Slaad Lords
Slaad lords, also known as the Slaad masters or Lords of Chaos, were living personifications of pandemonium, extremely powerful champions of chaos that each embodied a unique aspect of the primal force. Much like their counterparts in the archfiends, celestial paragons, or the One and the Prime, they were exemplars of their kind, ruling over Limbo and the Slaadi each in their own special way.
All Slaad lords had a different appearance to some degree. Each sought to express chaos in a way beyond what the normal Slaad form could offer—some didn't even resemble regular Slaadi in any way.
Structure
The Slaad lords each embodied their own flavor of chaos, and as such each acted differently, although as a whole they were creatures of unrivaled ferocity. Their embrace of chaos could be so staggering as to make them difficult to understand, and their expressions varied in terms of both the potential harm they caused and the actual maliciousness with which they acted.
If a Slaad lord's true name was spoken, there was a small chance they would manifest themselves, after which they would take the summoner (potentially killing them in the process), to Limbo.
The Slaad lords were extremely powerful beings, especially when on their home planes. Like gods, most possessed their own realms, and their domains remained stable even in their absence.
Culture
While the Slaadi were often used as intelligent minions of chaos by the various deities and demigods of Limbo (as servants, messengers, and soldiers), they were predictably unreliable. They didn't recognize the gods as divine nor did they bow to mighty primordials, which, given their already chaotic tendencies, meant that any task given to them was likely to go wrong somehow. The Slaad lords, however, were a different story, for the Slaadi regarded their paragons with both respect and fear. Though the common Slaadi revered the Slaad lords, few considered them actual deities, including the Slaadi themselves. Rather, based on Slaadi's descriptions, the Slaad lords were more like the great heroes of their race, standing at the peak of their hierarchy.
The Slaad lords themselves likely had little interest in ruling anything, rarely if ever demanding service, though they still self-styled themselves lords. Their "rulership" of the Slaad race was a combination of bullying, beguiling, and physically forcing those below them to do their bidding, and though the slaad lords stood at the top of the chaotic hierarchy, the hierarchy itself often extended only so far as the powerful could reach. Still, some Slaadi were more loyal to the lords than others, and some Slaadi were willing to obey the commands of representatives, with the Slaad lords themselves rarely looking beyond the Slaadi for servitors.
Public Agenda
While Ygorl was technically considered Limbo's planar ruler, the other Slaad lords had never challenged his "rule". Likely this was due to their own disinterest in holding such authority, or possibly because Ygorl had so few rules that most didn't care. A major element of Ygorl's rule was secrecy; he tried the hardest of the Slaad lords to perpetuate the mystery of their kind. He believed that if the Slaad lords became too familiar, and knowledge of their existence too widespread, it would create a series of annoying diversions. Too many multiverse beings were eager to prove themselves, and an eager host of hotheads and adventurers would seek to best him if such a future came to pass.
In order to avoid others, whether from the Material Plane or otherwise, seeing them as just another Slaadi caste, thus preventing himself from being harassed by an endless stream of adversaries, Ygorl had made several moves to limit knowledge of them. Ygorl strongly discouraged the notion the Slaad lords were deities and that all Slaadi were under orders to devour anyone inquiring about Slaadi gods. Ygorl himself tried keeping the number of Slaad lords low and sought out Death Slaadi who seemed close to becoming slaad lord in order to consume them. Little information could be wrung out of the Slaadi regarding their lords.
Assets
As a group, the Slaad lords were natives of Limbo, but some were known to inhabit the Elemental Chaos, and the Abyss, and to roam the planes at random. All but Ygorl attended when the Pandemonium Stone in the Elemental Chaos stayed in one place for a prolonged period of time, responding to the spire's call.
History
The Slaad lords were likely as old as the multiverse itself, but the process of becoming one was unclear. As it was understood, however, becoming a Slaad lord was a matter of individuality. The Slaadi were exemplars of chaotic neutrality, reveling in their freedom, but the weaker slaadi never knew true freedom for they were constantly at the bullying whims of the dominating Slaadi above them. In order for a slaadi to become truly free, it had to be more powerful, thus allowing them to freely do what they wished rather than what others wished of them. In this sense, the stronger a Slaad was, the more it could define itself as an individual, not only establishing its individuality in its own mind but in those across the multiverse. The logical end point of this system was that in order to obtain true freedom, a slaadi would have to become ultimately powerful.
While working up the ranks of Slaad kind could offer a Slaad greater power and thus greater individuality, true individuality, by its nature, was impossible for a member of a caste. In order to fully escape the confines of the slaad ranking system, a Slaad, presumably of at least Death Slaadi status, had to explore the sheer possibilities of chaos and delve into a unique facet of the strange force. The investigation process was extremely dangerous, but to succeed would allow the Slaad to leave behind all conformity and achieve a unique identity. Each Slaad lord was infused with power and its own chaotic purpose, and no two shared a similar expression of chaos.
Being chaotic and neutral in alignment was not a prerequisite for being a Slaad lord; some were tainted by forces that skewed them toward moral extremes. It was also possible that being a Slaad to begin with was not always required.
The unique nature of the Slaad lords granted them immortality, so only if destroyed in combat would they have to worry about being reduced to their base essences. Because of this, Slaad lords never fought to the death, and it was believed that none had ever been slain in combat. Whether or not they could reform upon being killed, perhaps as Death Slaadi, was debatable since under normal circumstances a Slaad's death meant they were forever destroyed. Still, the Slaad lords were nothing if not abnormal, and for the Lords of Chaos in realms of infinite possibility, there was no telling what they could do.
Type
Secret, Religious sect
Capital
Alternative Names
Lords of Chaos
Founders
Head of State
Head of Government
Government System
Anarchy
Power Structure
Feudal state
Economic System
Command/Planned economy
Deities
Location
Controlled Territories
Notable Members
Related Species
Related Ethnicities
Comments