Tanar’ric Horde

An aerial assault by vrocks spearheads the advance of the Tanar’ric Horde

if their charges fare poorly, leaving the undead at the line. Some units march under a banner of the unliving (see page 133). Cleric of Nerull Lieutenant:hp 36; see page 151.

Human Commoner Skeletons (25) or Zombies (12): see Monster Manual pages 226 and 266.

A demonic army is a fearsome sight, and few are brave enough to stand in their way. Fortunately, armies of demons are seldom seen on the Material Plane. On the Outer Planes, a tanar’ric horde might march into battle against celestial hosts or devilish brigades. Battles could be fought on any of the Outer Planes, and war eternal is waged on the Infernal Battlefield of Acheron. A typical tanar’ric horde is led by a marilith; a balor commands multiple hordes in larger battles. The natural chaotic tendencies of demons do not allow for much of a command structure beneath the leader. The tanar’ric horde presented here consists primarily of masses of dretches, herded toward the enemy by massive hezrou. The marilith commander watches the battle unfold, sending vrock aerial assaults and babau gangs toward the places where they can cause the most damage. Tanar’ric hordes are far from uniform: Two hordes might bear virtually no resemblance, other than the appetite for death and destruction. Nalfeshnee and glabrezu sometimes lead a horde. The most dangerous hordes use hezrou for rank-and-file instead of dretch.

Command Retinue

EL 17: The commander of this horde is a marilith. She neither trusts nor desires any bodyguard or support troops, since any demon would be better put to use on the front lines. Unless she is somehow caught unawares, any encounter with the marilith would be one that she initiated, and she uses her greater teleport ability to choose her battles. If hard-pressed, she will try to summon a glabrezu or nalfeshnee to finish off her foes, but she hates to show weakness in such a manner.

Marilith: hp 216; Monster Manual page 45.

Air Assault

EL 14: A squad of vrocks maintains air support, attacking foes from above. Some vrocks swoop down into the melee and attack with beak and claw, while others prefer to use their telekinesis spell-like ability to lift a 300-pound object high into the air and drop it repeatedly on their foes. Once battle is joined, a vrock squad might be directed to land behind enemy lines and engage in a dance of ruin. This aptly named dance

Illus. by F. Vohwinkel