The Demonlands¶
"They build systems that ensure we suffer quietly and destroy one another so that they don't have to." — Daennelgin, of the Order of Valyr (S341)
The Demonlands are the demon-held country raised on the ruins of the seat of the Amarin Empire: an island "covered in demonblight" and pierced by abyssal rifts, governed as Valnyr and contained in the Fourth Age by the Order of Valyr. "The rifts can't be closed, but the demons are contained here by the Order." Within the containment seven demonlords divide the land between them, chief among them in the Order's eyes Vulgurak the Maw in his city the Gorgery; the Order's wards, roads and outposts hem them in and set them against one another. To the mortal mind "stepping foot in the Demonlands without an army was pretty much suicide". By the Fifth Age the Wardens have fallen and the land is "a battleground between Devils and Demons".
Also called Amarin and Valnyr; the Fourth Age documents call the Order's lands Valyr.
Valnyr¶
The one document devoted to Valnyr calls it "an unusual country". "Built from the remains of the seat of the Amarin Empire, Valnyr is governed under the direct control of an organization known as the Keepers of Valnyr. It spans the entire island of Amarin." The Keepers are "supported by Pesh, Dalmar, and many other nations contribute money, supplies and manpower." At least nine demonic rifts lie on the island, "each rift is protected with a riftkeep which suppresses the rift", and the Keepers' rangers "roam the island searching out the weaker demons which have been able to slip through. The rangers also cull any creature capable of being a host to a demon."
Valnyr was trusted with more than rifts. When the Mithis Heartstone was divided, "Kalar gave his to the Valnyr to help contain the archdemons"; his piece was split in two, and one half is now held by Asmodeus. The Mithis Heartstone page follows the other half.
In the Fourth Age the possessed warriors of the White Fire expedition "can picture towns, villages and castles just south of here. Filled with humans and some other races (elves and dwarves mostly)." These are the lands of Valyr, to which violent and minor criminals are exiled as Penitents, which the High-Justicars "effectively rule" through the Triarchy, and which the Order's engineers and arcanists maintain from Warden sites. White Fire Wards that repel demons "are scattered across the lands of Valyr, but concentrated especially around towns and villages", and Valyr clerics fill town gates, armouries, barracks and roads with Demonsbane incense, whose white smoke "turns bright red in the presence of a demon and burns and causes them pain". The Order's weapons are "forged by the dwarves of Duer'Dorren which know the secret of this forging". The Order's ranks, the Triarchy and its secret master, the White Fire, are Factions matter.
Gap
The sources spell the country Valnyr (2018 and Fifth Age documents) and Valyr (the Fourth Age campaign), and the Keepers of Valnyr and the Order of Valyr are written up as separate bodies. No source says whether these are one name in two spellings, or two polities one after the other. No in-world date is given for any Fourth Age event in the Demonlands.
The land¶
The Demonlands are reached by sea. The White Fire's expedition came "riding through a storm on a large wooden ship", pulled a rowboat ashore, and walked invisibly "past demons only a 100 yards away". The ranger Jaren hoped the pay would let him move his family "to the mainland … maybe a nice stead in northern Dalmar by the Silverleaf forest". The island's coasts include the Poisoned Shore. Inland lie ancient marble ruins, some still warded; around one of them "the grass and trees grew greener and taller here". Near a spawning rift "only small animals are available in this area .. and even those are hotly contested", and newly released demons hunt forms to possess while raiding groups hunt them.
Beneath the surface run the Dwarven Roads, which the Order uses as a supply route, and beneath those the Underdark. The buried machine Drazannak "has a connection to the Underdark, the Endless Caverns below", whose three strata the notes name as the Shallow ("Limestone formation, ancient burrowers, titanic faults, sheer & splits"), the Deep ("Sleeping titans, ancient burrowers, elemental uplift, tubes and tides") and the Core, where "gravity is strange here".
Essence, the stuff demons feed on, is the island's economy. The great machines of Daennelgin and Drazannak draw it from the rifts; the demonlords farm it from vessels; the Order's wards detect it. Where corruption is complete, felfire burns, "color varies by type of corruption (Red, Orange, Purple and Green are most common)". Demons as creatures, and the Fel magic of felfire and Demonite, have their own pages.
Gap
No source maps the Demonlands or gives its size, its mountains, rivers or climate, or where any demonlord's holding lies relative to another. The one bearing given is that Vulgurak "has designs on pushing Daennelgin further south".
The demonlords¶
The Fourth Age roster names seven demonlords, each with an epithet of rank. Their followings and lieutenants belong on their own pages; this table records what each holds in the Demonlands.
| Demonlord | Epithet | Holdings named in the sources |
|---|---|---|
| Vulgurak the Maw | Arch-glutton | The Gorgery and the Deep Warrens beneath it; the Temple of Ghormatha of his lieutenant Gharmatha the Gut-Queen |
| Daennelgin the Many | Arch-echo, "Hidden Demonlord" | Cathedral Rift, where his servants wait; the ruin under which he buried Drazannak; an outpost in the Mint of Vaal'Dunak |
| Cuoridaz the Necrolord | Arch-wraith | The Silent Citadel |
| Grozzurash the Vile Flame | Arch-ravager | The Vile Pit, his eastern town; the Flensing Pits |
| Almerdia the Hollow Queen | Arch-fiend | None named |
| Buoritix the Feeding Rot | Arch-carrion | None named |
| Urvanhorix the Black | Arch-drake | None named |
The politics among them is a balance the Order tilts. "Vulgurak has no allies, but is very powerful." "Daennelgin & Cuoridaz can be friendly and are both looking to displace Vulgorak." "Almerdia tolerates Buoritix in a loose allegiance vs Vulgorak." "Grozzurash is very powerful and doesn't work well with others, but the others are also afraid of him." The Order itself "has been fooled by the other Demonlords (Almerdia & Daennelgin) into believing that Vulgurak is too powerful", and "is generally unaware of Daennelgin & Urvanhorix". Within the Order's rank and file the rumour runs "that one of the Demonlords has become too powerful and the other Demonlords are no longer properly keeping him in check", and "it is only a matter of time before a Crusade is organized". A rival demonlord, unnamed, feeds the Order information on Gharmatha's temple. Beyond the demonlords, "a secretive group of outcast demons is attempting to summon a Demon Prince of Bhaal", Xyrlazath.
Places¶
The Gorgery¶
Vulgurak's city, laid out in wards each held by one of his Great Gorgers, has its own page.
Temple of Ghormatha¶
The temple of Gharmatha the Gut-Queen, served by her Maw-Priest Yssathra. The notes spell the Gut-Queen's name Ghormatha when they name the temple. Under Gharmatha's Maw-Sanctum Rule "any Temple, Den, Feeding Ground, Hatchery or Enclosed building that belongs to Gharmatha's demonkin is considered neutral ground"; it was nonetheless where the player demons of the Demonlands Mini Campaign spent half a session "killing each other". The Order has drawn up battle plans "to destroy the Temple of Ghormatha, launched from the outpost: Pre-emptive strike", with maps of the temple's layout and sentries, an estimate of the forces needed "to assault and secure the area with minimal loss", and "materials and method of destruction".
The Vile Pit¶
Grozzurash's eastern town. The Order's captured documents hold "maps showing an assault on Grozzurash's eastern town: The Vile Pit", to be carried out not by Valyr soldiers but by a dozen of Vulgurak's demons "captured, held and controlled": four banelings, two lesser, five legion and one greater demon, the last of them "under Ghormatha". "Some baneling demons will deploy to destroy the town's infra and deliver mass casualties. The rest of the demons will attack to inflict what casualties they can", making sure "they are recognized" as Vulgurak's, with Grozzurash's lieutenant as a secondary target. The town's own character is not described.
Dark Falls Outpost¶
An outpost of the Order of Valyr and the staging point of its operations against the Gorgery's demons. Orders from Justicar Revsillian move "a force of 3 battle and 1 inquisitor company from the Dark Falls Outpost to secure and investigate the reported forge site" on the Dwarven Roads, with two battle companies held in reserve "to fortify and hold the outpost", the outpost "on lockdown protocol while the bulk of the forces are at the forge", and civilians evacuated before the operation. The temple strike is planned from here.
Cathedral Rift¶
Daennelgin's place of rendezvous. His offer to the player demons ends: "return to Cathedral Rift, where my servants wait to escort you to safety." Nothing more is said of it.
The Dwarven Roads¶
Old dwarven roads run beneath the Demonlands and the Order treats them as "a critical supply route", watched by wards and "sensing crystals" that detect demons passing. When the crystals trip, a Valyr Containment Squad of ten is sent "to contain (kill) the demons or determine if the route is under threat/compromised": a Vanguard, a Knight-Slayer, a Knight, an Arcanist, a Sanctified and five Oathsworn. Along the road stands a dwarven forge complex that Daennelgin covets and Revsillian's companies were sent to secure. Daennelgin knows "a secret location to get into the roads".
Abandoned Dwarven Garrison¶
A garrison on the Dwarven Roads, long empty, whose door "wasn't broken" but "left to die. Starved of energy." Its lower floor is "a dozen abandoned apartments. A common area and access to those arrow slits", mirrored on either side; its upper floor is "a Warden site", with "the equipment … and the circles", a teleportation circle, and "living tissue" that hums, "an active essence containment matrix of some kind. Looks old and must be pretty stable". Behind a sealed door is "a small dead-end room here. Desk, papers and an old desiccated corpse", "dead a decade at least, maybe more. No demonic corruption present."
The garrison was the secret laboratory of Nurizak, "Valyr Dwarven Engineer", who built the great rift-fed machines here, Daennelgin and Drazannak among them, before Daennelgin rebelled and killed him. "The door was once held by magic, but is no longer potent" because his partner, the Warden-Marshal Sareth Kain, is dead, "the same is said of several dead demonic wards." Nurizak's notes are the most wanted object in the Demonlands: Daennelgin "WANTS those … badly", and his covenant binds the player demons to "share any and all discoveries directly to Daennelgin" and make no copies.
Drazannak's ruin¶
An unnamed ruin near a rift hides Drazannak, "a specialized demonic harvesting MACHINE", buried there "by Daennelgin a long time ago" because "he was too strong for any of his forms to take in an essence contest". The ruin "is protected by Valyr Essence Wards, which despite looking active … are actually an illusion"; Daennelgin's demonkin "know that the ruins are off-limits/dangerous", having been told "a powerful rival demon is imprisoned there (not entirely inaccurate)". The thing below "grows living tissue, draws essence from the nearby rift to possess it and then extracts it", "a living structure of flesh with massive essence" whose host "has long since lost the ability to move in any meaningful way". Its voice reaches the surface: "DIG! At the base of the large stone. It is not far to reach me."
The warded marble ruins¶
The White Fire wizard Algonn led a secret party to "ancient marble ruins" that "didn't look like much", though "the grass and trees grew greener and taller here", to dig for "a reddish crystal in a steel box covered with runes", "for safekeeping". He said "wards protected this place from demons, that they couldn't enter it", and that "this place is watched". A "huge magma infernal" with "cracked stone skin and magma oozing from the fissures in its hide" jumped the wall regardless, with a pack of hellhounds that "had encircled the ruin, but were not entering". The wizard's white fire "seemed to peel stone and magma off the demon" to no effect; a collapsing arch pinned it. The party's camp, "in some small ruins" under an illusion, was exposed when the wizard's strength failed.
Gap
The sources do not say whether Algonn's marble ruins and Drazannak's ruin are the same place, nor what the reddish crystal was.
Deep Warrens¶
"The subterranean labyrinths beneath Vulgurak's domain, ensuring no escape and no intrusion", the lair of Uldroxx, a worm "built from layered jaws instead of legs" who "tunnels by literally eating the earth, leaving behind corrosive mucus-lined tunnels used by Maw armies". Tunnel-Gnashers, "small, centipede-like maws", patrol the warren networks; Chasm Droolers sit as "digestive pits that dissolve anything thrown in"; Skitter-Captains "hunt in the upper tunnels". The revised Vulgurak sheet names Uldroxx's ward of the Gorgery the Underbelly instead; see that page.
Flensing Pits¶
Grozzurash's pits, overseen by Vroth Kharax the Boneflayer under the Gleamless Butcher, who "specializes in stripping spirits from bodies" with "two serrated 'spirit hooks'".
Silent Citadel¶
The seat of Cuoridaz the Necrolord, where the Anguish Triad, "three wraith judges: Mournfall, Whisperblade, The Faceless Chorus", "maintain order". Her wraith-knight Vael'thun the Pale Blade "commands the Pale Host of wraith soldiers", Mother Noctis "controls the Choir of Lament", and Ossivar the Immured "manages undead reinforcements and necroforges".
Duer'Dorren¶
Home of the dwarves "which know the secret of" forging Demonsbane into metal; "most Valyr weaponry is forged by the dwarves of Duer'Dorren".
Gap
No source says where Duer'Dorren lies, or whether it stands in Valyr, in the Demonlands or on the mainland.
The Poisoned Shore¶
A coast of the island named only in an encounter seed: a "Shipwreck off the Poisoned Shore", where demons "hurry to the site to scavenge any souls or survivors" and "deal with rival factions trying to do the same".
The buried capital¶
The capital city of Amarin lies buried and underground within the Demonlands, marked by a spread-winged eagle; a Fifth Age portal anchors to it. See Amarin.
The way out¶
For the Demonlands' demons the island is a prison, and the one way out is Daennelgin's. He "is planning to move out of the Demonlands, but to do that he needs to create a rift (he knows how to do this) and a new machine to transfer to outside Amarin. His growth is managed by the Valyr." His covenant with the player demon Kosh'tuul, "bound in blood-essence", promises "a transit from the Demonlands to a landing point on the continent of Astia" for "up to 20 separate Demons, no more", "no sooner than when Daennelgin is also able to make this transit", and ends "13 days after Daennelgin and Kosh'tuul have landed on the continent". The chronicle records the bargain; the Mint of Vaal'Dunak, reached overland from Marshford in the Kingdom of Arnyr, hosts "a Daennelgin Outpost … building a host machine for him (he is not there yet)".
The Fifth Age¶
The containment did not hold. "When the Valnyr Wardens fell during the Age of the Dark Sun, Amarin was overwhelmed by demons pouring from abyssal rifts. Somehow those rifts were closed again and with the Hollowing, the area has become a battleground between Devils and Demons." The Heartstone notes remember "the Last Valnyr": "when the archdemon's prisons fell, one Valnyr was able to escape and hide the other half of Kalar's heartstone." The Sancturi party's portals opened once on the buried capital of Amarin, "Human, Underground, Demonlands".
In Play¶
Mortals in the Demonlands rely on the Order's countermeasures: White Fire Wards that "last a very long time … even hundreds of years", Demonsbane incense that leaves "a red trail in the smoke" where a demon has passed, Demonsbane weapons and arrows, and a draught that "can help protect the drinker against demonic possession and corruption". Even so, Algonn's demonsbane arrows "couldn't pierce" a magma infernal's hide, and his wards failed.
Demons in the Demonlands live under their masters' rules, Gharmatha's three above all: the Maw-Sanctum Rule, the Vessel-Spoils Rule ("Any new vessel larger than a human must be presented to Gharmatha within 10 days") and Obedience, on pain of "your deposit into the Great Gore Vats". The Order watches them through "a very cleverly disguised enchantment" on possessed hosts, tracks them on the roads with sensing crystals, and reaches them through burnable intermediaries, "a Spellbound Penitent … controlled by the Valyr", who "delivers messages and will continue to do so if allowed". The Order's aim is a civil war among the demonlords: "What is more destabilizing than fast-rising Demons, ones with things several Demonlords want."