The Fiends of Pandemonium

The lower planes of D&D are populated with many iconic fiends. The Abyss has demons, Baator has devils, there are Yugoloths in Gehenna, and Carceri is the home of the Demodands.  But according to 5e, there is just one creature that truly calls Pandemonium home, the Howler.

In 5e (and 5.5) the only monster native to Pandemonium is the Howler, a beastial fiend whoes titular howls drive those who hear it mad. Back in 3e the Mivilorn (a elephant sized dog with a mouth as wide as its body) stalked the tunnels of Pandemonium. The only other creature known to be native to the plane was the Viltch, a three limbed mandril that delights in destruction and vandalism, which was only mentioned once in 1e.

These creatures feel disjointed with one another, there isn't much that meaningfully differentiates these fiends with a demon or other beast of the lower planes. So what I want to do is imbue these fiends with a more of a unified personality. I want you to be able to see them as beings that could only feel at home in the Windswept Deapths of Pandemonium.

So what is the unifying theme of Pandemonium, what kind of beasts would live in the Howling winds and darkened caverns of the embodiment of insanity. They would be both indescribable beings who drive the beholder mad, and be unknowable misteries shrouded with lies. They would be Cryptids.

Hear me out here! Cryptids are animals that have been claimed to exist but never proven to exist. They are shrouded in mystery and conspiracy, they are the monsters that go bump in the night, they live in the stories that we only share when gathered around the campfire at night. They inspire obsesion in those who glimpse them and act in esoteric and unknowable ways.

In my following posts I will highlight cryptids that would call this realm home as new D&D monsters and revisit old monsters, giving them new life in the winds of Pandemonium.

Artist: Brynn Metheney