Blood War

The Blood War is an ongoing multiplanar conflict fought principally between the devils of the Nine Hells and the demons of the Abyss. The war has raged since time immemorial—some say millennia, others say millions of years, others say since even before the material plane was created. Entire universes serve as the battleground of the ceaseless carnage that is the Blood War.

Start

Few know why or how the war first started. One relatively widespread myth speaks of how Asmodeus stole something from the Abyss—perhaps a pillar of its fundamental structure, a piece of its heart, or its very soul itself—and all the Abyss seeks to get it back. Another, lesser known myth tells of how, devils and demons being the two sides of evil, the war is something of an experiment (perhaps started by a third group of evil beings) to see which philosophy should define evil. A third less troubling myth says the Blood War is simply a continuation of a pre-cosmic war between Law and Chaos; the good side of these two antithetical philosophies has already reconciled, but the evil side has come to no such understanding.

Whatever the principal cause may have been, almost no one remembers it, and the end of the war seems to be nowhere in sight.

Theaters

The main theaters of the war are Avernus, the first layer of the Nine Hells; the Blood Rift, the fourth layer of the Abyss; and Pazunia, the first layer of the Abyss.

Leaders and commanders

Most archdevils and demon princes care little for the Blood War; archdevils prefer indulging in their decadent lifestyles and scheming against their rivals, while the mightiest demon princes are too busy fighting each other to devote their attention to the Blood War. Instead, it is the second rungs of Hell and the Abyss that lead the war.

On the side of Hell, the colossal task of commanding Asmodeus's military machine falls to the Dark Eight, a military council of the eight greatest pit fiends. They can be thought of as Asmodeus's joint chiefs of staff. In addition to them, the few archdevils who do care about the Blood War include Zariel, Bel, and Azaphiel.

On the side of the Abyss, it is mainly the balors who lead the Abyssal hordes against the might of Hell.