Ramenos

In many campaign settings for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, Ramenos is the bullywug deity of somnolence, intoxication, and decay.

Publication history

Ramenos was first detailed in the book Monster Mythology (1992), including details about his priesthood.^[1]

Description

Once active and strong, Ramenos now slumbers most of the time, barely able to sustain attention to his own fate. He takes the form of an enormous, bloated frog with a maw vast even for one of his kind.

Relationships

Ramenos's relationship with the human demigod Wastri, who also has large numbers of bullywug followers, is unknown, but Ramenos scarcely cares for anything. He is related to the yuan-ti deity Merrshaulk, with whom he shares a layer of the Abyss, in the sense that they are both aspects of the primal World Serpent archetype.

A former consort of Ramenos is Urae-Naas, a slaad lord who rules the Phage Breeding Grounds on the Abyss. She appears as a bloated slaad, too obese to use her legs.^[2]

Realm

Ramenos shares his slumbering realm of Smaragd on the 74th layer of the Abyss with the yuan-ti god Merrshaulk. There, demons push sacrifices into the frog-god's open mouth.

Death

In 4th edition D&D lore, Ramenos is deceased,^[2] his rotting carcass used to fashion the Phage Breeding Grounds on the 53rd layer of the Abyss.^[2]

Dogma

Followers of Ramenos believe in the pleasures of intoxication and little else.

Worshippers

Ramenos is worshipped chiefly by bullywugs.

Clergy

Bullywug shamans are weak among their people. They act as advisors to tribal leaders (who they are often related to), and are religiously bound to get intoxicated with various plant alkaloids regularly.

Bullywug clerics have a 50% chance of summoning more monsters than usual, but there is a 25% chance that these monsters will not be under their control. They are more limited than most clerics, being able to cast only summon spells, inflict spells, and their domain spells.

Rituals

With the proper rites performed at one of Ramenos' ancient, ruined temples, his avatar can still be called forth. Otherwise, he will not bother.

Myths and legends

Bullywugs have only the most primitive creation myths, and they have no stories of Ramenos playing a role in them.

History

In the dim epochs of the past, Ramenos was worshiped by a now-extinct race of froglike humanoids, of whom bullywugs are among the few, degenerate descendents. Deep within the jungles, plateaus, and swamps to the south, evidence of his old glory can still be seen in the form of ruined temples with enormous stone statues of the god, their mouths still open to receive sacrifices.

Since then, Ramenos has fallen into dreams and periods of prolonged intoxication. He seems to be undergoing a long process of self-extinction.

References

Additional reading

• Greenwood, Ed, Eric L. Boyd, and Darrin Drader. Serpent Kingdoms. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2004.
• Smith, Lester W., and Wolfgang Baur. Planes of Chaos. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1994.
• Wyatt, James, and Rob Heinsoo. Monsters of Faerûn. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2001.