Demon Lords

“As creatures of chaos incarnate, demons have no unified culture. The only modicum of order that exists for a demon is the one imposed upon it by a more powerful demon—and the moment that a demon rises high enough to assert its authority on others is the very moment that rivals begin to subvert that authority.” — The Demonomicon of Iggwilv

Demon Lords of the Abyss

Demon lords, also known as Abyssal Lords, or Demon Princes are archfiends who have gained great power and established a position of preeminence among demonkind. Over countless millennia, these demons have amassed tremendous power and authority over their domain. The Demon Lords dominate the Abyss and are individual demons of great power, determination, and even cruel cunning who bend and shape the Abyss and its inhabitants to meet their every whim. These mighty beings imagine themselves at the centre of the cosmos. Each Demon Lord strives to bring all planes under their command, subject to power, and twisted and warped to match the Demon Lord’s ideal of perfection. The Demon Lords’ arrogance is exceeded only by their ambition. While any rational being would dismiss their goals as empty ambitions sparked by madness, the truth remains that the Demon Lords and their thralls are among the mightiest forces in the planes. It is conceivable that, if the Blood War turns dramatically in their favour, the Demon Lords could put the rest of their apocalyptic plans in motion.
Demon Lords are masters of their domain, and within it their power rival the very deities.

Patrons and Packs

Demon Lords are oft beseeched for power by mortals, to form pacts and become their patrons; given their immense power the Demon Lord rarely even notice individual mortals, but their servants do. balor, glabrezu, and succubi instead intervene on behalf of their Lord for these pacts, to extend either their Demon Lord’s power, or if they are ambitious their own in hopes of throwing down the Demon Lord they serve.

Hierarchy

Each Demon Lord has a unique appearance and set of abilities, they also rule over at least one layer of the Abyss. There are Demon Lords who have gained power and control over several layers of the Abyss, with these demons rivalling the deities in power. The Demon Lords are in an eternal struggle fighting for dominion over one another. Unlike the Archdevils, the chaotic evil demon lords did not have a rigid hierarchy, though they appeared in greater numbers throughout the Blood War.

Lords and their Domains

The Abyss is believed to be infinite in size, or at least large enough to be effectively endless for mortals to explore. As such the number of Demon Lords in innumerable, instead we draw an incomplete list of Demon Lords and their domains from demonic incursions and those brave and foolish enough to explore the chaotic violence and madness of the Abyss itself.
Baphomet
The demon lord of minotaurs is known as the Prince of Beasts. Baphomet is an ultraviolent being who relishes physical combat whenever possible and is known to incite insatiable bloodlust in his followers. His realm in the Abyss is the Endless Maze, the 600th layer, and there he encourages the many ruthless tribes of savage minotaurs to hunt and kill in his name. Baphomet has an intense rivalry with Yeenoghu, and the forces of the two clash constantly.
Dagon
In the lightless caverns of the Shadowsea, Dagon dwells and schemes as the Prince of the Darkened Depths. It is a massive creature that harkens back to an ancient primordial era of the Abyss, and some scholars say that Dagon is the oldest of the known demon lords. For its incredible age, Dagon is renowned for its insight, and other demons often seek it out in the Shadowsea to consult with the demon lord. The true motivations of the enigmatic creature may never be known.
Demogorgon
Primal rage and unfiltered chaos define Demogorgon, who stylizes himself as the Prince of Demons, and few argue that claim. Physically powerful and incredibly cunning, Demogorgon fights everyone and everything, including himself – the demon lord’s twin heads are possessed of two distinct minds that often war against one another. He commands legions of demons from his home on Gaping Maw, the 88th layer of the Abyss, and he has had long standing feuds with Orcus and Graz’zt.
Fraz-Urb’luu
Illusions and trickery are the primary tools of Fraz-Urb’luu, the Prince of Deception. He is a powerful, conniving demon lord with great magical powers at his command, and his realm of Hollow’s Heart obeys his every whim. As befitting his title, Fraz-Urb’luu counts no ally among his demonic kind, instead relying upon vast networks of cultist upon other planes.
Graz’zt
One of the most ambitious demon lords on the Abyssal stage, Graz’zt is the Dark Prince and patron of tyrants across the multiverse. He holds more territory on the Abyss than any other demon lord, stitching together three layers to form Azzagrat, but the ever-scheming Graz’zt always seeks more. He fights with every other demon lord whenever it’s convenient, but his feud with Demogorgon has become legendary. The symbol holding the Dark Prince’s six-fingered hand is used by his agents across the multiverse in his quest for ultimate conquest.
Juiblex
Slimy, amorphous, and grotesque nearly beyond description, Juiblex is the Faceless Lord and commands a great many oozes from his home realm of Shedaklah. He actually shares the layer with Zuggtmoy, Lady of Fungi, and the two face off against one another in a never-ending tug-of-war for the layer’s total control. Unlike some other demon lords, the Faceless Lord has no guile and holds little intelligence, instead moving with brute force on his enemies whenever he sees an opportunity.
Nocticula
Shadows cling to this demon lord like a cloak, and Nocticula is known as the Undeniable for a good reason. Her realm of Darklight, the 72nd layer of the Abyss, is a vast landscape of jagged mountain peaks under a bloated black sun that never sets. Nocticula is often associated with vampires, and while she counts many of them as her most ardent supporters, she also commands legions of hideous bats to do her bidding. She has a honeyed voice that drips with promise, but her physical appearance is that of a true monster.
Orcus
The Prince of the Undead is one of the most active demon lords in the Abyss and holds one of the most feared artefacts in the multiverse, the wand that bears his name. Orcus is a brutish force with necromantic powers unsurpassed among his demon lord peers (none of which he considers his equal), and his legions on Thanatos, the 113th layer, are more monstrously-fused undead than typical demon. He hates Demogorgon more than any other demon lord, but his fury and sheer willpower has driven more than one demon lord to be crushed beneath his goat hooves. Orcus is perhaps the most active Demon Lord upon Runetalras, gaining more power since the Age of Blood.
Pazuzu
The first layer of the Abyss holds no true ruler, but Pazuzu, the Prince of the Lower Aerial Kingdoms, is the undisputed master of the blood-red skies on the Plain of Infinite Portals. He is a screeching bird-like demon, a creature nearly as old as Dagon, and he has kept his position by being cowardly and opportunistic. From the massive fortress of Skeleton Tree, Pazuzu observes the happenings around him and sells the information to other interested parties, including other demon lords and gods. Rumours persist he has a direct line of communication to the devil lords of the Nine Hells as well.
Sess’Innek
The Emperor Lizard is a reclusive demon lord who dwells on the 7th layer of the Abyss, in a fog enshrouded swamp and jungle known as the Phantom Plane. Sess’Innek’s realm is populated with the crumbling ruins of the previous inhabitants, but now it crawls with the fiendish lizards and lizardfolk that owe fealty to the layer’s current ruler. He appears as a massive humanoid lizard, much like a lizardfolk, with six arms in which he expertly wields longswords against opponents. Through some magical power, Sess’Innek has managed to seal the Phantom Plane from most outsiders, but in the Abyss there’s always a way in.
Tanflamman
The Flame of Darkness, the shadow that casts the light, the Shadow Flame lord of Aganathel. Tanflamman is a Demon Lord who is more subtle and cunning in his desires for domination, willing to wait out entire aeons to achieve its ends. Tanflamman is said to take on a thousand forms to appeal to more cultists in its efforts to gain power. Tanflamman is the ruler of the 22nd layer of the Abyss.
Ugudenk
Forever burrowing, the Squirming King is a colossal demonic worm that seems possessed of no unique intelligence. Its sheer size and voracity ranks it among the more powerful demon lords of the Abyss, but Ugudenk has no goal or thought save satiating its monstrous appetite. The Writhing Realm, the 177th layer of the Abyss, is a labyrinthine network of tunnels created by the Squirming King’s passing, and it is populated by no end of scavengers that follow in Ugudenk’s wake.
Yeenoghu
The Prince of Gnolls is a master hunter and savage, bloodthirsty foe. It is widely accepted that the gnolls that populated the multiverse originated in Yeenoghu’s wake, a horrendous transformation that created a race of monsters as ruthless as their demon lord progenitor. In the Death Dells, the 422nd layer of the Abyss, Yeenoghu hunts through the endless canyons and crags attended by great packs of demonic servants and powerful fiendish gnolls. The Prince of Gnolls holds a never-ending grudge against Baphomet, though the original cause is unknown, and the two send wave after wave of their followers against one another in pitched battles.
Zuggtmoy
One of the more active demon lords outside of the Abyss is the Lady of Fungi, Zuggtmoy. She maintains strong cults on the Prime Material Plane, though she has learned to disguise her true nature and hide behind religious facades in order to facilitate more worship.