The Church of Asmodeus and Diabolism

The Church of Asmodeus and Diabolism:

The Church of Asmodeus is perhaps the most powerful force in Chelaxian society and the organized clergy of the Lord of Hell possesses vast wealth and power, rivalled only by the Chelaxian state machinery headed by the House of Thrune. While most Chelaxians are not in fact worshippers of Asmodeus, all citizens are expected to pay lip service to the faith and pay one-tenth of their income as a tithe to the Church as part of their heavy burden of taxes. 




While the Church of Asmodeus sets forth the many virtues of its deity forth, it also realizes that many citizens who would otherwise be drawn to its principles are somewhat turned off by the thought of explicitly worshipping a deity so widely, if unfortunately, in their view, considered evil. Thus, the Church of Asmodeus has fostered the development of the philosophy of diabolism, which purports to revere Hell less as an object of worship than as the ultimate model for human society- that the strong are to rule the weak, that might makes right and the ultimate goal and good of society is to encourage the elite in their creativity and wisdom to guide all of society into a better era. The atrocities of Hell are viewed as necessary evils at worst and by many, as a positive good- for the flame of suffering tempers the steel of the strong even as it crushes the weak. 

The Church of Asmodeus is a worldwide organization but its headquarters is in the Chelaxian capital of Egorian, where the Black Cathedral towers above the rest of the skyline, including even the Royal Palace itself. The Black Cathedral, built entirely of a rare form of black marble with red streaks, is one of the grandest and most imposing buildings in all of Golarion and its design has been widely mimicked, though its specifically infernal details are often changed. 

Along with its vast wealth and political power, the Church of Asmodeus also controls a small but highly efficient and powerful private army, the Hellknights, which are as zealously sworn to serve the interests of the Church and its uncompromising values of inequity and brutal law as paladins of Iomedae are to serve their goddess. Chosen from the elite ranks of the Chelish military, they are often found fighting side by side with their secular counterparts but are always mindful of their higher, or rather, lower, calling. 




The Church of Asmodeus does not typically engage in large-scale organized pogroms against other faiths so long as its supremacy in Cheliax is accepted. Those faiths that challenge the social order in Cheliax, however, are ruthlessly suppressed with the connivance of secular authorities and the Hellknights.