Loumara

Loumaras were a relatively new demonic race, far younger than the tanar'ri but still ancient by the standards of mortals. More like ghosts than demons, the loumaras were immaterial horrors, living nightmares unfettered by physical limits that worked through material creatures and objects to sate their own twisted desires. They were well-known in the Abyss, but relatively obscure on the Material Plane due to their lacking substance, though their corruption of the mortal realms was greater than most were aware.

Description
The only physically unifying trait of the loumara was that their forms were incorporeal and indistinct. Some were formless masses while others had more outlined shapes once properly seen. Even if not observed, some loumaras exhibited subtle signs of their presence through minor sensations.

Personality
Predictably for demons, loumaras were cruel creatures, some more sadistic than others. They focused their efforts on fulfilling their own personal compulsions, destroying and corrupting as they saw fit.

Abilities
Loumara demons were incorporeal creatures capable of possessing various other creatures and objects- the exact kind depended on the type of loumara in question. They were naturally immune to electricity, acid, and fire, and were also resistant to the cold. Lacking physical forms, all loumara could telepathically communicate.

Society
For the most part, the loumaras were uninterested in matters outside their own domain or the Material Plane, leaving the petty politics of the Abyss to the older demon breeds. Outside of the 230 layer, they could be found in areas of the Abyss frequented by mortals, such as Demogorgon's city of Lemoriax, Malcanthet's beautiful layer of Shendilavri, and the Pazunian citadel of Broken Reach. Graz'zt in particular had a fair amount of loumara types haunting Azzagrat for the great number of potential hosts, widespread debauchery, and potential for bloodshed.

Ecology
The loumaras originated in the Dreaming Gulf, an infinite, phantasmagoric void left empty save for the alien air currents and the floating memories, dreams, and nightmares of a forgotten pantheon of dead gods. The lingering vestiges of their thoughts were sporadic things that the Abyss had been slowly "digesting" for ages by breaking them down into smaller pieces. Once a fragment was finished, a loumara would be "excreted" as a byproduct of the process, possibly after being infused with raw Abyssal chaos. From there, the loumaras spread throughout the Abyss like a stain, sometimes seeping into the Material Plane through tiny tears in the fabric of reality created by the dying dreams.

Types of Loumara
Many unknown breeds of loumara doubtlessly existed within the depths of the Dreaming Gulf, some thought to be even more powerful and ambitious than the known types, but few had emerged with enough frequency that inquisitors against demonkind knew what to search for. The Demonomicon of Iggwilv speculated that each breed of loumara evolved from the dreams of a different dead deity, and that each type's nature was a corruption of that deity's portfolio.


 * Caligrosto :
 * Created from the nightmares of a god of craftsmanship, caligrostos possessed and enhanced bladed weapons in the hopes of getting others to wield them. Though the deity they came from was also one of healing, the strength-stealing demons sought only to spill blood and rend flesh, using their wielders as tools so as to manifest forms capable of wielding weapons and personally enact the carnage.


 * Dybbuk :
 * Risen from the remnants of a goddess of love and art, dybbuks resembled human-faced jellyfish and drifted through grave-sights looking for corpses to puppeteer. After finding a "perfect" body, a beautiful and illustrious paragon of that race's society, they plunged the corpse into the deepest depravities and vices until their single-minded hedonism left it a ruined wreck.


 * Guecubu :
 * Formed from the nightmares of a god of law and peace, guecubus were murderous masses of vapor that possessed the sleeping. Each thought itself the one true avatar of the Abyss's will and sought to complete a pattern of serial murders to unlock their purpose. Easily dismissed as a bad dream, they brought the feeling of a forgotten nightmare, the meaning of which could save lives if it could only be recalled.


 * Manitou :
 * Spawned from the dead echoes of a goddess of fertility and nature, manitous appeared as a tangle of vines, each one tipped with a fanged maw, and sought to bring ruin to forests. They were compelled to devour the souls of dryads and could possess any plant, animal, or fey. The corruption of the wilds brought them great pleasure, and their incorporeal forms could literally tear the natural world apart..

History
Eons before the advent of the loumara, the 230 layer of the Abyss was ruled by Azuvidexus, a demon lord of primal beasts and scaled horrors. Rather than the empty realm of lost thoughts it had become, the Dreaming Gulf, at the time known as N'gharl, was a steaming jungle layer. Despite conducting several assaults on the realm, Demogorgon, Prince of Demons, was unable to defeat Azuvidexus, and so took to a new approach. Demogorgon established a truce with Azuvidexus and helped him form a particularly wicked cult on the Material Plane known as the Ravenous Maw, before stepping back and allowing his scheme to unfold.

The region Demogorgon helped Azuvidexus in was one under the protection of a highly territorial pantheon that reacted with quick violence when the Ravenous Maw invaded the ancient city of Barliar and killed the High Temple priests. The pantheon descended into the Abyss and with their combined might ripped free the entire layer of N'gharl, condensing it down to the size of a human head with Azuvidexus trapped inside. However, neither Demogorgon nor the pantheon expected the Abyss to strike back. Despite having cast N'gharl into the Astral Plane, the space left behind—the Abyss itself reflexively reacting like a hungry, sleeping predator rudely awakened from its slumber—almost instantaneously struck down the entire pantheon.

Though N'gharl wasn't replaced by a new layer (the condensed remains having ended up on the Material Plane) the void left behind was filled with the last thoughts of the deceased pantheon, which the Abyss began to break down and digest to spawn the first loumaras.

Notable Loumaras

 * Sifkhu was the only known (and possibly only) demon lord of the loumara. Found slumbering in the Dreaming Gulf by Malcanthet, the dormant demon lord was bound using a specially prepared ruby prison and kept deep below Malcanthet's palace, the Queen of Succubi hoping to absorb him some day without losing her physical form.

Appearances

 * Organized Play & Licensed Adventures : Hellfire Requiem

Connections
Loumara