Bestiary: the Denizens of the Multiverse

A

Abyssal Princes and Lords (Tanar'ri): those rare few tanar'ri who live long enough, and gather enough power, can ascend past the known, common forms their race takes as they evolve, becoming unique. Even fewer of these rule a layer of the Abyss itself! Availability:

Alkiliths (Tanar'ri): wretched corruption personified, alkiliths are formless terrors that work to spread the horrors of the Abyss throughout the multiverse. They ruin everything they can get their pseudopods on, and delight in doing just that. Availability:

Alu-fiends (Tanar'ri): the offspring of succubi and non-tanar'ri, alu-fiends posses of many of their mothers' abilities. They also have the skill to master sorcery, and often carry impresive magical items to make up for their physical weakness. Availability:

Armanites (Tanar'ri): seeming masters of the Abyss' 377th layer, the armanite hordes populating that plane resemble pale, undead centaurs. They wander the land in troupes, selling their services to whoever offers them enough plunder... and fresh meat. Availability:

B

Babau (Tanar'ri): babau assemble the vast tanar'ri armies required to wage the Blood War. They conscript their least and lesser cousins into the fight, while themselves avoiding the front lines as long as they can keep the 'recruits' coming. Availability:

Balors (Tanar'ri): most powerful of the true tanar'ri, balors are few and far between. However, the blazing power they wield is enough to cow even the most arrogant tanar'ri into submission - further aiding their crusades against the hated baatezu! Availability:

Bar-lgura (Tanar'ri): strong resembling conventional orangutans, bar-lgura aren't much smarter than those mundane creatures. Of course, normal animals don't bear an arsenal of demonic powers, much less such sullen, blinding blinding rage...! Availability:

Bulezau (Tanar'ri): the rumored creations of mad tanar'ri lord Baphomet, the ill-tempered bulezau are hate-driven murder machines. Though somewhat concentrated in the 600th layer of the Abyss, one can find them all over that plane these days. Availability:

C

Cambion (Tanar'ri): the offspring of non-succubi tanar'ri and mortals, cambion are half-breeds born into a world that hates and fears them. Either in the 'real' world or in the Abyss, they are the subject of scorn because of their origins. Availability:

Chasme (Tanar'ri): inhuman monstrosities, chasme are more mosquito than man. These blood-sucking insectoids flit about the Abyss, ceaselessly seeking out Blood War deserters and feeding upon them with the blessings of Abyssal lords. Availability:

D

Decatons (Modron): caring for all the base modrons, the one hundred decatons are the weakest hierarch modrons. Each of Regulus' 64 cogs and each of its 36 great armies are managed by a decaton, who also perform other duties as is needed. Availability:

Dretches (Tanar'ri): when a manes shows a spark of self-awareness, if often grows into a dretch. The first form of 'real' tanar'ri, the teeming masses of dretches are small, dim-witted and petty, and long to rise from their lowly station. Availability:

Duodrones (Modron): a minor evolutionary step above monodrones in capability, duodrones possess speech and limited problem solving abilities. More importantly, they work as intermediaries between tridones and the masses of monodrones. Availability:

G

Glabrezu (Tanar'ri): towering fiendish terrors, glabrezu stand fifteen feet tall. These horrific creatures, with their doglike heads and superfluous limbs, readily answer summons by foolish mages to spread the Abyss' influence far and wide. Availability:

Goristroi (Tanar'ri): hulking behemoths, goristroi often grow up to twenty-four foot tall! They are a frightening cross between man and bison, with large ape-like arms, dreadful horns, and a voracious appetite that can strip land bare for miles! Availability:

H

Hextons (Modron): the thirty-six hextons have one of Mechanus' great armies at their disposal, but that's not all. Sixteen of them oversee four octons each, while the rest serve in the towers of the tertians, the secundus, or Primus itself. Availability:

Hezrou (Tanar'ri): hezrou are the tanar'ri's Blood War middle managers. They have free reign to interpret and execute the commands of their superiors as they see fit, - which is a necessity, as managing tanar'ri is similar to herding cats! Availability:

L

Larva: when evil mortals die, their souls wend their way to the lower planes. If no power holds sway over their afterlife, these souls manifest as larvae. Sickly, worm-like creatures, the near-mindless larvae are quickly slain, eaten, or transformed. Availability:

M

Manes (Tanar'ri): the spirits of particularly chaotic and evil dead made manifest in the Abyss, manes are the lowest form of tanar'ri - or just powerful petitioners. Weak and spiteful, they lash out as directed... or at anything crossing their path. Availability:

Mariliths (Tanar'ri): genius tacticians, the six-armed mariliths are incredibly dangerous. Even without their plethora of magical and psionic powers, mariliths are intractble foes, and are a match for almost anyone, mortal or otherwise. Availability:

Maurezhi (Tanar'ri): the ghoulish maurezhi stalk the multiverse in search of victims to consume. Those whose bodies and souls they ingest surrender all they know, along with some personal power... allowing the maurezhi to grow even more terrible! Availability:

Modrons (in general): creatures of flesh and gears, modrons evolved in the plane of absolute law: Mechanus. Led by Primus, the One and the Prime, the modron race strives to bring order (as they understand it) to the rest of the multiverse. Availability:

Molydeus (Tanar'ri): the only known form of guardian tanar'ri, molydei are true tanar'ri who have been empowered by an unknown agency to further the Blood War effort - and these fanatical fiends have the power necessary to keep true tanar'ri on task! Availability:

Monodrones (Modron): these lowly servitors sit at the bottom of modron society. Non-sentient and barely intelligent, the endless throngs of monodrones are ultimately what keep the gears of Mechanus forever turning against the chaos of existence. Availability:

N

Nabassu (Tanar'ri): first of the 'greater' tanar'ri, Nabassu serve a curious role for their 'brethren'. They exist solely to spread the terror of the Abyss, eagerly waiting to be summoned forth to rampage across the multiverse! Availability:

Nalfeshnee (Tanar'ri): these immense, boar-like monstrosities are frighteningly intelligent and posses power just shy of the balors themselves. This makes the nalfeshnee endlessly plot and scheme for supremacy from their Mountain of Woe. Availability:

Nonatons (Modron): the eighty-one nonatons primarily exist to enable the transfer of information up and down the modron hierarchy. They monitor the decatons below them, and work with the penatrones (albeit indirectly) to enforce the law. Availability:

O

Octons (Modrons): there are always but sixty-four octons extant, each of which rules one of Regulus' continent-sized cogs. This gives them considerable power, which they have no problem bringing to bear against the forces of disarray. Availability:

P

Pentadrones (Modron): the most intelligent and powerful base modrons, the bizarrely shaped pentadrones are the core level of law enforcement amongst their kind. They continually patrol Regulus in a constant search for rogues and troublemakers. Availability:

Pixies: the diminutive pixies were once simple humans, but have drifted away from the mundane world and all its silly constraints. Living through the ages and blessed with minor magic skills, pixies like to amuse themselves at humanity's expense - a lot! Availability:

Primus (Modron): the One and the Prime, Primus is a singular, unique modron entity. Having no peer, Primus alone possesses individuality within the confines of Mechanus' ultimate law, and consistently strives to share it with the multiverse. Availability:

Q

Quadrones (Modron): Mechanus' elite labor force and field officers, the clever quadrones can decide how to best accomplish the tasks assigned them by their pentadrone superiors, delegating smaller chunks of said tasks to tridrones as they see fit. Availability:

Quartons (Modron): the sixteen quartons oversee the octons, if indirectly, in the management of their domains. This ties up most of their time, though one will occasionally assist in the transfer of data up and down the modron hierarchy. Availability:

Quasits (Tanar'ri): like manes, some argue that quasits aren't 'real' tanar'ri. They are formed from special larvae to aid in the temptation of mortals with deep, evil passions - and if they serve well, quasits can ascend into greater tanar'ri forms. Availability:

Quintons (Modron): as are the hextons before them, the twenty-five quintons are constantly busy. There is always one in the towers of the quartons and the secundus, relaying data back and forth in the modron hierarchy, and five within Primus' tower. Availability:

R

Razorvine: insidious weeds with a fiendish origin, razorvine spread far from the Abyss via foolish travelers and explorers. Now it grows to threaten many planes and Sigil itself, its horrific bladed edges being used for many sinister purposes. Availability:

Rogues (Modron): a nigh-perfect example of law, Mechanus is still subject to chaos. Usually introduced from without, this often results in a modron who manifests individual will, and eventually feels compelled to express it - at all costs! Availability:

Rutterkin (Tanar'ri): while rutterkin are stronger and smarter than the teeming hordes of dretches and manes, they are not used in Blood War efforts. No, for reasons unknown, the rutterkin are generally shunned by their demonic fellows instead. Availability:

S

Secundus (Modron): the very existence of the four secundus is something few are aware of, as they only associate with the nine tertians below them - and Primus itself. Each secundus oversees four quartons (and thus, sixteen of Regulus' cogs). Availability:

Septons (Modron): the forty-nine septons primarily serve as messengers, relaying commands between hextons and octons. However, several septons also toil within the tower of Primus, where they perform special duties as assigned by the hextons. Availability:

Succubi (Tanar'ri): eerily beautiful seductresses, succubi journey forth from the Abyss to exploit the dark passions of mortals. Succubi feed upon their energies directly, or often just abduct them to the Abyss to serve as slaves - or worse, food. Availability:

T

Tanar'ri (in general): occupying a plane of roiling chaos married to blackest evil, the tanar'ri are horrors without peer. They are mercurial hatred and insane passion given form, and subsequently tempered in the crucible of the harshest spaces known! Availability:

Tertians (Modron): incredibly powerful, the nine tertians are awesome beings. The final arbitrers of legal disuptes in Regulus, they're the equivalent of a modron 'supreme court'. They also pass final sentence on all captured rogue modrons. Availability:

Tridrones (Modron): the first variety of sentient modrons, tridrones are elite combatants. Capable of rapid assaults in any direction thanks to their curious anatomy, tridrones are particularly effective opponents for the enemies of law. Availability:

U

Uridezu (Tanar'ri): resembling hairless, bipedal rats of human stature, uridezu are rather low on the tanar'ri totem pole. They often perform various menial tasks for their more powerful brethren, or act as scavengers or rodent kings when left unattended. Availability:

V

Viper Trees: horrible hybrids of reptiles, demons and plants, viper trees are strange predators of the chaotic lower planes. They grow thickest where great concentrations of death occur, which make them good markers for past Blood War battles. Availability:

Vrocks (Tanar'ri): first of tanar'ri considered to be 'true' members of their race, the vulture-like vrocks serve as the Abyss' aerial defenses. When not acting as elite Blood War shock troops, they often hunting victims for sustenance - and fun. Availability:

W

Wastriliths (Tanar'ri): the so-called Water Lords, wastriliths are solitary stalkers of the deep. They prefer solitude in their cold, undersea lairs, and cheerfully attack and devour anything dumb enough to intrude upon their (huge) territories. Availability:

Y

Yochlol (Tanar'ri): the so-called Handmaidens of Lolth, yochlol are specially transformed tanar'ri the drow goddess uses as personal servitors. These demonic terrors may take many forms, and roam the material planes when not in the Demonweb Pits! Availability:

Z

Zombies: whether raised by magic or chemicals or viruses, zombies are a grave (pardon the pun) threat to humanity as a whole. Though usually mindless and incredibly awkward, zombies can be tenacious in their pursuit, and terrifying in large numbers. Availability:

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