King of Ghouls
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The King of Ghouls is a malevolent undead creature turned demigod (as of version 3.5) created for the Dungeons and Dragons fantasy role-playing game. He is sometimes known as "Doresain."
| Dungeons & Dragons Deity | |
| King of Ghouls | |
|---|---|
| Title(s) | King of the Ghouls |
| Homeplane | Infinite Layers of the Abyss |
| Power Level | Demigod |
| Alignment | Chaotic Evil |
| Portfolio | Ghouls, necromancy |
| Domains | evil, hunger, chaos |
| Alias(es) | Doresain |
| Superior | Yeenoghu |
Contents |
[edit] Description
The King of Ghouls is said to appear as an especially thin and wasted ghoul, eyes ablaze with a sickly green ghoul light, with hoof-like feet. He wears an elegant coat of supple human flesh and a suit of pale leather armor studded with tiny skulls.
[edit] Clergy and temples
Doresain's favored weapon is the scimitar.
[edit] History
The King of Ghouls was once a vassal of Orcus who ruled his own layer of the Abyss until Yeenoghu invaded. Doresain was forced to swear fealty to the Gnoll Lord, who apparently still holds sway over the White Kingdom.[1]
[edit] Gravetouched ghouls
It is noted in Libris Mortis that the King of Ghouls sometimes appears to incautious necromancers meddling with the Negative Energy Plane, forcibly converting them into ghouls to create worshippers for himself. Ghouls created directly by Doresain are known as gravetouched ghouls, which differ from standard ghouls in that they retain most of their original abilities. The gravetouched ghoul is, in fact, a templated creature based on the standard ghoul.
As a demigod, the King possesses the unique ability to add the gravetouched ghoul template to creatures to which it is not normally applicable.
[edit] The White Kingdom
The layer of the Abyss where the King of Ghouls resides is known as the White Kingdom. This place is sacred to ghouls, who sometimes try to recreate it on the Prime Material Plane.
[edit] Creative origins
The King of Ghouls was first mentioned in the first edition Monster Manual under the demon lord Yeenoghu's entry, where the King supposedly paid homage to the Gnoll lord. Practically nothing was mentioned about the King of Ghouls until years later in the Dungeon magazine adventure "Kingdom of the Ghouls" by Wolfgang Baur, where he was the major villain and was named Doresain, master of the White Kingdom. In 3rd edition Dungeons and Dragons in the Book of Vile Darkness supplement, he was little more than an advanced Fiendish ghoul.
While other unofficial d20 supplements provided alternative statistics for the King, in the D&D supplement Libris Mortis, Doresain was promoted to a demigod.
In ¨Expert¨ module X2 a pit trap in a dungeon contains a secret passage to the land of the Ghoul King.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Demon Lord: Yeenoghu. Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss. Wizards.com. Retrieved on 2006-06-27.
[edit] References
- Baur, Wolfgang. "Ecology of the Ghoul." Dragon #252 (TSR, 1998).
- Baur, Wolfgang. "A Gathering of Winds." Dungeon #129 (Paizo Publishing, 2005).
- Baur, Wolfgang. "Kingdom of the Ghouls." Dungeon #70 (TSR, 1998).
- Collins, Andy and Bruce R Cordell. Libris Mortis (Wizards of the Coast, 2004).
- Gygax, Gary. Monster Manual (TSR, 1977).
- Jacobs, James, Erik Mona, and Ed Stark. Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss (Wizards of the Coast, 2006).
