Bazim-Gorag was an ascended batrachi, a slaad lord as well as one of the five primordials worshiped in Toril.[2][5] The Firebringer was a harbinger of conflagration and ruin, a destructive, elemental force who sought to set the Realms on fire and watch it burn.[1][6]
Description[]
Bazim-Gorag appeared to be a toad-like humanoid with skin mottled red and gold. He was a hulking creature, lean yet muscular, and larger than an ogre. Two frog-like heads sprouted from his shoulders, each with two eyes like balls of white fire and a wide mouth filled with sharp teeth. His heads would finish each others' sentences, each head having a different pitch, and one could hear them hissing and murmuring to each other at times.[1][6][7]
At will, Bazim-Gorag could also polymorph[8] into a humanoid form, typically using the guise of a tall, handsome human lord in bronze armor. His unkempt hair in this form was a brilliant hue of red and orange, his skin a dark, ruddy shade of bronze, and his eyes almost glowing red. Though one head was magically hidden, the two minds of Bazim-Gorag were still both intact, and a change in pitch could still be heard midsentence.[6][9]
Personality[]
Bazim-Gorag was a champion of chaos whose evil and corruption rivaled that of a demon prince; his brand of chaos was spreading death, destruction, and despair wherever he went.[1][10] His imprisonment had made him grow to despise Faerun, and if freed he would enact burning vengeance in the North to sate his passionate hatred. The sadistic Firebringer created flame and wielded it with the cruel delight of a red dragon.[1][6] He was only too happy to destroy those who wandered near him, for years of entrapment had made the bloodthirsty lord savor his fights, drawing them out for their mere entertainment value.[9][6]
However, Bazim-Gorag was also wily and clever,[11][12] more than capable of deception and diplomacy, and highly knowledgeable about esoteric matters involving the magical and extraplanar.[1] He only attacked those he was certain could not be used to free him, often appearing in a non-threatening guise, and was willing to promise power, wealth, or even future service to those that assisted him, although honoring promises was not his strong suit and nothing stopped him from offering the same thing to everyone else. Though he valued wealth far less than freedom, any decision to make good on his deals would likely be made after his release.[6][13] He perceived hesitation as the other party not wanting to comply but unwilling to clearly tell him, figured such entities were more likely to betray him than help him, and was suspicious of such beings.[9]
Powers[]
Bazim-Gorag was incredibly physically powerful, able to rip and rend his foes apart with only his fangs and claws. The baleful flames created by the Firebringer were unusually potent, and he could surround himself in a wreath of flame that caused anyone within 20 ft (6.1 m) of him to catch fire. Three times each day he could let loose an incinerating strike, a blow of such fiery power that those killed by it were immediately destroyed. The slaad lord naturally healed from injury, was resistant to acid, electricity, the cold, and sonic waves, and couldn't be petrified or harmed by fire or poison.[9][8][7][1][6][13]
Bazim-Gorag's two heads didn't just give him a wide field of vision; each brain housed a separate persona and each could direct the body while the other talked (or telepathically communicated), used magic, or performed some other mental task. Like with many two-headed beings, this made it especially difficult to try and use mental magic against him, since incapacitating one mind didn't stop the other from fighting, although this did negate the benefit he had regarding the division of focus. When Bazim-Gorag took on a humanoid form, all that changed was his size and speed, though he also lost his claws and fangs and became much less proficient in melee. His chosen form couldn't be dispelled and he stayed in his form until he chose a new one, although truesight revealed his natural form and he reverted to it upon death.[9][8][7][1][6][13]
Bazim-Gorag could cast the spell-like abilities animate objects, cloak of chaos, deeper darkness, detect good, detect law, detect magic, detect thoughts, fear, fire storm, greater dispelling, invisibility, shatter, telekinesis, teleport without error, wall of fire and word of chaos at will. Thrice each day he could cast dispel law, divination, hold monster, meteor swarm, power word stun, and true seeing. Once per day, he could cast geas, power word kill, vision, and weird, and also, assuming he wasn't bound, summon a death slaad or 2-5 blue slaadi.[8][6][13]
Combat[]
Against seemingly weak opponents, Bazim-Gorag didn't bother reverting to normal form if not already in it nor did he use spell-like abilities with limited uses, simply casting fear, fire storm and telekinesis (dumping enemies in lava when the opportunity was present) while wading into battle. Foes that could be a challenge were stalled using wall of fire or deeper darkness while he returned to slaad shape before similarly charging in and letting loose fire storms and meteor swarms. He might temporarily retreat to prepare for a serious battle, invoking his cloak of chaos and true seeing while hidden, but if left with nowhere else to run, held nothing back and used his most devastating powers.[6][8][7]
Though a dynamic destroyer when fighting seriously, casting destructive magic even as he hacked his enemies to pieces, he was also a cunning opponent. He stalled for time using his abilities, waiting for his enemies' own enchantments to wear off while he regenerated, liberally used dispel magic against those protected from his fire, and often saved his truly potent incinerating strikes for particularly dangerous or irritating foes.[6][8][7]
Possessions[]
Bazim-Gorag wielding his glaive.
The Firebringer carried a huge glaive of black iron wreathed in dark flames that danced along the shaft. When he changed size, the glaive automatically shrunk or grew to accommodate his new form. It was an unholy weapon that created flaming bursts when it struck.[1][7]
Bazim-Gorag had received great amounts of treasure since he was imprisoned, some of it as tribute or down payments and others taken from unprepared adventurers that wandered into his lair.[7]
Realm[]
Bazim-Gorag was known to inhabit the Supreme Throne,[1] but the Pandemonium Stone of the Elemental Chaos, was also said to be his domain. Perhaps a sleeping slaad lord in and of itself or possibly an ancient batrachi artifact, when the Stone stood still for a long enough time, The Firebringer eventually came to it.[2]
However, Bazim-Gorag had been trapped for several centuries under the ruins of an abandoned castle incapable of escaping, his exit barred by an archway inscribed with lawful runes that prevented him or his powers from affecting anyone else beyond it. He kept his treasure in a separate chamber accessible only through a linked portal that he could close for about half a minute.[13]
Relationships[]
For centuries, the Beast of Nine Flames, a fiendish pyrohydra with nine heads, served as the Firebringer's battle mount. Even though not bound to his prison, it remained with its master waiting for him to be freed. The creature attacked all but Bazim-Gorag's acolytes and their slaadi companions.[14]
The greatest threat to Bazim-Gorag was perhaps other rival slaad lords;[10] Ygorl and Ssendam only tolerated his destructive ways so long as he didn't overtly challenge their "rule" over the slaadi. Ironically, his imprisonment prevented him from entering into a deadly confrontation with them millennia ago.[13]
Worshipers[]
While locked away in his prison, Bazim-Gorag managed to establish a secret cult of the Hidden Flame. Many members of this cult were just former bandits, others wicked beings drawn to his power, and some were simply drawn to the promises of reward Bazim-Gorag had made; the slaad lord openly displayed his wealth to impress potential recruits. However, there were true faithful among the slaad lord's followers, unbalanced worshipers of chaos and destruction that desired to see him release such devastation.[13][7][15] Bazimite priests were called the Lords of Change, and as a being of manifested chance, the Firebringer was invoked by the powerless, gamblers, and those who had hope only in impossible moments of luck.[2] His Acolytes also lavished him with gifts[7] and sometimes brought sacrifices for him to amuse himself with by killing.[13]
Though the small organization he created had only about fifty members, many of which weren't particularly dedicated, the Firebringer did have some powerful servants in his retinue.[15][13] The leader of the Acolytes was High Conflagration Jendar Tholm, a powerful death slaad that ensured cooperation among Bazim-Gorag's chief officers and tightly controlled group funds. Below him was Flame Lord Moskogg, a half-fiend minotaur that oversaw group raiding and recruitment, and Flame Lord Durzhul, a durzagon wizard who discovered the particulars of freeing Bazim-Gorag, though secretly he only planned to do so once he found a way to enslave the slaad lord to his will.[13][16]
History[]
Bazim-Gorag was thought to once have been a lord of the batrachi, one of the ancient creator races of Toril in the latter half of the Days of Thunder. His domain stretched across the entire supercontinent of Merrouroboros, from the Black Sea of the north to the peaks of Lopango in the south. The leader of the batrachi empires was a being known as Zhoukoudien, who despite having led his people to the zenith of their power, had also entered into a conflict with the giants to the north that supposedly decimated the empire.[17][4]
Not long after was the Tearfall, or seven-turn winter, when scholars believed a rain of meteors or icy moon struck Toril causing a dramatic change in climate. With the lands blanketed by ice, the batrachi civilization on Toril was brought to an end, and the survivors fled to Limbo where they created the Supreme Throne. The batrachi god Ramenos transformed their race for at least the second time in their history to suit his ends.[4][17]
Imprisonment[]
In −585 DR, the Year of Rumbling Earth, the troll warlord Harska Thaug amassed an army of savage humanoids, including trolls and orcs, and marched his horde south from the Spine of the World to attack the few remaining elves of Illefarn. One of the towns standing in their way was Andalbruin, built by a cabal of Netheril wizards that for over forty years had made the area their own. Selskartur, the Tower of the Star, was their stronghold, and it stood directly in the path of the bloodthirsty horde. Ar-magus Ilviroon, then leader of the Selskar order rallied the wizards to attack, but Harska's shamans and warpriests blunted their magical assaults.[1][11][5]
In desperation, Ilviroon used his mightiest weapon and summoned Bazim-Gorag to save the school and burn the troll horde. The Firebringer obliged, slaughtering many of the horde and sending the survivors scattered and running back to the Spine of the World. However, Bazim-Gorag charged a high fee for his services, and when Ilviroon hesitated to pay him the high price he demanded, the slaad lord razed the tower and slaughtered many of its mages. Ilviroon angrily retaliated and resolved to break the slaad lord's will, luring him into a sinister trap before casting a great binding spell with the help of the few surviving wizards.[1][11][5]
They imprisoned him deep in the tower vaults, and Ilviroon, in order to strengthen the spell, made a set of relatively simple conditions he named the Rite of Unbinding, that would allow the slaad lord to be freed. He told no one the details of the ritual, paranoid as he was that one of his ambitious underlings would try and use Bazim-Gorag against him. Battles with the trolls and the slaad lord had left the magi weakened, and while they struggled to return, Harska returned the following winter.[1][11][5]
With an even greater force than before, Harska posed such a dire threat that the Ar-magus was forced to turn to Bazim-Gorag once again. This time however, the slaad lord was reluctant to fight for the treacherous wizard, forcing Ilviroon to face the horde without Bazim-Gorag's aid. Ilivroon died in the battle, and with him the steps to free Bazim-Gorag, while Harska's horde completely demolished the tower before moving on. Centuries passed as many adventurers visited the Dungeon of the Ruins, as it came to be known, without ever discovering Bazim-Gorag below.[1][11][5]
In the 14th century DR however, Bazim-Gorag's prison was found by the Company of the Riven Orb, an adventuring party that managed to unearth him if not free him. Afterwards, the Firebringer called many evil beings to his service, and the Acolytes of the Hidden Flame were eventually founded to research a way to free the slaad lord.[1] It was unclear if they had succeeded.[2]
Rumors and Legends[]
Bazim-Gorag eventually ascended to become an extremely powerful being, although what exactly he was was a point of contention. Though originally a batrachi,[2][4] he had been tainted by the same malignant energy that transformed gray slaadi into death slaadi.[1] Though he seemingly noted his people as separate from the slaadi, which they were often mistaken for,[4] he did scheme to advance the power of the death slaadi over other members of their kind.[13] Somewhere along the line he became one of the five primary primordials worshiped in the Realms,[2] and it was suggested that he was one of the oldest of living slaadi, possibly responsible for the burning runes on the Spawning Stone.[18]
Appendix[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 Jeff Crook, Wil Upchurch, Eric L. Boyd (May 2005). Champions of Ruin. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 152. ISBN 0-7869-3692-4.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Bruce R. Cordell, Ed Greenwood, Chris Sims (August 2008). Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide. Edited by Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 78–79. ISBN 978-0-7869-4924-3.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Bruce R. Cordell, Ed Greenwood, Chris Sims (August 2008). Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide. Edited by Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 81. ISBN 978-0-7869-4924-3.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Brian R. James, Ed Greenwood (September 2007). The Grand History of the Realms. Edited by Kim Mohan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 5. ISBN 978-0-7869-4731-7.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Brian R. James, Ed Greenwood (September 2007). The Grand History of the Realms. Edited by Kim Mohan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 42. ISBN 978-0-7869-4731-7.
- ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 Jeff Crook, Wil Upchurch, Eric L. Boyd (May 2005). Champions of Ruin. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 153. ISBN 0-7869-3692-4.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8 Richard Baker (August 2003). “Prison of the Firebringer”. Dungeon #101 (Paizo Publishing, LLC) (101)., p. 55.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 Richard Baker (August 2003). “Prison of the Firebringer”. Dungeon #101 (Paizo Publishing, LLC) (101)., p. 54.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Richard Baker (August 2003). “Prison of the Firebringer”. Dungeon #101 (Paizo Publishing, LLC) (101)., p. 53.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Richard Baker (August 2003). “Prison of the Firebringer”. Dungeon #101 (Paizo Publishing, LLC) (101)., p. 58.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 Richard Baker (August 2003). “Prison of the Firebringer”. Dungeon #101 (Paizo Publishing, LLC) (101)., p. 17.
- ↑ Richard Baker (August 2003). “Prison of the Firebringer”. Dungeon #101 (Paizo Publishing, LLC) (101)., p. 18.
- ↑ 13.00 13.01 13.02 13.03 13.04 13.05 13.06 13.07 13.08 13.09 13.10 Jeff Crook, Wil Upchurch, Eric L. Boyd (May 2005). Champions of Ruin. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 154. ISBN 0-7869-3692-4.
- ↑ Richard Baker (August 2003). “Prison of the Firebringer”. Dungeon #101 (Paizo Publishing, LLC) (101)., p. 51.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Richard Baker (August 2003). “Prison of the Firebringer”. Dungeon #101 (Paizo Publishing, LLC) (101)., p. 23.
- ↑ Richard Baker (August 2003). “Prison of the Firebringer”. Dungeon #101 (Paizo Publishing, LLC) (101)., p. 41.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Brian R. James, Ed Greenwood (September 2007). The Grand History of the Realms. Edited by Kim Mohan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 8. ISBN 978-0-7869-4731-7.
- ↑ Ari Marmell, et al. (December 2009). The Plane Below. Edited by Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 63. ISBN 978-0-7869-5249-6.
Connections[]
Akadi • Bazim-Gorag • Grumbar • Istishia • Kossuth
Miscellaneous Primordials
Achazar • Arambar • Asgorath • Borem • Bwimb • Cirotralech • Dendar • Draunn • Dur-baagal • Entropy • Erek-Hus • Karshimis • Kezef • Maegera • Maram • Nehushta • Petron • Queen of Chaos • Rorn • Telos • Ubtao