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Elder Evils

2021-02-21T02:55:45Z

2001:48F8:402A:618:0:0:0:C72F: /* Pandorym */

[[File:Elder evils cover.jpg|thumb]]
[[Elder Evils]] are ancient evil beings of immense power whose existence threatens the world. Some Elder Evils are gods, while others are merely god like beings, such as extremely powerful [[Fiend]]s and creatures of the [[Far Realm]]. The concept of Elder Evils was first talked about in the second edition book ''Powers and Pantheons'', which gave stats for three very powerful monsters of the [[Forgotten Realms]] known as the Elder Eternal Evils. Later books would shorten the term to just Elder Evils. The third edition book, [[Lords of Madness]], lists five beings of immense power that are respected by the Aboleths as the closest thing they have to gods. Later, the [[Splatbook]] Elder Evils went into detail about how to use Elder Evils in a campaign. Two more were revealed in [[Dragon Magazine]]. Elder Evils are also mentioned in 4th and 5th edition.

=2nd Edition=
==Powers and Pantheons==
{{Dnd-stub}}

The Elder Eternal Evils are three monstrous creatures from the [[Forgotten Realms]] setting. They were updated to third edition in the book ''Champions of Ruin''.
===[[Dendar]]===
Dendar the Night Serpent is a monstrous snake who was born when something had a dream for the first time in [[Forgotten Realms]]. She grows stronger by eating nightmares and is said to be destined to destroy the entire setting when she has collected enough.

In third edition Dendar is CR 26.
<gallery>
Dendar P&P.png
Dendar CoR.jpg
</gallery>

===[[Kezef]]===
Kezef the Chaos Hound is a monstrous skeletal dog with maggots in place of flesh that consumes the souls of the faithful in the afterlife who may have been created by [[Jergal]]. Has a grudge against [[Mask]], which is a good thing because this drives it to spend more time hunting down Mask than eating souls.

In third edition Kezef is CR 21.
<gallery>
Kezef P&P.png
Kezef CoR.jpg
</gallery>

===[[Ityak-Ortheel]]===
Ityak-Ortheel the Elf-Eater is a horrible creature resembling a giant headless turtle with three legs and a giant mouth surrounded by forty tentacles. It gets its name because it can only gain sustenance from eating elves. It was born from the spilled blood of [[Corellon]] Larethian and [[Gruumsh]] and is used as a weapon by the god [[Malar]].

In third edition Ityak-Ortheel is CR 22.

<gallery>
Ityak-ortheel P&P.png
Ityak-ortheel CoR.jpg
</gallery>

=3rd Edition=
==Lords of Madness==
While most [[Aboleth]]s do not worship gods, there are five godlike beings that they pay respects to, which are described in the book [[Lords of Madness]], but not given stats.
* [[Bolothamogg]], Him Who Watches from Beyond the Stars: A primal force that keeps the multiverse separated from the outer dimensions.
* [[Holashner]], the Hunger Below: A gigantic centipede squid thing that eats its way through the material plane, leaving behind a black substance that can be compressed into Bilestone, a substance that debilitates non-aberrations.
* [[Piscaethces]], The Blood Queen: The origin of aboleths. She wanders throughout the multiverse spawning new aboleths. If she were to ever return aboleths would see it as proof that the multiverse isn't infinite.
* [[Shothotugg]], Eater of Worlds: A mass of liquid that travels between worlds, poisoning and parasitizing them and slowly changing the laws of the multiverse as it does so.
* [[Y'chak]], The Violet Flame: A pillar of violet flames concealing a form so horrifying it would destroy anyone who looked at it (a relative of [[Pale Night]] maybe?). It encourages mortals to worship evil gods and may be responsible for the creation of many of those gods.

==Elder Evils (the book)==
The book Elder Evils was released near the end of 3.5 edition as a tool for dungeon masters wanting to end their current campaign and switch to 4th edition, similar to how [[The Apocalypse Stone]] was released to give DMs in 2nd edition a way to end their campaigns before switching to 3rd. The Elder Evils described in the book are entities with the potential to end the world, and thus end the campaign if the players fail to stop them, or act as a satisfyingly epic final boss for the players. The book instructs the DM on how to base a campaign around stopping one of these beings. The book does not describe every detail of the campaigns like most books, but instead gives a general outline of the plot, plus the stats for major enemies the players will encounter, and details of the final dungeon, and what adjustments to make if the campaign is set in [[Faerun]] or [[Eberron]]. Many of the Elder Evils are not statted, as they are too powerful when fully unleashed for the players to stop, but instead only have stats for an aspect of them that the players can defeat.

===[[Atropus]]===
Known as The World Born Dead, Atropus is a moon sized undead creature that is as old as creation and desires the end of all life. It destroys worlds by crashing on them and then draining them of all positive energy. Atropus cannot be destroyed, but the players can drive it away. As Atropus approaches the world necromancy spells become more powerful and the dead begin to rise as undead spontaneously. Atropus itself has no stats (how the fuck do you stat '''''a goddsdamned planet?!'''''), but the Aspect of Atropus is a CR 23 undead. Atropus is also infested with many kinds of undead, including famine spirits, advanced deathshriekers, rage winds, angels of decay, nightcrawlers, nightwalkers, nightwings, dread wraiths, and a single dread boneyard. Atropus is also a very hostile environment with no atmosphere unless it is about to collide with the world, and has a variety of effects that harm the living and boost the undead.

In the suggested campaign, Caira Xasten (human, level 5 bard, level 5 rogue, level 10 [[Ur-Priest]]) wants to attract Atropus to destroy the world to get revenge on the gods, blaming them for the death of her husband who was killed by a falling meteorite. To do this she and her cult first seek out a book about Atropus, then try to obtain the [[Book of Vile Darkness]] in order to learn the ''apocalypse of the sky'' spell which she will attempt to cast on a large city to attract Atropus with the mass death. Meanwhile, the world is also invaded by a powerful general of [[Orcus]] who also wants to summon Atropus named Gorguth ([[Bodak]], level 2 ranger, level 1 fighter, level 9 blackguard), who rides on a powerful construct named Skyshadow and leading his own army of the undead to cause mass death. After failing to stop either one of them, the players then must travel to Atropus and battle against a variety of undead monsters until they find and defeat the aspect of Atropus, which will cause Atropus to retreat.
<gallery>
File:Atropus.jpg
File:Map of Atropus's Face.jpg|so big that his face has a travel map.
File:Aspect of Atropus.jpeg|His significantly smaller (and killable) Aspect.
</gallery>

=== [[Father Llymic]] ===
Father Llymic is an entity from the [[Far Realm]] that sleeps in an icy prison that melts in darkness and thickens in sunlight. It wants to remake the world to be more hospitable to itself and its children, which it then creates by [[Nurgle|spreading a plague that]] [[Plaguebearer|turns the infected into creatures like itself]] [[Gellarpox Infected|known as brood spawn]]. The more people Father Llymic infects, the more he comes out of his sleep, and as it awakes the sun starts to go out, and darkness spells grow stronger while light spells weaken. He is called Father Llymic because he often projects an illusion of a friendly old man. Its true form is a massive demon like creature with scythes for arms, three eyes, and skin covered in icy crystal, with a CR of 18. Beings converted into brood spawn gain similar features.

In the suggested campaign, the player are sent to investigate the disappearance of a caravan that was attacked by a tribe of barbarians that worship Father Llymic. After this a huge glacier and icy weather spreads down from the mountain where Father Llymic is imprisoned and strange ice monsters start attacking people. Soon whole towns and villages are transformed into brood spawn as the weather gets worse and worse while the sun gets darker and darker. The players must travel up the mountain while battling through mad cultists and many kinds of brood spawn to face and defeat Father Llymic.

<Gallery>
File:Father Lymic.jpg
</Gallery>

===[[The Hulks of Zoretha]]===
The Hulks of Zoretha are five giants made of stone from another world that plan to exterminate all life on this plane to make room for them to repopulate it with their own kind. As they awaken, the moon turns red, causing people to experience uncontrollable rage. Four of the hulks are female and are each associated with a different element while the last one is male and has wings. They are also completely indestructible as long as they are asleep. All of them are CR 16.

In the suggested campaign, Soelma Nilaenish (elf, level 7 wizard, level 10 loremaster, level 1 rogue) hires the party to recover a copy of the Zoretha Scrolls, then later hires them again to protect the scrolls. She then travels with the party to stop the leader of the cult of Zoretha, Janwulf the Soulbiter (ice giant, level 11 bard). But after Janwulf is defeated Soelma betrays the party and takes control of the cult herself. Soelma is in fact horribly depressed and wants the world to be destroyed, while Janwulf actually had no interest in waking up the hulks and just wanted power. The party then stops Soelma from completing the ritual to wake up the hulks but the moon doesn't return to normal and the whole world is at war. A single cultist escapes from the players and finishes the ritual to wake up the hulks and the players must then destroy them.

===[[The Leviathan]]===
An immense sea monster personifying primal chaos that will destroy the world if it ever wakes up. As it gets close to awakening, the world is affected by extreme weather. The Leviathan does not have stats, as it is too big for the players to fight, but the players may battle against aspects of the leviathan, which are CR 16, or an advanced aspect, which is CR 20.

In the suggested campaign, the players save a port town from a disaster and are sent to investigate the cause of the strange weather. The party then encounters an defeats a cult that worships the leviathan, but their leader, a mysterious man named Enshaddon, escapes. Enshaddon is actually an advanced vampiric [[Ixitxachitl]] with 16 cleric levels named Axihuatl. He is a worshiper of Demogorgon and wants to partially wake up the leviathan using a shard of chaos in order to flood the world. After the players first disrupt his plans, he sends Marcus Hape (human, level 4 rogue, level 4 assassin, level 4 thrall of Demogogon) to kill them. With the help of a sage named Mytus who provides the players with magic and equipment for underwater travel, the players attack a temple located in a hollow spine on the leviathan's back and interrupt Axihuatl's ritual to wake up the leviathan, causing him to lose control of the beast. Axihuatl then allies with the players because he does not want the leviathan to completely destroy the world. They must then travel deeper into the temple and throw the shard of chaos into a pit at the bottom to put the leviathan back to sleep.
<gallery>
Leviathan aspect.png|Aspect of the Leviathan
</gallery>

=== [[Pandorym]] ===
In ancient times, a group of wizards wanted to blackmail the gods. So they summoned a powerful eldritch abomination from "[[Far Realm| the space 'between' the planes]]" named Pandorym, contracted it to destroy all the gods, immediately sealed it away before it could do so by imprisoning its mind and body separately, and used the threat of its reunification as the divine blackmail. Fortunately the wizards didn't implement a deadman's switch or anything, so the gods smote their stupid asses when they heard their first demands and wiped the group from the face of history. If made whole, Pandorym will first take revenge on the descendants of the wizards that imprisoned it, then kill all the gods as it was contracted to do. If the contract's completion doesn't return it "home", it'll destroy the universe out of frustration/boredom.

Pandorym's mindless body resembles a huge [[Sphere of Annihilation]] that moves towards anyone that tries to control it, which is kept in an unknown extradimensional prison. Pandorym's mind is sealed within a large near-indestructible crystal and is immensely powerful even without its body; the tiny leakage through the crystal is enough to corrupt nearby high level characters and obliterate the minds of weaker-willed folks, a small "fragment" of its mind is a ''CR 25'' Psionic threat, and the fully released mind is an unstatted behemoth that only divine intervention could stop...

...so far, so first-edition [[Tharizdun]]. It's unfortunate that Pandorym's sign interferes with the planar connections of the world (via a sky-spanning glyph) and makes conjuration+divine magic increasingly difficult as its mind gains influence. Presumably its fully released mind would completely block the world off and make divine intervention near impossible.

In the suggested campaign, Tune Majii (human, Level 2 bard, level 2 wizard) hires the player to find her missing father Lucather (quell, level 8 enchanter, level 10 loremaster), who has become enslaved to Pandorym. Meanwhile, the gods begin sending their mortal followers warnings that somebody is trying to unleash an unimaginably powerful evil. This person turns out to be the [[Inevitable]] named Obligatum VII (kolyarut, level 3 [[Hexblade]], level 5 [[Occult Slayer]]), our wiki's literal poster child of [[Lawful Stupid]]. Obligatum VII wants to release Pandorym because the poor old eldritch abomination entered into a bad-faith contract and ''must'' receive rightful legal remedy for the indignity, [[Lawful Stupid|regardless of the god-ending possibly-universe-ending consequences]]. The players will have to travel to the prison where Pandorym's mind is kept and defeat Lucather and Obligatum VII before they can smash the crystal open with Obligatum's adamantine sword. If the players succeed, they may have to travel to [[Mechanus]] and prevent Obligatum VIII's creation (who'd start this shit all over again).
<gallery>
File:Pandorym.jpg
</gallery>

=== [[Ragnorra]] ===
Ragnorra is an entity of corrupted life that wants to remake all life to fit her own ideals of what life should be. She travels between worlds in the form of a red comet, which crashes down on the world and begins spreading her skin and nerves over the planet, warping all creatures into aberrations. As Ragnorra gets closer to landing, positive energy spells become stronger but also cause gross blemishes, Ragnorra's spores start to fall from the sky that turn things into swarms of pests, living things gain healing abilities but are slowly corrupted into aberrations, and eventually even the dead start rising as aberrations, while undead are forced to flee unless they are underground. When Ragnorra crashes onto a planet she is reduced to a fraction of her full size but is still gargantuan size and has CR 19 in both her initial form after landing, and her True Mother form taken when she merges with the neurotangle.

In the suggested campaign, a cult that worships Ragnorra called the Malshapers attempts to attract Ragnorra to the player's world using kidnapped people and other stolen living entities as bait to guide her on her path to the world. The leader of the cult is Irthicax Vane ([[Zenythri]], level 17 monk), whose world was destroyed by Ragnorra and once fought against her, but eventually went mad and turned to worshiping her, though the players may be able to convince him to help stop her. As Ragnorra approaches, mysterious springs with healing properties start popping up everywhere that are controlled by the Malshapers. Swarms of vermin begin appearing in cities, and in response to this undead beings start showing up to fight them. As the red comet continues to get closer the undead all start leaving. While the players are investigating to see if the undead are planning anything, they get repeatedly attacked by low level rogues sent by the Malshapers. Then an [[Aboleth]] mage with the ability to breath air falls from the sky and enslaves the risen corpses of the Malshapers. Then Ragnorra crashes into the earth and creates an enormous crater full of aberrations and corrupt flesh. The players must travel across this crater to reach the center and confront Ragnorra. Once she has transformed into her True Mother form, the players must defeat her by breaking her connection with the planet, and thus forcing her to leave.

Getting her to crash into Atropus above might make for an interesting campaign.
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File:D7b59ix-5a1ad7e3-73d6-4cfc-ab6d-46b7825f13f2.jpg
File:Tumblr inline oyely8D2qp1robfbt 500.png
File:RagnorraFanart.jpg
</gallery>

===[[Sertrous]]===
Sertrous was a powerful [[Obyrith]] that was killed in the distant past, but whose spirit clings to life in his severed skull. He was first killed for refusing to serve [[The Queen of Chaos]] but his spirit escaped to the material plane where he possessed a snake and made it into his new body. After he sent armies of snakes and monsters to attack mortals because he was jealous of the worship the gods received from them, he was then killed again by a Solar named Avamerin, but not before Sertrous revealed the secret that divine magic is possible to gain from any kind of faith, not just faith in a god. Avamerin at first didn't understand what Sertrous had said and shared the words with others, and when godless clerics started appearing as a result he was punished by being demoted to a Planetar. Avamerin then turned on his god and began working to bring Sertrous back to life. Avamerin now leads a cult of heretical [[Yuan-ti]] called The Vanguard of Sertrous that claims Sertrous is the true creator of the Yuan-ti. As Sertrous gets closer to returning to life, encounters with snakes and snake-like monsters become more and more frequent. Sertrous does not have stats because he is nothing but an immobile skull, but the players may fight against a CR 23 aspect of Sertrous.

In the suggested campaign, the players are hired to find out why a merchant has cut contact with his business partners and discover that he has fallen under the sway of a group of Yuan-ti who are lead by somebody named Seghulerak (Yuan-ti abomination, level 10 cleric, level 5 thaumaturgist) and do not worship the traditional Yuan-ti gods. Seghulerak and the Vanguard of Sertrous seize control of a major Yuan-ti city and start setting up ''serpentgates'' in temples around the world from which to launch invasions. The players investigate an infestation of snakes and interfere with the creation of one of these gates. The players eventually makes their way to the city where the Vanguard of Sertrous is based after many battles against Yuan-ti and other snake monsters and defeat Seghulerak, but her body vanishes when she is killed, leaving behind a pile of dead headless snakes. After some investigation the players learn about the Serpent Reliquary, an extradimensional temple that is the true base of the Vanguard. The players locate the portal the Reliquary and defeat Seghulerak again. After this they meet Avamerin, who will try to trick the players into leaving by lying that Sertrous never existed and this was all a test by the gods. If the players attack and defeat him, he is transformed into the aspect of Sertrous which the players must destroy. If the players are dumb enough to fall for his trick, he might send them to a layer of the abyss disguised as their home.
<gallery>
Sertrous aspect.png|Aspect of Sertrous
</gallery>

===[[Kyuss]], The [[Worm That Walks]]===
The Worm That Walks is an evil demigod named [[Kyuss]] that wants to conquer the world and bring about the age of worms to become a full god. As he gets closer to escaping his prison, the world becomes infested with giant centipedes and other worm-like monsters. [[Kyuss]] was once a prophet of an evil god who attempted to ascend to godhood by sacrificing all of his followers and transforming into a great monster made of worms, but he got stuck between mortality and godhood and trapped inside an obelisk. The Worm That Walks is a CR 20 aberration.

In the suggested campaign, Edwin Tolstoff (human lesser worm that walks, level 3 necromancer, level 3 cleric, level 10 true necromancer), escapes from his prison by having his grandchildren kill their mother and release him, causing spawn of Kyuss to start appearing. Edwin wants to release Kyuss from his prison because he hates being a worm that walks and hopes that Kyuss will either kill him or restore his humanity. The players are called to solve a murder mystery, whose culprit is a wererat named Draen, who works for Katarin Tolstoff. After solving this mystery, people are kidnapped and the players track them down to find an [[Avolakia]] who is turning his captives into spawns of Kyuss. Though the players defeat him, people continue disappearing all over the nation. When the party's spellcaster visits a local wizard's guild, they find that it has been ransacked and most of the wizard transformed into undead by Edwin. The most notable item he has stolen is a [[Well of Many Worlds]]. The Herald of Kyuss (Avolakia, level 8 cleric) working for Edwin then poses as an NPC ally the players know and tells them that a wizard named Emirikol the Chaotic is planning to destroy the universe by putting a [[Sphere of Annihilation]] into the well. This is a trick by Edwin to give him the chance to steal a Talisman of the Sphere from Emirikol while the players are fighting him. But Edwin is unable to find a sphere of annihilation, and so anonymously hires the players to go to the [[Tomb of Horrors]] and secretly follows them so that he can steal the sphere from the tomb. The players then must chase him to Wormcrawl island to stop him from using it to break Kyuss's prison. When he reaches the obelisk he completes the ritual and places the sphere of annihilation into the well of many worlds, creating a black hole and releasing Kyuss. The players will have to defeat Kyuss and stop the black hole from destroying reality if it isn't stopped by divine intervention. If you don't have the [[Exemplars of Evil]] book, which includes the stats and description of Edwin's grandchildren and Drean, it suggests replacing Edwin with a different villain. The book also suggests combining this plot with the [[Adventure Path]], ''Age of Worms'' from [[Dungeon Magazine]], which also features Kyuss.
<gallery>
Kyuss.png
Kyuss.jpg
</gallery>

===[[Zargon]]===
Zargon is an ancient evil who once ruled over [[Baator]] as the father of the [[Baatorian]]s before Asmodeus and his [[Baatezu]] strutted in and slapped their dicks on the table. Although he was defeated by Asmodeus, he could not be killed even by the gods and was imprisoned on the material plane. His horn is nearly indestructible and he will regenerate from it if the rest of his body is destroyed. Now he has given up on reclaiming Baator and wants to conquer the mortal world. As he gets closer to awakening the world is affected by extreme weather, including rains of slime that pollute water sources with a contagion that can turn people into [[slime]]s called Whelps of Zargon. Zargon is only CR 16, though according to the fluff he is capable of killing gods due to them being vulnerable to his powers.

Dorn (Cynidicean, Level 1 rogue, level 3 fighter, level 3 ranger, level 7 thrall of Juiblex), the son of Zargon's high cultists, flees from Cynidicea, only to be captured by gnolls and rescued by the party. Zargon begins to wake up as his cultists dig him up. Dorn then gets captured by the cult of Juiblex who tortured and eventually brainwashed him into joining them. The players are then hired by an archeologists named Vanessa (Tiefling, level 7 [[Archivist]], level 7 [[Entropomancer]]) to take her to Cynidicea. However she gets separated from the party on the way and finds her way to Cynidicea alone, where she ends up joining Zargon's cult. The awakening of Zargon attracts the attention of [[Juiblex]], who sends Dorn to make an alliance with Zargon. [[Zuggtmoy]] attempts to stop Juiblex by having their own cult frame Juiblex's cult for murders, which the party investigates. Vanessa convinces Dorn to take control of Zargon's cult with her, and they sacrifice Dorn's father to speed up Zargon's revival. Several factions try to manipulate the players into leading them to Zargon's resting places and the players must play them against each other to find out about Zargon and where to find him. The players eventually make it to Zargon's tomb just as he is fully revived and defeat him and his cultists and ooze servants. But in order to destroy Zargon permanently, they will have to throw his horn into the Eye of Zargon deep underground.

A campaign where Demogorgon frees him in return for assistance in the blood war would be fucking dope.
<gallery>
Zargon B4.jpg
Zargon baatorian.jpg
Zargon the Returner.jpg
</gallery>

==Dragon Magazine==
Two more being described as Elder Evils appeared in [[Dragon Magazine]].

[[Zurguth]], The Feasting Vast is mentioned in the article Ecology of the Kaorti, in issue #358. Zurguth is an extremely powerful monster of the [[Far Realm]] in the form of an ocean of flesh. It accidentally created the [[Kaorti]] just by looking at a group of wizards who entered the Far Realm.

===[[Shothragot]]===
Shothragot is detailed in issue #362, in an article written similarly to a chapter of the Elder Evils book. Shothragot is an avatar of [[Tharizdun]] sealed beneath the temple of the Elder Elemental Eye, who works to free Tharizdun from his prison by collecting the 333 gems of Tharizdun. Shothragot itself is too big for the players to defeat and so doesn't have stats. Instead, the players must enter inside of Shothragot and fight the Essence of Shothragot, which is CR 22. As Shothragot gets closer to completing its goal the sky is covered in a Seal of Binding, similar to the one produced by Pandorym.

In the suggested adventure, the players stubble across one of the gems of Tharizdun while exploring a random dungeon and are harassed by agents of Tharizdun until they get rid of it. Later a massive earthquake causes massive destruction but strangely leaves a tower untouched while burying everything around it. Investigating these tower leads to the players finding another black gem and several mad cultists also looking for it. The seal of binding appears in the sky and Tharizdum recognizes that the players are a threat and so Shothragot sends a powerful assassin named Giorge Forsworn after them, who then starts killing the player character's friends and family one by one before he starts going after the player characters. A group of powerful wizards then hire the players to find a member of theirs who when missing while investigating the cause of the Seal of Binding. When the players find them they have already been warped into a servant of Tharizdun. The players then travel to several locations important to the Cult of Tharizdun to find clues. Shothragot finally emerges from its hiding place and the players must defeat it from the inside.

The final part of the adventure was detailed in [[Dungeon]] Magazine 152. Unfortunately, because Dungeon 152 was released in multiple parts online only and has been taken down since then, this adventure is now extremely hard to find since all the archives of Dungeon 152 don't have the complete version.

=4th Edition=
{{Dnd-stub}}
During 4th Edition, several of the Elder Evils were adapted by Dragon Magazine as potential sources of power for [[Warlock]]s. See [[Starspawn]] for details.

The 4th edition version of the [[Book of Vile Darkness]] describes the [[Tsochar]] god [[Mak Thuum Ngatha]] as an Elder Evil. And [[Kyuss]] gets 4th edition stats in Open Grave: Secrets of the Undead.

=5th Edition=
Zargon the Returner was listed as a possible patron for great old one warlocks in the Players Handbook. Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes describes the Elder Evils as the source of monsters known as [[Star Spawn]] and it includes the list of Elder Evils copied below, which includes the elder evils from Powers and Pantheons and Lords of Madness, a few from the Elder Evils book, and some new ones, mainly [[Archomental|Primordials]] and some obscure evil gods from [[Forgotten Realms]]. Unfortunately it does not give any significant description of them beyond just listing their names so readers will have no idea what they are unless they search through previous editions to find them.

* [[Ityak-Ortheel]], the Elf-Eater
* [[Dendar]], the Night Serpent
* [[Borem]] of the Lake of Boiling Mud
* [[Kezef]], the Chaos Hound
* [[Zargon]], the Returner
* [[Carmnod]], the Unseen
* [[Holashner]], the Hunger Below
* [[Piscaethces]], the Blood Queen
* [[Shothotugg]], the Eater of Worlds
* [[Y'chak]], the Violet Flame
* [[Bolothamogg]], Who Watches from Beyond the Stars
* [[Hargut]], of the Gray Pestilence
* [[Haask]], the Voice of Hargut
* [[Ragnorra]], the Mother of Monsters
* The Hulks of [[Zoretha]]
* [[Kyuss]], the Worm That Walks
* [[Tharizdun]], the Elder Elemental Eye
* [[Atropus]], the World Born Dead
* [[Pandorym]], the Utter Annihilation
* [[Haemnathuun]], the Blood lord
* [[Maram]] of the Great Spear
* [[Tyranthraxus]], the Flamed One
* [[The Queen of Chaos]]
* [[Father Llymic]], the Alien Thought Given Flesh

A few of the [[Star Spawn]] Elder Evils from fourth edition are also mentioned in Volo's Guide to Monsters as beings that [[Neogi]] [[Warlock]]s make contracts with. Strangely, a few of them also appeared as [[Vestige]]s in the [[Curse of Strahd]]'s Amber Temple, though how they died and became vestiges is unexplained.

=External links=
* [https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-LNa95CLcSwIUPkRniO3 Homebrew 5E stats for the Elder Evils as well as associated entities]

{{Template:D&D-Nonhuman-Deities}}

[[Category:Roleplaying]]
[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]]
[[Category:Game Books]]
[[Category:Elder Evils]]

Elder Evils

2021-02-21T02:52:03Z

2001:48F8:402A:618:0:0:0:C72F: /* Zargon */

[[File:Elder evils cover.jpg|thumb]]
[[Elder Evils]] are ancient evil beings of immense power whose existence threatens the world. Some Elder Evils are gods, while others are merely god like beings, such as extremely powerful [[Fiend]]s and creatures of the [[Far Realm]]. The concept of Elder Evils was first talked about in the second edition book ''Powers and Pantheons'', which gave stats for three very powerful monsters of the [[Forgotten Realms]] known as the Elder Eternal Evils. Later books would shorten the term to just Elder Evils. The third edition book, [[Lords of Madness]], lists five beings of immense power that are respected by the Aboleths as the closest thing they have to gods. Later, the [[Splatbook]] Elder Evils went into detail about how to use Elder Evils in a campaign. Two more were revealed in [[Dragon Magazine]]. Elder Evils are also mentioned in 4th and 5th edition.

=2nd Edition=
==Powers and Pantheons==
{{Dnd-stub}}

The Elder Eternal Evils are three monstrous creatures from the [[Forgotten Realms]] setting. They were updated to third edition in the book ''Champions of Ruin''.
===[[Dendar]]===
Dendar the Night Serpent is a monstrous snake who was born when something had a dream for the first time in [[Forgotten Realms]]. She grows stronger by eating nightmares and is said to be destined to destroy the entire setting when she has collected enough.

In third edition Dendar is CR 26.
<gallery>
Dendar P&P.png
Dendar CoR.jpg
</gallery>

===[[Kezef]]===
Kezef the Chaos Hound is a monstrous skeletal dog with maggots in place of flesh that consumes the souls of the faithful in the afterlife who may have been created by [[Jergal]]. Has a grudge against [[Mask]], which is a good thing because this drives it to spend more time hunting down Mask than eating souls.

In third edition Kezef is CR 21.
<gallery>
Kezef P&P.png
Kezef CoR.jpg
</gallery>

===[[Ityak-Ortheel]]===
Ityak-Ortheel the Elf-Eater is a horrible creature resembling a giant headless turtle with three legs and a giant mouth surrounded by forty tentacles. It gets its name because it can only gain sustenance from eating elves. It was born from the spilled blood of [[Corellon]] Larethian and [[Gruumsh]] and is used as a weapon by the god [[Malar]].

In third edition Ityak-Ortheel is CR 22.

<gallery>
Ityak-ortheel P&P.png
Ityak-ortheel CoR.jpg
</gallery>

=3rd Edition=
==Lords of Madness==
While most [[Aboleth]]s do not worship gods, there are five godlike beings that they pay respects to, which are described in the book [[Lords of Madness]], but not given stats.
* [[Bolothamogg]], Him Who Watches from Beyond the Stars: A primal force that keeps the multiverse separated from the outer dimensions.
* [[Holashner]], the Hunger Below: A gigantic centipede squid thing that eats its way through the material plane, leaving behind a black substance that can be compressed into Bilestone, a substance that debilitates non-aberrations.
* [[Piscaethces]], The Blood Queen: The origin of aboleths. She wanders throughout the multiverse spawning new aboleths. If she were to ever return aboleths would see it as proof that the multiverse isn't infinite.
* [[Shothotugg]], Eater of Worlds: A mass of liquid that travels between worlds, poisoning and parasitizing them and slowly changing the laws of the multiverse as it does so.
* [[Y'chak]], The Violet Flame: A pillar of violet flames concealing a form so horrifying it would destroy anyone who looked at it (a relative of [[Pale Night]] maybe?). It encourages mortals to worship evil gods and may be responsible for the creation of many of those gods.

==Elder Evils (the book)==
The book Elder Evils was released near the end of 3.5 edition as a tool for dungeon masters wanting to end their current campaign and switch to 4th edition, similar to how [[The Apocalypse Stone]] was released to give DMs in 2nd edition a way to end their campaigns before switching to 3rd. The Elder Evils described in the book are entities with the potential to end the world, and thus end the campaign if the players fail to stop them, or act as a satisfyingly epic final boss for the players. The book instructs the DM on how to base a campaign around stopping one of these beings. The book does not describe every detail of the campaigns like most books, but instead gives a general outline of the plot, plus the stats for major enemies the players will encounter, and details of the final dungeon, and what adjustments to make if the campaign is set in [[Faerun]] or [[Eberron]]. Many of the Elder Evils are not statted, as they are too powerful when fully unleashed for the players to stop, but instead only have stats for an aspect of them that the players can defeat.

===[[Atropus]]===
Known as The World Born Dead, Atropus is a moon sized undead creature that is as old as creation and desires the end of all life. It destroys worlds by crashing on them and then draining them of all positive energy. Atropus cannot be destroyed, but the players can drive it away. As Atropus approaches the world necromancy spells become more powerful and the dead begin to rise as undead spontaneously. Atropus itself has no stats (how the fuck do you stat '''''a goddsdamned planet?!'''''), but the Aspect of Atropus is a CR 23 undead. Atropus is also infested with many kinds of undead, including famine spirits, advanced deathshriekers, rage winds, angels of decay, nightcrawlers, nightwalkers, nightwings, dread wraiths, and a single dread boneyard. Atropus is also a very hostile environment with no atmosphere unless it is about to collide with the world, and has a variety of effects that harm the living and boost the undead.

In the suggested campaign, Caira Xasten (human, level 5 bard, level 5 rogue, level 10 [[Ur-Priest]]) wants to attract Atropus to destroy the world to get revenge on the gods, blaming them for the death of her husband who was killed by a falling meteorite. To do this she and her cult first seek out a book about Atropus, then try to obtain the [[Book of Vile Darkness]] in order to learn the ''apocalypse of the sky'' spell which she will attempt to cast on a large city to attract Atropus with the mass death. Meanwhile, the world is also invaded by a powerful general of [[Orcus]] who also wants to summon Atropus named Gorguth ([[Bodak]], level 2 ranger, level 1 fighter, level 9 blackguard), who rides on a powerful construct named Skyshadow and leading his own army of the undead to cause mass death. After failing to stop either one of them, the players then must travel to Atropus and battle against a variety of undead monsters until they find and defeat the aspect of Atropus, which will cause Atropus to retreat.
<gallery>
File:Atropus.jpg
File:Map of Atropus's Face.jpg|so big that his face has a travel map.
File:Aspect of Atropus.jpeg|His significantly smaller (and killable) Aspect.
</gallery>

=== [[Father Llymic]] ===
Father Llymic is an entity from the [[Far Realm]] that sleeps in an icy prison that melts in darkness and thickens in sunlight. It wants to remake the world to be more hospitable to itself and its children, which it then creates by [[Nurgle|spreading a plague that]] [[Plaguebearer|turns the infected into creatures like itself]] [[Gellarpox Infected|known as brood spawn]]. The more people Father Llymic infects, the more he comes out of his sleep, and as it awakes the sun starts to go out, and darkness spells grow stronger while light spells weaken. He is called Father Llymic because he often projects an illusion of a friendly old man. Its true form is a massive demon like creature with scythes for arms, three eyes, and skin covered in icy crystal, with a CR of 18. Beings converted into brood spawn gain similar features.

In the suggested campaign, the player are sent to investigate the disappearance of a caravan that was attacked by a tribe of barbarians that worship Father Llymic. After this a huge glacier and icy weather spreads down from the mountain where Father Llymic is imprisoned and strange ice monsters start attacking people. Soon whole towns and villages are transformed into brood spawn as the weather gets worse and worse while the sun gets darker and darker. The players must travel up the mountain while battling through mad cultists and many kinds of brood spawn to face and defeat Father Llymic.

<Gallery>
File:Father Lymic.jpg
</Gallery>

===[[The Hulks of Zoretha]]===
The Hulks of Zoretha are five giants made of stone from another world that plan to exterminate all life on this plane to make room for them to repopulate it with their own kind. As they awaken, the moon turns red, causing people to experience uncontrollable rage. Four of the hulks are female and are each associated with a different element while the last one is male and has wings. They are also completely indestructible as long as they are asleep. All of them are CR 16.

In the suggested campaign, Soelma Nilaenish (elf, level 7 wizard, level 10 loremaster, level 1 rogue) hires the party to recover a copy of the Zoretha Scrolls, then later hires them again to protect the scrolls. She then travels with the party to stop the leader of the cult of Zoretha, Janwulf the Soulbiter (ice giant, level 11 bard). But after Janwulf is defeated Soelma betrays the party and takes control of the cult herself. Soelma is in fact horribly depressed and wants the world to be destroyed, while Janwulf actually had no interest in waking up the hulks and just wanted power. The party then stops Soelma from completing the ritual to wake up the hulks but the moon doesn't return to normal and the whole world is at war. A single cultist escapes from the players and finishes the ritual to wake up the hulks and the players must then destroy them.

===[[The Leviathan]]===
An immense sea monster personifying primal chaos that will destroy the world if it ever wakes up. As it gets close to awakening, the world is affected by extreme weather. The Leviathan does not have stats, as it is too big for the players to fight, but the players may battle against aspects of the leviathan, which are CR 16, or an advanced aspect, which is CR 20.

In the suggested campaign, the players save a port town from a disaster and are sent to investigate the cause of the strange weather. The party then encounters an defeats a cult that worships the leviathan, but their leader, a mysterious man named Enshaddon, escapes. Enshaddon is actually an advanced vampiric [[Ixitxachitl]] with 16 cleric levels named Axihuatl. He is a worshiper of Demogorgon and wants to partially wake up the leviathan using a shard of chaos in order to flood the world. After the players first disrupt his plans, he sends Marcus Hape (human, level 4 rogue, level 4 assassin, level 4 thrall of Demogogon) to kill them. With the help of a sage named Mytus who provides the players with magic and equipment for underwater travel, the players attack a temple located in a hollow spine on the leviathan's back and interrupt Axihuatl's ritual to wake up the leviathan, causing him to lose control of the beast. Axihuatl then allies with the players because he does not want the leviathan to completely destroy the world. They must then travel deeper into the temple and throw the shard of chaos into a pit at the bottom to put the leviathan back to sleep.
<gallery>
Leviathan aspect.png|Aspect of the Leviathan
</gallery>

=== [[Pandorym]] ===
In ancient times, a group of wizards wanted to blackmail the gods. So they summoned a powerful eldritch abomination from "the space 'between' the planes" named Pandorym, contracted it to destroy all the gods, immediately sealed it away before it could do so by imprisoning its mind and body separately, and used the threat of its reunification as the divine blackmail. Fortunately the wizards didn't implement a deadman's switch or anything, so the gods smote their stupid asses when they heard their first demands and wiped the group from the face of history. If made whole, Pandorym will first take revenge on the descendants of the wizards that imprisoned it, then kill all the gods as it was contracted to do. If the contract's completion doesn't return it "home", it'll destroy the universe out of frustration/boredom.

Pandorym's mindless body resembles a huge [[Sphere of Annihilation]] that moves towards anyone that tries to control it, which is kept in an unknown extradimensional prison. Pandorym's mind is sealed within a large near-indestructible crystal and is immensely powerful even without its body; the tiny leakage through the crystal is enough to corrupt nearby high level characters and obliterate the minds of weaker-willed folks, a small "fragment" of its mind is a ''CR 25'' Psionic threat, and the fully released mind is an unstatted behemoth that only divine intervention could stop...

...so far, so first-edition [[Tharizdun]]. It's unfortunate that Pandorym's sign interferes with the planar connections of the world (via a sky-spanning glyph) and makes conjuration+divine magic increasingly difficult as its mind gains influence. Presumably its fully released mind would completely block the world off and make divine intervention near impossible.

In the suggested campaign, Tune Majii (human, Level 2 bard, level 2 wizard) hires the player to find her missing father Lucather (quell, level 8 enchanter, level 10 loremaster), who has become enslaved to Pandorym. Meanwhile, the gods begin sending their mortal followers warnings that somebody is trying to unleash an unimaginably powerful evil. This person turns out to be the [[Inevitable]] named Obligatum VII (kolyarut, level 3 [[Hexblade]], level 5 [[Occult Slayer]]), our wiki's literal poster child of [[Lawful Stupid]]. Obligatum VII wants to release Pandorym because the poor old eldritch abomination entered into a bad-faith contract and ''must'' receive rightful legal remedy for the indignity, [[Lawful Stupid|regardless of the god-ending possibly-universe-ending consequences]]. The players will have to travel to the prison where Pandorym's mind is kept and defeat Lucather and Obligatum VII before they can smash the crystal open with Obligatum's adamantine sword. If the players succeed, they may have to travel to [[Mechanus]] and prevent Obligatum VIII's creation (who'd start this shit all over again).
<gallery>
File:Pandorym.jpg
</gallery>

=== [[Ragnorra]] ===
Ragnorra is an entity of corrupted life that wants to remake all life to fit her own ideals of what life should be. She travels between worlds in the form of a red comet, which crashes down on the world and begins spreading her skin and nerves over the planet, warping all creatures into aberrations. As Ragnorra gets closer to landing, positive energy spells become stronger but also cause gross blemishes, Ragnorra's spores start to fall from the sky that turn things into swarms of pests, living things gain healing abilities but are slowly corrupted into aberrations, and eventually even the dead start rising as aberrations, while undead are forced to flee unless they are underground. When Ragnorra crashes onto a planet she is reduced to a fraction of her full size but is still gargantuan size and has CR 19 in both her initial form after landing, and her True Mother form taken when she merges with the neurotangle.

In the suggested campaign, a cult that worships Ragnorra called the Malshapers attempts to attract Ragnorra to the player's world using kidnapped people and other stolen living entities as bait to guide her on her path to the world. The leader of the cult is Irthicax Vane ([[Zenythri]], level 17 monk), whose world was destroyed by Ragnorra and once fought against her, but eventually went mad and turned to worshiping her, though the players may be able to convince him to help stop her. As Ragnorra approaches, mysterious springs with healing properties start popping up everywhere that are controlled by the Malshapers. Swarms of vermin begin appearing in cities, and in response to this undead beings start showing up to fight them. As the red comet continues to get closer the undead all start leaving. While the players are investigating to see if the undead are planning anything, they get repeatedly attacked by low level rogues sent by the Malshapers. Then an [[Aboleth]] mage with the ability to breath air falls from the sky and enslaves the risen corpses of the Malshapers. Then Ragnorra crashes into the earth and creates an enormous crater full of aberrations and corrupt flesh. The players must travel across this crater to reach the center and confront Ragnorra. Once she has transformed into her True Mother form, the players must defeat her by breaking her connection with the planet, and thus forcing her to leave.

Getting her to crash into Atropus above might make for an interesting campaign.
<gallery>
File:D7b59ix-5a1ad7e3-73d6-4cfc-ab6d-46b7825f13f2.jpg
File:Tumblr inline oyely8D2qp1robfbt 500.png
File:RagnorraFanart.jpg
</gallery>

===[[Sertrous]]===
Sertrous was a powerful [[Obyrith]] that was killed in the distant past, but whose spirit clings to life in his severed skull. He was first killed for refusing to serve [[The Queen of Chaos]] but his spirit escaped to the material plane where he possessed a snake and made it into his new body. After he sent armies of snakes and monsters to attack mortals because he was jealous of the worship the gods received from them, he was then killed again by a Solar named Avamerin, but not before Sertrous revealed the secret that divine magic is possible to gain from any kind of faith, not just faith in a god. Avamerin at first didn't understand what Sertrous had said and shared the words with others, and when godless clerics started appearing as a result he was punished by being demoted to a Planetar. Avamerin then turned on his god and began working to bring Sertrous back to life. Avamerin now leads a cult of heretical [[Yuan-ti]] called The Vanguard of Sertrous that claims Sertrous is the true creator of the Yuan-ti. As Sertrous gets closer to returning to life, encounters with snakes and snake-like monsters become more and more frequent. Sertrous does not have stats because he is nothing but an immobile skull, but the players may fight against a CR 23 aspect of Sertrous.

In the suggested campaign, the players are hired to find out why a merchant has cut contact with his business partners and discover that he has fallen under the sway of a group of Yuan-ti who are lead by somebody named Seghulerak (Yuan-ti abomination, level 10 cleric, level 5 thaumaturgist) and do not worship the traditional Yuan-ti gods. Seghulerak and the Vanguard of Sertrous seize control of a major Yuan-ti city and start setting up ''serpentgates'' in temples around the world from which to launch invasions. The players investigate an infestation of snakes and interfere with the creation of one of these gates. The players eventually makes their way to the city where the Vanguard of Sertrous is based after many battles against Yuan-ti and other snake monsters and defeat Seghulerak, but her body vanishes when she is killed, leaving behind a pile of dead headless snakes. After some investigation the players learn about the Serpent Reliquary, an extradimensional temple that is the true base of the Vanguard. The players locate the portal the Reliquary and defeat Seghulerak again. After this they meet Avamerin, who will try to trick the players into leaving by lying that Sertrous never existed and this was all a test by the gods. If the players attack and defeat him, he is transformed into the aspect of Sertrous which the players must destroy. If the players are dumb enough to fall for his trick, he might send them to a layer of the abyss disguised as their home.
<gallery>
Sertrous aspect.png|Aspect of Sertrous
</gallery>

===[[Kyuss]], The [[Worm That Walks]]===
The Worm That Walks is an evil demigod named [[Kyuss]] that wants to conquer the world and bring about the age of worms to become a full god. As he gets closer to escaping his prison, the world becomes infested with giant centipedes and other worm-like monsters. [[Kyuss]] was once a prophet of an evil god who attempted to ascend to godhood by sacrificing all of his followers and transforming into a great monster made of worms, but he got stuck between mortality and godhood and trapped inside an obelisk. The Worm That Walks is a CR 20 aberration.

In the suggested campaign, Edwin Tolstoff (human lesser worm that walks, level 3 necromancer, level 3 cleric, level 10 true necromancer), escapes from his prison by having his grandchildren kill their mother and release him, causing spawn of Kyuss to start appearing. Edwin wants to release Kyuss from his prison because he hates being a worm that walks and hopes that Kyuss will either kill him or restore his humanity. The players are called to solve a murder mystery, whose culprit is a wererat named Draen, who works for Katarin Tolstoff. After solving this mystery, people are kidnapped and the players track them down to find an [[Avolakia]] who is turning his captives into spawns of Kyuss. Though the players defeat him, people continue disappearing all over the nation. When the party's spellcaster visits a local wizard's guild, they find that it has been ransacked and most of the wizard transformed into undead by Edwin. The most notable item he has stolen is a [[Well of Many Worlds]]. The Herald of Kyuss (Avolakia, level 8 cleric) working for Edwin then poses as an NPC ally the players know and tells them that a wizard named Emirikol the Chaotic is planning to destroy the universe by putting a [[Sphere of Annihilation]] into the well. This is a trick by Edwin to give him the chance to steal a Talisman of the Sphere from Emirikol while the players are fighting him. But Edwin is unable to find a sphere of annihilation, and so anonymously hires the players to go to the [[Tomb of Horrors]] and secretly follows them so that he can steal the sphere from the tomb. The players then must chase him to Wormcrawl island to stop him from using it to break Kyuss's prison. When he reaches the obelisk he completes the ritual and places the sphere of annihilation into the well of many worlds, creating a black hole and releasing Kyuss. The players will have to defeat Kyuss and stop the black hole from destroying reality if it isn't stopped by divine intervention. If you don't have the [[Exemplars of Evil]] book, which includes the stats and description of Edwin's grandchildren and Drean, it suggests replacing Edwin with a different villain. The book also suggests combining this plot with the [[Adventure Path]], ''Age of Worms'' from [[Dungeon Magazine]], which also features Kyuss.
<gallery>
Kyuss.png
Kyuss.jpg
</gallery>

===[[Zargon]]===
Zargon is an ancient evil who once ruled over [[Baator]] as the father of the [[Baatorian]]s before Asmodeus and his [[Baatezu]] strutted in and slapped their dicks on the table. Although he was defeated by Asmodeus, he could not be killed even by the gods and was imprisoned on the material plane. His horn is nearly indestructible and he will regenerate from it if the rest of his body is destroyed. Now he has given up on reclaiming Baator and wants to conquer the mortal world. As he gets closer to awakening the world is affected by extreme weather, including rains of slime that pollute water sources with a contagion that can turn people into [[slime]]s called Whelps of Zargon. Zargon is only CR 16, though according to the fluff he is capable of killing gods due to them being vulnerable to his powers.

Dorn (Cynidicean, Level 1 rogue, level 3 fighter, level 3 ranger, level 7 thrall of Juiblex), the son of Zargon's high cultists, flees from Cynidicea, only to be captured by gnolls and rescued by the party. Zargon begins to wake up as his cultists dig him up. Dorn then gets captured by the cult of Juiblex who tortured and eventually brainwashed him into joining them. The players are then hired by an archeologists named Vanessa (Tiefling, level 7 [[Archivist]], level 7 [[Entropomancer]]) to take her to Cynidicea. However she gets separated from the party on the way and finds her way to Cynidicea alone, where she ends up joining Zargon's cult. The awakening of Zargon attracts the attention of [[Juiblex]], who sends Dorn to make an alliance with Zargon. [[Zuggtmoy]] attempts to stop Juiblex by having their own cult frame Juiblex's cult for murders, which the party investigates. Vanessa convinces Dorn to take control of Zargon's cult with her, and they sacrifice Dorn's father to speed up Zargon's revival. Several factions try to manipulate the players into leading them to Zargon's resting places and the players must play them against each other to find out about Zargon and where to find him. The players eventually make it to Zargon's tomb just as he is fully revived and defeat him and his cultists and ooze servants. But in order to destroy Zargon permanently, they will have to throw his horn into the Eye of Zargon deep underground.

A campaign where Demogorgon frees him in return for assistance in the blood war would be fucking dope.
<gallery>
Zargon B4.jpg
Zargon baatorian.jpg
Zargon the Returner.jpg
</gallery>

==Dragon Magazine==
Two more being described as Elder Evils appeared in [[Dragon Magazine]].

[[Zurguth]], The Feasting Vast is mentioned in the article Ecology of the Kaorti, in issue #358. Zurguth is an extremely powerful monster of the [[Far Realm]] in the form of an ocean of flesh. It accidentally created the [[Kaorti]] just by looking at a group of wizards who entered the Far Realm.

===[[Shothragot]]===
Shothragot is detailed in issue #362, in an article written similarly to a chapter of the Elder Evils book. Shothragot is an avatar of [[Tharizdun]] sealed beneath the temple of the Elder Elemental Eye, who works to free Tharizdun from his prison by collecting the 333 gems of Tharizdun. Shothragot itself is too big for the players to defeat and so doesn't have stats. Instead, the players must enter inside of Shothragot and fight the Essence of Shothragot, which is CR 22. As Shothragot gets closer to completing its goal the sky is covered in a Seal of Binding, similar to the one produced by Pandorym.

In the suggested adventure, the players stubble across one of the gems of Tharizdun while exploring a random dungeon and are harassed by agents of Tharizdun until they get rid of it. Later a massive earthquake causes massive destruction but strangely leaves a tower untouched while burying everything around it. Investigating these tower leads to the players finding another black gem and several mad cultists also looking for it. The seal of binding appears in the sky and Tharizdum recognizes that the players are a threat and so Shothragot sends a powerful assassin named Giorge Forsworn after them, who then starts killing the player character's friends and family one by one before he starts going after the player characters. A group of powerful wizards then hire the players to find a member of theirs who when missing while investigating the cause of the Seal of Binding. When the players find them they have already been warped into a servant of Tharizdun. The players then travel to several locations important to the Cult of Tharizdun to find clues. Shothragot finally emerges from its hiding place and the players must defeat it from the inside.

The final part of the adventure was detailed in [[Dungeon]] Magazine 152. Unfortunately, because Dungeon 152 was released in multiple parts online only and has been taken down since then, this adventure is now extremely hard to find since all the archives of Dungeon 152 don't have the complete version.

=4th Edition=
{{Dnd-stub}}
During 4th Edition, several of the Elder Evils were adapted by Dragon Magazine as potential sources of power for [[Warlock]]s. See [[Starspawn]] for details.

The 4th edition version of the [[Book of Vile Darkness]] describes the [[Tsochar]] god [[Mak Thuum Ngatha]] as an Elder Evil. And [[Kyuss]] gets 4th edition stats in Open Grave: Secrets of the Undead.

=5th Edition=
Zargon the Returner was listed as a possible patron for great old one warlocks in the Players Handbook. Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes describes the Elder Evils as the source of monsters known as [[Star Spawn]] and it includes the list of Elder Evils copied below, which includes the elder evils from Powers and Pantheons and Lords of Madness, a few from the Elder Evils book, and some new ones, mainly [[Archomental|Primordials]] and some obscure evil gods from [[Forgotten Realms]]. Unfortunately it does not give any significant description of them beyond just listing their names so readers will have no idea what they are unless they search through previous editions to find them.

* [[Ityak-Ortheel]], the Elf-Eater
* [[Dendar]], the Night Serpent
* [[Borem]] of the Lake of Boiling Mud
* [[Kezef]], the Chaos Hound
* [[Zargon]], the Returner
* [[Carmnod]], the Unseen
* [[Holashner]], the Hunger Below
* [[Piscaethces]], the Blood Queen
* [[Shothotugg]], the Eater of Worlds
* [[Y'chak]], the Violet Flame
* [[Bolothamogg]], Who Watches from Beyond the Stars
* [[Hargut]], of the Gray Pestilence
* [[Haask]], the Voice of Hargut
* [[Ragnorra]], the Mother of Monsters
* The Hulks of [[Zoretha]]
* [[Kyuss]], the Worm That Walks
* [[Tharizdun]], the Elder Elemental Eye
* [[Atropus]], the World Born Dead
* [[Pandorym]], the Utter Annihilation
* [[Haemnathuun]], the Blood lord
* [[Maram]] of the Great Spear
* [[Tyranthraxus]], the Flamed One
* [[The Queen of Chaos]]
* [[Father Llymic]], the Alien Thought Given Flesh

A few of the [[Star Spawn]] Elder Evils from fourth edition are also mentioned in Volo's Guide to Monsters as beings that [[Neogi]] [[Warlock]]s make contracts with. Strangely, a few of them also appeared as [[Vestige]]s in the [[Curse of Strahd]]'s Amber Temple, though how they died and became vestiges is unexplained.

=External links=
* [https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-LNa95CLcSwIUPkRniO3 Homebrew 5E stats for the Elder Evils as well as associated entities]

{{Template:D&D-Nonhuman-Deities}}

[[Category:Roleplaying]]
[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]]
[[Category:Game Books]]
[[Category:Elder Evils]]

Tanar'ri

2021-02-21T02:49:27Z

2001:48F8:402A:618:0:0:0:C72F: /* Ex Tanar'ri */ what's wrong with being gay, good sir?

[[File:Tanarri party.jpg|thumb|Those tanar'ri sure know how to throw a party.]]
'''Tanar'ri''' are the [[Alignment|chaotic evil]] supernatural badguys, in [[2nd Edition Dungeons and Dragons]]. After TSR got their new CEO [[Lorraine Williams]] and [[Gary Gygax]] left in disgust, Williams said "no more [[demon]]s, or any of that junk". In [[3e]] they wisely decided to use "demon" again, but kept the term "tanar'ri" as a subtype of demon. Since TSR bothered to register "tanar'ri" [[Open_Gaming_License#Parts_of_D.26D_that_are_not_Open_Game_Content|as a trademark]], you will not find this demon subtype in [[Open Gaming License]] materials like the D20SRD.

They are the archetypical chaotic evil outsiders, seeking to destroy all order and plunge creation into mad, violent chaos in different ways. They are one of the two major factions in the ideological [[Blood War]], the other being their lawful evil counterparts, the [[baatezu]], or devils.

''Fiendish Codex II - Tyrants Of The Nine Hells'' states that Devils call all demons Tanar'ri for short, which is strange considering that in the same book it says that in the devils' language "only one correct way exists to construct any given statement in Infernal." and "Devils, except when in disguise, they find the urge to correct errors in spoken or written Infernal nearly impossible to resist." This may be a hint as to the origin of Lorraine Williams, since she also insisted on using the term "tanar'ri" instead of "demon."

In 5th edition, D&D seems to have completely dropped the term Tanar'ri (as well as [[Obyrith]] and [[Loumara]]), and now classifies all demons as just "demons".

==Types of Tanar'ri==
There are many types of Tanar'ri, one more terrible than the next. There is something of a degree of power that seperates the various demons, but this is not absolute. There are five categories that divide them however, and each group is more powerful than the ones below it.

Tanar'ri can ascend to a new form if they believe they have what it takes to do so (mainly based on how deadly it is) and can prove this to those around them. While ascending step by step though the ranks is the most common way to do this, particularly powerful or intelligent Tanar'ri can skip one or more forms.

Note that some of the demons in this list have not been officially classified and so we are just guessing which group they belong to.

===Least Tanar'ri===
*'''[[Mane]]s''': The lowest of the Tanar'ri and barely worth the name, Manes are a source of food and cannon fodder, herded at the enemy to tire them before the main forces strike. This is what a mortal becomes if they end up in the Abyss when they die, or depending on edition, the first form they take upon being promoted from Maggots, which are the forms that all petitioners take in the [[Lower Planes]].
<gallery>
Mane 1e.jpg
Mane 2e.gif
Mane.jpg
Mane 3e.jpg
Mane 5e.jpg
</gallery>
*'''[[Dretch]]es''': Barely above the Manes, the Dretches are real Tanar'ri, albeit the lowest in rank. They suck up to the more powerful members of their race (pretty much all of them), and are treated as such in reply.
<gallery>
Dretch S4.png
Dretch 1e.jpg
Dretch 2e.gif
Dretch 3e.jpg
Dretch 4e.jpg
Dretch 5e.jpg
</gallery>
*'''[[Rutterkin]]''': Vicious and despised by all other Tanar'ri, the Rutterkin are the preferred targets of higher-ranking demons for harassment, torture and murder. In return a Rutterkin will attack anything that they think they can kill without much risk to them.
<gallery>
Rutterkin S4.jpg
Rutterkin MM2 1e.jpg
Rutterkin ayy.png
Rutterkin 2e.jpg
Rutterkin 3e.jpg
Mane Rutterkin Barlgura.jpg
Rutterkin 5e.jpg
</gallery>
*'''[[Gadacro]]''': A small sneaky demon that likes to blind enemies.
<gallery>
Gadacro.jpg
</gallery>

===Lesser Tanar'ri===
*'''[[Alu-fiend]]s''': The female child of a Succubus and a mortal, Alu-fiends can only be born into their rank. They are not physically powerful but they are powerful spellcasters and physically attractive, which makes them useful to the high-ups in the Abyss.
<gallery>
Alu-demon S4.png
Alu-fiend.gif
Aliisza.jpg
</gallery>
*'''[[Cambion]]s''': The opposite of their Alu-fiend sisters, Cambions are the children of a Tanar'ri and a female mortal. A major Cambion is born when the father is a Lesser or Greater Tanar'ri, while a True Tanar'ri sires a Baron or Marquise Cambion, who are significanlty more powerful than their lesser kin.
<gallery>
File:Cambion 1e.jpg
File:Cambion 2e.png
File:Cambion 3e.png
File:Cambion 4e.jpg
File:Cambion.jpg
</gallery>
*'''[[Armanite]]s''': The [[centaur]]s and [[bariaur]]s of the Abyss. They band together as mercenary groups and hire themselves out to whoever pays the most.
<gallery>
File:Armanite 2e.gif
File:Armanite 4e.jpg
File:armanite 5e.png
</gallery>
*'''[[Maurezhi]]''': These Tanar'ri have the strange ability to gain the memories and experiences of whoever they eat. They can only be created by Abyssal Lords for specific missions, but can grow to new forms as usual.
<gallery>
File:Maurezhi 2e.png
File:Maurezhi 3e.jpg
File:Maurezhi 5e.png
</gallery>
*'''[[Succubus]]''': You know them, you love them.
**'''[[Incubus]]''': The male version
<gallery>
5e Cubi.png
</gallery>
*'''[[Barlgura]]''' (also spelled Bar-Lgura): Gorilla-like (Orangutan-like in AD&D) Tanar'ri trained in guerilla warfare (yes, they really went for that pun), they are brutish, dumb, slow of mind and can casually rip your arm off. They get very annoyed when you call them "bar-igura", so please don't refer to them with sans-serif font. Pathfinder also has an orange gorilla demon, called a "baregara". Someone at Paizo must like to live dangerously.
<gallery>
Barlgura S4.png
Barlgura 1e.jpg
Barlgura 2.jpg
Barlgura 2e.gif
Barlgura 3e.jpg
Barlgura.jpg
Barlgura 4e.jpg
Barlgura 5e.jpg
</gallery>
*'''[[Bulezau]]''': Rocking a traditional Satan-esque look, the Bulezau are powerful, elite soldiers who want nothing less than to murder all their enemies within sight.
<gallery>
File:Bulezau 2e.png
File:Bulezau 3e.jpg
File:Bulezau 5e.png
</gallery>
*'''[[Jovoc]]''': A small black humanoid with red three-fingered claws. Whenever one of them is damaged, non-Tanar'ri creatures within 30 feet also take damage, and they also heal from their injuries very quickly.
<gallery>
File:Jovoc.jpg
</gallery>
*'''[[Solamith]]''': A large obese demon with a transparent stomach filled with the faces of the other demons and petitioners it has eaten. Their flesh is explosive, and they fight by tearing off pieces of their flesh and throwing them like bombs.
<gallery>
File:Solamith 1.jpg
File:Solamith 3e.jpg
File:Solamith 4e.jpg
File:Solamith 2.jpg
</gallery>
*'''[[Uridezu]]''': Cowardly rat people with a paralyzing bite, command over rats, and the ability to teleport between planes, but not during combat. They enjoy serving under a master, but because other demons abuse them they often are found serving mortal masters on the material plane.
<gallery>
File:Uridezu 2e.png
File:Uridezu 3e.jpg
</gallery>
*'''[[Artaaglith]]''': Ram-like demons that serve [[Orcus]]. Were introduced in the [[Ghostwalk]] book.
<gallery>
Artaaglith.jpg
</gallery>

===Greater Tanar'ri===
*'''[[Nabassu]]''': Gargoyle-shaped things serving as the heralds of the Abyss, seducing humanoids to the service of the Abyss.
<gallery>
File:Nabassu 1e.png
File:Nabassu 2e.png
File:Nabassu 3e.jpg
File:Nabassu 5e.jpg
</gallery>
*'''[[Chasme]]''': Huge fly-like things that seek out deserters of the [[Blood War]]. They mostly stay out of the affairs of others to carry out their duties.
<gallery>
Chasme S4 2.png
Chasme S4 1.png
Chasme 1e.jpg
Chasme 2e.gif
Chasme fight OHG.jpg
Chasme 3e.png
Chasme 4e.jpg
Chasme 5e.jpg
</gallery>
*'''[[Babau]]''': The recruiters for the [[Blood War]]. Or rather than recruiting they press-gang other demons to fight. If they don't meet their quotas however they have to fight themselves.
<gallery>
File:Babau 1e.png
File:Babau 2e.gif
File:Babau 3e.jpg
File:Babau 4e.jpg
</gallery>
*'''[[Goristro]]''': 20' [[Minotaur|bullmen]] that serve as living siege engines to topple walls and crush enemies below their feet. Mentioned in the second Monster Manual which forgot to write them up, so they had to be written up in ''Dragon'' instead.
<gallery>
File:Goristro 2e.gif
File:Goristro 3e.jpg
File:Goristro 5e.jpg
</gallery>
*'''[[Palrethee]]''': Demons who attempted to become balors and failed become palrethees as punishiment. To further the humiliation, they often end up as subordinates to balors. They are emaciated humanoids with bony wings whose bodies are constantly on fire.
<gallery>
Palrethee.jpg
Palrethee 3e.jpg
</gallery>
*'''[[Arrow Demon]]''': A grey skinned humanoid with four arms that can wield two longbows at the same time.
<gallery>
File:Arrow Demon.jpg
</gallery>
*'''[[Cerebrilith]]''': A large hunchbacked demon with an oversized protruding spine which its brain visibly extends into. They have psionic abilities.
<gallery>
File:Cerebrilith.jpg
</gallery>
*'''[[Adaru]]''': A millipede with a man's face that is able to charm other tanar'ri and constantly produces a cloud around itself that is poisonous to non-evil creatures and strengthens evil creatures
<gallery>
File:Adaru 3e.jpg
</gallery>
*'''[[Lilitu]]''': A promoted form of a Succubus that infiltrates and corrupts churches by pretending to be [[cleric]]s. They lose their wings but gain four tentacles with poison stingers. They have several of the abilities as a cleric. They are vulnerable to divine magic, but good spells and good magic items treat them as if they were good. By hugging a humanoid, they can place a magical tattoo on them for 24 hours that charges them with chaotic energy and allows the lilitu to communicate with and observe them.
<gallery>
File:Lilitu.jpg
</gallery>
*'''[[Kastighur]]''': Huge demons that act as the hunters and jailers of the abyss.
<gallery>
File:Kastighur.jpg
</gallery>

===True Tanar'ri===
*'''[[Vrock]]''': Humanoid vultures that serve as elite soldiers in the [[Blood War]]. Not sure why they are listed as true tanar'ri, as they are actually weaker than several of the demons in both the lesser and greater classes.
<gallery>
Vrock 1e.jpg
Vrock 2e.gif
Vrock 3e.jpg
Vrock 5e.jpg
</gallery>
*'''[[Hezrou]]''': Frog-shaped Tanar'ri possess a cool, sharp intellect that allows them to perform their duties in the [[Blood War]] with precision and dedication.
<gallery>
Hezrou 1e.jpg
Hezrou 2e.png
Hezrou Babau Dretch 3e.jpg
Hezrou 3e.png
Hezrou 5e.jpg
</gallery>
*'''[[Glabrezu]]''': The primary summoning material, they are skilled at tempting their summoners and giving them plenty of gifts of power, only to withdraw said power at the worst possible moment to get them killed and pulled into the Abyss.
<gallery>
Glabrezu 1e.jpg
Glabrezu 2e.gif
Glabrezu Vrock 3e.jpg
Glabrezu Evistro Barlgura 4e.jpg
Glabrezu 5e.jpg
</gallery>
*'''[[Alkilith]]''': The Type III.5 Demon, if you will. Oozes that can corrupt anything and anyone with a mere touch. They don't fight in the Blood War, mainly for practical reasons on account of them being oozes. If they stretch themselves around a doorway or window, they can create a portal to the Abyss.
<gallery>
Alkilith 2e.png
Alkilith 3e.jpg
Alkilith 5e.png
</gallery>
*'''[[Nalfeshnee]]''': The pig-ape judges of the Abyss. All petitioners that enter the Abyss pass by a Nalfeshnee who judges them based on their lives and appoints them a new form. At least sometimes: other times they hand out forms at random. They also determine who gets to be in charge of the armies and who gets to be promoted, demoted or removed from (as in: destroyed) its ranks.
<gallery>
Nalfeshnee 1e.jpg
Nalfeshnee 2e.gif
Gabberslug.jpg
Nalfeshnee Quasit Succubus.jpg
Nalfeshnee 3e summon.jpg
Nalfeshnee 4e.jpg
Nalfeshnee 5e.jpg
</gallery>
*'''[[Marilith]]''': [[Lamia|Attractive women with the lower body of a snake]] and six arms, they are the tacticians of the Abyss. They have keen minds, anticipate what the forces of Law are going to do and act upon it, much to the rage of the Baatezu who cannot understand the plots of the Marilith.
<gallery>
Marilith 1e.jpg
Marilith MM 2e.png
Marilith 2e.jpeg
3e Marilith.jpg
5e Marilith.jpg
Marilith.jpg
</gallery>
*'''[[Balor]]''': The dreaded kings of the Abyss, Balors are the most powerful of the Tanar'ri aside from [[Demon Prince]]s and the rarely seen Klurichirs and Myrmyxicuses, serving as lords, generals and leaders, inspiring and threatening others into fighting for the cause. A mix of passion and reason, they are as intelligent and sharp as they are evil and chaotic. These are ''exactly'' the same as the [[Bloodthirster]] of Warhammer, right down to the flaming whips and being literally made evil and chaos (or [[Chaos]]) with the sole difference being that they use swords instead of axes. They like to eat doggies and beat up Pit Fiends in their spare time.
<gallery>
Balor 1e.jpg
Balor 2e.png
Balor 3e.jpg
Balor 4e.jpg
Balor Demonomicon.jpg
Balor 5e.jpg
</gallery>
*'''[[Klurichir]]''': The most powerful type of Tanar'ri besides [[Demon Prince]]s. All other tanar'ri including balors are terrified of them. They have skin the color of a frostbitten corpse, four arms, black spines covering their neck and back, red wings, a face like a cross between a orc and a mule, and a giant second mouth with a huge pair of extremely sharp mandibles on their abdomen. They are the elite generals of the most powerful [[Demon Prince]]s and they usually only appear when their master wants to be absolutely sure that an important mission will be completed.
<gallery>
Klurichir 3e.png
Klurichir 4e.png
</gallery>
*'''[[Myrmyxicus]]''': Another Tanar'ri that beats the Balor in power. They rule over the oceans of the Abyss. It looks like an giant eel with a reptile skull for a face, six goat horns, four arms, six tentacles around its waist, and a lamprey-mouth on the end of its tail.
<gallery>
Myrmyxicus Wastrilith Skulvyn.jpg|A myrmyxicus with a wastrilith and a skulvyn.
</gallery>
*'''[[Jarilith]]''': Demonic lions that like to hunt other demons.
<gallery>
Jarilith.jpg
</gallery>
*'''[[Kelvezu]]''': The infiltrators and assassins of the abyss. Aside from the pink skin and poisonous fingernails, they appear almost exactly like a short human.
<gallery>
Kelvezu.jpg
</gallery>
*'''[[Sorrowsworn]]''': Demons that appear in places where many people have suffered loss. They have an aura that causes feelings of loss in those around them. They read the minds of their enemies and use that to determine the best way to torment them by reminding them of things that cause them to feel more loss. A sorrowsworn demon is a large but skinny grey-skinned humanoid with black wings and a constantly frowning face. 4th Edition retconned their fluff, making them natives of the [[Shadowfell]] and not demons.
<gallery>
Sorrowsworn.jpg
Sorrowsworn 4e.jpg
</gallery>

===Guardian Tanar'ri===
*'''[[Molydeus]]''': The only Tanar'ri within this rank, a Molydeus stands outside of the ranks of the other Tanar'ri. Each demon prince has but one, who acts as their 2nd in command. Each one wears a special amulet around it's neck containing some of it's lord's Demon essence, acting as a sort of demonic Phylactery.
<gallery>
Molydeus 2e.jpg
Molydeus 3e.jpg
Molydeus 4e.jpg
</gallery>

===Ex Tanar'ri===
*'''[[Shadow Fiend]]''': The [[Fiend Folio]] Shadow Demon was summarily taken off the Tanar'ri list because TSR were too lazy to give it a made up name like "Penumbrilith", and "shadow tanar'ri" just sounded too lazy. It slunk back by way of Ravenloft, MC Appendix; then Planescape of course. It was still Chaotic Evil, and still hung out at the Abyss.
<gallery>
Shadow Demon 1e.png
Shadowfiend MC Ravenloft.jpg
Shadow fiend DoD.jpg
Shadow Demon 2e.gif
Shadow fiend DoD2.jpg
Shadow Demon 5e.jpg
</gallery>
*'''[[Blood Fiend]]''': A demon that became a vampire-like undead.
<gallery>
File:Blood fiend.jpg
</gallery>

===Generic and Unclassified Demons===
During second edition, demons were renamed Tanar'ri. When third edition was released, it was retconned so only some demons are considered Tanar'ri, with the rest being [[Loumara]] or [[Obyrith]] plus a few random demons that don't fit into any of the three. [[Dragon Magazine]] Issue #359 groups some of these demons into Servitors, demons created by gods like the yochlol, The Created, demons artificially created by less powerful beings like the quasit (even if the abyss has started forming them spontaneously like other demons), and Beasts, the abyss's equivalent of animals like the skulvyn. Additionally, during fourth and fifth edition several new demons were added and were never categorized. This list does not include monsters that were only demons in 4th edition, such as the various types of [[Yugoloth]]s. We will list these demons here because we don't have anywhere else to put them. This list is probably incomplete.

* '''[[Abyssal Drake]]''': A failed attempt to create flying mounts for demon lords by breeding demons with dragons and wyverns. Their breath deals fire and unholy damage at the same time.
<gallery>
Abyssal drake.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Abyssal Eviscerator]]''': Dumb four armed demons that fight by grabbing enemies and tearing their guts open.
<gallery>
Eviscerator 4e.png
</gallery>
* '''[[Abyssal Maw]]''': A demon consisting of a [[Xorn|giant vertical mouth with three eyes and several short clawed arms]]. In 5th edition it is said that their mouth leads directly to the belly of [[Yeenoghu]].
<gallery>
Maw 4e.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Abyssal Scavenger]]''': A quadrupedal demon with a vertical mouth. These demons are individually very weak, but they are extremely dangerous to summon because they can multiply extremely fast if there are no other demons keeping their numbers in check, and they can form portals to the abyss when a large number of them are gathered in one place.
<gallery>
Abyssal scavenger.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Abyssal Skulker]]''': Sneaky but weak demons. Looks very similar to the Abyssal Scavenger, probably because the scavenger recycled the design.
* '''[[Abyssal Ravager]]''': A demonic hyena with a scorpion tail. In fifth edition this demon was combined with the [[Shoosuva]].
<gallery>
File:Ravager maw skulker.jpg|An abyssal ravager, maw, and skulker.
</gallery>
* '''[[Abyssal Rotfiend]]''': Undead demons with psychic powers made of demon and devil flesh stitched together.
<gallery>
Abyssal rotfiend.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Abyssal Wretch]]''': A victim killed by a Rutterkin or a Sybriex in 5th edition may rise as an abyssal wretch.
* '''[[Abyssal Wurm]]''': Two-headed half-centipede half-dragons born from [[Tiamat]] screwing a demon lord called Kothok. They are used for guarding portals in and out of the abyss.
<gallery>
Abyssal wurm.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Ash-Wrought Soulburner]]''' Fiery demons that once were [[Efreet]]i. They suck the heat out of living creatures.
<gallery>
Ashwrought soulburner.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Bebilith]]''': Giant spiders that hunt other demons.
<gallery>
Bebilith 2e.png
Bebilith 3e.jpg
Bebilith 4e.jpg
Bebilith PF 2e.png
</gallery>
* '''[[Blood Demon]]''': Not to be confused with the blood fiend. These mysterious demons are [[Slime|oozes]] made of blood that randomly appear in the abyss in swarms before vanishing again. One theory is that they are the remains of an [[Obyrith]] lord killed by [[Tharizdun]] that are are trying to reform.
<gallery>
Blood demon.png
</gallery>
* '''[[Bloodseep Demon]]''': Another four armed demon. They can spray blood from their body that heals other demons and is poisonous to other creatures.
<gallery>
Bloodseep demon 4e.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Bonegouge Assassin]]''': Shadowy skeletons with big claws. These demons are believed to have been created by [[Orcus]] by transforming mortal assassins.
<gallery>
Bonegouge assassin.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Clockwork Horror]]''': Demonic constructs, usually resembling spiders. And they can multiply. They killed the demon lord that created them and swarmed across the abyss before the demon lord [[Haagenti]] managed to get control over them. They likely would have wiped out all organic life if he hadn't.
<gallery>
Clockwork horror 2e.png
Clockwork horror 3e.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Consumptive Parasite]]''': Small demons that attack in massive swarms. They were once [[Slaad]] tadpoles corrupted by the abyss.
<gallery>
Consumptive parasite.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Deathdrinker]]''': Extremely arrogant demons with an aura that harms the living and heals undead.
<gallery>
Deathdrinker 3e.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Demon Spawn]]''': The taint of the abyss sometimes causes mortals to give birth to demons. Evil spellcasters and [[Hag]]s can also create them on purpose with dark magic. They resemble their humanoid parents but with scary deformities.
<gallery>
Demon spawn.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Dust Demon]]''' Dust demons are formed from tribes of [[Djinn]]i who were transformed by the abyss into insane masses of living wind and debris. A single dust demon is actually made up of many smaller dust wisps which are each the corrupted soul of a Djinn. Theoretically it might be possible to transform a Dust Demon back into the Djinni it used to be by capturing a single wisp from it and healing it of its madness, then allowing it to return to the dust demon.
* '''[[Evanissu]]''' (City Corruptor): These demon appear in corrupt cities and work to make them even worse them though a campaign of murder and terror, leading a gang of criminals and other urban monsters.
<gallery>
City corruptor.png
</gallery>
* '''[[Evistro]]''' (Carnage Demon): Muscular demons with bright red skin. They become stronger when groups of them are close together, but they also have a tendency to attack their allies during combat.
<gallery>
Evistro.jpg
Evistro 4e.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Ferrolith]]''': A [[Succubus]] that [[Wat|fell into a pool of molten iron]]. They gained iron-hard skin but lost their beauty.
<gallery>
Ferrolith.png
</gallery>
* '''[[Fire Demon]]''' Skeletal demons who are constantly on fire. Comes in lesser and standard forms.
<gallery>
Fire demon.png
</gallery>
* '''[[Guardian Demon]]''': These tentacled monstrosities get their name from the fact that they are easy to magically bind into service as a guardians. They come in two varieties, the weaker Abominations, and the powerful Soul Drinkers.
<gallery>
Guardian demon.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Ghour]]''': Another [[Minotaur]]-like demon engineered by [[Baphomet]]. Weaker than goristros but still powerful.
<gallery>
Ghour.jpg
Ghour attack.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Gnaw Demon]]''': Small annoying demons that are always eating and can teleport.
<gallery>
Gnaw demon.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Haures]]''': Undead demons with the upper body of a minotaur and the lower body of a giant spider, created by [[Orcus]] from the bodies of fallen Goristros.
<gallery>
Haures.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Immolith]]''': An undead demon skeleton that is also on fire.
<gallery>
Immolith 4e.png
</gallery>
* '''[[Jarrlak]]''': Icy horrors who kidnap people and encase them in ice while keeping them alive so they slowly die over decades in an icy torment.
<gallery>
Jarrlak.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Malgodemon]]''': A large and scary looking but not very smart demon that serves smarter creatures as thugs. They are extremely greedy and can be easily bribed into turning on their current master. Oddly, this creature is named similarly to the other demons that were [[Yugoloth]]s or daemons in editions other than 4th, and it is associated with [[Raavasta]], which is 4th edition's version of the arcanaloth, but there doesn't seem to be a yugoloth or daemon version of the malgodemon in other editions, unless it is in an obscure source.
<gallery>
Malgodemon.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Mahataa]]''': Blind but very powerful demons made of mud.
<gallery>
Mahataa.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Mavawhan]]''': Icy demons whose claws contain a venom that turns victims into ice.
<gallery>
Mavawhan.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Nashrou]]''': Alien-looking demons with four legs and six arms, but no head, just a cluster of eyes where their twisted limbs all connect. They are surprisingly weak and can be instantly killed by hitting them in the right place.
<gallery>
Nashrou 3e.webp
</gallery>
* '''[[Needle Demon]]''': Spiky demons that mind control people into thinking their allies have betrayed them.
* '''[[Neldrazu]]''': Yet another four armed demon. At least these ones look a little different. They have pincers on all four arms instead of hands and four eyes and a single tentacle on the back of their head. They ambush enemies while they are in combat with other demons and teleport away with the enemy to separate them from their group.
<gallery>
Neldrazu Needle demon Nycademon 4e.png|Neldrazu, Needle Demon and Nycademon/[[Yugoloth|Nycaloth]]. The artist apparently made a mistake because the Neldrazu should be the same size as the Needle demon, not the Nycaloth.
</gallery>
* '''[[Kazrith]]''': A powerful eel-like aquatic demon. They can also rapidly travel underground using acid to melt through the ground.
<gallery>
Kazrith Rupture demon.png|A Kazrith and a Rupture Demon
</gallery>
* '''[[Pod Demon]]''': A large green slimy hulk that produces smaller minions from the pimples on its body that it uses as living weapons.
<gallery>
Pod demon.png
</gallery>
* '''[[Quarrak]]''': These small goblin-like demons are actually very powerful for their size. All quarraks have a twin they are constantly fighting with when they are not fighting together against other creatures. If one dies the other will die a few days later.
<gallery>
Quarrak.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Quasit]]''': The chaotic version of an [[Imp]].
<gallery>
File:Quasit 1e.jpg
File:Quasit 2e.png
File:Quasit 3e.png
File:Quasit 4e.jpg
File:Quasit-5e.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Rageborn]]''': Ape-like demons who serve [[Kostchtchie]]
<gallery>
Rageborn Demonomicon.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Retriever]]''': Technically not a demon, but actually a powerful construct resembling a giant spider created by demons. In 5th edition they are creations of [[Drow]] instead of demons.
<gallery>
Retriever 1e.png
Retriever 2e.png
Retriever 3e.jpg
Retriever 4e.png
Retriever 5e.png
</gallery>
* '''[[Ruin Demon]]''': Demon-shaped swarms of flies with human faces that consume all other organic creatures except for plants.
<gallery>
Ruin demon.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Runespiral Demon]]''': A demon that wears a rune covered shell on its back like a hermit crab. Their are multiple types of Runespiral demon but the most common ones shoot lightning.
<gallery>
Runespiral demon.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Rupture Demon]]''': Tentacled blobs of darkness that sacrifice themselves to restrain enemies so stronger demons can kill them. When a rupture demon dies they also release an explosion of goo and tentacles that heals and boosts the power of another demon.
<gallery>
Kazrith Rupture demon.png
</gallery>
* '''[[Shoosuva]]''': An obscure undead hyena monster that only appeared in magazines until it got to a appear in a book for the first time in 5th edition. Now instead of an undead, it is a demon hyena that serves [[Yeenoghu]], given only to [[gnoll]]s who have earned his favor. Looks like a giant hyena with a scorpion's tail.
<gallery>
File:Shoosuva 1e.png
File:Shoosuva 3e.png
File:Shoosuva 5e.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Scion of Zuggtmoy]]''': Fungus-infested skeletal demons made of demons and mortals transformed by being buried alive in [[Zuggtmoy]]'s Gardens of Rot, or by being infected with the spores of another Scion.
<gallery>
Scion of zuggtmoy.png
</gallery>
* '''[[Seszrath]]''': An undead demon formed from many corpses fused together. It is a huge hulking creature with octopuses for hands, the feet of an elephant, a huge lamprey mouth on its belly, and a small head.
<gallery>
Seszrath.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Shaadee]]''': An undead demon formed from the soul of a mortal spellcaster who swore themselves to a demon lord in life and their master forced them to continue serving in death.
<gallery>
Shaadee.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Skulvyn]]''': A lesser aquatic demon with an aura that slows down other creatures around it, resembling a lizard with webbed feet and four tails.
<gallery>
Myrmyxicus Wastrilith Skulvyn.jpg
Skulvyn.png
</gallery>
* '''[[Spawn of Juiblex]]''': These [[Slime|ooze]] demons are formed from pieces of [[Juiblex]] and so they resemble smaller copies of him.
<gallery>
Spawn of juiblex.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Tomb Demon]]''': A serpentine demon with a pair of bony arms. The first Tomb demons spawned from the battlefield where [[Orcus]] and his army battled and defeated the demon lord Sylbarax and his army who used to be servants of the snake god [[Zehir]].
<gallery>
Tomb demon eva widermann.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Voracalith]]''': The most gluttonous of all demon. They resemble humanoids with four long tentacles with stingers on the ends growing from their back.
<gallery>
Voracalith.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Whisper Demon]]''': Ghostly demons who try to drive mortals into comiting suicide. They could turn those who died around them into [[Allip]]s under their control.
<gallery>
Whisper demon 3e.webp
</gallery>
* '''[[Writhing Crag]]''': Evil tentacled boulders that were once some elemental earth creatures such as [[Xorn]]s.
<gallery>
Soulburner Crag Parasite.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Wastrilith]]''': Another eel-like aquatic demon.
<gallery>
Wastrilith 2e.gif
Myrmyxicus Wastrilith Skulvyn.jpg
Wastrilith 5e.png
</gallery>
*'''[[Wendigo]]''': A demon that possesses a person who has committed the sin of [[Cannibalism]] and transforms them into a monster.
<gallery>
Wendigo Demonomicon.jpg
</gallery>
*'''[[Yochlol]]''': The handmaidens of [[Lolth]], the Yochlol are shapeshifters who can freely change between their [[drow]] form, a spider form or that of [[slime|a great mass of yellow ooze with a single staring eye]]. They enjoy Lolth's protection from other demons and act like it, but they'll get brutally murdered if another demon thinks it can get away with it.
<gallery>
File:Yochlol 1e.png
File:Yochlol 2e.png
File:Yochlol 3e.jpg
File:Yochlol 4e.jpg
File:Yochlol 5e.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Zovvut]]''': Muscular demons with massive claws, feathered wings, and three eyes. Probably created by [[Orcus]]. It can heal itself by draining life from those who look into its eyes. Victims who are killed this way rise as [[wight]]s. In 4th edition, Zovvuts were redesigned to be prettier and they were retconned into being fallen angels of [[Tharizdun]].
<gallery>
Jovoc Palrethee Zovvut 3e.jpg
Zuvvut 4e.jpg
</gallery>
* '''[[Zythar]]''': Powerful demons resembling a humanoid flame wearing armor.
<gallery>
Zythar.jpg
</gallery>

==Demon Lords==
The first amongst the demons, the lords of the Tanar'ri (more commonly known as Demon Lords) are some of the most powerful, dangerous, cunning and deadly beings in existence. They attained their position by strength of arms and cleverness (mostly the former) to rule over their servants. Those who wish to challenge their lords are quickly struck down as an example and to keep the other minions in line. The most powerful of the demon lords are the [[Demon Prince]]s.

{{D&D-Outsiders}}

Qlippoth

2021-02-21T02:46:17Z

2001:48F8:402A:618:0:0:0:C72F: /* Types of Qlippoth */

[[File:Qlippoth assault.jpg|right|400px|thumb|An assortment of Qlippoth]]
'''Qlippoth''' ''(singular & plural)'' are one of the many, ''many'' races of [[fiend]]s that [[Pathfinder]] has chosen to create to further flesh out their array of evil [[outsider]]s, due to not being restricted to the [[Great Wheel]].

The Hebrew word "qlippa" means "husk", -ôth is how a Hebrew feminine word gets pluraled. The Jews applied the term first to the pagans' idols. Later their theologians applied this to the most unholy of evil spirits.

In Pathfinder the Qlippoth are the original inhabitants and masters of the [[Abyss]], squamous and horrific creatures with shapes reminiscent of lower life forms such as insects and mollusks, and one of the two oldest races in existence, preceded perhaps only by the [[Protean]]s. Driven to near-extinction by the howling hordes of demons, they have become obsessed with the need to exterminate all mortal life in order to stem the tide of sins that give rise to their rivals. Presumably once they're done with this they'll return to their old larger goal, which seemed to be the destruction of all existence outside of Qlippoth and the Abyss.

They're essentially the Pathfinder equivalent of D&D's [[Obyrith]].

==Types of Qlippoth==
Word of Warning: these things are fucking '''''weird'''''-looking. Professional biologists may require therapy after looking at these pictures.

;'''Augnagar''': The Abyss's apex predators. Their bite imparts a flesh-rotting curse.
<gallery>
Augnagar 1e 1.png
Augnagar 1e 2.png
Augnagar 2e.png
</gallery>

;'''Behimiron''': A giant beetle that lays its eggs in the corpses of those it kills.
<gallery>
Behimiron.png
</gallery>

;'''Cataboligne''': A giant six-legged hippo with spiked clubs in place of a head and tail, and a big mouth across its stomach. The tree growing on its back can emit a death beam that turns you to dust. Its bite also has flesh-eating bacteria. Other qlippoth, and [[protean]]s, use them as living siege engines.
<gallery>
Cataboligne.png
</gallery>

;'''Chernobue''': Bulbous one-eyed thing with four tentacle "legs", two tentacle "tails" and two shoulder-mounted tentacles that end in lamprey-like mouths. Their bite injects a thick orange venom that is actually a living creature. If you successfully cure the poison, it shoots out of your body like a chestburster.
<gallery>
Chernobue 1e.png
Chernobue 2e.png
</gallery>

;'''Cythnigot''': A parasitic fungus that infects, mutates and controls animals. Looks like a venus flytrap.
<gallery>
Cythnigot.jpg
Cythnigot 2e.png
</gallery>

;'''Deinochos''': Hermit crab like qlippoths that attach themselves to larger qlippoths like remoras and then control them with telepathy.
<gallery>
Deinochos.png
</gallery>

;'''Gongorinan''': Big green crabs with rocks growing on top of them. They have four different arms: crab claw, humanoid, mantis claw, and tentacle. Though their description says they have at least twelve eyestalks, they are only drawn with at most four.
<gallery>
Gongorinan 1.png
Gongorinan 2.png
</gallery>

;'''Gorgoros''': three-eyed, many-tailed snakes that can turn you to stone with their gaze.
<gallery>
Gorgoros.png
</gallery>

;'''Hydraggon''': Aquatic qlippoths that dwell in the River Styx. They have multiple prehensile tongues that can wield weapons.
<gallery>
Hydraggon.png
</gallery>

;'''Iathavos''': Like the [[tarrasque]], only one of these can exist at any one time. It can absorb creatures and turn them into nyogoths.
<gallery>
Iathavos.png
</gallery>

;'''Nyogoth''': Flying spaghetti monster. Half of its tentacles end in lamprey-like mouths.
<gallery>
Nyogoth 1e.png
Nyogoth 2e.png
</gallery>

;'''Shoggti''': These [[Illithid|squidlike masters of mind control]] invade other realms in bands to capture creatures alive and turn them into charmed slaves.
<gallery>
Shoggti.png
Shoggti 2e.png
</gallery>

;'''Thognorok''': A [[Shoggoth]] or [[Gibbering Mouther]] with more insectoid features. They used to live on the back of [[Rovagug]] like fleas, and are considered its divine servitors.
<gallery>
Thognorok.jpg
</gallery>

;'''Thulgant''': A spider with an upside-down head, tentacles coming out of its mouth, and three wiggly scorpion tails. When an augnagar becomes too fat off cannibalism, it rips itself apart to reveal a newly born thulgant.
<gallery>
Thulgant 1e.png
Thulgant 2e.png
</gallery>

;'''Utukku''': Shapeshifters whose job is to pretend to be clerics and start cults. Upon death, the cultists' souls will be transformed into quintessence that merges with the Abyss, thus denying souls to the demons.
<gallery>
Utukku.jpg
</gallery>

;'''Vexenion''': An ooze-like qlippoth that feeds by absorbing prey. Created by the qlippoth lord Yamasoth. They are intelligent and have a habit of making small talk with their prey as they absorb it, asking about its favorite foods while commenting on the flavor of the prey itself.
<gallery>
Vexenion.png
</gallery>

==Qlippoth Lords==
*Aonaurious, The Enigma Clot
*Chavazvug, The Crawling Inferno
*Gholz ''(Deceased)''
*Isph-Aun-Vuln, The Feaster Within
*Oaur-Ooung, The Blistering Womb
*Shiggarreb, The Marauding Maw
*Thuskchoon, The Everglutton
*Yamasoth, The Polymorph Plague

{{Pathfinder-Fiends}}

Elder Evils

2021-02-21T02:31:29Z

2001:48F8:402A:618:0:0:0:C72F: /* Atropus */

[[File:Elder evils cover.jpg|thumb]]
[[Elder Evils]] are ancient evil beings of immense power whose existence threatens the world. Some Elder Evils are gods, while others are merely god like beings, such as extremely powerful [[Fiend]]s and creatures of the [[Far Realm]]. The concept of Elder Evils was first talked about in the second edition book ''Powers and Pantheons'', which gave stats for three very powerful monsters of the [[Forgotten Realms]] known as the Elder Eternal Evils. Later books would shorten the term to just Elder Evils. The third edition book, [[Lords of Madness]], lists five beings of immense power that are respected by the Aboleths as the closest thing they have to gods. Later, the [[Splatbook]] Elder Evils went into detail about how to use Elder Evils in a campaign. Two more were revealed in [[Dragon Magazine]]. Elder Evils are also mentioned in 4th and 5th edition.

=2nd Edition=
==Powers and Pantheons==
{{Dnd-stub}}

The Elder Eternal Evils are three monstrous creatures from the [[Forgotten Realms]] setting. They were updated to third edition in the book ''Champions of Ruin''.
===[[Dendar]]===
Dendar the Night Serpent is a monstrous snake who was born when something had a dream for the first time in [[Forgotten Realms]]. She grows stronger by eating nightmares and is said to be destined to destroy the entire setting when she has collected enough.

In third edition Dendar is CR 26.
<gallery>
Dendar P&P.png
Dendar CoR.jpg
</gallery>

===[[Kezef]]===
Kezef the Chaos Hound is a monstrous skeletal dog with maggots in place of flesh that consumes the souls of the faithful in the afterlife who may have been created by [[Jergal]]. Has a grudge against [[Mask]], which is a good thing because this drives it to spend more time hunting down Mask than eating souls.

In third edition Kezef is CR 21.
<gallery>
Kezef P&P.png
Kezef CoR.jpg
</gallery>

===[[Ityak-Ortheel]]===
Ityak-Ortheel the Elf-Eater is a horrible creature resembling a giant headless turtle with three legs and a giant mouth surrounded by forty tentacles. It gets its name because it can only gain sustenance from eating elves. It was born from the spilled blood of [[Corellon]] Larethian and [[Gruumsh]] and is used as a weapon by the god [[Malar]].

In third edition Ityak-Ortheel is CR 22.

<gallery>
Ityak-ortheel P&P.png
Ityak-ortheel CoR.jpg
</gallery>

=3rd Edition=
==Lords of Madness==
While most [[Aboleth]]s do not worship gods, there are five godlike beings that they pay respects to, which are described in the book [[Lords of Madness]], but not given stats.
* [[Bolothamogg]], Him Who Watches from Beyond the Stars: A primal force that keeps the multiverse separated from the outer dimensions.
* [[Holashner]], the Hunger Below: A gigantic centipede squid thing that eats its way through the material plane, leaving behind a black substance that can be compressed into Bilestone, a substance that debilitates non-aberrations.
* [[Piscaethces]], The Blood Queen: The origin of aboleths. She wanders throughout the multiverse spawning new aboleths. If she were to ever return aboleths would see it as proof that the multiverse isn't infinite.
* [[Shothotugg]], Eater of Worlds: A mass of liquid that travels between worlds, poisoning and parasitizing them and slowly changing the laws of the multiverse as it does so.
* [[Y'chak]], The Violet Flame: A pillar of violet flames concealing a form so horrifying it would destroy anyone who looked at it (a relative of [[Pale Night]] maybe?). It encourages mortals to worship evil gods and may be responsible for the creation of many of those gods.

==Elder Evils (the book)==
The book Elder Evils was released near the end of 3.5 edition as a tool for dungeon masters wanting to end their current campaign and switch to 4th edition, similar to how [[The Apocalypse Stone]] was released to give DMs in 2nd edition a way to end their campaigns before switching to 3rd. The Elder Evils described in the book are entities with the potential to end the world, and thus end the campaign if the players fail to stop them, or act as a satisfyingly epic final boss for the players. The book instructs the DM on how to base a campaign around stopping one of these beings. The book does not describe every detail of the campaigns like most books, but instead gives a general outline of the plot, plus the stats for major enemies the players will encounter, and details of the final dungeon, and what adjustments to make if the campaign is set in [[Faerun]] or [[Eberron]]. Many of the Elder Evils are not statted, as they are too powerful when fully unleashed for the players to stop, but instead only have stats for an aspect of them that the players can defeat.

===[[Atropus]]===
Known as The World Born Dead, Atropus is a moon sized undead creature that is as old as creation and desires the end of all life. It destroys worlds by crashing on them and then draining them of all positive energy. Atropus cannot be destroyed, but the players can drive it away. As Atropus approaches the world necromancy spells become more powerful and the dead begin to rise as undead spontaneously. Atropus itself has no stats (how the fuck do you stat '''''a goddsdamned planet?!'''''), but the Aspect of Atropus is a CR 23 undead. Atropus is also infested with many kinds of undead, including famine spirits, advanced deathshriekers, rage winds, angels of decay, nightcrawlers, nightwalkers, nightwings, dread wraiths, and a single dread boneyard. Atropus is also a very hostile environment with no atmosphere unless it is about to collide with the world, and has a variety of effects that harm the living and boost the undead.

In the suggested campaign, Caira Xasten (human, level 5 bard, level 5 rogue, level 10 [[Ur-Priest]]) wants to attract Atropus to destroy the world to get revenge on the gods, blaming them for the death of her husband who was killed by a falling meteorite. To do this she and her cult first seek out a book about Atropus, then try to obtain the [[Book of Vile Darkness]] in order to learn the ''apocalypse of the sky'' spell which she will attempt to cast on a large city to attract Atropus with the mass death. Meanwhile, the world is also invaded by a powerful general of [[Orcus]] who also wants to summon Atropus named Gorguth ([[Bodak]], level 2 ranger, level 1 fighter, level 9 blackguard), who rides on a powerful construct named Skyshadow and leading his own army of the undead to cause mass death. After failing to stop either one of them, the players then must travel to Atropus and battle against a variety of undead monsters until they find and defeat the aspect of Atropus, which will cause Atropus to retreat.
<gallery>
File:Atropus.jpg
File:Map of Atropus's Face.jpg|so big that his face has a travel map.
File:Aspect of Atropus.jpeg|His significantly smaller (and killable) Aspect.
</gallery>

=== [[Father Llymic]] ===
Father Llymic is an entity from the [[Far Realm]] that sleeps in an icy prison that melts in darkness and thickens in sunlight. It wants to remake the world to be more hospitable to itself and its children, which it then creates by [[Nurgle|spreading a plague that]] [[Plaguebearer|turns the infected into creatures like itself]] [[Gellarpox Infected|known as brood spawn]]. The more people Father Llymic infects, the more he comes out of his sleep, and as it awakes the sun starts to go out, and darkness spells grow stronger while light spells weaken. He is called Father Llymic because he often projects an illusion of a friendly old man. Its true form is a massive demon like creature with scythes for arms, three eyes, and skin covered in icy crystal, with a CR of 18. Beings converted into brood spawn gain similar features.

In the suggested campaign, the player are sent to investigate the disappearance of a caravan that was attacked by a tribe of barbarians that worship Father Llymic. After this a huge glacier and icy weather spreads down from the mountain where Father Llymic is imprisoned and strange ice monsters start attacking people. Soon whole towns and villages are transformed into brood spawn as the weather gets worse and worse while the sun gets darker and darker. The players must travel up the mountain while battling through mad cultists and many kinds of brood spawn to face and defeat Father Llymic.

<Gallery>
File:Father Lymic.jpg
</Gallery>

===[[The Hulks of Zoretha]]===
The Hulks of Zoretha are five giants made of stone from another world that plan to exterminate all life on this plane to make room for them to repopulate it with their own kind. As they awaken, the moon turns red, causing people to experience uncontrollable rage. Four of the hulks are female and are each associated with a different element while the last one is male and has wings. They are also completely indestructible as long as they are asleep. All of them are CR 16.

In the suggested campaign, Soelma Nilaenish (elf, level 7 wizard, level 10 loremaster, level 1 rogue) hires the party to recover a copy of the Zoretha Scrolls, then later hires them again to protect the scrolls. She then travels with the party to stop the leader of the cult of Zoretha, Janwulf the Soulbiter (ice giant, level 11 bard). But after Janwulf is defeated Soelma betrays the party and takes control of the cult herself. Soelma is in fact horribly depressed and wants the world to be destroyed, while Janwulf actually had no interest in waking up the hulks and just wanted power. The party then stops Soelma from completing the ritual to wake up the hulks but the moon doesn't return to normal and the whole world is at war. A single cultist escapes from the players and finishes the ritual to wake up the hulks and the players must then destroy them.

===[[The Leviathan]]===
An immense sea monster personifying primal chaos that will destroy the world if it ever wakes up. As it gets close to awakening, the world is affected by extreme weather. The Leviathan does not have stats, as it is too big for the players to fight, but the players may battle against aspects of the leviathan, which are CR 16, or an advanced aspect, which is CR 20.

In the suggested campaign, the players save a port town from a disaster and are sent to investigate the cause of the strange weather. The party then encounters an defeats a cult that worships the leviathan, but their leader, a mysterious man named Enshaddon, escapes. Enshaddon is actually an advanced vampiric [[Ixitxachitl]] with 16 cleric levels named Axihuatl. He is a worshiper of Demogorgon and wants to partially wake up the leviathan using a shard of chaos in order to flood the world. After the players first disrupt his plans, he sends Marcus Hape (human, level 4 rogue, level 4 assassin, level 4 thrall of Demogogon) to kill them. With the help of a sage named Mytus who provides the players with magic and equipment for underwater travel, the players attack a temple located in a hollow spine on the leviathan's back and interrupt Axihuatl's ritual to wake up the leviathan, causing him to lose control of the beast. Axihuatl then allies with the players because he does not want the leviathan to completely destroy the world. They must then travel deeper into the temple and throw the shard of chaos into a pit at the bottom to put the leviathan back to sleep.
<gallery>
Leviathan aspect.png|Aspect of the Leviathan
</gallery>

=== [[Pandorym]] ===
In ancient times, a group of wizards wanted to blackmail the gods. So they summoned a powerful eldritch abomination from "the space 'between' the planes" named Pandorym, contracted it to destroy all the gods, immediately sealed it away before it could do so by imprisoning its mind and body separately, and used the threat of its reunification as the divine blackmail. Fortunately the wizards didn't implement a deadman's switch or anything, so the gods smote their stupid asses when they heard their first demands and wiped the group from the face of history. If made whole, Pandorym will first take revenge on the descendants of the wizards that imprisoned it, then kill all the gods as it was contracted to do. If the contract's completion doesn't return it "home", it'll destroy the universe out of frustration/boredom.

Pandorym's mindless body resembles a huge [[Sphere of Annihilation]] that moves towards anyone that tries to control it, which is kept in an unknown extradimensional prison. Pandorym's mind is sealed within a large near-indestructible crystal and is immensely powerful even without its body; the tiny leakage through the crystal is enough to corrupt nearby high level characters and obliterate the minds of weaker-willed folks, a small "fragment" of its mind is a ''CR 25'' Psionic threat, and the fully released mind is an unstatted behemoth that only divine intervention could stop...

...so far, so first-edition [[Tharizdun]]. It's unfortunate that Pandorym's sign interferes with the planar connections of the world (via a sky-spanning glyph) and makes conjuration+divine magic increasingly difficult as its mind gains influence. Presumably its fully released mind would completely block the world off and make divine intervention near impossible.

In the suggested campaign, Tune Majii (human, Level 2 bard, level 2 wizard) hires the player to find her missing father Lucather (quell, level 8 enchanter, level 10 loremaster), who has become enslaved to Pandorym. Meanwhile, the gods begin sending their mortal followers warnings that somebody is trying to unleash an unimaginably powerful evil. This person turns out to be the [[Inevitable]] named Obligatum VII (kolyarut, level 3 [[Hexblade]], level 5 [[Occult Slayer]]), our wiki's literal poster child of [[Lawful Stupid]]. Obligatum VII wants to release Pandorym because the poor old eldritch abomination entered into a bad-faith contract and ''must'' receive rightful legal remedy for the indignity, [[Lawful Stupid|regardless of the god-ending possibly-universe-ending consequences]]. The players will have to travel to the prison where Pandorym's mind is kept and defeat Lucather and Obligatum VII before they can smash the crystal open with Obligatum's adamantine sword. If the players succeed, they may have to travel to [[Mechanus]] and prevent Obligatum VIII's creation (who'd start this shit all over again).
<gallery>
File:Pandorym.jpg
</gallery>

=== [[Ragnorra]] ===
Ragnorra is an entity of corrupted life that wants to remake all life to fit her own ideals of what life should be. She travels between worlds in the form of a red comet, which crashes down on the world and begins spreading her skin and nerves over the planet, warping all creatures into aberrations. As Ragnorra gets closer to landing, positive energy spells become stronger but also cause gross blemishes, Ragnorra's spores start to fall from the sky that turn things into swarms of pests, living things gain healing abilities but are slowly corrupted into aberrations, and eventually even the dead start rising as aberrations, while undead are forced to flee unless they are underground. When Ragnorra crashes onto a planet she is reduced to a fraction of her full size but is still gargantuan size and has CR 19 in both her initial form after landing, and her True Mother form taken when she merges with the neurotangle.

In the suggested campaign, a cult that worships Ragnorra called the Malshapers attempts to attract Ragnorra to the player's world using kidnapped people and other stolen living entities as bait to guide her on her path to the world. The leader of the cult is Irthicax Vane ([[Zenythri]], level 17 monk), whose world was destroyed by Ragnorra and once fought against her, but eventually went mad and turned to worshiping her, though the players may be able to convince him to help stop her. As Ragnorra approaches, mysterious springs with healing properties start popping up everywhere that are controlled by the Malshapers. Swarms of vermin begin appearing in cities, and in response to this undead beings start showing up to fight them. As the red comet continues to get closer the undead all start leaving. While the players are investigating to see if the undead are planning anything, they get repeatedly attacked by low level rogues sent by the Malshapers. Then an [[Aboleth]] mage with the ability to breath air falls from the sky and enslaves the risen corpses of the Malshapers. Then Ragnorra crashes into the earth and creates an enormous crater full of aberrations and corrupt flesh. The players must travel across this crater to reach the center and confront Ragnorra. Once she has transformed into her True Mother form, the players must defeat her by breaking her connection with the planet, and thus forcing her to leave.

Getting her to crash into Atropus above might make for an interesting campaign.
<gallery>
File:D7b59ix-5a1ad7e3-73d6-4cfc-ab6d-46b7825f13f2.jpg
File:Tumblr inline oyely8D2qp1robfbt 500.png
File:RagnorraFanart.jpg
</gallery>

===[[Sertrous]]===
Sertrous was a powerful [[Obyrith]] that was killed in the distant past, but whose spirit clings to life in his severed skull. He was first killed for refusing to serve [[The Queen of Chaos]] but his spirit escaped to the material plane where he possessed a snake and made it into his new body. After he sent armies of snakes and monsters to attack mortals because he was jealous of the worship the gods received from them, he was then killed again by a Solar named Avamerin, but not before Sertrous revealed the secret that divine magic is possible to gain from any kind of faith, not just faith in a god. Avamerin at first didn't understand what Sertrous had said and shared the words with others, and when godless clerics started appearing as a result he was punished by being demoted to a Planetar. Avamerin then turned on his god and began working to bring Sertrous back to life. Avamerin now leads a cult of heretical [[Yuan-ti]] called The Vanguard of Sertrous that claims Sertrous is the true creator of the Yuan-ti. As Sertrous gets closer to returning to life, encounters with snakes and snake-like monsters become more and more frequent. Sertrous does not have stats because he is nothing but an immobile skull, but the players may fight against a CR 23 aspect of Sertrous.

In the suggested campaign, the players are hired to find out why a merchant has cut contact with his business partners and discover that he has fallen under the sway of a group of Yuan-ti who are lead by somebody named Seghulerak (Yuan-ti abomination, level 10 cleric, level 5 thaumaturgist) and do not worship the traditional Yuan-ti gods. Seghulerak and the Vanguard of Sertrous seize control of a major Yuan-ti city and start setting up ''serpentgates'' in temples around the world from which to launch invasions. The players investigate an infestation of snakes and interfere with the creation of one of these gates. The players eventually makes their way to the city where the Vanguard of Sertrous is based after many battles against Yuan-ti and other snake monsters and defeat Seghulerak, but her body vanishes when she is killed, leaving behind a pile of dead headless snakes. After some investigation the players learn about the Serpent Reliquary, an extradimensional temple that is the true base of the Vanguard. The players locate the portal the Reliquary and defeat Seghulerak again. After this they meet Avamerin, who will try to trick the players into leaving by lying that Sertrous never existed and this was all a test by the gods. If the players attack and defeat him, he is transformed into the aspect of Sertrous which the players must destroy. If the players are dumb enough to fall for his trick, he might send them to a layer of the abyss disguised as their home.
<gallery>
Sertrous aspect.png|Aspect of Sertrous
</gallery>

===[[Kyuss]], The [[Worm That Walks]]===
The Worm That Walks is an evil demigod named [[Kyuss]] that wants to conquer the world and bring about the age of worms to become a full god. As he gets closer to escaping his prison, the world becomes infested with giant centipedes and other worm-like monsters. [[Kyuss]] was once a prophet of an evil god who attempted to ascend to godhood by sacrificing all of his followers and transforming into a great monster made of worms, but he got stuck between mortality and godhood and trapped inside an obelisk. The Worm That Walks is a CR 20 aberration.

In the suggested campaign, Edwin Tolstoff (human lesser worm that walks, level 3 necromancer, level 3 cleric, level 10 true necromancer), escapes from his prison by having his grandchildren kill their mother and release him, causing spawn of Kyuss to start appearing. Edwin wants to release Kyuss from his prison because he hates being a worm that walks and hopes that Kyuss will either kill him or restore his humanity. The players are called to solve a murder mystery, whose culprit is a wererat named Draen, who works for Katarin Tolstoff. After solving this mystery, people are kidnapped and the players track them down to find an [[Avolakia]] who is turning his captives into spawns of Kyuss. Though the players defeat him, people continue disappearing all over the nation. When the party's spellcaster visits a local wizard's guild, they find that it has been ransacked and most of the wizard transformed into undead by Edwin. The most notable item he has stolen is a [[Well of Many Worlds]]. The Herald of Kyuss (Avolakia, level 8 cleric) working for Edwin then poses as an NPC ally the players know and tells them that a wizard named Emirikol the Chaotic is planning to destroy the universe by putting a [[Sphere of Annihilation]] into the well. This is a trick by Edwin to give him the chance to steal a Talisman of the Sphere from Emirikol while the players are fighting him. But Edwin is unable to find a sphere of annihilation, and so anonymously hires the players to go to the [[Tomb of Horrors]] and secretly follows them so that he can steal the sphere from the tomb. The players then must chase him to Wormcrawl island to stop him from using it to break Kyuss's prison. When he reaches the obelisk he completes the ritual and places the sphere of annihilation into the well of many worlds, creating a black hole and releasing Kyuss. The players will have to defeat Kyuss and stop the black hole from destroying reality if it isn't stopped by divine intervention. If you don't have the [[Exemplars of Evil]] book, which includes the stats and description of Edwin's grandchildren and Drean, it suggests replacing Edwin with a different villain. The book also suggests combining this plot with the [[Adventure Path]], ''Age of Worms'' from [[Dungeon Magazine]], which also features Kyuss.
<gallery>
Kyuss.png
Kyuss.jpg
</gallery>

===[[Zargon]]===
Zargon is an ancient evil who once ruled over [[Baator]] as the father of the [[Baatorian]]s before Asmodeus and his [[Baatezu]] strutted in and slapped their dicks on the table. Although he was defeated by Asmodeus, he could not be killed even by the gods and was imprisoned on the material plane. His horn is nearly indestructible and he will regenerate from it if the rest of his body is destroyed. Now he has given up on reclaiming Baator and wants to conquer the mortal world. As he gets closer to awakening the world is affected by extreme weather, including rains of slime that pollute water sources with a contagion that can turn people into [[slime]]s called Whelps of Zargon. Zargon is only CR 16, though according to the fluff he is capable of killing gods due to them being vulnerable to his powers.

Dorn (Cynidicean, Level 1 rogue, level 3 fighter, level 3 ranger, level 7 thrall of Juiblex), the son of Zargon's high cultists, flees from Cynidicea, only to be captured by gnolls and rescued by the party. Zargon begins to wake up as his cultists dig him up. Dorn then gets captured by the cult of Juiblex who tortured and eventually brainwashed him into joining them. The players are then hired by an archeologists named Vanessa (Tiefling, level 7 [[Archivist]], level 7 [[Entropomancer]]) to take her to Cynidicea. However she gets separated from the party on the way and finds her way to Cynidicea alone, where she ends up joining Zargon's cult. The awakening of Zargon attracts the attention of [[Juiblex]], who sends Dorn to make an alliance with Zargon. [[Zuggtmoy]] attempts to stop Juiblex by having their own cult frame Juiblex's cult for murders, which the party investigates. Vanessa convinces Dorn to take control of Zargon's cult with her, and they sacrifice Dorn's father to speed up Zargon's revival. Several factions try to manipulate the players into leading them to Zargon's resting places and the players must play them against each other to find out about Zargon and where to find him. The players eventually make it to Zargon's tomb just as he is fully revived and defeat him and his cultists and ooze servants. But in order to destroy Zargon permanently, they will have to throw his horn into the Eye of Zargon deep underground.
<gallery>
Zargon B4.jpg
Zargon baatorian.jpg
Zargon the Returner.jpg
</gallery>

==Dragon Magazine==
Two more being described as Elder Evils appeared in [[Dragon Magazine]].

[[Zurguth]], The Feasting Vast is mentioned in the article Ecology of the Kaorti, in issue #358. Zurguth is an extremely powerful monster of the [[Far Realm]] in the form of an ocean of flesh. It accidentally created the [[Kaorti]] just by looking at a group of wizards who entered the Far Realm.

===[[Shothragot]]===
Shothragot is detailed in issue #362, in an article written similarly to a chapter of the Elder Evils book. Shothragot is an avatar of [[Tharizdun]] sealed beneath the temple of the Elder Elemental Eye, who works to free Tharizdun from his prison by collecting the 333 gems of Tharizdun. Shothragot itself is too big for the players to defeat and so doesn't have stats. Instead, the players must enter inside of Shothragot and fight the Essence of Shothragot, which is CR 22. As Shothragot gets closer to completing its goal the sky is covered in a Seal of Binding, similar to the one produced by Pandorym.

In the suggested adventure, the players stubble across one of the gems of Tharizdun while exploring a random dungeon and are harassed by agents of Tharizdun until they get rid of it. Later a massive earthquake causes massive destruction but strangely leaves a tower untouched while burying everything around it. Investigating these tower leads to the players finding another black gem and several mad cultists also looking for it. The seal of binding appears in the sky and Tharizdum recognizes that the players are a threat and so Shothragot sends a powerful assassin named Giorge Forsworn after them, who then starts killing the player character's friends and family one by one before he starts going after the player characters. A group of powerful wizards then hire the players to find a member of theirs who when missing while investigating the cause of the Seal of Binding. When the players find them they have already been warped into a servant of Tharizdun. The players then travel to several locations important to the Cult of Tharizdun to find clues. Shothragot finally emerges from its hiding place and the players must defeat it from the inside.

The final part of the adventure was detailed in [[Dungeon]] Magazine 152. Unfortunately, because Dungeon 152 was released in multiple parts online only and has been taken down since then, this adventure is now extremely hard to find since all the archives of Dungeon 152 don't have the complete version.

=4th Edition=
{{Dnd-stub}}
During 4th Edition, several of the Elder Evils were adapted by Dragon Magazine as potential sources of power for [[Warlock]]s. See [[Starspawn]] for details.

The 4th edition version of the [[Book of Vile Darkness]] describes the [[Tsochar]] god [[Mak Thuum Ngatha]] as an Elder Evil. And [[Kyuss]] gets 4th edition stats in Open Grave: Secrets of the Undead.

=5th Edition=
Zargon the Returner was listed as a possible patron for great old one warlocks in the Players Handbook. Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes describes the Elder Evils as the source of monsters known as [[Star Spawn]] and it includes the list of Elder Evils copied below, which includes the elder evils from Powers and Pantheons and Lords of Madness, a few from the Elder Evils book, and some new ones, mainly [[Archomental|Primordials]] and some obscure evil gods from [[Forgotten Realms]]. Unfortunately it does not give any significant description of them beyond just listing their names so readers will have no idea what they are unless they search through previous editions to find them.

* [[Ityak-Ortheel]], the Elf-Eater
* [[Dendar]], the Night Serpent
* [[Borem]] of the Lake of Boiling Mud
* [[Kezef]], the Chaos Hound
* [[Zargon]], the Returner
* [[Carmnod]], the Unseen
* [[Holashner]], the Hunger Below
* [[Piscaethces]], the Blood Queen
* [[Shothotugg]], the Eater of Worlds
* [[Y'chak]], the Violet Flame
* [[Bolothamogg]], Who Watches from Beyond the Stars
* [[Hargut]], of the Gray Pestilence
* [[Haask]], the Voice of Hargut
* [[Ragnorra]], the Mother of Monsters
* The Hulks of [[Zoretha]]
* [[Kyuss]], the Worm That Walks
* [[Tharizdun]], the Elder Elemental Eye
* [[Atropus]], the World Born Dead
* [[Pandorym]], the Utter Annihilation
* [[Haemnathuun]], the Blood lord
* [[Maram]] of the Great Spear
* [[Tyranthraxus]], the Flamed One
* [[The Queen of Chaos]]
* [[Father Llymic]], the Alien Thought Given Flesh

A few of the [[Star Spawn]] Elder Evils from fourth edition are also mentioned in Volo's Guide to Monsters as beings that [[Neogi]] [[Warlock]]s make contracts with. Strangely, a few of them also appeared as [[Vestige]]s in the [[Curse of Strahd]]'s Amber Temple, though how they died and became vestiges is unexplained.

=External links=
* [https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-LNa95CLcSwIUPkRniO3 Homebrew 5E stats for the Elder Evils as well as associated entities]

{{Template:D&D-Nonhuman-Deities}}

[[Category:Roleplaying]]
[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]]
[[Category:Game Books]]
[[Category:Elder Evils]]

Elder Evils

2021-02-21T02:26:25Z

2001:48F8:402A:618:0:0:0:C72F: /* Dendar */ even higher animals have dreams

[[File:Elder evils cover.jpg|thumb]]
[[Elder Evils]] are ancient evil beings of immense power whose existence threatens the world. Some Elder Evils are gods, while others are merely god like beings, such as extremely powerful [[Fiend]]s and creatures of the [[Far Realm]]. The concept of Elder Evils was first talked about in the second edition book ''Powers and Pantheons'', which gave stats for three very powerful monsters of the [[Forgotten Realms]] known as the Elder Eternal Evils. Later books would shorten the term to just Elder Evils. The third edition book, [[Lords of Madness]], lists five beings of immense power that are respected by the Aboleths as the closest thing they have to gods. Later, the [[Splatbook]] Elder Evils went into detail about how to use Elder Evils in a campaign. Two more were revealed in [[Dragon Magazine]]. Elder Evils are also mentioned in 4th and 5th edition.

=2nd Edition=
==Powers and Pantheons==
{{Dnd-stub}}

The Elder Eternal Evils are three monstrous creatures from the [[Forgotten Realms]] setting. They were updated to third edition in the book ''Champions of Ruin''.
===[[Dendar]]===
Dendar the Night Serpent is a monstrous snake who was born when something had a dream for the first time in [[Forgotten Realms]]. She grows stronger by eating nightmares and is said to be destined to destroy the entire setting when she has collected enough.

In third edition Dendar is CR 26.
<gallery>
Dendar P&P.png
Dendar CoR.jpg
</gallery>

===[[Kezef]]===
Kezef the Chaos Hound is a monstrous skeletal dog with maggots in place of flesh that consumes the souls of the faithful in the afterlife who may have been created by [[Jergal]]. Has a grudge against [[Mask]], which is a good thing because this drives it to spend more time hunting down Mask than eating souls.

In third edition Kezef is CR 21.
<gallery>
Kezef P&P.png
Kezef CoR.jpg
</gallery>

===[[Ityak-Ortheel]]===
Ityak-Ortheel the Elf-Eater is a horrible creature resembling a giant headless turtle with three legs and a giant mouth surrounded by forty tentacles. It gets its name because it can only gain sustenance from eating elves. It was born from the spilled blood of [[Corellon]] Larethian and [[Gruumsh]] and is used as a weapon by the god [[Malar]].

In third edition Ityak-Ortheel is CR 22.

<gallery>
Ityak-ortheel P&P.png
Ityak-ortheel CoR.jpg
</gallery>

=3rd Edition=
==Lords of Madness==
While most [[Aboleth]]s do not worship gods, there are five godlike beings that they pay respects to, which are described in the book [[Lords of Madness]], but not given stats.
* [[Bolothamogg]], Him Who Watches from Beyond the Stars: A primal force that keeps the multiverse separated from the outer dimensions.
* [[Holashner]], the Hunger Below: A gigantic centipede squid thing that eats its way through the material plane, leaving behind a black substance that can be compressed into Bilestone, a substance that debilitates non-aberrations.
* [[Piscaethces]], The Blood Queen: The origin of aboleths. She wanders throughout the multiverse spawning new aboleths. If she were to ever return aboleths would see it as proof that the multiverse isn't infinite.
* [[Shothotugg]], Eater of Worlds: A mass of liquid that travels between worlds, poisoning and parasitizing them and slowly changing the laws of the multiverse as it does so.
* [[Y'chak]], The Violet Flame: A pillar of violet flames concealing a form so horrifying it would destroy anyone who looked at it (a relative of [[Pale Night]] maybe?). It encourages mortals to worship evil gods and may be responsible for the creation of many of those gods.

==Elder Evils (the book)==
The book Elder Evils was released near the end of 3.5 edition as a tool for dungeon masters wanting to end their current campaign and switch to 4th edition, similar to how [[The Apocalypse Stone]] was released to give DMs in 2nd edition a way to end their campaigns before switching to 3rd. The Elder Evils described in the book are entities with the potential to end the world, and thus end the campaign if the players fail to stop them, or act as a satisfyingly epic final boss for the players. The book instructs the DM on how to base a campaign around stopping one of these beings. The book does not describe every detail of the campaigns like most books, but instead gives a general outline of the plot, plus the stats for major enemies the players will encounter, and details of the final dungeon, and what adjustments to make if the campaign is set in [[Faerun]] or [[Eberron]]. Many of the Elder Evils are not statted, as they are too powerful when fully unleashed for the players to stop, but instead only have stats for an aspect of them that the players can defeat.

===[[Atropus]]===
Known as The World Born Dead, Atropus is a moon sized undead creature that is as old as creation and desires the end of all life. It destroys worlds by crashing on them and then draining them of all positive energy. Atropus cannot be destroyed, but the players can drive it away. As Atropus approaches the world necromancy spells become more powerful and the dead begin to rise as undead spontaneously. Atropus itself has no stats, but the Aspect of Atropus is a CR 23 undead. Atropus is also infested with many kinds of undead, including famine spirits, advanced deathshriekers, rage winds, angels of decay, nightcrawlers, nightwalkers, nightwings, dread wraiths, and a single dread boneyard. Atropus is also a very hostile environment with no atmosphere unless it is about to collide with the world, and has a variety of effects that harm the living and boost the undead.

In the suggested campaign, Caira Xasten (human, level 5 bard, level 5 rogue, level 10 [[Ur-Priest]]) wants to attract Atropus to destroy the world to get revenge on the gods, blaming them for the death of her husband who was killed by a falling meteorite. To do this she and her cult first seek out a book about Atropus, then try to obtain the [[Book of Vile Darkness]] in order to learn the ''apocalypse of the sky'' spell which she will attempt to cast on a large city to attract Atropus with the mass death. Meanwhile, the world is also invaded by a powerful general of [[Orcus]] who also wants to summon Atropus named Gorguth ([[Bodak]], level 2 ranger, level 1 fighter, level 9 blackguard), who rides on a powerful construct named Skyshadow and leading his own army of the undead to cause mass death. After failing to stop either one of them, the players then must travel to Atropus and battle against a variety of undead monsters until they find and defeat the aspect of Atropus, which will cause Atropus to retreat.
<gallery>
File:Atropus.jpg
File:Map of Atropus's Face.jpg|so big that his face has a travel map.
File:Aspect of Atropus.jpeg|His significantly smaller (and killable) Aspect.
</gallery>

=== [[Father Llymic]] ===
Father Llymic is an entity from the [[Far Realm]] that sleeps in an icy prison that melts in darkness and thickens in sunlight. It wants to remake the world to be more hospitable to itself and its children, which it then creates by [[Nurgle|spreading a plague that]] [[Plaguebearer|turns the infected into creatures like itself]] [[Gellarpox Infected|known as brood spawn]]. The more people Father Llymic infects, the more he comes out of his sleep, and as it awakes the sun starts to go out, and darkness spells grow stronger while light spells weaken. He is called Father Llymic because he often projects an illusion of a friendly old man. Its true form is a massive demon like creature with scythes for arms, three eyes, and skin covered in icy crystal, with a CR of 18. Beings converted into brood spawn gain similar features.

In the suggested campaign, the player are sent to investigate the disappearance of a caravan that was attacked by a tribe of barbarians that worship Father Llymic. After this a huge glacier and icy weather spreads down from the mountain where Father Llymic is imprisoned and strange ice monsters start attacking people. Soon whole towns and villages are transformed into brood spawn as the weather gets worse and worse while the sun gets darker and darker. The players must travel up the mountain while battling through mad cultists and many kinds of brood spawn to face and defeat Father Llymic.

<Gallery>
File:Father Lymic.jpg
</Gallery>

===[[The Hulks of Zoretha]]===
The Hulks of Zoretha are five giants made of stone from another world that plan to exterminate all life on this plane to make room for them to repopulate it with their own kind. As they awaken, the moon turns red, causing people to experience uncontrollable rage. Four of the hulks are female and are each associated with a different element while the last one is male and has wings. They are also completely indestructible as long as they are asleep. All of them are CR 16.

In the suggested campaign, Soelma Nilaenish (elf, level 7 wizard, level 10 loremaster, level 1 rogue) hires the party to recover a copy of the Zoretha Scrolls, then later hires them again to protect the scrolls. She then travels with the party to stop the leader of the cult of Zoretha, Janwulf the Soulbiter (ice giant, level 11 bard). But after Janwulf is defeated Soelma betrays the party and takes control of the cult herself. Soelma is in fact horribly depressed and wants the world to be destroyed, while Janwulf actually had no interest in waking up the hulks and just wanted power. The party then stops Soelma from completing the ritual to wake up the hulks but the moon doesn't return to normal and the whole world is at war. A single cultist escapes from the players and finishes the ritual to wake up the hulks and the players must then destroy them.

===[[The Leviathan]]===
An immense sea monster personifying primal chaos that will destroy the world if it ever wakes up. As it gets close to awakening, the world is affected by extreme weather. The Leviathan does not have stats, as it is too big for the players to fight, but the players may battle against aspects of the leviathan, which are CR 16, or an advanced aspect, which is CR 20.

In the suggested campaign, the players save a port town from a disaster and are sent to investigate the cause of the strange weather. The party then encounters an defeats a cult that worships the leviathan, but their leader, a mysterious man named Enshaddon, escapes. Enshaddon is actually an advanced vampiric [[Ixitxachitl]] with 16 cleric levels named Axihuatl. He is a worshiper of Demogorgon and wants to partially wake up the leviathan using a shard of chaos in order to flood the world. After the players first disrupt his plans, he sends Marcus Hape (human, level 4 rogue, level 4 assassin, level 4 thrall of Demogogon) to kill them. With the help of a sage named Mytus who provides the players with magic and equipment for underwater travel, the players attack a temple located in a hollow spine on the leviathan's back and interrupt Axihuatl's ritual to wake up the leviathan, causing him to lose control of the beast. Axihuatl then allies with the players because he does not want the leviathan to completely destroy the world. They must then travel deeper into the temple and throw the shard of chaos into a pit at the bottom to put the leviathan back to sleep.
<gallery>
Leviathan aspect.png|Aspect of the Leviathan
</gallery>

=== [[Pandorym]] ===
In ancient times, a group of wizards wanted to blackmail the gods. So they summoned a powerful eldritch abomination from "the space 'between' the planes" named Pandorym, contracted it to destroy all the gods, immediately sealed it away before it could do so by imprisoning its mind and body separately, and used the threat of its reunification as the divine blackmail. Fortunately the wizards didn't implement a deadman's switch or anything, so the gods smote their stupid asses when they heard their first demands and wiped the group from the face of history. If made whole, Pandorym will first take revenge on the descendants of the wizards that imprisoned it, then kill all the gods as it was contracted to do. If the contract's completion doesn't return it "home", it'll destroy the universe out of frustration/boredom.

Pandorym's mindless body resembles a huge [[Sphere of Annihilation]] that moves towards anyone that tries to control it, which is kept in an unknown extradimensional prison. Pandorym's mind is sealed within a large near-indestructible crystal and is immensely powerful even without its body; the tiny leakage through the crystal is enough to corrupt nearby high level characters and obliterate the minds of weaker-willed folks, a small "fragment" of its mind is a ''CR 25'' Psionic threat, and the fully released mind is an unstatted behemoth that only divine intervention could stop...

...so far, so first-edition [[Tharizdun]]. It's unfortunate that Pandorym's sign interferes with the planar connections of the world (via a sky-spanning glyph) and makes conjuration+divine magic increasingly difficult as its mind gains influence. Presumably its fully released mind would completely block the world off and make divine intervention near impossible.

In the suggested campaign, Tune Majii (human, Level 2 bard, level 2 wizard) hires the player to find her missing father Lucather (quell, level 8 enchanter, level 10 loremaster), who has become enslaved to Pandorym. Meanwhile, the gods begin sending their mortal followers warnings that somebody is trying to unleash an unimaginably powerful evil. This person turns out to be the [[Inevitable]] named Obligatum VII (kolyarut, level 3 [[Hexblade]], level 5 [[Occult Slayer]]), our wiki's literal poster child of [[Lawful Stupid]]. Obligatum VII wants to release Pandorym because the poor old eldritch abomination entered into a bad-faith contract and ''must'' receive rightful legal remedy for the indignity, [[Lawful Stupid|regardless of the god-ending possibly-universe-ending consequences]]. The players will have to travel to the prison where Pandorym's mind is kept and defeat Lucather and Obligatum VII before they can smash the crystal open with Obligatum's adamantine sword. If the players succeed, they may have to travel to [[Mechanus]] and prevent Obligatum VIII's creation (who'd start this shit all over again).
<gallery>
File:Pandorym.jpg
</gallery>

=== [[Ragnorra]] ===
Ragnorra is an entity of corrupted life that wants to remake all life to fit her own ideals of what life should be. She travels between worlds in the form of a red comet, which crashes down on the world and begins spreading her skin and nerves over the planet, warping all creatures into aberrations. As Ragnorra gets closer to landing, positive energy spells become stronger but also cause gross blemishes, Ragnorra's spores start to fall from the sky that turn things into swarms of pests, living things gain healing abilities but are slowly corrupted into aberrations, and eventually even the dead start rising as aberrations, while undead are forced to flee unless they are underground. When Ragnorra crashes onto a planet she is reduced to a fraction of her full size but is still gargantuan size and has CR 19 in both her initial form after landing, and her True Mother form taken when she merges with the neurotangle.

In the suggested campaign, a cult that worships Ragnorra called the Malshapers attempts to attract Ragnorra to the player's world using kidnapped people and other stolen living entities as bait to guide her on her path to the world. The leader of the cult is Irthicax Vane ([[Zenythri]], level 17 monk), whose world was destroyed by Ragnorra and once fought against her, but eventually went mad and turned to worshiping her, though the players may be able to convince him to help stop her. As Ragnorra approaches, mysterious springs with healing properties start popping up everywhere that are controlled by the Malshapers. Swarms of vermin begin appearing in cities, and in response to this undead beings start showing up to fight them. As the red comet continues to get closer the undead all start leaving. While the players are investigating to see if the undead are planning anything, they get repeatedly attacked by low level rogues sent by the Malshapers. Then an [[Aboleth]] mage with the ability to breath air falls from the sky and enslaves the risen corpses of the Malshapers. Then Ragnorra crashes into the earth and creates an enormous crater full of aberrations and corrupt flesh. The players must travel across this crater to reach the center and confront Ragnorra. Once she has transformed into her True Mother form, the players must defeat her by breaking her connection with the planet, and thus forcing her to leave.

Getting her to crash into Atropus above might make for an interesting campaign.
<gallery>
File:D7b59ix-5a1ad7e3-73d6-4cfc-ab6d-46b7825f13f2.jpg
File:Tumblr inline oyely8D2qp1robfbt 500.png
File:RagnorraFanart.jpg
</gallery>

===[[Sertrous]]===
Sertrous was a powerful [[Obyrith]] that was killed in the distant past, but whose spirit clings to life in his severed skull. He was first killed for refusing to serve [[The Queen of Chaos]] but his spirit escaped to the material plane where he possessed a snake and made it into his new body. After he sent armies of snakes and monsters to attack mortals because he was jealous of the worship the gods received from them, he was then killed again by a Solar named Avamerin, but not before Sertrous revealed the secret that divine magic is possible to gain from any kind of faith, not just faith in a god. Avamerin at first didn't understand what Sertrous had said and shared the words with others, and when godless clerics started appearing as a result he was punished by being demoted to a Planetar. Avamerin then turned on his god and began working to bring Sertrous back to life. Avamerin now leads a cult of heretical [[Yuan-ti]] called The Vanguard of Sertrous that claims Sertrous is the true creator of the Yuan-ti. As Sertrous gets closer to returning to life, encounters with snakes and snake-like monsters become more and more frequent. Sertrous does not have stats because he is nothing but an immobile skull, but the players may fight against a CR 23 aspect of Sertrous.

In the suggested campaign, the players are hired to find out why a merchant has cut contact with his business partners and discover that he has fallen under the sway of a group of Yuan-ti who are lead by somebody named Seghulerak (Yuan-ti abomination, level 10 cleric, level 5 thaumaturgist) and do not worship the traditional Yuan-ti gods. Seghulerak and the Vanguard of Sertrous seize control of a major Yuan-ti city and start setting up ''serpentgates'' in temples around the world from which to launch invasions. The players investigate an infestation of snakes and interfere with the creation of one of these gates. The players eventually makes their way to the city where the Vanguard of Sertrous is based after many battles against Yuan-ti and other snake monsters and defeat Seghulerak, but her body vanishes when she is killed, leaving behind a pile of dead headless snakes. After some investigation the players learn about the Serpent Reliquary, an extradimensional temple that is the true base of the Vanguard. The players locate the portal the Reliquary and defeat Seghulerak again. After this they meet Avamerin, who will try to trick the players into leaving by lying that Sertrous never existed and this was all a test by the gods. If the players attack and defeat him, he is transformed into the aspect of Sertrous which the players must destroy. If the players are dumb enough to fall for his trick, he might send them to a layer of the abyss disguised as their home.
<gallery>
Sertrous aspect.png|Aspect of Sertrous
</gallery>

===[[Kyuss]], The [[Worm That Walks]]===
The Worm That Walks is an evil demigod named [[Kyuss]] that wants to conquer the world and bring about the age of worms to become a full god. As he gets closer to escaping his prison, the world becomes infested with giant centipedes and other worm-like monsters. [[Kyuss]] was once a prophet of an evil god who attempted to ascend to godhood by sacrificing all of his followers and transforming into a great monster made of worms, but he got stuck between mortality and godhood and trapped inside an obelisk. The Worm That Walks is a CR 20 aberration.

In the suggested campaign, Edwin Tolstoff (human lesser worm that walks, level 3 necromancer, level 3 cleric, level 10 true necromancer), escapes from his prison by having his grandchildren kill their mother and release him, causing spawn of Kyuss to start appearing. Edwin wants to release Kyuss from his prison because he hates being a worm that walks and hopes that Kyuss will either kill him or restore his humanity. The players are called to solve a murder mystery, whose culprit is a wererat named Draen, who works for Katarin Tolstoff. After solving this mystery, people are kidnapped and the players track them down to find an [[Avolakia]] who is turning his captives into spawns of Kyuss. Though the players defeat him, people continue disappearing all over the nation. When the party's spellcaster visits a local wizard's guild, they find that it has been ransacked and most of the wizard transformed into undead by Edwin. The most notable item he has stolen is a [[Well of Many Worlds]]. The Herald of Kyuss (Avolakia, level 8 cleric) working for Edwin then poses as an NPC ally the players know and tells them that a wizard named Emirikol the Chaotic is planning to destroy the universe by putting a [[Sphere of Annihilation]] into the well. This is a trick by Edwin to give him the chance to steal a Talisman of the Sphere from Emirikol while the players are fighting him. But Edwin is unable to find a sphere of annihilation, and so anonymously hires the players to go to the [[Tomb of Horrors]] and secretly follows them so that he can steal the sphere from the tomb. The players then must chase him to Wormcrawl island to stop him from using it to break Kyuss's prison. When he reaches the obelisk he completes the ritual and places the sphere of annihilation into the well of many worlds, creating a black hole and releasing Kyuss. The players will have to defeat Kyuss and stop the black hole from destroying reality if it isn't stopped by divine intervention. If you don't have the [[Exemplars of Evil]] book, which includes the stats and description of Edwin's grandchildren and Drean, it suggests replacing Edwin with a different villain. The book also suggests combining this plot with the [[Adventure Path]], ''Age of Worms'' from [[Dungeon Magazine]], which also features Kyuss.
<gallery>
Kyuss.png
Kyuss.jpg
</gallery>

===[[Zargon]]===
Zargon is an ancient evil who once ruled over [[Baator]] as the father of the [[Baatorian]]s before Asmodeus and his [[Baatezu]] strutted in and slapped their dicks on the table. Although he was defeated by Asmodeus, he could not be killed even by the gods and was imprisoned on the material plane. His horn is nearly indestructible and he will regenerate from it if the rest of his body is destroyed. Now he has given up on reclaiming Baator and wants to conquer the mortal world. As he gets closer to awakening the world is affected by extreme weather, including rains of slime that pollute water sources with a contagion that can turn people into [[slime]]s called Whelps of Zargon. Zargon is only CR 16, though according to the fluff he is capable of killing gods due to them being vulnerable to his powers.

Dorn (Cynidicean, Level 1 rogue, level 3 fighter, level 3 ranger, level 7 thrall of Juiblex), the son of Zargon's high cultists, flees from Cynidicea, only to be captured by gnolls and rescued by the party. Zargon begins to wake up as his cultists dig him up. Dorn then gets captured by the cult of Juiblex who tortured and eventually brainwashed him into joining them. The players are then hired by an archeologists named Vanessa (Tiefling, level 7 [[Archivist]], level 7 [[Entropomancer]]) to take her to Cynidicea. However she gets separated from the party on the way and finds her way to Cynidicea alone, where she ends up joining Zargon's cult. The awakening of Zargon attracts the attention of [[Juiblex]], who sends Dorn to make an alliance with Zargon. [[Zuggtmoy]] attempts to stop Juiblex by having their own cult frame Juiblex's cult for murders, which the party investigates. Vanessa convinces Dorn to take control of Zargon's cult with her, and they sacrifice Dorn's father to speed up Zargon's revival. Several factions try to manipulate the players into leading them to Zargon's resting places and the players must play them against each other to find out about Zargon and where to find him. The players eventually make it to Zargon's tomb just as he is fully revived and defeat him and his cultists and ooze servants. But in order to destroy Zargon permanently, they will have to throw his horn into the Eye of Zargon deep underground.
<gallery>
Zargon B4.jpg
Zargon baatorian.jpg
Zargon the Returner.jpg
</gallery>

==Dragon Magazine==
Two more being described as Elder Evils appeared in [[Dragon Magazine]].

[[Zurguth]], The Feasting Vast is mentioned in the article Ecology of the Kaorti, in issue #358. Zurguth is an extremely powerful monster of the [[Far Realm]] in the form of an ocean of flesh. It accidentally created the [[Kaorti]] just by looking at a group of wizards who entered the Far Realm.

===[[Shothragot]]===
Shothragot is detailed in issue #362, in an article written similarly to a chapter of the Elder Evils book. Shothragot is an avatar of [[Tharizdun]] sealed beneath the temple of the Elder Elemental Eye, who works to free Tharizdun from his prison by collecting the 333 gems of Tharizdun. Shothragot itself is too big for the players to defeat and so doesn't have stats. Instead, the players must enter inside of Shothragot and fight the Essence of Shothragot, which is CR 22. As Shothragot gets closer to completing its goal the sky is covered in a Seal of Binding, similar to the one produced by Pandorym.

In the suggested adventure, the players stubble across one of the gems of Tharizdun while exploring a random dungeon and are harassed by agents of Tharizdun until they get rid of it. Later a massive earthquake causes massive destruction but strangely leaves a tower untouched while burying everything around it. Investigating these tower leads to the players finding another black gem and several mad cultists also looking for it. The seal of binding appears in the sky and Tharizdum recognizes that the players are a threat and so Shothragot sends a powerful assassin named Giorge Forsworn after them, who then starts killing the player character's friends and family one by one before he starts going after the player characters. A group of powerful wizards then hire the players to find a member of theirs who when missing while investigating the cause of the Seal of Binding. When the players find them they have already been warped into a servant of Tharizdun. The players then travel to several locations important to the Cult of Tharizdun to find clues. Shothragot finally emerges from its hiding place and the players must defeat it from the inside.

The final part of the adventure was detailed in [[Dungeon]] Magazine 152. Unfortunately, because Dungeon 152 was released in multiple parts online only and has been taken down since then, this adventure is now extremely hard to find since all the archives of Dungeon 152 don't have the complete version.

=4th Edition=
{{Dnd-stub}}
During 4th Edition, several of the Elder Evils were adapted by Dragon Magazine as potential sources of power for [[Warlock]]s. See [[Starspawn]] for details.

The 4th edition version of the [[Book of Vile Darkness]] describes the [[Tsochar]] god [[Mak Thuum Ngatha]] as an Elder Evil. And [[Kyuss]] gets 4th edition stats in Open Grave: Secrets of the Undead.

=5th Edition=
Zargon the Returner was listed as a possible patron for great old one warlocks in the Players Handbook. Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes describes the Elder Evils as the source of monsters known as [[Star Spawn]] and it includes the list of Elder Evils copied below, which includes the elder evils from Powers and Pantheons and Lords of Madness, a few from the Elder Evils book, and some new ones, mainly [[Archomental|Primordials]] and some obscure evil gods from [[Forgotten Realms]]. Unfortunately it does not give any significant description of them beyond just listing their names so readers will have no idea what they are unless they search through previous editions to find them.

* [[Ityak-Ortheel]], the Elf-Eater
* [[Dendar]], the Night Serpent
* [[Borem]] of the Lake of Boiling Mud
* [[Kezef]], the Chaos Hound
* [[Zargon]], the Returner
* [[Carmnod]], the Unseen
* [[Holashner]], the Hunger Below
* [[Piscaethces]], the Blood Queen
* [[Shothotugg]], the Eater of Worlds
* [[Y'chak]], the Violet Flame
* [[Bolothamogg]], Who Watches from Beyond the Stars
* [[Hargut]], of the Gray Pestilence
* [[Haask]], the Voice of Hargut
* [[Ragnorra]], the Mother of Monsters
* The Hulks of [[Zoretha]]
* [[Kyuss]], the Worm That Walks
* [[Tharizdun]], the Elder Elemental Eye
* [[Atropus]], the World Born Dead
* [[Pandorym]], the Utter Annihilation
* [[Haemnathuun]], the Blood lord
* [[Maram]] of the Great Spear
* [[Tyranthraxus]], the Flamed One
* [[The Queen of Chaos]]
* [[Father Llymic]], the Alien Thought Given Flesh

A few of the [[Star Spawn]] Elder Evils from fourth edition are also mentioned in Volo's Guide to Monsters as beings that [[Neogi]] [[Warlock]]s make contracts with. Strangely, a few of them also appeared as [[Vestige]]s in the [[Curse of Strahd]]'s Amber Temple, though how they died and became vestiges is unexplained.

=External links=
* [https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-LNa95CLcSwIUPkRniO3 Homebrew 5E stats for the Elder Evils as well as associated entities]

{{Template:D&D-Nonhuman-Deities}}

[[Category:Roleplaying]]
[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]]
[[Category:Game Books]]
[[Category:Elder Evils]]

The Queen of Chaos

2021-02-21T02:20:41Z

2001:48F8:402A:618:0:0:0:C72F:

[[File:Queen of chaos Ro7P 1.jpg|right|300px]]
'''The Queen of Chaos''' is an [[Obyrith]] [[Demon Prince]] in [[Dungeons & Dragons]]. She has the upper torso of a corpulent, blue-skinned humanoid female, whereas her lower body is a mass of ten mauve tentacles. Hidden in the tentacles is a razor sharp parrot-like beak, though some art depicts there being a giant eye here instead. The Queen has long drooping locks of green hair, and she wears a [[sahuagin]] skull as a crown. Her weapon of choice is a huge trident. If you're picturing something like Ursula from the Little Mermaid, then good.

She is the most obscure of the Obyrith Lords. While she is mentioned in passing in several sourcebooks, the only adventure she actually appears in is ''The Rod of Seven Parts'' boxed set.

As one of the oldest of the obyrith lords, the Queen of Chaos is said to have created [[Demogorgon]] as the first of all tanar'ri, then discarded him when he grew too unruly. The Queen was the lover of Miska the Wolf-Spider, and is the mistress of the spyder-fiends. She was once allied with [[Bwimb]].

The Queen of Chaos has many enemies, including [[Obox-ob]], whom she dethroned, and the Wind Dukes of Aaqa.

Her Realm is the Steaming Fen, an Abyssal layer consisting of a vast swamp and a turbulent ocean. The layer seethes with vermin and is the home of the spyder-fiends. With Miska's imprisonment, the spyder-fiends begrudgingly serve the Queen of Chaos.

The Queen of Chaos is an obyrith who rose to power in the Age Before Ages. While the obyrith plotted and warred amongst themslves, the Queen alone looked past the Abyss and discovered life in other planes of existence. Some of this life, namely the souls of the chaotic evil dead, seeped into the Abyss, which the obyrith shaped into the tanar'ri. The Queen of Chaos decided to launch a war to conquer the multiverse and rallied all of the obyrith lords to her cause. Those who refused she set an example of by either killing them or imprisoning them in the Wells of Darkness, including [[Sertrous]]. The only exception to this was [[Dagon]], whose power she feared.

Eventually, the Queen took as her consort a tanar'ri demon lord called Miska the Wolf-Spider, and made him head general of her army. With Miska in command, she practically guaranteed the cooperation of the treacherous tanar'ri. She murdered the Prince of Demons, Obox-ob, and bestowed his title on Miska, which was later snatched up by Demogorgon when Miska got himself impaled to a wall in [[Pandemonium|Agathion]] for all eternity.

The Queen of Chaos, with Miska in tow, was triumphant as the forces of Chaos swept the multiverse. Opposing them were the forces of Law, led by the Wind Dukes of Aaqa, the Vaati. Eventually, the Vaati fashioned the Rod of Law, and with it defeated Miska, banishing him to Pandemonium.

With Miska's defeat, the obyrith alliance fractured. To make matters worse, the tanar'ri revolted and the celestials of the Upper Planes took advantage of the situation and launched an invasion into the Abyss. The obyrith were reduced to near-extinction and the Queen of Chaos withdrew into the fourteenth layer of the Abyss, known as the Steaming Fen, where she remains to this day, seeking ways to free Miska and restart the war.

Weirdly, Fifth Edition D&D names her as a potential [[Elder Evils|Elder Evil]], which would make her one of the most accessible and obvious Elder Evils ever, since anybody who wants to talk to her can just go Plane Shift over to her and do so (well actually you can't, since she's got a fucking planar layer to run, so that'd be like flying to Moscow to try and personally chat up Vladimir Putin), whereas most of the Elder Evils are either sealed somewhere or are dead and need to be revived or are in places that take a lot more than a Plane Shift spell to reach like space. That said, she does make a pretty metal Fiend-Pact Warlock patroness.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Queen of chaos Ro7P 2.jpg
Queen of chaos Ro7P 3.jpg
</gallery>

{{D&D-DemonPrinces}}
[[Category:Elder Evils]]

The Queen of Chaos

2021-02-21T02:19:25Z

2001:48F8:402A:618:0:0:0:C72F:

[[File:Queen of chaos Ro7P 1.jpg|right|300px]]
'''The Queen of Chaos''' is an [[Obyrith]] [[Demon Prince]] in [[Dungeons & Dragons]]. She has the upper torso of a corpulent, blue-skinned humanoid female, whereas her lower body is a mass of ten mauve tentacles. Hidden in the tentacles is a razor sharp parrot-like beak, though some art depicts there being a giant eye here instead. The Queen has long drooping locks of green hair, and she wears a [[sahuagin]] skull as a crown. Her weapon of choice is a huge trident. If you're picturing something like Ursula from the Little Mermaid, then good.

She is the most obscure of the Obyrith Lords. While she is mentioned in passing in several sourcebooks, the only adventure she actually appears in is ''The Rod of Seven Parts'' boxed set.

As one of the oldest of the obyrith lords, the Queen of Chaos is said to have created [[Demogorgon]] as the first of all tanar'ri, then discarded him when he grew too unruly. The Queen was the lover of Miska the Wolf-Spider, and is the mistress of the spyder-fiends. She was once allied with [[Bwimb]].

The Queen of Chaos has many enemies, including [[Obox-ob]], whom she dethroned, and the Wind Dukes of Aaqa.

Her Realm is the Steaming Fen, an Abyssal layer consisting of a vast swamp and a turbulent ocean. The layer seethes with vermin and is the home of the spyder-fiends. With Miska's imprisonment, the spyder-fiends begrudgingly serve the Queen of Chaos.

The Queen of Chaos is an obyrith who rose to power in the Age Before Ages. While the obyrith plotted and warred amongst themslves, the Queen alone looked past the Abyss and discovered life in other planes of existence. Some of this life, namely the souls of the chaotic evil dead, seeped into the Abyss, which the obyrith shaped into the tanar'ri. The Queen of Chaos decided to launch a war to conquer the multiverse and rallied all of the obyrith lords to her cause. Those who refused she set an example of by either killing them or imprisoning them in the Wells of Darkness, including [[Sertrous]]. The only exception to this was [[Dagon]], whose power she feared.

Eventually, the Queen took as her consort a tanar'ri demon lord called Miska the Wolf-Spider, and made him head general of her army. With Miska in command, she practically guaranteed the cooperation of the treacherous tanar'ri. She murdered the Prince of Demons, Obox-ob, and bestowed his title on Miska, which was later snatched up by Demogorgon when Miska got himself impaled to a wall in [[Pandemonium|Agathion]] for all eternity.

The Queen of Chaos, with Miska in tow, was triumphant as the forces of Chaos swept the multiverse. Opposing them were the forces of Law, led by the Wind Dukes of Aaqa, the Vaati. Eventually, the Vaati fashioned the Rod of Law, and with it defeated Miska, banishing him to Pandemonium.

With Miska's defeat, the obyrith alliance fractured. To make matters worse, the tanar'ri revolted and the celestials of the Upper Planes took advantage of the situation and launched an invasion into the Abyss. The obyrith were reduced to near-extinction and the Queen of Chaos withdrew into the fourteenth layer of the Abyss, known as the Steaming Fen, where she remains to this day, seeking ways to free Miska and restart the war.

Weirdly, Fifth Edition D&D names her as a potential [[Elder Evils|Elder Evil]], which would make her one of the most accessible and obvious Elder Evils ever, since anybody who wants to talk to her can just go Plane Shift over to her and do so (well actually you can't, since she's got a plane to run, so that'd be like flying to Moscow to try and personally chat up Vladimir Putin), whereas most of the Elder Evils are either sealed somewhere or are dead and need to be revived or are in places that take a lot more than a Plane Shift spell to reach like space. That said, she does make a pretty metal Fiend-Pact Warlock patroness.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Queen of chaos Ro7P 2.jpg
Queen of chaos Ro7P 3.jpg
</gallery>

{{D&D-DemonPrinces}}
[[Category:Elder Evils]]

The Queen of Chaos

2021-02-21T02:18:54Z

2001:48F8:402A:618:0:0:0:C72F:

[[File:Queen of chaos Ro7P 1.jpg|right|300px]]
'''The Queen of Chaos''' is an [[Obyrith]] [[Demon Prince]] in [[Dungeons & Dragons]]. She has the upper torso of a corpulent, blue-skinned humanoid female, whereas her lower body is a mass of ten mauve tentacles. Hidden in the tentacles is a razor sharp parrot-like beak, though some art depicts there being a giant eye here instead. The Queen has long drooping locks of green hair, and she wears a [[sahuagin]] skull as a crown. Her weapon of choice is a huge trident. If you're picturing something like Ursula from the Little Mermaid, then good.

She is the most obscure of the Obyrith Lords. While she is mentioned in passing in several sourcebooks, the only adventure she actually appears in is ''The Rod of Seven Parts'' boxed set.

As one of the oldest of the obyrith lords, the Queen of Chaos is said to have created [[Demogorgon]] as the first of all tanar'ri, then discarded him when he grew too unruly. The Queen was the lover of Miska the Wolf-Spider, and is the mistress of the spyder-fiends. She was once allied with [[Bwimb]].

The Queen of Chaos has many enemies, including [[Obox-ob]], whom she dethroned, and the Wind Dukes of Aaqa.

Her Realm is the Steaming Fen, an Abyssal layer consisting of a vast swamp and a turbulent ocean. The layer seethes with vermin and is the home of the spyder-fiends. With Miska's imprisonment, the spyder-fiends begrudgingly serve the Queen of Chaos.

The Queen of Chaos is an obyrith who rose to power in the Age Before Ages. While the obyrith plotted and warred amongst themslves, the Queen alone looked past the Abyss and discovered life in other planes of existence. Some of this life, namely the souls of the chaotic evil dead, seeped into the Abyss, which the obyrith shaped into the tanar'ri. The Queen of Chaos decided to launch a war to conquer the multiverse and rallied all of the obyrith lords to her cause. Those who refused she set an example of by either killing them or imprisoning them in the Wells of Darkness, including [[Sertrous]]. The only exception to this was [[Dagon]], whose power she feared.

Eventually, the Queen took as her consort a tanar'ri demon lord called Miska the Wolf-Spider, and made him head general of her army. With Miska in command, she practically guaranteed the cooperation of the treacherous tanar'ri. She murdered the Prince of Demons, Obox-ob, and bestowed his title on Miska, which was later snatched up by Demogorgon when Miska got himself impaled to a wall in [[Pandemonium|Agathion]] for all eternity.

The Queen of Chaos, with Miska in tow, was triumphant as the forces of Chaos swept the multiverse. Opposing them were the forces of Law, led by the Wind Dukes of Aaqa, the Vaati. Eventually, the Vaati fashioned the Rod of Law, and with it defeated Miska, banishing him to Pandemonium.

With Miska's defeat, the obyrith alliance fractured. To make matters worse, the tanar'ri revolted and the celestials of the Upper Planes took advantage of the situation and launched an invasion into the Abyss. The obyrith were reduced to near-extinction and the Queen of Chaos withdrew into the fourteenth layer of the Abyss, known as the Steaming Fen, where she remains to this day, seeking ways to free Miska and restart the war.

Weirdly, Fifth Edition D&D names her as a potential [[Elder Evils|Elder Evil]], which would make her one of the most accessible and obvious Elder Evils ever, since anybody who wants to talk to her can just go Plane Shift over to her and do so (well actually you can't since she's got a plane to run, so that'd be like flying to Moscow to personally chat up Vladimir Putin), whereas most of the Elder Evils are either sealed somewhere or are dead and need to be revived or are in places that take a lot more than a Plane Shift spell to reach like space. That said, she does make a pretty metal Fiend-Pact Warlock patroness.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Queen of chaos Ro7P 2.jpg
Queen of chaos Ro7P 3.jpg
</gallery>

{{D&D-DemonPrinces}}
[[Category:Elder Evils]]

Dagon

2021-02-21T02:12:19Z

2001:48F8:402A:618:0:0:0:C72F:

{{stub}}
[[File:Dagon Borja Pindado.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The climactic scene of Lovecraft's short story.]]

'''Dagon''' is an ancient real-life deity originally thought to have been associated with the sea (due to the Hebrews associating his name with their coincidentally-similar word for fish), but now believed to have been a god of agriculture and fertility. He achieved /tg/-related noteriety when [[H.P. Lovecraft]] was inspired by him; one of his first ever published short stories, called "Dagon", presented the deity as a monstrous piscine humanoid who foretold the inevitable destruction of the surface world and the claiming of the surface by the sea. From these roots, Dagon would go on to become a [[giant]]-sized demigod ruler of the [[Deep One]]s, a lesser Great Old One in the [[Yog-Sothothery|Cthulu Mythos]], from which all of his /tg-related media has arisen.

Whilst most associated with the [[Call of Cthulhu]] games and its offshoots, such as [[Delta Green]] and [[Cthulhutech]], Lovecraft's Dagon also went on to inspire [[Gary Gygax]], who incorporated him into [[Dungeons & Dragons]] canon as a [[Demon Prince]]. In this role, he since migrated on to [[Pathfinder]] as well.

==Dagon in D&D==
[[File:Dagon 3e.jpg|thumb|left|200px|3E. also, jazz tentacles]]
[[File:Dagon 4e.jpg|thumb|left|200px|4E]]
{{topquote|There once was an island dead west of the sunset, A place where the sun's rays danced carefree and bright. Its shores all a'sparkle with white shining beaches, And jungles aplenty with game day and night. They say that the people who dwelt there were happy, They say that they lived their lives simple and fair, Yet one day a bitter wind rose from the ocean And took the poor folk by surprise unaware. For ruin had risen in thunderous fury, A ravenous shadow fell over the shore. And when Father Dagon's black gullet gaped open The waves ran with blood and the isle was no more.|Traditional sea shanty.}}

Dagon first entered the [[Dungeons & Dragons]] in the [[Monster Manual]] II for [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] 1st edition. Here, he was only mentioned in passing, although it was stated that he ruled an oceanic layer of the [[Abyss]] populated by marine [[demon]]s and various aquatic monsters. He wouldn't be fully fleshed out until the [[Fiendish Codex]] dealing with demons was released for [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition]], and his [[Demonomicon of Iggwilv]] article in [[Dragon Magazine]] #349.

In 3rd edition, Dagon is stated to be a [[Demon Prince]] of the [[Obyrith]] type, which means he sits at that intersection between "[[fiend]]" and "Lovecraftian monster". An ally of [[Demogorgon]], he rules over the underwater realm of ''Shadowsea'', the 89th layer of the Abyss, which is the underwater portion of the oceanic parts of the 88th layer, Gaping Maw - aka Demogorgon's backyard. Though worshipped as a god by many malign aquatic creatures and races, including [[Kuo-toa]], Dagon is an enigmatic, isolationist deity, who spends most of his time drifting in a near-slumber through this oceanic realm. The aforementioned Demonomicon article provides mechanics for [[cleric]]s of Dagon, as well as the Thrall of Dagon prestige class.

The first thing to know about Dagon is that he basically has a boner for the ocean and all things aquatic. As an obyrith, Dagon is ''ancient,'' predating even the current multiverse. As such he has watched life evolve and crawl out of the ocean time and time again across countless world, and each time he considers it a personal insult. Surprisingly for a demon (especially an obyrith), he actually has a bit of an amiable side, although you need gills or fins to see even a hint of it. It is not unusual for him to act as a protector of the sea, and has even helped stop threats that would've destroyed the ''whole world'', since this obviously includes the sea.

'''Captain Dagon, he's our hero! Gonna take pollution down to zero!'''

He resurfaced in [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition]], with his lore mostly unchanged.

{{D&D-DemonPrinces}}

==Dagon in Pathfinder==
[[File:Dagon Demon Lord Pathfinder.jpg|right|300px]]
In [[Pathfinder]], Dagon's lore is mostly unchanged. The biggest tweak is that here, he is presented as a once-mindless [[qlippoth]] that was transformed into a sapient demon after devouring too many demons and larvae that strayed into his underwater realm. Unlike most qlippoths, Dagon views his new state as a step up and is very happy with the transformation; he technically bears no ill will to his former race, but he won't tolerate their attempts to kill him, either.

For more information, see here: https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Dagon

{{Pathfinder-DemonPrinces}}

[[Category:Monsters]]
[[Category:Call of Cthulhu]]
[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]]
[[Category:Pathfinder]]
[[Category: Cthulhu Mythos]]

The Queen of Chaos

2021-02-21T02:11:27Z

2001:48F8:402A:618:0:0:0:C72F:

[[File:Queen of chaos Ro7P 1.jpg|right|300px]]
'''The Queen of Chaos''' is an [[Obyrith]] [[Demon Prince]] in [[Dungeons & Dragons]]. She has the upper torso of a corpulent, blue-skinned humanoid female, whereas her lower body is a mass of ten mauve tentacles. Hidden in the tentacles is a razor sharp parrot-like beak, though some art depicts there being a giant eye here instead. The Queen has long drooping locks of green hair, and she wears a [[sahuagin]] skull as a crown. Her weapon of choice is a huge trident. If you're picturing something like Ursula from the Little Mermaid, then good.

She is the most obscure of the Obyrith Lords. While she is mentioned in passing in several sourcebooks, the only adventure she actually appears in is ''The Rod of Seven Parts'' boxed set.

As one of the oldest of the obyrith lords, the Queen of Chaos is said to have created [[Demogorgon]] as the first of all tanar'ri, then discarded him when he grew too unruly. The Queen was the lover of Miska the Wolf-Spider, and is the mistress of the spyder-fiends. She was once allied with [[Bwimb]].

The Queen of Chaos has many enemies, including [[Obox-ob]], whom she dethroned, and the Wind Dukes of Aaqa.

Her Realm is the Steaming Fen, an Abyssal layer consisting of a vast swamp and a turbulent ocean. The layer seethes with vermin and is the home of the spyder-fiends. With Miska's imprisonment, the spyder-fiends begrudgingly serve the Queen of Chaos.

The Queen of Chaos is an obyrith who rose to power in the Age Before Ages. While the obyrith plotted and warred amongst themslves, the Queen alone looked past the Abyss and discovered life in other planes of existence. Some of this life, namely the souls of the chaotic evil dead, seeped into the Abyss, which the obyrith shaped into the tanar'ri. The Queen of Chaos decided to launch a war to conquer the multiverse and rallied all of the obyrith lords to her cause. Those who refused she set an example of by either killing them or imprisoning them in the Wells of Darkness, including [[Sertrous]]. The only exception to this was [[Dagon]], whose power she feared.

Eventually, the Queen took as her consort a tanar'ri demon lord called Miska the Wolf-Spider, and made him head general of her army. With Miska in command, she practically guaranteed the cooperation of the treacherous tanar'ri. She murdered the Prince of Demons, Obox-ob, and bestowed his title on Miska, which was later snatched up by Demogorgon when Miska got himself impaled to a wall in [[Pandemonium|Agathion]] for all eternity.

The Queen of Chaos, with Miska in tow, was triumphant as the forces of Chaos swept the multiverse. Opposing them were the forces of Law, led by the Wind Dukes of Aaqa, the Vaati. Eventually, the Vaati fashioned the Rod of Law, and with it defeated Miska, banishing him to Pandemonium.

With Miska's defeat, the obyrith alliance fractured. To make matters worse, the tanar'ri revolted and the celestials of the Upper Planes took advantage of the situation and launched an invasion into the Abyss. The obyrith were reduced to near-extinction and the Queen of Chaos withdrew into the fourteenth layer of the Abyss, known as the Steaming Fen, where she remains to this day, seeking ways to free Miska and restart the war.

Weirdly, Fifth Edition D&D names her as a potential [[Elder Evils|Elder Evil]], which would make her one of the most accessible and obvious Elder Evils ever, since anybody who wants to talk to her can just go Plane Shift over to her and do so, whereas most of the Elder Evils are either sealed somewhere or are dead and need to be revived or are in places that take a lot more than a Plane Shift spell to reach like space. That said, she does make a pretty metal Fiend-Pact Warlock patroness.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Queen of chaos Ro7P 2.jpg
Queen of chaos Ro7P 3.jpg
</gallery>

{{D&D-DemonPrinces}}
[[Category:Elder Evils]]

Lamia

2021-02-21T02:06:38Z

2001:48F8:402A:618:0:0:0:C72F: /* Gallery */

[[Image:Ssen-1.png|thumb|right|250px|Ssen Patrick, a lamia [[paladin]], protagonist of [[Quest:Lamia Daughter Quest|Lamia Daughter Quest]]. Like many lamias, polearms are her preferred weapons.]]
A '''Lamia''' is a sort of [[monster]] that combines human and snake features, commonly having a human torso from the waist up and a snake body from the waist down. The term '''[[naga]]''' is sometimes used interchangeably, but they are just as likely to refer to distinct creatures. They tend to share a lot of stereotypical snake traits, like preferring to sneak around and plot rather than fight in the open. An affinity for magic, poison, or hypnosis is also common.

==Greek Mythology==
As with many fantasy monsters originating from Greek Mythology, the original was actually a unique monster. In this case, Lamia was her given name, and she used to be the queen of Lybia. She was also the lover of [[Zeus]], [[FATAL|which everybody knows how that ends]] considering who the latter's wife is. Hera, discovering her husband had an affair, did what every ultra jealous goddess did and killed Lamia's children. Oh and then cursed her with insanity and the inability to fall asleep. These three factors caused the queen to mutate over time into a monster with the upper half of a woman and the lower half being that of a snake that would prey on and devour children and young men. [[What|Somehow.]] Zeus, seeing that all of this is something he's to blame for, at least made sure her life won't suffer so much and gave her the ability to remove her eyes from her eye sockets so she would have something that is closest to sleeping.

==Dungeons & Dragons==
[[File:Lamia MM 2e.png|left|thumb|She may refuse to wear a bra, but at least she got her nails done.]]
[[Dungeons & Dragons]] lamias are totally different from other lamias. Since their first appearance in the Monster Manual for [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] 1st edition, typical lamias were described as [[centaur]]-like meldings of woman and quadruped beast. Their 2nd edition updated appearance, the Monstrous Compendium volume 2, specifically stated that their lower bodies can resemble goats, deer or lions, among other things - however, as all of the artwork for lamias has traditionally gone with the "lioness-taur" appearance, this has become cemented in peoples' minds as the "true form" of the D&D lamia. Although, strangely, their appearance in 3.5's Monster Manual depicts a ''male'' leonic commoner lamia.

However, the iconic snake-girl lamia has also appeared in D&D as well. Called the Lamia Noble, and coming in both male & female forms (males are sword-wielding [[gish]]es, females are spellcasters), it appeared for the first time in the [[Fiend Folio]] and was later reprinted in typical "subvariant small addition" in the Lamia's entry in the Monstrous Compendium - this lack of artwork for it is probably why few people remember it actually existed. It would not be updated to third edition until [[Expedition to the Demonweb Pits]], late in the game's run-time. The biggest difference from common lamia, aside from the added wizard/sorcerer spells, is that they can shapechange into human form.

[[Birthright]]'s unique awnsheigh, the Lamia, follows the lion-taur model. A one-time exotic dancer, con-woman, and thief, she accidentally absorbed the tainted bloodline of a man dying on a battlefield when she murdered him to loot the corpse. Years later, after killing and draining several others, she murdered the king of Besaiam and became ruler, constantly funding vainglorious monuments to herself. Her main powers are her ability to instantly charm men, whether with a glance or an aura, and a touch that drains [[Wisdom]] and makes men into her fawning servitors. Women are immune to these powers, which is one of the reasons she gets very... catty (hee) whenever pretty ladies are around, the other being that she is envious of her lost human beauty. Between her various charmed puppets, she actually controls a decent-sized holding.

Lamias had their own Ecology Of article in [[Dragon Magazine]] #192. According to this article, noble lamias need human mates in order to propagate their species, as interbreeding with each other or with common lamias will only produce more common lamias. Likewise, the common lamias need to mate with humans to produce true offspring, as mating with each other will only produce sa'irs, which are savage beasts that have the forequarters of a goat-horned lion and the hindquarters of a goat... No, you didn't read that wrong; according to Drag-Mag, common lamias, despite looking like women from the waist up, are actually a species of [[dickgirl|hermaphrodites]] and so can impregnate and be impregnated as they see fit. Lamias of both "castes" have an annual week-long mating season in summer that drives them wild with lust and sends them looking for human baby-daddies/mommies; a sufficiently attractive human partner could cause them to go into heat outside of this time as well. According to Drag-Mag's statistics, adult commoner lamias are 60% likely to be lion-taurs, 25% likely to be goat-taurs, and 15% likely to be deer/antelope-taurs. Lamia nobles, according to this, can't actually copy spells from scrolls or spellbooks (remember, these were the days before monsters could have classes), so human wizards were especially prized captives.

Traditionally, lamias of all kinds are Chaotic Evil in alignment, being selfish, evil, cruel, lazy hedonists who use their innate ability to drain Wisdom in order to brainwash victims into serving them as slaves, mates and/or food; they don't respect any life other than their own, so the roles are ''not'' exclusive.

A variant lamia called a "Tigerus" is native to the [[Kingdoms of Kalamar]] 3.5 setting, making its appearance in the setting's personal monster manual, "Dangerous Denizens: The Monsters of Tellene". Unlike common lamias, these are a neutral-aligned species of tiger-taurs who live a stone-age style primitive lifestyle (to put this in perspective, ''cooking meat'' is a new and exotic idea for them, though quickly catching on). They lack the Wisdom drain of standard lamias, instead focusing on melee combat (pouncing and raking special attacks), and they sport [[druid]]ic spells that make jungle life easier, like Speak With Animals, rather than the standard [[sorcerer]] powers.

4th edition is an outlier in this regard, as its "lamia" has absolutely no relation to the model portrayed here and which it returned to in 5th edition. Instead, its "lamia" is a species of carnivorous scarab-like beetles native to the [[Feywild]] with a voracious appetite for fey flesh (although they'll eat humanoids if they can get them). Their standard hunting MO is to eat the poor bastards alive from the inside out, hollowing out the corpse so they can wriggle under the skin and use the skeleton to move the bug-bag corpse around as a disguise. This lets them get closer to fresh victims. Although this is an awesomely creepy monster idea, its poor choice of name alienated a lot of fans and so it's gone unused since.

Lamias returned in their traditional lioness-taur form in [[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition]].

Although it's not technically a Lamia, the [[Marilith]] [[Tanar'ri]] does look like someone fused an [[Amazon]] with a Lamia, gave her multiple arms, and then called it a day and her a demon. Likewise, the [[Lillend]] is a Celestial who looks like someone slapped wings on a lamia [[bard]] and dubbed her an angel.

===Midgard Lamia===
The [[Midgard]] campaign setting for [[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition]] features both lion-taur lamia and snake-taur lamia. The latter are playable, featuring in the "Unlikely Heroes" sourcebook, and they hate the former, whom they regard as pretenders and fakes; they seek to kill them wherever possible.

Midgard's serpentine lamia descend from humans warped into half-serpents by a demonic curse. Attributes of this include an insatiable sense of longing that most try to drown out with hedonism, stunted creative abilities, an obsession with cruelty and pain, and a warped gender ratio that causes females to outnumber males 3 to 1. Their cursed beauty means that, whilst not immortal, lamia stay beautiful and youthful-looking throughout their lives. They shun the gods and embrace arcane magic, but have a strange spiritual appreciation for the moon.

::Ability Score Modifier: +2 Strength, +1 Charisma
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 30 feet, Climb 20, Swim 20
::Type: Monstrosity
::Darkvision 60 feet
::Dangerous Beauty: You have proficiency in the Deception and Intimidation skills.
::Serpent Strike: You have advantage on attack rolls against a creature you have surprised, or that is charmed by you or your allies.
::Snake Body: You have advantage on saving throws and ability checks against being knocked prone. You can’t benefit from anything that requires legs or feet (such as magical footwear).

===Gallery===
<gallery>
Lamia 1e.jpg|1e
Lamia 3e.jpg|3e
Deathscarab Lamia.jpg|The 4e monster that temporarily borrowed the name. No, she's not wearing those beetles, the beetles are wearing that eladrin skin.
Lamia 5e.png|5e
Lamia noble 1e.jpg|Lamia Noble 1e
Lamia noble 3e.jpg|Lamia Noble 3e seemingly attempting a Naruto run
Chultian Lamia.png|Technically, she's a [[Yuan-ti]] Malison, but can you tell the difference?
</gallery>

==Pathfinder==
[[File:Lamia B1 PF.png|left|thumb|Pathfinder sticking with the classic "Naked Lion-taur Lady with Dagger" look.]]
[[Pathfinder]]'s lamias are pretty much exactly the same as their D&D ancestors; the biggest change-up was the creation of the "Lamyros" subtype. Having a family of "lamia-kin" allowed Pathfinder to not only bring back snake-women in the form of the Lamia Matriarch, but also add some new members to the family -- these first appeared in the original [[Rise of the Runelords]] adventure path, but were tweaked when it got reprinted in compilation form under Pathfinder's "new" ruleset.

The '''Harridan''' is an elite Lamia, the only creature more important in their loosely-held society than a Lamia Matriarch. It's essentially a giant lamia with added divine spells, and was tweaked to a template only available to lamias with 10+ levels in a divine casting class in the compilation. This "remake" version does state that it's possible to encounter Noble Lamias turned Harridans, but it's very rare, and most are the typical leonic tauress.

The '''Hungerer''' is a result of Karzoug experimenting on Harridans in his fleshwarping pits, creating a horrifically disfigured, gaping-mawed, obscenely obese monstrosity that suffers endless pain & hunger, causing it to devour anything and everything around it.

Finally, the '''Kuchrima''' is the bottom of the lamia totem pole, being a hideously ragged-looking humanoid vulture that serves as a scout and, more eagerly, garbage disposal; noxious cannibals and gleeful scavengers, these carrion-eaters carry huge bows they use with their prehensile feet from the air and carry foul diseases up close in melee.

<gallery>
Lamia PF 2e.png|2e Lamia
Xanesha.jpg|Lamia Matriarch
Kuchrima.png|Kuchrima
Harridan PF.png|Harridan
Hungerer.png|Hungerer
</gallery>

A 3rd party netbook, Kobold Quarterly #23, includes unofficial rules for playing a "classic" snake-woman Lamia in Pathfinder or D&D 3.5 in the form of the Lamia Commoner species - this is part of the [[Midgard]] campaign setting. It has the following racial profile:
::+2 Strength, +2 Charisma, –2 Intelligence: Lamia commoners are physically strong and manipulative.
::Medium: Lamia commoners are Medium creatures, and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
::Normal Speed: Lamia commoners have a base speed of 30 ft. They have a climb speed of 20 ft and a swim speed of 20 ft.
::Darkvision: Lamias can see in the dark up to 60 ft.
::Low-Light Vision: Lamias can see twice as far as humans in dim light.
::Intimidating: Lamias receive a +2 racial bonus on Intimidate skill checks due to their frightening nature and appearance.
::Lamian Immunities: Lamias get a +2 racial bonus to saves against mind-affecting spells and effects.
::Snake Body: Lamia commoners have neither feet nor legs and thus cannot be tripped. They may not use magic items requiring the feet slot.
::Skilled: Lamias receive a +2 racial bonus on Bluff and Use Magic Device checks.
::Spell Resistance: Lamias possess spell resistance equal to 5 plus their class levels.
::Spell-Like Abilities: A lamia can cast charm person and ventriloquism each 1/day, using her total character level as her caster level.
::Weapon Familiarity: Lamia commoners are proficient with the scimitar.
::Languages: Lamias begin play speaking Common and Draconic. Lamias with high Intelligence can choose any additional bonus languages, with Abyssal being the most typical.

==Vampire: The Masquerade==
[[File:Lamia.png|thumb|right|225px|Symbol of the Lamia bloodline.]]
In [[Vampire: The Masquerade]], the Lamiae are a supposedly extinct bloodline of [[vampire]]s named after their founder, Lamia. Lamia was the high priestess of a cult of [[Lilith]], and claimed to be her daughter, when the [[Cappadocian]] vampire Lazarus found her performing rites to Lilith and proceeded to embrace her. As she changed to a vampire, she had a vision of Lilith who told her about her and her new clans future, and upon awakening, and Lazarus explaining her condition to her, she whispered a couple lines to her sires ear who then promptly ran the fuck away and begun actively avoiding her.

From there she made her way to her clan, and there created her bloodline named after her. They served as the bodyguards and warriors of the Cappadocians and continued the worship and rites of Lilith as their sire had. They mainly consisted of women, as they were seen to be closer to Lilith, who had greater power when compared to their male counterparts, and had a variant of the necromancy discipline based on the [[Element|four humors]]. Their weakness was that they carried the ''Seed of Lilith'', a viral disease similar to the black plague that infected those they fed from, with women having a greater resistance to it than men, that would kill those fed from after a few days. If another vampire drank from the same person a lamia had drank, they would become carriers of the disease.

When Augustus [[Giovanni]] [[Diablerie|diablerized]] [[Cappadocius]], he also supposedly diablerized Lamia, which caused the painful kiss of the Giovanni. The bloodline then became a target for persecution and the other clans worked with the Giovanni to destroy them, with the last Lamia having been killed in 1718... However, at the time of the Final Nights, a group of female vampires calling themselves the ''Lilin'' who have the same practices as the Lamia and claims of heritage sprung up in Cairo, leading some to speculate that the bloodline survived.

{{OWoD Clans}}

==Warhammer: Age of Sigmar==
In the new [[Warhammer]]: [[Age of Sigmar]] game, part of the [[Daughters of Khaine]] faction is a race created by [[Morathi]] called the Melusai, who are basically Warhammer lamia; female dark elves from the waist up and giant snakes from the waist down. That's all we know about them so far.

==[[Monstergirls]] (and biology issues)==

To get the elephant in the room out of the way, yes, [[/d/|vorarephiles]] get a serious kick out of these due to snakes swallowing their prey whole. But as for the rest of us...

One problem with Lamia monstergirls that they have in common with [[Merfolk]] and [[Centaurs]] (despite it being much more rarely discussed with Lamias compared to the other two for some weird reason) is that if they're a nonhuman animal from the waist down, where's their vagina? This might not seem like a problem at first, until you learn that a snake's cloaca is [http://mtcomparativeanatomy.weebly.com/uploads/5/4/0/4/54043291/6866311_orig.jpg at the base of their actually-very-short tail].

In fact they have a lot of the same problems in this area as the Centaurs ''and'' Merfolk each do individually, without any of the easy solutions presented by either. For example, for reasons pertaining to blood distribution, the heart would need to be in the snake part rather than the human part (or at best near where the two parts meet), meaning that placing their junk at waist-height (length?) would give them a uterus wedged between their lungs, esophagus, and trachea (and bringing squirting into the mix would lodge the bladder in there as well), and the problem gets magnified when you take pregnancy into account. Making all their organs of the above-waist human variety would be the equivalent of taking a normal human and giving them legs many times longer (and thus with many times more body mass) than said human organs are equipped to support.

You might be thinking that just putting their junk where a snake's is would be the simplest approach, after all it shouldn't be too hard for her to bend her tail up to meet my dick, right? Well yes, but it still has complications of it's own. Making those genitals human ones would A) look retarded and B) result in lamias of ''both'' sexes having to ''drag their junk along the ground when they slither'', and even if you sigh and accept having to stick your dick in an unsexy reptile cloaca there's still the issue of modesty; what the heck sort of clothes could they wear down there that they wouldn't just slither out of the instant they started moving?

Oh well. At least they should all be able to deepthroat any penis with ridiculous ease...

===Monstergirl Encyclopedia===
In the [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]], the lamia was one of the first mamono to get her own profile. They are characterized both by their love of using their coils to hug their mates and by their possessiveness; lamia do '''not''' let their men go once they choose them, and before KC retconned out any and all "dark" content, they would actually kill their husbands if they dared to cheat on them.

Other branches of the lamia family tree, aside from the [[Basilisk]] and the [[Medusa]], include:
* Apophis: A cobra lamia from the not!Egypt region, named for the serpentine god of evil in Egyptian mythology, that uses her aphrodisiac, mind-controlling venom to conquer territories to rule over.
* Echidna: A powerful lamia variant that can give birth to almost any form of mamono besides its own, who create elaborate [[dungeon]] complexes in order to lure skilled, powerful [[adventurer]]s to claim as their husbands. Takes its name from the Greco-Roman "Mother of Monsters".
* Shirohebi: A white-colored lamia variant from Zipangu, a surprisingly shy and docile lamia mage skilled in water [[elementalism]], who tend to serve as [[cleric]]s to "Ryu", the Zipangu dragon-girl species. They're still as possessively jealous over their husband as normal lamias, though. Take their name from a famous Chinese/Japanese folk story involving a white snake who turned herself into a human and fell in love with a human man. Still retains the ability to use flames from the story but they are instead used to bind the man to become dependent only on her instead of using it to roast said man alive.
* Bunyip: A fluffy lamia variant that inhabits rivers, they suffer from such crippling shyness that they completely lose the ability to speak around guys they like, until eventually they get so overheated with lust all they can think to do is pounce on him and coil him up for mating.

<center>
<gallery>
File:MGE Lamia.JPG
File:MGE Apophis.jpg
File:MGE Echidna.jpg
File:MGE Shirohebi.jpg
File:MGE Bunyip.jpg
File:MGE Basilisk.jpg
File:MGE Medusa.png
</gallery>
</center>

==Notable Lamias==
* Ssen Patrick, protagonist of [[Quest:Lamia Daughter Quest|Lamia Daughter Quest]].
* Miia, the first non-human main character of the "Daily [[Life With Monstergirls]]" manga (and also the first member of the main character's unwanted harem).

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:I might you never know.jpg
Daily Life With Monstergirl Miia Dance.gif|A traditional lamia mating dance.
File:Lamia Queen.png
File:PF Lamia Matriarch.jpg
File:Wild Western Lamia.jpg| There's a snake in my boot!
</gallery>

==See Also==
* [[Lamia child]], an old story of a [[paladin]] who kills a family of lamias, and decides to adopt the newly-orphaned child as a sort of penance.
* [[Quest:Lamia Daughter Quest|Lamia Daughter Quest]], the sequel to the above, in which /tg/ is the lamia daughter, all grown up.
* [[Snek]], a slang term for Lamias and other snake-like creatures.
* [[Naga]], another snake/human hybrid monster whose name is sometimes used interchangeably with Lamia.
* [[Serpentfolk]], for races of humanoid snakes.
* [[Marilith]], a [[Dungeons & Dragons]] [[Tanar'ri]] who looks like an [[Amazon]]ian lamia with six arms.
* [[Lillend]], a [[Dungeons & Dragons]] [[angel]] who is effectively a lamia with wings and innate [[bard]]ic abilities.

[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]][[Category:Monsters]][[Category:Monstergirls]][[Category:Greek Mythology]]

Medusa

2021-02-21T01:57:39Z

2001:48F8:402A:618:0:0:0:C72F: /* Monstergirl Encyclopedia */

{{Monstergirls}}
[[File:Medusa_creature.jpg|right|200px|thumb|"My eyes are up here."]]
'''Medusa''' was a woman in Greek mythology who was extremely beautiful. One of her suitors was Poseidon, the god of the sea, and one day he realized that, since he was a god, he didn't have to ask for her permission before having his way with her. So he did, right in the middle of the temple to Athena where she worked. Athena was naturally furious, but since she couldn't do anything to Poseidon, him being a god as well, she vented on Medusa herself - though this has the unfortunate implication of seeming as though Athena punished Medusa for [[What|having the audacity to be raped in one of ''her'' temples]]. Either way, she went and turned Medusa into a [[Gorgon]], a monster with snakes for hair and a face so hideous that anyone who looked at it turned to stone. Greek gods are dicks.

[Some alternative versions suggest that A) the sex was fully consensual; B) Athena actually changed her ''to protect her from future rapes''; C) Medusa and her fellow gorgons were either from the underworld or the daughters of sea gods; or D) they were just holdovers from even older religions, but Greek canon is a clusterfuck and Greek rape cases (and justice in general) were excuses for orators to verbally jerk off, so most people stick to the Athenian write-up.]

The myths said that her face was so ugly it turned people to stone (she was basically a shrieking fanged corpse covered in snakes), but most artistic depictions and almost all modern re-tellings have her looking rather beautiful, making her one of the first [[monstergirls]]. Also, while Medusa's sisters were changed into Gorgons just like her, Medusa is said to be the only one with the petrifying power, which is something that has become often conflated with the Gorgon race as a whole. That, or they all had that ability, but Medusa was the only one who could be killed. Like we said, it's a clusterfuck. Also important to remember that it was originally ''you'' looking at ''her'' that turned you to stone, not ''her'' looking at ''you.''

== Dungeons & Dragons ==
{{dnd-stub}}

Medusa was a person, not a species (she is a Gorgon), but that didn't stop the writers of [[Dungeons & Dragons]] from naming a whole race after her. "Medusae" vary a fair amount depending on which edition you look at.

2e: Medusae look like elven women with snakes for hair and white eyes. They tend to rely on mating with human men to have more medusa daughters, since actual men of their race (called "maedar") are rare as fuck (to the point that most in-universe experts have never heard of them) and the bizarre-ass nature of their reproduction keeps them that way... what? You want to know the details? Alright, it works like this: human man plus medusa equals 2-6 eggs, all of which hatch into medusa daughters. Maedar + medusa, on the other hand, equals 2-6 eggs, of which 25% will hatch into boys. Of those boys, ONE PERCENT are maedar in turn; the other boys, and all the girls, are humans (who, unfortunately, are not immune to their mother's gaze). Medusa and maedar are extremely sexually dimorphic; medusae have snake hair and petrifying gazes, maedar are bald and can turn stone to flesh with a touch. There's also greater medusae, who have snake-bodies instead of legs (like a [[Lamia]]) and super-poisonous blood, and glyptars, which are undead maedar whose souls possess crystals, which can be attached to statues (to make golems) or swords (to make intelligent magical weapons).

3e: Medusae are covered in scales and, in most official artwork, tend to look rather ugly. There's no mention of maedar existing in any official sourcebook, but they were updated to 3.5 in the article "Creature Catalog" in [[Dragon Magazine]] #355.

4e: As in 3e, medusaea are all scaly, though not actually that ugly. Male medusae have returned, but don't have their own name, are just as scaly and don't turn stone to flesh anymore; instead, they can poison anyone they look at. In the "Monster Vault", the Essentials rewrite of the first 4e Monster Manual with expanded fluff, it was stated that although there are roughly equal numbers of males and females, they're still a matriarchal species, and this is because only a minority of males are actually immune to the petrifying gaze of the females. They're also reputed to be tied to either [[Zehir]] or to the [[Serpentfolk|Yuan-ti]], with one story claiming they were created by [[yuan-ti]] crossbreeding with [[basilisk]]s.

5e: Medusae can be male or female now. New origins as humans who made pact with demonlords or archdevils for eternal beauty, which they got, for a time, before they were turned into snake-haired monsters. Petrifying gaze is the norm for both sexes, but they gotta avoid polished surfaces and bright light, as their own reflections can petrify them as well. In melee, they can bite with their snakes or use weapons, typically shortswords and longbows.

PF: Medusas are back to being 2e-style beautiful women with snake hair who mate with human men to procreate. There's also a related monster in the Eurayle, a mythically powerful analogue to 2e's Greater Medusa who has far nastier powers, not least of which is that she's an 18th level [[Oracle]].

In the [[Odyssey of the Dragonlords]] setting, medusae have the standard 5e lore - in fact, the first medusa was a woman ''named'' Medusa, who came to Thylea from "the land of the Gorgons" seeking material wealth, only to be cursed by the Fates for her insistence on pursuing it. Aside from explicitly being able to pass on their condition by having children, the only real change for Thylean medusae is that they are a playable race for some reason, with the following stats:
::Ability Score Modifiers: +2 Dexterity, +1 Intelligence
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 30 feet
::Vision: Darkvision 60 feet
::Unaging: Medusae do not have a known lifespan; they live until they are killed.
::Cursed: You are considered to have undergone the complete ''Curse of the Medusa'', and as such cannot be subjected to another transformative curse. You can only be cured by means of a Wish spell, and will revert to your original race if this happens.
::Snake Blood: You have Advantage on saves against spells and abilities that inflict the Poisoned condition.
::Snake Hair: You can attack with your snake hair. This is a melee weapon attack with an attack bonus equal to your proficiency modifier + your Dexterity modifier. It does 1d6 piercing damage on a hit, and your target must make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or else they are poisoned until the beginning of your next turn.
::Petrifying Gaze: Starting at 5th level, you can use your action to force a creature within 30 feet that can see your eyes to make a DC 8 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, the creature is paralyzed until the end of its next turn. On your turn, you can use your bonus action to force the same creature to repeat this saving throw with disadvantage. Each time it fails, it is paralyzed again until the end of its next turn. When a creature is paralyzed in this way for the third time in a span of 10 minutes, it is instantly petrified. Starting at 10th level, the DC for this saving throw increases to 10. At 15th level, the DC increases to 12. At 20th level, the DC increases to 14.

== Magic: The Gathering ==
[[Magic: The Gathering]] also features medusaes, although it calls them "Gorgons". Considered a Creature type, MtG gorgons have an affinity with Black Mana and are found on the [[plane]]s of [[Dominaria]], [[Shandalar]], [[Ravnica]] and [[Theros]]. They have the ability to petrify other creatures that meet their gaze; although this is a triggerable ability, meaning they can turn it on and off, it's ''not'' a targetable one, meaning that when a gorgon's got her petrifying gaze on, she's dangerous to everyone in the vicinity. It's possible to use severed gorgon heads as weapons that retain this property, as shown by the cards "Gorgon Flail", "Gorgon's Head" and "Felhide Petrifier".

What makes the gorgons of MtG unique is that many of them they lack the traditional mane of snapping serpents; instead, they have serpent ''tails'' for hair, giving them prehensile tendril-locks that they have been known to use as limbs or even weapons. A few of the traditional snake heads for hair gorgons have shown up, but they're a distinct rarity. Additionally, the gorgons of Theros have the lower bodies of giant snakes, in the traditional [[lamia]] format.

Theros is also home to a gorgon goddess; Pharika, Goddess of Affliction, who is said to be the mother of all gorgons.

The most famous gorgon in MtG is [[Vraska]], a [[Ravnica]]n [[planeswalker]] whose spark ignited when she was falsely imprisoned and subjected to torturous ill-treatment. A deadly [[assassin]] and self-style vigilante, she is aligned to both Black and Green Mana, which is only natural given her origins amongst the [[Golgari Swarm]], and is known to relish murdering criminals with particularly ironic methods: her personal philosophy is "A person should die the death they deserve." She is one of the planeswalkers associated with the 2017-2018 [[Ixalan]] storyline, where she expresses an attraction to the human planeswalker [[Jace Beleren]]. Which is ironic because they first met when Vraska tried to blackmail/intimidate Jace into using his powers as the Guildpact of Ravnica to help her with her own plans to seek revenge amongst the guildleaders of Ravnica for their many crimes against her people. This led to a duel that Vraska lost.

A handful of gorgon cards do depict them with the traditional "snake-head hair" look, but these are uncertain canonicity.

== Warhammer Fantasy ==
In [[Warhammer Fantasy]], the 8th edition update for the [[Dark Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Dark Elves]] saw the release of a new unit called the Bloodwrack Medusae; former Druchii Sorceresses of Ghrond who sought to use their magic to become beautiful, until they angered the jealous goddess Atharti and were transformed into gore-slicked, painwracked monsters, with tresses of writhing serpents and a giant snake's tail replacing their lower torso. Driven mad and reduced to feral beasts, [[Morathi]] drove them from the city, but they occasionally show up alongside Druchii armies - either chained to Atharti's Bloodwrack Shrines, or having been drawn from their cavern lairs by the promise of victims to take their pain out on.

They're called "bloodwrack" medusae because their gaze attack doesn't petrify - it exsanguinates, causing a victim's blood to painfully erupt from their skin until they collapse in a gore-drenched heap.

They will be returning in [[Age of Sigmar]] as part of the new [[Daughters of Khaine]] faction, evidently having regained most of their sanity and now serving as the high priestesses of [[Morathi]], who is herself a Medusa right down to the petrifying gaze and snakes for hair. They are particularly close to the [[lamia]]-like Melusai.

== Warhammer 40,000 ==
[[Warhammer 40,000]] has no monsters specifically named "Medusa," but the name is still applied to lots of places and items:
* The [[Tyranid]] [[Hive Fleet]] Medusa
* The planet [[Medusa (Planet)|Medusa,]] a [[Death World]] and the homeworld of the [[Iron Hands]] [[First Founding]] [[Space Marine Chapter|Chapter]] of [[Space Marines]] (incidentally, their [[Primarch]], [[Ferrus Manus]], was playfully nicknamed "the Gorgon" by [[Fulgrim]] for his lack of aestheticism). Medusa is a tectonically unstable planet with constant volcanic eruptions and so many earthquakes the Iron Hands can't build a single fortress-monastery, rather having each Clan-Company using mobile fortresses known as "Land-Behemoths" (think the size of an [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] Ordinatus Engine).
* Medusa V (no relation to the above planet Medusa), the site of [[Games Workshop]]'s 2006 global campaign, which was conveniently destroyed after the campaign ended, so no matter who won, it would not upset the status quo.
* The [[Medusa Siege Gun]], one of several artillery pieces used by the [[Imperial Guard]], and its main weapon, the [[Medusa Siege Cannon]].
* The [[Sons of Medusa]] chapter is named after the planet of Medusa (as they are Iron Hands descendants), though they now live among the asteroids of the [[Taelus]] system.
* [[Medusae]], parasites employed by the Dark Eldar that are able to kill with their gaze.

{{40k-Planets}}

==Monstergirls==
Being that medusas/gorgons are generally presented as an all-female race and often surprisingly attractive, it should be no surprise that they are extremely popular with [[monstergirls]] fans, just like the [[lamia]]s they often resemble.

===Monstergirl Encyclopedia===
[[File:MGE Medusa.png|200px|thumb|right|The MGE's Medusa. So deliciously tsundere.]]
In the [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]], the medusa is a snake-haired [[lamia]] variant with the ability to petrify and/or paralyze (it's not really clear which) with her gaze. They are classified as extremely tsundere, refusing to verbally admit their deep love for their chosen spouses even as their body language betrays just how much they adore him. They also possess the trademark lamia jealousy and possessiveness. They create magical golden pins which can undo the effects of their gaze; this is a reference to [[Final Fantasy]], where "Golden Pins" were the curative item needed to cure the Petrified condition.

We would like to note a massive missed opportunity here, and that Kenkou Cross should've change up their powers such that they only turn a ''specific part'' of you "rock hard" with a gaze.

==Gallery==
<center>
<gallery>
Medusa 1e.jpg|1e
Medusa MCV1.png|Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1
File:Medusa MM 2e.png|The colorized Medusa from 2e's Monstrous Manual.
File:Maedar MM 2e.png|The 2e Maedar.
File:Medusa 3e.jpg|The 3e rendition of Medusa.
File:Maedar 3e.png|The Maedar of 3e, from Dragon #355.
File:Medusas of 4e.PNG|A combined pic showing both male and female 4e Medusae.
File:Medusa 5e.jpg|The latest D&D Medusa.
File:PF Medusa.jpg|Medusa from Pathfinder.
File:PF Euryale.jpg|Euryale from Pathfinder.
File:Medusa Knight Riding Gorgon.jpg|A [[Medusa]] and a [[Gorgon]] from 3e.
File:Warhammer Bloodwrack Medusae.png|Art for the Bloodwrack Medusae in 8th Edition Warhammer Fantasy.
File:Vraska the Unseen.jpg|One of the first depictions of [[Vraska]], the Gorgon [[Planeswalker]] of [[Magic: The Gathering]].
File:Vraska Bio.jpg|Vraska's basic biography.
File:Jace vs Vraska.jpg|Vraska and Jace did not meet under pleasant circumstances.
File:Vraska, Relic Seeker.jpg|Card art from one of Vraska's new cards in the [[Ixalan]] storyline.
File:Captain Vraska.jpg|Promo art showing Vraska leading her pirate crew in search of the Golden City of Orazca, the most valuable treasure of [[Ixalan]].
File:Pharika, God of Affliction.jpg|As God of Affliction on [[Theros]], the divine gorgon Pharika created poison and disease, but also the arts of healing and medicine.
File:Hythonia the Cruel.jpg|Of all the gorgons of [[Theros]], none are as feared as Hythonia the Cruel.
File:Damia, Sage of Stone.jpg|Damia is a mysterious gorgon whose arcane knowledge rivals that of any archmage, earning her the nickname "The Sage of Stone". Just don't look into her eyes when you consult her.
</gallery>
</center>

[[Category:Greek Mythology]][[Category:Imperial]][[Category:Space Marines]][[Category:Disambiguation]][[Category:Monsters]]

Medusa

2021-02-21T01:46:17Z

2001:48F8:402A:618:0:0:0:C72F:

{{Monstergirls}}
[[File:Medusa_creature.jpg|right|200px|thumb|"My eyes are up here."]]
'''Medusa''' was a woman in Greek mythology who was extremely beautiful. One of her suitors was Poseidon, the god of the sea, and one day he realized that, since he was a god, he didn't have to ask for her permission before having his way with her. So he did, right in the middle of the temple to Athena where she worked. Athena was naturally furious, but since she couldn't do anything to Poseidon, him being a god as well, she vented on Medusa herself - though this has the unfortunate implication of seeming as though Athena punished Medusa for [[What|having the audacity to be raped in one of ''her'' temples]]. Either way, she went and turned Medusa into a [[Gorgon]], a monster with snakes for hair and a face so hideous that anyone who looked at it turned to stone. Greek gods are dicks.

[Some alternative versions suggest that A) the sex was fully consensual; B) Athena actually changed her ''to protect her from future rapes''; C) Medusa and her fellow gorgons were either from the underworld or the daughters of sea gods; or D) they were just holdovers from even older religions, but Greek canon is a clusterfuck and Greek rape cases (and justice in general) were excuses for orators to verbally jerk off, so most people stick to the Athenian write-up.]

The myths said that her face was so ugly it turned people to stone (she was basically a shrieking fanged corpse covered in snakes), but most artistic depictions and almost all modern re-tellings have her looking rather beautiful, making her one of the first [[monstergirls]]. Also, while Medusa's sisters were changed into Gorgons just like her, Medusa is said to be the only one with the petrifying power, which is something that has become often conflated with the Gorgon race as a whole. That, or they all had that ability, but Medusa was the only one who could be killed. Like we said, it's a clusterfuck. Also important to remember that it was originally ''you'' looking at ''her'' that turned you to stone, not ''her'' looking at ''you.''

== Dungeons & Dragons ==
{{dnd-stub}}

Medusa was a person, not a species (she is a Gorgon), but that didn't stop the writers of [[Dungeons & Dragons]] from naming a whole race after her. "Medusae" vary a fair amount depending on which edition you look at.

2e: Medusae look like elven women with snakes for hair and white eyes. They tend to rely on mating with human men to have more medusa daughters, since actual men of their race (called "maedar") are rare as fuck (to the point that most in-universe experts have never heard of them) and the bizarre-ass nature of their reproduction keeps them that way... what? You want to know the details? Alright, it works like this: human man plus medusa equals 2-6 eggs, all of which hatch into medusa daughters. Maedar + medusa, on the other hand, equals 2-6 eggs, of which 25% will hatch into boys. Of those boys, ONE PERCENT are maedar in turn; the other boys, and all the girls, are humans (who, unfortunately, are not immune to their mother's gaze). Medusa and maedar are extremely sexually dimorphic; medusae have snake hair and petrifying gazes, maedar are bald and can turn stone to flesh with a touch. There's also greater medusae, who have snake-bodies instead of legs (like a [[Lamia]]) and super-poisonous blood, and glyptars, which are undead maedar whose souls possess crystals, which can be attached to statues (to make golems) or swords (to make intelligent magical weapons).

3e: Medusae are covered in scales and, in most official artwork, tend to look rather ugly. There's no mention of maedar existing in any official sourcebook, but they were updated to 3.5 in the article "Creature Catalog" in [[Dragon Magazine]] #355.

4e: As in 3e, medusaea are all scaly, though not actually that ugly. Male medusae have returned, but don't have their own name, are just as scaly and don't turn stone to flesh anymore; instead, they can poison anyone they look at. In the "Monster Vault", the Essentials rewrite of the first 4e Monster Manual with expanded fluff, it was stated that although there are roughly equal numbers of males and females, they're still a matriarchal species, and this is because only a minority of males are actually immune to the petrifying gaze of the females. They're also reputed to be tied to either [[Zehir]] or to the [[Serpentfolk|Yuan-ti]], with one story claiming they were created by [[yuan-ti]] crossbreeding with [[basilisk]]s.

5e: Medusae can be male or female now. New origins as humans who made pact with demonlords or archdevils for eternal beauty, which they got, for a time, before they were turned into snake-haired monsters. Petrifying gaze is the norm for both sexes, but they gotta avoid polished surfaces and bright light, as their own reflections can petrify them as well. In melee, they can bite with their snakes or use weapons, typically shortswords and longbows.

PF: Medusas are back to being 2e-style beautiful women with snake hair who mate with human men to procreate. There's also a related monster in the Eurayle, a mythically powerful analogue to 2e's Greater Medusa who has far nastier powers, not least of which is that she's an 18th level [[Oracle]].

In the [[Odyssey of the Dragonlords]] setting, medusae have the standard 5e lore - in fact, the first medusa was a woman ''named'' Medusa, who came to Thylea from "the land of the Gorgons" seeking material wealth, only to be cursed by the Fates for her insistence on pursuing it. Aside from explicitly being able to pass on their condition by having children, the only real change for Thylean medusae is that they are a playable race for some reason, with the following stats:
::Ability Score Modifiers: +2 Dexterity, +1 Intelligence
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 30 feet
::Vision: Darkvision 60 feet
::Unaging: Medusae do not have a known lifespan; they live until they are killed.
::Cursed: You are considered to have undergone the complete ''Curse of the Medusa'', and as such cannot be subjected to another transformative curse. You can only be cured by means of a Wish spell, and will revert to your original race if this happens.
::Snake Blood: You have Advantage on saves against spells and abilities that inflict the Poisoned condition.
::Snake Hair: You can attack with your snake hair. This is a melee weapon attack with an attack bonus equal to your proficiency modifier + your Dexterity modifier. It does 1d6 piercing damage on a hit, and your target must make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or else they are poisoned until the beginning of your next turn.
::Petrifying Gaze: Starting at 5th level, you can use your action to force a creature within 30 feet that can see your eyes to make a DC 8 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, the creature is paralyzed until the end of its next turn. On your turn, you can use your bonus action to force the same creature to repeat this saving throw with disadvantage. Each time it fails, it is paralyzed again until the end of its next turn. When a creature is paralyzed in this way for the third time in a span of 10 minutes, it is instantly petrified. Starting at 10th level, the DC for this saving throw increases to 10. At 15th level, the DC increases to 12. At 20th level, the DC increases to 14.

== Magic: The Gathering ==
[[Magic: The Gathering]] also features medusaes, although it calls them "Gorgons". Considered a Creature type, MtG gorgons have an affinity with Black Mana and are found on the [[plane]]s of [[Dominaria]], [[Shandalar]], [[Ravnica]] and [[Theros]]. They have the ability to petrify other creatures that meet their gaze; although this is a triggerable ability, meaning they can turn it on and off, it's ''not'' a targetable one, meaning that when a gorgon's got her petrifying gaze on, she's dangerous to everyone in the vicinity. It's possible to use severed gorgon heads as weapons that retain this property, as shown by the cards "Gorgon Flail", "Gorgon's Head" and "Felhide Petrifier".

What makes the gorgons of MtG unique is that many of them they lack the traditional mane of snapping serpents; instead, they have serpent ''tails'' for hair, giving them prehensile tendril-locks that they have been known to use as limbs or even weapons. A few of the traditional snake heads for hair gorgons have shown up, but they're a distinct rarity. Additionally, the gorgons of Theros have the lower bodies of giant snakes, in the traditional [[lamia]] format.

Theros is also home to a gorgon goddess; Pharika, Goddess of Affliction, who is said to be the mother of all gorgons.

The most famous gorgon in MtG is [[Vraska]], a [[Ravnica]]n [[planeswalker]] whose spark ignited when she was falsely imprisoned and subjected to torturous ill-treatment. A deadly [[assassin]] and self-style vigilante, she is aligned to both Black and Green Mana, which is only natural given her origins amongst the [[Golgari Swarm]], and is known to relish murdering criminals with particularly ironic methods: her personal philosophy is "A person should die the death they deserve." She is one of the planeswalkers associated with the 2017-2018 [[Ixalan]] storyline, where she expresses an attraction to the human planeswalker [[Jace Beleren]]. Which is ironic because they first met when Vraska tried to blackmail/intimidate Jace into using his powers as the Guildpact of Ravnica to help her with her own plans to seek revenge amongst the guildleaders of Ravnica for their many crimes against her people. This led to a duel that Vraska lost.

A handful of gorgon cards do depict them with the traditional "snake-head hair" look, but these are uncertain canonicity.

== Warhammer Fantasy ==
In [[Warhammer Fantasy]], the 8th edition update for the [[Dark Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Dark Elves]] saw the release of a new unit called the Bloodwrack Medusae; former Druchii Sorceresses of Ghrond who sought to use their magic to become beautiful, until they angered the jealous goddess Atharti and were transformed into gore-slicked, painwracked monsters, with tresses of writhing serpents and a giant snake's tail replacing their lower torso. Driven mad and reduced to feral beasts, [[Morathi]] drove them from the city, but they occasionally show up alongside Druchii armies - either chained to Atharti's Bloodwrack Shrines, or having been drawn from their cavern lairs by the promise of victims to take their pain out on.

They're called "bloodwrack" medusae because their gaze attack doesn't petrify - it exsanguinates, causing a victim's blood to painfully erupt from their skin until they collapse in a gore-drenched heap.

They will be returning in [[Age of Sigmar]] as part of the new [[Daughters of Khaine]] faction, evidently having regained most of their sanity and now serving as the high priestesses of [[Morathi]], who is herself a Medusa right down to the petrifying gaze and snakes for hair. They are particularly close to the [[lamia]]-like Melusai.

== Warhammer 40,000 ==
[[Warhammer 40,000]] has no monsters specifically named "Medusa," but the name is still applied to lots of places and items:
* The [[Tyranid]] [[Hive Fleet]] Medusa
* The planet [[Medusa (Planet)|Medusa,]] a [[Death World]] and the homeworld of the [[Iron Hands]] [[First Founding]] [[Space Marine Chapter|Chapter]] of [[Space Marines]] (incidentally, their [[Primarch]], [[Ferrus Manus]], was playfully nicknamed "the Gorgon" by [[Fulgrim]] for his lack of aestheticism). Medusa is a tectonically unstable planet with constant volcanic eruptions and so many earthquakes the Iron Hands can't build a single fortress-monastery, rather having each Clan-Company using mobile fortresses known as "Land-Behemoths" (think the size of an [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] Ordinatus Engine).
* Medusa V (no relation to the above planet Medusa), the site of [[Games Workshop]]'s 2006 global campaign, which was conveniently destroyed after the campaign ended, so no matter who won, it would not upset the status quo.
* The [[Medusa Siege Gun]], one of several artillery pieces used by the [[Imperial Guard]], and its main weapon, the [[Medusa Siege Cannon]].
* The [[Sons of Medusa]] chapter is named after the planet of Medusa (as they are Iron Hands descendants), though they now live among the asteroids of the [[Taelus]] system.
* [[Medusae]], parasites employed by the Dark Eldar that are able to kill with their gaze.

{{40k-Planets}}

==Monstergirls==
Being that medusas/gorgons are generally presented as an all-female race and often surprisingly attractive, it should be no surprise that they are extremely popular with [[monstergirls]] fans, just like the [[lamia]]s they often resemble.

===Monstergirl Encyclopedia===
[[File:MGE Medusa.png|200px|thumb|right|The MGE's Medusa. So deliciously tsundere.]]
In the [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]], the medusa is a snake-haired [[lamia]] variant with the ability to petrify and/or paralyze (it's not really clear which) with her gaze. They are classified as extremely tsundere, refusing to verbally admit their deep love for their chosen spouses even as their body language betrays just how much they adore him. They also possess the trademark lamia jealousy and possessiveness. They create magical golden pins which can undo the effects of their gaze; this is a reference to [[Final Fantasy]], where "Golden Pins" were the curative item needed to cure the Petrified condition.

==Gallery==
<center>
<gallery>
Medusa 1e.jpg|1e
Medusa MCV1.png|Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1
File:Medusa MM 2e.png|The colorized Medusa from 2e's Monstrous Manual.
File:Maedar MM 2e.png|The 2e Maedar.
File:Medusa 3e.jpg|The 3e rendition of Medusa.
File:Maedar 3e.png|The Maedar of 3e, from Dragon #355.
File:Medusas of 4e.PNG|A combined pic showing both male and female 4e Medusae.
File:Medusa 5e.jpg|The latest D&D Medusa.
File:PF Medusa.jpg|Medusa from Pathfinder.
File:PF Euryale.jpg|Euryale from Pathfinder.
File:Medusa Knight Riding Gorgon.jpg|A [[Medusa]] and a [[Gorgon]] from 3e.
File:Warhammer Bloodwrack Medusae.png|Art for the Bloodwrack Medusae in 8th Edition Warhammer Fantasy.
File:Vraska the Unseen.jpg|One of the first depictions of [[Vraska]], the Gorgon [[Planeswalker]] of [[Magic: The Gathering]].
File:Vraska Bio.jpg|Vraska's basic biography.
File:Jace vs Vraska.jpg|Vraska and Jace did not meet under pleasant circumstances.
File:Vraska, Relic Seeker.jpg|Card art from one of Vraska's new cards in the [[Ixalan]] storyline.
File:Captain Vraska.jpg|Promo art showing Vraska leading her pirate crew in search of the Golden City of Orazca, the most valuable treasure of [[Ixalan]].
File:Pharika, God of Affliction.jpg|As God of Affliction on [[Theros]], the divine gorgon Pharika created poison and disease, but also the arts of healing and medicine.
File:Hythonia the Cruel.jpg|Of all the gorgons of [[Theros]], none are as feared as Hythonia the Cruel.
File:Damia, Sage of Stone.jpg|Damia is a mysterious gorgon whose arcane knowledge rivals that of any archmage, earning her the nickname "The Sage of Stone". Just don't look into her eyes when you consult her.
</gallery>
</center>

[[Category:Greek Mythology]][[Category:Imperial]][[Category:Space Marines]][[Category:Disambiguation]][[Category:Monsters]]

Sphinx

2021-02-21T01:18:11Z

2001:48F8:402A:618:0:0:0:C72F: /* Mythology */

{{Monstergirls}}
[[File:Moonlit Sphinx.jpg|300px|thumb|right|The majestic sphinx in her natural environment, instead of cooped up in a [[dungeon]].]]

The '''Sphinx''' (plural: sphinges, but it's rarely used) is a mythical monster from Egypt, Greece and the Asiatic regions of Earth, taking the form of a large cat (lion, specifically) with the head (and tits, if female) of a human, and sometimes with eagle wings. It has also appeared in a number of fantasy settings. Because the most famous form of the sphinx is the Greek one, almost always depicted with big tits to go with her human face, she is often held up as one of the real-world [[monstergirls]], though, like [[centaurs]], female sphinxes do elicit complaints of "too [[furry]]!" since, y'know, cat genitals. Like with [[minotaur]]s, some artists get around this by simply making a [[catgirl]] with wings, give her an Egyptian motif, and calling it a day.

==Mythology==
The Egyptian sphinx, from little we know, is always portrayed as a lion (to symbolize strength) with the head of a human (symbolizing intelligence); with these combined aspects, the sphinx as a whole was often used to symbolize power. Rather like the [[Lamassu]] and Shedu of Sumeria, it is a protector spirit. There are several kinds of sphinx from Egypt; the human-headed ones, falcon-headed ones (hieracosphinxes) and ram-headed ones (criosphinxes). Though it should be noted that they weren't called sphinxes at the time; we don't know ''what'' thy were called, the Greeks just decided to call the statue that because of the resemblance to the monster form their mythology.

The Greek sphinx is the most famous version. This is the version that sometimes incorporates eagle wings, and is always female. Set itself up on a rock leading to Thebes and demanded that people guess the answer to her riddle or be eaten. If they got it wrong, she ate them anyway. Finally, Oedipus answered it correctly, whereupon she <s>came up with a different riddle to use from then on.</s> <s>stopped bothering with riddles and just jumped straight to eating her prey from then on</s> got so pissed that she ragequitted life and jumped off a cliff. Because of how popular Greek myths are, everybody's heard the riddle - "what goes on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon and three legs in the evening?" For those of you who've been living under a stump, the answer is "man", since he crawls on all fours as a baby (morning), walks upright as an adult (noon) and uses a walking stick as a third leg as an old geezer (evening).

The Asiatic sphinx, like the Egyptian sphinx, is a protector spirit, but may have wings like the Greek sphinx.

===Riddles on the Tabletop===
The Sphinx in general is one of those monsters that can be hard for the DM to use correctly. The idea of a game of riddles is a cool one on paper, but unless the DM is good at creating riddles, it can often turn into a game of "guess-what-the-DM-is-thinking". A good DM should make sure to leave hints earlier in the adventure, or to at least make the sphinx susceptible to bribery.

==D&D and Pathfinder==
===D&D===
Okay, to begin with, one has to remember that sphinxes appeared in [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]], when [[Monster Manual]]s liked to try and be "realistic", but tended to fail hilariously - witness the absurdity of [[medusa]]/maedar mating outcomes. D&D basically throws together the Greek and Egyptian sphinxes, ending up with four separate kinds:

* ''Gynosphinxes'' are your standard Greek sphinx with some Egyptian thrown in. falcon-Winged lionesses with human heads and tits. Highly intelligent, love riddles, natural spellcasters. Drawn to guarding sacred spots. Don't usually eat people, but won't hesitate to do so if hungry, bored or insulted, especially if a person is a moron.
* ''Androsphinxes'' are the male, more good-natured equivalents to gynosphinxes. Even smarter and more magically powerful. Don't like company much, and pretty prudish.
* ''Criosphinxes'' are fairly dimwitted ram-headed falcon-winged lions. Some minor [[druid]]ic abilities, but mostly just beasts.(also all male)
* ''Hieracosphinxes'' are savage, rapacious, totally evil falcon-headed falcon-winged lions. (also all male)

So, here's the weirdness: only gynosphinxes are female, and all others are male. Gynosphinxes and androsphinxes are only born to androsphinx fathers - but androsphinxes don't like sex. Criosphinx and hiracosphinx babies meanwhile can only be born to criosphinx and hiracosphinx fathers, respectively, but gynosphinxes are only attracted to androsphinxes. So you have a species where the females desperately try to get laid from the one set of menfolk that can give them daughters, whilst the criosphinxes have to bribe the gynosphinxes for procreation, and the heiracosphinxes have to outright rape their way to fatherhood. Seriously, the fuck? Was this cooked up by bitter incels with a [[furry]] streak or some shit?

Whilst the above is the classic setup for sphinges, there are some other, more obscure branches of the D&D sphinx family tree.

In [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]], there are also ''Dracosphinxes'' and ''Astrosphinxes''. The former are Chaotic Evil sphinxes who have the head and forelimbs of a [[Chromatic Dragon|Red Dragon]]; coming in both male and female form, the dracosphinx is an arrogant, greedy monster who seek to prove themselves the strongest and cleverest creatures around, which in their worldview defines who has the right to live. They can spew fire and have the spellcasting prowess of an [[illusionist]]. The latter are insane wingless sphinx-kin who are found scattered throughout [[Spelljammer|Wildspace]]; resembling bipedal, scale-covered cats with clawed human-like hands and heads resembling a goat's skull, these mad creatures pose insane "riddles" to anyone they met and then kill them when they can't answer, which means they are often found inhabiting ruined worlds they have emptied of life. Mindlessly homicidal and capable of both breathing sleeping gas and shooting lightning bolts out of their eyes, they are extremely dangerous creatures.

3rd edition has the Loquasphinx, a sphinx-kin race associated with Truename Magic, which is about the only thing (apart from a more sensible attitude towards sex) that separates them from andro- and gynosphinxes, which they otherwise perfectly resemble. The Loquasphinx was introduced in 3.5's [[Tome of Magic]] sourcebook. 3e's Sandstorm also introduced four new "beast-headed" sphinx varieties, which are implicitly outside of the fucked up four-way sexual cycle of the "core sphinxes".
* The ''Canisphinx'' is a Neutral Evil jackal-headed sphinx that completely lacks magic, roaming the deserts and arid plains in search of prey to hunt and kill. They explicitly exist in both male and female forms, and sometimes hunt in mated pairs.
* The ''Crocosphinx'' is a savage and aggressive Chaotic Evil sphinx breed that has the body of a lion, the wings of an falcon, and the head & tail of a crocodile. It's possible they come in both genders, but they are known to regularly interbreed with normal crocodiles. They spend most of their time lurking in bodies of water and waiting to ambush prey, and are basically just a nastier crocodile with claw & rake attacks in terms of combat and culture.
* The ''Saurosphinx'' is a [[dinosaur]] (or at least lizard) headed sphinx that is not especially intelligent, but also not inherently evil. Typically True Neutral, they love to engage in conversation and are widely considered the most civilized of sphinxes, even traveling long distances to listen to sages and scholars. Amongst the weakest sphinxes, with no magical abilities whatsoever, they are sometimes preyed upon by the nastier sphinx breeds.
* The ''Threskisphinx'' is the only Good aligned sphinx in the Sandstorm book (Neutral Good, to be precise). Like the hieracosphinx, they have a basically [[griffon]]-like appearance, with the body of a lion and the head & wings of an ibis. Favoring lakeside and riverside dens, they are widely considered the sages of the sphinx races, and have a particular aptitude for crafting magical items.

[[5e]] thankfully jettisoned the more fucked up aspects of sphinx type and breeding by dropping the prudishness of the andros and the existence of the crios and hiracos; however, there was evidently a miscommunication between the artist and the writers, as we wound up with a Mufasa-looking Androsphinx and a Gynosphinx with a clearly lion-like head, despite the text describing them both as having humanoid heads. In this edition, sphinxes are '''fucking hardcore''' when encountered in their lairs, though fortunately these abilities can be used only once each before requiring a short rest: they can force you to reroll your initiative as long as you're there; take a DC 15 save or age or de-age '''1[[D20]] YEARS''', creating an interesting case of "Adventurer babies wat do?" (healed by Greater Restoration, which the Androsphinx has); send you '''up to a decade back or forward in time''' (Wish to return); or shift itself and up to seven creatures it can see to another [[plane]], then return as a bonus action. So in other words, if you piss a Sphinx off it can just drop your ass into the fucking [[Abyss]]. Have fun swimming in The Gaping Maw, chucklefuck! Say hi to [[Demogorgon]] for me!

====Sphinx PCs====
{{dnd-stub}}

In Basic [[Dungeons & Dragons]], sphinxes were actually given PC stats in the [[splatbook]] "Creature Catalog 2: Top Ballista". Insanely powerful, their race-class went from level -10 to 3, and gave them a huge array of bonuses. These included a magical roar that was basically a breath weapon, magic resistance, saving throws as if it were a [[Fighter]] of double its actual level, and spellcasting abilities as either a [[Cleric]] (gynosphinx) or [[Wizard|Magic-User]] (androsphinx) - this was early version lore, before the two switched their associated spell-sets around in AD&D.

{{D&D1e-Races}}

===Pathfinder===
Pathfinder basically keeps the same setup as early D&D, but makes the species of sphinx depend on the relationship between parents (love causes andro/gyno mixed gender fraternal twins, lust causes crio, rape causes hieraco) rather than father's species.

Pathfinder has the Crinosphinx, a malevolent [[necromancer]] sphinx with the head of a jackal.

===Gallery===
<center>
<gallery>
Androsphinx Monster card.jpg|A&D Monster Card
Androsphinx MM 2e.png|2e Monstrous Manual
Androsphinx.jpg|''"An Androsphinx bears the head of a humanoid male on its lion's body."'' Sure it does, [[5e]].
Gynosphinx.jpg|''"A gynosphinx bears the head of a humanoid female. Many have the regal counterances of worldly queens, but some are marked with wild, leonine features."'' Looks like she's more than just "marked" with those features, [[5e]].
Gynosphinx 3e.jpg|Mind you, 5e wasn't the first edition to have more lion-faced sphinxes.
Pathfinder Gynosphinx.jpg|A more traditional depiction of a D&D/[[Pathfinder]] sphinx.
1430443844176.jpg
</gallery>
</center>

==[[Magic: The Gathering]]==
Amongst the many [[planes]] of [[Magic: The Gathering]], sphinxes are quite abundant. Depicted as human-faced, winged lions, they range drastically in power; some reach the stature and power of [[dragon]]s. Know for their cunning and vast intellect, many speak only in riddles; most are aligned with Blue Mana, but White Mana and/or Black Mana sphinxes are also known to exist. They are able to instantly detect when somebody is lying to them, and can even discern between truth and honest. Sphinxes have hollow bones that can function as organ pipes, so “every phrase is a motif and a speech can be a symphony”. Most Sphinxes within the Multiverse were likely influenced by Azor, an ancient Sphinx planeswalker who once traveled between the worlds to bring order.

Planes on which sphinxes have an active presence consist of [[Alara]], [[Amonkhet]], [[Mirrodin]], [[Ravnica]], [[Theros]] and [[Zendikar]]. They also dwelled on [[Dominaria]] during that plane's ice age, and an alternate version of the artifical plane called simply Serra's Realm was populated by sphinxes instead of [[angel]]s.

Amonkhetian sphinxes were immune to the mind control of Nicol Bolas, but were unable to shake off the curse he cast upon them that rendered them incapable of warning the denizens of that plane of the draconic planeswalker's malign plans.

==[[Warhammer Fantasy]]==
Sphinxes are not known to have actually existed as a living creature in Warhammer, and instead the [[Tomb Kings]] (an Egyptian-expy race of living skeletons) of [[Nehekhara]] (not-Egypt) created living statues of them. They come in two varieties, the [[Necrosphinx]] and the [[Khemrian Warsphinx]]. The former possesses wings and giant blade weapons resembling a second pair of wings, and bears the face of a man of some importance in history (the older ones have human faces, those created after the death and debirth (unbirth? antibirth?) of the Nehekharans have skeletal ones, and its very possible for the same Tomb King to thus have a Necrosphinx depicting his face before and after death). The latter resembles a skeletal Sphinx and has a Howdah (a carriage mounted to the back of a large animal) in which either an important person within the Tomb Kingdom rides or else a team of highly trained warriors bearing spears.

==Sphinx as Monstergirls==
[[File:Sphinx in Library.jpg|x200px|thumb|right|When you think about it, not '''that''' different to the paw-handed & footed [[catgirl]].]]
[[File:MGE Sphinx.jpg|x200px|thumb|left|The Sphinx as she appears in MGE.]]
In the [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]], sphinxes are dusky-skinned, blond-furred, brown-haired [[catgirl]]s (goddamit, KC! Way to make the case for your critics who call your girls ''cosplayers''!) who live in the desert region. They ask riddles of men; those who win get pounced upon and fucked, those who fail are charmed by her magic to try and compelled them to fuck her anyway.

In other works they tend to be depicted closer to the 'original' form (feline lower body, human torso and wings). They still like riddles and to pounce upon those that answer correctly to mate with them.

[[Category:Monsters]][[Category:Greek Mythology]]

Hydra

2021-02-20T23:50:14Z

2001:48F8:402A:618:0:0:0:C72F:

{{dnd-stub}}

'''Hydras''' are multi-headed [[dragon]]-like monsters originating from Greco-Roman Mythology. Described as a many-headed, poison-spewing serpent that could regrow its heads as fast as Hercules hewed them off (tellings differed on whether a neck stump regrew two heads or just the one), so clever Hercules took a torch to each stump as he severed it, though if he were ''actually'' a clever bastard he'd have ignored the heads entirely and just gutted the damn thing. It was natural that such an iconic monster would go on to appear in other fantasy games. A related bit is the Orochi of Japanese myth, which was an eight headed and eight tailed serpent god. A dude named Susano-O killed it by getting it drunk. He then found his girlfriend Kusanagi in the tail.

==D&D Hydras==
The hydra has been around in [[Dungeons & Dragons]] literally since the beginning, having appeared in the Basic Set in 1977 and then going on to appear in the 1981 and 1983 Expert Sets, the 1991 Rules Cyclopedia, and then every Monster Manual from 1st through to 5th. Whilst various details have changed across the editions, the core has remained; hydras are quadrupedal, wingless [[dragon]]-kin who possess multiple heads on long, serpentine necks. They can regenerate, and favor swampy environments.

Traditional variants of the hydra include the flame-spewing Pyrohydra, and the frost-spewing Cryohydra. They also have a nasty habit of punching outside of their CR. Their regeneration is very strong and they make a large number of attacks per round. In 3rd edition especially, their rules were created to allow fighters with Cleave and elemental spellcasters to feel stronger, and characters without those abilities to be a strait disadvantage. Similarly, nearly any template put on them made them even more dangerous. Results could include Zombie, where the hydra's pseudo-pounce and very strange version of regeneration (that's technically not lost like the normal kind) negating the templates main weakness making hydras (especially pyrohydras, who can't have their heads permanently severed as zombies) a favorite of necromancer PCs. The Monster of Legend template can also make them literally unkillable short of a Wish spell.

[[Birthright]]'s take on the monster, which, like all such Birthright monsters is a unique creature rather than a whole race, is particularly nightmarish. Once a simple crocodile that, depending on who you believe, either chowed down on the wrong body or was corrupted to its present purpose by Azrai himself, the Hydra is now ringed by several severed-but-still-semiconscious heads of various heroes and heroines who've tried to destroy it over the years, only to be devoured and subjected to bloodtheft. It's not a super-smart macro-level threat like a lot of other awnsheigh, but it's got a lot of powers up its sleeve from all the heroes it's absorbed over the centuries, and no one knows how to destroy it permanently.
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==Warhammer Hydras==
Hydras have been a mainstay monstrous unit of the [[Dark Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Dark Elves]] of [[Warhammer Fantasy]]. They are extremely tough and vicious creatures that can regenerate and spew fire, but also stupid creatures that depend on Druchii beastmasters to keep them under control.

==Warhammer 40k==
While there weren't any monsters similar to Hydras tamed by the [[Dark Eldar]] or any of the Tyranids creature with similar biology, but there were a lot of reference to it for the Imperials or just humans in general using the mythical beast as a name to many thing that can be compare to it, be it vehicle or enemies.

The [[Alpha Legion]] used the Hydra as a symbol and references to many thing like their legion symbol, their war cry and their fighting tactics. Each marine in the legion is a soldier capable of many roles even being a leader, strike from multiple directions at once, and which could keep going even with the loss of a head. It is unknown if [[Alpharius]] (or Omegon) actually encountered a real Hydra before, or at least read about them on some random book written by space traveling Terrans which led to him fascinate with the creatures. Either way, nobody will ever know what the fuck is up with Alpharius and his legion so fuck knows.

Tyranid has a [[Hive Fleet Hydra|Hive Fleet called "Hydra"]] living in the Southern part of the galaxy. They are quite small for a hive fleet and their battle tactics revolves around using massive swarms of small tyranid bioforms like Termagants, Hormagaunts and Gargoyles. The bigger synapse creatures (aka Swarm Lord or Hive Tyrant) command these bioform to attack and if the commanding Tyranids died in battle, it will sent some kind of psychic wave across all the small bioforms nearby to attack whoever killed their big dudes (which is like how a hydra lose its head but many take it's place, except the big dudes that died is replaced with a swarm of small Tyranids). [[starcraft|This allows them to take down even the big target with just a bunch of small bioforms]].

The [[Imperial Guard]] has these [[Hydra Flak Tank]] which is just Chimera with AA gun and they named like that just because AA gun has many barrels....

==Magic: the Gathering Hydras==

Hydras have been in M:tG from the very beginning, with [http://www.smileylich.com/mtg/scans/QuarterSizeProxies/Rock%20Hydra.jpg Rock Hydra], a card that was discontinued for being both terrible and needlessly complicated. WotC attempted to replace it with Balduvian Hydra, which epically failed because the new card was just as complicated and very slightly more terrible (due to being vulnerable to toughness-reducing effects). Hydras made several more appearances throughout Magic's history, usually favoring Green over Red. A lot of them have an X in their mana cost, meaning they get bigger and better the more mana you dump when you cast them (from a flavor perspective it's like giving them more heads), and almost all of them get +1/+1 counters in one way or another, meaning they can get pretty big. While a lot of them aren't used competitively, there are plenty of notable Hydra cards, especially in recent years such as Hydroid Krasis, a weird mutant jellyfish-hydra abomination from the Simic Conclave, which gives you a load of card advantage and the legendary Progenitus, the ridiculously hard to cast [[WUBRG]] Hydra that confuses casuals since it has protection from '''EVERYTHING''' (it's the actual card's text).

==Monstergirls==
{{Monstergirls}}

Ironically, hydras may be the dragon-type monster ''least'' likely to get the [[monstergirls]] treatment. Even the [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]] doesn't have a version yet!

[[Category:Monsters]] [[Category: Dungeons & Dragons]] [[Category:Greek Mythology]] [[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]]

Yugoloth

2021-02-14T19:58:35Z

2001:48F8:402A:618:0:0:0:C72F: /* If You Gotta Use 'Em */

[[File:Yugoloth puppetmaster.png|thumb|right|[[Furries]]: the purest distillation of evil]]
Also known as '''[[Daemon#Dungeons_.26_Dragons_and_Pathfinder|daemons]]''' (no, not [[Daemon#Warhammer|''those'' Daemons]]), '''Yugoloths''' are the [[Alignment#Neutral_Evil|neutral evil]] grid-fill for the [[devils]] and [[demons]] in post-1980 [[Dungeons & Dragons]].

The first published were the Mezzodaemon and Nycadaemon of [[Drow trilogy|D3]], just chillin' in [[Erelhei-Cinlu]] as fiends do; whence they went into the [[Fiend Folio]], and then got more buddies in the second Monster Manual. A decade later [[2e]] did to daemonkind what it did to the [[Baatezu]] and [[Tanar'ri]] (and [[Demodand|Gehreleth]]), changing the name to some babble, because it SOUNDED too much like "demon" for [[Lorraine Williams]] to allow in an [[RPG]].

But in this (rare) case That Woman had a point. Their name was always redundant with "demon"; and as spelled out, it conflicts with the ancient Greek word for “spirit” or even "lesser god" - Socrates had a daemon with him, for instance. And the eeevil daemons never enjoyed anything like the popularity as the two major fiendish races on either side, nor were they as well known. Her name-change didn't help their case, though. We'll get to some reasons why not.

Originally the Neutral Evil outworlders daemons got allocated to the Gray Waste of [[Hades]], though ''[[Planescape]]'' shifted most of them to [[Gehenna]] because Hades really sucks. In 5e this has actually been retconned into their ''home plane'' for some fucking reason.

Yugoloths embody the platonic idea of Evil itself. Not “evil”, mind you, but capital-e Evil. They lie, cheat, and betray for its own sake, and generally seek to cause as much suffering and hate as possible to everyone. Whereas the demons embody anarchy, and the devils embody tyranny, the yugoloth embody sociopathy. They're kind of dicks like that. They act as mercenaries (primarily in the [[Blood War]], but they'll work for anyone who can meet their price, even their polar opposites the [[guardinal|Guardinals]]), constantly switching sides between the factions involved in whatever conflict they were paid to fight in (this can happen multiple times in a single battle). In fact, there are conspiracy theories that ''they'' are the original fiends and/or that they're the ones who started the Blood War and are playing it to their own end.

The term "Yugoloth" is still being used in 5th edition even though "[[Baatezu]]" and "[[Tanar'ri]]" and other terms for evil outsiders which 2nd edition had pulled out of Lorraine's fat ass were dropped. As noted, "daemon" never was a good name for them.

=Why The Yugoloths Are [[FAIL]]=
As to why the Yugoloths own the Great Wheel's Wooden Spoon (as Victorians called it), behind Law's and Chaos': A philosophical reason might be that "pure" evil without a desire to destroy or dominate doesn't actually seem likely to do much of anything with real consequences. A narrative-based reason might be that demons and devils are more easily contrasted with each other. A more realistic reason for their low profile is that they're just really boring, having failed to tap into the predominant [[Mythology#Abrahamic_Mythology (Judaism,_Christianity,_Islam)|Abrahamic mythos]] the way that tanar'ri demons and baatezu devils did. The Archdemons are some of the [[Baphomet|biggest]], [[Orcus|baddest]], and [[Lamashtu|most horrifying]] creatures in the entire setting, while the ruler of the Nine Hells is a [[Creed|strategic mastermind]] who pretends to be The God-Fiend of the Pit, Master of Slavery and Tyranny because that is ''less'' threatening than [[Asmodeus|what he really is]]. Not to mention a wide variety of lesser demons who are iconic, terrifying, and awesome. Despite the fact that in Gygax's ''Come Endless Darkness'' novel the oinoloth Infestix and the deity [[Nerull]] are the same being, [[Lorraine_Williams|the sociopathic bitch]] had already ousted [[Gygax|D&D founder Gary Gygax]] from [[TSR]] so Nerull-as-Infestix was never included in published game materials; yugoloths have fewer interesting leaders (about which very little is known), just a city that moves around or some shit. Forget these assholes and get back to headbutting pit fiends in [[Baator]]; D&D publishers dropped the ball by not publishing a neutral evil [https://d20npcs.fandom.com/wiki/Bale_Fiend ''bale fiend''] yugoloth, which would have fit perfectly in [[Planescape]]'s notion that yugoloths were the origin of the other [[Fiend|fiends]].
[[Image:Yugoloths.png|400px|thumb|right|Planescape's cattle call]]
Yugoloths' heyday was ''Planescape'', where they met an actual niche as the [[Blood War]]'s profiteers. But here they were battling hags for market-share. And then they lost even that in 3e and beyond.

With [[Planescape]] not getting an official 3.x release, and the Blood War thusly getting a lot less shilling, the yugoloths were mostly forgotten aside from the occasional update in a [[Monster Manual]]. In [[4e]] they lost their whole reason to exist with the almost non-existent Blood War and were instead made a subtype of Demon. The jackal-like Arcanoloths were even divorced entirely from the Daemon family tree and made an entirely new species of scheming, manipulative evil immortals called [[Raavasta]].

In [[5e]], Yugoloths were created by the Baatezu in order to combat the Tanar'ri. However, the Baatezu lost control of them, and now they're a mercenary fiend race giving their help wherever the most profit is to be made.

Pathfinder avoided the Yugoloth name for copyright reasons, with their [[Daemon_(Pathfinder)|daemons]] becoming an omnicidal race lead by (a version of) the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. But after the ''Legacy of Fire'' [[Adventure Path]] introduced [[Divs]]... why even bother?

Truly the yugoloth is well named, to sum up; putting a daemon in your campaign is like driving to prom in a 1982 Yugo.

=If You Gotta Use 'Em=
Whereas devils are living embodiments of oppressive tyranny and demons living embodiments of mayhem and anarchy, the Yugoloth are living embodiments of opportunistic sociopathy. Whereas the mind of a devil or demon is sufficiently diluted by law or chaos for them to care about a larger cause (multiversal conquest and destruction, respectively), a Yugoloth doesn't give a crap about anything other than its own well being and agenda. Which, if one thinks about it, should ironically make them far more amiable and cooperative than either demons or devils, since they wouldn't give two rat's asses about where their pay is coming from, so long as their price is being met.

As for deals: Devils of course prefer rigidly formal contracts with maximized loopholes (on their side of the deal) and Fine Print (on the other side), so it would stand to reason that demons, when they bother to enter such a relationship at all instead of simply killing you, would prefer informal agreements and promises with flexible and non-binging terms. Yugoloth, then, would go with either one or something in between, whichever they'd think would benefit them most at the time. Also, you probably shouldn't pay them up front, in which case they might just take then money, kill you, and take the rest of your stuff.

In other words, they're murderhobos but smarter.

==As Player Characters (LOL)==
It should come as no surprise that the same edition of D&D that made [[neogi]], [[unbodied|flying ghost brains]], [[maug|extraplanar robots]], [[mind flayer]]s, and the [[ixitxachitl]] playable or pseudo-playable also took a shot at making Yugoloths playable. Specifically, the ''Canoloth'', of all variants, was given a level adjustment in the 2001 [[Manual of the Planes]], although between the adjustment and racial hit dice they're largely still unplayable.

==The Truest Fiends==
The Yugoloth maintain a number of strongholds on the Lower Planes. Their biggest one is the Crawling City making its way on the slopes of Gehenna. Here the General of Gehenna, the leader of the Yugoloth, holds his court and plots against the Multiverse itself. Also on Gehenna is the Tower Arcane, where the Arcanoloth record all the deals made with mortals and Outsiders alike. Hades houses Khin-Oin, a massive tower allegendly made from the spine of a deity the Yugoloth killed. Here many of the soldiers of the Yugoloth armies live and train. Finally there is the Tower of Incarnate Pain, which is still under construction in [[Carceri]]. Made from the screaming bodies of petitioners and the skin of a dead god, the Yugoloth intend to use the tower to link their two other towers and obtain considerable power that way. The native inhabitants of Carceri, the [[Demodand|Gehreleth]] do not agree with this and frequently attack the tower to tear it down. Without their attacks the Yugoloth would have been done centuries ago, but because of the actions of the Gehreleth they are far behind on schedule. While the fiends are very limited in number and the Yugoloth could easily crush them with a superior force, they do not do this because it would draw too much attention to their secret project.

==The Shapes of Evil==
===Yugoloth Creations===
*'''[[Canoloth]]s''' eyeless quadrupedal guard dog yugoloth with the tongue <s>you wish your boyfriend had</s> of a chameleon.
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*'''[[Guardian Yugoloth]]s:''' Least, Lesser, Greater.
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*'''[[Battleloth]]s:''' Arrow, Axe, Crossbow, Pick, Spiked Chain, Sword.
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===Lesser Yugoloths===
*'''[[Mezzoloth]]''': Mid-ranking bug monsters. Most notable for dropping massed Cloudkill spells.
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*'''[[Dergholoth]]''' (also spelled Dhergoloth): Remarkably ridiculous four-armed insectoids in D&D; their heads don't turn, but their entire torso whirls about wildly. [[Pathfinder]]'s [[Daemon_(Pathfinder)#Derghodaemon|derghodaemons]] however look like nightmares of Ginsu blades that could vivisect you before you could even scream.
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*'''[[Piscoloth]]''': If [[Cthulhu]] and a lobster had a lovechild, it would be a piscoloth.
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*'''[[Hydroloth]]''': Flying frog monsters. Take dips into the Styx, which makes their minds both scrambled and unreadable. Trade-in information, ironically.
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*'''[[Yagnoloth]]''': Goofy-looking lopsided freaks, yagnoloths bear much of the blame for why D&D aficionados typically regard tanar'ri and baatezu as cooler than yugoloths.
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*'''[[Marraenoloth]]''' (also spelled Merrenoloth): Boatmen of the Styx. Loyal to their boats and nothing else.
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===Greater Yugoloths===

*'''[[Nycaloth]]''' : Classically horned and draconian winged fiends. Headsmen and executioners. They're large, brutish, and carry vorpal axes. In [[3e|3rd edition D&D]] nycaloths gained the distinction of having four arms.
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*'''[[Arcanaloth]]''': Probably the most famous of the yugoloth species [at least among [[furry]] fans], arcanaloths look like anthropomorphic jackals and are known for managing the mercenary contracts that are the lifeblood of the yugolothic personal involvement in the [[Blood War]]. In essence, all contracts to hire yugoloths ultimately get approved by these guys. These guys are perhaps best known because they have two representative characters living in [[Sigil]]; A'kin the Friendly Fiend, a seemingly benevolent (not that anyone buys it) merchant, and [[Shemeshka]] the Marauder, aspiring to be the biggest wheeler-dealer in the Cage, who calls herself "King of the Crosstrade" and is famous as one of the first canonical non-cisgender NPCs -- she calls herself female, but her profile in the Sigil bigwig NPC splat "Uncaged: Faces of Sigil" depicts her with a ''male'' symbol, implying she's trans. Of course, according to ''Faces of Evil'', all yugoloths are hermaphrodites (<strike>not that the hypothetical sex of a fiend even matters, since fiends of all varieties "reproduce" by uplifting Maggots, which are the forms evil mortals take upon dying and arriving at any of the lower planes</strike>. Actually, yugoloths don't reproduce from maggots/larva. They procreate as mammals do, and when one dies, another mezzoloth is spat out, ensuring their numbers never decrease). By [[4e|4th edition D&D]] the publishers finally realized that [[Furry|jackal furries]] (only some of which even have horns) are just not daemonic enough, and so [[Retcon|retconned]] them to instead be the [[raavasta]] race (with distant yugoloth ancestry). If D&D publishers had actually put effort into making arcanadaemons, well, daemonic, they all would have had larger-than-merely-token horns, mange-exposed patches of diseased skin, and one or more additional monstrous/daemonic features (such as tentacles). But they didn't, so now they're back to being Yugoloth.
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*'''[[Ultroloth]]''': Unlike the pit fiends and balors of the devils and demons, respectively, the leaders of the yugoloths are thinking, scheming mages-sneaks that disguise their strength behind melted, emaciated, and shifting forms rather than roar into battle wreathed in flame. Unfortunately, the fact that ultroloths have zero daemonic features and instead look like <s>weather balloons</s> sci-fi aliens is much of why Balor demons and pit fiend devils better fascinated [[God|dungeon masters]] and [[murderhobos|players]] alike, whose cultural mythos is primarily [[Mythology#Abrahamic Mythology (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)|Abrahamic]]. Now imagine an ultroloth but with large horns and tentacles; much more daemonic, eh?
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===[[Altraloth]]s===
If they are willing to serve the [[Hag#Night_Hags|Night Hags]] for a specific purpose, a yugoloth can choose to undergo a ritual to become a powerful new being: an altraloth. In a long and painful ritual any yugoloth from mezzoloth to ultraloth can be turned into a new creature of superior power, but to do this they will have to enter a contract with the Night Hags and complete its terms before being freed. Most yugoloth chafe at this because they are not able to betray their new mistresses: hurting them will result in unspeakable pain for the altraloth, and if one of them were to die for any reason the altraloth perishes as well. As such, they are invested to the wellbeing of their masters and will do anything to protect them.

===[[Baernaloths]]===
Unverified ancient texts claim that baernaloths were the first [[Fiend|fiends]], and the origin of the other fiends. It's said that every individual powerful being in the Lower planes has a baernoloth hand in their origin, including the [[Obyrith]], who are said to have been lured to this multiverse in the first place by the Baernoloth. Those versions which TSR/WotC have published so far have sucked the papery scrotum of Hades himself. Homebrew versions exist online, though, worthy of these most primordial of fiends.

Notable because as the eldest evils native to the Great Wheel (save perhaps the [[Aboleth]]), they acquire various abilities from various sources over the eons in addition to the ones they already have just from being a baernoloth, and each one has a different set. Some of the more notable ones from the list include one where whatever being that kills them is transformed body and mind over time into the baernoloth they killed, one where they can summon ''any'' other individual fiend in all the lower planes, including a Demon Prince or Archdevil, one where they can spend a week meditating to grant themselves one unique ability, quality, attack, etc. from any other breed of fiend, and the ability to Dominate all evil creatures below CR 12 within 300ft of itself.

Also notable for spending their time doing nothing but tormenting other beings, and they don't even seem to take any joy in it. Oh they don't ''regret'' their actions in the slightest, it's just that in their minds, they exist to torment, and all other beings exist to be tormented.

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===[[Oinoloths]]===
The prefix ''oino''- means "one"; the word ''oinoloth'' is a title of the yugoloth ruler of [[Hades]], not a type of yugoloth, though the process of attaining the oinoloth title could conceivably involve a transformation.

...at least originally. now the being with the best claim to being "ruler of all yugoloth" is the General of Gehenna, assumed to be an ultraloth, and now oinoloths are just another type of yugoloth that specializes in disease.
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==Yugoloth Lords==
Most active yugoloth lords are altraloths.

*'''[[Apomps]] the Three-Sided''' - baernaloth. Possibly is the creator and lord of the [[Demodand]]s.

*'''[[Anthraxus]] the Decayed''' - altraloth (and held oinoloth title)

*'''[[Bubonix]]''' - altraloth

*'''[[Charon]] (a.k.a. Cerlic)''' - altraloth

*'''[[Cholerix]]''' - altraloth

*'''[[The General of Gehenna]]''' - ultroloth (and probably an altraloth)

*'''[[Helekanalaith]]''' - arcanaloth

*'''[[Infestix]]''' - [[Gygax]]'s ''Come Endless Darkness'' novel posits that the first oinoloth Infestix and the deity [[Nerull]] were the same being.

*'''[[Mydianchlarus]]''' - ultroloth (and held oinoloth title)

*'''[[Taba]]''' - altraloth

*'''[[Typhus]]''' - altraloth

* '''[[Xengahra]]''' - altraloth

=See Also=
*[[Daemon (Pathfinder)]]
*[[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition races]]

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Ultroloth Arcanaloth.webp
File:Yugoloths by the Styx.jpg
File:Canoloth Ultroloth.jpg
File:Zastava-yugo-311-1982-300300.jpg
</gallery>

{{D&D-Outsiders}}
[[Category:FAIL]]

Zarus

2021-02-02T19:59:04Z

2001:48F8:402A:618:0:0:0:C72F: /* Zarus and the Emperor */

{{Infobox Deity
|Name = Zarus
|Symbol = [[File:ZarusIcon.jpg|Compare to the Icon of Pelor.]]
|Alignment = Lawful Evil
|Divine Rank = Greater God
|Pantheon = Core, Oerth
|Portfolio = Humanity, Domination, Perfection
|Domains = Destiny, Evil, Law, Strength, War
|Home Plane = [[Acheron]]
|Worshippers = [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|Human Supremacists,]] Athletes, Warlords, Blackguards
|Favoured Weapon = Greatsword
}}
'''Zarus''' is a god from the [[Dungeons & Dragons]] [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition|3.5 sourcebook]] "Races of Destiny", and the only official deity written for D&D to lay claim to being the Patron God of Humanity, similar to [[Moradin]] being the [[Dwarf]] god or [[Garl Glittergold]] being the [[Gnome]] god. Unfortunately, he's also an incredibly arrogant racist prick, which has contributed to his lack of popularity on /tg/.

Zarus is a [[Lawful Evil]] "Greater" God who is basically the unholy bastard spawn of [[Mary Sue]] and [[Humanity Fuck Yeah]]. His official backstory, as told by his worshippers, is that he was the first human being ever, created by the world itself as the living embodiment of perfection, a being more graceful than the [[elves]], sturdier than the [[dwarves]], and capable of craftsmanship beyond the feeble talents of [[gnomes]] and [[halflings]] alike, such that all demihuman races trembled with fearful awe at his existence. Eventually, he demanded the earth give him a wife as perfect as he, and so it gave him Astra. Terrified of their union, the leaders of the other races delivered Zarus a bounty of the finest wine for his wedding; Zarus knew that they had poisoned it, but drank it down rather than dishonor himself in refusal. In sheer grief at his passing, the world granted him godhood, and caused Astra to give birth to the entire human race (hopefully not all at once), allowing Zarus to watch over his children forever more.

Zarus' creedo is a simple one, dedicated to the pursuit of perfectionism and humanity's inherent superiority to all other life; his priests call for the annihilation of independent demihuman cultures and the subjugation of all species to humanity's will, after which humanity can dedicate itself to ascending to its true potential. Recruiting only the best-looking, healthy, active and arrogant youths to join the clergy, the priests of Zarus are rabble-rousers and warleaders, striving to foster bigotry, inter-racial war and slavery wherever they go. They call for the murder of demihumans, the theft of their artifacts, and the conquest of their lands.

Also, unlike the [[Divinity of Mankind]] religion from [[Ravenloft]], which is another canonical "[[Humanity Fuck Yeah]]" D&D religion, Zarus' faith decrees halfbreeds an abomination that must be eradicated wherever possible, punishing [[heresy|interspecies sex]] as the foulest and most heinous of crimes.

Zarus's holy symbol is a bust of a smugly satisfied "handsome" human man's face colored gold, at the center of a sixteen-pointed starburst, with the cardinal points being particularly enlarged. The strange similarity between this symbol and that of [[Pelor]] has led to the further support for the Pelor the Burning Hate [[meme]].

==Zarus and the Emperor==
One may wonder: why did Zarus never catch on /tg/ in comparison to The [[God-Emperor of Mankind]]? After all, both deities have a basic portfolio of human supremacy. Well, that's a complex matter, but here's some possible reasons:

*Whereas the God-Emperor hails from a setting where human supremacy actually kind of makes sense, since all (or at least 99 out of 100) of the established major alien races range from "complete and utter ''fucking pricks''" to "genocidal abominations" (not that humans are any better), Zarus hails from the vanilla D&D setting, where demihumans are generally okay. There's a difference between calling for the extinction of sadistic soul-eating monsters or fungus-based biological killbots and calling for the extinction of quiet shortstack pastoral halflings or grumpy but goodhearted dwarves, and /tg/ knows it.

*The God-Emperor states that the human form is perfect in and of itself, whereas Zarus promotes a very specific ideal of human perfection.

*The God-Emperor is (depending on the writer) portrayed as a paragon, but given some flaws that undercut his inherent Mary Sueness, whereas Zarus grabs the Mary Sue koolaid and chugs the whole bottle without shame even though he knows it's poisoned, because something something honor.

*Zarus's sheer smugness may play a small part in it. Whereas the God-Emperor is upheld as a legitimately worthy divinity, you can feel the disdain dripping from the pages when you read Zarus' profile, inspiring a common aversion to wanting to be associated with the smarmy git. Or maybe that's just the way his symbol is drawn.

*Zarus opposes [[Monstergirls]] (or, at least, reproducing with them) which is a big deal in a D&D settings where humans can breed with nearly anything, and these hybrids are generally ''not'' sterile. In 40K [[Eldar]] are the only non-human that would even have matching parts for intercourse and ([[Illiyan Nastase|really old no-longer canon material]] aside) have no chance of crossbreeding due to massively differing reproduction cycles, while [[Tau]], the second closest, are that [[:File:Illus4.jpg|only]] by virtue of having two legs and reproducing sexually.

{{D&D-Greyhawk-Deities}}

Zarus

2021-02-02T19:57:52Z

2001:48F8:402A:618:0:0:0:C72F: /* Zarus and the Emperor */

{{Infobox Deity
|Name = Zarus
|Symbol = [[File:ZarusIcon.jpg|Compare to the Icon of Pelor.]]
|Alignment = Lawful Evil
|Divine Rank = Greater God
|Pantheon = Core, Oerth
|Portfolio = Humanity, Domination, Perfection
|Domains = Destiny, Evil, Law, Strength, War
|Home Plane = [[Acheron]]
|Worshippers = [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|Human Supremacists,]] Athletes, Warlords, Blackguards
|Favoured Weapon = Greatsword
}}
'''Zarus''' is a god from the [[Dungeons & Dragons]] [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition|3.5 sourcebook]] "Races of Destiny", and the only official deity written for D&D to lay claim to being the Patron God of Humanity, similar to [[Moradin]] being the [[Dwarf]] god or [[Garl Glittergold]] being the [[Gnome]] god. Unfortunately, he's also an incredibly arrogant racist prick, which has contributed to his lack of popularity on /tg/.

Zarus is a [[Lawful Evil]] "Greater" God who is basically the unholy bastard spawn of [[Mary Sue]] and [[Humanity Fuck Yeah]]. His official backstory, as told by his worshippers, is that he was the first human being ever, created by the world itself as the living embodiment of perfection, a being more graceful than the [[elves]], sturdier than the [[dwarves]], and capable of craftsmanship beyond the feeble talents of [[gnomes]] and [[halflings]] alike, such that all demihuman races trembled with fearful awe at his existence. Eventually, he demanded the earth give him a wife as perfect as he, and so it gave him Astra. Terrified of their union, the leaders of the other races delivered Zarus a bounty of the finest wine for his wedding; Zarus knew that they had poisoned it, but drank it down rather than dishonor himself in refusal. In sheer grief at his passing, the world granted him godhood, and caused Astra to give birth to the entire human race (hopefully not all at once), allowing Zarus to watch over his children forever more.

Zarus' creedo is a simple one, dedicated to the pursuit of perfectionism and humanity's inherent superiority to all other life; his priests call for the annihilation of independent demihuman cultures and the subjugation of all species to humanity's will, after which humanity can dedicate itself to ascending to its true potential. Recruiting only the best-looking, healthy, active and arrogant youths to join the clergy, the priests of Zarus are rabble-rousers and warleaders, striving to foster bigotry, inter-racial war and slavery wherever they go. They call for the murder of demihumans, the theft of their artifacts, and the conquest of their lands.

Also, unlike the [[Divinity of Mankind]] religion from [[Ravenloft]], which is another canonical "[[Humanity Fuck Yeah]]" D&D religion, Zarus' faith decrees halfbreeds an abomination that must be eradicated wherever possible, punishing [[heresy|interspecies sex]] as the foulest and most heinous of crimes.

Zarus's holy symbol is a bust of a smugly satisfied "handsome" human man's face colored gold, at the center of a sixteen-pointed starburst, with the cardinal points being particularly enlarged. The strange similarity between this symbol and that of [[Pelor]] has led to the further support for the Pelor the Burning Hate [[meme]].

==Zarus and the Emperor==
One may wonder: why did Zarus never catch on /tg/ in comparison to The [[God-Emperor of Mankind]]? After all, both deities have a basic portfolio of human supremacy. Well, that's a complex matter, but here's some possible reasons:

*Whereas the God-Emperor hails from a setting where human supremacy actually kind of makes sense, since all (or at least 99 out of 100) of the established major alien races range from "complete and utter ''fucking pricks''" to "genocidal abominations" (not that humans are any better), Zarus hails from the vanilla D&D setting, where demihumans are generally okay. There's a difference between calling for the extinction of sadistic soul-eating monsters or fungus-based biological killbots and calling for the extinction of quiet shortstack pastoral halflings or grumpy but goodhearted dwarves, and /tg/ knows it.

*The God-Emperor states that the human form is perfect in and of itself, whereas Zarus promotes a very specific ideal of human perfection.

*The God-Emperor is portrayed as a paragon, but given some flaws that undercut his inherent Mary Sueness, whereas Zarus grabs the Mary Sue koolaid and chugs the whole bottle without shame even though he knows it's poisoned, because something something honor.

*Zarus's sheer smugness may play a small part in it. Whereas the God-Emperor is upheld as a legitimately worthy divinity, you can feel the disdain dripping from the pages when you read Zarus' profile, inspiring a common aversion to wanting to be associated with the smarmy git. Or maybe that's just the way his symbol is drawn.

*Zarus opposes [[Monstergirls]] (or, at least, reproducing with them) which is a big deal in a D&D settings where humans can breed with nearly anything, and these hybrids are generally ''not'' sterile. In 40K [[Eldar]] are the only non-human that would even have matching parts for intercourse and ([[Illiyan Nastase|really old no-longer canon material]] aside) have no chance of crossbreeding due to massively differing reproduction cycles, while [[Tau]], the second closest, are that [[:File:Illus4.jpg|only]] by virtue of having two legs and reproducing sexually.

{{D&D-Greyhawk-Deities}}

Zarus

2021-02-02T19:56:45Z

2001:48F8:402A:618:0:0:0:C72F: /* Zarus and the Emperor */ loli is pedophilia, and pedophilia is heresy

{{Infobox Deity
|Name = Zarus
|Symbol = [[File:ZarusIcon.jpg|Compare to the Icon of Pelor.]]
|Alignment = Lawful Evil
|Divine Rank = Greater God
|Pantheon = Core, Oerth
|Portfolio = Humanity, Domination, Perfection
|Domains = Destiny, Evil, Law, Strength, War
|Home Plane = [[Acheron]]
|Worshippers = [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|Human Supremacists,]] Athletes, Warlords, Blackguards
|Favoured Weapon = Greatsword
}}
'''Zarus''' is a god from the [[Dungeons & Dragons]] [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition|3.5 sourcebook]] "Races of Destiny", and the only official deity written for D&D to lay claim to being the Patron God of Humanity, similar to [[Moradin]] being the [[Dwarf]] god or [[Garl Glittergold]] being the [[Gnome]] god. Unfortunately, he's also an incredibly arrogant racist prick, which has contributed to his lack of popularity on /tg/.

Zarus is a [[Lawful Evil]] "Greater" God who is basically the unholy bastard spawn of [[Mary Sue]] and [[Humanity Fuck Yeah]]. His official backstory, as told by his worshippers, is that he was the first human being ever, created by the world itself as the living embodiment of perfection, a being more graceful than the [[elves]], sturdier than the [[dwarves]], and capable of craftsmanship beyond the feeble talents of [[gnomes]] and [[halflings]] alike, such that all demihuman races trembled with fearful awe at his existence. Eventually, he demanded the earth give him a wife as perfect as he, and so it gave him Astra. Terrified of their union, the leaders of the other races delivered Zarus a bounty of the finest wine for his wedding; Zarus knew that they had poisoned it, but drank it down rather than dishonor himself in refusal. In sheer grief at his passing, the world granted him godhood, and caused Astra to give birth to the entire human race (hopefully not all at once), allowing Zarus to watch over his children forever more.

Zarus' creedo is a simple one, dedicated to the pursuit of perfectionism and humanity's inherent superiority to all other life; his priests call for the annihilation of independent demihuman cultures and the subjugation of all species to humanity's will, after which humanity can dedicate itself to ascending to its true potential. Recruiting only the best-looking, healthy, active and arrogant youths to join the clergy, the priests of Zarus are rabble-rousers and warleaders, striving to foster bigotry, inter-racial war and slavery wherever they go. They call for the murder of demihumans, the theft of their artifacts, and the conquest of their lands.

Also, unlike the [[Divinity of Mankind]] religion from [[Ravenloft]], which is another canonical "[[Humanity Fuck Yeah]]" D&D religion, Zarus' faith decrees halfbreeds an abomination that must be eradicated wherever possible, punishing [[heresy|interspecies sex]] as the foulest and most heinous of crimes.

Zarus's holy symbol is a bust of a smugly satisfied "handsome" human man's face colored gold, at the center of a sixteen-pointed starburst, with the cardinal points being particularly enlarged. The strange similarity between this symbol and that of [[Pelor]] has led to the further support for the Pelor the Burning Hate [[meme]].

==Zarus and the Emperor==
One may wonder: why did Zarus never catch on /tg/ in comparison to The [[God-Emperor of Mankind]]? After all, both deities have a basic portfolio of human supremacy. Well, that's a complex matter, but here's some possible reasons:

*Whereas the God-Emperor hails from a setting where human supremacy actually kind of makes sense, since all (or at least 99 out of 100) of the established major alien races range from "complete and utter ''fucking pricks''" to "genocidal abominations", Zarus hails from the vanilla D&D setting, where demihumans are generally okay. There's a difference between calling for the extinction of sadistic soul-eating monsters or fungus-based biological killbots and calling for the extinction of quiet shortstack pastoral halflings or grumpy but goodhearted dwarves, and /tg/ knows it.

*The God-Emperor states that the human form is perfect in and of itself, whereas Zarus promotes a very specific ideal of human perfection.

*The God-Emperor is portrayed as a paragon, but given some flaws that undercut his inherent Mary Sueness, whereas Zarus grabs the Mary Sue koolaid and chugs the whole bottle without shame even though he knows it's poisoned, because something something honor.

*Zarus's sheer smugness may play a small part in it. Whereas the God-Emperor is upheld as a legitimately worthy divinity, you can feel the disdain dripping from the pages when you read Zarus' profile, inspiring a common aversion to wanting to be associated with the smarmy git. Or maybe that's just the way his symbol is drawn.

*Zarus opposes [[Monstergirls]] (or, at least, reproducing with them) which is a big deal in a D&D settings where humans can breed with nearly anything, and these hybrids are generally ''not'' sterile. In 40K [[Eldar]] are the only non-human that would even have matching parts for intercourse and ([[Illiyan Nastase|really old no-longer canon material]] aside) have no chance of crossbreeding due to massively differing reproduction cycles, while [[Tau]], the second closest, are that [[:File:Illus4.jpg|only]] by virtue of having two legs and reproducing sexually.

{{D&D-Greyhawk-Deities}}