Hal'Gamesh¶
"Now take the knife and each of you drop some blood in the bowl." — Hal'Gamesh to his new minions (S138)
Contested
This page is named in the open question Name of the Hollowlord of Harwith: the Harwith scenario and the session records name the devil Hal'Gamesh, while the companion note written two weeks earlier names him Zul'Ruggamesh.
Hal'Gamesh is a horned brown devil, "a natural denizen of the abyssal black tundra" and "a master of Cold and Ice magic", who rules as Hollowlord the Icy Hollow that swallowed the village of Harwith in the Sancturi frontier of Dalmar in the Fifth Age (S138, S161). In one night he walled the village in ice and bound the travellers at its inn to him by a blood pact (S161).
Also called: Zul'Ruggamesh (S151); in an earlier draft, Hez'Vandros or "Hez" (S145).
Appearance¶
"A towering humanoid at about 6 and a half feel with dark brown leathery skin, a gaunt face with 2 sets of thin ebony horns. His eyes are slightly glowing with a deep blue. Protruding above his shoulders you can see the horned tip of black folded wings. Covering his upper body appears to be metallic chain armor and in his left clawed hand is a twisted spear with a jagged black blade. His lower body appears that of a goat, with black fur and hooves. He speaks with a low raspy voice from a mouth filled with pointed teeth" (S138).
The Icy Hollow¶
As a Hollowlord, Hal'Gamesh draws without limit on the power of his Hollow, and "while in his hollow, he can slowly shape its reality" (S138). Its sudden growth over Harwith was the work of the villager Gofrei Varley, a Hollowlock necromancer building an Umbralar under his house and "in league with Hal"; the sawyer Albert Hanival, a witch, traded "info, some blood, reagents and the occasional traveller" with him for access to the Hollow (S138). The people of Harwith woke to "the sound of screaming and crying" and "the weight of whispering demons in their minds", inside "a 30' wall of Ice" patrolled by invisible imps (S138).
Holding court in the village square among his wolves and imps, the devil "separat[ed] minions from meat": he called for volunteers, rejected the weak, had the chosen drop their blood in a bowl, and ordered them to kill one of the rejected to feed his wolves (S138). He set his minions three tasks: to kill the renegade Hollowlock Thorstein and his demon and recover what they had dug up, to kill the exiled Prince Immeron of Alghert, and "to expand the Hollow". The pact was fixed to a fetish, a dog's skull carried by one of the invisible imps, and escaping him meant learning of the curse, learning how it worked, and stealing the skull (S138). The witch Zaela later named a way to break it: "kill Hal'Gamesh with a blade coated with mixture of each of their blood" (S162).
His spy among the bound was Zaena Greyson, "the Infiltrator", a traveller possessed by the demon Xokoth (S138, S151). What the party did under the pact and after belongs to the Sancturi Campaign.
The court of the Hollow¶
The Hollow's denizens are twelve frostfire imps, two greater imps, a pack of winter wolves, a dire yeti, frost hares and snow owls for scouts, and a "Patchwork Abomination (trying to make a living vessel large enough for a greater demon)" (S138).
Bloodmantle¶
A greater snow owl, "white with red", among the Hollow's scouts (S138). The act notes also have "Bloodtalon" patrolling the walls with the imps, perhaps the same bird.
Ganad¶
One of the two greater imps of the Hollow. While the devil held court, Ganad and six other imps stayed invisible (S138).
Nilik'Thog¶
A small imp of the earlier draft, set by Hez'Vandros as the bound party's "keeper" to "show you the ropes" (S145). He spoke a broken patois ("Don hear the liar. He canna help u") and threatened revenge on anyone who struck him: "Kill me now, but I be back ... I PROMISE!" He does not appear in the Harwith scenario.
Raksjaw¶
Alpha of the Hollow's wolves, "Raksjaw + his pack of 9 Winter Wolves" (S138), lying at the devil's feet while he held court with five brumal wargs. Brumal wolves "will almost always flee if their alpha is killed" (S138).
Shalul¶
A dire yeti who, with the Patchwork Abomination, guarded the devil's "abyssal lair" while he held court in the village (S138).
Vag'Drothos¶
The second greater imp, present at the court, and the bait of a trap: he "pretends to want to overthrow Hal" and claims to have Shalul and Raksjaw on his side, so as "to isolate those who are confident enough to be trouble" (S138). He did not live long. In the first days of the pact the bound spared Thorstein "in return for his demon killing the imp (Vag'Drothos)" (S161).
Earlier accounts¶
The scenario was first written for a village named Hearnst (S144, S145; both superseded by S138). There the Hollowlord was Hez'Vandros, a "Realist-Sarcastic-Happy-LovesToTalk-type" devil: "a 6 foot tall, scrawny brown-skinned humanoid" with "4 thick black horns" forming a crown, burning green eyes, "a short white beard", a green ball of flame swirling above his head, and "a wicked looking mace to prop himself up with" (S145). His Hollow was of earth and stone, not ice. He introduced himself at length: "My name is Hez`Vandros ... you can just call me Hez though since we are gonna be tight friends ... if you don't end up making me kill you that is!" and told his captives "you belong to ME now. Body and Soul" (S145). His pact was fixed to "a carved granite dog skull", and his first errand was the capture of the Hollowlock Olivand, who "had the AUDACITY to call in some witch hunters" (S145). His court was six lesser and two greater imps, two horned devils, "1 ?? (big winged demon)" and two Hollowlocks, with hollowed beasts of stone for sentries and mounts (S145).
Gap
The sources do not record whether Hal'Gamesh was ever slain or the pact broken.