Fiend

**Fiends** are a race of humanoid monsters that mostly dwell in the Underways of Morgaea. When the fiendish horde uncover one of the Deceivers, they expose it to the taint, changing it into an Archfiend, which then leads them in an attack against the surface world called a Scourge. The fiendish hordes are perhaps the single greatest threat to all of Morgaea; they are bloodthirsty, exceptionally numerous and willing to indiscriminately kill or corrupt all in their path.

## Background

### Ministry Version

*See also: Second Sin*

According to the Ministry, they were created when the Seven Apostles of the Adamantium opened a portal into the Golden City, tainting the realm of the Watcher with their corruption and returning as the first fiends, their evil transfiguring them into the monsters they became. The taint they carried infected others, turning them into fiends as well.

With their increased numbers, the first fiends went underground and dug deeper and deeper into the earth until they found the resting place of the Deciever Vemon, where he had been imprisoned. Freed from his prison and warped by the taint the fiends bore, Vemon became the first of the Archfiends and led the fiendish hordes to lay waste to the world in what would become known as the First Scourge.

### Dwarven version

The dwarves give little credit to Ministry beliefs, but they themselves have no known origin story for fiends. As far as the dwarves are concerned, the fiendish hordes simply appeared underground with some Makers hypothesizing that there is a queen breeder; the first breeder. The fiendish hordes invaded the Underways first, crippling the dwarven empire, and leaving only Ondrathum and Nar-Lodahr, the latter of which was only recently discovered to have survived.

## History

*For a history of the specific Scourges, see Scourge.*

With the fall of the Golden City, and the beginning of the First Scourge in -395D (800 AE), a dark age descended onto Morgaea as the fiendish hordes rampaged across the continent, destroying everything in their path. The Adamantium suffered greatly, becoming severely weakened, and fractured, under the strain of the invasion, while the subterranean empire of the dwarves was laid to waste, with only their four major kingdoms, Ondrathum, Bhorndan, Dighagh and Nar-Lodahr surviving. After nearly a century of hopeless, unending war, the Grey Order was established at Greyhold in **-305D** (890 AE), and proved instrumental in the defeat of the Archfiend Vemon at the Battle of the Silent Steppes. The fiendish invasion had been beaten, but the fiendish horde would retreat underground to rebuild, and recover.

Over the centuries, three more Scourges would occur, with a fifth one seemingly on the verge of beginning in **9A30**. Each time, the Scourge would be stopped with heavy losses, as the fiendish hordes destroyed entire cities, or even kingdoms, before being beaten back by the nations of Morgaea, and the Grey Order. With the exception of Netheren, fiend appearances on the surface most frequently promote fears of a Scourge, however, this does not occur until an Archfiend is awakened by the fiendish horde. Without an Archfiend leading them, fiendish hordes are much smaller, and less effective, in the raids they often launch, but are still dangerous. However, that is not the case in the underground, as the dwarves have been constantly fighting a losing battle against the fiendish hordes for more than a millennium. This has resulted in the underground of Morgaea being almost entirely controlled by fiends, with the exception of what remains of the kingdoms of Ondrathum and Nar-Lodahr.

## Physiology

Fiends are described as pale creatures with strange blackness bleeding out of their eyes and mouths. Black ichor flows in their bodies. They do not need to eat, as the taint sustains them, though they can eat for reasons other than dietary. Furthermore, the taint provides quick healing from wounds which also explains the absence of healing skills among the fiendish hordes. Thus, ogres can regenerate to full health within a matter of minutes. This healing even allows the re-creation of lost body parts after some time.

Fiends have good vision in the darkness, but they're weaker in sunlight. Even during the Scourges, when the sun is hidden by ominous clouds as a result of scourge magic, fiends are still weaker and more timid by daylight than they are at night.

## Hierarchy

Newborn fiends will inevitably fight amongst themselves and try to kill each other, possibly by instinct. This serves to weed out the weaker fiends. Occasionally one young fiend will be so much more powerful than the rest that it kills the entire brood. This fiend is called an alpha. They are generally taller, stronger and much more intelligent than the rest of their kind. They also wear better armor.

Accordingly, an even more powerful alpha that manages to slay other alphas gains the extremely rare omega rank.

Emissaries are highly intelligent fiends that draw on the power of the taint to cast spells. They act as "shamans" or spiritual leaders to the fiendish hordes. Emissary alphas are the most powerful of the magic wielding fiends.

Mature fiends continue to disfavor each other and tend to group together with their own kind (goblins with goblins, etc.) even when traveling in force.

During a Scourge only an Archfiend can command the entire fiendish horde. Alphas serve as the commanders and generals of the fiendish hordes, while omegas are "second-in-command" to the Archfiend. The strongest alphas and omegas receive direct orders from the Archfiend itself. Emissaries ensure that fiends follow the Archfiend's will, and that alphas serve the Archfiend's interests and not their own.

Without a Scourge, the fiendish hordes remain underground except for raids. When there isn't an Archfiend to direct the fiendish hordes, the "chain of command" within the communal mind of the fiendish horde breaks down, with individual alphas and omegas assuming a sort of leadership position as "tyrants", splitting the horde amongst themselves and fighting for dominance. Emissaries ensure that fiends search for an Archfiend outside of a Scourge.

## Communication and Sapience

Common knowledge is that the average fiend can barely be considered sapient, and possesses no intelligence beyond a simple animal cunning. Yet they should not be underestimated. Fiends are capable of coordinated action. Banshee and goblin rogues excel at ambushing, and attacking, the unwary, they employ poison and demonstrate group tactics. Fiends also seem to show little fear, and though they will retreat if they begin to lose a fight without an Archfiend guiding them, they will never surrender to their foes and will continue fighting even if countless numbers of their brethren have been slain.

The fiendish rank and file do not possess any language beyond hissing, roars and grunts. Despite this, they communicate well with one another, and some can be heard laughing cruelly as they attack and slay their foes. All fiends are connected through the taint, functioning as a hive-mind. Emissaries, and at least some alphas, are capable of speech. Thus, emissaries occasionally taunt or deliver ultimatums to their foes.

When not already under the thrall of an Archfiend, and when not engaged in raids, either on each other or other sentients, the fiendish hordes relentlessly search for the sleeping Decievers, drawn by what they hear as the "song" of the dragons. This need seems to override nearly anything else; the fiendish hordes will search without rest for a Deciever for centuries if need be.

## Culture and Technology

Fiends have very little resembling a recognizable form of culture. They do not have names, nor do they build homes. A fiend nest is an underground chamber overgrown with organic strands, full of black tendrils and sacs of corrupted flesh. Yet brutes are known to adorn themselves with roughly-carved tattoos to keep track of their kills and deeds.

Fiends also possess a certain limited crafting expertise. It is primarily related to the production of crude armor and weaponry, as well as primitive fortifications from the remnants of dwarven supplies found in the Underways. Fiends can't swim and don't have ships.

## Fiends and Other Races

Fiends exist solely for one purpose: war against all sentient beings in Morgaea. As a rule, they are completely hostile to outsiders. Anyone caught venturing underground will be attacked, and anything caught in their path during a raid, or a Scourge, will be mercilessly slaughtered. Surrendering to fiends is generally foolish; even if they spare a prisoner's life, they will still drag them back to the Underways.

Those who come in contact with fiends will eventually contract the scourge disease and, either perish outright, or turn into ghouls. Once the taint progresses enough, fiends recognize them as their own kind and ghouls can sense fiends. Such people often show signs of insanity, and usually work for the fiendish hordes, crafting their weapons and armor.

Fiends constantly wage war with the dwarves outside of the Scourges, with the exception the First Scourge; this has led many subterranean dwarves to view Scourges as a grand and peaceful time, as these are the only occasions when the fiendish hordes empty the Underways and cease attacking them.

## Fiend Types

### Brute

Not known for tactical prowess, brutes have to be told where to go. But once they're there, there's no need for instruction. These fiends are masters of the blade; crippling, shattering, battering, bruising, slashing, hacking, tearing, ripping, biting, stabbing, and strangling are all easy feats for these monstrosities. Although by no means the most powerful, they are the most infamous fiends, as many survivors of a fiendish raid will only remember the bloodied foul creatures that killed their friends, and slaughtered their children. Foul indeed, while not exactly graceful, the job is always done with these fiends. Brutes are born from human breeders.

### Breeder

It is well-known that fiends carry off those they capture in their raids to underground lairs. Most assume that the prisoners are eaten, or somehow tainted and turned into fiends themselves, though this could never account for the sheer numbers of the hordes. Forays made by the Grey Order into the underground have uncovered the answer.

When exposed to the fiendish taint, men are driven mad, and eventually die. Women, however, undergo great pain and gross mutations that cause most of them to perish. Those that survive, however, become the grotesque Breeders. These giant, twisted behemoths birth many fiends at a time; a single breeder can create thousands of fiends over the course of her lifetime. Each type of fiend is born from a different breeder: Humans produce brutes, dwarves produce goblins, elves give birth to skulkers, and from orcimar are born the ogres.

### Goblin

Most numerous of the fiends by far, goblins are tough and stocky fighters with a penchant for wickedly hooked axes. Unlike the majority of their brethren, they are swift to take up the more complicated weapons of their enemies, employing siege engines in battle, and using clever traps to defend any terrain they control. Nordain's Institute of Magic believes that their propensity to mine the Underways for lucenium has given goblins a resistance to magic, for they’ve been known to shrug off spells in battle with little effect.

Particularly cunning goblin alphas cultivate skill as sorcerers and become emissaries. However, emissaries generally only appear during a Scourge. Like all fiend casters, goblin emissaries wield scourge magic that draws on the taint rather than the Dreaming, allowing them to bypass the resistance to conventional magic inherited from dwarven breeders.

### Ogre

Dwarfing their fiendish brethren, Ogres are the massive, brutish shock troopers of the fiendish horde. They attack opponents with brute force and monumental strength, acting as living siege weapons. Standing above even the normal ogres are the ogre alphas; these monstrosities are no larger, but are far stronger, and are usually accompanied by skulkers.

They are noted as particularly formidable foes because of their immense strength, speed, and exceptional cruelty. Rangers recommend caution fighting them, because they are known to regenerate from non-fatal wounds within minutes. Fortunately, ogres are a rare sight on the surface, with a maximum of a hundred accompanying the fiendish horde during Scourges. They are even uncommon in the Underways, where they are sometimes observed hunting alone, or in small groups.

### Skulker

Feared for their tremendous speed and agility, as well as their capacity to stealthily move through enemy ranks, skulkers serve as the fiendish horde's closest approximation to a traditional assassin, penetrating well behind enemy lines and tearing their foes apart using the long, jagged blades attached to their forearms. There have even been reports of skulkers employing a poison mixed from their own tainted blood in their attacks, and cunning group tactics when attacking in numbers.

They are the product of elven breeders; hence their pointed ears, agility and physical frailty.