Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

(Nancy Kaufman) #1

T'ITIVILUS


The gloomy
Lord of the Second,
Dispater, rules
from

his
iron palace, seeming
to hide surround
ed by its lab-

yrinthine
corridors,
iron walls, diabolical
traps, and


monstrous
servants.
So intense is his
paranoia that he

almost never
travels farther
than the sprawling
city that

lies outside
his magnificent
palace. Dispater
knows he

has enemies
on all sides-
enemies who would
do to him

what has been done
to the likes of
Geryon, Moloch, and

so many others.

Dispater is cor
rect to fear, but the
true threat comes

not from
without. The lord's
great error was
allowing

himself
to be seduced by
Titivilus, who beguiled
his way

into being
the primary
advisor in Dispater's
household.

Although
he is inferior
in physical strength
and power

when compared
to other archdev
ils, Titivilus compen-

sates with cunning.
A shrewd
and calculating politician,

he
has clawed his way
up through the
ranks to become

the
second-most powerful
fiend in Dis,
entirely by say-

ing just the
right thing at the
right time to get
what he

wanted. Charming
and pleasant,
he is a master
at nego-

tiation, able
to twist words
in such a way as
to leave his

victims
confused and believing
they have found
a friend

in Titivilus. Through
these skills,
Titivilus has manip-

CHAPT.ER 6
I BESTIARY


ulated
everyone along
his path to power,
either to win

them
over to his cause
or to remove them
as a threat.

Since
gaining his
position, Titivilus
has convinced

Dispater that
countless plots
are being hatched
against

him and that
Asmodeus himself
seeks to remove
Dis-

pater from
power. In response,
Dispater has
withdrawn

to
his palace and left
day-to-day decisions
to Titivilus,

while also authorizing
him to answer
and negotiate bar-

gains with mortals
who attempt to
summon Dispater.

Titivilus
now represents
his master and speaks
with his

voice, a
turn of events that
leads some to whisper
that ei-

ther Titivilus
is Dispater
in disguise, or that
Titivilus has

removed the archduke
and replaced
him altogether.

Titivilus recognizes
the inherent
precariousness
of

his position.
After all, Dispater's
acceptance of his
plans

and
his advice can last
only so long before
some other

plotter
steps in and reveals
the truth. For
insurance,

Titivilus
has begun
recruiting outsiders
to deal with

problem devils,
to insulate himself
against criticism
,

and, above
all, to create complications
that he
can solve

so as to reinforce
his value in
the eyes of his
master. Titi-

vilus finds adventurers
well suited to
the tasks he needs

performed and recruits
them directly
or through in ter-

mediaries, expend
ing them later as
his plans requir
e.
Free download pdf