Pale Night

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Pale Night was an obyrith demon lord of unimaginable age, often referred to as the Mother of Demons, to whom the tanar'ri appeared as mere children. An unknowable enigma shrouded in mystery, to peer beyond her veil was to witness an indescribable horror so great that it was rejected by reality itself.

Description
Pale Night appeared in a shimmer of strange light, as a diaphanous, white sheet that billowed in a non-existent wind, yet never enough to reveal what lurked beneath it. On closer inspection, the contours of the robe suggested an comely, feminine form, like that of a lithe elf or human. The phantasmal figure glided through the air, hazy and terrifying yet seductive in shape. When she spoke, her voice was low and almost inaudible, but her singing was apparently enrapturing and her robe moved fluidly, easily indicating her gestures. Besides the cloak, only white, gossamer hairs concealed her incorporeal visage, preventing onlookers from glimpsing the true, maddening wrongness of her existence.

Personality
Pale Night was no less malevolent and sadistic than the other demons of the Abyss, although luckily for many she was also utterly capricious. Sometimes she decided to murder any trespassers in her domain and put them on display, but at others she gave them tasks or simply allowed them to leave. Her actions and decisions were difficult to decipher since she rarely ever spoke, even to her own servants, and she could barely be deigned to associate with other demon lords. For a mortal to even attempt to speak to her could be considered a grievous offense worthy of death.

Powers
Pale Night was a being beyond that of typical demon lords, able to overcome even divine power in some cases. She was an entity of insanity, spreading madness and confusion in a variety of ways. Viewing her true form was assuredly deadly; the only hope someone that wasn't a demon (or a similar chaotic evil being from another plane, like a demodand) had of survival was if their minds hadn't processed the image by the time it had already gone by, and those that were ressurected had no recollection of what they saw. Pale Night's very touch drained her victim's personality to rejuvenate herself, sapping their self-love and happiness until nothing was left but misery and feelings of worthlessness.

Not even a victim's soul was fully safe from Pale Night since she could contain them in her sheet like a magic jar and possess their bodies, indicated by an invisible shawl that wrapped around their corporeal selves. She could also embrace an individual, wrapping them into part of their veil to put them in a kind of temporal stasis, rendering them phantom projections of their former selves. The victims became faint, intangible, and had their details hidden behind a shroud similar to Pale Night's, with only spells like freedom, miracle or wish able to restore them.

While Pale Night preferred to have others fight on her behalf she would do battle when pressed, and if given notice would possibly find or summon a host to possess, recklessly overusing it to the point of destruction. Otherwise, she revealed her true form before drifting through the battlefield at uncanny speeds, stealing the sense of self from all nearby with her fearsome touch.

Possessions
Pale Night's shroud wasn't exactly her possession, as she seemed to lack true control over it. A new shroud wrapped around her mere moments after it was lifted, and she herself could only suppress it for a few seconds once per day.

Relationships
Ancient texts claim that Pale Night is the mother of Graz'zt, Lupercio, and Vucarik in Chains. If she is indeed the mother of Graz'zt, she would also be the grandmother of Iuz, and possibly the mother of Rhyxali. Other texts make the bold claim that the entire tanar'ri race is descended from her in some way. However, Pale Night speaks only very rarely and has not confirmed any of this. She also seems to have a mutual defense alliance with Baphomet.

Realm
Pale Night lives in a bone castle which sits on a vast plateau in the Endless Maze of Baphomet, on the 600th layer of the Abyss. She has a strong alliance with Baphomet, the Prince of Beasts, and has lived on his layer since long before he became a demon lord. They do not work together, but each will defend the other's home from assault. Pale Night's castle looks like a giant grasping hand and is guarded by ambulatory bones and appendages. She rarely leaves this castle. It is said that those who stumble into her domain become new guardians for it.

Pale Night also rules the 471st layer of the Abyss, called Androlynne. Long ago, by guile and trickery, she trapped a whole generation of eladrin children on her layer with the intent of hunting them down one by one at her leisure. Since then, the layer has become a battlefield between the forces of the demoness and the celestials that have come to protect the children.

Cult of Pale Night
Worshipers of Pale Night are rare; most of them are malevolent spellcasters obsessed with creating new breeds of half-fiends to unleash to the world.