DREGOTH'S ALLIES

The Dark Sun rogue gallery. These are the major henchmen Dregoth has at his disposal. Keep in mind that he also controls a Dread Legion of 3000 dray, 330 templars, 100 kalin riders, and at least 2000 undead. His pact with the baatezu, and domination of several powerful individuals on the surface, all conspire to make the Dread King far more powerful than his stats would suggest.

DREGOTH

The Dread King. Third Champion of Rajaat. Ravager of Giants. Sorcerer-King of Giustenal. Undead Dragon King of New Giustenal. God-King of Athas. If you don't know who Dregoth is (what are you still doing here?), he was once a human. Thousands of years ago he learned the path to dragon metamorphosis, attained immortality, and began to change himself into dragon form. During this long metamorphosis Dregoth joined Rajaat's Cleansing Wars, serving the War-Bringer as the exterminator of all giant-kind. Rajaat's champions eventually rebelled and imprisoned the War-Bringer, transforming Borys (another champion) into a fully developed Dragon, so that he could keep Rajaat caged. This irritated Dregoth, who believed in the cause of the Cleansing Wars and was loathe to witness another Champion completing his metamorphosis first, but he continued his own transformation in silence. It did not go unnoticed. One morning the other sorcerer-kings invaded his palace and destroyed Dregoth and his city-state Giustenal. They preferred to kill him, rather than live in a world with two dragons.

Death did not stop Dregoth. Through unknown means he rose again as a kaisharga (an Athasian lich). Athasian dragons are powerful (more so than chromatics, or even radiants and celestials). With the added strengths and abilities of a kaisharga, Dregoth had become one of the most powerful creatures in the multi-verse (see Note on Dregoth). He retreated beneath the surface of the world to lick his wounds, taking the survivors of Giustenal with him. They found a massive cave prepared by the ancients, and built the city of New Giustenal under the Sunrise Sea, which eventually dried up and became the Silt Sea.

The past two millenia have kept Dregoth busy. He transformed all of his citizens into dray, tall draconic lizardmen of his own invention, and decreed all other races to be abberations. Using a Planar Gate he found in the depths, Dregoth explored the many planes. Finally he realised the solution to Athas' problems. It had never had a true god. Dregoth would change that. He would become Athas' first god.

Upon returning to his people, Dregoth announced the Coruscation (or the 'Day of Light'), a time in the future when the dray would leave the depths and reclaim the world that was once theirs. The evil sorcerer-kings and their 'mammal' ilk would fall and die. Dregoth believes that a sufficient blood sacrifice (such as the entire population of Raam), combined with the devotion of worshippers and a powerful holy icon, will allow him to ascend to godhood. To Dregoth, that is the driving force behind the Coruscation.

Dregoth's goals are many: vengeance on the sorcerer-kings, eradication of all races but dray, planetary domination, and ascension to godhood. With his Planar Gate lost, he might be stoppable, but otherwise Dregoth seems invincible. His only weaknesses are his temper, and his slighty dented sense of self-esteem (he was murdered by his oldest friends, after all).

HIGH TEMPLAR MON ADDERATH

Mon Adderath (City By the Silt Sea boxed set) was a boyhood friend of Dregoth's. After he started the path to dragonhood Dregoth blessed Adderath with immortality, and he has served him faithfully ever since. It was Adderath, in the role of High Templar, who guided the survivors of Guistenal to the caves under the Silt Sea to meet their resurrected sorcerer-king. Adderath was recently killed preaching a sermon by the same invaders who destroyed the Planar Gate. Dregoth, who was away from Athas at the time, was unable to save him.

Instead, the Dread King drew his spirit from the Gray, storing it in an obsidian orb. Later, he transferred Adderath's psyche into the body of an iron golem. Adderath was repulsed at this new form. Dregoth improved on the form, reshaping his friend in the likeness of a dray, which enraged Adderath more. Nowadays, the High Templar is still a faithful servant to Dregoth. But his iron-clawed rages are capable of driving even the Undead Dragon King to distraction.

HIGH PRIEST ABSOLOM

Absolom (City By the Silt Sea) is an undead dray. He was created by Dregoth as a stop-gap solution during the early, unstable stages of the dray transformation process, and also because the Dread King needed a High Priest in his own image if he wanted to ascend to godhood (dragonlike and undead). Absolom was a sympathiser with the 1st Generation Dray, and was very upset when Dregoth destroyed them, but he hates humans and demi-humans for the death of his god and the 'subjugation of the dray'. Absolom has waited his entire two-thousand year existence for the 'Day of Light'.

GAARTINON (THE NIGHTMARE DRAY)

Nobody knows where this creature came from, but even the Kalin Riders of Dregoth's Dread Legion fear it. Dregoth, Adderath and Absolom call it Gaartinon. All others call it the Nightmare Dray. It looks like a huge, muscular dray of nine feet in height (dray are normally about seven feet). Its hide is thick, black and leathery, and its eyes glow with baleful fire. Its claws are larger, sharper, and more jagged than those of a normal dray, and a pair of great horns curls from its skull. Great black, taloned wings arc out from its shoulders, and it can fly the breadth of New Giustenal in mere moments. The Nightmare Dray's bestial rages are known to all of Dregoth's citizens, and the warriors murmur uncomfortably during training sessions at the rumours that this monster will lead the First Wave of the Coruscation.

BELBAAZABEL

Eight foot tall, thri-kreen head, chicken legs, clutching a half-giant-sized spear. The mental image is funny, but the reality is all too terrifying. Belbaazabel is a Duke of Hell, trapped on Athas after the Planar Gate's destruction. Not that he wants to go back. Belbaazabel would rather bring the baatezu through to Athas. Dregoth wants to help him. And all the baatezu have to do is kill thousands of people? They can handle that.

ZERLUTH

Zerluth is a psurlon (DSMC2), a worm-like humanoid of super-intelligent psychic ability. Prior to the destruction of the Planar Gate, he served Dregoth as an advisor. With the Gate gone, Zerluth's link to the Astral Plane has suddenly become very important to Dregoth. Zerluth resents and dislikes the Dread King, but serves him under a pact that has something to do with the return of the psurlons to Athas. They believe it is their homeworld, from which they were banished centuries ago. Zerluth suspects Dregoth's promises are false, and owes the Dread King little other reason for allegiance.

OBSIDIAN RETRIEVER

Although this is not a unique creature, nevermind a henchman, it deserves mention because it is the first of its kind. Dregoth invented the Obsidian Retriever (DSMC2), modelling it from the retriever spiders he had seen on the Lower Planes. This one has maximum hit points. It is unknown whether this is due to a special component lost from later constructions, or if it was simply the perfection of Dregoth's genius, impossible to replicate again.

SCOURGE

Scourge is no henchman of Dregoth's. The Planar Bounty Hunter works for Dregoth on contract, serving no man or power as henchman. He appears humanoid, but wears full-body armour constructed of a metal never seen on Athas. His helm is metal and skull-like, covering his entire face, and the top of this helm is sculpted to look like a silver, exposed brain. Deep eyesockets look into nothingness. The Planar Bounty Hunter carries a variety of strange weapons and tools that have fantastic effects, but are not quite magical. Even Dregoth cannot guess at Scourge's origins, but the Dread King suspects he hails from outside the Known Spheres, and the known planes. He earned Scourge's respect by standing up for more than ten rounds in combat. Later, Dregoth showed his own admiration by hiring Scourge for the ultimate Athasian mission: to track down and capture the Sorcerer-kings. Scourge, a sucker for a challenge, awaits Dregoth's word to begin the hunt.

More recently, Dregoth used Scourge's services in tracking down the vandals who destroyed his Planar Gate.

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