The Gorgery¶
Contested
Named in the open question The Gorgery's wards and their holders. The two Vulgurak rosters (S336, S337) are a week apart and disagree on which lieutenant holds which ward and under what name; this page follows the revised sheet (S337) and keeps the other reading under "Earlier accounts" until the question is ruled.
"If my generosity is spurned I will see that each of you are deposited into the Great Gore Vats." — judgment in the court of Gharmatha the Gut-Queen (S329)
The Gorgery is the city of the demonlord Vulgurak the Maw, Arch-glutton, in the Demonlands. It is laid out in wards, each the domain of one of his seven lieutenants, the Great Gorgers, from the Gluttonspire where Vulgurak himself sits to the Underbelly where the Great Worm tunnels, and it is run on the principle that everything living is food. The player demons of the Demonlands Mini Campaign served here under Gharmatha the Gut-Queen, and the campaign's plot threads also call the place the Gorgeries.
Also called the Gorgeries.
Vulgurak's rule¶
"Vulgorak embodies bottomless consumption, not chaos. He is strategic, patient, and disturbingly calm for a Maw demon." He is "obsessed with dominance over all living things … they are food", and he "despises waste: demons under him who waste food, essence, or resources are eaten." "Unlike many demonlords, he is exceptionally pragmatic and loyal to his own rules—a reliable tyrant." He "has no allies, but is very powerful", and the Order of Valyr has been persuaded by his rivals that he "is too powerful".
Below him the Gut-Queen keeps order among her demonkin with "only 3 rules". The Maw-Sanctum Rule makes "any Temple, Den, Feeding Ground, Hatchery or Enclosed building that belongs to Gharmatha's demonkin … neutral ground", where none of them may attack one another. The Vessel-Spoils Rule requires that "any new vessel larger than a human must be presented to Gharmatha within 10 days, who may decide to claim it as a prize." Obedience is "strict obedience to your masters", and "breaking any rule of Gharmatha's or defying a direct command will result in your deposit into the Great Gore Vats." Short of the vats there is the Culling: the master "takes 20% of minions essence, breaking the bond", and invites the culled demon's own minions to replace it.
Wards¶
The revised Vulgurak sheet lists the city's areas and who holds them.
| Ward | Holder | What is there |
|---|---|---|
| Gluttonspire | Vulgurak the Maw | The demonlord's seat. |
| Great Gore Vats | — | "Punishment area and Vulgurak's Central Bank". The vats into which rule-breakers are deposited. |
| Fleshmarket | — | "Market area". |
| Churning Pits | Gharmatha the Gut-Queen | Spawning grounds of the "swollen Ogre demon matron with dozens of egg sacs": banelings and an insect hive of giant wasps. |
| Halls of Prey | Thaleg the Gore-Skewer | Hunter, tracker and scout, "a tall, thin wall of bones and flesh". |
| The Spore Cave | Morzaguth, the Plaguebelly King | "Bloated, semi-undead giant who carries entire colonies of disease"; spymaster. |
| Tower of Eyes | Zhul'Khar the Eyeless Seer | "Gorgery Security": the Eyeless, "security guard demons", and the Gloom-Worms, "eyeless eel-demons that wriggle through shadows". |
| Spine Forges | Vruskorr the Iron Maw | Warmaster, smith and general; his Slagborn Legionaries have "armor fused to their flesh" and his Goremelt Juggernauts are "four-armed living furnaces that turn battlefield detritus into new armaments". |
| Butcher's Row | Miarath the Harvester | "Breeder, Essence farming". |
| Underbelly | Uldroxx the Great Worm | The tunnels beneath the city; see Deep Warrens on the Demonlands page. |
The Great Gorgers themselves (Thaleg, Morzaguth, Zhul'Khar, Vruskorr, Miarath and Uldroxx) are described on Vulgurak's page. The earlier plot notes add two zones without saying where they lie: "The Palace", and squad zones for the demon bands serving under Gharmatha.
Population¶
The city's demonspawn are counted by kind rather than number. Skitter-Captains, "Night/Maw ambushers who hunt in the upper tunnels", number four to six. Engorgers, "large Maw demonspawn with powerful bites", number in the dozens. Devourlings, "swarm-based Maw spawn, semi-sapient, partially telepathically linked", number in the hundreds, and the Gut-Queen "controls all devourling broods". Beneath the city Uldroxx's Tunnel-Gnashers and Chasm Droolers hold the warrens. Demonic forms are catalogued on their own page.
In Play¶
The player demons "spent ½ the session in The Gorgery (city)" and the other half at the Temple of Ghormatha, where the Gut-Queen's temple stands under her Maw-Sanctum Rule. The judgment of Gharmatha's court on them, after they "forgot to slaughter animals" in a culling of vessels, was to "return to finish the assignment given to you. There will be no reward, no gifts … but do not mistake me: This is generosity."
Gap
No source says where in the Demonlands the Gorgery stands, how large it is, how its wards are arranged, or how it is approached or defended from without. Fleshmarket has no named holder.
Earlier accounts¶
The campaign's general NPC roster (S336) gives the same lieutenants other names and other wards. Thaleg is "Churn-Brother Thaleg", "a mass of stingers, tongues, and hooked limbs" who "specializes in dragging prey back to the Warrens"; Zhul'Khar is "the Gullet-Sage", "a long, eel-like demon formed from endless folds of shadowed flesh" whose "head splits into three lamprey maws", "Oracle of Hunger" and Vulgurak's strategic counsellor; Miarath is "Lady Miarath the Hollow Feast", "Corrupter of Mortals; Mistress of Excessive Indulgence", who runs "Vulgurak's cult infrastructure" among mortal courts; and Uldroxx is "the Maw of the Deep Warrens", living in "the Deep Warrens, the subterranean labyrinths beneath Vulgurak's domain", not the Underbelly. The revised sheet (S337) gives the eel-like body to Miarath and makes Zhul'Khar "an ashen colored gnome with an extra large jagged maw … with bone spikes driven through his eyes".