The following list compiles many of the deities and demigods known to rule Abyssal realms... Gods Lamashtu Lamashtu appears as a heavily pregnant human woman with the head of a three-eyed jackal, a raven’s wings, a snake’s tail, and a vulture’s feet. Her distended belly is crisscrossed with ragged scars, and she wields twin blades— Redlust (a blade made of sentient fire) and Chillheart (a blade made of sentient ice). The length of these blades varies from that of a kukri to that of a falchion—in art, she is often depicted with kukris, but in battle, she prefers to wield both as falchions with horrific skill. Ydersius The ancient demigod Ydersius is the patron of the serpentfolk, a race of snake-men who battled the forces of humanity long ago. In one of the final battles of the war, Ydersius became known as the Headless King when he was decapitated by Savith, a mighty champion of Good. Still believed to be living in two pieces, his mindless body is said to thrash in the lightless depths below, while his head has wasted away to a still-conscious skull. It is rumored that, if his head is ever returned to his body, he will rise again. Demon Lords Abraxas Master of the Final Incantation Abraxas is a hideous creature with the head of a deformed and fanged bird and two writhing vipers in the place of legs. His torso is humanoid, and he wields a f lail and shield, both of which have eerie and deadly powers: the flail can steal portions of a thinking creature’s mind or its prepared spells and give them to Abraxas for his use, while the shield can animate and attack foes as it continues to defend Abraxas. Abraxas knows countless destructive secrets and eldritch magical formulas, particularly those that cause great devastation and pain. His greatest weapon is the dreaded "Final Incantation," a single potent word that can unmake magic. Aldinach She of the Six Venoms Aldinach appears as a Colossal black scorpion, with the torso of an elven woman.On her back swarm countless scorpions, which she can send out to do her bidding with a thought. Aldinach is one of Lamashtu’s daughters, although since Lamashtu’s ascension to divinity, the two have not associated overmuch. Aldinach’s cults are strongest in deserts and remote wastelands. Angazhan The Ravenous King Angazhan appears as a towering, blood-red ape with six long fingers, tusk-like teeth, and relatively small, bloodshot eyes. His worship is strongest among the simian charau-ka, who hold court in jungle-choked ruins and feast on the flesh of human chattle. Angazhan is also served by nalfeshnee demons, and although most nalfeshnees are too proud and self-absorbed to admit that Angazhan is their lord, he is nonetheless served in his jungle realm of Ahvoth-Kor by hundreds of them, if not thousands. He is also served by the Baregara, whom he created, by the multi-limbed gorillas known as the Angazhani, and by legions of kech, girallons, monkeys, and apes. Beyond that, he is the patron deity of brutal tyrants and jungle warlords; any beings who value strength and freedom are welcome to serve him. Baphomet Lord of the Minotaurs Although he is traditionally the god of the minotaur race, Baphomet’s cult is on the rise among humanity. His human worshipers hold sermons in his name in secret and hand down his teachings along family lines across generations, forming secretive societies that tend to have much political power in the world’s larger cities. They remain silent about their allegiance to Baphomet, however, patiently awaiting a time when he might call upon them to rise up against their enemies and return the world to the dominion of the beast. Cyth-V'sug Prince of the Blasted Heath Cyth-V’sug’s realm is both a place and a being—an immense parasitic fungus called the Jeharlu capable of extending tendrils into other planes, corrupting them, and then drawing them into the Abyss to expand itself. A quivering, spherical clot of fungal matter much larger than the largest of planets, the Jeharlu lies at the center of an immense cavern, suspended by thick white filaments that attach it to the surrounding rift. Cyth-V’sug dwells at the heart of this fungal sphere, an immense monstrosity that appears as a tangled mass of fungal tubers, tentacles, and grasping claws topped by a heaving draconic body with puff ball eyes and jagged teeth. Cyth-V’sug can be thought of as a planetary parasite that infests worlds and consumes them, adding the waste that he leaves behind to his ever-expanding Abyssal realm. Dagon The Shadow in the Sea Not quite fish or octopus or eel, Dagon is fond of sending his spawn into the oceans of the Material Plane to spread his influence, often physically by breeding with creatures of the deeps or among isolated coastal-dwelling societies. Marsh giants are traditionally among his most fervent worshipers on land, yet in certain remote locations, his cult is growing among humans. A village that turns to the worship of Dagon often does so secretly, maintaining a facade of worshiping another deity when in fact the town’s devotions are for the Shadow in the Sea. Deskari Lord of the Locust Hosts Deskari appears as a horrible beast, human from the waist up, and locust-like below. Semi-solid wings—composed of clouds of locusts—protrude from his human back, and he carries the terrible scythe Riftcarver in his fleshy hands. Deskari is said to be son of Pazuzu; he was born when Pazuzu breathed his first breath on the Material Plane. Nocticula Our Lady in Shadow Nocticula is the first succubus, and as such, she is a beautiful but deadly creature. Her eyes are devoid of pupils, her fingers are tipped with talons, and her feet end in stony hooves that weep molten iron. Bat-like wings covered with glowing runes and three tails ending in stingers complete her demonic appearance. Yet she typically appears to unsuspecting folk as a particularly beautiful woman or handsome man in order to lure them into her clutches. Even demon lords aren’t safe from her deadly seductions; the number of demon lords she’s seduced and assassinated is formidable. Pazuzu King of the Wind Demons Pazuzu appears as a wiry human with eagle’s legs and talons, a demonic avian head, two pairs of bird wings, a scorpion tail, and a writhing snake in place of his genitals. Pazuzu is an aggressive demon fond of possessing mortals and using them to work his evils upon the world—it is said that Pazuzu can hear his name when an innocent speaks it unknowingly, and that this may be all that is needed to invite possession by the demon. He is the patron of all evil things that fly, particularly vrocks and harpies. Shax The Blood Marquis Cruel and sadistic, Shax is the demon lord of demon lord of envy, lies, and particularly violent murder. He appears as a human man with a dove's head, bird's legs, and an immense collection of knives and other bloodstained weaponry. Shax’s realm is the appropriately named Charnelhome, an immense house the size of a city perched atop a slightly slanted bluff surrounded by a vast bog of thorny, blood-drinking plants. Sifkesh The Sacred Whore Sifkesh appears as a thin human woman with snow-white bird wings and stringy black hair that drips blood. Her lips and eyes are stitched shut with rusty wire, and her body is cut into sections at the joints. Usually, these amputations appear at the hips and shoulders, but at times they can appear elsewhere. Each portion floats independently, not quite moving in sync with the rest. Many believe Sifkesh was originally a powerful erinyes devil who became one of Hell’s first heretics. Sifkesh embodies the similar roles shared by the three major fiend races—she corrupts like a devil, feeds like a daemon, but is in fact a demon, a conundrum that has long vexed those seeking to impose order upon the nature of the demonic. Sifkesh is unusual among the demons of the Abyss in that her motives are much more diabolical than those of most of her kin. She seeks not to destroy the body but to twist the mind away from purity, to seduce men and women of faith into betraying their religions in blasphemous ways that cause lingering damage to their faith’s reputation in society. Her greatest pleasure is to be with a fallen priest when he or she realizes what has been done and seeks suicide as the answer, for then Sif kesh can snatch away the heretic’s soul and consume it. Zevgavizeb The God of the Troglodytes Zevgavizeb is a hideous beast the size of a dragon, part dinosaur, part tentacled worm, and part bat. His personal lair is the largest of his cavern worlds, a place at the center of Gluttondark with a jungle moon floating at its core. It is on this moon that the Troglodyte God slumbers and gnaws. Zevgavizeb has very little interest in events beyond his empire, but his troglodytes commit countless atrocities in his name, for they believe that only by regularly sacrificing other creatures to his hunger can they prevent him from emerging into their own cavern lairs to feed on them. Zura The Vampire Queen Zura rose from the corpse of an ancient queen who succumbed to a lust for eternal life and the flesh of her own kind. Even today, thousands of years later, tales of her hideous banquets and baths of blood persist as legends. While many tried to assassinate her, it was her own exuberance for blood that saw her soul spiraling into the Abyss after an accidental suicide tryst with several consorts. Yet such was the weight of her sin that when her soul arrived, she rose immediately as a powerful creature— succubus vampire who swiftly went on to gain incredible power. Zura often assumes the form of a voluptuous maiden, but in her true form she is an emaciated woman with bat-like wings instead of arms, blood-red eyes and hair, immense fangs, and taloned feet. Her realm on the Abyss is a mountainous realm called Nesh, which lies in constant darkness.
