to support Asmodeus, and they have since been his most loyal followers. The other planes are divided among the other six dozen or so arch-devils. Astaroth was offered a plane, but he declined the responsibility.
Asmodeus has used his position to increase his personal strength to the point that he is now the most powerful devil to be found on the nine planes of hell. This is unheard of, but it was barely possible by the laws of the multiverse because the departure of Satan and Belial from hell and the reduction in strength that Baalzebul was forced to suffer left a slight imbalance in the multiverse which Asmodeus used to increase his own strength. And so, all the planes of hell are now securely under the dominion of Lord Asmodeus.
在魔鬼的支持下,阿斯莫德斯向上帝透露了他的计划。Asmodeus要求Beelzebub自愿减少他的个人力量,以防止将来对他的权威有任何可能的挑战,并且他将他的名字从Beelzebub,也就是“恶魔之王”的意思转变为Baal - zebul,意思是“苍蝇王”(即小恶魔)。这样做的原因是旧的权力仪式不会起作用。魔王被激怒了,几乎要攻击阿斯莫德斯,直到阿斯莫德斯告诉别西卜,看看其他的大恶魔,比如阿斯达特,在哪里。Beelzebub犹豫了一下,然后重新考虑了他的攻击。他召唤了Astaroth。在他到来的时候,阿斯塔罗斯向他们打招呼:“你好,Baalzebul。”你好,主魔王”。于是,别西卜知道他被打倒了。
因此,阿斯莫德斯成了地狱之王。此后不久,“结束所有战争的战争”发生了,然后是墨索里尼和希特勒,死亡集中营和清洗,原子弹和其他战争中的暴行,在战争中有1500多万士兵和无数其他生命。人们可以说阿斯莫德斯已经取得了一些成功。
阿斯莫德斯通过他的政治活动和与另一个魔鬼的斗争,对魔鬼的活动进行了相当严格的控制。Baalzebul仍然秘密计划夺回他以前的位置,现在也有一些其他的恶魔认为他们可以掌控地狱的领导权,但是没有人敢公开反对阿斯莫德斯的统治。
阿斯莫德斯重新组织了地狱以适应他的目的。撒旦最初将地狱分为9个不同的层次,以便追踪哪个该死的灵魂去了哪里。阿斯莫德斯抛弃了旧的结构,在他的领主的统治下,把飞机分发给他。他把第九架飞机作为自己的私人领地,并把第六架和第七架给了Baalzebul,这是出于对他之前服役的尊重,这使他成为唯一一个亲自统治两架飞机的人。狄斯雷和吉里昂也被授予了整架飞机,因为他们是第一个支持阿斯莫德斯的人,他们后来成为了他最忠实的追随者。其他六架飞机被其他六打左右的大恶魔瓜分。Astaroth得到了一架飞机,但他拒绝承担责任。
阿斯莫德斯利用自己的地位增加了自己的力量,他现在是地狱九层飞机上最强大的恶魔。这是闻所未闻的,但由于撒旦和彼列尔的离开地狱,以及巴尔西卜被迫承受的力量的减少,在多元宇宙中,阿斯莫德斯使用的多元宇宙中出现了轻微的不平衡。因此,地狱的所有飞机现在都安全地在阿斯莫德斯勋爵的统治之下。
The Politics of Hell:
Original layout, August 1979; issue # 28
More Masters of Deviltry Satan
FREQUENCY Very rare
NO. APPEARING 1
ARMOR CLASS -8
MOVE Whatever desired
HIT DICE 333 hit points
% IN LAIR 5%
TREASURE TYPE H(*2), l(*2), U(*2)
NO. ATTACKS 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK 10-100
SPECIAL ATTACKS +3 or better weapon and purity of heart required to hit
MAGIC RESISTANCE 95%
INTELLIGENCE Godlike
ALIGNMENT Lawful evil
SIZE Variable
PSIONIC ABILITY Special
Attack/Defense Modes Special
Satan ("The Prince of Darkness,” “The Adversary,” Lucifer, “The Prince of Light’’): First among devils, Satan is a being feared by all. He can appear in any form he wishes, but the form he prefers is that of a normal man, having features which are most likely to engender trust and respect from the person he is dealing with. In places where he is master (which are rare these days, although becoming more common), he will appear in roughly humanoid form, about 7' tall, with horns, tail and pitch- fork and having a deep red skin color, almost maroon, with a majestic countenance. He can move as fast as he wants to, and he can accurately teleport, cross dimensions or even travel through time if need be. In order to strike Satan with a weapon, the attacker would need a +3 weapon to hit him, and he would also have to have a clear conscience and an absolute determination to pursue one’s objective, which of course must be of the purest motives. Anyone who dares to attack Satan psionically will automatically fall into his control forever (a Wish can recover an individual, but nothing less will do). Of course, Satan cannot be affected by a psionic attack, but he will not use normal psionic attack modes. Satan may use any spell or psionic discipline as often as he likes. He cast spells as if he was a 30th-level character, except for druidic spells, which he casts at 14th level of ability. He has an effective psionic ability of 500, although he does not actually use any points when employing psionic powers.
Satan also has the ability to alter fate, in order to cause a number of unfortunate events to happen to an individual, such as the death of friends and family and the ruin of business, career, property, social status, reputation and health, to start with. Fortunately, however, for the victim, if he remains resolute in the face of this suffering, the forces of good will eventually relieve his problems in order to maintain the balance of the multiverse, although the victim may not receive any compensation for the trouble he has gone through.
Satan's main ability is the power of temptation. He can grant anyone a wish that will give that person anything he desires. All he has to do is sign a little contract, using his own blood in lieu of ink. These wishes are much more powerful than ordinary wishes. Satan can also grant normal wishes (as a Wish spell) without the blood contract, but he rarely does so except to give some kind of assistance to those already doomed, or perhaps as a reward for faithful service. For anything important, he usually insists on a contract.
After seven years a person who has sold his soul to Satan for one of these wishes will surrender his soul to the devil (wishes notwithstanding). If the individual has wished for immortality, then the time of collection is whenever the individual decides that he has had enough of life, and voluntarily goes to hell (most such people do in the end), or else until the person dies by violence. (Immortality does not protect a person from being killed either by accident or by combat, although Satan will sometimes give a person some protection against this, such as magic armor or a wish or two, or something along those lines, because Satan prefers people to come to hell of their own free will.)
As for those who appear to be able to put with immortality, Satan has been known to give out a few unexpected surprises, which of course is not covered in the contract, in order to make the decision to go to hell easier by making life a little less pleasant (i.e., intolerable). If a person has not wished for immortality, then he may have more wishes besides the first one. Each one costs a year of the condemned one’s remaining time.
撒旦(“黑暗之王”,“敌人”,路西法,“光明之王”):首先在魔鬼中,撒旦是所有人都害怕的。他可以以任何他想要的形式出现,但他喜欢的形式是一个普通人,拥有最有可能产生信任和尊重的人的特征。在他精通的地方(这在如今很少见,尽管变得更加普遍),他将以人形形式出现,大约7英尺高,有犄角、尾巴和音叉,有深红色的肤色,几乎是栗色,有着庄严的面容。他可以随心所欲地移动,他可以准确地传送、跨维度,甚至在需要的时候穿越时间。为了用武器攻击撒旦,攻击者需要一个+ 3武器来打击他,他也必须有一个明确的良心和绝对的决心去追求一个人的目标,当然这必须是最纯粹的动机。任何胆敢攻击撒旦的人都会自动落入他的控制之中(一个愿望可以恢复一个人,但不会有更少的事情发生)。当然,撒旦不会被灵能攻击所影响,但他不会使用正常的心灵攻击模式。撒旦可以随心所欲地使用任何咒语或魔法。他施展法术,就好像他是一个30级的人物,除了德鲁伊的法术,他在14级的能力上施法。他有500个有效的灵能能力,但在使用灵能异能时,他并没有使用任何点。
撒旦也有改变命运的能力,为了使一些不幸的事件发生在个人身上,比如朋友和家庭的死亡,以及商业、事业、财产、社会地位、名誉和健康的毁灭。然而,幸运的是,对于受害者来说,如果他在面对这种痛苦时依然坚定,那么正义的力量最终将会减轻他的问题,以维持多元宇宙的平衡,尽管受害者可能不会得到他所经历的麻烦的任何补偿。
撒旦的主要能力是诱惑的力量。他可以给任何人一个愿望,只要他愿意,就可以给他任何东西。他所要做的就是签个小合同,用自己的血代替墨水。这些愿望比普通的愿望更强大。撒旦也可以在没有血液契约的情况下给予正常的愿望(作为一个愿望),但他很少这样做,只是给那些已经注定失败的人提供某种帮助,或者是对忠诚服务的回报。对于任何重要的事情,他通常都坚持合同。
七年后,一个将灵魂出卖给撒旦的人,会把灵魂交给魔鬼(尽管如此)。如果个人想要永生,那么收集的时间就是个人决定他已经受够了生命,自愿去地狱(大多数这样的人最后会这样做),或者直到那个人死于暴力。(永生并不能保护一个人不被意外或战斗杀死,尽管撒但有时会给一个人一些保护,比如魔法盔甲或一两种愿望,或类似的东西,因为撒旦更喜欢人们自由意志的地狱。)
至于那些似乎能够长生不老的人,我们知道撒旦给了我们一些意想不到的惊喜,当然这并没有在合同中提及,为了让生活变得不那么愉快(也就是说,让生活变得不那么愉快)。无法忍受的)。如果一个人不希望永生,那么除了第一个人,他可能还有更多的愿望。每一项都要花费一年的时间。
For game purposes, it is best to have the contract actually written out, with identical copies for a character and the DM (which any involved player should study carefully before signing), because Satan is extremely literal, and he takes sadistic pleasure in twisting the intent of a contract by fulfilling its letter. Normally, a lawyer cannot be consulted on such a contract, and those who will give legal advice on such matters charge an exorbitant fee. The contract will typically be simply worded,stating who gives and gets what. Once an individual accepts a wish from Satan, there is little chance of getting out of the contract, but it is possible. It is impossible to remove the compulsion to surrender one's soul to Satan unless the contract was signed while the individual was not in control of himself, in which case the contract is void and the wish is revoked. Satan will retaliate against the person responsible for this. However, as long as a person is satisfied with the contract, or at least as long as the person does not want to get out of the contract, there is no power in the universe —not a wish, not even God Himself (well, maybe He can, but He never has) — that can terminate the contract. On the other hand, if the condemned person decides that he wants to get out of the contract, there are steps he can take. He still cannot remove the compulsion to relinquish his soul, but he can enlist the assistance of some ultra-powerful being who will do battle with Satan on his behalf.
Unfortunately, once the person decides that he wants to terminate the contract, the time he has remaining in years is reduced to that many hours before Satan comes to collect, so one must act quickly after changing his mind. Also, any other devil will attempt to detain the condemned person, or failing that, to kill him. The devils cooperate with Satan in this one area because the reputation of all devildom is at stake. Naturally, a person cannot take any positive action to get out of a contract without first deciding to do so. Any cleric of at least Patriarch level can invoke the name of his deity to save the person’s soul. However, they usually require some token of one's devotion to the cause of good, such as the performance of some appropriate quest, as the price of redemption. In any event, an Atonement spell must be cast on the person, and a Quest usually is, too (hence the requirement of an eighth-level cleric). The normal penalty for failure to complete the Quest is the immediate return of the person’s soul to Satan.
Satan’s allies include those covens of witches who worship him, most others who have sold their souls to him, and Belial. Sometimes Satan will ask one of the humans under his influence to perform some task for him. This is entirely voluntary (well, almost; it’s not a good idea to cross Satan), and he will reward the person appropriately upon completion. His enemies include all those devils who acknowledge Asmodeus as lord of hell (i.e., all the other devils except Belial), all the demons, all the angels, all the gods and other powers of good, chaos, neutrality, or any combination thereof, and all the gods and other powers of lawful evil and neutral lawful or neutral evil who are allied with or support Asmodeus or any other enemy of Satan. (And you thought your character had problems!)
出于游戏的目的,最好是把合同写出来,以一个字符和DM的相同副本(任何涉及的玩家在签名前都要仔细研究),因为撒旦是非常字面的,而且他通过完成它的字母来扭曲合同的意图,这是一种施虐的乐趣。通常情况下,律师不能就这样的合同进行咨询,而那些就这些问题提供法律咨询的人收取的费用过高。合同通常是简单的措辞,说明谁给谁,得到什么。一旦一个人接受了撒旦的一个愿望,就几乎没有机会离开合同,但这是可能的。除非合同是在个人无法控制的情况下签订的,在这种情况下合同是无效的,并且愿望被撤销,因此不可能解除对撒旦的强制要求。撒旦会报复对此事负责的人。然而,只要一个人满意的合同,或者至少,只要人不希望合同,没有力量在宇宙中不是一个愿望,甚至连神(好吧,也许他可以,但他从来没有),可以解除合同。另一方面,如果被定罪的人决定要离开合同,他可以采取一些措施。他仍然不能解除他放弃灵魂的冲动,但他可以寻求一些超级强大的人的帮助,他将代表他与撒旦战斗。
不幸的是,一旦这个人决定要终止合同,他在这几年里的时间就会减少到在撒旦出现之前的那几个小时,所以他改变主意后必须马上行动。而且,任何其他的魔鬼都会试图去拘留那个被判有罪的人,否则就会杀死他。魔鬼在这一领域与撒旦合作,因为所有邪恶的名声都岌岌可危。自然地,一个人如果不事先决定,就不能采取任何积极的行动来摆脱合同。任何一位至少主教级别的神职人员都可以召唤他的神来拯救这个人的灵魂。然而,他们通常需要一些人对善的原因表示忠诚,比如一些适当的追求,作为救赎的代价。在任何情况下,施法必须施放于人身上,而任务通常也是如此(因此要求8级牧师)。未能完成任务的正常惩罚是立即将人的灵魂归还撒旦。
撒旦的盟友包括那些崇拜他的女巫的盟约,大多数把他们的灵魂出卖给他的人,和彼列尔。有时撒旦会问一个受他影响的人,为他执行一些任务。这完全是自愿的(嗯,几乎;越过撒旦不是一个好主意),他将在完成后适当地奖赏这个人。他的敌人包括所有那些承认阿斯莫德斯为地狱之王的魔鬼。所有其他恶魔恶魔除外),所有的恶魔,所有的天使,神和其他大国的好,混乱,中立,或任何组合,所有的神和其他合法的邪恶和中立的合法权力或者中立邪恶魔王”联合或支持或任何其他的敌人撒旦。(你认为你的角色有问题!)
Belial Astaroth
Very rare Very rare
1 1
-4 -6
12" by himself, 18“ by himself,
24"/48" in chariot 9"124" on dragon
122 hit points 155 hit points
1% 95%
U, W unlimited
1 bite 1 (plus snake)
3-18 plus poison 1-8 (see snake entry in Monster Manual)
+2 or better +3 or better
weapon to hit weapon to hit
80°/o 90%
Genius Supra-genius
Lawful evil Lawful evil
L (11') L(8')
222 Special
All Special
Belial (pronouncd BEE-lee-ul; the name means "Worthlessness"): At one time, Belial was the devil in charge of politicians, the supreme commander of the armies of hell and the personal lieutenant of Satan. He now spends most of his time on the run throughout the multiverse. In the Lesser Key of Solomon, a medieval grimoire which lists and describes most of the archdevils, Belial is described as a beautiful angelic being riding a chariot of fire, and his voice is pleasant to listen to. Belial’s Chariot of Fire has three times the hit points and capacity of a Chariot of Sustarre, but otherwise it is equivalent in all respects. If it is destroyed, he can replace it the next day. He has the power of beguiling, with -2 on the defender’s saving throw. Those who wish to summon Belial must sacrifice something of great value to the summoner, because he wishes to avoid being summoned by a potential enemy, of whom he has many.
Once per turn or melee round, Belial may use any one of the following powers at will: pyrotechnics, produce flame, wall of fire, light, read languages, read magic, detect invisible, locate object, invisibility, beguiling (as noted above), geas, restoration, raise dead, (fulfull another's) wish. Once per day he can find a familiar of the summoner’s choice automatically, and use a symbol of fear and a symbol of stunning.
His skill in dealing with politicians is almost equal to that of Asmodeus, although Asmodeus will attempt to punish anyone who he finds out has been consorting with Belial. As the former commander of the armies of hell, Belial still commands respect from the troops (somewhat like Napoleon). They will notdirect- ly act to harm him, and they will give him some assistance if they can do so without being caught by the other arch-devils. In the presence of both Asmodeus and Belial, the armies of hell will make an attempt to capture Belial, because they do not want the anger of the lord of hell upon them.
Belial's other allies are Satan and the former lord’s followers. His enemies are the same as those of Satan, except for the armies of Hell as stated. However, the other devils have more enmity for Belial than for Satan, because Belial did a lot of Satan’s dirty work when the two of them were in charge, and Belial seemed to enjoy harassing the devils.
Astaroth: This arch-devil is the treasurer of hell. He used to be third in the hierarchy behind Beelzebub and Adramelech, but now he acts rather independently of the current regime. Nominally he is still third, behind Asmodeus and Baalzebul, although neither of them would try to pull rank on Astaroth except in a dire emergency. Likewise, he never orders other devils around, but sometimes he will exchange favors if he wants something done. He appears as an awesome man-like being who stands 8 feet tall. He looks somewhat overweight and is richly dressed, reeking with filthy lucre.
He also reeks with a burning stench which will cause 1-6 points of fire damage to all creatures within 30’, although a ring of fire resistance or its equivalent will protect a being against this. Still, one must make a saving throw vs. poison if within 10’ or lose consciousness from the smell for 2-12 turns unless one can get a neutralize poison within one turn. (Losing consciousness in the presence of an arch-devil is not a very bright thing to do, and should be avoided.)
Astaroth usually rides a huge ancient red dragon, and he carries a large pit viper (giant poisonous snake) wrapped around his right arm. He can also strike with his left arm for 1-8 points of damage because, like most devils, he is left-handed.
Astaroth may once per turn or melee round use one of the following powers at will: pyrotechnics, produce flame, wall of fire, ice storm, wall of ice, continual light, read languages, read magic, detect invisible, locate object, invisibility, dispel magic, shape change, beguile, rulership, charm monster, geas, restoration, raise dead, (fulfill another’s) wish. Once per day he may do each of the following: legend lore, contact lower plane and precognition (90% accurate). His gaze causes confusion to his enemies (as spell).
Astaroth can create treasure, in the form of coins, gems or jewelry, at will. The DM will determine how much he has lying around, and how much can be carried away. He can teach any of the liberal arts very quickly. Astaroth is immune to psionic attack, and he cannot make a psionic attack.
Astaroth will willingly talk about the fall of the devils, but he does not speak of his own part in that event. In fact, he acts as though he was not subject to the fall, as if he were still working selflessly for the will of God and the good of mankind. Nevertheless, he is a devil of great power, and most devils give him great respect and a wide berth. One must take what he says to the contrary with a grain of salt.
Curiously enough, a number of sources state that Astaroth,in addition to his duties as the devil responsible for financial matters, is also the devil in charge of supervising the activities of devils in the United States. This would seem to indicate that the devils find the United States of great importance and stature, for no other nation has a devil of such rank overseeing it. He may also be partially responsible for all the commercial hype that Americans are subjected to. Then again, it could just be that mere men create such colossal inanity. No one knows for sure (except maybe God, in which case He will hold those culpable to account for their actions).
彼列(pronouncd BEE-lee-ul;这个名字的意思是“无价值”):曾经,彼列尔是掌管政治家的恶魔,是地狱军队的最高统帅和撒旦的私人中尉。现在他大部分时间都花在了多元宇宙的运行上。在所罗门的小调中,一个中世纪的大魔王,列出并描述了大部分的大恶魔,他被描述成一个美丽的天使,正骑着一辆火的战车,他的声音听起来很好听。Belial的战车的火力有三倍于战车的战车,但在其他方面它是等同的。如果它被破坏了,他可以在第二天替换它。他拥有迷人的力量,在防守者的豁免上有2-2。那些想要召唤恶魔的人必须牺牲一些有价值的东西给召唤者,因为他希望避免被潜在的敌人召唤,他有很多敌人。
一旦每个回合或近战回合,Belial可以任意使用以下任何一个异能:烟火,产生火焰,火墙,光,读语言,读魔法,探测隐形,定位物体,隐身,欺骗(如上所述),盖斯,恢复,复活,(富尔满另一个)的愿望。每一天他都能自动找到一个熟悉的召唤者的选择,并使用恐惧的符号和令人震惊的符号。
他与政客打交道的技巧几乎与阿斯莫德斯不相上下,尽管阿斯莫德斯将试图惩罚任何他发现的人与彼列之间的关系。作为地狱大军的前指挥官,伯利兹仍然受到军队的尊敬(有点像拿破仑)。他们不会直接伤害他,如果他们能这样做,他们就会给他一些帮助,而不会被其他的大恶魔抓住。在阿斯莫德斯和彼拉尔的面前,地狱的军队将会试图夺取彼列尔,因为他们不想让地狱之主的愤怒临到他们。
彼列的其他盟友是撒旦和前领主的追随者。他的敌人和撒旦的敌人一样,只不过是地狱的军队。然而,其他的魔鬼对恶魔的敌意比对撒旦的敌意更大,因为当他们两个人在一起的时候,贝列尔做了很多撒旦的肮脏勾当,而伯利兹似乎喜欢骚扰魔鬼。
Last word: The Lesser Key of Solomon warns that when summoning Asmodeus, the summoner must not be wearing anything on his head, or Asmodeus will “deceive" him. That includes helms and other headgear. Forewarned is forearmed.
最后一句话:所罗门王的小钥匙发出警告,当召唤阿斯莫德斯时,召唤者不能戴上任何东西,否则阿斯莫德斯会“欺骗”他。包括头盔和其他首饰。俗话说“有备无患”。