Who the Hell are These Guys 2: Eye of the Needle (Hell part 8)
Avarice, by Pieter van der Heyden circa 1558
In this part of my series on Hell, we cover Jajax Lal Anim, the Archdevil of Greed, lord of Laqq.
I recommend reading my entire Hell series.
In earlier installments, we've covered that Hell Has Its Laws, https://www.ofgodsandgamemasters.com/blog/hell-has-its-laws-part-1 , Hell Has Its Place https://www.ofgodsandgamemasters.com/blog/hell-has-its-place-hell-pt-2 , that Hell Hath No Fury https://www.ofgodsandgamemasters.com/blog/hell-hath-no-fury-hell-part-3 , and the reasons Dungeons and Dragons, depicts Nine Hells, in How Many Hells and Why https://www.ofgodsandgamemasters.com/blog/how-many-hells-and-why-hell-part-4 .
We covered where names come from, in A Hell of a Set of Names. https://www.ofgodsandgamemasters.com/blog/a-hell-of-a-set-of-names-hell-part-5
And then we talked about the Hells themselves, in What Fresh Hell Is This? https://www.ofgodsandgamemasters.com/blog/what-fresh-hell-is-this-hell-part-6
And in the last installment before this one, I detailed Ibacar, Devil Princess of Despair, as well as some of her minions. https://www.ofgodsandgamemasters.com/blog/r3jjztspjmqn8eaz41x2nsbzjwfg4e
The second Hell, Laqq, aka “Taking”, is the hell of avarice and greed. It is the hell of exploitation for gain, of unchecked capitalism. At the bottom of its hierarchy, lesser devils and mortal souls labor for the profit of their “betters”, while scheming and backstabbing for any chance to move up the ladder. The style of this realm is Byzantine and gaudy, with excess wealth always flaunted by those above, until those below tear them down to rise into their place. Those below are tormented unbearably, both by the actual torture of their unceasing labors, and by their own unquenchable desire for more. No matter how high they rise, they always want more, and there are always more above them . . . none higher than Jajax Lal Anim, the Devil Prince of Avarice, the Archdevil of Greed.
art from pixabay, modifed by me
Jajax appears, most often, as many of the archdevils do: an exceedingly beautiful member of the species to which he has appeared, dressed in the finest clothes. His suits and robes are always of the latest cut and style, of the most expensive materials, and clearly of the specific fashions that only the richest and most powerful wear. In some cases, that is oddly subdued, like a plain black suit with a white shirt and a golden tie. His flesh is pale gold, his hair perfectly coiffured golden blonde in the most popular cut among the elite. His eyes are molten gold, intense, and pitiless. He is almost always smiling, and his smile is cruel. He wears golden rings set with yellow diamonds and emeralds, and often a golden lapel pin or brooch of a wolf’s head or a frog.
picture by PL Blechly, used under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Gold filter added by me.
The Archdevil of Greed resides in a golden palace at the center of his domain, high above all others, in clear sight of every lesser being, a constant reminder of what they strive for, what they do not have, what he controls. He makes regular processions through his streets, from the wealthiest to the poorest, to make it ever more clear.
Art by Kim Holm https://denungeherrholm.smugmug.com/ licensed under a Creative Commons attribution 4.0 International License
When angered, or brought to battle, he often remains in his beautiful form until sorely pressed. But if he needs to frighten or impress, he can take the form of a massive fiend made of molten gold, dripping as liquid from his eyes and mouth, burning all it touches. In either form, he can instill and manipulate greed in any but the most stalwart and noble souls, distracting or disabling foes without ever laying a hand on them. Or he can strike you dead with the molten gold he can conjure from his nigh limitless hoards.
Most of his energy is used keeping the many devils and souls of his domain focused on each other, and keep them chasing the golden carrot, and trying to evade the stick. While so focused, they don’t have the energy to rebel. And all they do serves Jajax himself. The Prince of Avarice is far more active in worlds outside the Hells of Kurnigia than many devils, especially encouraging greed and avarice and buying and selling anything in creation, from services to slaves to rare goods to souls. He doesn’t start with a contract for souls. He starts with little things, and reels you in with your own wants and needs. He has shops and merchant caravans and trading companies and corporations everywhere across the planes and worlds of existence. They can get you anything, and the price is reasonable...until it isn’t.
He, like many other archdevils, is served by the Bizazim servitor devils, as well as more specific Greed devils and many other kinds. He also has access to a staggering variety and amount of mercenaries from across all existence, as price is hardly an issue for him. There are always more beings willing to sell themselves for wealth, so he spends his mercenary minions like copper.
