In Sigil, City of Doors, many seek the door to a better life. Among them enterprise, even opportunism, is a cardinal virtue. Their stories offer many examples of the poor hero who, by luck and pluck and a strong sword arm, found his way to riches. If that hero happened to betray a scalawag employer along the way, or perhaps fell away from the restrictive ideals of his early faith, the tales reduce such shortcomings to mere idiosyncrasies; some even promote them as wisdom, as a necessary adjustment to a hard world.
Yet all these tale-spinners, who talk easily of shrewd oathbreakers and lovable roguish backstabbers, draw short and flare their nostrils at the insult that remains, even yet, unforgivable: “not worth a yugoloth.”
Yugoloths are fiends that inhabit the Lower Planes of Acheron, Gehenna, the Gray Waste, and Carceri. They act as mercenaries in the Blood War, but they display a complete lack of loyalty. These cunning creatures turn on their employers for greater payment by another. Those who use yugoloths as mercenaries must have power over them before entering battle.
Yugoloths fall into two categories. Greater yugoloths act as officers, ruling by strength alone. Lesser yugoloths, the rank-and-file, serve diligently for promises of power and wealth. They are divided as follows:
- Greater: arcanaloth, baernaloth, nycaloth, ultroloth
- Lesser: canoloth, dergholoth, gacholoth, hydroloth, marraenoloth, mezzoloth, piscoloth, yagnoloth
There are also various guardian yugoloths.
The yugoloths quarrel among themselves. Individually ferocious, they are inefficient formation warriors. The baatezu and tanar'ri use yugoloths in the Blood War only because each fears the other might gain an advantage by using them.
Greedy and avaricious, yugoloths gladly turn on their employers for the right price. Fortunately for the yugoloths, battle reports rarely return to Baator or the Abyss. When they do, the offending yugoloths are hunted and punished with unimaginable torture. This does not deter further betrayals, for the greed of a yugoloth runs deep.
Yugoloths are affected by various attack forms as noted below:
| Attack | Damage |
|---|---|
| acid | none |
| cold | double |
| electricity (lightning) | full |
| fire (dragon, magical) | none |
| gas (poisonous, etc.) | half |
| iron | weapons none* |
| magic missile | full |
| poison | none |
| silver weapon | full |
* If affected by normal weapons, full damage
All yugoloths have the following spell-like powers, usable at will: alter self, animate dead, cause disease (reverse of cure disease), charm person, improved phantasmal force, produce flame, and teleport without error.
Yugoloths can also gate in their fellows when necessary. However, this is as much a liability as an asset. Due to their quarreling, bickering nature, gated yugoloths are 25% likely to turn on their summoner and aid the opponent. If the opponent wins, the traitorous yugoloth tries to cadge a reward for its help.
The Book of Keeping
Because yugoloths are servants and mercenaries, they are naturally prone to summonings and conjurations by spellcasters. When a mage summons a lower planar being, he is 40% likely to summon a yugoloth; otherwise he summons a gehreleth.
However, an ancient tome details the processes of summoning yugoloths, both greater and lesser. Penned by some unknown hand, The Book of Keeping relates much about the magical summoning and control of yugoloths, and even gives personal names of some greater yugoloths. Of course, any spellcaster foolish enough to utter one of these names needs strong protection, or the creature so named smites the summoner and devours his life force. At least four copies of The Book of Keeping exist, but their locations remain unknown.
The only class that can use one of these tomes is the conjurer specialist wizard. He must be wary, however, for the greater yugoloths are powerful and vengeful. Even a skillful conjurer has trouble binding one, and the yugoloths' memories are everlasting.
The General of Gehenna
Somewhere in the brimstone wastes of Gehenna, there roams an ultroloth so strong that none contests his power: the General of Gehenna, ruler of everything there. Many ultroloths search for this great general in hopes of serving with him. They believe that service with the General of Gehenna grants power and prestige among the lower planar entities.
Whatever the case, no one finds the General unless he desires it. His personal name is unknown, and even The Book of Keeping does not mention this powerful, thoroughly evil entity. Perhaps some secrets are best unrevealed.