Yeenoghu

This entry is in the SuccuWiki for the sake of completeness with the D&D Universe.

In the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, Yeenoghu is a demon lord, the Demon Lord of Gnolls. His personal weapon is his dreaded triple flail and he commands the obedience of ghouls and ghasts (mainly through his subjugation of the entity known as the King of Ghouls).

Yeenoghu, Demon Lord of Gnolls.

Description

Yeenoghu appears as a 12 foot tall gaunt bipedal hyena. His skin is a pale grey, while his yellow fur is patchy and mangy. He is often depicted wielding a three-headed flail.

Relationships

Like all demon lords, Yeenoghu has a long list of enemies and rivals, and a short list of allies and compatriots. He was not originally revered by gnolls, but gained their worship by stealing the portfolio of Gorellik, their original patron deity. His greatest enemy is Baphomet, the Demon Lord of Minotaurs and the Prince of Beasts. Their enmity has stretched back so far that both demon lords have forgotten the origins of their feud.

Despite Yeenoghu being the "Demon Lord of Gnolls," he accepts worship from other races, notably humans, as well. The infamous Maure family from the world of Oerth is a prime example. However, thanks to the meddling of the Succubus Queen Malcanthet, the Maures were eventually laid low and Yeenoghu counted Malcanthet as one of his most hated enemies.

Because of his subjugation of the King of Ghouls, Yeenoghu also has also induced the ire of Orcus, the Prince of the Undead. However, the two did seem to have come to a mutual understanding and for a time, the duo managed to imprison Baphomet in Orcus' layer of Thanatos.

Realm

As a demon lord, Yeenoghu rules the 422nd layer of the Abyss, aptly and unimaginatively named Yeenoghu's Realm. It is a salt-swept wasteland bordering a foul ocean in which lurk gnolls, hyena-like creatures, and various carrion-eating undead. Before Yeenoghu took over the layer, it was known as the Savage Searing, ruled by the fallen Celestial known as Azael. Even before Azael, the layer was realm to the obyrith Lord of Storms and Tempests, Bechard.

Yeenoghu himself lives in a mansion the size of a city pulled by thousands of slaves, which slowly makes its way across the layer.

Cult of Yeenoghu

Yeenoghu is revered by both gnolls and ghouls, as well as power-hungry humanoids of other races. He acts as the patron for gnolls, wishing to see a material world where other humanoids are simple slave labor or food. However, with his own conquests in the Abyss requiring direct attention, Yeenoghu also attracts other followers who seek power, often corrupting them into supporting his undead armies.

One such Abyssal conquest was the White Kingdom, a layer devoted to ghouls and other undead. After Yeenoghu subjugated Doresain, King of Ghouls, the hungry dead began revering him as well.

Followers of Yeenoghu perform living sacrifices in remote wilderness regions. Typical ceremonial dress is dark brown robes accented by mangy yellow furs. The robes are never cleaned, becoming fouled with blood and reeking of dead flesh over time. Clerics of Yeenoghu have access to the domains of Chaos, Demonic, Evil, and Fury. According to page 8 of the Deities and Demigods suppliment, Erythnul grants Yeenoghu's clerics their spells, with Yeenoghu acting as a go-between and a loyal servant, at least, until the chance for him to achieve godhood himself is within his grasp.

Yeenoghu in other media

• Yeenoghu also appears as a demon lord in the roguelike computer game NetHack.

• Yeenoghu is a monster that drops the item "yeenoghu flail" in the MMORPG parody Progress Quest

References

• Cook, Monte. Book of Vile Darkness (Wizards of the Coast, 2002).

• Gygax, Gary. Monster Manual (TSR, 1977).

• Jacobs, James, Erik Mona, and Ed Stark. Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss (Wizards of the Coast, 2006).

• McComb, Colin. On Hallowed Ground (TSR, 1996).

• Sargent, Carl. Monster Mythology (TSR, 1992).

• Expedition to the Demonweb Pits (2007) (aspect)

External Link

The original page at Wikipedia.