| Game background | |
|---|---|
| Title(s) | Duke of Hell |
| Home plane | Baator |
| Power level | Duke of Hell |
| Alignment | Lawful evil |
| Portfolio | "Immoral expressions" |
| Domains | n/a |
| Superior | Levistus |
| Design details | |
Agares is a Duke of Hell in the service of Levistus, in the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game.
Contents |
Agares first appears in Ed Greenwood's article "The Nine Hells Part I" in Dragon #75 (1983).[1]
Agares was briefly detailed in Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells (2006).[2] Agares was detailed in the online version of Dragon, in issue #361 (December 2007) in the second part of the "Infernal Aristocracy" feature.[3]
Agares takes a form resembling that of an ancient, human man, his voice shaky and frail. His feet are reptilian and covered in gray scales, and his gray-bearded face is a ruddy human tone that deepens to a deep scarlet on his deformed, knotted torso (although this isn't normally evident, as his robes reach to his neck). His tail is stumpy, and covered in the same gray scales as his feet. His horns are gray, too. He has watery red eyes and red, clawlike nails. He leans on a staff shod with iron.
Digging into Agares's wrist is Harbinger, a fiendish eagle-like creature known for its cruelty and violence. Harbinger has crimson feathers and black eyes that weep pus.
Agares considered himself to be a loyal servant of Geryon until the Reckoning of Hell, but his rival for Geryon's approval, Amon, frustrated him at every turn. With Geryon unwilling to listen to Agares's tales of Amon's duplicity, Agares instead turned to Asmodeus, feeding the overlord lies about his master and rival in the hope of gaining Asmodeus's intercession in their quarrel. This, Asmodeus seemed to have eventually done; during the Reckoning Asmodeus cast Geryon down from his throne, but rather than promote Agares in his place, instead he reawakened ancient, sleeping Levistus. Agares was one of the few nobles from Geryon's court that managed to retain his position during Levistus's new reign; the other was the minor duke Machalas. Levistus, though wary of Agares's doubtful loyalty, granted his new servant 31 legions and command of the "eastern" portion of Levistus's realm.
Agares has begun frequenting the court of the Egyptian god Set, possibly intending to gain Set's aid in ousting or destroying Levistus in a coup in exchange for helping Set expand his realm into the neighboring realm of Malbolge. Whether or not these speculations are accurate, word of them has come to the ears of many powerful infernal nobles, which may prove problematic for Agares and his ambitions.
Agares commands 31 companies of bone devils. Each company includes 333 soldiers.
Agares's ways are not as openly destructive and sinister as those of many of his peers, which causes his cultists to mistakenly think Agares is of a milder temperament than is typical for a diabolic noble. However, this is merely part of Agares's scheme; Agares encourages his followers into verbal transgressions that are comparatively mild at first, but gradually grow so blasphemous that they stain their very souls.