Turaglas
Encyclopedia
Turgalas, in the Dungeons & Dragons
roleplaying game, is a demon lord
. He is known as the "Ebon Maw" and the "Hunger Eternal."
#312 (2003), by Ari Marmell
. Turaglas received further details in third edition in Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss
(2006).
Turaglas is fully detailed in the online version of Dragon
, in issue #376 (June 2009) in the "Demonomicon" feature.
, its roiling flesh shifting in color from pink to green to gray. The second one is that of a huge turagathshnee—gangly, green-skinned tanar'ri demons spawned by Turaglas.
and Orcus
, who joined forces to imprison it long ago. Spawned directly from the Abyss in a way that they were not (Demogorgon was a creation of the obyriths, while Orcus was a former mortal), they feared that Turaglas or something greater might rise from the Abyss to usurp their rule.
Turaglas has no long-term allies. It considers all other demon lords to be food. It is willing to acknowledge, however, that sometimes food has other uses before it is devoured, so for a short period, normally no longer than a single skirmish, it may ally itself with other demon lords. At these times, Graz'zt
, Yeenoghu
, and Juiblex
ally themselves with Turaglas most frequently. Juiblex and Turaglas ally themselves the most of all, but Turaglas plans one day to devour even Juiblex.
of extraordinary size and intellect. Gargmanethka believes that once Turaglas has devoured the world, it and others of its kind will have the privilege of feasting on its remains. Turaglas is also served by other monsters known for their ravenous appetites, from purple worm
s to ghouls
, gelatinous ghouls, swarms of insects, and disembodied jaws.
The turagathshee demons resemble tall, gangly humanoids with their heads replaced with huge, eyeless maws, their jaws positioned on top facing the sky, with their hinges attached to their shoulders so that the whole thing opens at once. Their gullets are partially extradimensional, so that they can consume things larger than they are.
Cobul Uthgren, known as the Wrath of Turaglas, is a mortal man who leads the most militant endeavors of Turaglas's cult.
Sholo-Tovoth, while it is somewhat quiescent during Turaglas's imprisonment, is a layer of pure, predatory hunger in which everything feeds on everything that it can. Holes open in the ground at unpredictable intervals, dropping those nearby into pools of digestive acid. Those who remain in the domain for long find that nothing but sentient flesh can satisfy their hunger. The Fields of Consumption are bordered by a range of mountains known as the Gnashing Crags, which resemble nothing so much as enormous teeth; some say that an upper pair of teeth can sometimes be seen descending from the clouds above them. The Valthuin Plateau is an enormous "tongue" of stone that houses the layer's only real communities: the largest is Taan Shavas, a metropolis where the citizens themselves are the only food, the society using their social rank to determine who may eat whom, with starving dregs on the very bottom of the cannibalistic ladder. All other foodstuffs rot away at the gates. In the Ravenous Wood, the trees bleed not sap but bile, and even the demons must fear the hunger of the trees. And an acidic swamp becomes a sea of gastric juices filled with mutated sharks and tentacled horrors; the sea is rumored to run into the River Styx.
The faithful of Turaglas believe in two precepts: first, that the faithful will be the Ebon Maw's chief instruments in bringing it souls to devour, and second, that when Turaglas has devoured the entire world they will be spared to rebuild the world in preparation for Turaglas to devour the world again. The fact that Turaglas does not actually intend to spare them seems to have escaped them.
of the tanar'ri breed, Turaglas was not among the most ancient of demons; Demogorgon
was older, and Miska the Wolf-Spider
, as were the obyrith who preceded them, such as Dagon
, Pazuzu
, Pale Night
, Obox-ob
, and the Queen of Chaos
herself. Nonetheless, Turaglas was ancient.
Turaglas came unto power in the Abyss
thousands of years ago, ruling the 32nd layer, Sholo-Tovoth, the Fields of Consumption. Not surprisingly, Turaglas came into conflict with its fellow demon lords for supremacy of the Abyss. However, Turaglas' habit of consuming its own minions as readily as its enemies stymied its own base of power. It fled to the Prime Material Plane
to escape before its enemies could destroy him, and there it fed upon the world of mortals. A vile cult, the "Feeders of the Ebon Maw," eventually came into being.
As Turaglas ravaged the Prime Material Plane with its incessant hunger, an unlikely alliance formed between the demon princes Demogorgon and Orcus. The Prince of Demons
and the Prince the Undead had their own plans for the mortal world, none of which involved having it devoured by an ancient enemy. The two demon princes attacked the Ebon Maw in person. When Turaglas's followers opened a gate to allow the Ebon Maw to escape, Orcus and Demogorgon corrupted the magic, sending Turaglas to a void, where it is imprisoned to this day. The combined cults of the two demon princes then hunted down and destroyed Turaglas' followers, hoping to erase the memory of the Ebon Maw from mortal memory.
A few decades ago, the wizard
Vuren Krabath was fooled into summoning Turaglas, who despite being imprisoned, was able to manifest a portion of itself into the Prime Material Plane
. Turaglas consumed the wizard and is now in the process of rebuilding its cult and to escaping its prison.
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...
roleplaying game, is a demon lord
Demon lord (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, demon lords are demons who have gained great power and established a position of preeminence among demonkind. Each demon lord has a unique appearance and set of abilities. Most control at least one layer of the Abyss...
. He is known as the "Ebon Maw" and the "Hunger Eternal."
Publication history
Turaglas first appeared in the article "The Ebon Maw: Beware the Waking Hunger" in DragonDragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#312 (2003), by Ari Marmell
Ari Marmell
Ari Marmell is an American novelist and freelance role-playing game writer.-Novels:His first novel, Gehenna: The Final Night, was published in 2004 by White Wolf Publishing...
. Turaglas received further details in third edition in Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss
Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss
Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss is an optional supplemental source book for the 3.5 edition of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game.-Chapter 1: Demonic Lore:...
(2006).
Turaglas is fully detailed in the online version of Dragon
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
, in issue #376 (June 2009) in the "Demonomicon" feature.
Description
Turaglas has two forms, one of which is a colossal-sized mass of shapeless flesh covered with eyes and mouths, like a gigantic gibbering moutherGibbering mouther
In the Dungeons and Dragons fantasy role-playing game, a gibbering mouther is a horrific aberration which feeds on the bodily fluids and "sanity" of its victims...
, its roiling flesh shifting in color from pink to green to gray. The second one is that of a huge turagathshnee—gangly, green-skinned tanar'ri demons spawned by Turaglas.
Relationships
Turaglas's chief enemies are DemogorgonDemogorgon (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, Demogorgon is a powerful demon prince. He is known as the Prince of Demons, a self-proclaimed title he holds by virtue of his power and influence; which in turn, is a title acknowledged by both mortals and his fellow demons...
and Orcus
Orcus (Dungeons & Dragons)
Orcus is the fictional demon prince, and lord of the undead in many campaign settings for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. He is named after Orcus of Roman mythology. His symbol is a mace with a human skull as the head...
, who joined forces to imprison it long ago. Spawned directly from the Abyss in a way that they were not (Demogorgon was a creation of the obyriths, while Orcus was a former mortal), they feared that Turaglas or something greater might rise from the Abyss to usurp their rule.
Turaglas has no long-term allies. It considers all other demon lords to be food. It is willing to acknowledge, however, that sometimes food has other uses before it is devoured, so for a short period, normally no longer than a single skirmish, it may ally itself with other demon lords. At these times, Graz'zt
Graz'zt
Graz'zt is a demon lord in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, and one of the most powerful demons in the Abyss. Graz'zt, one of the earliest and most famous demons created for Dungeons and Dragons, was named as one of the greatest villains in D&D history by the final print issue of...
, Yeenoghu
Yeenoghu
In the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, Yeenoghu is a Demon Prince, the Demon Lord of Gnolls, and the bestial embodiment of savage butchery. His personal weapon is his dreaded triple flail, created from the bones and skin of a slain god. Yeenoghu commands the obedience of ghouls and ghasts...
, and Juiblex
Juiblex
In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Juiblex, also called The Faceless Lord, is the demon lord of Slimes and Oozes. Juiblex's lair is on the 222nd layer of the Abyss, which he shares with Zuggtmoy, the Demoness Lady of Fungi. In Gary Gygax's Gord novels, Juiblex is alternately called Szhublox...
ally themselves with Turaglas most frequently. Juiblex and Turaglas ally themselves the most of all, but Turaglas plans one day to devour even Juiblex.
Vassals
One of Turaglas's greatest servants is Gargmanethka, a mutant otyughOtyugh
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, the otyugh , or gulguthra, is a type of fictional monster for player characters to encounter...
of extraordinary size and intellect. Gargmanethka believes that once Turaglas has devoured the world, it and others of its kind will have the privilege of feasting on its remains. Turaglas is also served by other monsters known for their ravenous appetites, from purple worm
Purple worm
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the purple worm is a magical beast and a classic D&D monster.-Publication history:The purple worm was one of the earliest creatures introduced in the D&D game.-Dungeons & Dragons :...
s to ghouls
Ghoul (Dungeons & Dragons)
For the generic mythological creature, see Ghoul.In the Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying game, ghouls are monstrous, undead humans who reek of carrion.-Dungeons & Dragons :...
, gelatinous ghouls, swarms of insects, and disembodied jaws.
The turagathshee demons resemble tall, gangly humanoids with their heads replaced with huge, eyeless maws, their jaws positioned on top facing the sky, with their hinges attached to their shoulders so that the whole thing opens at once. Their gullets are partially extradimensional, so that they can consume things larger than they are.
Cobul Uthgren, known as the Wrath of Turaglas, is a mortal man who leads the most militant endeavors of Turaglas's cult.
Realm
The realm of Sholo-Tovoth, catalogued as the 32nd layer of the Abyss, is home to vast hordes of demons, primarily the turagathshee spawned by Turaglas himself, but bar'lguras, evistros, hezrou, and vrock dwell on the layer in smaller numbers. More intelligent demons prefer to avoid the layer.Sholo-Tovoth, while it is somewhat quiescent during Turaglas's imprisonment, is a layer of pure, predatory hunger in which everything feeds on everything that it can. Holes open in the ground at unpredictable intervals, dropping those nearby into pools of digestive acid. Those who remain in the domain for long find that nothing but sentient flesh can satisfy their hunger. The Fields of Consumption are bordered by a range of mountains known as the Gnashing Crags, which resemble nothing so much as enormous teeth; some say that an upper pair of teeth can sometimes be seen descending from the clouds above them. The Valthuin Plateau is an enormous "tongue" of stone that houses the layer's only real communities: the largest is Taan Shavas, a metropolis where the citizens themselves are the only food, the society using their social rank to determine who may eat whom, with starving dregs on the very bottom of the cannibalistic ladder. All other foodstuffs rot away at the gates. In the Ravenous Wood, the trees bleed not sap but bile, and even the demons must fear the hunger of the trees. And an acidic swamp becomes a sea of gastric juices filled with mutated sharks and tentacled horrors; the sea is rumored to run into the River Styx.
Dogma
Turaglas is driven to consume all things until nothing remains. First, though, it is aware that it must increase its own power by defeating its enemies and reestablishing control over its layer of the Abyss.The faithful of Turaglas believe in two precepts: first, that the faithful will be the Ebon Maw's chief instruments in bringing it souls to devour, and second, that when Turaglas has devoured the entire world they will be spared to rebuild the world in preparation for Turaglas to devour the world again. The fact that Turaglas does not actually intend to spare them seems to have escaped them.
History
Turaglas first formed, spawned by the Abyss itself, a million years ago, "not merely from the Abyss but of the Abyss... a manifestation not of the Abyss's rage but of its eternal, unslakable hunger for all things." A demonDemon (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, demons are the most widespread race of fiends. The demons are chaotic evil by nature, and are native to the Abyss...
of the tanar'ri breed, Turaglas was not among the most ancient of demons; Demogorgon
Demogorgon (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, Demogorgon is a powerful demon prince. He is known as the Prince of Demons, a self-proclaimed title he holds by virtue of his power and influence; which in turn, is a title acknowledged by both mortals and his fellow demons...
was older, and Miska the Wolf-Spider
Miska the Wolf-Spider
In the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, Miska the Wolf-Spider is a demon lord, and former holder of the title "Prince of Demons."-Publishing history :...
, as were the obyrith who preceded them, such as Dagon
Dagon (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, Dagon is a obyrith demon lord, also called Prince of the Depths. His realm is the 89th layer of the Abyss, and is known as Shadowsea...
, Pazuzu
Pazuzu (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, Pazuzu is a powerful demon prince, called the Prince of the Lower Aerial Kingdoms. He rules the skies above all layers of the Abyss. He is sometimes known as Pazrael or Pazuzeus....
, Pale Night
Pale Night
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, Pale Night, the so-called "Mother of Demons," is an Abyssal Lord, both enigmatic and unbelievably ancient...
, Obox-ob
Obox-ob
In many campaign settings for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, Obox-ob is a demon lord, also called the Prince of Vermin...
, and the Queen of Chaos
Queen of Chaos
In the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, the Queen of Chaos is a demon lord of obyrith origins.- Publishing history :The Queen of Chaos was first mentioned briefly in the second edition Dungeon Master's Guide under the description for the Rod of Seven Parts artifact...
herself. Nonetheless, Turaglas was ancient.
Turaglas came unto power in the Abyss
Abyss (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the Abyss or more fully, the Infinite Layers of the Abyss, is a chaotic evil-aligned plane of existence. It is one of a number of alignment-based Outer Planes that form part of the standard Dungeons & Dragons cosmology, used in the Planescape...
thousands of years ago, ruling the 32nd layer, Sholo-Tovoth, the Fields of Consumption. Not surprisingly, Turaglas came into conflict with its fellow demon lords for supremacy of the Abyss. However, Turaglas' habit of consuming its own minions as readily as its enemies stymied its own base of power. It fled to the Prime Material Plane
Prime Material Plane
The Prime Material Plane is the central plane of existence in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game...
to escape before its enemies could destroy him, and there it fed upon the world of mortals. A vile cult, the "Feeders of the Ebon Maw," eventually came into being.
As Turaglas ravaged the Prime Material Plane with its incessant hunger, an unlikely alliance formed between the demon princes Demogorgon and Orcus. The Prince of Demons
Prince of Demons
Prince of Demons is a title contested by the greatest demon lords of the Abyss, in the Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying game.-The current Prince of Demons:...
and the Prince the Undead had their own plans for the mortal world, none of which involved having it devoured by an ancient enemy. The two demon princes attacked the Ebon Maw in person. When Turaglas's followers opened a gate to allow the Ebon Maw to escape, Orcus and Demogorgon corrupted the magic, sending Turaglas to a void, where it is imprisoned to this day. The combined cults of the two demon princes then hunted down and destroyed Turaglas' followers, hoping to erase the memory of the Ebon Maw from mortal memory.
A few decades ago, the wizard
Wizard (Dungeons & Dragons)
The wizard is one of the standard character class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. A wizard uses arcane magic, and is considered less effective in melee combat than other classes.-Creative origins:...
Vuren Krabath was fooled into summoning Turaglas, who despite being imprisoned, was able to manifest a portion of itself into the Prime Material Plane
Prime Material Plane
The Prime Material Plane is the central plane of existence in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game...
. Turaglas consumed the wizard and is now in the process of rebuilding its cult and to escaping its prison.