Codex of Betrayal:

Geryon, the Broken Beast

By Ari Marmell
illustration by Spikytiger

“Well do I know,” spake the Rebellious One, Throughout the realms of creation, few devils boast
“of the hatred you bear our weakling god. And a name as widely recognized as that of Geryon. Called
well do I know of the power you call your own. the Wild Beast, the Trifold Duke, and—in the modern
Join with me and mine, for I would welcome age—the Broken Beast, Geryon was once the ruler of
such power and such hatred.” Stygia, fifth layer of the Nine Hells. For a time, Geryon
enjoyed all that Asmodeus promised him, and more.
Long did Geryon gaze with many eyes
That was, until the new uprising, when the dukes
upon his brother angel. “And we know, too,
of the Nine Hells turned upon Asmodeus—all save
of your ambitions, but we share them not.
Geryon himself. For his loyalty, Geryon was punished,
Why, then, should our hatred of our lord
stripped of rank and power, and exiled from the Pit.
inspire fealty to one such as you?” asked he.
Today, the Broken Beast is perhaps the worst sort
“I can offer you power such as you of devil: unbound to the Nine Hells, without direction
have never known, a realm of possibilities and with nothing to lose.
undreamt of. You shall sit at my right hand,
that none might gainsay you.” HISTORY
“This we have had,” spake Geryon,
For ages uncounted, Geryon was one of the great-
“at the side of our lord, and its taste has soured.
est angels of He Who Was, favored above nearly
For it, as all joys, turns to ash in our mouth
all others. Some have suggested that his betrayal at
and smoke in our hands. What think you
Asmodeus’s hands was nothing but payment for the
that you can offer to such as us?”
treachery that Geryon himself once committed.
Then did Asmodeus offer broken ­Geryon
a smile that would some day damn a million Before the Uprising
souls. “Only what our feeble master never could, In the ranks of the angelic hosts of He Who Was, only
Brother. I offer to make you whole.” a scant few stood higher than Geryon. A being partly
flesh and partly pure Astral light, he flew on gleam-
— From Chapter 3, verse 3, of ing wings through all creation on errands for the god
“A Chronicle of Bloodstained Heavens,” whom he loved more than anything.
from part two of the Codex of Betrayal.

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 Codex of Betrayal: Geryon, the Broken Beast

No—more than almost anything. But over time, Geryon recognized that he was In the Kingdom
For Geryon was one of a band of seven of the thinking thoughts and feeling emotions that were not of the Damned
most powerful angels. They traveled together, fought his own. Bits of his fallen brethren were bound inside
Having proven his loyalty, Geryon fully expected his
together, worshiped together, and together shared him, and the angel realized with a growing horror
promised payment, and Asmodeus delivered. Using
a love that transcended the mortal definition of the that he would never be free of them, that he would
his new divinity, the god of tyranny used the spiritual
word. For one another, these angels would have sacri- be reminded of his loss for eternity, would experi-
essence of the first souls damned to the Nine Hells
ficed all they were. ence just enough of the others’ personalities to feel his
to repair Geryon’s soul. He could not entirely remove
The Codex of Betrayal speaks of a great enemy they sorrow anew.
the lingering voices of the other two angels, but he
were one day dispatched to fight, but remains vague Geryon grew more bitter, more resentful of He
further integrated them into Geryon’s own psyche.
on the details—perhaps those details are among the Who Was. Whether the angel was angry that he had
Now, when he heard and felt them, it was as a mere
pages that have been lost. The epoch was right for not been allowed to die with the others or that his god
twinge, a half-forgotten memory.
them to have faced a primordial, for it occurred near could not save his companions, even he could not say.
But the punishments of the Nine Hells are cruel,
the Dawn War’s end, but vague hints suggest some-
even for the devils themselves, and Geryon—like all
thing from the Far Realm, or else from before the During the War the rebel angels—was physically warped by the realm
primordials shaped reality out of the void. Geryon’s growing hatred did not go unnoticed, and
of the damned. He would never be permitted to
Ultimately, it matters little what did the deed, only while it was not sufficient motivation for him to join in
forget whence he’d come, for while Asmodeus could
that the deed was done. The company of archangels fell the initial rebellion against He Who Was, Asmodeus’s
integrate the shards of the souls within him, the new
in battle, wounded not merely to their flesh, but to the promise to heal Geryon’s essence was precisely the
deity could do nothing to change the new physical
soul. Four of the seven were obliterated, beyond even goad required. In the Battle for the Bridge of Storms,
body Geryon was granted: a foul, bestial, thing with
divine aid. The three strongest—Geryon among them— one of the first great clashes of the War of Rebellion,
three torsos, each faintly resembling one of the three
survived long enough to return to their god. Geryon led the forces of He Who Was into an ambush
angels whose essence he shared.
He Who Was looked upon them in sorrow, for he and then turned on them. There he fought beside
Still, Geryon’s gratitude was unending, and the
knew he could not save them all. But in one moment Asmodeus himself and became one of the rebellion’s
power he wielded as one of the most ancient of
of desperation—perhaps in grief, perhaps compas- greatest generals.
angels—now devils—was of great benefit to Asmo-
sion—he recognized that he could draw on the essence The Codex of Betrayal maintains that when he
deus. For centuries, Geryon continued to serve as
of two to save one. learned of Geryon’s betrayal, He Who Was wept tears
the personal operative of the King of the Nine Hells.
Thus did he patch the spirit of Geryon with splin- enough to drown a mountain.
Throughout the depths he traveled, carrying Asmo-
ters of the souls of the other angels. And for a while, The Codex requires multiple pages just to list the
deus’s word or spying upon and sabotaging the efforts
though he grieved as no mortal could ever compre- battles and events in which Geryon was involved
of other dukes. He traveled, too, to the mortal world,
hend, Geryon was grateful to his god. throughout the war. Often he stood at the forefront of
wreaking great havoc in the name of those who dared
Asmodeus’s armies, but more frequently he traveled
call upon the infernal powers. (It was on one of these
alone, serving his new lord as saboteur and assassin.
sojourns to the mortal realm that he gained his infa-
Many angels of He Who Was fell to Geryon’s blade
mous horn). When within Nessus, he stood beside
in realms far from any battlefield. It was also during
Asmodeus as one of his greatest advisors.
this time that the devil Alloces, sometimes called the
In time, those evils Geryon once committed out of
Butcher of Nessus, came to serve under Geryon. (See
loyalty or anger were instead committed out of malice
“Codex of Betrayal: Alloces” in Dragon #373.)
and cruelty.

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 Codex of Betrayal: Geryon, the Broken Beast

The Duke of Ice Then, for reasons that remain obscure to this day,
Few were willing to risk the wrath of one as cunning Asmodeus exiled the only duke to remain loyal. From
Geryon he stripped not only rulership of Stygia but GERYON, D&D,
and mighty as Asmodeus, but Levistus did exactly
that when he murdered Bensozia, Asmodeus’s con- also a substantial portion of Geryon’s former might, AND THE REAL WORLD
sort. The King of the Nine Hells was enraged, and he and banished the stunned devil from the Nine Hells. Like so many of the game’s greatest fiends, Geryon
imprisoned Levistus in an iceberg and granted ruler- finds his roots in real-world myth and literature.
ship of Stygia to Geryon.
Into Endless Night Unlike others, Geryon actually comes from two com-
Initially, Geryon resented the time he spent ruling Wracked with despair and confusion, Geryon pletely separate sources.
his domain, pined for the relative freedom he had aimlessly wandered the reaches of the Astral Sea. Back in 1st Edition, Gary Gygax based Geryon on
lost. Slowly, however, he came to enjoy his position, Without purpose, without desire, he disappeared the demon that appears in Dante’s Inferno to briefly
tormenting those beneath him and playing the games from mortal and immortal history alike, until many carry Dante and Virgil. It is from this source that the
of politics that permeate the Nine Hells. During his believed he had died or even returned to the Astral duke’s handsome human face and bestial body are
long years ruling Stygia, Geryon did little to distin- energies that birth the angels. drawn, and that was the look that Geryon maintained
guish himself from the other dukes, but neither was But Geryon did not die. Rather, after uncounted throughout 1E and his (extraordinarily scarce) 2nd
his rule seriously threatened or troubled. ages, the darkness in his spirit answered the call of Edition mentions.
a larger darkness, and he found himself within the Once he’d been banished from the Nine Hells, and
Upheaval, Betrayal, and Exile depths of Tytherion, the Endless Night. Nor was he his domain given to another, Geryon took on a very
Eventually, in the hopes of overthrowing him and the only devil to find his way here, for something of different form in 3rd Edition. He appeared in the
recasting the Nine Hell’s hierarchy more to their that dominion calls to the infernal. In a wasteland Tome of Magic as a vestige—a creature of forgotten
liking, the dukes rose up against Asmodeus, first vale dominated by neither Tiamat nor Zehir, but care- spirit. Here, he’s described as three bodies joined
in secret scheming, then open rebellion. Geryon, fully watched by both, Geryon carved out a home into one. This description draws not on Dante but
however, remained secretly loyal, feeding Asmodeus among a motley population of other exiled devils. But on Greek mythology—specifically the twelve labors
information on the conspirators’ activities. On the while others maneuvered and jockeyed for position, of Heracles—in which Geryon was a giant with three
day of the final battle, as the armies of the betrayers either within their own ranks or in the eyes of the torsos on one pair of legs. (In some of the myths, those
began to move, Geryon blew his great horn, signaling dominion’s gods, Geryon only brooded in the depths three torsos together support only a single head. Try
his forces to attack from within as Asmodeus’s own of the cave he claimed as his own. to picture that without your eyes crossing!)
troops converged from without. The result was slaugh- While the 4th Edition Manual of the Planes men-
ter, and Asmodeus laughingly punished his errant tions that Geryon dwelt in exile within the depths of
underlings, humiliating some and banishing others. Tytherion, it says nothing of his physical nature. As
such, because it provides for interesting background
and mechanics both, we’ve chosen to combine
aspects of both prior variations for his current incar-
nation. Thus does Geryon enter the 4th Edition era
as a creature both new and steeped in the traditions
of the game—and of the game’s classic inspirations.

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 Codex of Betrayal: Geryon, the Broken Beast

The Broken Beast GERYON’S GOALS

Better indeed for the world if Geryon had remained a
broken soul, a threat to no one. But alas, such was not Overtly, Geryon seeks to establish allies among the THREE HEADS ARE BETTER...
to be. evil deities, allowing him to act in their name and, To understand Geryon, it’s vital to realize that, though
In watching the squabbling of the other devils and if necessary, draw upon their resources. Ultimately, he possesses three heads (and torsos), symbolizing
the skirmishes between the darksworn of Zehir and he hopes to influence the mortal world to a greater pieces of three different angelic essences at his core,
Tiamat, Geryon felt his old love of cruelty and power degree than other devils, for he is not bound to the Geryon’s mind is not divided. Unlike Demogorgon,
surge through his pall of despair. Finally, it occurred Nine Hells. With the growth of cults and pacts that whose heads represent separate personas, Geryon
to Geryon that unbound by the hierarchy of Hell, he bind him to mortal rulers, he can acquire power over possesses a single psyche. The parts of that person-
might carve out his own domain, unfettered by the populations of souls in a relatively short time. For the ality are split, allowing him to converse with himself.
whims of Asmodeus or anyone else. time being, Geryon usually appears in the service of His leftmost torso is thoughtful and conniving; his
Determined not to draw the ire of Tytherion’s gods, either some greater power or of a mortal with whom center enraged; his rightmost almost manic and
Geryon is not attempting to consolidate control over he has entered into an infernal pact. prone to frequent cackling. When conversing with
the dominion’s outcast devils. Rather, he has begun But quietly, Geryon pursues another goal as well, others, Geryon speaks from whichever head most
making overtures—to Tiamat, to Zehir, to other planar one based on answering the burning question of his closely matches his current emotional state—but all
powers—offering to serve for a time as agent and existence: What could the King of Hell have had to are Geryon, without conflict and without the slightest
emissary, as he once did to Asmodeus. In this fashion, gain by exiling his greatest ally? delay between thought and action.
he hopes to gain access to other Astral domains, and Geryon has come to believe that Asmodeus wants
especially the mortal world, where he can attempt to him to do something—something he could not do as
build new cults in his name. He has only just begun, a Duke of Hell, something so unthinkable that even
but Geryon has nothing but time. Asmodeus doesn’t dare be associated with it even by
Time is exactly what he needs, not merely for his proxy. If this is so, then he has not turned against his
efforts at empire-building, but because a new idea has vassal, but instead expects Geryon to figure out on his
recently occurred to him: a reason for his exile. Even own what is expected of him.
a creature as accustomed to the machinations of the Geryon is determined to learn the nature of this
Nine Hells needs time to understand the repercus- task—though whether he will follow through on
sions should his theory prove correct. Asmodeus’s wishes once he’s figured it out, he has yet
to decide. But even as he struggles to comprehend
this new mission, a shiver of fear wriggles through his
essence as he wonders...
What errand, what goal, could be so horrible that
even the King of Hell dare not speak of it?

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 Codex of Betrayal: Geryon, the Broken Beast

GERYON, Geryon in Combat moving into melee range. Almost nothing makes him
­happier than seeing his foes cowering in terror—either
Although less powerful than he once was, Geryon
THE BROKEN BEAST is a terror in combat. He relishes the opportunity to
­genuine or inspired by his fearsome gaze.
But Geryon is also temperamental. Once bloodied,
First come the voices—whispering from within the beat and tear at living creatures with his claws, but
he becomes far more like the brute he resembles,
endless dark, a muttered conversation punctuated by though he appears brutish, he’s a canny combatant.
often throwing tactics to the wind in exchange for
reptilian slithering. They appear together, three as He delights in softening his foes from a distance
the opportunity to break his enemies beneath his
one, and indeed the three are one. A trio of human- before summoning a hoard of horned beasts and
­pounding fists.
oid torsos, joined at the shoulders, emerge from an
impossibly massive serpentine trunk. Three faces of Geryon, Level 30 Solo Controller C Fearsome Gaze (standard; recharges when first bloodied) F
noble mien gaze out from beards shaggy and tangled the Broken Beast Fear, Gaze, Psychic
Huge immortal humanoid (devil) XP 95,000 Close blast 5; targets enemies in burst; +34 vs. Will; 3d8 +
with neglect. Bestial arms dangle loosely below. Initiative see triple actions Senses Perception +21; all- 10 psychic damage, and the target is pushed a number of
The leftmost and rightmost torso each boast a single around vision, darkvision squares equal to its speed + 2. The target then falls prone,
wing that curls outward, fanning the air in a slow, HP 1,092; Bloodied 546; see also brutish fury and takes ongoing 15 psychic damage and is dazed (save
AC 44; Fortitude 43, Reflex 41, Will 42 ends both). Miss: Half damage, and Geryon pushes the
deliberate cadence.
Immune dominate; Resist 30 fire, 20 poison target a number of squares equal to its speed.
Saving Throws +5 A Symbol of Pain (standard; encounter) F Psychic
Speed 7, fly 5 (clumsy) Area burst 3 within 20; targets enemies in burst; +34 vs.
Action Points 2 Will; 3d8 psychic damage, and the target takes ongoing 10
m Claw (standard; at-will) psychic damage (save ends). With each failed saving throw,
THE HORN OF GERYON Reach 3; +35 vs. AC; 3d8 + 10 damage, and the target is the ongoing damage increases by 5 (maximum 30). Miss:
knocked prone. Half damage.
During his reign over Stygia, Geryon’s symbol of
m Grasping Claw (standard; at-will) Brutish Fury
authority was his massive horn. Acquired during Reach 3; +35 vs. AC; 3d8 + 10 damage, and the target is When bloodied, Geryon deals +5 damage with all attacks,
one of his quests on behalf of Asmodeus, this potent grabbed. Geryon cannot make grasping claw attacks while but takes a –2 penalty to all defenses.
item was never away from Geryon’s side. Since his it is grabbing a creature. Triple Actions
m Slashing Claw (standard; at-will) Geryon does not roll initiative. He has set initiative counts
banishment, the horn, like Geryon himself, has fallen
Reach 3; +35 vs. AC; 3d8 + 10 damage, and Geryon slides of 35, 30, and 25, and he takes a full turn on each of those
dramatically in power, but it is still potent as both a the target 3 squares. initiative counts. He cannot delay or ready actions.
weapon and symbol. M Brutal Smash (standard; recharge ⚅) Triple Brain
Requires a grabbed enemy of Large size or smaller; reach
The horned beasts summoned by the horn of Each time Geryon becomes dazed or stunned, the effect
3; targets a creature not grabbed by Geryon; +34 vs. automatically ends at the end of his next turn.
Geryon, humanoid in shape and cloven of hoof, are Fortitude; 4d10 + 9 damage, and the target is dazed (save Alignment Evil Languages Supernal
easily mistaken for minotaurs, but are actually a ends both) and is knocked prone. The grabbed creature also Skills Arcana +27, Bluff +29, Diplomacy +29, Intimidate +29,
breed of otherwise extinct devils with no known takes 4d10 + 9 damage. Religion +27
M Tail Sweep (immediate reaction, when an enemy within reach Str 32 (+26) Dex 21 (+20) Wis 22 (+21)
relation to the earthly creatures they resemble.
hits or misses Geryon; at-will) Con 25 (+22) Int 25 (+22) Cha 28 (+24)
Reach 3; +35 vs. AC; 2d8 + 10 damage, and the target is Equipment horn of Geryon
pushed 3 squares and knocked prone.

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Geryon Lore (Religion DC 28) Horned Beast

Large immortal humanoid (devil)
Level 30 Minion Brute

The character knows everything written under His- Initiative as conjurer Senses Perception +24;
tory, above, except for that information presented darkvision
HP 1; a missed attack never damages a minion
under “The Broken Beast” header.
AC 42; Fortitude 43, Reflex 41, Will 42
Speed 6
Geryon Encounters m Greataxe (standard; at-will)
Geryon is normally encountered alone (or, at most, Reach 2; +33 vs. AC; 18 damage.
M Goring Charge (standard; at-will])
in the company of conjured horned beasts), either
The horned beast makes a charge attack; +34 vs. AC; 13
pursuing his own agenda or acting on behalf of a damage, and the target is pushed 2 squares. The horned
potential ally. On occasion, he works alongside other beast shifts 2 squares after the attack to remain adjacent
to the target.
agents of whomever he currently serves. In these
C Deathly Inferno (when reduced to 0 hit points) F Fire,
instances, he might stand with dragons or dragon- Necrotic
spawn, if serving Tiamat; yuan-ti, if serving Zehir; or Close burst 3; +31 vs. Reflex; 13 fire damage.
any variety of humanoids if fulfilling the terms of a Alignment Evil Languages Supernal
Str 31 (+25) Dex 24 (+22) Wis 28 (+24)
bargain with mortals. On rare occasions, he’s even
Con 25 (+22) Int 8 (+14) Cha 13 (+16)
found alongside other devils summoned by whatever Equipment greataxe
mortal he’s working with; in these instances, Geryon
often “inadvertently” allows those devils to come to About the Author
harm during combat. Ari Marmell was born in New York, moved to Houston when
he was a year old, moved to Austin when he was 27, but has
spent most of his life living in other worlds through a combi-
Horn of Geryon Level 30 nation of writing and roleplaying games. He has been writing
Carved from the horn of some monstrous beast and banded more or less constantly for the last dozen years, though he has
in iron, this great instrument requires both hands to lift—but only been paid for it the past five. He is the author of multiple
conjures a massive ally. roleplaying game supplements including work on Dungeons
Wondrous Item 3,125,000 gp & Dragons. Ari lives in Austin with his wife George and two
Power (Daily): Standard Action. You spend a healing surge and cats.
wind the horn to conjure a horned beast (see below for
statistics) in an unoccupied square within 6 squares of you.
The horned beast remains until it is killed or until the end
of the encounter; the horned beast has no healing surges
and cannot be healed. The creature does not take actions
on its own, but you can spend a minor action to allow it to
take a move, minor, or standard action (it cannot take more
than one standard action or two move actions each turn).

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