The Elder Evils

[Fox²]

The Elder Evils

Elder evils were ancient, powerful, and generally evil beings or entities worshipped by entities from the Far Realm.

• Bolothamogg
  
• Holashner
  
• Kor-Virliath
  
• Mak Thuum Ngatha
  
• Piscaethces
  
• Shothotugg
  
• Xasthur
  
• Y'chak
  
• Zurgurth
  

Cormyr and the Dalelands Changes:

On Cormyr and the Dalelands, each elder evil was expanded to include alignments, cleric domains, portfolios and favored weapons to support divine characters.

[Fox²]

Bolothamogg
He Who Watches from Beyond the Stars, The Gate and the Key, Knower of Ways and Walls, The Lurker at the Threshold, The Beyond One, Opener of the Way, The All-in-One and the One-in-All

Elder Evil
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Symbol: An eye radiating rays surrounded by a spiral or concentric circles
Home Plane: The space between the Prime and the Far Realm
Serves: None

Portfolio: Barriers, Defenses, Separation, Gateways, Time

Worshipers: Aboleths, Far creatures seeking protection from the Prime/Prime entities seeking protection from the Far, cultists seeking to travel to the Far or summon creatures from there

Domains: Darkness, Protection, Travel, Trickery

Nature Deity: No
Cleric Alignments: CG, TN, CN, CE

Favored Weapon: A Key (dagger or light mace)

We mere mortals are used to our world and universe with rules that we can understand, our senses and minds are made to interact with this reality, but what for us seem normal, is just a strange anomality on the bigger cosmos. Our reality is just a mere bubble of order on a bigger reality of indescribable disorder and chaos where the Elder Evils live, which is commonly known as the Far Realm. Bolothamogg, also known as He Who Watches from Beyond the Stars, is the entity that exists in the darkness between the stars. His role is to guard the barrier between the multiverse and Far Realm, in certain way, he is protecting the Far Realm from our strange "order". Bolothamogg shouldn't be confused with a mere creature guarding some kind of door or zone; he is the barrier itself, the border of all the known multiverse is Bolothamogg's body. From there he can stare into all the multiverses at same time while also being able to contact other creatures from the Far Realm. He is known to allow access to beyond the stars to other creatures, which return from the experience totally changed after witnessing the indescribable creatures and physics from beyond. It is said that Bolothamogg is due to open the gate during the end of times, allowing the Far Realm to consume the multiverse into chaos.

[Fox²]

Holashner
The Hunger Below, The Sleeper in the Deep Black, The Burrower Beneath

Elder Evil
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Symbol: A bestial skull with stingray-like wings and tail
Home Plane: Prime Material - Cores of Worlds
Serves: None

Portfolio: Deep earth places, caverns, excavation, digging, earthquakes and volcanism, gluttony

Worshipers: Aboleths, Deep Underdark creatures, subterranean delvers, miners, and treasure-seekers, travelers and wanderers in underground places

Domains: Darkness, Earth, Fire, Strength

Nature Deity: No
Cleric Alignments: CN, NE, CE

Favored Weapon: A massive stone (warhammer or maul)

Also known as the Hunger Below, Holashner is one of the few elder evils to exist fully in the physical world. Appearing as part squid and part centipede, this massive creature burrows through the deepest reaches of the world, driven only by its unending hunger. It eats stone, magma, creatures, and anything else in its path. The material it leaves behind is called the "Black Bile of the World" by aboleths. This runny, tarlike substance is explosive and volatile when exposed to air. Over the course of only a few months, it can be compressed by tremendous pressures into a black, obsidianlike material called bilestone. Fortunately, Holashner moves in a slow pace, allowing the bile to solidify faster than it eats... otherwise, the world would have been completely consumed already.

[Fox²]

Kor-Virliath
The Conqueror Wyrm, Lord of Mad Wyrms, The Elder Brainstealer

Elder Evil
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Symbol: A dragon's head surrounded by tentacles
Home Plane: Far Realm
Serves: Bolothamogg

Portfolio: Psionics, dragons, hypnosis, somnambulism, nightmares

Worshipers: Draconic warlocks, brainstealer dragons, brain collectors, insane psionicists, Psionic warriors and rulers

Domains: Charm, Destruction, Magic, War

Nature Deity: No
Cleric Alignments: CN, NE, CE

Favored Weapon: A fanged tentacle (halberd)

Kor-Virliath, the Conqueror Wyrm, is a draconic horror out of nightmares whose origin is far less ancient and mysterious than most of the other Elder Evils, though still a mystery of otherworldly proportions. The Elder Brainstealer's origin is within the lifespan of the mortal eras of the Prime, and is theorized to be within the influence of the mighty creatures of draconic nature. Some scholars believe Kor-Virliath began its existence as an echo of draconic ego at the death of the first brainstealer dragon, who was too prideful and insolent to submit its soul to the ownership of Ilsensine, god of mind flayers, and flung itself into the far reaches beyond reality. Others say it is a fragment of psychic power cast aside by the draconic god Sardior, Lord of the psionic Gem Dragons, possibly as a side-effect of the destruction of his former thane Seradess. Whatever the reason, Kor-Virliath embodies the horrific and awe-inspiring power of dragonkind mingled with the madness and terror of the Far Realm and its spawn.

[Fox²]

Mak Thuum Ngatha
The Nine-Tongued Worm, The Nine-Tailed Worm, King of Worms

Elder Evil
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Symbol: A fan of nine wavy lines radiating from a puzzle piece, glyph, or pyramid
Home Plane: Far Realm
Serves: Bolothamogg
Portfolio: Worms, dark knowledge, forbidden secrets, crossing boundaries

Domains: Destruction, Knowledge, Luck, Travel

Worshipers: Nilshai, psurlons, tsochar, worms-that-walk, other intelligent wormlike creatures; mad loreseekers, scholars, and wizards

Nature Deity: No
Cleric Alignments: TN, LE, NE, CE

Favored Weapon: A worm (morningstar)

Mak Thuum Ngatha, called the Nine-Tongued Worm, was a horrid elder evil of the Far Realm worshiped by some wormy aberrations and certain crazed cultists. Outside the insane chaos of the Far Realm and its aberrant adherents, few folk were even aware of the Nine-Tongued Worm, only some alienists, cultists, and half-farspawn things, and fewer still knew much about it.

It was known that Mak Thuum Ngatha was given homage by the Nilshai, a tentacled race of things from the Ethereal Plane that threatened the star elves of Sildëyuir; by the psurlons, psionic worm-like creatures dwelling in the Underdark; and by the tsochari, masses of tendrils that inhabit the bodies of others and infiltrated Undermountain and the Shadowdusk family. The tsochari were the most zealously faithful of all aberrations and the priesthood of Mak Thuum Ngatha was the most powerful caste within their society.

Unlike a lot of the potent and terrible denizens of the Far Realm, who stood either aloof or unaware of the affairs of mortals, Mak Thuum Ngatha possessed a disturbing degree of interest in the Material Plane. However, what its plans were or what it wanted one could only guess at and dread, but be sure they would be inimical to all life in the Material Plane. Among such aberrations as worshiped it, it was believed the Nine-Tongued Worm was a proponent of bringing down all barriers, spanning all of space and time, and obtaining infinite knowledge. Its priests saw themselves as emissaries or messengers with a divinely given purpose to take worship of Mak Thuum Ngatha to other lands and races, together with its dangerous eldritch knowledge. But this often meant invading worlds of the material plane home to humanoids; plundering their riches; sacrificing their people to the glory of the Nine-Tongued Worm; and converting those who were reckless, power-hungry, or crazy enough to follow them to the faith.

[Fox²]

Piscaethces
The Blood Queen, Mother of Aboleths, The Red Star

Elder Evil
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Symbol: Sphere of mucus surrounded by blood drops
Home Plane: None/Wanders
Serves: None

Portfolio: Psionics, domination, creation of life, corruption, Aboleths

Worshipers: Aboleths, slavers, conquerors, monster-creating wizards, evil enchanters and psionicists

Domains: Air, Charm, Magic, Travel

Nature Deity: No
Cleric Alignments: LN, LE, NE

Favored Weapon: An aboleth's tentacle (any flail)

Described as a huge aboleth without tentacles, Piscaethces is the progenitor of the aboleth race. The mucus that surrounds her is tainted red, giving it a bloody appearance and hence her title as The Blood Queen. Piscaethces travels from plane to plane, from universe to universe and from reality to reality, unaware that her movement is spreading the seeds of the aboleth race to other realities of the multiverse. The aboleths don't expect her to return to our world, but if a new lineage of aboleths were to be discovered, it would not only mean that she returned, but also would prove that the multiverse is finite and thus able to be conquered as a whole by the aboleths. Some mortals have been able to detect her presence while she travels the currents of probabilities; this interaction has opened their minds allowing them to peek into alternative realities. They understand that ours is just one of many different universes and that therefore it doesn't have any value of its own worth protecting. Insane cultists were known to try and call her back to the physical world.

[Fox²]

Shothotugg
Devourer of Worlds, Eater of Worlds, The Great Whirlpool, The Blind Dreamer

Elder Evil
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Symbol: Spiked spiral
Home Plane: Distant reaches of remote Prime Material space
Serves: None

Portfolio: Poison, water, parasitism, collective adaptation

Worshipers: Aboleths, kopru, cloakers, mad cultists, nihilists

Domains: Destruction, Plant, Water

Nature Deity: No
Cleric Alignments: CN, NE, CE

Favored Weapon: A whirlpool (whip)

Shothotugg, called the Eater of Worlds, was another one of the few Elder Evils to exist fully in the Material plane. It was a massive, undulating mass of fluid that existed in a far corner of the multiverse, traveling from world to distant world through the vast emptiness of space. Each world it found and landed on, it poisoned, parasitized, and eventually destroyed. With each destruction, it slightly altered the fundamental forces of the Material plane. It wanders thoughtlessly, driven by instinct and the mad thrashings of its dreaming will, without purpose or cause.

Aboleths honored it by building pools and fountains of magically treated and colored fluids that were heavier than water, and by swirling vortex patterns on the floor. It was also worshiped by the aquatic aberrant kopru as the Great Whirlpool, symbolizing water, and from whose chaotic whirling everything originated and to which everything would return. They believed it lived in massive underground basins and in the deepest pits. Their shamans sacrificed both treasure and slaves by dropping them into such pits, and after a particularly large number of sacrifices on the day the first kopru city-state was formed, Shothotugg granted them the ability to dominate others with their gaze. With Prukal, Shothotugg was said to have both created the kopru species and parented Demogorgon - a myth the Prince of Demons has not seen fit to bother dispelling.

In addition, Shothotugg is theorized to have a connection to Shothragot, an alien entity thought to be under the command of Ghaunadaur the Elder Eye or the Oerthian imprisoned god Tharizdun. What that connection might be is unknown, but the possible mutual point of contact between the Devourer of Worlds and these two foul deities can mean nothing good for the mortal peoples of the Prime.

[Fox²]

Xasthur
The Unspeakable One, Him Who is Not to be Named, The King in Yellow

Elder Evil
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Symbol: Yellow triskelion
Home Plane: Carcosa, Far Realm
Serves: None

Portfolio: Decadence, revelry, illusions, assimilation

Worshipers: Cultists, decadent lords, violent anarchists, mad poets and scholars

Domains: Charm, Knowledge, Magic, Trickery

Nature Deity: No
Cleric Alignments: CN, NE, CE

Favored Weapon: A quill pen (rapier)

The sinister Unspeakable One, Xasthur, is another of the more recently-arisen (relatively speaking) of the Elder Evils, having crossed over from the Prime Material and inculcated himself into the Far Realm at some point in the past. Originally either a powerful mortal lord or a minor divinity, Xasthur was worshiped on a far-away ancient world known as Carcosa; at some point, this world was swept into the Far Realm, consumed whole, and became Xasthur's domain in that otherworldly place.

Xasthur's followers avoid speaking his name aloud if they can, using his various epithets instead. They associate his faith with nihilism, disorder, and decadence; they sometimes view him as the patron of shepherds, with mortals being the sheep to be gathered. Xasthur's cultists have a paramount objective of keeping the actions and identities of themselves and fellow cultists hidden from infidels. Many maintain secret identities or pretend to worship mortal deities, and send assassins or monsters after those that uncovered their existence. Most of Xasthur's cults pretend to be secret societies, whose initiates are unaware of the group's true nature. Revelations only occur when one ascends to the inner circle, and those who balk inevitably become sacrifices.

His influence is often spread through the sharing of forbidden, cursed knowledge, often concealed in innocent-seeming forms - the most (in)famous of these being the cursed play that shares his name, "The King in Yellow". His cultists also often place his unholy symbol in semi-obscure places where innocents will stumble upon it, often with symbol of insanity spells attached to it, hoping to create new cultists via exposure to their Unspeakable lord's magic and dark knowledge.

[Fox²]

Y'chak
The Violet Flame, The Flame that Burns Forever, The Whisper in the Pyre, The Voice in the Void

Elder Evil
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Symbol: Purple fireball
Home Plane: Far Realm
Serves: Bolothamogg (nominally, at least)

Portfolio: Fire, inspiration, corruption, seduction, war, conflict, violence, rebellion

Worshipers: Aboleths, evil fire creatures, pyromaniacs, warmongers, violent rebels

Domains: Charm, Destruction, Fire, War

Nature Deity: No
Cleric Alignments: CN, NE, CE

Favored Weapon: A pillar of purple flame (greatsword)

The Violet Flame Y'chak is unique among the Elder Evils in a terrible way - it is actively interested in the development of life or, to be more precise, in the development of the destruction of life. Its presence can be felt in civilisations throughout time, because it acts as a muse and an inspiration for all that is destructive and ruinous. The aboleths believe that the gods of cruelty, war, and death came to be as a result of Y'chak's whisperings; indeed, Y'chak certainly encourages the worship of evil deities as much as accepting its own cultists. It appears to those it contacts as a respectable or seductive member of the same race, but its true form is said to be a brilliant pillar of violet flames that conceal an inner form so horrifying that to see it clearly is to invite utter destruction upon the body and soul.

The aboleths honour Y'chak in their cities by the construction of massive pillars of violet flame that burn even underwater. The pulsations and writhing of these columns of fire are used to mark the passage of time or even to send simple messages out to the entire city at once.

[Fox²]

Zurgurth
The Feasting Vast, The Amoebic Sea, Molder and Mender of Flesh

Elder Evil
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Symbol: An ocean wave surrounding an eye
Home Plane: Far Realm
Serves: None

Portfolio: Transmutation, experimentation, oceans

Worshipers: Kaorti, extraplanar sailors and aquatic creatures, transmuters and transmuted beings, alchemists

Domains: Healing, Repose, Strength, Water

Nature Deity: No
Cleric Alignments: CG, TN, CN, CE

Favored Weapon: A pseudopod (greataxe)

The Far Realm is home to ancient entities of vast power. Zurgurth, the Feasting Vast, is the grand sea that flows throughout the whole of the Far Realm, the birthing force and burial depths of the alien life that lives and dies in that otherworldly place. Its nature is to change and to incite change - with but a glance or a touch, it molds and shapes living and dead flesh alike into new forms.

Zurgurth is not wholly conscious of its actions, and it is questionable whether the Elder Evil is sapient at all, or if these occurrences are but a product of its immense power and acts of pure instinct, or even simply the natural processes of the Far Realm - little more than what passes for the ebb and flow of the tides in the waters of the Amoebic Sea. Yet the results of its influence cannot be denied, and there is no greater evidence for this than the fate of the Kaorti.

Originally a cadre of extraplanar explorers from the ancient arcane empire of Imaskar known as the Quin, meaning "Entitled" in their tongue, they had discovered records of ancient elven magic tied to the creation of the infamous Vast Gate and sought to recreate and improve upon it. This led them to create the Quinspire, an immense portal engine through which they would delve beyond where the elves had paused and bring the mighty magic that awaited back to Imaskar. Instead they found themselves in the Far Realm at the shore of Zurgurth - and Zurguth's mere proximity to the unfortunate men transformed the Quin into the first kaortis. Imaskar soon forgot the Quin and little, if any, of their research survived. Part of the kaorti's alien minds recalled something of their previous existence however. This vague memory eventually spurred them to investigate faint traces of Material Plane residue left by the Quinspire, which they traced back to its source with their magic. When they rediscovered the Prime Material, they found it inimical to their existence and were struck by an all-consuming urge to transform it into a place more hospitable to them.

Those who encounter even a fragment of the Feasting Vast's attentions speak of memories that are not theirs, of drowning in a sea whose water can think, of fluids thicker than flesh that still run like mud, of great islands heaving out of an endless bulk only to reveal eyes and split open into bottomless tooth-lined throats, of mountains of parasitic creatures thronging along a landscape of shuddering mobility too huge to be a planet and too mobile to be something dead or dying. The few who escape this without succumbing to Zurgurth's transformative influence rarely sleep well ever again, for many fear that when they die it will not be the afterlife that waits for them, but the infinite wet embrace of the Amoebic Sea.