#labolas

(In my ongoing efforts to un-dnd my setting, I recently reworked the lords of Hell of my setting. I will be posting them all over time)

Glasya was created by Abaddon to deal with the criminals of Hell. While punishing criminals was something that Asmodeus enjoyed doing, Hell had gotten too big for it to be handled by him alone.

For the most part, Glasya was just a jailor for the criminals but occasionally she had to torture someone as punishment. She hated torturing people, but she was obedient and so she kept doing it until one day, a second person formed within her: Labolas.

Labolas was sadistic. Nevertheless, Glasya never lets Labolas torture the criminals, as it is supposed to be a punishment, not a reward for someone else.

Mortals usually petition Labolas, not Glasya, and her petitioners are often criminals seeking to evade punishment.

Bayonetta 3 demon masquerade concept art

Madama butterfly form

Gomorrah form

Phantasmaraneae form

Malphas form

Labolas form

Baal form

The western swampfolk maintain wayside shrines to Labolas, where they leave food and dog skulls are left as offerings. In return, Labolas is meant to offer protection from the miasmic diseases of the swamp and good weather.

To seek more from Labolas, a supplicant can make a pilgrimage through the Mire to the Lake of Rats and the flooded ruins of Parhassia. There they need to locate the secret chapel dedicated to the spirit, which is said to be hidden somewhere in the city. 

In the chapel, the supplicant must offer up a specially prepared dog skull and more mundane gifts of wealth. If Labolas is pleased with the offering, he will grant an audience. Labolas will offer to grant the pilgrim their wish in exchange for service and devotion.

Labolas can grant the supplicant mastery of a craft or art with a word, divine hidden truths from the past or offer prophecies of the future, and cause the supplicant to be regarded with love and respect by those that know him.

He can also grant them the power to throw around blasts of black fire, and other magicks, but those gifts require greater devotion and effort from the supplicant. Fewer people ask for this boon that the others. He always offers it though.

 Labolas will then return the dog skull to them, to serve as a connection to Him. The skull will talk with Labolas’ voice, and those of particularly powerful or successful devotees become animated and wreathed in the black flames of Labolas. 

Outside of the oral traditions of the swampfolk, the lore of Labolas is mainly known through the Stichoi Mesánychton, a series of poems written by one of his devotees, Stephen Iacobus. Iacobus learned the lore by charming his way into the favour of a swamp-priest.  

Iacobus was an aristocrat and failed poet exiled from the city of Brinemouth. After learning the lore, he undertook the pilgrimage to Parhassia and offered Labolas the remainder of his inherited wealth in exchange for the love and respect of those that exiled him.

Labolas granted this, and more it is said, and Iacobus was honoured greatly on his return to Brinemouth. He enjoyed this status for a number of years, during which time he wrote the Stichoi Mesánychton, before his use of mind-controlling magick was uncovered.

Iacobus was captured by the Knights Palatine of the Church of Stone and Light, and was tried and executed as a warlock. His works were banned and burned where they could be found, but several copies of the Stichoi Mesánychton escaped the purge.

In the Stichoi Mesánychton, Labolas is described as a gaunt towering figure with great crab-like claws, dressed in black silk robes that are mysteriously unstained by the swamp filth, and a floating dog’s skull instead of a head. The skull is wreathed in black flame.