I promised some while back that I would present a new take on Hell for general use in ttrpgs. This is that article. It is of note that this is the version of Hell referenced in my last blog, Irkalla: City of Woe, found here: https://www.ofgodsandgamemasters.com/blog/worlds-enough-irkalla-city-of-woe.

To understand why I felt it was needed, and how I got here, 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 that there are reasons why Dungeons and Dragons, and a lot of modern culture think of there as being Nine Hells, in How Many Hells and Why https://www.ofgodsandgamemasters.com/blog/how-many-hells-and-why-hell-part-4 .

Last time, we covered where the 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

So , let's dig in.

As a starting place, we decide how many Hells. Leaving behind the framework of Dante's Inferno, we find that Seven Hells are far more common than 9, and it lets us associate each Hell, and thus each archdevil, with a specific Deadly Sin. My sins of choice are this version:

Envy, Pride, Lust, Wrath, Gluttony, Greed, and Despair (Apathy aka Acedia, the original version of Sloth.). In that order of importance with Envy actually being seen as a worse sin than Pride.

With that, I came to a list of archdevils and their domains, which I covered a little in the Irkalla blog, but will reproduce here. The language base is Phoenician, growing out of Canaanite, because of the associations the sound of that language has with demons and devils, due to the villification of other gods by the Abrahamic religions. None of these entities are actually based on Canaanite or Phoenician gods, however, though some aspects are inspired by the way Judaism and Christiantiy have presented them. In addition, they form the dark divine pantheon of the fallen nation of Karth-Usu in my world of Rega, a land inspired by the fictionalized and sensationalized view of Carthage promoted by Roman propaganda. There is a great deal of evidence in the real world that most of the horrid things that people believe about Carthage were simply invented by Rome to villify their enemy and justify their destruction. In Rega, which is Greco-Roman inspired, those lies were true.

Baal-Abed, the Devil King. In my setting of Rega, he is called Interitus. He is Envy and Pride.

Iht-Tabah, the Devil Queen, also known as Lylit. In Rega, she is Rixa. She is Wrath and Lust

Jar-Mot, Vizier of the Seven Hells (agender and sexless) He is Gluttony, Greed and Despair.

Technically Baal-Abed is the monarch, but in practice those three are co-equal rulers.

Hamarqal, devil prince of envy.

Iddet-Leil, aka Bet-Ur, devil princess of pride

Sha'Urcit, devil prince of lust

Malhamit, devil prince of wrath and war

Immzebul, Mother of Flies, devil princess of gluttony

Jajax Lal Anim, devil prince of greed

Ibacar, devil princess of despair

It is important to note that these Hells are not afterlives, per se. No one is automatically condemned to them. Instead, foolish mortals are tempted with whatever will get them to agree to giving their soul to Hell after death. Thus only those who made a deal are consigned here. They came willingly, even if deceived.

Despair is a gateway to sin, for when nothing matters anymore, why not act as you please? Regard for others is pointless if there is no hope. Because of that, Ibacar rules the 1st Hell, called K'Nat, or the Gate. It is a cold, dark, misty, and lonely place, where mortals who gave themselves to Hell in despair and apathy wander aimlessly without comfort or surcease. This Hell is an eternity of the Despair they gave themselves to. Ibacar rules listlessly and with little interest from her citadel, itself built around and behind the Gate to this first layer. As one approaches the Gate, from wherever one comes, they do indeed see words written on it: "All Ye Who Enter Here, All Hope Abandon, and Embrace Despair." The Inner Gate to lower hells is called Agu, the Crown. Each seperate inner gate is named after a thing that symbolizes what one must give up to enter the next hell.

Taking what you want without caring what it does to others, and taking more than you need, is the sin of Greed. It harms so many, passively, at a distance. Those who fall to it believe they are entitled to more, or 'that's just the way the world works' or 'anyone who works hard can get rich' while they take, take, and take, leaving crumbs or less for others. In the realm of Laqq, or Taking, they continue to plot and scheme to get more and more money, but they never enjoy the fruits of their labors, and nothing is ever enough. The zero sum game is made very real, and the souls of mortals consigned here steal their way to the top only to have everything taken from them moments later. And Jajax Lal Anim laughs. He rules it all from a huge golden palace, and takes his cut from every transaction. Only he and the Dark Three actually benefit from Greed in the long run. The Gate is Zaginduru, Lapis Lazuli.

Gluttony. Eating, and eating, and eating. Not because you are hungry, not to survive. But just to eat. We don't speak here of people eating to sooth their hurting hearts, or those with hormonal imbalances. Gluttony is a sin, when, like Greed, you take more than you need with no concern for others who need to eat. It is worse than Greed, in that context, because one can live without money, barely, if they have food. One cannot live without food. To take so much from another that you are literally taking the food from their table and mouth, all so you can have another course of caviar and champagne . . . that is Gluttony. And so, in Ra'av, or the Hell of Famine, they are condemned to eat, and eat, and eat, as they always have, taking food from each other, but there is never enough, and they are always hungry. Many of them are turned into ghouls and other ravening undead before being unleashed upon the world again, at least for a time. Flies buzz over every platter, and food rots before it reaches hungry mouths, but rail thin Immzebul is always well fed , in her palace where every moment is an opulent feast. The Gate is Serser, the Chain.

Everyone gets angry. And righteous anger can be a good thing. Wrath, as a sin, is not that. Wrath, as a sin, is uncontrolled anger at anyone or anything that annoys you, any minor inconvenience of the day. It is anger directed at the undeserving, rage that destroys everything it touches, especially the innocent. It is war and destruction for their own sake, or in the service of one of the other sins.

As such, endless battles and mayhem rage across Muluk, the Hell of War. Oceans of blood drown the barren landscape, and Malhamit plays all the sides against each other for his amusement, and to train them all for future wars against gods and mortals. His capital is a mobile war camp, and he is always the armored general. The Gate is called Siram, Armor.

Lust is often misunderstood. People equate it with desire. They equate it with prostitutes. They equate it with promiscuity or hypersexuality. In truth, Lust is a sin when you indulge your base desires without concern for how it hurts others. Lust , in this context, leads to rape. It devalues those you desire as objects rather than people. Sexual desire that respects others as people, and considers their feelings and consent as more important than itself, is no sin at all. With that said, the realm of Shakat, the Hell of Abomination, respects none of those things. The less said about the heinous things done by, and to, the devils and mortals of this horrific place, the better. Sha'Urcit smiles lasciviously down at it all from his pleasure palace high above, where all depraved and harmful desires are indulged, and people are both perpetrators and 'objects'. Its inner Gate is Har, the Ring.

In the Christian context, the worst sin is Pride. Pride is not how it is commonly interpreted, either. It is now wholesome pride in your abilities, in your accomplishments. It is not being proud of who and what you are. Pride is the sin of seeing yourself better than others by virtue of these things, or even seeing yourself as better, or more important, than all other people, or even the gods. (Hubris) It is overconfidence, megalomania, conceit. It is condescension, dismissal of all other views. It is being so sure you are right that you will accept no challenge to your ideas, not even facts. It is the besetting sin of narcissists, fascists, authoritarians, dictators, and out of control hyper-wealthy oligarchs. They may have started with greed, or gluttony, or even despair, but they eventually move on to Pride, and the pursuit of Power, which they believe is theres by right. Iddet-Leil rules the realm of Ram-Tsor, the High Fortress, with an iron fist. A singular fortress city of basalt, it is a pit of scheming vipers with politics that make Byzantium by turns blush and turn pale in the face at their audacity and treachery. It blocks the way to the last Hell. The inner Gate here is Sukku, the Staff.

Our final Hell is Kinah, the Land of Zeal. One may wonder why Envy is placed as a higher or worse sin than Pride in this version. For me, it is because envy and jealousy are not just wanting what someone else has, but hating them for having it. It is seeing joy and being angered by it. It is the zeal that pushes us to hate those not like us, that makes us choose to destroy that which does not hurt us simply because we do not understand it, or because someone believes differently than we do. Envy and zeal come from the same root words, and it is the dedication to ones own ideas so strong that it cannot tolerate other ideas, the wrong-headed idea that someone else being happy believing and acting differently than you do is an attack on your beliefs. It is envy and zeal that leads people to do harm to those of other faiths, creeds, nations, and ethnicities. It is the idea, as with Pride, all other perspespctives are inferior, but specifically that when those other perspectives work and make someone happy that somehow, that is an affront to god and nature. Envy takes all the other sins and magnifies them, causes people to weaponize them against others. Jealousy keeps us from sharing resources and love freely to help all people. In his high Pale Mansion, Hamarqal jealously hoards all things that bring joy to himself, and gleefully sets his subjects against each other by pointing out who has more, who is better, who is more important, and especially who is to blame for why the person he is manipulating doesn't have what they want.

At the center of Kinah, is the Pit, Tapat, the hole into the Abyss outside reality, whence come the things that wish only to destroy even the Dark. At its edge, the Last Gate, Tugziza, the Robe. Any who wish to come before the King, Queen, and Vizier of Hell must give up all things, even personhood and dignity, on the path, with no promise of regaining them.

The limitless fortress and palace there beside the pit is called Byrsa Kurnugia, the Fortress of the Earth of No Return, and gives its name to all the Hells: Kurnugia. It guards from both above and below, and the triumvirate that rules there is as far beyond the devil princesses and princes as they are beyond the mortals and devils they control.

Perhaps next I will explore in more depth the Archdevils and their rulers.