Eltab

Eltab is an ancient and powerful abyssal lord who has ravaged this region of Faerûn on many occasions. Legends call him the Lord of the Hidden Layer and he holds many other titles in the Abyss. His forces won the day many times for the tanar'ri in the Blood War with the baatezu, earning him great power and the envy of many tanar'ri nobles. In a great conflict, Eltab killed or drove off several influential fiends, taking their titles and followers. After centuries of success in the Abyss and beyond, Eltab journeyed to the Prime Material Plane to the world of Toril, to carry on his conquest.

Many centuries ago, the Rashemaar say that Eltab arrived in their land with a horde of tanar'ri and other fell beasts, intent on either destroying the land or moving it to the Abyss to become part of his realm. The hero Yvengi, son of a Rashemaar lord slain by Eltab's legions, prayed to the spirits of the land to provide him with a weapon mighty enough to defeat the rampaging tanar'ri, and he was rewarded with the magical sword Hadryllis. Yvengi led a band of Rashemaar berserkers against Eltab and faced the great fiend in single combat. Seriously wounded, his minions defeated or slain, Eltab gave up the fight, fled the battle, and left Rashemen free.

Defeated but not destroyed, Eltab next appeared when the Red Wizards of Thay struggled for independence against the corrupt Empire of Mulhorand. Summoned and compelled to service, Eltab helped defeat the god-kings, but the Thayans discovered that, once called, an abyssal lord is somewhat difficult to dismiss. To prevent Eltab from ravaging Thay, they imprisoned him under Eltabbar.

A series of runes was crafted to keep Eltab imprisoned, the largest of these being the canals of the city of Eltabbar, capital of Thay. There the matter rested for years, occasional earthquakes and disturbances marking the restless imprisonment of the once-mighty tanar'ri noble. Through a bizarre and unanticipated form of sympathetic magic, accurate maps of Eltabbar acted to drain energy from the network of runes. When one of these maps was destroyed, the runic prison weakened slightly. The Red Wizards sought to prevent anyone from owning accurate maps of Eltabbar, so mere possession of one was a capital crime. But the maps continued to be drawn and the runes grew weaker as the years went by.

It fell to Szass Tam, Zulkir of Necromancy, to realize the inevitable fact that someday the great Eltab would free himself and all of Thay would tremble. Tam hatched a plan to not only reimprison Eltab, but to turn him into a slave to Tam's own will providing godlike power to Szass Tam.

Eltab is a tall, muscular, humanoid creature. His body covered in bony, dark red plates, and his head is like that of a muzzled beast. He sprouts dozens of horns and antlers. His eyes are narrow and yellow, slitted a glowing red.

Today, Eltab is a grim, hateful creature, weary of centuries of captivity and burning for vengeance.

Eltab has few allies today as most of his fellow tanar'ri believe he is dead and many of them would be happy to "honor" his memory.

Combat: Eltab is a terrifying opponent. His very presence carries the effects of a fear spell, and he can use a death gaze once per turn. Victims who meet Eltab's death gaze must save vs. death magic or instantly perish. When unarmed, he fights with his two heavily clawed hands, each inflicting 4d8 points of damage. If both claw attacks hit, Eltab may then impale his opponent on his horns, inflicting an additional 3d10 points of damage.

Eltab is hard to injure. His natural 80% magic resistance is coupled with an immunity to all magical weapons of less than +3 enchantment.