Yugoloth

Yugoloths, also known as Daemons, are a young fiendish race whose existence is tied in with the existence of the mortals they prey upon. Their insidious evil is not influenced by notions of law and chaos, as daemons concern themselves only with the destruction of life itself. Daemons seek this destruction as it allows them to feast on mortal souls, which is the focus of their existence. They are creatures of the apocalypse and seek the utter destruction of all things, to plunge the Great Beyond into absolute oblivion. The daemons make their home on the plane of Abaddon, thought to be one of the most hostile planes of the multiverse.

History

At the dawn of mortal life, Abaddon started off empty, and remained so even as the first souls died and were judged by Pharasma. This changed with the first cataclysms on the Material Plane: the influx of souls leaving behind the mortal coil overflew the River of Souls and washed on Abaddon, never reaching the Boneyard. A single such soul was filled with such hatred, rage, and self-loathing than all others combined, coalesced into the first daemon and devoured otherwise evil souls to gain power. He began to twist Abaddon into something as evil as himself, and when he called fellow evil souls to him, they were unable to resist; most were eaten, while some became the first yugoloths. As the yugoloths diversified in form and grew in number, the Altraloths, or Oinodaemon, created the first Horsemen as his chosen servants.
The daemons continued to consume the souls that washed up on Abaddon, and the Oinodaemon taunted the gods that all souls that came to Abaddon would be devoured. Pharasma listened, and created the Devouring Court within the Boneyard, where she sent the souls damned to Abaddon, delivering them to the Horsemen. As the Horsemen saw their leader creating the astradaemons, they interpreted it as a sign of distrust and betrayed him by trapping him in the Ruined Spire and erasing all mentions of the Oinodaemon from the records.
Demons are one of the few fiendish races younger than daemons, who were responsible for their genesis. An ancient, now-forgotten Horseman, who was fascinated by the qlippoth of the Abyss and kept many in his realm, had the idea of combining larvae and qlippoth, which eventually culminated in the creation of the first demon. This first transformation from mortal soul to demon was felt and copied by the Abyss, and millions of larvae became demons in an instant. The demons immediately conquered the Abyss from the qlippoth and invaded Abaddon itself, although it took a long time for the daemons to drive the demons away and reclaim their home.

The Four Horsemen

The leaders and greatest of all the yugoloths are the Four Horsemen, also known as the Daemons of the Apocalypse, the ultroloths or archdaemons. They are Apollyon, the Horseman of Pestilence; Charon, Horseman of Death; Szuriel, the weeping angel and Horseman of War; and Trelmarixian, the black Horseman of Famine. Each is served by a race of daemons known as deacons who promote their interests on Abaddon and beyond.

Harbingers

Among the countless legions of daemons, a few are able to distinguish themselves and rise in power above even the deacons of the Horsemen. Most are subservient to one of the ultroloths, although they are also their greatest competitors. These individuals are collectively known as harbingers, and they maintain small cults on Abaddon and elsewhere, granting power to their worshipers.

Ecology

Yugoloths form from the souls of evil mortals who die in an unusually violent or gruesome way. Because their very existence is tied to mortals, they view life itself as a curse, and have become personifications of the most terrible ways to die.

Type
Outsider (Fiend)
CR
Varies
Environment
Abbadon
Alignment
Neutral Evil
Adjective
Daemonic

Genetic Descendants

• Arcanaloth

Geographic Distribution

• Abaddon