mordenkainens tome of foes

174

HUTIJIN

Politics in the Nine

Hells are anything

but predictable

.

Alliances

form all the time,

but most win

d up unraveling

due to

treachery. Neverthe

less, for all their

backbiting

and

betrayal, the devils

do occas ionally

display loyalty,

offering unwavering

service to

their masters. On

e such

example is Hutijin

, a duke of

Cania and loyal servant

of

Mephistopheles.

Across the Hells, Hutijin

's name fills

lesser devils

with

fear and loathing

, for this duke

commands two

companies

of pit fiends

, which make

up Cania's aristoc-

racy. With

such soldiers under

his command,

Hutijin

can easily

crush any rival

who gets in his way

, while

also providing Mephistopheles

with

security against

armies that might

seek to contest

his dominion. Hutijin

has amassed enough

power to challeng

e the lord of

Cania,

but he has never

wavered in his support

for his

master

-suggesting, per

haps, that Mephistopheles

has

some

hold over him.

CHAPTt

: R 6 I BESTIARY

. '

Outside

the Nine Hells

, Hutijin is a relativ

ely obscure

figure,

known only to the

most learned inferna

l schol-

ars. He

has no cults of

his own, and his servants

are few

in number.

The reason

is simple: Hutijin

hates mortals.

When summoned

from the Hells,

he repays the instiga-

tor with

a long and agonizing

death.

Mephistopheles

forbids

Hutijin from

making too many

forays

into the Mate rial

Plane, since the

duke's absence

leaves him

vulnerable to his

rivals. Other archdevils

know how

much Hutijin despises

mortals and

have

secretly dis

seminate d the means

to call him

from the

Nine Hells

in the hope of di

stracting the archdevil

long

enough

for them to assail

Mephistopheles.

Hutijin sends

devils into the Mat

erial Plane to eradicate

mention of

his name

and destroy those

who have learn

ed of him,

but the

summonings still occur.

When called

from his

post,

he negotiates as quickly

as he can, usually

closing

a deal

with little cost to

the s ummoner. However

, once

the deal has been

struck, Hutij

in re pays the interruption

with death.

. ..