The Infernal Lords XXII: Azazel

“An army of ambition is moving
And it shakes the ground:
Ten thousand hungry hearts with iron heels.
Burns and rapes, sucks the earth dry,
Cuts and slays all that gets in its way.
Mighty forces of destruction way beyond control:
Nothing sleeps tonight.

We are the hounds of hell:
You will kneel, you will bend.”
[ The Gate – Tristania ]

Duke Azazel is the Ambassador of Hell on the Earth. As the General of the Earthly Troops of the Infernal Army, he ranks among the military elite of the Third Demonic Level and is highly respected by his own soldiers. He was formerly the Chief of Principalities, whose duty is to bring orders from the First Angelic Sphere to the Third one and the Sublunar World, and maintained his role after the Great Heavenly War among other Fallen Angels who still faked loyalty to Yahweh. After his Fall, caused by an altercation with Great Angel Metatron, he was appointed as the General of the Earthly Troops of Hell thanks to the huge experience of the Sublunar World he had made while falsely serving Heaven. He’s a major connoisseur of mankind, and while other Demons – in particular the Seven Satans – often wreak havoc with their Sins just for the sake of annoying Yahweh, he plans more capillary and delicate actions and tries to direct the Satans’ and other Upper Demons’ efforts into less spectacular but more productive deeds. For instance, he was the one who suggested that Duke Belial teach women the art of beautifying their body, that Princess Lilith extensively use her powers over the Black Moon to increase the Mortals’ sexual appetites and let them fall prey to Count Asmodeus and Marquis Rosiel’s influence, that Marquis Leonard and Marquise Naamah teach them the use of wizardcraft and divination respectively, that Duke Xaphan grant them the knowledge to advance their technology, and that such concepts originally only present in the Heavenly and Infernal Courts as corruption, careerism and lust for power and knowledge be introduced to the then newly fallen-from-grace mankind. He did this to set the ground for his masterpiece: the Goetic Deals, contracts in which Mortals sell their soul in exchange for knowledge or powers granted by the Goetic Demons. Indeed, it was his idea to purchase human souls to steal them from Yahweh’s control and increase the ranks of the Infernal Army.
Beside being an Astral Demon in charge of the power of Saturn, he’s the de facto Leader of the Third Demonic Level and commands pretty much the whole Infernal Army since the Supreme General, Prince Abaddon, slumbers in meditation to gather more power before the Armageddon, and the higher-ranking Prince Absinthion still resides undercover in Heaven; thus he often works with Archduke Beelzebub and Marquis Leviathan from the First Level to supervise the occasional battles against the Heavenly Troops. He works closely with his Lieutenant, Count Mephistophel, while taking care of his embassy duties on Earth, which basically means he has to present men with the advantages of siding with Hell, while it’s Count Mephistophel who ultimately gets the contracts signed. The two are rather close, as the latter was his fanatically loyal Second-In-Command before the fall. He also holds in great esteem fellow Third-Level Demon Marquis Nergal and the two often work together in coordinating the patrols at the borders of Hell. Right after Archduke Beelzebub, Duke Azazel is the most loyal Demon to Emperor Lucifer so he carries his own duties with zeal and diligence, while still enjoying the mundane life of the Court whenever he can.