| Relatives | Fierna, Pharastra In-laws: Glasya, Asmodeus |
|---|---|
| Languages | All |
| Affiliations | Devil |
| Aliases | Sabbatical |
| Marital Status | Consorted to Delphyne, the Infernal Dragon |
| Place of Birth | Phlegethos |
| Species | Fiend (devil) |
| Gender | Female |
Philani, once the Inferno of Phlegethos, and eventually Malbolge, is an archfiend in the service of the Fourth Circle of the Hells under the direction of her grandmother, Fierna. Before her rise as a fiend, Philani worked in the Courts of Hell as a lawyer before taking a brief stint as an adventurer on Quelmar. During this time she met her future consort and arranged to have her soul bound to her service in the Hells.
Physical Appearance
Philani maintains a relatively simple appearance, preferring to rely on her magic and force of will rather than physical presence. She most often presents herself in the guise of a tiefling woman of average height and severe features with golden eyes that blaze with light. She is comfortable in armor, but is most often wearing a gown crafted by sylvan artisans of the Moon Court of faerie that ripples with waves of flame. She has a pair of wings and a short set of black horns that point back along the top of her head.
Personality
Philani is strict and demanding, but not prone to cruelty for its own sake. She judges and punishes other fiends more often than she does mortal souls, and has even been known to offer reasonable terms to mortals seeking power or knowledge. She is a scholar and appreciates lost or hidden knowledge for its own sake as well as for the power it can give. In addition to souls, she often accepts new knowledge as payment for her bargains.
Philani abhors lies and generally deals directly, accurately describing terms of agreements and any potential consequences rather than hide material in fine print. She will still use standard fiendish riders and clauses in contracts, but if questioned about them, she will explain them and is willing to negotiate their removal if the other party can provide good cause. She has a hot temper that is especially set off by deceit, threats to her consort, or interruptions to her personal time. Despite this, she has been known to represent the Hells as a diplomat in negotiations across other planes, and especially among the Moon Court fey, where Philani developed a personal relationship with their leadership.
History
See Sabbatical for details on her mortal life.
After becoming an archfiend, Philani quickly established herself as a capable combatant and a skilled administrator on Phlegethos. She has served as an attorney in the Infernal Courts for over twenty years, and returned to the Courts even after her ascension to archfiend in order to represent a demon who has been willingly bound in service to the Hells. As a result of that representation, she obtained the services of her cook for a period of at least one hundred years.
After only a decade in power as one of many archfiends, in the year 904 PR, Philani was able to take advantage of an opportunity to claim the position of archduchess of Malbolge. For further details, see the Infernal Invasion campaign.
Powers and Abilities
Philani is an accomplished spellcaster who wields fire as her primary source of damage. She also has a commanding presence that demands obedience from those around her, and which can leave her foes unable to avoid her more direct attacks. Of special note is that her hellish flames are capable of overcoming most forms of resistance, so only the most hearty beings can stand up to her flames.
In combat, Philani casts spells and makes weapon attacks with a whip of hellfire. The weapon has significant reach and is hot enough to melt through stone. She also uses a commanding presence to prevent enemies from taking actions against her.
Alliances and Pacts
The Moon Court
Philani engaged in a pact with Queen Celenica Luanach of the Moon Court of the fey to further her knowledge of soul manipulation and experiment with means of creating creatures bound to the Hells, yet not quite fiends, and thus not bound by the terms of the new Pact Primeval. Her bargain is relatively straightforward, and is mostly a research alliance. The primary terms are thus:
- A sharing of arms and knowledge from both sides.
- Equal partnership in Philani’s future soul experimentation based of resources provided by the Queen.
- Philani and her forces will not raise up arms against the Moon Court and the Moon Court will not raise up arms against Philani.
- A show of force in the others' time of need.
- Philani’s knowledge of Devil-based soul manipulation.
For all this, Philani was given access to all of the Moon Court's prior soul manipulation research as well as a significant quantity of raw material in the form of fey creatures and souls upon which to experiment. She has made efforts to create crosses between imps and pixies, dryads and barbed devils, pit fiends and satyrs, and other unique infernal combinations. Throughout all this work, she has had Delphyne cultivating plant creatures with an infernal aspect to them as well. This has been to supplement her own knowledge, as well as secure the future viability of the entire project even should the agreement with Lady Luanach break in the future.
The Efreeti Sultanate of the Plane of Fire
During her period as Infernal Liason with the other planes, Philani made numerous contacts with parties in the Plane of Fire. As part of an agreement with a Sultan, a group a Azir were dispatched to the Hells to enhance the construction of Philani's fortress in Phlegethos.
