“You know this will go out of hand
If we don’t understand.
This confusion of tongue
Feels so wrong.

We’re lost in Babylon, Babylon,
Time is slipping away.
Holding on, it won’t be long
Until the dawn of the day.”
_{[ Babylon – Delain ]}

Countess Agares is the Demon of Languages and Literature, and thanks to her powers she can instantly teach them in exchange for souls to any Mortal who conjures her. She was formerly a Virtue and didn’t belong to the first set of Fallen Angels, those who were cast out after the Great Heavenly War. Due to her intelligence and culture, she was in fact very likely to become the new Second-in-Command of Virtues under Great Angel Raphael’s leadership before the Babel Tower incident occurred. In that occasion, she strongly disagreed with Yahweh’s punishment, as she thought that mankind’s knowledge was too precious to be scattered all across the Earth and fragmented in different languages; so, she disobeyed Yahweh’s will descending on Earth and trying to undo his deed. Together with the positive opinion she previously expressed on the Tree of Knowledge incident, covertly praising Marquis Leviathan for freeing Adam and Eve from the utter ignorance Yahweh forced them in, this cost her her place in Heaven and she was subsequently warmly welcomed in Hell, where she was offered a place in the Second Level of Demons as the Director of the Infernal Library thanks to her immense knowledge.
Despite the deep grudge she bears towards Heaven, she has never managed, nor cared, to really settle in Hell, preferring to remain with her books and keep nothing more than mere comradeship with fellow Courtiers, her closest bond being with Count Mephistophel, whom she appreciates thanks to his professionalism in finding her contracts with Mortals. She seldom leaves the Library, mostly when Duke Astaroth asks her for books (while being too indolent to go fetch them himself) and, in particular, when she’s conjured on the Earth by some human for her powers. While she’s still pretty eager to give her help, she now does so mostly as a mere act of rebellion against God, rather than out of true interest in mankind: this is perhaps the reason why she finds a particular pleasure in teaching profanity and immoral expressions first.



Finally, here it is: anew entry for my Infernal Lords project! This is number 22, so there are only eight left to do! I feel more and more excited with each new one I do.
This time, I especially recommend that you go to my blog an read Agares: development and symbolism for information about the background, how I conceived this gothic pin-up Demon and, in particular, a strong message I would like to share. Thank you as always!

Photo, concept, manipulation, frame design: Me
Model, hair, make up: ~contessanera
Styling: ~contessanera and me
Assistant: Fabrizio Shake
Additional resources: ~amptone-stock (texture), ~solarka-stock (wings)

Special thanks to the people who helped me with the languages I used in the background! You can see the complete list on my blog, but I'd like to thank again here: *Shachar-Art, *DamaInNero, *Bloddroppe, ~karinanovak, Hein Frode Hansen and Vegard K. Thorsen from Theatre of Tragedy, ~AylRose, ~DarcRose22 and *Ilman-Lintu!