Yugoloth Lore

[Shade]

I believe BOZ started a similar thread around the same time as his excellent Demonic Lore threads, but it appears to have been lost in the crash.

This is an attempt to gather all information on yugoloths, both for our own enjoyment and for the authors of a possible (hopeful!) Fiendish Codex III.

Feel free to add to this! Any reference to yugoloths, their home planes, fortresses, magic items associated with, etc. are all desired.

3E/3.5 Yugoloths and Where to Find Them:

• Arcanaloth (MMII)
• Canoloth (MotP, MMIII)
• Echinoloth (Stormwrack)
• Marraenoloth (MMII)
• Mezzoloth (MotP, MMIII)
• Mycaloth (MotP, MMIII)
• Piscoloth (FF)
• Skeroloth (FF)
• Ultroloth (MotP, MMIII)
• Yagnoloth (MMII)

Battleloths (Dragon Magazine #306):

• Arrow
• Axe
• Crossbow
• Pick
• Spiked Chain
• Sword

Unupdated Yugoloths and Where to Find Them:

• Baernaloth (Planes of Conflict)
• Dergholoth (1E Monster Manual 2, Planescape Monstrous Compendium I)
• Gacholoth (Dungeon Magazine #49 and Monstrous Compendium Annual 4)
• Hydroloth (1E Monster Manual 2, Planescape Monstrous Compendium I)
• Guardian Yugoloths (least, lesser, greater)(1E Fiend Folio, 2E Monstrous Manual.)

Altraloths:

• Anthraxus - former Oinoloth (1E MMII)
• Bubonix - self titled overlord of Carceri, and lord of the Tower of Incarnate Pain (Dragon Annual 2)
• Charon/Cerlix - ferryman of the River Styx, overlord of the Marraenoloths (1E MMII)
• Cholerix - aide and leutenant to Bubonix (Dragon Annual 2)
• Diptherius - name-dropped in first edition MMII
• Taba - the perfect shapeshifter and infiltrator (Dragon Annual 2)
• Typhus - a 12-foot-tall misshapen, hunch-backed mezzoloth with a limp, he wields the Sword of Carceri (Dragon Annual 2)
• Xengara the Fallen - appears as a solar with an expression of utter despair on a haggard face (Dragon Annual 2)
• Other members of The Diseased Eight, appearing in Gary Gygax's Gord the Rogue books (not official, but worth mentioning)

Baernaloths:

• Apomps the Triple Aspected - creator of the demodands/gehreleths
• Daru Ib Shamiq (Hellbound, "Squaring the Circle") - able to grant greater teleport to any creature, corrupted a solar named Maeldur Et Kavurik
• The Demented - A group of the Baern known to council the General of Gehenna and perhaps the Oinoloth as well.

Other Unique Yugoloth "Lords":

• The General of Gehenna - mysterious master of the yugoloth race, rules from the Crawling City (3E MotP)
• Helekanalaith - Keeper of the Tower Arcane
• Larsdana Ap Neut - designed the Tower Arcane, modeled it after certain architectural elements of Sigil, and created the racial memory archive that is pooled from all of her caste of yugoloths, and which any of them in good standing can access from anywhere on the planes (possibly former Keeper of the Tower Arcane)(Planes of Conflict)
• Mydianchlarus - current Oinoloth (3E MotP)

Other Unique Yugoloths:

• A'kin - arcanaloth who runs a magic shop called "The Friendly Fiend" in Sigil's Lower Ward
• Shemeshka the Marauder - "information broker" in Sigil

Related Creatures:

• Slasrath (FF)
• A 'Yugoloth Ghost' appears in the module 'Squaring the Circle' from 'Hellbound: The Blood War'. It was, for all intents and purposes, a ghost yugoloth, outside of the fact that undead fiends are generally just not possible to have, it was unique in that despite its status it had no link to the ethereal or negative energy planes.

Notable 'loth Locations:

• The Crawling City - mobile fortress of the General of Gehenna; has never entered the Blood War, and prophecies suggest that should it ever do so, the Blood War will finally reach a decisive conclusion in an apocalyptic final battle (3E MotP)
• Khin-Oin the Wasting Tower - holds the Siege Malicious, seat of the Oinoloth (3E MotP)
• Tower Arcane - holds the history of the yugoloths (3E MotP)
• Tower of Incarnate Pain - unfinished, would be the third great Yugoloth tower. The tower is constructed a millions of living petitioners grafted together like writhing, screaming bricks, and the tower itself is intended to be a living creature in many respects. The center of it, something known as the Reflective Chasm, taps directly into the essence of Carceri, while the top of the Tower, known as the Crown of Agony, will eventually be wrapped in the prepared, flayed skin of a dead or sacrificed deity. The tower is nominally operated by the Altraloth Bubonix.
• Loadstones of Misery - incredibly ancient artifacts, one of them on each layer of the Gray Waste, covered in script in the Baernaloth language, that appear to be siphoning off and collecting the faith, emotions, and spiritual energies drained by the entire Gray Waste. [I have fun with these in my own work]
• City of Center - the 'loths have some sort of bizarre presence here, linked to Dandy Will, lord of the city and a tiefling of 'loth heritage.

Yugoloth-related Magic Items and Special Materials:

• Gehennan Morghuth-Iron (Arms and Equipment Guide)
• Pain Pit (minor artifact)(BoVD)

 

[BOZ]

hey cool, good call!

i'll try to contribute later when i have more time.

 

[Pants]

Battleloths (Dragon Magazine #306):

• Arrow
• Axe
• Crossbow
• Pick
• Spiked Chain
• Sword

Ugh, I would pay to not see these in the (hopefully) upcoming 'loth book. Such a boring idea.

 

[Shemeska]

Unupdated Yugoloths and Where to Find Them:

• Baernaloth (Planes of Conflict)
• Dergholoth (1E Monster Manual 2)
• Gacholoth (Dungeon Magazine #49 and Monstrous Compendium Annual 4)
• Hydroloth (1E Monster Manual 2)
• Guardian Yugoloths (least, lesser, greater)(1E Fiend Folio, 2E Monstrous Manual.)

The Hydroloth and Dergholoth also appear in the Planescape Monstrous Compendium I, in greater detail than the 1e source.

A 'Yugoloth Ghost' appears in the module 'Squaring the Circle' from 'Hellbound: The Blood War'. It was, for all intents and purposes, a ghost yugoloth, outside of the fact that undead fiends are generally just not possible to have, it was unique in that despite its status it had no link to the ethereal or negative energy planes.

Baernaloths:

• Apomps the Triple Aspected - creator of the demodands/gehreleths
• Daru Ib Shamiq (Hellbound, "Squaring the Circle") - able to grant greater teleport to any creature, corrupted a solar named Maeldur Et Kavurik
• The Demented - A group of the Baern known to council the General of Gehenna and perhaps the Oinoloth as well.

I'll point out here that with respect to the Baernaloths, and specifically The Demented, be careful about the lore on them. A nice little fraction of what sometimes gets mentioned about them on the 'net doesn't come from the original material, but rather from a lot of the stuff that I've written about them in various places (Baernaloth cycle stories, my Storyhour, a story I had in a recent issue of 'Knowledge Arcana' over on Wizards, etc).

Of note, Daru Ib Shamiq was never specifically named as a member of the Demented. That's a link that I've promoted in one of my stories (a rather darker retelling of the events of Squaring the Circle).

The Demented are said to council the General of Gehenna, the Oinoloth, and the most powerful Ultroloths (and presumably politically relevant Altraloths).

Other Unique Yugoloth "Lords":

• The General of Gehenna - mysterious master of the yugoloth race, rules from the Crawling City
• Helekanalaith - Keeper of the Tower Arcane
• Larsdana Ap Neut - former Keeper of the Tower Arcane
• Mydianchlarus - current Oinoloth

It's worth noting here that Helekanalaith appears in the lore as a quotation in Planes of Conflict attributed to him. I'm here at work, and paraphrasing: "A burning star falling from the void, or a petitioner on fire. It matters not, both are beautiful to me." - Helekanalith, Keeper of the Tower Arcane.

Attributing 'Keeper' as lord of the tower arcane is possibly my invention, but it's a reasonable inference from the text regardless. Otherwise, he doesn't appear anywhere else. So anything else on the net you might find is, with fair chance, descended from some of my stuff.

Likewise with Larsdana Ap Neut, she appears in a few sentences in either Planes of Conflict or Faces of Evil, stating that she designed the Tower Arcane, modeled it after certain architectural elements of Sigil, and created the racial memory archive that is pooled from all of her caste of yugoloths, and which any of them in good standing can access from anywhere on the planes. Her fate is never mentioned, though I've developed her history considerably in my own stuff, as well as personality, appearance, etc.

Other Unique Yugoloths:

• A'kin - arcanaloth who runs a magic shop called "The Friendly Fiend" in Sigil's Lower Ward
• Shemeshka the Marauder - "information broker" in Sigil

We had a huge long list on Planewalker a while back that Rip, myself, and others put together listing all of the 'loths, named or not, that have appeared in various books. I'll find that tonight.

Off the top of my head though, there's Duke Dyavin B'wee, a thin, white furred arcanaloth who supplies A'kin with information from back in Gehenna, in turn receiving information from the Friendly Fiend himself. [From 'Hellbound: The Blood War]

Tons of others... but I'll wait till I get home to actually write them down with proper spelling, and sources, etc.

Notable 'loth Locations:

• The Crawling City - mobile fortress of the General of Gehenna; has never entered the Blood War, and prophecies suggest that should it ever do so, the Blood War will finally reach a decisive conclusion in an apocalyptic final battle (3E MotP)
• Khin-Oin the Wasting Tower - holds the Siege Malicious, seat of the Oinoloth (3E MotP)
• Tower Arcane - holds the history of the yugoloths (3E MotP)

Tower of Incarnate Pain - unfinished, would be the third great Yugoloth tower. The tower is constructed a millions of living petitioners grafted together like writhing, screaming bricks, and the tower itself is intended to be a living creature in many respects. The center of it, something known as the Reflective Chasm, taps directly into the essence of Carceri, while the top of the Tower, known as the Crown of Agony, will eventually be wrapped in the prepared, flayed skin of a dead or sacrificed deity. The tower is nominally operated by the Altraloth Bubonix.

Loadstones of Misery - incredibly ancient artifacts, one of them on each layer of the Gray Waste, covered in script in the Baernaloth language, that appear to be siphoning off and collecting the faith, emotions, and spiritual energies drained by the entire Gray Waste. [I have fun with these in my own work]

City of Center - the 'loths have some sort of bizarre presence here, linked to Dandy Will, lord of the city and a tiefling of 'loth heritage.

 

[Shemeska]

Ugh, I would pay to not see these in the (hopefully) upcoming 'loth book. Such a boring idea.

*shrug* I wouldn't have made them yugoloths. At most I'd have made them yugoloth constructs, similar to Guardian Yugoloths. The idea still has use, but I wouldn't use them directly as written perhaps.

 

[saucercrab]

Wasn't there some type of yugoloth lord/ruler in an FR novel? What I'm thinking of was in one of the War of the Spiderqueen books. Don't remember & don't have the book handy.

 

[Shade]

Wasn't there some type of yugoloth lord/ruler in an FR novel? What I'm thinking of was in one of the War of the Spiderqueen books. Don't remember & don't have the book handy.

There are the nycaloths that led the attack on Myth Drannor, but I'm forgetting their names at the moment.

 

[Shade]

The Hydroloth and Dergholoth also appear in the Planescape Monstrous Compendium I, in greater detail than the 1e source.

Yeah, I was just listing the first source for the unupdated thus far, but planned to go back and add the other sources. Thanks!

A 'Yugoloth Ghost' appears in the module 'Squaring the Circle' from 'Hellbound: The Blood War'. It was, for all intents and purposes, a ghost yugoloth, outside of the fact that undead fiends are generally just not possible to have, it was unique in that despite its status it had no link to the ethereal or negative energy planes.

Didn't Daru Ib Shamiq exist as a sort of ghost at one point as well? (Perhaps I'm confusing him with one of the other baerns...or something else entirely)

I'll point out here that with respect to the Baernaloths, and specifically The Demented, be careful about the lore on them. A nice little fraction of what sometimes gets mentioned about them on the 'net doesn't come from the original material, but rather from a lot of the stuff that I've written about them in various places (Baernaloth cycle stories, my Storyhour, a story I had in a recent issue of 'Knowledge Arcana' over on Wizards, etc).

Attributing 'Keeper' as lord of the tower arcane is possibly my invention, but it's a reasonable inference from the text regardless. Otherwise, he doesn't appear anywhere else. So anything else on the net you might find is, with fair chance, descended from some of my stuff.

You are rather prolific on the subject.

I'll make the necessary changes.

We had a huge long list on Planewalker a while back that Rip, myself, and others put together listing all of the 'loths, named or not, that have appeared in various books. I'll find that tonight.

Excellent!

Tower of Incarnate Pain.

D'oh! How'd I miss that?

 

[saucercrab]

There are the nycaloths that led the attack on Myth Drannor, but I'm forgetting their names at the moment.

Nah, not them. I'll have to dig up the novels later.

 

[Shemeska]

Wasn't there some type of yugoloth lord/ruler in an FR novel? What I'm thinking of was in one of the War of the Spiderqueen books. Don't remember & don't have the book handy.

Malkazid, but he's not a yugoloth. He was originally a CG aasimon (angel) in service to the Seldarine. He fell to LE, rose through the ranks of Baator and in the process was metaphysically refined, becoming a Baatezu (in the fashion of Baalzebul). Eventually he was on the losing side of politics and ended up being exiled, supposedly then carving out a fiefdom for himself among the yugoloths of the Barrens of Doom and Despair (a warped version of the Gray Waste in bizarro FR's 3e cosmology).

He might rule over, or more likely purchase the loyalty of, a bunch of yugoloths, but -he is not a yugoloth-. The 'loths are obsessed with purity, and they don't recruit into their ranks, either from petitioners, and certainly not from fallen celestials who couldn't make the cut with the Baatezu. While Malkazid is an interesting character, he shouldn't be considered a yugoloth lord (since not being a yugoloth precludes this).

I tend to assume that he purchases loyalty of 'loths as mercenaries, or 'loths that are themselves outcasts from the normal yugoloth heirarchy. Or, Malkazid might be holding a position not unlike an overgrown Yagnoloth: one of nominal political power over a minor fiefdom, but being relatively impotent except to carry out the whims of the Ultroloths that are calling the shots, with or without him being aware of it.