[ Outsiders > Fiends ]
[ Dominant | Parochial | Orphan | Beasts ]
Faces of Evil: the Fiends
Fiends—the collective name for the natives of the Lower Planes. They’re the worst of the wicked, the embodiments of pretty much all that is wrong with the multiverse. They’re born of mortal souls, divine mistakes, fallen angels, or just plain up and crawled out of the muck of the plane itself. Each Lower Plane has its own noxious type of being—and often more than one—that calls the place home. This time, I’m going to lann you the chant about the dominant fiends from each of the Lower Planes. Not to say there ain’t more kinds Any canny planewalker needs to know their archons from their animal lords, and their proteans from their psychopomps, but most definitely, their baatezu from their tanar’ri. Cutter, you’ve come to the right tout, because I’ve met ’em all* and I’ll lan you the chant on how to spot fiend from foe, the differences between them, what to call them, and most importantly what not to call them.
—Voilá!
* Not the qlippoth, obviously. Or the obyrith. Alright cutter, I didn’t realise you were keeping count…
And no, nor the kaiju, do I look like a complete leatherhead? Don’t answer that.
Dominant Fiends
| BAATOR | GEHENNA | GRAY WASTE | CARCERI | ABYSS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baatezu (Devil) | Yugoloth | Daemon † Hag | Gehreleth (Demodand) | Tanar’ri (Demon) |
There are a number of dominant fiendish races, at least one for each of the Lower Planes—these are the most numerous, the most native, or the most dangerous. They’re also the most commonly encountered across the Great Ring. On their home planes obviously, but also on other Lower Planes and even Sigil as they trade, raid or invade their way across the multiverse.
More chant on the dominant fiends here…
Parochial Fiends
While every basher’s heard of the baatezu and tanar’ri—and might even be able to name some of them—the same can’t be said for some of the less common races of fiendish outsider. The so-called parochial fiends—although if they hear you calling them that, good luck!—tend to travel less than the dominant fiendish races, rather focussing their energies on one plane in particular, are less often spotted in Sigil, and they stay out of the Blood War. Some of them intentionally hide themselves away, like the lou-māra or the obyrith; some have left their Great Ring origins behind and set up their kips on more obscure plane, like the sahkil or the kytons; and then of course the qlippoth are just so sodding dangerous that few berks live to tell of an encounter with them.
More chant on the parochial fiends here…
Orphan Fiends
The so-called ‘orphan’ fiends are the outliers, the singular races that seem not to fit into any Fraternity-of-Order-style grand fiendish family tree. You know, nasties like shadow fiends, or those soul skelm. Many of these creatures are obscure, highly localised to one part of one plane. But as befits an outlier, many are not, and can be encountered in all kinds of territories. Take the bebilith, for example. No, please, take the bebilith right away. These hunters of tanar’ri can be found throughout the Abyss, stalking their prey. Nobody knows where they came from. Perhaps they are even tanar’ri themselves, or obyrith, or even qlippoth and nobody’s figured it out yet… we know precious little about creatures as dangerous as these. And you know what? I don’t intend to personally try and find out any more either…
More chant on the orphan fiends here…
Fiendish Beasts
They’re animals, sure, but not as we know it. The Lower Planes can be weird places, after all, and it shouldn’t be a surprise that the animals of these planes can be equally strange. More intelligent than your average Prime beast, but more importantly, infused with the essence of an Outer Plane, fiendish beasts can combine the ethical vacuum of animals with the most feral aspects of fiends. And let me tell you cutter, you need to learn the difference between a yeth hound and a hell hound, because one day that might just save your hide.
More chant on the fiendish beasts here…
Source: Jon Winter-Holt. Canonwatch: † from the Pathfinder setting