Bensozia

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Bensozia, in the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, was the consort of Baator's Overlord, Asmodeus. She's also referred to as the Queen of Hell.

1 Description
2 Death
3 References
4 External Links

[edit] Description

According to scholars, she appears as a beautiful, wingless, red-skinned she devil with long white hair and completely black eyes. She is the mother of Glasya, Asmodeus' daughter who served temporarily as Mistress of the erinnyes and who's now in charge of Malbolge. She is often noted as a loyal and devoted consort who stands by her master at all times. Unlike the Lord of Nessus and her daughter, Bensozia appeared quiet and not so forceful, since she's been practically never heard of until her recent death. However, she used to be the most powerful of the consorts but only could she wield her power through Asmodeus, having little authority by herself. Actually, as she used to say herself, "I do not speak, it's not my place". Her demeanour was cold and haughty but polite.

Like many other D&D arch-devils, Bensozia was given her name after a real-life mythological figure, the French dark goddess of witches. This name is derived from the term buona socia, literally the good neighbour. Her name was invoked during the ritual sabbath of the witches.

[edit] Death

Shortly before the Reckoning of Hell, Bensozia was assaulted by the arch-lord of the 5th layer of Hell, Levistus. While she was leading a routine inspection of the layers, the ruler of Stygia came to her with the offer of becoming his consort if she helped him depose Asmodeus. Upon her harsh refusal, Levistus became infuriated and killed her along with her pit-fiends bodyguards. Asmodeus quickly spotted the act and imprisoned Levistus in a thick block of ice as a punishment. The Arch-Devil Geryon replaced him as the new ruler of Stygia. Later, when the Reckoning was over, Hell's Overlord placed Levistus in charge of Stygia. (D&D: The Book Of Vile Darkness)

Whether or not the Queen of Hell really died has been unclear for quite a long time, given that in first edition supplements, Bensozia was still Asmodeus' consort during Geryon's reign on Stygia. However, as of Fiendish Codex II: The Tyrants of Hell, her death is now confirmed.

Oddly enough, it looks like Asmodeus showed quite a liking for her since he did not take another consort as yet. And more importantly, Glasya, their daughter who overthrew the Hag Countess as ruler of Malbolge the Sixth plane, is now planning to get revenge on Levistus for daring to murder her beloved mother. And this is with the benediction of Baator's overlord, who will grant his daughter the right to utterly destroy the Lord of Stygia as soon as she can provide any evidence of major trangression.