"Studies of Demons Lesser and Forgotten"

Item · 10 gp · Weight 0

The yellowed pages of this thick tome are peppered with notes. A gilded tassel marks the following fragment: "...The story of Sithhud, who once ruled the icy Abyssal wasteland of Jhuvumirak, is a most curious one. Demon lords often choose or reshape their realms to suit their looks and tastes, and Sithhud, the Frozen Lord of the undead, was no exception. One may imagine what his realm looked like: boundless snowy plains, razor-sharp ice ridges, frozen bones of the dead piled in mounds, and vicious wind scouring the very flesh off the bones of the living... He held Jhuvumirak firmly in his three-fingered claw until another demon, Kostchtchie, began to look at his domain with envy. Naturally egocentric and competitive, demons gain their supernatural strength by feasting on each other, and one who has consumed enough of their peers may become a nascent demon lord. These creatures are capable of challenging any sovereign master of the Abyss, but they are yet to attain their own titles. Kostchtchie was one such fledgling when he challenged Sithhud and overcame him, despite the considerable power imbalance. We can only assume that there was another factor that tipped the scales in the younger demon's favor, but the details of that battle remain shrouded in darkness. Perhaps Kostchtchie had a secret weapon of some kind — or perhaps Sithhud was vulnerable and unable to put up a good fight for some reason? We can hope that future generations of aspiring demonologists will unveil this mystery. And so Kostchtchie took Sithhud's castle, and rules over Jhuvumirak to this day. And what of Sithhud himself? For a long time he was presumed dead, his soul slumbering eternally in the Rift of Repose — a remote and hidden corner of the Abyss where defeated demon lords go after their bodies' demise. However, more recent findings indicate that Sithhud only lost his rank, and not his life. This is the only known case of so-called "demotion" of a fully-fledged demon lord to the lower rank of a nascent one. He is without a doubt still hiding from The Deathless Frost somewhere in the mountains of Jhuvumirak, slowly regaining his strength and gathering his resources for a rematch."