F is for Foras and Furcas

Today's demons come to us from the Lemegeton of Of The Arte Goetia (Lesser Key of Solomon) and  Dictionnaire Infernal.

Foras is an interesting demon.  He is described as a President.  Now the use of the term president is not the same as our modern usage. In this case President means to "preside over". Like one does a meeting, club or college.

From the Lemegeton (Keys of Solomon):

The 31 spirit in order, [as Salomon saith,] is named Foras, he is a mighty great president & appeareth in ye form of a strong man, in humane shape he can give ye understanding to men how they may know ye vertues of all hearbs & precious stones, & [he] teacheth them ye art [of] Logick & Ethicks in All their partes if desired, he maketh men Invisible, witty, Eloquent & to live Long; he [can] discover Treasures and recover Things lost, & he ruleth over 29 Legions of spirits, his seale or Character is thus to be made & worne as a Lamen.

So he is a powerful demon who controls 29 legions.  He is also one of the knowledgeable demons so it is likely he is summoned for his knowledge of herbs and medicine.  It is claimed he can teach men the secrets of longevity.

Up next is a demon that is often confused with Foras, Forcas.  Also known as Furcas.  Furcas is also found in the Lemegeton and  Johann Wier’s Pseudomanarchia Daemonum.
He is known to teach logics and the secrets of plants and gems, gives invisibility and reveal hidden treasures.
What is most interesting about Furcas though is his rank.  He is known as a Knight of Hell.  A rank unique to him.  Given the picture of him, and old knight on an old horse, I can't help but think of Don Quixote.

 

He is described in the Pseudomanarchia Daemonum as:

Furcas is a knight and commeth foorth in the similitude of a cruell man, with a long beard and a hoarie head, he sitteth on a pale horsse, carrieng in his hand a sharpe weapon, he perfectlie teacheth practike philosophie, rhetorike, logike, astronomie, chiromancie, pyromancie, and their parts: there obeie him twentie legions.

So despite what sounds like a lower rank he still commands 20 legions of lesser demons. Given his name the "sharp weapon" is assumed to be a fork of some sort.  The AD&D 1st Ed Monster Manual 2 attaches him to Dispater, the oldest of the Arch Dukes.  It could be that Furcas was a knight in whatever service he was in before his fall and he still considers himself such.  This might given him some sort of twisted sense of honor; somewhat like the character Orcini from Doctor Who.  I think it would be interesting to know more about his background.  Maybe he was once and noble and honorable knight till following his Master to Hell.  Maybe he is just as evil all the same.

Zatannurday: Zatanna News and Web Round-up

So I get pictures sent to me all the time of various versions or pics of Zatanna.  Here are some recent ones.  Each has something a little different or special about them.

First up, Zatanna gets another new costume and moves over to the Justice League!
http://www.newsarama.com/comics/zatanna-new-look.html

Looks like a combination of her classic costume and the one she wore in Identity Crisis.
Glad to see the fishnets back, though I do hope she gets her top hat back.  I know, fishnets and high-heels are not good super hero costumes, but she is a stage performer. After all have a look at Misty Lee, a real life magician and performer.  Ok I know that is a cheat.  Misty Lee is also Mrs. Paul Dini.

Also talked about here, http://dcwomenkickingass.tumblr.com/post/47101162553/zatanna-gains-role-in-justice-league-loses-pants  which leads me the the next picture too.

This has been making the rounds and it is a nice contrast to what I normally post, is a "fully dressed" Zatanna.
http://www.geeknative.com/38733/drawing-the-impossible-fully-dressed-superheroines/#lightbox/4/
and
http://dcwomenkickingass.tumblr.com/post/47040890525/a-look-at-costume-designs-to-fully-clothe-some-comics

I like it, but miss her classical stage magician look.

And this one from Hanie Mohd
http://haniemohd.tumblr.com/
http://calvinscanadiancaveofcool.blogspot.com/2013/03/more-super-girls-by-hanie-mohd.html

In a very special treat Paul Dini released this animation cell of a proposed Zatanna cartoon,

It would have been so cool!

These great mono-chrome ones,
http://aaronnsn.deviantart.com/

And this one,
http://funrama.deviantart.com/

And finally,

Leonardo Gondim

A to Z posting later today.

E is also for Evil Dead!

The new Evil Dead is out tonight!
Are you going to go see it?

Well the game based on the original Evil Dead movie, Army of Darkness is now on sale.

Army of Darkness

It is 100% compatible with my game Ghosts of Albion.

Pick them both up today!

E is for Eodemon

Eodemons are another "new" race of demons I am working on.  Eodemons are the "Dawn Demons" or Proto Demons.  These are the demons that were already old and evil and sulking in the Hells.  Unlike the "devils" that were once good and then fell or "demons" that are relatively new to the scene, the Protodemons were old and evil. Their motivations are often alien to mortals and other demons.  Their numbers are few, but each one is extremely powerful.  Many are worshiped as gods, or at least, dark gods.

These are not to be confused with the Eudaemons, or beneficial demons.  Also many believe that Lilith herself is an Eodemon, but this is something she denies.  Also some scholars use the more archaic form Eolim to describe these demons.  Not to be confused with Elohim, which are also servants of Good.

For my take on these demons I am taking really, really old myths.  The one that everyone knows is Pazuzu.
How do you know him?  He was the demon in The Exorcist.

Only five Eodemons are being detailed. There maybe more, but they have thankfully remained unknown.  As a group they are more powerful than the Baalseraph, but are too independent and chaotic to work to the same ends.

While I am connecting the Baalserasph Lords with the Deadly Sins, I see the Eodemons as representing a classical element.

Dagon: Lord of the depths. This Eodemon combines the worst aspects of fish, octopi, sharks and strangely mankind.  Like most Eodemons his form constantly shifts and rearranges itself to suit his need, environment or whim.  One constant is his large, dead looking eyes. Always described as the “eyes of a fish” or a “drowned man”.
His element is Water.

Leviathan: It is supposed that this is the oldest of all the Eodemons.  Leviathan is so ancient that even other demons seem in awe of “his” age and power.  It assumed that it is a he though there is no evidence to suggest either way. Leviathan exists only for one purpose; to feed.  Leviathan can be found in the Astral realms devouring entire worlds.
"He" represents the Fifth Element of Quintessence.

Pazuzu: The Lord of the East Wind is a demon of the skies. He appears to be a well proportioned athletic male human with bronzed skin. His head is a bizarre combination of human, dragon and hawk.  His double set of wings could indicate a semi-divine nature but Lord Pazuzu denies such things.  Lord Pazuzu says a lot actually, he is the most active Eodemon in the affairs of mortals.
He represents the element Air.

Tiamat: The Queen of Monsters and Primal Chaos.  Tiamat was once a primal goddess of creation. But she desired only to destroy.  She was cast out and was already old in the hells when the Baalseraph arrived.  Evil Dragons and evil monsters still revere her as their queen and goddess.
She represents the element Water.

Tsathogga: This great demon appears as some sort of titanic frog-like monster.  It appears to be at least 50’ long or as much as 75’. There is a vague humanness about this this demon, but it’s countenance is one of an evil frog. It’s mouth is filled with rows of sharp, shark-like teeth the length of a grown man’s  arm.  It’s body is covered in open sores where oozes pour out.   Tsathogga does not bother to attack mere humans and will summon 4-9 (1d6+3) Demodands loyal only to him. Tsathogga, when he does attack, will use his tongue to attack the nearest opponent.  Human cultists worship Tsathogga, but the Demon Lord cares little for humanity.
The Lord of Toads represents the element Earth (I know, not a great fit).

So a nice collection of different myths here.

Help a Brother Out? (aka D is for Dragon Age...)

Not really a D post.

I am though looking for some help.

I would love to get my hands on a Dragon Age Morrigan action figure.

I have checked all the normal places and I am coming up blank.

Now I am NOT looking for someone to give me one!  I want to BUY one.
I am trying to find a place where I don't have to pay $120-$200 for one.  I am even fine with opened.

If you know of anyone selling one that would be fantastic.

Thanks!

D is for Demogorgon and Demodand

Demogorgon

Reminds me of Eldritch Wizardry's cover

Every D&D players knows about Demogorgon, the Prince of Demons.  He made his appearance in Eldritch Wizardry and has been in every monster book since.  His popularity is second only to Orcus.
In 4e his story gets expanded to include this little treat, he has two head because his head gets split in two by a good god.  The two halve regenerate into two seperate heads. Cool, and creepy.  At the same time I was working on my own version of Demogorgon for Unisystem.  You can click to read it, I think it is worth the read to be honest.  I even considered reposting it for today, but that seemed like cheating.

As interesting as his official background is and even the one I created is, Demogorgon has a much more interesting history. The first time I met him outside of D&D was in Milton's Paradise Lost.

And by them stood Orcus and Ades, and the dreaded name of Demogorgon.
- Milton, Paradise Lost.

He meets Lucifer in a void area that isn't Hell but a place where Chaos and Night rule.  Sounds like the Abyss to me.

Another version of Demogorgon comes from writers Christopher Golden and Thomas E. Sniegoski in their Menagerie series.  This Demogorgon is more like my Leviathan or even Galactus. The series is on going (in theory) so we have not seen the heroes face off against the Demogorgon yet.  I am looking forward to it.

If I were to redo Demogorgon I'd keep most of the background I created, but maybe make him more monstrous, maybe something like a two-headed dragon, only really freaking huge.  Something like the Tarrasque is now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demogorgon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demogorgon_(Dungeons_%26_Dragons)

And not to forget The Temple of Demogorgon.

Demodands
These guys are bastard children of demondom.  Not demons, not devils not even daemons. They appeared first in the Monster Manual II for AD&D and seem to based on the Deodands of Jack Vance or even the classical use of the term.
For my uses these are demons that have been put together from the dead scraps of other demons.  So even among demons they are reviled and despised.
No idea if I'll do three different sub races or not.  But I like the idea of them being put together from scraps of other demons.

Petty Gods

I sent my submission over to Greg Gorgonmilk for his resurrected Petty Gods project.

I can't wait for you all to meet Nox, the Goddess of Near Darkness and her minions Syla and the Fyre Fae.