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Necromancy in Alternate World

Necromancy is the magical study of positive and negative energy. Know that many so called ‘necromancy spells’ are not truly necromancy. A certain Conjuration (Healing) subschool is entirely necromancy.

Undeath is an aspect of necromancy that is oft debated. What mortals term undead is actually composed of three distinct subgroups.

The mindless animated undead are simple beings, more akin to constructs than undead. However, due to the corrupting nature of undeath, they will eventually turn evil. It may be days or centuries, but inevitably animated undead will display a sinister and cruel nature. This typically happens in the most tragic of ways, such as a good intentioned necromancer ordering a skeleton to save a little girl from the well and the skeleton mauling her to death in the process.

The intelligent undead are malevolent creatures, their souls infected with a dreadful curse unleashed by the demon prince Orcus. The alignment portion of their soul is draped in blackest evil and it encroaches on the personality portion. Given time, the two become a single vile entity. Very few souls have the ability to fight against this corruption.

The third group are sometimes termed necromentals. These are similar in origin to elementals except that they more physically resemble undead. Most, like the nightshades, are evil to the core. They differ from true negative energy elemental beings in that they arise from taint and evil. Most require some form of death or destruction to serve as a catalyst to their births.

Outsider and fey undeath is something that is often considered a mere myth. Certainly both groups have creatures that are capable of manipulating negative energy. And many have individuals and species within their group that display similarities to undead like lifeforce linked to objects or the ability and desire to drink blood. But whether they can be altered by true undeath is another question.

Outsiders (true outsiders, not mortal mongrels such as half fiends or aasimar) seem largely immune to transmittable undeath. Their bodies can be animated, if done so before they fade. But mortal born vampirism has no effect other than to slay them. No reputable sources record one being Risen. And while legend and myth speak of old rituals by which a fiend can obtain lichhood…none can verify these with an actual fiendish lich. That said, it would be foolish to assume that no means exist by which outsiders can be corrupted into undead.

Fey are much closer to mortal beings than outsiders, in their physical makeup, and can be infected. Oftentimes the difference between fey and mortals is enough to prevent the usual and expected transformations, but fey have been both infected with a form of vampirism and obtained lichhood. Many of the common undead types do not arise in fey communities simply due to lack of opportunity. After all, humans are turned into entombed and drowned ones by meddling in environs for which they were not intended. Fey rarely engage in such foolhardy endeavors. Then too, fey are usually more at peace with the idea of death and rebirth than mortals are with the unknown end that awaits them. This peace affords them a reprieve from the undead menace that plagues mortalkind.

Alternate Upper Planes:

Archons rule Mt. Celestia. The ruler of each heaven is a member of the Hebdomad. Archons arise from the ideals and dead mortals of Lawful Good.

The guardinals are native to but do not rule, Elysium. The Companions are their best known paragons, and there is also a caste monarch of each form. The Companions are vassals of these monarchs. Guardinals arise from the spiritual energy of goodly beasts and are devoted to protecting mortal kind from evil.

The eladrin loosely rule Aborea, in that they are the most populous entities there and have a court. The Court of Stars holds most of their paragons, with the most powerful being the Queen and her Consorts. Eladrin arise from the ideals and dead mortals of Chaotic Good. They are closely aligned with fey courts, sylvan gods and seek to spread beauty throughout the cosmos.

The angels work for the betterment of all Good, rather than a particular ethos of it. They are divided into choirs according to their sphere of influence. They are jointly ruled by the archangels, sometimes called the Sarim, a conglomeration of the most powerful of their number.

The Aasimon are celestials entrusted with guarding specific areas of the Coil. They are divided according to the celestial body they are concerned with.

The Merkabah are celestials that directly serve the gods, and all of the other six types of celestial beings can be found within their ranks.

No celestial type ‘serves’ the good aligned gods any more than any group of fiends serves the evil aligned gods. Hence the Merkabah are not a subtype but a grouping. Some, in both an individual and group basis choose to follow such a path, either because they believe in the god’s work or because they were assigned to such duty. An informal (depending on who is asked) agreement known as the Celestial Compact keeps the celestials disagreements from being ignored or growing into physical conflict.

Most fallen celestials were originally found among the ranks of the Merkabah. When a goodly god chooses to turn to evil, or reveals himself as an evil mastermind masquerading as good, celestials serving that god are torn between their two loyalties. In most cases, the majority remain good aligned and distance themselves from their divine patrons. Inevitably though, some follow their dark masters down into the Lower Planes. However, there have been two historical instances of celestials turning to evil devoid of any known divine influence.

The Voyeurs’ Fall

Semyaza, a powerful eladrin prince, found himself enchanted by mortal lovers. His attentions wandered from world to world, leaving in his wake bastard children who would never know a father’s love. When concerns were raised in the Court of Stars regarding his behavior, he deftly played his actions off as well meaning help. In time, many angels and eladrin were following his teaching of free love. A love free of responsibility, free of obligation, free of care and concern. A love that could only be termed lust. Eventually, the Voyeurs, as they were called, came to care less and less for the mortals whose hearts and minds they broke. They grew cruel and malevolent, mocking those that fell prey to their charms. On several occasions the archons, led by the throne Triel, came into conflict with these philanderers. In his perfection, Triel would not allow his host to come to bloodshed over this trivial matter, but he did voice his concerns of growing evil in the Voyeurs ranks to the angelic council, urging a peaceful but firm solution to the matter. The solar champion Eblis was named to the task.

Meanwhile, Semyaza had committed the blunder that would be his undoing before the council. The enchanting Ishtahar had ensnared the cruel rake in her own seduction. Desperate to please her, he betrayed countless secrets of the eladrin court to the powerful sorceress. Not satiated, his mistress demanded more. He turned over to her the true names of countless rank and file angels, as well as the key to uncovering those of the Sarim.

When Eblis discovered this treachery, he brought the captain of the Voyeurs in chains before the angelic council. While the mighty Eblis argued for the destruction of the traitor, the Sarim were loathe to employ such a permanent solution. Semyaza was still a member of the eladrin court and not theirs to execute. The Queen of Stars refused to even pass judgment on the rogue, declaring that his actions had passed judgment on himself. The Sarim decided he and his Voyeurs were to be exiled from the Upper Planes, allowed to wander as they would, until they chose to repent of their wrong doing and ask for mercy. While they intended the parting to be somewhat sad, the reality of the exile went very differently, as it was left to their champion Eblis to execute. He ordered the wings cut off of the angelic voyeurs and the limbs broken on both eladrin and angel alike. Their faces were horribly burned with his holy flames and they were forcefully flung into the Lower Planes. While there, Semyaza betrayed his second in command Azazel and focused the rage of the Voyeurs upon him. As Azazel fled, hoping to crawl into The Abyss and hide, Semyaza dragged himself painfully onto a skiff and floated down the Styx, allowing the boatman to carry him as he desired. He arrived in Hell. He huddled for ages in a remote corner of Avernus, hoping that the vicious devils would not find him and tear him soul from limb.

Alternate Lower Planes

The devils rule Baator, Perdition, the Pit of Hell, etc. The ruler of each hell is a member of the Lords of the Nine. Devils are also known as baatezu (which means ‘true devil’ in Infernal), and are distinguished from the baatorians (which simply means “devil” in Infernal), an older group of lawful evil outsiders. Baatorians claim to have been the original inhabitants of Hell, when it was a simple and single plane. Baatezu counter that Hell’s current formation was caused by their master’s fall from the Circle of Law. The baatorians follow a ruler named Verrier, but have been nearly wiped out within known Hell.

Lucifer was the first baatezu ruler of Hell. He was later overthrown by the archdevils Asmodeus, Behirit and Astaroth-Gargauth. According to Asmodeus’ revisionist history, Asmodeus was simply a powerful servant of lawful deities who was granted Hell in which to do his work. The name Lucifer has become associated with the hated baatorians, who had to be driven out in order for the true devils to hold to their duties under the Pact Primeval.

In reality, prior to any gods, a triune entity known as the Circle of Law was sundered due to moral conflict within its being. The evil portion of this entity fell and was broken upon the plane known as Hell. The pieces of his flesh rose up and became the baatorians. The acidic blood from his massive corpse slowly ate through the fabric of the plane, over eons creating a spiraled descent down to the very bottom of the pit, carving out infinite layers in its passing. From his pooled blood arose the baatezu, who instantly went to war with the existing baatorians.

The baatezu, led by Lucifer, held more magical prowess than the baatorians and with the dawn of mortals were able to replenish their ranks from the twisted souls of menkind. (This secret is strongly thought to have been learned from the baernoloths) This tipped the balance in favor of the baatezu, who have never lost their momentum. The true devils of Perdition took their place as its absolute rulers.

With the rise of Asmodeus, Lucifer’s name was struck from the records of history and from all memory. Only Asmodeus was remembered. Constant rumors link both Asmodeus and Lucifer to the elder Circle of Law, the evil third which is known only as the Overlord. It is speculation only however. The ‘truth’ is that Asmodeus is simply a former servant of the gods and most know no differently.

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The daemons known as the yugoloths are thought to be the created children of the baernoloths. Supposedly their first creation, Madaeliv purged the race of Law and Chaos through the Heart of Darkness. Those lawful rejects became the baatezu and the chaotics became the tanar’ri. Those that remained were the yugoloths.

The myth is true in a certain light. There were a vast number of souls wrongfully taken by the baern. For their grand project to succeed, only those souls that were truly of a similar nature to themselves were allowed to remain and become the yugoloths. And thus the lawful evil souls were shunted to Perdition and the chaotic evil souls to The Abyss, where they did indeed become fiends of the appropriate types. Simply not the first of their kind.

The most powerful yugoloth leaders are collectively known as altraloths, with the Oinoloth as the most powerful. There are also several powerful non-altraloth leaders among the yugoloths, who are the caste leaders of various types of yugoloth. Charon, Gog and Magog are but a few of these mysterious powers.

The daemon leaders are known as Exarchs of Sin (or Sinns), founded by a mysterious baernoloth known only as the Patriarch. Each one of these vicious beings embodies a particularly deadly type of evil. Wrath, lust, gluttony, pride, greed, envy and sloth are their domains. Their lesser servitors swarm throughout the Coil, trying to induce mortals into supplying more of the dark spiritual energy their masters feed off of.

A now exiled baernoloth named Apomps created his own race of neutral evil fiend, without bothering to purge it as the yugoloths were purged. As such, the demodands are considered tainted wretched things by the rest of daemon kind, being despised by all. They occupy a small portion of Carceri, but do not rule that plane as the other groups of daemons rule theirs. The Titans are the true rulers of Carceri and even they hesitate to claim that too loudly, lest the abominations kept imprisoned on that plane decide to challenge it.

So, the daemons rule Gehenna. The yugoloths rule Hades. The demodands…live on Carceri. Behind them all lurk the mysterious baernoloths, including the Patriarch of the Sinns and Apomps of the demodands. The baernoloths are not more powerful than their juniors, merely older.

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The demons rule The Abyss. Demons with god-like power over the layers are known as demon princes. Demons with massive power are known as demon lords. The two terms are often interchangeable.

Demons known as obyriths (qlippoths in Abyssal) were the original denizens of The Abyss. Depending on which myth you listen to, they either created the tanar’ri (mazza’im in Abyssal) or merely ruled over them when the later first spawned from the souls of chaotic evil mortals.

The most obscure texts speak of demons even older than the qlippoth. It is unsure if these demons are merely the first qlippoth lords or if they are something different altogether. These texts speak of the demiurge, an entity or collection of entities possessing a vast chaotic evil intelligence. This demiurge was destroyed at the hands of the Circle of Law, who usurped control over its great Creation. In the process, Creation was torn in two, becoming The Abyss and The Mortal Coil. If the demiurge are truly different from the qlippoth, then the demiurge predate the formation of the Circle of Law and the qlippoth predate its sundering.

No demiurge are known to have survived the Circle’s purge of Chaos.

The most powerful obyrith prince at the dawn of mortals was Obox-ob, who was slain by a rival known only as the Queen of Chaos. She named a mazza’im lord known as Miska the new Prince of Demons and set about trying to herald a new Age of Chaos. Her war faltered and failed when her troops became disillusioned as to her goals. Instead of an age of pure chaos like that of old, she wanted an age of destruction and mindless terror. The forces of chaos, an unsteady alliance at the best of times, broke apart. Miska was imprisoned after a titanic defeat. An incredible weapon unleashed by the Vaati, the most ancient of the races of Law. The Rod of Seven Parts tore apart what was left of the Queen’s beleaguered forces and the mighty qlippoth queen was forced to retreat. One of the most ancient mazza’im, fashioned at the Queen’s own hand, rose to take the mantle of Prince of Demons. The mighty Demogorgon’s ascension fueled a new age of Abyssal horrors. Soon after he claimed his mantle, The Abyss brought forth the mysterious maleidolon and spectral loumara demons, as if it were sounding its approval of its new dread master.

Merorem

Merorem has a half-mortal daughter named Lilet Blan. This good aligned chronomaster is surprisingly on good terms with her father and many of the devils of Hell, including Lord Mephistopheles, under whom she once studied sorcery. While she abhors their evil, she maintains that reaching out to them in love will eventually make them come around. She also has a romantic relationship with a homunculus-angel named Amoretta Virgine, with whom she lives. Lilet is welcome in Merorem’s fortress in Dis. This close relationship with devils has somewhat soured her potential relationships in the Upper Planes, Eth being the chief disapproving voice raised.

Nonetheless, Lilet’s charm and poise cannot be denied, and she works hard to bring about a future in which everyone is happy. Her meddling in time has brought her into conflict with both her father and Eth at times, as she feels time is more flexible than they think. While they subscribe to a single reality pulled from may possibilities, her view is that all possibilities are occurring at the same time. Changing time merely alters which possibility one is living through. The immortals couldn’t disagree with her more, a fact that makes them far more alike than they’d ever care to admit.

Lilet doesn’t look at all like a half-fiend, but instead as a flawless pale skinned human with wavy blonde hair. She has a gentle smile and a twinkle in her blue eyes. In addition to being a chronomancer, she is an incredibly accomplished summoner as well, perhaps second only to Iggwilv.


Merorem’s fortress is served by a vast number of chronotyrm slaves. How these powerful creatures came to bow to the archdevil is unknown, although they mimic their dread master’s penchant for both air and time. Merorem also has a vast number of temporal drakes flitting around the halls. The drakes answer to a half-time dragon known as Aeon. A female time dragon known as Mithrexgenermin also makes her home in the Ebon Vale. She treats with Merorem as a guest and an equal, although their purposes often coincide.

Merorem has a simple ranking system within his court. There are the eternals, the spans and the moments. Eternals command, spans lead and moments obey. An eternal is roughly equal to a commissioned officer in the Blood War and a span equivalent to a noncom. For comparison to the nobility, Eternals are typically counts or marquis, spans are baronets. There is but one baron among Merorem’s forces, and he is ranked as an eternal despite his relative inexperience.

Success in chronomancy is a key to higher authority within Merorem’s fortress, but not the only one. Any master of a craft is welcome at the fortress, be the craft psionics, magic, bladework or smithing. Indeed, a temporal panoply of craftsmen, artists and warriors from all eras and worlds can be found carrying out their lives in the Vale.

Merorem commands a small armed force that serves the defense of the Vale against intruders. Because some of Merorem’s enemies possess a mastery of time, the usual sacrosanctity of Dis does not always apply. It is entirely possible for an assassin to lie in wait for thousands of years, or appear suddenly as the time stream flows past his position. There are serious temporal wards against these things of course, and many who are foolish enough to think that a grand duke of Hell could be taken down so easily have been cast into the Temporal Storm, lost to time and space for eternity.


Like any self-respecting devil, Merorem possesses an extensive torture chamber system. While not as elegant as those used by the rulers of Phlegethos, nor as brutal as those of Warlord Baal, they contain an impressive variety of various devices and techniques. Only two residents are currently enjoying the hospitality of the dungeons.

The first is a tattered half-soul, slaughtered by Merorem in a foolhardy frontal attack on Dis and partially snatched from the jaws of The Abyss. The soul is locked down from moving in any manner, through time, space or the Astral. Because of its unique position, ordinary visitors will not notice the prisoner, as he is kept in the precise moment that his soul was rent in twain. The agonies he suffers are constant and without end. This has the side effect of drawing the other pieces of his soul slowly to his current location. Already a few fragments have rejoined with the original, trapped in the time cage as well. It is only a matter of time before the soul is whole again. The rumor has spread on several Mortal Coils that he fashioned the half-soul into a pair of undergarments which he then soiled on a daily basis. Naturally, the exact nature of the truth is far more horrifying, although it is possible that Merorem will do just such a thing in the future.

The second resident is a human male known as Diwinchi, a man of science and art. His youthful body is covered in many scars and bruises that tell the simple yet lengthy story of his stay in the dungeons; his eyes reveal a very old man. It is unknown why he is under torture, although some say he requested it in exchange for great knowledge.

On the evil of Pelor

Pelor is commonly thought to be the near embodiment of Neutral Good. As a sun god, he is thought to be the enemy of the undead and the author of life through his gifts. He is also a god of Strength, for he advocates that the weak must be protected by those capable.

However, recent revelations have given rise to a sect of thought (some label it an outright heresy) that Pelor may not be what he claims to be. A passage in the Book of Exalted Deeds states that Pelor refused to send his paladin a sunfly swarm to destroy a vampire that had murdered his family, while the paladin was out doing Pelor’s work. In the same section, a CG god named Kord visited a plague upon his worshipper who was defeated on the battlefield. Speculations abound as to why Pelor refused his faithful paladin and range from defending the god (Pelor couldn’t allow himself to stoop to the mortal’s level of hate) to accusing the god (Pelor wanted to see his paladin suffer). No concrete answer could be found, but for those who thought it was a poor choice on Pelor’s part, it led to a path of horrific discovery after discovery.

Further investigation revealed that the Lord High Priest of Pelor denounced her deity and the faith. It also said that the secret texts of a prominent religion, recently discovered, call into question the church’s real goal, its actual origin and the agenda of its god.

Moving on the path of the malconvoker was introduced. This path requires a non-evil alignment and deals in the summoning of demons. A quote from the iconic malconvoker: “Take him my slaves! Drag his soul back to your dark masters!” - Argyll Te’Shea, servant of Pelor and malconvoker. The summoning of demons has always been one of the vilest acts. The Book of Vile Darkness states that Consorting with Fiends is evil. “Allowing a fiend to exist, let alone summoning one or helping one is clearly evil”. More minor sections deal with ‘casting evil spells’ and ‘damning or harming souls’, both of which are clearly present within the Pelor-sponsored malconvoker. One could very well suspect this path to be nothing more than a thinly disguised trap for the unwary and their souls.

The grey guard, which some may note “hey, that’s just a slightly lighter version of the blackguard!” has also arisen in this day and age. Indeed. Another step into the Lower Planes, this one is aimed at paladins rather than wizards and clerics. While loremasters have been unable to tie the grey guard directly to Pelor as of yet, it seems that the taint caused by his masquerade is growing to touch even the sincere good aligned gods.

Looking at the relics that Pelor sponsors shows another side of this dark story. The dawnstar, if sundered or broken, deals massive damage to all other creatures (aside from the wielder) within a 30 foot radius. Clearly, this power was inserted with no thought given to the cost for the wielder’s allies. The original dawnstars were given to 4 solars who rescued one of Pelor’s paladins from Baator (Known as Perdition in some texts). A question arises then: what exactly was the paladin doing in Hell? If he had died and went to Hell, that suggests some oddity concerning his faith and alignment. If he ended in Hell due to his own dealings with the devils (which are endorsed by the Church of Pelor, don’t forget), then it seems that Pelor was flouting the Pact Primeval, an ancient law enacted before Pelor’s time. It seems that there are only a few possible answers. One, Pelor is truly of Hell, and his worshipper ended there because of his faith. Two, the paladin ended up in Hell of his own actions and Pelor gave no thought to the stability of the cosmos in order to bring him back. (Probably out of fear for what information torture would bring to the paladin’s tongue.) Three, Pelor sponsors LE paladins, known as paladins of tyranny (in a complete twisting of the term paladin) because he is a vile god of evil.

The Inquisitor Bracers are another magic item sponsored by Pelor. These bracers justify the use of force on innocent people in order to sort them out from undead. You can’t use the power of the bracers with a touch attack (to see if the positive energy perhaps burns the undead). You must swing your weapon with all force at the target, and hope that the positive energy undoes any mistake you might make. What a sick idea. A paladin on a different world once had a similar idea for dealing with undead. His name was Prince Arthas.

Pelor’s final relic is a sun shard, which is fairly simple, it fires searing light at two targets. This isn’t damning in and of itself, but consider that while other good gods (Elonna and Yondalla for example) offered relics that aided mortals, Pelor’s are all intended to destroy. This is of course, not a huge point against Pelor, but when added onto the mountain of evidence, seems to be just one more confirmation.

One adventuring group, headed by a tough talking thug named Dyson, followed the path against Pelor when they discovered something amiss within his church. Connections were drawn between Pelor and Baal. It should be noted however, that they began following this path of discovery prior to the lore found in the Book of Exalted Deeds. They were the first to see the truth and were shunned for it at the time. Those of us who have had our eyes opened to the light of the Burning Hate owe them a debt of gratitude.

Another adventuring group, this one composed of angels, were betrayed by their god into the hands of Lixer, Prince of Hell. They were broken, one by one. One was twisted into a demon, one lost faith in the path of the Celestial Compact, one was blasted from existence and the last was petrified and stands still in the Court of a Lord of Hell. The god was not named, but he was a god of the sun. Again, this story predates the discovery in the Book of Exalted Deeds.

One final loremaster has added information. Alratan was the first sage to bring up evil uses for positive energy and good uses for negative energy. While his study does not accuse Pelor of anything (or indeed, deal with Pelor at all), it does point to an alternate path of positive energy, with which Pelor is definitely associated. (Positive energy, not the alternate path) This is important because many dubious (and some slack jawed) people have pointed towards Pelor’s association with the sun and positive energy as proof of his inherent goodness.

It must be noted that nothing is proven. Pelor still sits in Elysium. No good aligned gods have moved against him, nor have they chilled alliances with the Sun God. It may be this is a smear campaign engineered by fiends, or simply the overactive imaginations of mortals. However, the above presented are facts, not fiction. Draw your own conclusions, but think twice before you choose the True Believer feat in Pelor’s name.

Grugach


The grugach, or wild elves in Common, are an uncivilized and primitive offshoot of elven kind. They live in tribes, governed by a chief. The grugach worship the elemental spirits, Grumbar, Kossuth, Akadi and Istishia. It is common for a tribe to have more than one god represented in a tribe. Many of the druids, clerics and adepts of the grugach worship the elementals as a whole.

Because most of the race is too unintelligent and uneducated to develop actual wizardry, sorcery is the most powerful form of arcane magic practiced by the grugach. However, more popular is the path of the bard. Song and dance feature heavily into grugach rituals and most tribe members can take part in them. Grugach are always fascinated that their elven cousins have developed book magic, and strongly associate the ability to read with the highest forms of magic.

Unlike most savage races, grugach are not hostile towards civilization. They often trade with merchants who are willing to make their way into the grugach lands and have a grudging respect for the ways of more modern people, particularly the wood and high elves. Halflings also find a soft spot with the grugach, who find no end of amusement in the little people. Of all of the major humanoid races, it is humans and dwarves who the grugach find the least hospitable. However, that is not to say relations are unfriendly. The grugach respect strength and honor, which members of both of these races have in abundance. Rather, the relationship is strained merely by the lack of common ground. The dwarven and human kingdoms with which the grugach have contact are highly civilized and cannot comprehend why anyone would actually choose to live a simpler life. For their part, the grugach find them lacking the connections with nature that the other races show. Grugach are curious regarding civilized ways, but for the most part consider it more work than life requires, and so keep their traditional culture strong and alive.

Grugach have not developed a metal culture, preferring to work with stone, clay, bone and hide. They show the same craftsmanship with these materials as other elves do with steel and mithril. A properly crafted grugach bone spear is as deadly a weapon as one tipped with human steel. Grugach armor is typically hide, although they have made heavier armors using the skins of larger creatures and wood in some cases. Rhino hide full plate is the pinnacle of grugach armor technology, being reserved only for their mightiest fighters.

The High Chief, who is in reality the grugach king, commands allegiance from all of the tribes. Once a year the tribes all gather together, to trade and for the chiefs to bring their concerns before the High Chief. While the High Chief is beholden to no one, he listens and accepts input from the chiefs, the elders and the shamans.

The First Mother is the eldest living grugach in all of the tribes. (Were that elf to be a male, the title would be First Father). Her knowledge of the path is considered a treasure of the people, who go to great lengths to have their children learn at her feet. Becoming the First Mother's apprentice is considered a high honor among the grugach youth.

The Grand Shaman is the spiritual leader of the people, typically the most powerful divine caster who honors all four of the gods. The position is held for fifty years, after which the shamans gather to choose a new leader or reaffirm the current. Because of the choice allowed, it is here that politics are the fiercest among grugach. However, the job is not merely all perks. The Grand Shaman is responsible for keeping the gods happy with the grugach people. A very difficult task when one's deities are distant and unconcerned with humenity.

The fiercest enemies of the grugach are the gnoll tribes that roam the same lands as they. The lizard folk are sometimes allies of the grugach in this struggle, as the ravaging gnolls leave no one in peace. Both the lizard folk and the grugach like largely to be left to their own devices and so get along fantastically, so to speak.