Orcus

Orcus, also known as Tenebrous  was a demon prince and purported primordial that served as master of the undead from the depths of the Abyss. Returned from undeath but not technically alive, Orcus sought to exterminate all life throughout the multiverse and transform each world into a desolate realm inhabited only by his undead servitors.

Known by many other names and titles, including the Prince of the Undead, the Demon Lord of Undeath, the Blood Lord, and the Shadow That Was, Orcus was among the powers of the Abyss most often worshipped as deity by the mortals of the Prime Material plane. He was believed to be one of the mightiest demon lords of the Abyss, one that inspired dread in the hearts of gods.

"I will be the last creature when I am done. The cosmos will then be perfect, free of the braying abominations that are all other living things."

- Orcus

Description
Orcus was the very picture of demonic, an imposing figure of vaguely humanoid form standing some to  tall. His frame was immense, a twisted fusion of corpulence, muscle and rot-bloated flesh. His physique was marked by bestial features: the horned, dessicated head of a ram, thick-furred legs and cloven hooves of a goat, massive, black wings of a bat, a great maw filled with tusks, and a long, thick, constantly moving tail, poison-tipped and covered in spines.

Foul and hideous, Orcus seemed to walk the line between life and undeath. His wings stirred clouds of reeking, diseased air and his body was riddled with sores, suggesting he was alive, albeit sickly, while his skull-like head, nearly bereft of flesh, and the glowing red eyes within hinted he was undead.

Personality
Orcus was wholly misanthropic and self-absorbed with his hatred of all things. He cared for nothing save himself—not even his devotees and undead servants—and focused only on spreading the evil and agony that resided within him. Despite his all-consuming hatred towards existence itself, Orcus was not an aimless force of chaotic destruction. Rather he was an exceedingly brilliant strategist, wholly consumed with inflicting agony upon those he despised. Interestingly enough, Orcus did appear to find some modicum of joy and appreciation in the misery he caused.

Several aspects of Orcus' personality were paradoxical. In spite of his close association with undeath, it was said by some that he held no true affinity for the undead. He was believed to merely tolerate his hordes of once-living minions, considering them tools to strike out at his rivals, and that he even detested the mindless creatures. Yet other scholars maintained that Orcus truly hated the living, the mere presence of most driving him into a rage, and that his ultimate goal was to spread undeath across the planes of the multiverse. At least one theory linked these driving forces, postulating that Orcus sought to exterminate those he believed guilty of creating the very existence that he so despised.

While undead typically did not require food for sustenance, for much of his existence, Orcus had a gluttonous hunger that could never be satiated. His servants gathered food from across the planes of existence in the ongoing futile attempt to sate his cravings. Throughout his existence he has tasted among the finest delicacies originating from myriad worlds across the multiverse. Only when the Blood Lord drank the blood of the living did he feel satisfaction.

Abilities
"Praise Orcus! May he give me the power to spread death, decay, and undeath in his name!"

- Zargash, priest of the League of Malevolence.

The Prince of the Undead held dominion over the portfolio of undeath, and held influence over the domains of chaos, death, evil, darkness, and undeath.

Orcus did grant limited powers to the meager mortals that slew others in his name, transforming them into mindless zombies or ghouls. He was said to have made a unique form of undead from among the members of a single guild of assassins. Orcus would also bless some demons with transformation into undeath, the most revered example of which involved the creation of a devourer.

Powers
Orcus could not be harmed by non-magical weapons, highly resistant to the elements, nearly impervious to magic, and wholly immune to any magical or mundane charm or fear. He could appear as an aspect of himself to any of his deathpriests that perform the appropriate ritual.

The Prince of Demons was versed in dark speech, the language of ancient evil deities. He held the unique ability to see through the eyes and readily access the memory of any bodak, the lingering remains created when one of his followers succumbed to death.

He was believed to be capable of destroying the phylactery of any lich at will, and would readily do so if they displeased him. Similarly, if the physical form and phylactery of any lich was destroyed, Orcus could return them to existence as a vestige.

Combat
While Orcus most often directed his servants to carry out his will, he was capable of fighting with a berserker-like frenzy as he sought to utterly annihilate his foes.

Anyone that dared to enter within Orcus' lair would be subject to mental onslaught that could leave them with a form of madness. These poor souls could be struck with intense feelings of self-loathing and hopelessness, compelled to inflict to cruelty upon others, or left with the spread undeath throughout existence. By merely speaking a single, resounding word Orcus could instantly slay mortals that stood within his lair. He could similarly raise scores of undead within moments and conjure massive skeletal arms to instantly neutralize any threats.

Possessions
"The only way to corral that there demon an' git him off'n your backs once and for all is to corral that big skull sick o' his and bring it to me at my spread out Mercuria way, over in the Seven Heavens, and I'll tell yuh how to get rid o' it."

- Saint Sollars the Twice-Martyred, referring to the Wand of Orcus.

On the occasions when Orcus decided to personally engage in battle, he occasionally wielded fought a distinctly evil mace of disruption.

Wand of Orcus
The relic most-often associated with the Prince of the Undead was the artifact known as the Wand of Orcus, a skull-topped wand with the power to slay any living being. The wand believed by some to be the only means to nullify Orcus' power, and was highly coveted across the planes. It was occasionally left available for mortals to seize, in order grant them the power to wreak chaos and evil across their worlds.

While the Wand of Orcus had been destroyed on several occasions, it could be rebuilt by Orcus over the course of one hundred years. Despite this, the wand has reappeared throughout the plans numerous times after being destroying, within a single century's time. Orcus himself was greatly weakened during the decades when his wand was vanished from existence.

Other Artifacts
Orcus also held a powerful artifact known as the Orcusword, the blade he wielded during his existence as a balor. It was later held in Tchian-Sumere, Orcus's fortress on the Negative Energy Plane.

Orcus himself crafted the infamous evil artifact known as the Crown of Narfell, which was used to corrupt the souls of many regents in the Cold Lands. It was eventually destroyed, and reforged into the Shadow Crown of Ndu.

Realm
Orcus' realm was Thanatos, which was believed to be the 333 layer of the Abyss. It was a barren landscape dotted with shattered necropoles and hordes of undead that roamed its surface. Orcus ruled from his palace of Everlost in the bone-meal desert of Oblivion's End.

The Prince of the Undead previously court within the fortress city of Naratyr, which sat within the Frozen Sea, fed by the River Styx. It later became the seat of power of Orcus' one-time slayer, Kiaransalee. Her taint could still be found in Naratyr, as well within the so-called Forbidden Citadel in the city of Lachrymosa in the Final Hills.

Activities
Much of Orcus' existence was spent in an ongoing war with rival demon lords, Graz'zt and Demogorgon, the Prince of Demons. The mutual hatred shared between Orcus and Demogorgon was legendary and the two battled against one another for millennia.

He shifted his focus over time however, later seeking out the means to slay a god of death and supplant them in divinity.

Throughout the millennia, Orcus was believed responsible for creating the rituals and curses used to create the first of several types of undead, including ghouls, zovvuts, death knights, and dream vestiges.

Enemies & Allies
Orcus was one third of the triad of demon lords―including Graz'zt and Demogorgon―that engaged in ongoing war with one another. He viewed Graz'zt as a self-aggrandized narcissist, and was believed to have warred with Demogorgon for hundreds of thousands of years. Their conflict predated the Days of Thunder if not the formation of Toril itself.

The Prince of the Undead developed strong enmity with the Raven Queen, the goddess of death that dwelled within the Shadowfell. Followers of the Raven Queen vehemently opposed those that venerated Orcus due to their conflicting views on undeath. At one point, Orcus and his minions carried out a series of schemes in an ongoing effort to strip her of her divine powers.

For a brief time, he forged a tenuous alliance with Yeenoghu the Lord of Savagery, and Iggwilv, the mortal daughter of Baba Yaga. Orcus and Iggwilv became involved in an elaborate scheme to overthrow Demogorgon as Prince of Demons.

Orcus was a patron of sorts to the Oerthian mage Vecna, and was said to have offered him the ritual by which he which he became the first lich. He was even pleased with the work of Vecna's one-time follower Acererak, who traveled the plans in search of new and horrific ways to slay innocents. Acererak even turned to the worship of Orcus for a time.

Offspring
Orcus sired a number of half-fiend children with women of the Darakh Dynasty of Narfell, in the centuries leading up to Dale Reckoning. Among his near-mortal sons were Jesthren Darakh, born to Larnaeril Darakh, as well as Heldakar Darakh, Yannos "the Slayer" Darakh, Garthelaun "the Goreclaw" Darakh, and Ilithkar Darakh. Nearly all of their mothers said to have been sacrificed to Orcus following their births.

Worshipers
"Bloated goat prince of undeath, master of vampires and lord of specters, Orcus, grant me your crushing might and the deadly power of your skull-headed wand!"

- The Skull King Quah-Nomog

Worship of Orcus was spread across numerous isolated cults that operated independently of one another. They operated within the shadows of society, often congregating in locales linked to the dead, including graveyards and secluded tombs.

His worship often attracted malevolent humans, orcs, ogres, giants, and goblinoids, along with at least one line of lineage of red dragons. His cults also attracted twisted creatures with a morbid fascination undeath. Notable among these followers necromancers, and others deliberately seeking the path to unlife via lichdom or vampirism. Among the undead that dwelled within Orcus' palace or otherwise joined his armies were were zombies, wights, shadows, huecuvae, nightwalkers, sheet phantoms, and death knights.

Leaders within the various cults of Orcus were known as Skull Lords. To attain this title, Orcus' followers were tasked with taking control of a horde of undead from the Plains of Hunger and setting them loose upon in an invasion upon the prime material plane. Those that failed were slain and raised as liches, doomed to dwell within Thanatos for eternity.

Regions
Orcus had cults dedicated to his worship all across Faerûn, including the realms of Vaasa and Damara. In the Bloodstone Lands, Orcus' worship was coordinated by the Cult of the Goat's Head, and in the Neverwinter Wood, by the Hunt Lords. Despite its transformation into a realm of undeath, Orcus viewed Thay under the Szass Tam as a mere petty fiefdom.

Temples of Orcus could be found throughout the many plans of existence, including at least one on Toril in the caverns of Deepearth.

His influence was not limited to the Abyss and the Prime Material Plane. Many of Orcus' dark servants spread out across the Shadowfell, determined to commit horrific deeds in his name. In the Shadowfell, Orcus' cultists took over the dark settlements of Moil,  and Evernight, the dark echo of Neverwinter in Faerûn. Several Shadowfell cults even banded together for a time to raise up Orcus as a new God of Death, to take the place of the Raven Queen, going so far as to scour the Plane of Dreams for clues to their quest.

Symbols
Orcus' holy symbol was described as the horned head of a goat, sometimes set over a skull-topped mace. This symbol was not universally used throughout his cult however. Some cells adopted similar, but distinctly different iconography.

Notable Worshipers of Orcus

 * Banak, high priest of Orcus in the Bloodstone Lands
 * Doresain, Orcus' exarch; an elf that feasted upon of flesh of others to become the first ghoul in existence.
 * Ghur-Tha the Cleaver, leader of the Ragnor tribe of the Firward Mountains.
 * Kel'zull, the Hierophant of Annihilation.
 * Kyuss, an elder evil that was believed to have once been a priest of Orcus.
 * Malagors the Corpse King, a priest that committed horrific deeds and was rewarded by Orcus with transformation into a demon.
 * Soneillon, the succubus Queen of Whispers that claimed Orcus as her patron.
 * Zargash, a priest of Orcus and member of the League of Malevolence.
 * Zhengyi, the Witch-King of Vaasa.

Rise to Power
Like many of the most powerful demon lords who struggled for power in the Abyss, Orcus started his existence as a mortal on the Prime Plane. He was apparently a wicked spellcaster of some sort, most probably a priest to some dark deity. After his death, his soul journeyed to Pazunia in the Abyss and Orcus began his afterlife as a lowly larva.Orcus proceeded to climb through the demonic ranks over the next several thousand years, going from larva to mane, from mane to dretch, from dretch to rutterkin, from rutterkin to vrock, from vrock to glabrezu, from glabrezu to nalfeshnee, and eventually in the form of a balor.

There existed for Orcus a different origin, stating he was one of the primordials present during the Dawn War and was older than the Abyss itself. Along with fellow primordials Baphomet and Demogorgon, Orcus was said to have brought down the then-current Prince of Demons, Obox-ob. Obox-Ob had attained the shard of pure evil ventured out to the Astral Plane, to gain ultimate power over the entire multiverse. While in the midst of attaining their demonic forms, the trio cast the Prince of Demons down into the point form which the Abyss first formed. They then rode along the Blood Rift and ascended to the ranks of full-fledged demon lords.

However it began, Orcus became the Prince of the Undead and took dominion over Thanatos, the Belly of Death. Although other demon lords aspired to the title of 'Prince of Undeath', Orcus' claim to the office went largely unchallenged for the most part. Ever hungry for more power, Orcus sought to dethrone Demogorgon as the 'Prince of Demons', a title also coveted also by Graz'zt.

Gaining Worship in the Realms
In, a servant of Orcus named Thargaun Crell became the first Nentyarch of Tharos, the realm that later came to be known as Narfell. Some 50 years later, circa, Prince of the Undead bestowed upon Crell the Crown of Narfell, a powerful artifact that would corrupt the royal line and their descendants for centuries. His dynasty would rule until, when the lich-king Belevan was slain by the twin sons of Graz'zt.

At some point in their history Orcus managed to capture his long-time foe Baphomet, and imprisoned him within the dungeons of his lair in Thanatos.

Orcus became the patron of the Red Wizard Zhengyi in the 10 DR, aiding him in his quest to become a lich. Priests of Orcus supported Zhengyi in the, when the lich created the Castle Perilous and gained control over many undead creatures. Zhengyi attacked Damara the following year and finally brought it under his control after nearly a decade of conflict.

In the, the duergar of Deepearth attempted to summon an avatar of Orcus to the Realms. They were thwarted by the future king of Damara Gareth Dragonsbane and his company of adventurers. Following their victory, the adventurers defeated the Witch-King Zhegyi and banished the Lord of Undeath's influence over the region by stealing the Wand of Orcus. They traveled to Orcus' domain of Thanatos, stole the wand away to the Astral Plane, and destroyed it upon an altar of the dragon goddess Tiamat, With Orcus' wand destroyed, the Witch-King was defeated. Castle Perilous and his undead army disintegrated.

Deaths & Rebirths
"I am close to my goal and godhood is within my grasp. I will not be hindered by the likes of you. Not ever again!"

- Orcus, following two two consecutive deaths and rebirths.

By this time in his existence, Orcus achieved some form of actual divinity. He also however had grown indolent and no longer concerned himself with the eternal conflict between himself, Demogorgon and Graz'zt. His realm became a hushed desolation of idle undeath, considered a humorous oddity among planewalkers of the multiverse. Orcus' sloth and carelessness made him vulnerable within his Abyssal palace, and he was slain by the drow demi-goddess Kiaransalee. She then took over rulership of Orcus' realm of Thanatos in the Abyss and reshaped it in her own image. Despite its apparent recent destruction, Kiaransalee decreed that the Wand of Orcus be hidden away in Pandemonium and Orcus' name be erased from all recorded existence.

Despite the drow demi-goddess' efforts, Orcus was restored as a burst of negative energy named Tenebrous. He languished in the shadows of the multiverse for a thousand years, and struck out to reclaim power in opportune moments. Upon his return, Tenebrous discovered the Last Word, one of the words of power. This utterance so powerful that it could destroy deities, including the being that uttered it, unless they were themselves a true deity. Tenebrous sought out the lost Wand of Orcus to attain this divinity and restore himself to power.

In his quest for the Wand of Orcus, Tenebrous manipulated one of the Great Modron Marches to gain access to the planes of the Great Wheel. He outright killed several gods, including Primus, god of the modrons, and Maanzecorian. Unfulfilled with his divine power, Tenebrous sought to reincarnate himself as Orcus the divine. His efforts were stymied by a group of adventurers from the Prime and the entity once known as Orcus was destroyed by the power of the Last Word. In response to Tenebrous' predations a cabal of greater deities nullified the Last Word. The Wand of Orcus however manifested into existence once more.

However, Orcus was resurrected by Quah-Nomag, one of his foremost high priests and thralls, in a blasphemous ritual carried out in the Astral Plane. Orcus then reclaimed his name, his kingdom of Thanatos, and proclaimed himself Prince of the Undead once again. After his second death and resurrection, Orcus retained his status as a demon lord and was no longer content with remaining in the palace within his Realm. He immediately sought to claim the realms of his two most hated rivals and dispatched his hordes of undead and demons to claim their powers.

The lost divinity of Tenebrous existed as a wandering essence of the planes, a vestige that could be called upon by warlocks.

At some point after his restoration as a demon lord, Orcus orchestrated a complicated plot to steal power from the Heart of the Abyss and used it to attack the Raven Queen at her palace in the Shadowfell. He was thwarted once again by a band of intrepid adventurers, and unsuccessful in claiming the goddess' divinity.

Plots on Toril
In the, the Moonsea region was plunged into chaos as the mysterious Order of the Crippled Fang rose to power under leadership of Archmage Maganus. The wizard harbored a grudge against the Zhentarim and against Fzoul Chembryl, the father the organization who was to blame for the deaths of Maganus' parents. He developed a plan to destroy Zhentil Keep and spent a decade putting the events into motion. This plan resulted in the Archmage's trading his soul in exchange for summoning Orcus to the Prime Material plane.

The Order of the Crippled Fang crisis culminated in a full-blown demon attack on Zhentil Keep led by Orcus, his lieutenants Quah-Nomag the Skull-King, vampire lord Kauvra, and lich Harthoon. While a pirate blockade led by a mysteriously returned Avagard, a legendary pirate and enemy of Zhentil Keep (in reality, an agent of the Unseen). The conflict cost many lives of the city's defenders and citizens as well as many structures destroyed or damaged. Eventually, the battle culminated in a battle between Maganus and Fzoul Chembryl, while the Hero of Daggerford, Beirmoura, Lyressa, and Sharalyn Lockleaf stood against the demon lord. When the dust settled, the demon hordes were sent back to the Abyss alongside their master, while Maganus faced Zhentil Keep's justice, a very slow and painful death.

In the late 15 century DR, Orcus found himself summoned to the Underdark of Faerûn along with other demon lords. There he used his necromantic powers to raise and take control over a dead elder brain named Cyrog. A short time later, Orcus was cast back down to the Abyss by the Prince of Demons Demogorgon. The Wand of Orcus was once again left in the Realms to corrupt some mortal foolish enough to claim it for themselves.

When the death curse afflicted Toril some years later, and fewer souls were sent down to the River Styx, Orcus and the other demon lords of the Abyss took immediate notice. Graz'zt managed to waylay both Orcus and even Demogorgon himself, by the Prince of the Undead outmaneuvered his rivals in the end. Orcus managed to open a portal within the land of Chult, so that his minions could recover the source of the death curse, the artifact known as the Soulmonger.

Rumors & Legends
While many mortals worshipped Orcus as a god, he was not capable of granting them powers as a true deity. His followers did receive clerical powers albeit from some unknown source. Some believed these powers originated from the Negative Energy plane itself.

It was speculated that Orcus was responsible for informing mortals of the secret means by which Eltab could be bound to the Prime Material Plane.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * The Mines of Bloodstone • The Throne of Bloodstone • The Great Modron March • Dead Gods • Prince of Undeath • Out of the Abyss
 * Bloodstone Pass • The Bloodstone Wars • City of the Spider Queen • Tomb of Horrors (4th edition) • Storm King's Thunder • The Wild Beyond the Witchlight
 * Video Games
 * Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms • Neverwinter Nights: Tyrants of the Moonsea •
 * Gamebooks
 * Knight of the Living Dead
 * Organized Play & Licensed Adventures
 * Rage of Demons (Assault on Maerimydra) • Tomb of Annihilation (Streams of Crimson) • Dreams of the Red Wizards (Uprising)
 * Rage of Demons (Assault on Maerimydra) • Tomb of Annihilation (Streams of Crimson) • Dreams of the Red Wizards (Uprising)
 * Rage of Demons (Assault on Maerimydra) • Tomb of Annihilation (Streams of Crimson) • Dreams of the Red Wizards (Uprising)