Who the Hell are These Guys? part 9 : Bloody Hell (Hell part 15)
Welcome back to my blog about a new and ‘better’ approach to Hell. See the bottom of the page for links to the rest of the articles.
Today, we’ll talk about one of the pinnacles of evil, the Queen of Hell, Iht-Tabah, also known as Lylit, known as Rixa in the Successor States of Rega, on the world of Tellus.
Let’s do it.
First and foremost, she is Wrath and Lust embodied, combined. She is a horrifying force of destruction, taking anything she wants, destroying that which gets in her way or tries to tell her no. She is the avatar of senseless war, lusting for blood and murder even more than for pleasures of the flesh. She is not the general of Hell, no, but she is its champion, and even the King of Hell is careful not to provoke her. He fears her rage. An important note: she is not his bride, but his sister. The two are loyal to each other, but both prefer ‘partners’ that serve only their needs.
Iht-Tabah, like her ‘brothers’ Jar-Mot and Baal-Abed, dwells in the mighty castle of Byrsa Kurnugia, on the edge of the Pit that leads to Nothing. She attends audiences and courts when she must, but spends most of her time engaged in violent and perverse ‘diversions’ from gladiatorial combat (in which she might be observer or participant) to equally violent orgies, not that one can always tell the difference in the Hells of No Return. Her sections of the palace are torture chambers, harems, and stables for her fighters, side by side or all in one. Everywhere one goes, everything one sees and smells is tinged with blood.
Unlike her brother Jar-Mot, Lylit cares about *everything*. She is every emotion taken to the extreme. As such she takes great care with her appearance. She is, of course, a master shapeshifter, but she does have certain forms she favors. They are all beautiful, somehow, even while being terrifying, revolting, and/or disturbing. Perhaps the most common form is as the Blood Goddess: a tall, pale figure , often nude, always dripping with fresh blood over her whole curvacious body, none of it hers. Her hair is dark, but wet with blood, or made of blood, and moves like waves in the ocean as she walks. The only real difference between her ‘fair’ form and her diabolic form is whether she has visible horns, whether her long legs end in cloven hooves, whether she has fingernails or claws. She *always* has large canine fangs. If she needs you to believe she is something other than what she truly is, obviously she can omit the blood, wear clothes that suit the occasion . . . but she rarely bothers. Subtlety, she says, is for the weak. Seduction, she believes, is for those not strong enough to simply take what they want. She says as much while speaking to Sha’Urcit, or even her brothers. Pointedly.
In battle she loves to feel her foes die in her grasp, and often wields only fang, claw, hoof, and horn, or even just bare hands if she doesn’t feel the need to bother changing shape. For truly major fights she will wear a wide belt made from the skins of a million victims, a patchwork that channels their stolen strength into her. In such cases she also wields, casually, in one hand, a massive great axe like those favored by her wrath demons, and by the glutts she made and deigns to share with the other archdevils. It is always and ever wreathed in blue-black hellfrost. In the other hand, she wields a cat of nine tails that weeps boiling blood, and scalds as it strips away flesh. The axe is called “Soulcleaver”, and the scourge, “Lylit’s Kiss”.
Do not make the mistake of thinking her simple, however, or that her distaste for subtlety means her incapable of it. Many mighty and clever beings have tried to fool or manipulate her and found themselves outwitted, devastated, stripped of soul and flesh, an eternal toy for her amusement. She, like Jar-Mot, is a true god, above and beyond the machinations of lesser beings.
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
We talked about the new Hells I’ve designed, themselves, in What Fresh Hell Is This? https://www.ofgodsandgamemasters.com/blog/what-fresh-hell-is-this-hell-part-6
I wrote about Ibacar, Devil Princess of Despair, as well as some of her minions. https://www.ofgodsandgamemasters.com/blog/abandon-all-hope
I covered Jajax Lal Anim, the Archdevil of Greed, Lord of Laqq. https://www.ofgodsandgamemasters.com/blog/who-the-hell-are-these-guys-2-eye-of-the-needle
We talked about Immzebul, Lady of Flies, Archdevil of Gluttony and Rot.
https://www.ofgodsandgamemasters.com/blog/who-the-hell-are-these-guys-3-never-enough-hell-part-9
We cowered in terror from Malhamit, the diabolical Bull of War, the Archdevil of Wrath.
https://www.ofgodsandgamemasters.com/blog/who-the-hell-are-these-guys-4-war-is-hell-hell-part-10
We spoke of repulsive Sha’Urcit, the Devil Prince of Lust. https://www.ofgodsandgamemasters.com/blog/who-the-hell-are-these-guys-5-lust-and-pain-is-the-candy-hell-part-11
We were proud to present Iddet-Leil, Devil Princess of Pride.
https://www.ofgodsandgamemasters.com/blog/who-the-hell-are-these-guys-6-pride-is-a-master-of-deception-hell-pt-12
We described Hamarqal the Zealous, Devil Prince of Envy.
https://www.ofgodsandgamemasters.com/blog/who-the-hell-are-these-guys-7-ulcer-of-the-soul-hell-pt-13
Finally, we began the descriptions of the Dark Three, the true gods of evil, with Jar-Mot, Lord of Undeath and Vizier of Hell.
https://www.ofgodsandgamemasters.com/blog/who-the-hell-are-these-guys-pt-8-fear-itself-hell-pt-14
