Balor

Depiction of a balor, by Conceptopolis from *D&D: Monster Manual*, 5th ed., p. 55.

## Biological Information

### **Abilities**

* Magic Resistance
* Fire Aura
* Magic Weapons
* Teleport
* Death throes

## Physical Characteristics

### **Distinctions**

Wings, horns, lightning sword, flaming whip

## Sociocultural Information

### **Planes**

* Abyss
* Acheron[*presumed*]
* Pandemonium
* Material Plane (Exandria)

### **Locations**

* Nishrek, Acheron[*presumed*]
* Howler's Crag, Cocytus, Pandemonium

Exandria

* Betrayers' Rise
* Port Damali (in adventure hook)
* Umbra Hills
* Wastes of Xhorhas

### **Notable members**

* Naviask
* Yarrowish

**Balors** are generals of the demon armies of the Abyss.

## **Appearance**

A balor is a huge, muscular fiend with large, red, leathery wings and two black horns; its eyes and mouth exude incandescent heat, and its body heats the air around it to a scalding temperature. Balors are known for carrying a flaming whip and an electrified sword.

## **Abilities**

The following is taken from the *Monster Manual*, page 55, but some of it has been demonstrated on-stream.

* **Saving throw proficiencies**: STR, CON, WIS, CHA
* **Condition immunities**: Poisoned
* **Damage immunities**: Fire, poison
* **Damage resistances**: Cold, lightning, bludgeoning/piercing/slashing from nonmagical attacks
* **Magic resistance**: Advantage on saving throws against spells and magical effects
* **Fire Aura**: Creatures take 3d6 fire damage when they touch the balor or hit it with a melee attack while within 5 feet of the balor, or are within 5 feet at the start of the balor's turn. Within that range, any objects that aren't being worn or carried ignite.
* **Magic Weapons**: A balor's weapon attacks are magical.
* **Death Throes**: On death, it explodes, and within 30 feet each creature takes heavy fire damage (half damage with a successful DEX saving throw), and flammable objects that aren't being worn or carried ignite; the explosion also destroys the balor's weapons.
* **Actions**
	+ **Longsword**: reach 10 ft., slashing and lightning damage, rolls triple (not double) damage dice on critical hit
	+ **Whip**: reach 30 ft., slashing and fire damage, and must succeed on a STR saving throw or be pulled 20 feet toward the balor
	+ **Multiattack**: one longsword and one whip attack
	+ **Teleport**: Magically teleports up to 120 ft. to an unoccupied space it can see

## **History**

One of the Arms of the Betrayers, created before the Calamity to be wielded by humanoid champions, is Ruin's Wake, a spear made from the bone of a gold dragon and inscribed with an Orc hymn to Gruumsh, the Ruiner. It was imbued with the soul of a singularly bloodthirsty balor named Yarrowish.

   Naviask was once a balor demon obsessed with the destruction of the Feywild. He was transformed into a fey spirit by the archfey Queen Titania of the Summer Court; this happened before the end of the Calamity, but the timing is otherwise unclear. His new mission is to heal scarred lands with new natural growth. After the Calamity, he was drawn to Exandria, where he seeks to heal the devastation that covers the wastes of Xhorhas.

In Misuthar 812 PD, after Vox Machina had defeated Vecna, one of their members, Grog Strongjaw, had his soul locked away in a tower in Howler's Crag in Cocytus, the second layer of Pandemonium. The remaining active members of Vox Machina, aided by Bertrand Bell and Lieve'tel Toluse, traveled to the tower, within which a balor was writing gibberish or a forgotten language on the walls. The party slowly snuck directly behind the balor as it painted the walls with the blood of a howler, and as they did so, they were scalded by the balor's fiery heat.

In the *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, set in 836 PD, the epic-level adventure hook *Hot Purchase* involves a balor and its crew of demons sent by a demon lord to claim a powerful magic item from the Exalted Collection Auction House in Port Damali.

As of about 836 PD, a balor can be found in the molten lava of a chasm deep within the Betrayers' Rise, and some say that when the moon Ruidus is full, balors prowl the Umbra Hills seeking souls to corrupt.

## **Trivia**

Caleb Widogast acquired a Zemnian-language book, with a title translating to *Fiends of Folklore*, that included descriptions of balors.

## **References**

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 See *D&D: Monster Manual*, 5th ed., p. 55.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. 27.
3. ↑ See "The Search For Grog" (Sx42) at 3:18:15.
4. ↑ See "The Search For Grog" (Sx42) at 3:23:10.
5. ↑ See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. 277. See also p. 31.
6. ↑ See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. 32.
7. ↑ See "The Search For Grog" (Sx42) from 3:16:51 through 3:24:54.
8. ↑ See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. 136.
9. ↑ See *Call of the Netherdeep*, p. 63.
10. ↑ See *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn*, p. 106.
11. ↑ The title of the book is in the previous episode.  See "The Trail and the Toll" (3x03) at 1:23:04.

**Art:**

1. ↑ Depiction of a balor, by Conceptopolis from *D&D: Monster Manual*, 5th ed., p. 55. This page contains unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Wizards of the Coast Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.
2. ↑ Fan art of Naviask, by Weradd (source). Used DM response with permission.