I find myself stuck in Lord Marbrand’s library again. I have to research our likely adversary, Nar-Narg-Naroth, while the rest are out hunting for the cultists. Weighing the benefits of being surrounded by such a wealth of knowledge against the drawbacks of slogging through the mud in the forest or sloshing through the brackish water of a partially submerged ruin is slowly becoming impossible. In essence, the difference is searching for second-hand information in books, or searching for first hand information out there. If Lord Marbrand had occasionally left the library and had gone out there to find information instead of have books brought to him, his notes wouldn’t have been so dull and he’d have much more to show for it. It took us a little over fifteen days to find out the name of the creature buried in those catacombs, something that he was never able to uncover.
Regarding Nar-Narg-Naroth, I’ve unconvered much information. To my dismay, I also found that we’re dealing with a rather overwhelmingly large outsider called a Bebilith. This means that my earlier assessment that we were dealing with a Baatezu (devil) was entirely incorrect, but that it’s in fact a Tanar’ri (deamon). The distinction is important, you see. Baatezu are structured in their infliction of evil upon reality, with a strict hierarchy within their ranks, making them arguably much more dangerous to our existence than the Tanar’ri, who are more chaotic and unpredictable. A Baatezu is much more likely to inflict precise, systematic destruction, while a Tanar’ri will more likely engage in wanton destruction and despoilment. They are also less organised and fewer in number, but that which they lack in number they make up for in raw power. These two factions have been waging a war against one another older than living memory. Baatezu against Tanar’ri, the denizens of Hell against the denizens of the Abyss. And according to all accounts, they have fought to a stalemate, an equal match between discipline and numbers against raw and brute strength.
A Bebilith is a huge, spider-like deamon, who hunts and devours other deamons. Known as “the creepers of the Abyss” and “barbed horrors” and considered to be the cruel harbingers of death and torture to anyone crossing their path. They are eight-legged arachnids, with a bulbous, chitinous body and two pronounced forelegs which end in brutal barbs. Their fangs secrete a poison and they are preternaturally tough and capable of shooting sticky strands of webbing capable of trapping and suffocating men. Their senses are razorsharp and while they understand the gutteral language of the Abyss, they communicate through a powerful sense of telepathy.
It seems Nar-Narg-Naroth is one such Bebilish, but it has been reported missing from the Abyss for hundreds of years, likely because of its imprisonment in the catacombs underneath the Thar.
I’m bored of reading up on this deamon. I think I’m going to try and put my time to good use and enhance my repetoire of spells. Also, I’m going to continue exploring the possibilities of the dragonskin vestments we found. I think that will be of greater value to us in the coming fight than knowing the multitude of ways in which this Bebilith can kill us. If it had any weaknesses that I could’ve learned about in this library, I’m confident I would have found out by now. Now that would be an amusing epitaph to put on my headstone, provided I don’t get devoured by Nar-Narg-Naroth.
