Doresain was an exarch of Orcus and the ruler of ghouls.[7]
Description[]
A form of Doresain on the Prime Material Plane.
Doresain took the appearance of a ghoul whose eyes glowed with vile green energy. He had hoof-like feet[7] and wore an elegant coat over leather armor, which was adorned with skulls.[2]
He was known for creating hordes of ghouls,[6] as well as maurezhi, which he made to lead legions of ghouls and ghasts to the Prime Material Plane.[1]
History[]
Early history[]
Doresain was once a mortal elf and a worshiper of Orcus. In order to honor his deity, he feasted on the flesh of his fellow elves. Impressed by the raw and savage act, Orcus turned Doresain into the very first ghoul.[6] Some sages noted that Doresain, in some form, founded a kingdom and became the great ruler over the ghouls in the Underdark of Oerth.[10][3][note 1]
Rise to Divinity[]
Doresain became a servitor to Orcus in the Abyss.[6] There he was imbued with a shard of Orcus' divinity and became known as the Ghoul King. Here, he would create ghouls from the servants of Orcus.[2] The King of Ghouls took command of the a layer of the Abyss, the White Kingdom.[5]
Conquered[]
Despite his devotion, Doresain would not stay subservient to Orcus, though not by choice. Yeenoghu staged an invasion of Doresain's layer (421st layer of the Abyss), which was right next to the Gnoll Lord's own layer (422nd layer of the Abyss). Orcus did not intervene, leaving Doresain to became a vassal of Yeenoghu.[8] Instead of serving Yeenoghu, Doresain instead turned to the Seldarine. They took pity on the demigod, who was then able to escape the Gnoll Lord's tyranny in return for granting elves immunity to the paralytic touch of his minions.[6] Yeenoghu later lost the ability to fully control Doresain.[7]
Return to Orcus[]
As of the 15th century DR, Doresain retained the shard of divinity originally given to him by Orcus. He returned to Orcus' side, this time as his exarch, as well as his servitor.[4] No longer holding his original layer, the White Kingdom, Doresain settled into the layer owned by Orcus, Thanatos, the 113th layer of the Abyss. Here, Doresain began to rule over part of Thanatos known as White Kingdom, which had the same name as his former home.[11]
Worshipers[]
The holy symbol of Doresain.
Doresain had several followers, particularly undead and especially ghouls. He was known to venture to the Negative Energy plane and seek out necromancers that were meddling there with the goal of turning them into ghouls. Doresain's holy symbol was the skull of a single ghoul, and though many ghouls did not know of or worship deities, those that did were known to pay homage to Doresain.[7]
The Temple of Filth, in the Shadowfell's version of Neverwinter, was once a shrine to Bhaal and Myrkul. It later became dedicated to Orcus and Doresain.[12]
Rumors & Legends[]
The undead of Evernight believed that the Demon Pit led to the White Kingdom in Thanatos.[13]
Appendix[]
Notes[]
- ↑ The corresponding Dungeon magazine adventure has Doresain as a king of ghouls of Oerth's Underdark in 586 CY (1366 DR). It is likely that this was the avatar form of Doresain, instead of his actual mortal form. This is because Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss states that conquering the divine realm of Doresain was one of Yeenoghu's "earliest" triumphs, which most likely happened far before 1366 DR.
Appearances[]
Video Games
Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford (May 29, 2018). Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. Edited by Kim Mohan, Michele Carter. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 133. ISBN 978-0786966240.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Mike Mearls, Stephen Schubert, James Wyatt (June 2008). Monster Manual 4th edition. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 208. ISBN 978-0-7869-4852-9.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Wolfgang Baur (September/October 1998). “Kingdom of the Ghouls”. Dungeon #70 (Wizards of the Coast) (70)., pp. 51–76.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Mike Mearls, Stephen Schubert, James Wyatt (June 2008). Monster Manual 4th edition. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 119. ISBN 978-0-7869-4852-9.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Ed Stark, James Jacobs, Erik Mona (June 13, 2006). Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 156. ISBN 0-7869-3919-2.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Christopher Perkins (2014-09-30). Monster Manual 5th edition. Edited by Scott Fitzgerald Gray. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 148. ISBN 978-0786965614.
- ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 Andy Collins, Bruce R. Cordell (October 2004). Libris Mortis: The Book of Undead. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 15–17, 60, 103. ISBN 0-7869-3433-6.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Ed Stark, James Jacobs, Erik Mona (June 13, 2006). Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 79. ISBN 0-7869-3919-2.
- ↑ unknown (2025). Monster Manual 5th edition (revised). (Wizards of the Coast), p. 132. ISBN 978-0-7869-6954-8.
- ↑ Wolfgang Baur (October 1998). “The Ecology of the Ghoul”. In Dave Gross ed. Dragon #252 (TSR, Inc.), pp. 94, 98.
- ↑ Bruce R. Cordell, Chris Tulach (June 2009). Kingdom of the Ghouls. Edited by Ray Vallese. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 12. ISBN 978-0-7869-5231-1.
- ↑ Matt Sernett, Erik Scott de Bie, Ari Marmell (August 2011). Neverwinter Campaign Setting. Edited by Tanis O'Connor. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 206. ISBN 0-7869-5814-6.
- ↑ Matt Sernett, Erik Scott de Bie, Ari Marmell (August 2011). Neverwinter Campaign Setting. Edited by Tanis O'Connor. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 206. ISBN 0-7869-5814-6.