Currently and for the last two hundred years, the outside, at least, of the palace was modeled after some late medieval cathedral from some backwater plane. Due to the strange name of the cathedral, the cathedral’s name had stuck, and for the last few centuries no one called it the Palace of the Concordenax, but rather by the cathedral’s own name. Antefalken had never been a particularly religious man, but he thought that if he were, this would be the name of any cathedral he’d build, the Cathedral of the Notorious Dame.
Actually, Antefalken thought, as he walked across the long bridge towards Notorious Dame, that name was a lot better than Palace of the Concordenax. After all, it wasn’t like anyone had actually seen the Concordenax in the last couple millennia. As far as anyone could tell, he’d taken a permanent vacation and gone off to parts unknown. Thus it was that the Abyss was ruled in his stead by the Triumvirate.
The Triumvirate, now there was a nasty lot. Antefalken got nightmares every time he’d had to play before them. While they’d never taken any offense at his carefully guarded melodies, they’d never seemed much inspired either. Antefalken was more than happy to restrict his playing to Archdemons and Greater Demons when he was in need of demonic favors. Demon Princes were just a bit too powerful for his peace of mind.
Antefalken walked up the blood red stone path to the main doors of the cathedral. The two demonic guards at the doors simply continued to stare straight ahead as he approached. As usual, the centermost large doors opened of their own accord, allowing Antefalken to pass within to the most unhallowed halls in all the Abyss. Inside the main doors, the design of the cathedral departed widely from what Antefalken expected the original designers of Notorious Dame intended.
Inside the light level was three times as bright as what the outside’s dingy stained glass windows could be expected to provide. Antefalken entered a long foyer that opened directly in to the main throne chamber of the Triumvirate. This particular chamber was only used for highest ceremonies and was large enough to squeeze several hundred demons or a thousand mortals in at one time. The chamber was all in brilliant white marble with heavy tracings of silver and gold adorning everything. The hall was originally designed, some said, to mimic the throne room of one of the greater gods of law and justice. Since its original conception, seven thousand years ago, the original intent had been forgotten by most. While the outside and most other rooms in the palace changed with time, and the city even more frequently, the throne room had remained constant. It was a symbol of the Triumvirate’s unwavering rule, more powerful and longer lasting than any mortal ruler could ever dream.
Antefalken chose one of several passages to his right and proceeded down one that he knew quite well. It was a long walk through seven different corridors, up one elevator, up one then down another spiral staircase, up one escalator and a ride on one moving sidewalk. Eventually he reached the large set of obsidian double doors, framed in malachite that he’d been heading for.
Quickly, he brushed his hair with one hand and straightened his collar with the other. He didn’t like dealing with the Triumvirate, but he would get close, very close. He pulled the unopened bottle of Louis XIII out from under his arm as he knocked on the doors. The echo on the other side was surprisingly loud for the heaviness of the doors. The doors opened almost immediately, as if he’d been expected, as he probably was. He glanced through the doors, blinking in the hazy red light coming from inside, a smile lit his face. “Lilith, my dear, how long has it been?” He asked as he stepped through the doors.
A Treatise on The Hierarchy of The Abyss
Demons are, in general, a rowdy and chaotic bunch of malefactors; as such, they respect few rules, except that of force. To the best ability of wizards and sages to determine, demonic society is highly chaotic and disorganized. It is much more strongly feudal than that of humans. Extremely powerful demons lord it over weaker demons, who in turn hold sway over even weaker demons. Even so, the treachery and backstabbing is still extreme. All demons are clever and crafty, always seeking advantages over others, even their own kind and their own leaders.
Even so, at least at the true top levels there is some constant, semi-stable hierarchy based solely on power. The Demon Princes, of which there are very few (13 it is believed) rule unchallenged. The Arch Demons serve the princes and the class IV demons often serve the Arch Demons and from there on down things become tangled. Further, it should be noted that at least some of the Arch Demons and Greater Demons owe only nominal allegiance to those above.
To the best ability of Astlanian sages to determine, there is or was, one supreme demon over all. Apparently, however, this unnamed being, known only as Demon Father, or the Concordenax, has been gone/dead/missing/out of the picture for the last millennium. Directly below the Concordenax are two incredibly powerful demons who currently, effectively, rule the Abyss. Their true names are of course unknown to all; their calling names however, are Sammael and Lilith. Sammael seems to be the more powerful, male demon, and Lilith is his consort. They rule as emperor and empress. They are referred to as the Cofactors of the Abyss. Below them is the Triumvirate. The Triumvirate is essentially the daily governing body of the Abyss. The Prime Ministers if you will. The calling names of these three demons are believed to be Asmodeus, Baalzebul, and Mephistofeles. Together the Triumvirate and the Cofactors form the Quintenal Cabal. The ministers below the Quintenal Cabal are the Supreme Septat. The Supreme Septat consists of 7 Demon Princes of slightly lower power.
Thus at the base of all is the Concordenax around which all revolves (1), followed by the Cofactors (2) with the Triumvirate (3) the last two of which form the Quintenal Cabal (2 + 3 = 5) and finally the Supreme Septat (7). The numerology is obviously with the demons. (1 + (2 + 3 {=5}) + 7 {= 13}), the principal primes adding up so nicely is surely some form of power omen. The full significance of which is not completely understood by the best of the sages of men.
Below the level of the Demon Princes, things are not well understood by men. The belief is that the Concordenax is something possibly above a normal Demon Prince there are thus two top levels, the Concordenax and then the Princes. Further, of the Princes there are three groups, (Cofactors, Triumvirate, Supreme Septat). Thus, many sages insist, the third level, the Arch Demons, must, by numerological consistencies consist of five groups (the next prime). In addition they say, these five groups must (following the ordering of 1, 2, 3, (5), 7, (13)), consist of 17, 19, 23, 29 and 31 each in that order of power. Now, this means there are 119 Arch Demons, while this number is not prime, 119 has a prime factorization of 5 x 17, the number of groups times the number of demons in the first group. While not ideal, this is an auspicious enough theory as to hold some weight with the sages. Similar counting arguments can be used to determine the number of Greater Demons on down. However, things become less auspicious and the information gleaned is not sufficient to warrant too much faith.
As to what level of allegiance the various demons owe their overlords, it is not completely clear. What is clear is that the closer demons are to their overlords in physical proximity or their overlord’s power base the stronger their allegiance to that overlord. Logical enough.
As for the geography of the Abyss itself. The Abyss is essentially infinite in size. It is reported that the temperature is well over the boiling point of water at all times, and that pillars of stone may rise straight up for miles from red, rocky and otherwise lifeless desert floors. Further, in some regions there are vast mountain ranges easily twice as high as any found in the planes of men. High enough, some say, that snow may be found on their peaks, even though wine itself boils at sea level.