Demodand
Encyclopedia
In the fictional worlds of the Dungeons & Dragons
fantasy
role-playing game
, demodands (gehreleths in 2nd Edition D&D) are a race of fiends
native to the Tarterian Depths of Carceri. The gehreleths worship or honor a patron deity called Apomps
the Three-sided One, a renegade baernaloth
who was exiled to Carceri for the act of creating them. Each of the races has certain peculiarities. The farastu and the kelubar can undergo a lengthy and painful process of self-liquefaction into the secretion they most frequently exude. These pools of tar and slime can be bottled and stored for centuries as a kind of 'instant army'.
.
s of demodand society, and the shator (shaggy) demodand, the disgusting leaders of the demodands.
once again describes the farastu, kelubar, and shator demodands. Necromancer Games
' The Tome of Horrors also describes the demodands, using their alternative names (tarry, slime, and shaggy).
, including Dyr’ryd, a massive and deformed shator who founded the Cagewrights. Demodands will also make an appearance with "a different spin" in Paizo Publishing
's Pathfinder Chronicles: The Great Beyond book.
Tarterian Creature: Via ancient magical rituals, a creature may gain some of a demodand's power in exchange for surrendering its soul to Carceri upon death. The demodand is destroyed in the process, but gains freedom from the eternal prison plane.
, and the shator Xideous is lurking in the criminally and irreversibly insane ward of the Gatehouse in Sigil, working on a revision to the Book of Keeping. The latter one has a price on his head by the yugoloths.
The player can visit Carceri (when the city of Curst is shifted into the plane) in the game Planescape: Torment
, encountering many hostile farastu. One farastu does communicate with the player, but only to discuss how he wants to eat him...
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
, demodands (gehreleths in 2nd Edition D&D) are a race of fiends
Fiend (Dungeons & Dragons)
Fiends is a term used in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game to refer to any malicious otherworldly creatures within the Dungeons & Dragons universe. These include various races of demons and devils that are of an evil alignment and hail from the Lower Planes...
native to the Tarterian Depths of Carceri. The gehreleths worship or honor a patron deity called Apomps
Apomps
Apomps the Three-Sided is the creator of the demodand race, also known as the gehreleths, in the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game.-Publication history:...
the Three-sided One, a renegade baernaloth
Yugoloth
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, yugoloths are neutral evil natives of the lower planes of the Bleak Eternity of Gehenna and the Gray Waste of Hades...
who was exiled to Carceri for the act of creating them. Each of the races has certain peculiarities. The farastu and the kelubar can undergo a lengthy and painful process of self-liquefaction into the secretion they most frequently exude. These pools of tar and slime can be bottled and stored for centuries as a kind of 'instant army'.
Creative origins
The name demodand is derived from deodand, an evil creature in the Dying Earth series by Jack VanceJack Vance
John Holbrook Vance is an American mystery, fantasy and science fiction author. Most of his work has been published under the name Jack Vance. Vance has published 11 mysteries as John Holbrook Vance and 3 as Ellery Queen...
.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)
The 1st edition Monster Manual II contains the farastu (tarry) demodand, the most common type of demondand, the kelubar (slime) demodand, the bureaucratBureaucrat
A bureaucrat is a member of a bureaucracy and can comprise the administration of any organization of any size, though the term usually connotes someone within an institution of a government or corporation...
s of demodand society, and the shator (shaggy) demodand, the disgusting leaders of the demodands.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1988-2000)
These creatures appear first in this edition's Monstrous Compendium Outer Planes Appendix as gehreleths, and then in the Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix, with the same three kinds described as in first edition.Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition (2000-2003)
This edition's Fiend FolioFiend Folio
Fiend Folio is the title shared by three products published for successive editions of the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons...
once again describes the farastu, kelubar, and shator demodands. Necromancer Games
Necromancer Games
Necromancer Games was an American publisher of role-playing games. With offices in Seattle, Washington and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, the company specialized in material for the d20 System, with most of its products being released under the Open Game License of Wizards of the Coast.The company's...
' The Tome of Horrors also describes the demodands, using their alternative names (tarry, slime, and shaggy).
Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition (2003-2008)
Demodands feature prominently in the Shackled City Adventure PathShackled City
The Shackled City Adventure Path is a role-playing game campaign designed for Dungeons & Dragons, originally appearing as a series of modules in Dungeon Adventures, later published in a hardcover edition collecting all previous installments plus an additional chapter written especially for the...
, including Dyr’ryd, a massive and deformed shator who founded the Cagewrights. Demodands will also make an appearance with "a different spin" in Paizo Publishing
Paizo Publishing
Paizo Publishing is an American publishing company in Redmond, Washington that specializes in game aids and adventures for "the world's oldest fantasy roleplaying game" and its flagship spin-off game and setting, Pathfinder...
's Pathfinder Chronicles: The Great Beyond book.
In the game
Related Creatures
Shrieking Terror: Vargouille/hydra crossbreeds created for war and destruction, sometimes used as advance troops by demondands.Tarterian Creature: Via ancient magical rituals, a creature may gain some of a demodand's power in exchange for surrendering its soul to Carceri upon death. The demodand is destroyed in the process, but gains freedom from the eternal prison plane.
Notable Appearances of Demodands
The shator Drigor is trapped within the demiplane of RavenloftRavenloft
Ravenloft is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. It is an alternate time-space existence known as a pocket dimension called the Demiplane of Dread, which consists of a collection of land pieces called domains brought together by a mysterious force known only as "The Dark...
, and the shator Xideous is lurking in the criminally and irreversibly insane ward of the Gatehouse in Sigil, working on a revision to the Book of Keeping. The latter one has a price on his head by the yugoloths.
In other media
Wulfgar encounters a farastu in The Halfling's Gem.The player can visit Carceri (when the city of Curst is shifted into the plane) in the game Planescape: Torment
Planescape: Torment
Planescape: Torment is a computer role-playing game developed for Windows by Black Isle Studios and released on December 12, 1999 by Interplay Entertainment. It takes place in Planescape, an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy campaign setting...
, encountering many hostile farastu. One farastu does communicate with the player, but only to discuss how he wants to eat him...