Chaos Lords in human shape
The lords of Entropy and Freedom, and servants of Chaos.
Chaos manifests itself in an infinite number of forms and guises. Chief among these are the Chaos Lords, also known as the Lords of Entropy and the Dukes of Hell. The Chaos Lords are essentially living embodiments of Chaos. They are worshipped as gods in many worlds, and reviled as devils in others.
The Chaos Lords represent Chaos in all of its aspects, and they actively oppose Law and the White Lords who serve it. They are prone to shapeshifting, taking on horrific forms as eldritch abominations or hulking demons, or luminous forms of youths possessing unearthly beauty. Their tempers are as fickle as their physical forms, and they are very prone to violent mood swings. Many of them behave as if they are insane.
Like Law, Chaos is beyond good or evil, and as such there are examples of Chaos Lords who fight for good, and rally against the forces of Singularity represented by Law's negative aspect. These beings are referred to as Chaos Engineers, and include the famed Corsair of the Second Ether, Captain Billy-Bob Begg.
Known Chaos Lords[]
- Arioch, Lord of the Seven Darks, Knight of the Swords, Lord of the Higher Hell, et cetera, one of the most powerful Dukes of Hell. He is the patron of Melniboné and has a personal relationship with Elric, who was the first emperor to summon him to the plane of Earth in a long time. He is sophisticated and highly intelligent, and he usually appears in an amazingly beautiful form, usually with blond hair.
- Balan the Grim or Balaan, appears briefly as an ally of Arioch.
- Balarizaaf, Archduke, Chaos Lord trapped on the plane of Alptroomensheem (the Nightmare Marches).
- Chardros the Reaper, one of the three oldest Chaos Lords, appears similar to the Grim Reaper. He is referred to as both the lord of destruction and beauty.
- Checkalakh the Burning God, a minor Chaos Lord made entirely of fire, was once summoned to Nadsokor to burn disease from the city. Like his essence, he is constantly hungry.
- Duke Teer, in perpetual search for more blood for his castle ('can you not smell its delicious tang?')
- Eequor, a Lady of Chaos, dwelling in a half-world filled with shades of blue.
- Hionhurn the Executioner, a giant, green and gnarled like a tree.
- Mabelode the Faceless, is one of the three oldest and most powerful Chaos Lords. He appears with his face in shadow.
- Maluk appears briefly as an ally of Arioch.
- Mashabak is a rival to Arioch in The Revenge of the Rose. Count Mashabak is brutal and direct, less subtle than Arioch.
- Narjhan, a rider in black armour whose voice echoes hollowly in his helm, who leads a force of beggars from Nadsokor against Tanelorn.
- Orunlu the Keeper, is a purple-scaled giant with a fiery aura. This good-humoured Chaos Lord is charged with guarding the Dead Gods’ Book.
- Pyaray, the Tentacled Whisperer of Impossible Secrets, appears as a giant red octopus. His soul is kept in a blue crystal on his head. Sailors who drown at sea are taken into his Chaos Fleet. One portent of the end of the world is the ascent of the Chaos Fleet to the surface.
- Slortar the Old, the oldest Chaos Lord, appears ironically as a slim and beautiful youth.
- Vezhan, appears as a smoky yellow, winged humanoid; at one time he was a patron of Rackhir, a Warrior Priest of Phum.
- Xiombarg, prefers to appear as a beautiful young woman but is sometimes referred to with the male pronoun (making a pun of her title Queen of the Swords). She is prone to shapeshifting and carries a giant sword. In Stormbringer, she rides a creature with the head of a lion and the body of a bull.
Other Chaos Lords are mentioned by name only; these include Aesma, Alastor, six-breasted Arnara, Haborym of the Fires Which Destroy, Malohin, Marthim (Balaan-Marthim), Nizilfkm, Saebos, Teshwan, Verdelet, and Zhortra.
Balo, the Jester to the Court of Chaos, is able to move at will between the realms of Chaos and Law because he is not exactly a Chaos Lord. His function at court is to amuse and baffle the Lords of the Higher Worlds. At one point, he tries to convert Earth into his own Realm of Paradox.
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