Zuggtmoy

Zuggtmoy is the Demon Queen of Fungi, but not is considered a true patron of fungi. She is merely the embodiment of the death and virulence that fungi represents, and fully willing to subvert the natural order for her own ends. The Lady of Rot and Decay does not use decomposition for the higher purposes of renewal or rebirth, desiring destruction purely for its own sake.

Description

Zuggtmoy was an utterly inhuman being, but could mold herself into roughly humanoid form. One often depicted form was a skeletally-thin humanoid draped and veiled in mycelium and lichen.

Personality

Despite technically engaging in the many facets of mortal life, much like her artificial form, this is a soulless parody of such existence. Zuggtmoy is alien in both body and mind, her only desire being to infect living creatures with her spores, turning them into her mindless slaves before they are reduced to naught but rotting and decomposing hosts for her fungi, mushrooms, and molds. Ultimately she seeks to become the master of all life, the dominant mind of one great organism melded from all other living things.

Despite this simple objective, Zuggtmoy is not to be taken for a mindless mold, and in fact, she delights in deception, treachery, and subversiveness. Befitting her nature as the Lady of Decay, she takes glee in the slow rot of her foes from the inside out, being patient and subtle compared to her peers and delighting in the slow transformation of enemies into allies. She is desperate to avoid any setbacks in her quest for power and will go so far as to beg for mercy and offer to serve obviously more powerful foes, immediately and inevitably attempting to turn such a situation to her advantage and secretly withering the bonds of her opposition.

Divine Realm

Zuggtmoy's lair is in Shedaklah, a massive palace of two dozen mushrooms, all interconnected with bridges and lined with countless chambers and tunnels. It is located on the same layer of the Abyss as Juiblex's Slime Pit. The Demon Queen of Fungi and the Faceless Lord are driven by their insatiable hunger to destroy and devour others.

Activities

Zuggtmoy is often content to let her fungal spawn tend to her every whim within her realm, turning her attention to the Prime Material Plane (which she also finds an enjoyable place to visit) when bored with her idle playthings.

Relationships

Servants

Zuggtmoy had a difficult time establishing effective cults in the Prime Material Plane, as worshiping fungi was not too appealing to the majority of humanoids. To counteract this, the Lady of Fungi was often worshiped through fake cults led by her few actual worshipers and manipulated in ways that supported her own initiatives.

Though small, there were some rare sects of devout fungi-worshipers, comprised mostly of misguided druids, clerics, and, to a lesser degree, maddened academics such as wizards. These insular collections often fantasized about the domination of fungi over their local surroundings.

In counterbalance to this, many more of her cultists followed her unwillingly and unknowingly, having somehow become infected with her spores, becoming either mind-controlled or transformed and serving as extensions of her will until they were utterly consumed. Like herself, they often exhibited only the illusion of normal sensibilities.

Zuggtmoy's influence extended most prominently with fungi themselves, with her ability to exert her will to demand their servitude and assistance. Alongside this, the demon lady, with the power of her status, could field powerful demons of varying strengths. Enemies

With a vested interest in the Prime Material Plane Zuggtmoy often finds herself in conflict with other demon lords. The most notable of these clashes includes Lolth, who she competes with for control of the Underdark; though since Lolth's ascension as a deity this quarrel has tapered off to little more than the occasional skirmish between their respective cultists.

A more immediate rivalry, and one which has existed far longer than any other, would be Zuggtmoy's infamous war with Juiblex, with whom she shares her realm unwillingly.

History

In the late 15th century DR, Zuggtmoy found herself transported to Neverlight Grove in the Underdark, where she proceeded to enthrall the myconids Phylo and Yestabrod. After becoming aware of the being Araumycos, she began making plans to merge with the organism in a mock wedding.

Zuggtmoy

Demon Lord

Basic Information

Titles

Lady of Fungi
Demon Queen of Fungi
The Queen of Rot
Lady of Rot and Decay
Lady of Decay
The Harbinger of Inevitable Doom

Pantheons

Archfiend

Attributes

Alignment

Chaotic Evil

Symbol

A broken jawless skull with a sickly mushroom growing from a hole in its crown

Realm

Infinite Layers of the Abyss/222nd Layer/Zuggtmoy's Palace

Portfolio

Fungi

Following

Worshippers

Evil Druids
Clerics
Wizards

Alignments

CN, NE, CE

Domains

Evil (Demon)
Plant (Decay)

Favored Aspects

Monsters

Ascomoids
Basidironds
Violet fungi
Brown molds
Russet molds
Yellow molds
Ochre jelly
Gray oozes
Phycomids
Black pudding
Brown pudding
Dun pudding
White pudding
Green slime
Olive slime
Ustilagor
Zygoms