The Lord of the 133rd Layer

The Lord of the 133rd Layer was a book that collected known information on Orcus, the demon lord master of the undead.

Contents
The book opened with a statement on the status of Orcus being the most dreaded and vile of the innumerable lords of the Abyss, and named him as the demon most often worshiped as a deity among mortals. The book described the Prince of the Undead as a massively bloated demon carcass that stood tall. His body was described as a grotesque mix of muscle and bloated flesh. The rotund body was crowned with a horned skull of a ram with a gaping tusked maw. The bloated carcass was propped up on muscled hairy cloven-hoofed legs. His archetypal demonic appearance was completed by a set of red leathery bat-like wings and a barb-tipped tail.

The book retold the story of Orcus's war with Demogorgon, the mightiest of the lords of the Abyss, and with Graz'zt. The tome accused Orcus of growing complacent in his eternal demonic life and he was murdered and deposed by his opponents. But even death could not stop Orcus. The book stated that after death, Orcus took the name of Tenebrous while hiding from his enemies in the darkest places of the multiverse.

Eventually, the book moved on to the return of Orcus to his Abyssal rule of Thanatos and his original name. And with his return, the war against other demon lords was reignited. The book stated that after his return, Orcus did not feel content growing fat in the decadence of his castle, and instead sought vengeance and the destruction of his foes. Orcus eyed the realms of Demogorgon and Graz'zt as his goals and controlled endless hoards of undead and demons that ravaged entire layers of the Abyss for their bloated lord.

The next part of the book speculated on the power of Orcus and how it compared to his enemies'. The book claimed that Demogorgon's power eclipsed Orcus's and Graz'zt's realm dwarfed his. However, Orcus had the biggest number of worshipers on the Prime Material plane. The Lord of the 133rd Layer attributed most of Orcus's followers to orcs, half-orcs, ogres, giants, and corrupt humans who venerated evil. Even in great numbers, Orcus's temples were hidden, and his cults and churches operated as secret societies.

The book's next chapter talked about the rituals and beliefs of worshipers of Orcus. The book named many atrocities committed by the cults of the Prince of the Undead and especially Orcus's demand for living bloody sacrifices. The blood and skins of the sacrifices were collected for aesthetics and ritual use. The book stated that intelligent undead creatures rarely served Orcus willingly, even though vampires, liches, and other power-hungry beings served Orcus via dark pacts or sorcerous compulsion.

And lastly, the tome listed known powerful servants of Orcus. One such creature was Quah-Nomag the Skull-King, another was a vampire named Kauvra, and a third the lich Harthoon.

History
Copies of The Lord of the 133rd Layer circulated the region of the Moonsea circa 1373 DR, during the Order of the Crippled Fang crisis and the blockade of Zhentil Keep.

Appearances

 * Video Games
 * Neverwinter Nights: Tyrants of the Moonsea