Graz'zt

## Dark Prince of Azzagrat

* Artwork
* Symbol

Graz'zt, known also as the Dark Prince, is a Demon Prince of the Abyss.

## Description

Mortal sculptors could toil for a dozen lifetimes and never shape marble in a fashion as polished, sheen or marvellous as the body and flesh of the Dark Prince Graz'zt, for his form - as per his own design - is hedonic thought perfected. Every carnal desire held back by inhibitions and sensibilities stirs within his presence, every emerald gaze setting flame in heart and mind alike, a fiendish declaration of epicurean longings and masochistic thirst.

The maddening presence of Graz'zt, a trait shared by all Demon Lords, embodiments of chaos as they are, drives mortals to extreme self-indulgence and from there to ruin through narcissism, megalomania, messianic complexies, hedonism and obsession infatuations with others alike. Despite it, many call upon Graz'zt for blessings, boons and other desires - first demonstrated at Moorcrown when he was summoned to restore Magnhild Juniperspawn to her former self after being transformed by the deeds of Dyrrn the Corruptor.

## Research

### Completed by Velkyn Cormrael

"*Blood and wine, web and vine,*

*Unweave divine trickery, stitch glorious spawn anew,*

*Blood and wine, web and vine,*

*From bindings of bairn, vestige echo pursue.*

*Blood and wine, web and vine,*

*Dark Prince of the Abyss, hear our beckoning,*

*Blood and wine, web and vine,*

*Turn back to once was, bring forth fate's reckoning."*

The words of the ritual themselves were mundane, in truth, that much was clear with deeper research and understanding of the matter. Most words were, save a few particular incantations - one simply needed examine the verbal components utilised by two otherwise identical spellcasters to see this fact echoed true in all aspects of the arcane. Instead, it seems that more important were the meanings behind the words, the intent - be it to assuage, inflict or beguile, or any other intention. The other key factor seems to be the source of the spellcaster's magical abilities, the domain from which the power latent or forefront is drawn. Roughly speaking two forms of magic seem to exist within the Weave, those sourced from powers divine, powers of enthalpy and entropy beyond mortal comprehension, as those directly linked to the Weave, tapped through arcane knowledge, bloodlines or force of will.

As such, there was no specific ritual to which a being could be summoned consistently, nor any particular known passage through which servitude of powerful beings could be assured. Lesser beings, elemental spirits and those bound in life to the outer planes were more likely to come - akin perhaps to a crab beneath a jetty, attracted by the scent of smoked ham upon a fishing hook - and so such summonings rarely faltered for those with the power to perform the spell. No magic is truly mundane, but such matters are well-documented and often taught within circles and/or places of arcane learning, but are mere child's play to those rituals of communing, convoking and commanding the more infinite and ancient. Such is even more so the case when dealing with beings of chaos, for by definition they are unpredictable. It is undeniable that the larger the fire lit, the more likely it is that something will spy the smoke on the horizon, but it was not a guarantee of visibility, or response.

The ritual at Moorcrown served as a mighty beacon, the last of the great Fomorian Kingdoms of the Feywild brought to ruin through trickery and beguile. Ninlith had pledged fealty to the Glorious Eye, certainly, but the nature of the cost of its servitude was unknown - and with it the destruction of the citadel was all but assured. Violence, deceit and destruction, culminating in the sapping of Fomorians' strength, their final remaining boon from their time as true giants, combined with the beauty of their halls once splendid wrought and flooded, lit the the torch to catch the verdant gaze of Graz'zt bright indeed.

Recreation of the exact ritual would therefore be an impossible folly, similar to trying to replicate the exact location, conviction and context of a cleric pleading for divine intervention, for the sacrifice offered - and the manner through which it was achieved could by definition be repeated. Only through a similar but superseeding act, paired with an unwavering conviction could the promise of a boon be assured. For matters more mundane, it has been speculated that devils and demons are reachable through acts to *Commune*, but it is only to those that have pledged themselves - willingly or otherwise - that they are like to listen.