Slaad Lords of Chaos

The closest things that the slaadi have to deities are the self-styled Slaad Lords. These lords are neither deity nor demigod but are, however, powerful beings in their own right, much like the Abyssal Lords and the Lords of the Nine.

As the mirror image to the rigid order of Mechanus, Limbo is a plane of unrestrained chaos. Here anarchy crushes law, randomness replaces predictability, freedom usurps enslavement to rules, and individuality triumphs over conformity. As natives of Limbo, the slaadi exemplify chaotic neutral behavior in all its forms. Inherently free, slaadi revel in unrestrained chaos. Real freedom does not exist, however, for the weaker red and blue slaadi, because they are constantly bullied and dominated by the stronger slaadi. True freedom exists solely for the ultimately powerful. This is more obvious with the mightier green, gray, and death slaadi, who are better able to impose their will on the lesser slaadi precisely because of their enhanced abilities. When any slaad can more freely accomplish what it wishes and not what others wish of it, that slaad defines itself as an individual to a greater degree. But no slaad could hope to become a true individual if it is part of a rank.

To escape this structure, some death slaadi drive themselves to explore an aspect of chaos that they hope will grant them a unique identity and endow them with incredible abilities. During this time of investigation (a little understood and extremely perilous process), a death slaad may leave the ranks of slaad conformity to become a Slaad Lord - a unique being infused with power and chaotic purpose. To date, only four death slaadi have achieved this status. By ascending to their new level, Slaad Lords become the embodiment of their own particular brand of chaos, and no two Slaad Lords share a similar expression of chaos.

The lifespan of the slaadi varies. Inexplicably and quite mysteriously, when a slaad has reached a certain age, it instinctively travels deep into Limbo. A lucky few advance in status to a higher form of slaad, but the majority never return and presumably dissolve into their base essences to merge with the primal forces of the plane. Not so for the Slaad Lords, whose unique status also grants them immortality. They need never worry about being reduced to their base essence unless slain in combat. For this reason, Slaad Lords never fight to the death. In fact, it is believed that no Slaad Lord has been slain in mortal combat - yet. Whether or not a slain Slaad Lord's essence can reform into its original death slaad self, or even return to any form at all, is debatable. Lesser and greater slaadi slain in combat are forever destroyed, but this may not be the case for the Slaad Lords. Perhaps nothing is impossible for the Lords of Chaos on the plane of ultimate possibility.

Ssendam, Lord of Insanity

Ssendam, Slaad Lord of Insanity, is the oldest and most powerful Slaad Lord. She floats freely in the roiling chaos-stuff of Limbo, a huge golden amoeba devouring anything that comes too close. Her glistening gelatinous shape supports four fullydeveloped pseudopods. Ssendam has never been known to leave Limbo, and it is said that she is forever contacting the minds of mortals on other planes to render them mad. She seems to have little concern for the slaadi race, or for anything else, for that matter. Ssendam has two other forms, but she rarely appears in them. She assumes the form of a huge golden slaad when near the Spawning Stone. Her other form is of a golden-skinned female elf warrior. In game terms, Ssendam has Strength of 23, Dexterity of 16, Constitution 18, Intelligence and Wisdom of 0 (unratable), and a Charisma of 18.

Combat: An incredibly vicious combatant, Ssendam is nearly unbeatable. Those who don't flee have assuredly doomed themselves. In her amoeba shape, Ssendam fights with her four pseudopods and may target up to four opponents each round. Any opponent hit by three pseudopods in a single round is held fast and drawn inside Ssendam. A victim "eaten" this way suffers 3d12 hp corrosive damage per round from Ssendam's digestive acids. Eaten characters cannot take any physical action while inside Ssendam. Any ingested character who is reduced to 0 hp is completely dissolved, making resurrection impossible. When fighting in her slaad form, Ssendam's powerful claws and bite bring down her opponents. In either form, a victim hit by more than one pseudopod or both claws (depending on Ssendam's current form) must make a successful saving throw vs. spells or suffer the effects of a mindshatter spell (from the Tome of Magic).

Ssendam has the following abilities, usable at will: cloudkill, continual light, darkness 15' radius, detect magic and invisibility, energy drain (3/day), ESP, flamestrike (double strength), know alignment, locate object and person, any power word (3/day), shapechange to amoeba or elf form, symbol of insanity (3/day), teleport without error, unholy word, and windwalk. The Lord of Insanity can gate in 1 death slaad per turn with a 100% chance of success. Ssendam is immune to psionics and enchantment/charm spells that affect the mind.

Followers & Resources: Ssendam has no followers, at least none that she cares for. All slaadi and other inhabitants of Limbo who know of her existence avoid Ssendam, lest they become her next meal. Visitors to Limbo are cautioned to avoid any large amorphous yellow goo. It is rumored that Ssendam grows strong by feeding on the psychic trauma of insane beings, especially those in whom she caused madness.

Plots & Goals: When Ssendam was a green slaad, she saw insanity as the perfect expression of chaos. Obsessed with madness, she imbued herself with its essence to become a Slaad Lord. In her own way, she contributes to chaos by introducing insanity to stable environments. After all, crazies rarely do anything lawful. By introducing madness into an army, a family, or a village, she guarantees that chaos inevitably follows. Ssendam does not advance any goal except to render the multiverse insane, one being at a time. For the most part, she remains an enigma, and her methods for reaching out across the planes to touch the minds of others from Limbo is unknown.

A final odd characteristic of Ssendam is her apparent tie to the Spawning Stone. At times she is seen floating around the Stone in her slaad form. Based only on an old legend, sages suspect that Ssendam is the self-appointed guardian of the Spawning Stone. The legend tells of a large pack of vrock who gathered at the Spawning Stone to eradicate the death slaad once and for all. The numerous vrock had overpowered and killed four of the death slaadi when a massive, golden slaad suddenly appeared and dove into the crowd of vrock. Ssendam bit the head off one vrock, ripped another in half, squashed a third under her foot - all in the first flurry of combat. When the golden slaad was finished, she allowed the sole surviving vrock to limp back to the Abyss. Much time passed before the tanar'ri returned to Limbo.

Ygorl, Lord of Entropy

Technically considered the planar ruler of Limbo, the reclusive Ygorl resides in an ever-changing keep that drifts haphazardly in Limbo's chaotic currents. The other Slaad Lords have never challenged his authority, probably because they are too chaotic to concern themselves with ruling anything, or possibly because Ygorl makes few demands on his domain.

Ygorl resembles a huge, skeletal, winged slaad of blackened, charred bones. He can shapechange into the form of a darkskinned human male warrior adorned in adamantine armor, but he takes this shape only when outside Limbo. Ygorl's mount is the great wyrm Shkiv, an ancient chaotic neutral brass dragon of maximum abilities. Unlike most brass dragons, Shkiv is coldly neutral and uncaring except in matters concerning his lord. Ygorl was the second Slaad Lord to emerge after Ssendam, and he appears to be the second most powerful. Ygorl has a Strength of 21, Dexterity 18, Constitution 17, Intelligence 22, Wisdom 19, and Charisma 12.

Combat: Ygorl has the following abilities usable at will: advanced illusion, blink, darkness 15' radius, death fog (3/day), detect magic, detect invisibility, energy drain (3/day), ESP, fear, flamestrike (double strength), know alignment, continual light, phantasmal killer, power word kill (3/day), shapechange into human form, sleep, symbol of hopelessness (3/day) and unholy word. Ygorl can gate in either one death slaad or two gray slaadi (35%/65% of either) once per turn. He wields an adamantine scythe +5 viciously in battle. The scythe has glowing runes on its handle that spell out "DEATH" in the ancient slaad tongue. Any being struck by the scythe must make a saving throw vs. death magic or be instantly slain or disintegrated (50% chance of either effect). Even with a successful saving throw, the scythe still delivers 8d6 hp slicing damage to the victim. If Ygorl wills it, the scythe disintegrates inanimate objects with a touch. Ygorl is immune to death magic and all other harmful necromantic magic. Shkiv is always at his master's side and fights to the death for Ygorl, using his abilities as a great wyrm to full effect.

Followers & Resources: To Ygorl, all slaadi are living tools under his dominion, meant to bring chaos and entropy to the multiverse. Ygorl has no true followers, but most slaadi would rather obey Ygorl's orders than be swallowed whole for ignoring them. Ygorl rules in this manner as best as one can in a plane of absolute chaotic neutrality.

Ages ago when Ygorl became a Slaad Lord, he reasoned that even chaos needed a focus, a source from which to flow, and so he created the Spawning Stone. Derived from the purest essence of Limbo and given shape and stability with powerful enchantments, Ygorl designed the Spawning Stone to contain the essence of the slaad race, binding all slaadi to it. The existence of the Spawning Stone has provided a point of convergence for the slaadi, a gathering place for them to rally around and greatly increase their numbers.

Ygorl's fortress is one of the most unusual structures in the bizarre landscape of Limbo. The building's appearance changes constantly to suit the whim of its lord; one moment it appears as a rough hewn cavern, the next as a desecrated temple of broken marble. Ygorl's mental control over the fortress is absolute. The building literally shapes itself to his will. Any person attempting to flee the fortress soon discovers that all corridors eventually lead wherever Ygorl wants them to lead.

Plots & Goals: Death, decay, and disorganization are the elements of entropy that Ygorl most desires to force down the throat of the multiverse. He believes that this brand of chaos is best delivered to other realms by the truest agents of chaotic neutrality - the slaadi.

As the Lord of Entropy, Ygorl directs the death slaadi to organize the mass spawnings of the blues and reds in Limbo. These hordes of slaadi are then unleashed on the battlefields of the Blood Wars and the prime worlds to incubate the wounded with slaadi egg-pellets. Through this uniquely entrepreneurial style, Ygorl oversees the ever-growing slaadi race and ensures the spread of chaos.

Of all the Slaad Lords, the secretive Ygorl desires most to discourage the widely held notion that the Lords are actually deities. All slaadi have been commanded by the Lord of Entropy to devour any cutter who inquires about "slaadi deities." Ygorl believes that if knowledge of Slaad Lords becomes too widespread, planars and primes alike will think that they are just another caste of slaadi to toy with. Ygorl cannot be bothered with fending off the inevitable host of adventurers that would seek to best a unique slaad. Consequently, Ygorl seeks to keep the number of Slaad Lords very low; the multiverse is full of hotheads who have nothing better to do than try to prove something. As a result, Ygorl seeks out and consumes death slaadi who seem close to evolving into a Slaad Lord. Through forced anonymity and low numbers, Ygorl strives to perpetuate the mystery of the Slaad Lords.

Ygorl ignores Ssendam (rather easily, actually), enjoys Chourst's company at times, and despises Rennbuu because he has not yet figured out how the young upstart gave him the laugh to become a Slaad Lord. Ygorl would have devoured Rennbuu as a death slaad rather than allow him to develop. However, Ygorl gives the colorful Rennbuu a wide berth because he fears his ability to alter slaadi. Ygorl has been grooming one death slaad, Sorel, as his lieutenant, despite his personal standing order to consume aspiring death slaadi. In the near future, Ygorl hopes to unleash Sorel, the newest Slaad Lord, as the Lord of Anarchy and Limbo's latest instrument of chaos. Sorel, a true anarchist, enjoys employing secret agents to spread anarchy via terrorism and acts of sabotage designed to break down lawful societies. She is quite popular with the leaders of the Revolutionary League, many of whom are often involved in her deadly schemes.

Chourst, Lord of Randomness

Chourst is the incarnation of chaotic unpredictability, the erratic Lord of Randomness. At one moment Chourst is tearing some githzerai to pieces, the next moment he is stopping to smell a flower. Chourst remains in Limbo most of the time because he finds the primal soup very soothing. He enjoys occasional forays into other planes for a change of scenery and a new place to wreak havoc. Chourst is the third of the Slaad Lords and cares little of the affairs of other slaadi. He is too chaotic and independent to worry about anything other than his own whimsical passions. Chourst appears as a gangly, 20'-tall, chalk-white slaad. Chourst's other forms are unknown. The Lord of Randomness has a Strength of 20, Dexterity 18, Constitution 18, Intelligence 19, Wisdom 18, and Charisma 15.

Combat: Chourst is an odd combatant, because most fights don't hold his attention long enough for him to finish them. Instead, he forsakes the battle halfway through for something else that catches his eye. However, Chourst never allows himself to come to harm by ignoring a dangerous threat, and he disables or kills anything he perceives as harmful. Chourst has the following spell-like abilities, usable once per round at will: advanced illusion, astral spell, chaos, cloudkill, confusion, darkness 15', detect magic, ESP, fear, flamestrike, light, solid fog, any symbol (3/day), and windwalk. Chourst's very presence dissolves chaos-shaped land in Limbo (affecting all land within a 30' radius of the Slaad Lord). Dissolved land reverts to its primal form. Consequently, spells cast within 300 of Chourst always trigger a wild surge, even outside Limbo, to which Chourst is immune. A successful hit or bite by Chourst confers corporeal instability to the victim, who must make a saving throw vs. spells or suffer effects identical to the touch of a chaos beast. (See the Planes of Chaos monster booklet for details.) This affects all living creatures except modrons, who must save vs. spells or become Chaotic Neutral (creating a rogue modron). In Limbo, Chourst can gate in either one gray slaad (40% of the time) or two green slaadi (60% chance) once every turn with a 90% probability of success.

Followers & Resources: Chourst has neither followers nor resources. Knowledgeable members of the Xaositect faction admire the Slaad Lord for his truer understanding and apparent appreciation of chaotic randomness. Even the Xaositects, however, prefer to admire Chourst's perfection from afar.

Plots & Goals: Chourst has only one desire: to indulge himself indiscriminately. This behavior is more often destructive than anything else, because Chourst lacks the focus to create or build anything of significance. Ygorl approves of Chourst's senseless behavior because it contributes to chaos and entropy. Outside Limbo, a wildly zigzagging trail of haphazard destruction might just be the recent passing of the Lord of Randomness.

Chourst revels in his power to disrupt chaos-shaped terrain and frequently performs cannonball jumps through githzerai cities and other towns in Limbo just for entertainment. Affected land can be reassembled but not usually quick enough to avoid significant harm. When the githzerai speak of an unexpected and unpleasant event they often say "It was like a visit from Chourst."

Chourst's one and only visit to Mechanus caused incredible mayhem and disorder on that plane. Rogue modrons of all sorts popped up throughout the plane; weeding them out was painstakingly work for the pentadrone police. Chourst barely escaped the plane alive after Mechanus' most important ruler, Primus the One, personally appeared to deal with the interloping Slaad Lord. Chourst is still a dangerous and wanted outlaw in Mechanus.

Rennbuu, Lord of Colors

Rennbuu is the flamboyant and stylish Lord of Colors. He appears as a 12'-tall, gaunt slaad whose skin color glows and swirls in scintillating, radiant hues. Unlike normal slaadi, Rennbuu sports a long, frazzled mane of stark white hair. The newest of the Slaad Lords, Rennbuu is perhaps the most cruelly sadistic and maliciously capricious of them all. Rennbuu roams Limbo and the planes changing the colors of things and beings. Most experienced travelers in the multiverse report crossing paths with at least one victim of Rennbuu's artful hand during their many travels, for the Lord of Colors is a very busy Slaad Lord. Rennbuu has a Strength of 19, Dexterity 19, Constitution 18, Intelligence 18, Wisdom 19, and Charisma 20.

Combat: Rennbuu prefers to fight tough battles with spells and magic items, but he will not hesitate to use both claws and a bite when closing in melee. Rennbuu has the following spell-like abilities, usable once per round at will: advanced illusion, color spray, darkness 15' radius, ESP, flamestrike (3/day), know alignment, light, planeshift, prismatic spray (2/day), prismatic wall (2/day), rainbow pattern, any symbol, (3/day) and windwalk. The Lord of Colors can gate in 6-8 red slaadi (50% of the time) or 5-6 blue slaadi (50% chance once) per turn with a 95% chance of success.

Rennbuu can magically transmute any creature's or object's natural color into another color of his choosing simply by touching it. Color changes can be either permanent or temporary, and they are dispelled only by a wish. Temporary effects wear off at a random time: sometimes seconds, sometimes in months or in years. The new color can be any hue and pattern that Rennbuu chooses, including solids, spots, stripes, etc. The pretentious and splashy Rennbuu also enjoys taunting his foes in battle by ridiculing combatants while flailing away with sayings like: "There, you look much better in (blood) red," "Your armor is cheap but it suits you,' and "I really hate that color on you - try this." Additionally, Rennbuu is immune to all illusion/phantasm spells. On the plane of Limbo, Rennbuu wields an awesome power that makes all greater slaadi fearful: He can transform a slaad of one type (color) into another type

Followers & Resources: Rennbuu maintains a sizable staff of red and blue slaadi in his pristine and impregnable gallery deep inside Limbo. This staff obeys their master's will mostly out of fear, but partially because they hope to be promoted to a green slaad or better by pleasing their lord. Rennbuu's gallery is filled with his past and present artwork. Entire rooms, even whole wings are devoted to his creations. These pieces are carefully guarded as Rennbuu is proud and possessive of his many accomplishments and likes to see his work preserved. Any art that Rennbuu finds especially pleasing is brought back to his gallery for display.

Most red and blue slaadi revere Rennbuu as the only being who can change their lot for the better because of his ability to transform slaadi. Green, gray, and death slaadi avoid the Lord of Colors lest they be turned into lesser slaadi. Rennbuu could simply not care less.

Plots & Goals: Rennbuu enjoys the mayhem that results when colors change. He takes a perverse pleasure in affecting a being's life, whether for better or worse. Out of pure mischief, Rennbuu often selects colors that he knows will cause the most harm (white drow, purple gnomes, plaid dwarves and so on). Rennbuu would color the whole multiverse his own way if given the chance. In one typical tale, a horrified gold dragon returned to her lair to find that her five hatchlings had taken on the colors of the chromatic dragons - black, blue, green, red, and white. The hatchlings were still gold dragons in every way except for their scales' color. Needless to say, the hatchlings all led very difficult lives.

Like many artists, Rennbuu is occasionally gripped by frantic creative moods. During these moods, the Lord of Colors devotes all his time and energy to one particular activity. For instance, in his "Nature Period," Rennbuu used a mountain and an entire forest of gigantic size to create a bizarre monument to Mother Nature. Rennbuu also appreciates style and fashion, and he sometimes spares a village or passerby who displays good taste from his artistic touch. He is knowledgeable about many planar and prime art forms and can converse for hours with anyone who possesses expertise in any art.