Gestal

Gestal, also known as Lord Divergence, was a demon thrall, or priest, of the demon lord Demogorgon in the late 14 century DR. As the lord of Divergence, he was the first servant of the Prince of Demons and was the self-proclaimed ruler of the area of the Underdark known as the Depths of Madness.

Personality
Gestal appeared to have multiple personalities. One of his known personalities was an innocent young man who called himself Liet Sagrin, who was unaware of Gestal's existence, though Gestal knew of his. Gestal claimed his own personality was the original personality, and he used this to his advantage, for he was aware of all of Liet's memories and used Liet as a lure to find a suitable female companion to rule the Depths by his side.

Gestal had rather perverse tastes, using candles of human fat and kneeling on blankets of skin when he prayed to Demogorgon—demanding power from the demon prince rather than begging, since Demogorgon would give nothing to the weak. His private chamber was filled with a horrid reek, and adorning the walls were murals painted in blood, excrement, offal, and other foul substances depicting human and snakelike figures engaging in obscene and depraved activities.

As Liet Sagrin, he was an innocent, boyish, and kindhearted young man of about twenty-eight years who claimed he was from Harrowdale. He was shy around women and, in some ways, it seemed as if he were teenager trapped in a man's body.

Description
Liet was a handsome young man of about twenty-eight years. He had mismatched eyes—one green, the other gray-blue —and sandy, wavy hair, although he was not very muscular. The skin on both his arms was gray and puckered, which Liet was embarrassed about and kept covered with the sleeves of his tunic.

Whereas Liet wore a dirty tunic, Gestal cloaked himself in tattered gray robes covered in filth, with madness seeming to bleed from the gaps of his robe. The flesh from his shoulders down to his wrists was black and scaly and crisscrossed with grotesque scars. When Gestal was in control of his body, he could use a demonflesh spell, causing the inky blackness and putrid sores to spread across his skin except for the right side of his face, as a brand depicting a two-headed snake wrapped around a serrated blade appeared on his right cheek.

Relations
Throughout the Depths, tribes of demon-blooded lizardfolk living in filthy warrens served Gestal, but Gestal's most prized and faithful servant was a physically altered troll named Tlork. Gestal could telepathically speak to Tlork, giving him commands. Another of Gestal's servants was a female halfling named Daltyrex Blacksoul, also called Slip. She served Gestal by infiltrating herself into a party of adventurers, as Gestal did with Liet, and leading them to their deaths. Gestal could also see through Daltyrex's eyes while Liet was awake.

Gestal's principal enemy was a sharn called Ruukthalmuramaxamin that dwelled in the ruined Netherese city of Negarath within the Depths.

History
Gestal was the highest-ranking servant of the demon lord Demogorgon, and he decided to rule over the Depths of Madness for the sole purpose of finding a female companion and lover, for the glory of Demogorgon. To this end, he used the alternate personality of Liet Sagrin to gain the love of his intended female target.

In 1375 DR, Gestal finally found a perfect potential female companion when the moon elf who called herself the Fox-at-Twilight entered the Depths with a band of her fellow adventurers. Her band was ambushed by Gestal's fiendish lizardfolk, and she awakened in a dungeon with other prisoners, including Liet and Slip, with her memory wiped of recent events. The prisoners united as a group to escape the Depths, unknowingly being tested and toyed with by Gestal and Daltyrex.

Twilight and Liet fell in love as Gestal had planned, but when Gestal revealed himself to Twilight, she refused to join him. Later, Gestal, weakened, desiccated, and already near death after being hit by a powerful spell cast by Ruukthalmuramaxamin, was finally killed by Twilight as she ran him through with a dagger, though she never stopped loving Liet.

Appearances

 * Depths of Madness