The marilith, also known as Type V Demons, are the queens of the Abyss. They are tanar'ri demons. They are also known as pride demons or serpent demons. The leaders of Abyssal hordes and queens of Abyssal nations, the dreaded mariliths serve demon lords as governesses, advisors, and even lovers, yet their brilliance as tacticians makes them most sought after as generals and commanders of armies. The most powerful mariliths serve no one, and instead command ravenous fiendish legions.
Those mariliths encountered on Aednas tend to either be demons conjured from the Abyss by powerful spellcasters and set to service as guardians or the like, or representatives of demon lords themselves.
They delight in hacking enemies to pieces with its swords, doing so with horrifying ease and astonishing grace. Only the most arrogant and proud evil souls, typically those of cruel kings, sadistic generals, and exceptionally violent warlords, can trigger the transformation into a marilith.
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Appearance
A marilith is 6 to 9 feet tall and measures 20 feet from head to tail tip. It weighs 4,000 pounds.
A marilith has the lower body of a snake, the upper body of a humanoid woman, and six arms. A typical specimen is six to nine feet tall, 20 feet from head to tail, and weighs 4,000 pounds. They have pointed ears and glittering eyes.
A marilith usually holds a longsword in each of its six hands and wears many bangles and jewels.
A marilith stands about 9 feet tall and measures about 20 feet from head to tip of tail. It weighs about 4,000 pounds.
Terrible to behold, a marilith has the lower body of a great serpent and the upper torso of a humanoid female with six arms.
Wielding a wicked blade in each of its six hands, a marilith is a devastating foe that few can match in battle. These demons possess keen minds and a finely honed sense of tactics, and they are able to lead and unite other demons in common cause. Mariliths are often encountered as captains at the head of a demonic horde, where they embrace any opportunity to rush headlong into battle.
Even without her serpentine lower body, a marilith would
be an imposing figure with her height and multitude
of arms. Like succubi, mariliths are invariably female.
Their appearances can vary greatly, particularly in the
coloration of their serpentine lower bodies . These sinuous
lengths are powerfully muscular yet remain quite sleek.
Often, one does not appreciate the power in a marilith's
tail until it has coiled around a victim and is squeezing
the consciousnes s (and soon thereafter, the life) from him.
Ecology
Mariliths are formed in the Abyss from the souls of evil, arrogant, and cruel rulers and warlords. When a marilith obtains command of cults or minions, it treats its servants with the same callousness and contemptuousness that they detest from their own superiors. This breeds the same sense of frustrated pride in a marilith's servants that spawned their lady, so that when they eventually die, their Abyss-bound souls seed the creation of new mariliths.
A marilith periodically sheds its skin like snakes do, including the skin of its humanoid torso along with that of its serpentine tail. Mariliths, like other demons, are created at their full adult size and do not appear to do this to accommodate growth like snakes do. A shedding marilith can—and commonly does—alter her scales' patterns and coloration, her hair color, her eye color, and even the presence, extent, or designs of tattoos, however, which leads some demonologists to suspect that this behavior is tied to their sin of pride, driving them to constantly improve their physical appearance.
Created from the souls of the most arrogant of evil rulers and warlords, mariliths embody the sins of Pride; cursed to forever be the penultimate demons, no matter what they have, it's never good enough. They even have the ability to shed their skin, completely reinventing their appearance on a whim, to exemplify this constant need to be better. This sometimes leads to strange mutations; for example, Lixiriltha, the Jade Coil, has the serpent-nest hair and petrifying gaze of a medusa (she turns her victims into jade statues) and a secondary serpentine maw at the tip of her tail.
Mariliths often shed their skins like snakes do, yet
they do not do so as part of a growth cycle-a marilith is
generally as large as she'll ever get when she is created by the
Abyss. Rather, this shedding of skin seems to be something
the marilith does entirely for pleasure-even the non- scaly
flesh of her upper torso peels away at this time. When a
marilith sheds her skin, her appearance changes according
to her whim, down to her eyes, hair, scale patterns , and even
the presence of tattoos. Some demonologists suspect this as
a manifestation of their arrogance in the form of vanity-a
constant struggle to reinvent their appearance to be better
than what existed before.
Habitat and society
Mariliths are generals and tacticians, often rivaling balors in sheer brilliance and cunning. Some also serve as chief lieutenants for major demon royalty.
Most mariliths serve the demon lords as generals and advisors, and are particularly common in the service of Abraxas and Andirifkhu. The snake god Ydersius was also served by serpent demons before his defeat. Because mariliths are powerful demons in their own right, however, some carve out their own territories to rule.
Mariliths served as commanders and tactical experts for the Blood War, providing the stratagems to complement the malignant magnetism of the balors. They believed the balors were in charge only because of their sheer power and were otherwise unneeded to conduct the Blood War, but they never acted on this belief in fear of that power. Glabrezus were disliked by mariliths for their obnoxious insistence on using temptation and manipulation rather than outright warfare. Mariliths normally had to settle for merely undermining them as their balor superiors favored the glabrezus' sinister schemes.
The Marilith is one of the most famous and easily distinguished of the Tanar'ri. These powerful and deadly demons are amongst the highest classes of demons that aren't actively Demon Princes, and traditionally serve as the tacticians and generals of the Abyss. The Baatezu absolutely hate them, because they are both Chaotic and highly intelligent, allowing them to form complex plans and tactics that use innovation and free-thinking the hidebound Lawful devils are incapable of matching. Worse, they're extremely deadly combatants, deftly wielding six enchanted weapons - traditionally all swords, but this is hardly set in stone - to eviscerate entire armies of lesser beings that dare to challenge them.
Mariliths actually have their own Demon Princess; Shaktari, the Queen of Mariliths.
Yuan-ti followers of Demogorgon and other demon princes displayed an affinity for the similarly serpentine mariliths. A good method of currying their service was the sacrifice of strong mortal warriors.
Mariliths commonly live alone or in pairs, though often with other demons as minions.
Less inte lligent and less powerful demons typically
have correspondingly modest visions for what it means
to be the center of the ir universes. All demons have an
instinctive sense of their own status, and they typica lly
don't set impossible goals-a lesser demon, for in stance,
might simply run amok when unleashed into t he world,
its only d esire to spread chaos, but a marilith or other
powerful de mon usually has an inte nt that goes beyond
merely causing carnage, and a plan to achieve it.
The leaders of Abyssal hordes and queens of Abyssal
nations, the dreaded mariliths serve demon lords as
governesses, advisors, and even lovers, yet their brilliance
as tacticians makes them most sought after as generals and
commanders of armies. The most powerful mariliths serve
no one, and instead command ravenous fiendish legions.
A marilith is 6 to 9 feet tall and measures 20 feet
from head to tail tip. It weighs 4,000 pounds. Only the
most arrogant and proud evil souls, typically those of
cruel kings, sadistic generals, and exceptionally violent
warlords, can trigger the manifestation of a marilith.
Mariliths delight in ruling demon cult s , but do not take
as well to simply serving them. Often, when a marilith
is conjured by a powerful cult leader, she finds a way
to engineer the high priest's demi s e . Most often, she
accomplishes this by using the leader's own followers
against him, promising various favors or rewards
to subordinate cultists in return for aiding her in
overthrowing the leader. The marilith's vast experience
with what it feels like to be the second-in-command
makes her uniquely suited to inspiring cult leaders' most
trusted followers into acts of treas on. Once a marilith
seizes control of a cult, its primary goal typically switche s
to s omething specifically designed to bolster the
marilith's power and holdings , either where the cult is
based or back in the Aby s s itself.
A marilith's treatment of tho s e who s erve directly
under her in cult s or other organizations of which she
has seized control does more than anything else to
propagate new mariliths, for they inflict the treatment
they loathe from their superiors upon their direct
underling s . They often pit the s e minions in indirect
competition with each other, op enly humiliate them
when they fail (even if that failure i s all in the eyes of
the marilith herself), and otherwi s e do little to instill
loyalty. As a result , tho s e who s erve a marilith invariably
hate their mistr e s s , yet u sually their fear of the marilith
i s enough to prevent treachery. When the marilith
inevitably move s on to other, greater commands , she
often abandons her previous cult s and followers, giving
them the chance to seize control of the organization for
thems elves in bloody confrontations that s end most of
their arrogant brothers and sisters to their grave swhere,
of cour s e , their souls eventually feed the Aby s s
a n d help to spread t h e creation of n e w mariliths.
Personality
Mariliths had domineering and wicked personalities, eager as they were to bring pain and betrayal to others, but their malice was accompanied by shrewdness and cunning. They were highly intelligent beings with a good sense for strategy, their brilliance thriving in matters of army-level tactics. They also had the rare ability to unite and coordinate the actions of other demons, a practically impossible task due to their chaotic nature. Whether through disciplinary mastery or suppression of their natural instincts, they could predict the actions of law despite not truly understanding them in order to outwit the baatezu.
In the eyes of most mariliths, subtle temptation was but a silly game compared to true warfare planning. They were proud of their martial skills and tactical superiority and often kept the weapons of their defeated foes as trophies. Their weapons were among their most cherished possessions, and if stolen they would take extreme measures to retrieve them.
Mariliths are obsessed with martial skill, and they take trophy weapons from particularly fierce opponents, which they hide in secret caches—sometimes in the depths of the Abyss, sometimes in the world.
The marilith' s favored form of treasure is weaponry. While
her ability to infuse weapons allows even the crudest
weapon to become magical in her hands, most mariliths
try to arm themselves with at least one weapon of greater
power than they can infuse. A collection of six powerful
weapons is beyond the reach of most mariliths, and so
the maj ority of them focus on achieving one weapon of
great power which they can wield as a primary weapon.
Mariliths can mix and match their tools, but most ofthem
prefer to have some sort of theme among their weapons,
both for appearance's sake, and to more efficiently take
advantage of weapon-related feat s . It's not uncommon
to see a marilith clad in some form of armor or wearing
magical j ewelry (rings, bracers, and necklaces are much
preferred), but these items are generally of much lower
quality than the creature's favorite weapon.
Summoning
Although mariliths (known also as pride demons or serpent
demons) are among the most devastating demons in melee
combat, they are also among the most arrogant of demonic
races. A conjurer who attempts to force a marilith to take a
task below what she feels is her standing suffers a –6 penalty
on his Charisma check to secure her aid. Roles such as serving
as the commander of a cult or the general of an army are the
minimum level of prestige a marilith typically accepts as
worthy of her talents.
Preferred Sacrifice: Any magical melee weapon of at least +2 or greater enhancement.
Mariliths are perhap s the most powerful demons one
can conjure with weater planar ally or weater planar bindin13.
In most cases, the s pellcaster must utilize numerous
expensive components and offerings when conjuring
a marilith, including rare incens e, candles rendered
from the fat of kings and high priests, and the hands
of six different generals who must still be living and
commanding significant armies . The s e hands must be
impaled on the blades of swords that must then be driven
into the ground, p oint first, equidistantly around the
circumference of the circle. The palms must be facing
upward, and the stump s facing toward the center of the
circle-the weapons themselve s can be of significant
value as well, and can double as offerings to the marilith if
the conjurer wishe s . The cost of the s e weapons can lower
the total cost of the material components or payment s for
s ervices rendered by as much as 50%.
Abilities
A marilith can wield a weapon in each of their six arms as easily as if they were using only one. It also has several spell-like abilities, and can catch and crush foes using its powerful tail.
Known mariliths
- The original four type V demons were named Aishapra, Kevokulli, Marilith, and Rehnaremme.
- Shaktari: known as the Queen of Poison, Shaktari is a giant marilith who rules Vudra, the 531st layer of the Abyss. She has flaming eyes and black skin. She was once banished to the Wells of Darkness, but escaped.
- Lixiriltha, the Jade Coil
- Xybntaus Xybtua
- Alamanda
- Aishapra, the Marilith Dervish
- Baltoi: The Sleeping Beast from Van Richten's Guide to Fiends
- Byakala: an advanced marilith with the Smoking Eye template, found in The Shackled City
- The Cathezar:Half-Chain Devil/Half-Marilith, originally a servant of Demogorgon/Aameul; depending on events, she may be either dead or serve Ammet the balor now
- Gorzaug: Minion of Takhisis, treated "as a Type V demon for combat purposes", but without gating-in ability
- Jaranda
- Kaliva: a vassal of the marilith demon lord Shaktari, born as a human and raised by an evil duke. She spurned the advances of a wizard, who shapechanged her into a rutterkin and banished her to the Abyss. Eventually her intelligence and fighting skills enabled her to become a marilith
- Kalistes: One of Bane's underling in the computer game Pools of Darkness. In the game she commands a large army consisting of drow and spiders, and possesses the Ring of Reversal which steals the sun. She hides in an infernal demiplane called Kalistes's Palace. She does not cast spells, but attacks six times in a round with all hands, each wielding a +4 weapon.
- Lillianth
- Morag: A non-evil marilith who was bound to serve Lolth, she now travels with the Justicar and his friends.
- Riza
- Shesinellek
- Stentka Taran: Beshaba's general
- Taramanda
- Unhath and Reluhantis: servants of Graz'zt who rule his realm in his absence, listed in Book of Vile Darkness. Unhath and Reluhantis are 6th level sorcerers.
- Viractuth: the demon lord Rhyxali's second in command, Viractuth is a 5th level marilith sorcerer. She organizes the knowledge gathered by Rhyxali's shadow demons and lives in a huge library filled with tomes only she can read.
- Yxunomei: middle boss - Found in the game Icewind Dale in the deep bowels of Dragon's Eye.
Alistraxia, Warden of the Spiral City (rogue 12; Research
DC 33G; Descent Into Midni9ht 3 6): Among the most
powerful of her kind, Alistraxia leads a cabal of equally
deadly mariliths as the warden of Abraxas's city of
Pleroma. Reporting only to the demon lord of magic
himself, she is left to her own devices for the most part
in seeing to the Spiral City's security. Now and then, she
is sent to the Material Plane to ensure that particularly
devastating and deadly secrets or tidbits of lore do not
fall into total obscurity-she is fond of mentioning how
adept humanity is at preserving records of their mistake s ,
but often frustrated when those records go missing o r
forgotten. Alistraxia fights with several deadly weapons,
including a triple-headed flail, an unholy bastard sword,
a life-drainin9 spear, an ornate skull-headed morningstar,
and a returning boomerang-all magical weapons and
all crafted from adamantine. It is weapons crafted of this
material that the marilith prefers as offerings, provided
they have an enhancement bonus of at least +2.
Aponavicius (fighter 8; Research DC 35G; The Inner Sea
World Guide zoo): Second only to Khorramzadeh himself
in power in the Worldwound, Aponavicius is most proud of
having taken the citadel and city ofDrezen, the construction
of which was one of the First Mendevian Crusade's greatest
triumphs. She has remained in charge of the town in the
decades that followed, and for many years even thought
of herself as the ruler of the World wound. The arrival of
Khorramzadeh and his nearly succes sful attempt to sunder
the Kenabres wardstone in 4692 AR was an unexpected and
bitter reminder that she was not the true master of the
Wmldwound, and for the past few decades she has
found it increasingly difficult to concentrate
on the demonic war effort as her own pride
eats away at her from within. Aponavicius favors
wielding numerous different types of exotic
weapons in battle-of late, her preferences are
a katana, a falcata, a khopesh, a shotel, and a
kusarigama, all of which are powerful magic
weapons. She prefers offerings of magical exotic
weapons of at least 8,ooo gp in value.
Inaliningo, The Cloven Sister (advanced
marilith; Research DC 18; The Moonscar 23): One
of several demons who serves the Insatiable Queen
of Moons car, Inaliningo is a truly unusuallooking
marilith. The Cloven Sister bears a thick
scar that runs from the crown ofher head to the
fork of her double tail, as though she had been
split in half in the past, only to recover from the
mortal wound. In fact, at one point, the Cloven
Sister was two different mariliths who served
opposing balm lords. When the two bickering
balms were slain by Nocticula, she took their two
greatest marilith generals, Inali and Ningo, and
pitted the two against each other with the decree
that the one who survived could become one ofher
minions. The mariliths fought tooth and nail, and
in the end managed to kill each other simultaneously.
Delighted at the outcome but still hoping for a new general,
N octicula cut the dying mariliths in half and then fused the
better of the two halves into one whole, resurrecting the two
as Inaliningo. The Cloven Sister fights with longswords,
and prefers offerings of the same, provided they are at least
+z lon.gswords or greater in power.
Lixiriltha, The Jade Coil (variant 22 HD marilith;
Research DC 32G; Sanctum of the Serpent God 71): Lixiriltha,
like her daughter Raviaza, has atrophied in power since her
master Ydersius's defeat by the Azlanti heroine Savith so
many thousands of years ago, yet unlike Raviaza, Lixiriltha
has retained a portion of those powers . Lixiriltha is much
more serpentine than others of her kind; her head sports
a mane of serpents for hair much like that of a medusa
(her gaze has the power to transform those who succumb
into jade statues), and the end of her tail presents yet
another serpentine maw. Lixiriltha has largely abandoned
the serpentfolk race, unlike her estranged daughter, and
today enj oys a strong following as an obj ect of worship
herself among a new reptilian cabal-a debased cult of
lizardfolk who operate in secrecy in the nation ofDroon in
southern Garund. She still answers the call of worshipers
ofYdersius powerful enough to conjure or contact her, but
increasingly enjoys her newest cult and is seeking a way by
which she can grant spells to her worshipers (who currently
consist primarily of oracles or inquisitors). Her swords are
poisoned with virulent poisons. She prefers offerings of
magical one-handed swords worth at least 8,ooo gp.
Raviaza, The Slithering Flame (standard marilith;
Research DC 27; Sanctum of the Serpent God 48): Although
the marilith known as the Slithering Flame (a reference
to her preference for flaming weapons, particularly any
combination of flaming daggers and flaming whips) is a
typical marilith in power today, she is the daughter of one
of the more powerful ofher kind. During the height of the
serpentfolk empire, mariliths were often called upon to
serve as assas sins against Azlanti generals and warlords,
but today, very few of these mariliths still survive-and
of those, only Raviaza and her mother Lixiriltha remain
active. She spent several thousand years trapped in a cruel
Azlanti iron flask designed to leach away her strength, and
missed both the fall of that empire and the rise of several
new ones in the Inner Sea region, something she bitterly
regrets. Her time imprisoned in the iron flask robbed her
of her ability to immolate her body (a skill similar to that
of a balor) and of her skill as an assas sin, but she hopes to
someday regain these powers and then engineer a way she
might aid the serpentfolk race in awakening once more.
She prefers offerings ofmagicalflamin.g weapons.
Varmirhias, Daughter of Shax (advanced marilith
fighter z; Research DC 30; Endless Night 49): It has been
eons since the marilith Varmirhias has dwelt in the Abyss;
she's certainly visited her home plane numerous time s ,
but the maj ority of her time is spent in the drow capital
ofZirnakaynin, where she has served since the start as the
demonic advisor to House Vexidyre, one of the city's most
powerful families . Varmirhias's father is none other than
the demon lord of murder, and as such she is a particularly
deadly member of her species, greatly skilled at wielding
her six wickedly curved blood- drinking daggers .
Varmirhias often leaves the city t o perform mis sions fo r
her father, and among several cults o n the surface s h e is
regarded as the voice of Shax. Her ebony skin and silver
hair match her drow allies well. She prefers offerings of
magical daggers worth no les s than 8,ooo gp.
