Demon Lord Jucralobex

**Demon Lord Jucralobex,** the **Amorphous King,** is the Demon Lord of Pride. He is the creator of all oozes, and is also the default patron to beholders and other aberrations that believe in a higher power, yet are as equally prideful of themselves as they are to any sort of religious devotion. His appearance is that of a massive, bubbling, acidic ooze with two glowing red eyes, and he can shapeshift into a multitude of different forms, though all remain tethered in some way to his domain in the Seven Hells, the infinite swamps of Orgszok.

Jucralobex thinks only of himself and his influence, prideful of his image and what his minions accomplish in his name. His power rivals even that of Demon Lord Barronzar, his superior and the ruler of the Seven Hells. It is believed that Jucralobex was once the sole ruler of the Seven Hells before it was divided into layers, which is a belief constantly solidified by ancient writings found in crumbling necropolises and the fact that Jucralobex has never been preceded by another demon lord, unlike the positions of the other six.

## The Amorphoclast Contagion

In an effort to create a plague that could be utilized to degrade mortals into oozes of Jucralobex's vision, the demon lord had instead accidentally created a contagion that fused inorganic material to organic matter, and this contagion was accidentally unleashed in the plane of the Iron Fields. The denizens of the plane were horrified upon discovering this disease, which joined metal and flesh together to create bio-mechanical horrors which became mindless killing machines. Grimnor Cinderbeard, the overseer of the Iron Fields, fled from the domain with a few survivors, forcing the rest of those who lived within the plane to fend for themselves. The corruption proved irreversible, and soon the plane became an active battleground between the humanoids and the horrors.

Jucralobex soon took responsibility for the contagion following questioning by the other demon lords, but he had no intention nor any actual knowledge on stopping the disease from spreading. As evil as the demon lords may have been, they had great concern for the disease spreading out of the Iron Fields, and they decided to bar entry to the plane by creating various enchantments and traps in an effort to prevent anyone from visiting the destroyed plane. The Weave, however, was too chaotic of a force, and the preventative measures quickly failed.

The demon lord took to calling his new invention the Amorphoclast Contagion, and secretly he plotted for it to overtake the mortal realms. His attempts at recreating the disease failed, and so he relied on hapless travelers to wander into the Iron Fields to spread the contagion. Unbeknownst to Jucralobex, however, there had already been travelers that visited the plane, and soon enough a recovery effort was formed. The Argent Restoration, a guild of artificers, mages, alchemists, researchers, and others of good intention, came together with the common goal of isolating the plague that was mysterious to them, and to cure its victims from its malevolent grasp.

Upon learning of this guild, Jucralobex sought out a method of controlling the mindless drones that prowled the landscape. He created a false deity out of a fallen titan, giving it the name of Itheryx, and turning it into the central mind of a pseudo-hive mind. This deity was then worshiped by the horrors, who had since gained sentience, and they merged their minds into the hive mind, obeying the "orders" of Itheryx, which were no more than directions given by Jucralobex.