"Demon Wizard" © Elizaveta Akulova, accessed at her ArtStation here

[Something I did not anticipate when I proposed doing a Goetic demon project: that these entities are part of modern magical practice as opposed to "just" being stories. So I found a number of witches and ritual magicians talking about their experiences with working with Ronove. Apparently he's pretty chill as far as demons go, and goes by Ben these days as much as his classic name. He also picked up a fire affinity somewhere along the way--some 20th century occultist was handing out elemental associations like August Derleth. Of course, since I'm writing for Pathfinder, I wanted him to be appropriately evil for a daemon... but one who could very easily convince you he's a chill guy. At least until he uses suggestion to get you to slit your grandmother's throat.

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Ronove CR 18 NE Outsider (extraplanar) This monstrous man has curling horns growing from his brow and a skull-like face with hollow eyes and a lipless mouth. He has a branching tail and a staff, both of which seem to aid his balance as he walks with crooked legs.

Ronove is a thanadaemon and a master of rhetoric, a skill often undervalued in Abaddon, where most daemons would rather kill than convince anyone of anything. Ronove has a reputation of being one of the most pleasant and reasonable of the Goetic fiends to work with, and he has persuaded a number of binders that he is not even evil. Of course, Ronove is as death obsessed as any daemon; namely, he is an active advocate for any policy or course of action that kills the elderly. Ronove’s influence has led to truly heinous policies of elder abuse and gerontocide being adopted, encourages the elderly to kill themselves in order to “not place a burden” on their loved ones and societies, and generally hardens the hearts of people towards the aged and infirm. Ronove engages in calm, rational conversation on the subjects of resource depletion, euthanasia and utilitarianism over an extended period of time, until the idea of killing a specific elderly person “to reduce their suffering” no longer seems like an unreasonable proposition.

Ronove does not much like combat; he sees it as a sign that words have failed him. Nonetheless, he is a thanadaemon, and when called to fight can sap life with the touch of his claws or staff. His staff is a staff of dark flame, and he often opens combat with a fireball aimed into a crowd to maximize collateral damage and to distract heroic types with attempting to save people. Ronove is usually accompanied by support staff and bodyguards, which are typically mortals on the Material Plane and hydrodaemons on the lower planes. In either case, he has little compunction about abandoning these minions to their deaths and fleeing if a fight turns against him.

The Pandaemonic Parliament contains multiple arch-devils and even a few of the demon princes on its board, but none of the Four Horsemen are willing to participate directly. Each has sent a favorite agent as a representative, however, and Ronove fulfills that role for Charon. Ronove is a devoted servant within a den of vipers, and Charon has no doubts as to his loyalty. Ronove is an incredibly gifted speaker, and skilled at persuading other members of the Parliament to vote according to his, and Charon’s, wishes. His abilities are such that even devils and demons find him reasonably trustworthy, and Ronove has become a sympathetic ear and even confidante to many members of the Parliament’s support staff—guards, secretaries, pages and the like. Of course, this is exactly how Charon wants it.