Grand Devils

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"Do you know how long it takes one of our lords to die?" He shakes his head. "No, I don't either. Aeons, perhaps."

The Grand Devils are the former princes of Hell, and were once the noble rulers of the Devils. They were overthrown in a revolution by their former subjects, and they have now been left scattered, dead, or otherwise indisposed.

Correct and Proper and Beautiful

Vast, eight-legged,[1], perfume-breathed,[2] leather-winged, many-eyed,[3] chitin-plated, and millipede-like,[4], the Grand Devils are a diverse group of powerful beings. They have the ability to share their memories and thoughts with others; for a mere mortal this may be a rapturous experience, or one that they will never speak of again lest they relive it.[5] When the Grand Devils ruled Hell, they each had a specific purpose, and their bodies may have had unique attributes to match.[6]

Known Grand Devils

Most of the Grand Devils seem to be dead. This does not hinder communication with them as much as one might expect.

The Drummer

The Drummer, also known as the Saint in the Drum and the Drummer-in-the-Depths, resides in Parabola under the church at Burrow-Infra-Mump (which was his domain before the Burrow’s fall). He has been sealed there, tantalizingly close to his drum, but not close enough to play it.[7] Members of the Brazen Brigade, the palace guard from when the grand devils still reigned, still make the pilgrimage to his resting place regularly to preserve the holy site.[8]

The Mandolinist

The Mandolinist resides under the walls of Hell, trapped by an immovable gate and Hell’s own continual laws against his release.[9] Unlike much of his brethren, however, he is very much alive - and in agony, impaled on a pillar by a thousand viol bows.[10] Faceless and without his instrument, he can only play his music by scraping a bow against his tongue.[11] The mandolin is a plucked instrument, so either the presence of so many bows is a curious musical inconsistency or his name is a misnomer.

As part of his punishment, the Mandolinist is Hell's gatehouse, and his limbs stretch throughout Hell's entrance. He sounds the arrival of each entrant with his bows, which could be heard throughout the Hinterlands.[12]

The Chandler

The Chandler is the primary saint of the Brazen Brigade, and their chapel is both his corpse and his tomb; it is constructed from his hollowed-out bones and contains his Parabolan prison.[13] The Brigade are trying to spread the Chandler’s word through London, disguising his nature as that of a true saint of the Church, martyred on the walls of Hell for his devotion.[14]

There is a grain of truth to that story of sainthood. The Chandler was killed for love - love for his old master, a Judgement. His prison allows him to see his love through the glass, but never talk to or return to it.[15]

The monarchists at the Brimstone Convention of Mount Palmerston have an alliance with the Chandler, though they do not know that any of the other Grand Devils are alive or reachable.[16]

The Vintner

Not much is known about the Vintner. A Saint in scarlet, she oversaw the distillation of souls, a process that seems to be half religious ceremony and half brewery.[17]

The Prismatic Dowager

A large insectoid being with a door for a face.
The Prismatic Dowager

The Prismatic Dowager has been hollowed out and made into a building; this now hosts the Court of Diligence, where Hell judges each of its trespassers that it has failed to deal with in... other ways.[18] The Dowager is still fuming over her own murder, and is not particularly happy with this arrangement.[19] She may be a practitioner of the Discordance, or she may simply be affected by the natural influence of the Hurlers.[20]

Being a courthouse is not exactly a new experience for the Dowager; she was one - albeit a living one - before the Season of Revolutions, dispensing her own justice on criminals and petitioners. Her inner body may originally have been as hollow as it is now, but more under her control.[21]

The Piper

The Piper is another of Hell's imprisoned saints. She is interred beyond a gate at the bottom of the gorge at Henlys, not too far off the Moloch railway line.[22] She is waiting for her subjects at Caduceus to find her again and play their music.[23][24]

References

  1. ↑ Heed the call, Fallen London "[...] some vast, eight-legged thing watches."
  2. ↑ The Mandolinist, Fallen London
  3. ↑ Approach, Fallen London "Two great wings, leathery and dappled with red and gold eyes are unfurled beside it, pinned against the stone."
  4. ↑ The Brass Grail, Fallen London "It's long and curved, like a millipede tucked into a spiral, and it's the size of an ironclad warship. Its vast chitinous plates glitter"
  5. ↑ For All The Saints, Fallen London "The Deacon shrieks, then begins to sing. His voice arcs like a vault, ululating and high."
  6. ↑ The Chorus of Hell, Fallen London "The Dowager is but one court, specialised and singular."
  7. ↑ Commune, Fallen London
  8. ↑ Permit the pilgrims entry, Fallen London
  9. ↑ Break open the gate, Fallen London
  10. ↑ Approach, Fallen London
  11. ↑ Commune with the Prince, Fallen London
  12. ↑ Look upon the walls of Hell, Fallen London
  13. ↑ For All The Saints, Fallen London "This is the Chandler's Ossuary – made of his own bones."
  14. ↑ For All The Saints, Fallen London "Well, well. A new saint. Or a very old one. A good Christian, slain for love of Christ."
  15. ↑ For All The Saints, Fallen London "The Chandler commanded us to return to the Mandate of Heaven; to once more serve his beloved. ... Now he may always look upon his love, through glass."
  16. ↑ Ask about her mission, Fallen London
  17. ↑ Breathe in the scent of wine, Fallen London
  18. ↑ The Brass Grail (Story), Fallen London "The Court of Diligence comprises the legal experts you see here. The Dowager is our hostess."
  19. ↑ The Brass Grail (Story), Fallen London "How dare they! You kept the methods and the proprieties for a thousand aeons! How dare they! How dare they!"
  20. ↑ Beseech the Dowager, Fallen London "She is, of course, not here. ... She has no independent thought, and certainly could not consent to become a chorister in a traitor's chorus. ... The Dowager's eyes dull as she crawls backwards into the hill, having of course, not agreed to anything. Though how can they dull when they never regarded you? Only at the Hurlers, and now she is gone."
  21. ↑ The Chorus of Hell, Fallen London "Petitioners travel through her great form; she processes them according to their crime and her judgement."
  22. ↑ The Twelve-Fifteen from Moloch Street, Fallen London "There is a princess on the other side of the gate."
  23. ↑ The Twelve-Fifteen from Moloch Street, Fallen London "Her devotees will find her again, with thyrsus and stones, and they will play their music."
  24. ↑ Drink deeply, Sunless Skies
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