Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

TIAMAT WAITS AND WATCHES

The Queen of Dragons resides in Avernus. Her lairs sits

atop a towering mountain, with flights of dragons wheel·

ing through the skies to d iscourage any demonic incur-

sions. For their part, the demons avoid this place. The

hordes of the Abyss have learned the hard way that Tiamat

and her court prefer to be left alone. She appears disinter-

ested in becoming involved in the Blood War.

Tiamat's presence in Avernus has confounded sages for

years. As with devils, she is unable to leave the plane of

her own will. She must be called forth, but only the might-

iest rituals can draw her back into the world. So, if she has

been imprisoned here, how and why did that come about?

The most prevalent theory holds that her confinement

is related to the end of the long war between the dragons

and giants, that she was sequestered here by means of a

mighty curse levied by a forgotten god of the giants she

slew. The curse brought an end to the war but also drew

the curtain on the time of the dragons and giants on the

Material Plane, clearing the way for the rise of humans,

ores, dwarves, elves, and other folk. lfTiamat were to

return to the material world, that event could trigger, or

be a signal of, the resumption of the war between giants

and dragons.

vering stand in stark contrast to Bel's approach, which

relied on his expertise in logistics and defensive tactics

to make steady but slow advances. Bel remains one of

her chief lieutenants, and he doesn't discourage her

reckless tactics in the hope that she will overextend her

forces and suffer a defeat that leads to her removal.

For now, though, the devils are fighting with a ber-

serker fury under her charge. Zariel leads their offen-

sives herself, and her unyielding resolve coupled with

the fighting skill of her underlings has pushed nearly all

the demonic invaders out of Avernus.

THE WARRIOR'S GENERAL

Zariel is no politician. She lives to fight, and she bases

her assessment of those she meets on a combination of

their combat skills and their willingness to use those

skills. In Zariel's eyes, zeal and fury are as important in

a fight as iron discipline and extensive training.

That outlook has made her something of a political

pariah, since she has spurned overtures of alliance from

other Lords of the Nine and elected to swell the ranks

of her armies through the aggressive recruitment of

mortal souls. Her agents offer gifts of martial skill and

courage to any who are willing to bargain. Zariel needs

souls that yearn to prove their worth on the battlefield.

LADY OF RUIN

Zariel rules over the ruin that Avernus has become.

Once it was a bustling realm filled with cities, trade

outposts, and other features, but recent activity in the

Blood War has reduced it to a blasted wasteland. The

few structures still standing are citadels constructed by

the devils to repel attackers, to be rebuilt each time the

front line of the war moves. The devils are in control of

Avernus at present, though the fighting goes on (as it al-

ways does) in isolated locales throughout the layer.

Adventurers able to avoid the other occupants can find

treasure within some of the ruins, though they must ven-

ture to the fringes of the active conflict to have any hope

of finding places that have not yet been looted.

Many of the active citadels on Avernus loom over the

River Styx or surround portals to other planes or to Dis.

An amnizu presides over each location, directing the

lemures that emerge from the Styx, marshaling forces

against invaders, and preventing unauthorized travel.

DISPATER

THE COSMOS IS A GRAND GAME. HE WHO KNOWS ITS

rules the best shall win the prize.

-Dispater

Dispater is the foremost arms dealer of the Nine Hells,

and perhaps the greatest weapons supplier in all the

planes. As the lord of Dis, he oversees a mining and

smelting operation that continually churns out weapons

and armor. Using some of the great number of secret

techniques Dispater has unearthed over his lifetime, the

foundries of Dis produce deadly armaments that help to

stem the abyssal tide. The fighting requires constant re-

inforcements, creating a voracious appetite for the prod-

ucts of the iron mines on Dis and the workshops in the

sprawling metropolis that shares the name of the layer.

Dispater trusts no one and dislikes surprises. Since

Zariel's rise to power, he has taken to dwelling in the

libraries inside his iron palace. He employs a network

of spies and informants to watch over anyone that might

threaten him, a measure of his deep paranoia. Dispater

has created an impenetrable suit of adamantine armor

for himself, imbued with charms designed to foil spells

and keep him safe in any environment, no matter how

hostile. No one can guess at all of its features, since he

crafted it using methods that only he has mastered.

Dispater's paranoia affects everything he does. For

example, he often dispatches orders and other missives

by branding his message on the back of an imp. The imp

wears a leather vest that conceals the message, and the

laces of the vest are knitted into the imp's heart. If the

vest is removed by anyone other than the intended recip-

ient, that act kills the imp and causes its body to disinte-

grate before the message can be read.

The lord of Dis measures everything in terms of

the knowledge it contains and the secrets that can be

gleaned from it. He yearns to solve every mystery of the

cosmos, a quest that might seem foolhardy for anyone

other than an immortal being. Any hint of a secret that

remains hidden draws his attention, and a discovery

that could tip the scales in his favor might be enough to

entice him to act against his fellow Lords of the Nine.

Given his reclusive nature, gaining an audience with

Dispater is difficult at best, with no guarantee that any

correspondence truly reaches him.

THE GREATEST GAME

Dispater's trade in souls is concerned mainly with the

acquisition of secrets. His imps scour the Material

Plane in search of any lost lore that could help to turn a

soul to Dispater's service. Such a secret could be a lost

spell sought by a mighty archmage, who pledges fealty

to Dispater in return for the knowledge, or it could be

the identity of a petitioner's secret admirer. Dispater and

his minions know that the perceived value of a secret is

CHAPTER 1 I THE BLOOD WAR

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