Yugoloths

Yugoloths are fickle fiends that inhabit the planes of Acheron, Gehenna, Hades, and Carceri. They act as mercenaries and are notorious for their shifting loyalties. They are the embodiments of avarice. Before serving under anyone’s banner, a yugoloth asks the only question on its mind: What’s in it for me? Mercenaries that ply their trade throughout the Lower Planes and in other realms, yugoloths have a reputation for effectiveness that is matched only by their desire for ever more wealth. Although yugoloths aren’t especially loyal and typically try to exploit every potential loophole in a contract, they undertake any task for which they are hired, no matter how despicable. Yugoloths come in a wide variety of forms, including those described here.

The General of Gehenna

Somewhere in the brimstone wastes of Gehenna, there roams an ultroloth so strong that none contests his power: the General of Gehenna. Many yugoloths search for this great general in the hope of serving with him. They believe that service with the General of Gehenna grants power and prestige among lower planar entities. Whatever the case, no fiend finds the General unless the General desires it. His personal name is unknown, and even the Books of Keeping contain no mention of this powerful, thoroughly evil entity.

Canoloth

Canoloths prefer to enter into contracts to guard valuable treasures and important locations. They always do exactly as asked — never any more, never any less. With senses sharp enough to pinpoint the locations of nearby invisible creatures, canoloths respond unfailingly to any threat to their charges. Furthermore, they emit a magical distortion field that prevents creatures close to them from teleporting. Canoloths confront intruders with swift and terrible force, projecting long, spiny tongues to grab their foes and drag them close. What happens next depends on the contract. Unless instructed to kill, a canoloth merely holds onto its prisoner, but if given the order to do so, it tears its prey limb from limb.

Dhergoloth

Dhergoloths rush into battle like whirlwinds of destruction, lashing out with five sets of claws, which extend from their squat, barrel-shaped bodies. They take contracts to put down uprisings, clear out rabble, and eliminate scouts and skirmishers, and they revel in the butchery they create, their unhinged laughter rising above their victims’ screams. Since dhergoloths are little more than dumb brutes, employers must use caution when instructing these fiends. They can handle simple orders that don’t take a lot of time to resolve. When given anything complex to do, they either forget what they’re told or don’t listen in the first place, and then bungle the task that was set for them.

Hydroloth

Like the thought-stealing waters of the River Styx they inhabit, hydroloths filch the memories of creatures they attack, stealing away their thoughts for delivery to whatever master they happen to serve. Hydroloths are skilled at finding lost things, especially those that have been swallowed up in the deeps. For amphibious assaults or underwater conflicts, hydroloths have no equal among yugoloths. They sometimes hire themselves out to attack and scuttle ships and raid coastal settlements.

Merrenoloth

The grim, gaunt captains of the ferries on the River Styx, Merrenoloths have total command of their vessels, ensuring that their passengers reach their destinations safely. Sometimes merrenoloths can be coaxed away from the Lower Planes to captain other vessels, affording those ships and crews the same protection.

Oinoloth

Grim specters of death, oinoloths bring pestilence wherever they go. To armies who recognize their awful forms, their mere appearance causes soldiers to break ranks and flee, lest they succumb to one of the awful plagues that oinoloths let loose. Oinoloths provide the ultimate solution to thorny problems, usually by killing everyone involved. They are hired as a last resort, when a siege has gone on too long or an army has proved too strong to overcome. Once summoned, oinoloths stalk the killing field, poisoning the ground and sickening creatures they encounter. Sometimes they might be hired to lift the very plagues they spread, but the price for such work is high, and the effort turns the creatures they save into debilitated wrecks.

Yagnoloth

Anyone who would contract yugoloths for a task usually ends up dealing with a yagnoloth. Cunning negotiators, these strange fiends handle the writing of contracts for all of their kind. Once a yagnoloth is hired, it communicates its employer’s desires to the fiends it commands. Although they are entrusted with leading lesser yugoloths, yagnoloths ultimately take their orders from arcanaloths and ultroloths. Aside from their superiors, yagnoloths have full authority over and expect obedience from the fiends under their command. A yagnoloth follows the dictates in a contract it negotiated, but it is certain to have included a loophole to escape its obligation if the situation warrants. A yagnoloth has one arm of human size and one giant-sized arm, and it always covers one or the other with a long cape. During negotiations, the yagnoloth uncovers its human arm and uses it to draft and sign contracts. When a show of force is necessary or when combat is joined, it shifts its cape to reveal its brutally powerful giant appendage.

Arcanaloth

Arcanaloths are sly, jackal-headed beings with humanoid bodies, but they can employ magic to take any humanoid form. They do so to gain the trust of creatures with whom they negotiate, replacing jackal snarls with winsome smiles. Regardless of its chosen form, an arcanaloth appears well groomed, clothing itself in fine robes. Highly intelligent spellcasters who hunger for knowledge and power, arcanaloths command units of lesser yugoloths and maintain the contracts, records, and accounts of their kind. Arcanaloths speak and write all languages, making them cunning diplomats and negotiators. An arcanaloth properly paid can broker treaties or alliances with subtlety and finesse, just as an arcanaloth who changes sides can easily turn the best-laid peace talks into all-out war. What the fiend demands in exchange for its time and talent is information, as well as powerful magic items that it can trade for even more information.

Mezzoloth

The bulk of the yugoloth population is made up of mezzoloths, which are human-sized insect creatures covered in dense chitinous plates. Mezzoloths serve as foot soldiers in yugoloth armies, their wide-set eyes glowing red as the mezzoloths bear down on their foes. Violence and reward are the fundamental drives of a mezzoloth, and powerful beings that promise one or the other can easily attract them into service. Although it has lethal claws on its four arms, a mezzoloth typically wields a trident in two of them. If surrounded by enemies, a mezzoloth exhales toxic fumes that can choke and kill whole groups of creatures.

Nycaloth

The elite airborne shock troops of the yugoloths, nycaloths look like muscular gargoyles. Powerful bat wings bear them swiftly aloft in battle, and the razor-sharp claws of their hands and feet cut through flesh and bone with ease. A nightmarish foe, a nycaloth strikes hard and fast without warning, then teleports away. It uses its innate magic to turn invisible or create illusory doubles of itself, further confounding its enemies. Nycaloths are the most loyal of the yugoloths. When they find an evil master that treats them well, they are unlikely to break their agreement unless the reward for doing so is extreme.

Ultroloth

Ultroloths command the yugoloth armies of the Blood War. An ultroloth looks like a slender gray-skinned humanoid with an elongated head. Its face bears no features except for two ovoid eyes. These eyes can become sparkling pools of light that can transfix other creatures and leave them reeling and helpless. Frequently at one another’s throats, ultroloths continually scheme to enhance their own power. When not employed to fight in the Blood War, ultroloths lead yugoloth forces throughout the planes, acting as crime bosses or commanders of evil mercenary companies. With a reputation for cruelty, ultroloths command their minions to fight while the ultroloths stay removed from combat themselves. Lesser yugoloths know their place when facing an ultroloth and respond to its summons without demand for payment.