Yogoth

Yogoth was the central continent of Ondûn in the Fourth Age. Once called Auros and the home of the orcish people, it was transformed into the bleak and desolate land of Yogoth in 899 3A, when the Hope for Mortals was broken and Yog unleashed from Its prison.

Geography

Once the wild and rugged lands of Auros, Yogoth was now a bleak and unforgiving hellscape. As Yog’s influence spread, the land spoiled and corrupted. Clouds of pollution hung heavy in the sky. Ashen fields of barren wasteland stretched for miles, devoid of life or greenery. Yog’s influence warped all the flora and fauna into unrecognizable abominations. The cities of men and orcs were now havens for Yog’s followers – depraved shadows of their former selves. Fissures dotted the landscape, ringed by jagged spires of deformed stone, and from those fissures belched forth the pure essence of Yog.
In the north spanned the Taraskh Wastes, an arid expanse where uruk gangs hunted the undead tarrasque night and day. At the wasteland's center stood the Doomfast, Yog's grand fortress and final bastion. Brooding mountains ringed the continent's heart, the sinister Unwood nestled between their peaks. The First Fissure, once the site of Yog's final seal, was an enormous scar upon the heart of the land and grew bigger by the day. To the south, fed by the floxing Noxion, spanned the Spoiled Sea, its waters utterly polluted from industrial run-off. The surrounding countryside – a swampy morass of mutagenic marsh – was known as the Stagmire.
The once proud cities of Auros were no more immune to Yog's corruption. To the west sat foul Tzal Umbros, the City of Shadow, and the heart of Yog's war-machine. On the shores of the Spoiled Sea festered the licentious Tzal Stigmos, the City of Deceit, the largest and most populous of Yogoth's cities. Tzal Necros, City of Death, stood upon the southern point, in truth an ancient Thanasian colony from the Night Wars. At the heart of all was Tzal Phobos, the City of Fear – not a true city bt instead a demon-haunted urban hellscape, presided over by the imposing Spires of Yog.
So too did ruins dot the countryside. The Field of Failure on the southwestern coast was all that remained of the Sixfold Faith abortive crusade against the emergenct Yog. On the eastern coast, the city of Tzal Tyrannos stood as a dreadful reminder of those who betrayed Yog's trust.
Many secrets were hidden across the land, for Yog's machinations were many. In discreet locations across Its land, Yog hid compounds of fell purpose. The Houses of Enigma were a subterranean library and vault where Yog stored Its most precious lore. In the Houses of Malady, plague doctors concocted fresh diseases to inflict upon the world. Rumors spoke of the Houses of Temptation, where Yog's succubi were trained and occasionally good servants were sent as reward. The Houses of Torment, however, were quite the opposite – a prison above an active volcano, where Yog's enemies were tortured for information.

History

Third Age

Yogoth was formed in 899 3A when Yog’s seal was discovered and overcome by a nameless wizard. Once freed of Its divine prison, Yog's effect was immediate – transforming all the inhabitants of Auros into tieflings, dark elves, uruks and duergar. This was more than enough to force many to flee the continent, particularly those on the further coasts, but those further inland were doomed to fall under Yog's spell. In a single stroke, this one act gave Yog a population to control and Yogoth was born.

Fourth Age

Weakened from this effort, Yog took many hundreds of years to regain Its strength. Keeping mainly to inner Auros, It spend much of its time fortifying its borders and expanding ever outward. Many failed attempts were made during the first half of the Fourth Age – by vengeful Auran factions and others – to oust Yog from Its stronghold in the continent's heart. The most famous was a vast crusade, organized by the Sixfold Faith, that was roundly rejected on the Field of Failure in 181 4A. After that disaster, few dared challenge Yog so openly again.
Over the next eight hundred years, Yog slowly consolidated Its power in Yogoth. While the cities were easily occupied by the faithful, the land itself proved resilient to Yog's corruption. Century by century, though, It's necrotic influence grew, perverting the once majestic wilds of Auros into a beknighted hellscape. To keep the fractious uruks in line, Yog reanimated the tarrasque, slain the previous Age while it slumbered beneath the earth, and sent them north to perpetually hunt the creature in 429 4A. The dark elves of the Unwood initially resisted Yog's influence but, with canny negotiation, both parties came to an uneasy truce in 210 4A. The city of Tzal Tyrannos was not so fortunate when it officially rebelled in 612 4A and was utterly crushed by Yog's nascent military might.
All the while, Yog was warmongering – raising defensive works, training soldiers, preparing weapons and ships and strategies for its coming war against the world. In 787 4A, Yog launched that war, seizing territory on four continents and repelling counter-inavsion on as many fronts.

Climate

Despite the many climates of Auros, Yogoth had a universally arid and parched climate, comparable to a dry desert. This was worsened by the perpetual black smog that seemed to pour endlessly across the continent from the factories in Tzal Umbros. By 500 4A, the sun rarely shone at all, anywhere in Yogoth, and the very ground seemed to exude a malevolence that proved toxic to most mortals that ventured there.

Politics

Yog wielded ultimate, unquestioned power in Yogoth. Thanks to Its near-omnipotence, Yog could administer to Its growing empire on an almost personal level but, as it expanded, the management of Yogoth fell to more and more hands. At all times, Yog was assisted by a senior advisor, working without portfolio. This position – known as the seneschal – was directly answerable only to Yog. They spoke with the Black Star's word. Neogi was one such seneschal.
Beneath the seneschal were a number of ministers, each assigned a particular task in Yog's service. The exact hierarchy of these ministers was never officially determined, leading to much jockeying between them. Assassinations and sabotage were commonplace among Yog's ministers and neither was there a shortage in replacements. Notable ministers included:

• Hierophant Malefex, Grand Primarch of the Black Star, Executor of Its Terrible Mandate, Gazer In Voids
• Sepulcrates
• Throka Ten-Tusk

In addition to the ministers, a complex bureaucracy of minor functionaries was necessary to keep the empire running smoothly. Much of this thankless work and activity was centered in Tzal Necros, home of the tireless undead.

Economy

The "economy" of Yogoth served a single purpose – to fund Yog's war effort. This meant all resources, save the bare essentials to keep its population alive and reward Yog's good servants, were funneled towards weapons and supplies and fortification. Yogoth was frighteningly effective and efficient at this, pillaging the rich resources of Auros for this fell purpose and capable of engaging multiple nations in war at once. Nevertheless, poverty and starvation were rampant in the cities of Yogoth, with many turning to the Elder Evil for reprieve from their needs.

Demographics

The majority of Yogoth's population was composed of tieflings and uruks, the remnants of the humans and orcs that once dwelled in Auros. Sizable minorities of dark elves and duergar could also be found, the former in the forests and the latter in the cities – particularly the forges and foundries of Tzal Umbros. In addition, Yogoth was overrun with fiends of all kinds. Some merely spilled from the Fissures, spawned by Yog's sheer malice, while others were specially crafted for a dread purpose.
Another important population in Yogoth were the dead. Concentrated in Tzal Necros to the south, the dead came from a diverse number of people – humans, elves, orcs and others; those slain in Yog's foreign wars. Zombies and skeletons were the most abundant but there was no shortage of wights, wraiths, vampires and others.

Culture

Devotion to Yog was paramount in Yogoth. In a land where the slightest hint of disloyalty was detectable to the overlord, none would dare risk Yog's immediate wrath by slandering It or showing any sign of dissent. Offerings and obeisances were common and, at times, performative for Yogoth's citizens. Nothing was more important than convincing the Elder Evil and Its all-seeing servants one's fearful reverence for their dark patron.
The Church Ominous was the singular religion of Yogoth. Practiced by blood-smeared clerics in grand bascilicas, gone were the days of Yog's cultists slinking about in the shadows. Here, worship of Yog was unconcealed and mandatory. Its priests were primarily concerned with divination, attempting to ascertain – through rituals most profane – what challenges lay before Yog on Its dark crusade.
The wholly and overtly evil society of Yogoth created its own challenges. Many fundamental crimes – murder, assault, robbery – were not illegal in Yogoth; unless those crimes interferred with Yog's designs. The streets and wild places of Yogoth were easily the most dangerous in all of Ondûn but they were also some of the most libertine. Nowhere was this more evident than Tzal Stigmos, the City of Deceit, where feuding tiefling nobles butchered one another at masquerade balls and where the black market was second to none.

Campaigns

All Hail Yog 

Yogoth featured heavily in the campaign, the villains repeatedly summoned before the Vessel of Yog to receive their mission briefs.

• The Heroes: Summoned to the Spires like always, four villains – Azathomet, Ernst, Skoura and Xosh – were caught completely unawares when a surprise attack by the Soulsworn who kidnapped the Vessel (Episode 1 – 3). After meeting with Neogi, the villains hastened to the Houses of Torment, met Zyzzenxkys and interrogated the First Vessel before another Soulsworn attack drew them to Tzal Necros (Episode 4 – 6). Defeating the heroes once again, they pursued them all across Yogoth, thanks to the Fissures malfunctioning, and managed to locate their headquarters in Tzal Tyrannos (Episode 7 – 9). The villains made quick work of the heroes, including their gold dragon accomplice – and returned her to the Houses of Torment. Once the sacrosteel shackles were removed, Yog flooded back into Its vessel and congratulated the triumphant villains (Episode 10).

Name: Yogoth
Capital: Spires of Yog
Largest City: Tzal Stigmos
Government: Autocracy
Official Language: Yogothic
Demographics: Integrated (40% tiefling, 32% uruk, 10% dark elf, 3% duergar, 15% other)
Demonym: Yogothic