Malaugrym

Malaugryms, also known as Shadowmasters, were evil shapeshifters.

"But don't you agree, that prey tastes even better when spiced with the sweet tang of fear?"

- A malaugrym shortly before devouring its victim.

Description
These shapeshifters were, both physically and mentally, superior to many if not most other races. In their natural state, which they almost never revealed, they appeared as a wide spherical mass of rubbery flesh with three yellow eyes, a beaked mouth, and three tentacles, each tipped with a hooked claw. They hovered in midair with their tentacles constantly writhing.

When transformed into the shape of a humanoid or other creature, that form's eyes would have an extremely faint yellow glow. This was often the only indication that the person or creature was in fact a malaugrym.

Personality
They possessed an uncanny, malicious intelligence and a remarkable charismatic presence, despite the abhorrent appearance of their natural form. They were cruel and sadistic, preferring to capture and they eat their prey live and often hunted and killed merely for amusement.

They were nearly universally motivated by a desire for power and competed with each other for the chance to wreak havoc on lawful or goodly society.

Abilities
Malaugrym were said to be perfect shapeshifters, able to freely adopt the forms of any creature, object, or person they wished. The only known limit to their ability was that they could not assume the forms of deities. Most had two favorite forms: a normal seeming human form in which they could freely travel among the peoples of the Material Plane, and a more monstrous form which they reserved for combat. At least some of this shapeshifting ability was illusory.

Combat
They were astoundingly agile, far beyond the ken of the regular human, as well as, to a lesser extent, being stronger and more hardy than one.

Malaugrym were notoriously quick to recover from wounds, which, with time, sealed up on their own. They were furthermore impervious to all weapons save those which were magical or silver. Blows from silver weapons were particularly devastating, and left wounds the malaugrym could not heal naturally, instead requiring magical attention.

Malaugrym were also resistant to magical attacks, particularly from less experienced casters, and were further immune to all poisons.

Society
The Malaugrym sought power and food on the Material Plane, and could be found at the Castle of Shadows on the Plane of Shadow, however they were not native to either of these planes. Most malaugrym encountered on the Material Plane were trained as wizards, although it was not unheard of for them to be sorcerers or clerics of evil or chaotic deities.

The leader of a group of malaugrym was known as the Shadowmaster, a title which passed onto whichever malaugrym was a strong enough spellcaster to claim the title from its previous owner. It was suggested that only the Shadowmaster, or perhaps those spellcasters strong enough to be a Shadowmaster, processed the power to travel to the Material Plane.

Although they were omnivores, Malaugrym preferred to feed on living creatures, particularly humans, and would do so by sticking their hooked tentacles down a victim's throat before crawling inside to devour them from within.

Malaugrym did not have sexes and could present as any gender, however individuals often informally adopted a single gender as part of their preference for maintaining consistent personalities across their different shapes. To reproduce, malaugrym would adopt a form necessary to mate with a human, and then steal away with the newborn to raise as a new malaugrym. While the malaugrym did age and grow old, they could not die of old age. Instead, older malaugrym were often killed by younger ones eager to usurp their power.

History
The origins of the malaugrym were unclear. Legends claimed that the malaugrym race was somehow created by or descended from the wizard Malaug, said to be the first human to enter the Plane of Shadow. Despite their affinity for the Plane of Shadow, they were not native to it, and instead had used it as their primary means of transit between their alien home dimension and the Material Plane. However, the chaos of the Spellplague severed their connection to that unknown plane, leaving the malaugrym without the ability to return to their true homes.

The first recorded instance of malaugrym living in Faerûn was in the third century DR when a young Elminster clashed with the malaugrym Undarl.

They reappeared in the, once again attacking Elminster, either for sport or to plunder his treasures. Elminster slew one of his attackers, and this act drew such astonishment and fury from the malaugrym that they dubbed him "the Enemy" and swore to destroy him. Realizing the threat they posed, Elminster drew Khelben Arunsun and the Harpers into the conflict, triggering would come to be known as the Harpstar Wars. Battles were raged across multiple planes and left both the malaugrym and the Harpers depleted. The war continued until the, and only ended when Khelben assumed control over the current Shadowmaster's mind and convinced the remaining malaugrym that continued fighting would be too costly. Throughout this entire conflict, the malaugrym never revealed their true forms, and for another century and a half scholars would believe that they were a peculiar clan of humans.

Following the Harpstar Wars, Elminster established planar wards intended to alert him if any malaugrym returned to Toril. A pair arrived in the, seeking to acquire the secret of spellfire from Shandril Shessair, although they were beaten back by Elminster along with Rathan Thentraver and Torm of the Knights of Myth Drannor. A larger group arrived following the Time of Troubles in the, seeking to eliminate Elminster, Khelben, and Laeral Silverhand and then infiltrate Faerûnian society. This group was beaten back in large part thanks to the efforts of the Rangers Three, although at least five of the shapeshifters remained active in the Realms as of the.

Following the severing of their connection to their home plane circa the, malaugrym numbers began steadily decreasing. By the late 15 century DR, it seemed that each malaugrym still active in Faerûn merely perused their own ends rather than attempting to work in a coordinated fashion.

Notable Malaugryms

 * Amarune
 * Arathluth
 * Bralatar
 * Emmergluth
 * Luthvaerynn
 * Orglym
 * Sarth
 * Taluth
 * Undarl
 * Yabrant

Appearances

 * Novels
 * Cloak of Shadows • All Shadows Fled • Stormlight • Crown of Fire • Hand of Fire • Elminster: The Making of a Mage
 * Elfsong • The Abduction • The Summoning • The Sorcerer
 * Video Games
 * Neverwinter Nights: Tyrants of the Moonsea
 * Neverwinter Nights: Tyrants of the Moonsea