Can any demonology experts out there answer a few questions for me regarding tanar'ri and obyriths? If its canon, please provide a source. If it's an educated guess that's great too. Thanks!
1) Who is the oldest obyrith? I thought Queen of Chaos, but 4E MM says Dagon is the oldest
2) Why did the Queen of Chaos favor a tanar'ri, Miska, as Prince of Demons instead of another obyrith?
3) Is Obox-ob alive? I thought the Queen of Chaos killed him before raising up Miska?
4) How many obyrith lords are left? a handful?
5) Did the baernoloths create the demons (tanar'ri? obyriths? both?) and/or the devils (baatezu? other?) then sometime later they created the yugoloths and demodands?
6) Have any thoughts on how all this ties to the 4E cosmology?
Edit: I can provide references for all of this, but I'm in the middle of dinner at the moment. Or you can just trust me. *I say this with the full irony of using a yugoloth as an avatar*
The 4e material is set in a complete different world/setting than the cosmology of 1e/2e/3e D&D, and doesn't precisely apply here concerning the obyriths and the history of the various fiendish races. So ignore the 4e MM for the moment.
1) I would suggest Pale Night, Kabriri, Bechard, Dagon, Dweirgus the Crysalid Prince, or Obox-Ob. Bechard and Kabriri for instance both seem to be well aware of the obyrith origin outside of the Abyss.
2) Probably easier to control, and she wouldn't care to possibly empower a rival among the ranks of the obyriths. The tanar'ri were not yet a force within the Abyss, and so she spited her rivals and didn't risk herself by chosing a tanar'ri as her favored.
3) Obox-Ob is alive, but diminished in power versus his original incarnation as Prince of Demons. The Queen of Chaos killed him, but one of his avatars/aspects survived in seclusion, and eventually managed to reclaim a decent fraction of his power.
4) Not very many, but many more likely exist in seclusion or torpor deep within the Abyss. A more or less complete list exists in the appendix of FC:I, and a few others are mentioned in the pre-4e Demonomicons that James Jacobs wrote.
5) The yugoloth mythology claims the baern created the 'loths, a renegade baernaloth named Apomps the Triple Aspected created the demodands, and then the General of Gehenna created the tanar'ri and the baatezu both. But they lie. That's what they do. More evidence would suggest that the core of the 'loth mythology is true, but warped and twisted to suit the current balance of power in the lower planes. Most likely the baernaloths created the yugoloths, Apomps created the demodands prior to his exile into Carceri (his exile may in fact have created Carceri itself), and the other baernaloths eventually seeded the first Obyriths and first Ancient Baatorians into what would become the Abyss and the 9 Hells of Baator. They appear to have subsequently abandoned them to their own devices, along with the 'loths who still believed themselves to be favored children, with only a handful of insane Baernaloths known as The Demented lingering to slowly manipulate events on the grand scale of time. Of course, the 'loths had no real way to control their makers' creations.
The obyriths eventually were superseded by their own creations, the tanar'ri, while the ancient baatorians were largely destroyed and replaced by the arrival of Asmodeus and the first baatezu who arrived as fallen, corrupted servitors of an unknown LN progenitor race.
6) How this ties into the 4e cosmology? It doesn't unless you want to adopt it on your own. The 4e cosmology is its own thing, and the depth of lore on the various planes and planar races doesn't really apply since they've been largely junking previous material and doing their own thing, for better or for worse depending on your outlook. The 'loths aren't even a distinct race now, and their general naming conventions have been followed at times, and other times not for no apparent reason (Mezzodemons in 4e, but also Canoloths in 4e).
They could have done a huge amount of really awesome stuff with the yugoloths, but they've largely done nothing with them, and haven't really touched on any of the deep history of the lower planes. I don't know if they will or not. I would have linked the shard of evil that both corrupted Tharizdun and created the Abyss in 4e into some reworked version of the yugoloth Heart of Darkness mythology. Prior to the 4e MotP release, I wrote up something that did just that:
me said:
Chorazin the Thrice Damned drifted high above the metaphysical landscape, the halo of flame atop his head shedding a surreal light upon his surroundings and his sole companion. Below them the tides and currents of the elemental chaos rose and fell like a great ocean of raw physical creation. Tidal waves of flame crashed upon islands of eternal ice while living gemstones flowered and dusted the air with drifting clouds of stinging minerals. Everything was unsullied in its own way, though the model was left perfect from the standpoint of symmetry.
"What is it that you would have us do here Father/Mother?"
The question was direct and pragmatic, spoken as the baernaloth had come to expect from his handmaiden in that new cosmos. Larsdana Ap Neut stood next to him, the ruff of fur on her cheeks windblown and raw, touched with a layer of whisper-thin salt and dust from the unruly elemental maelstrom below. The exposure to the elements, the raw and actual elements, rather than just the metaphysical -idea- of those elements as expressed by a form and variety of evil was something she was unaccostumed to. Her eyes watered and her flesh was raw, though the blood that seeped from the corners of her eyes and sullied the velvet of her robes was due the agony she embraced by standing so close to her maker.
"We've done this before Larsdana." Chorazin Ibn Shartalan explained, his voice causing the arcanaloth's form to momentarily blur and twist. "As different as this conception of reality might appear, you should recognize the taste."
"Yes, Great One, I do." Her tongue flicked out like a serpent, touching the air and licking the caked minerals from her muzzle. "Are we to be your intruments this time, like the last? Or is the one below us dancing and laughing like a mad fool to play some part in this?"
The Gloom Father's dead white eyes twitched and he smiled, revealing ragged teeth stained with black, greasy blood. "Good. You see the differences."
A sly, jackal's grin crossed her face as she began to see her role and that of the idiot godling below.
Unknowing, still innocent in his own way, Tharizdun laughed and played, combining and merging the elements to make new and wonderous things to amuse his child-like mind.
"Hmm? Now what would this be?"
The godling paused and looked down at the curious purple gemstone that he'd come across. He'd never seen anything like it before, and as he stared in amazement and wonder, its cold illumination played over his face, striking thin, fine lines of age into his features.
"Hello" The gemstone spoke to him, polite and promising, hinting at so many amazing things that it could show him, all with a single word.
"Beautiful precious thing." Tharizdun said. "Who or what might you be? I've played across the shores of the elements and the depths of the astral seas, but never have I seen something like you."
"I am the Heart of Darkness" The gemstone replied, smiling into his mind and brushing delicate claws across the god's face, drawing bruises and age-spots across the flesh. "But my newfound friend, you may call me Larsdana, and I have so many things to show you.".
Smiling, Tharizdun reached forward and touched the gemstone.
