Myth Beyond The Monster Manual - The Erinyes Devils of Violence & Justice For Your Old School Sword & Sorcery Campaigns

I've  been quietly cracking open my first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual & looking into the devils section last night. I looked into the Erinyes entry  for a bit of Sword & Sorcery inspiration.The Monster Manual & even the original Dungeons & Dragons monster stats profile has been lacking. Greco Roman mythology is so much richer on these goddesses & children of Chronos's blood.

Its through Dante's Divine Comedy  that we get these female chthonic deities of vengeance 
that we get these deities & their devil kin offspring in Hell. The wiki entry on the Furies goes into their parentage & mythological background; 
"In Greek mythology the Erinyes (/ɪˈrɪniˌiːz/; sing. Erinys /ɪˈrɪnɪs/;^[1] Greek: Ἐρῑνύες [ῠ], pl. of Ἐρῑνύς [ῡ], Erinys),^[2] also known as the Furies, were female chthonic deities of vengeance; they were sometimes referred to as "infernal goddesses" (χθόνιαι θεαί). A formulaic oath in the Iliad invokes them as "the Erinyes, that under earth take vengeance on men, whosoever hath sworn a false oath".^[3] Walter Burkert suggests they are "an embodiment of the act of self-cursing contained in the oath".^[4] They correspond to the Dirae in Roman mythology.^[5] The Roman writer Maurus Servius Honoratus wrote that they are called "Eumenides" in hell, "Furiae" on earth, and "Dirae" in heaven.^[6][7]
According to Hesiod's Theogony, when the Titan Cronus castrated his father, Uranus, and threw his genitalia into the sea, the Erinyes (along with the Giants and the Meliae) emerged from the drops of blood which fell on the earth (Gaia), while Aphrodite was born from the crests of sea foam.^[8] According to variant accounts,^[9] they emerged from an even more primordial level—from Nyx ("Night"), or from a union between air and mother earth.^[10] Their number is usually left indeterminate. Virgil, probably working from an Alexandrian source, recognized three: Alecto or Alekto ("endless"), Megaera ("jealous rage"), and Tisiphone or Tilphousia ("vengeful destruction"), all of whom appear in the Aeneid. Dante Alighieri followed Virgil in depicting the same three-character triptych of Erinyes; in Canto IX of the Inferno they confront the poets at the gates of the city of Dis. Whilst the Erinyes were usually described as three maiden goddesses, the Erinys Telphousia was usually a by-name for the wrathful goddess Demeter, who was worshipped under the title of Erinys in the Arkadian town of Thelpousa."

When I was younger back in the Eighties, the Satanic Panic was in full swing I used to have to sneak readings & such of Dante's Divine Comedy.During the school season. I developed a monster ecology centered around the Furies & their kin. Hell wasn't simply nine levels of planes but a large sprawling series of planes, subplanes, & nether Hells. These all connected together by the river Styx & its many backwaters. I was influenced by the Dragon Magazine articles the 'Politics of Hell' & the many articles on devils & demons through the years.




These goddesses & their spawn are lawful evil  conforming  to the violent letter of the law including the breaking of sacred oaths. But they are far older then the Greco Roman pantheon & have strong connections to the titan especially Uranus.
"The three classic Furies sprang forth from the spilled blood of Uranus when he was castrated by his son Cronus. The sisters are:

• Alecto – Punisher of moral crimes (anger, etc.)
• Megaera – Punisher of infidelity, oath breakers, and theft
• Tisiphone – Punisher of murderers"

"The Roman writer Maurus Servius Honoratus wrote that they are called "Eumenides" in hell, "Furiae" on earth, and "Dirae" in heaven." So they have dominion in all of these planes under special circumstances.


But in a Sword & Sorcery game such as Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea set millions of years in the future under a dying Earth what possible role can the "Eumenides" & their spawn have?! Actually plenty considering that in my own campaigns Ragnarok & the Apocalypse has happened. In a post Ragnarok world they'd be responsible for the souls of dead royals, princes, bishops,etc. who broke their sacred oaths. Assassin's guilds sacred to them would be carrying out their divine agendas based on sacred dreams & visions.

The Amazons have whole cloth cults & state run religions centered around the Furies. During times of war the drums of the Amazon armies can be heard for miles around. A major summoning often accompanies these events especially before war or major battles.

Then there are the druidic groves dedicated to them scattered through the wilderness. Groves dedicated to Orestes  which are visited by bards who wish to gain the sacred madness of his mystery. Oedipus also has his own mysterious groves scattered throughout the weird wildernesses but scholars are unsure of if both Orestes & Oedipus are two different ancient princes. Or the same one who  attracted their 'tender affections'

"In Sophocles's play, Oedipus at Colonus, it is significant that he comes to his final resting place in the grove dedicated to the Erinyes. It shows that he has paid his penance for his blood crime, as well as come to integrate the balancing powers to his early over-reliance upon Apollo, the god of the individual, the sun, and reason. He is asked to make an offering to the Erinyes and complies, having made his peace"
 Pity the poor necrcomancer whose black heart summons these devils & wastes their time. His soul will be ravaged in some nameless back water Hell or in some corner temple of Underborea for eternity.



Make no mistake these devils while lawful are purely evil. Their visitations often leave behind the tell tale scent & trail of Chaos itself wherever they go.  The cults dedicated to whatever facet of the Furies often have the markings of mutation about them. There many be 1d6 mutations about these cultists.
These beings will not harm a worshiper or cult member of the cult of Cronus. That is unless they have broken the scared oaths & laws of the Furies or their spawn. Cults of witches & druidic circles dedicated to the Furies are always opposed to the toad god & its spawn's agenda. They will not hesitate to destroy any member of these groups that comes within their talons. Once per new moon one of the spawn of the Furies may be summoned from the underground back water of  the underworld or Hell.



The Grand Summoning happens once in the dead of Winter under the full Moon with one of the dread sisters appearing accompanied by 1d6 devil spawn from the deepest of Hells. A murderer or adulterer is often the sacrifice at such a summoning. Cults will seek divine guidance during these rites & major events. These events often happen at remotely located temples located on high mountains or in the wilderness ruins of some once major city state.

There are in the wastelands entire witch cults dedicated to the Furies who carry out ancient sacred rites under the watchful & wrathful eye of a devil. She will often inhabit or possess the head priestess & pass judgement on any brought before her. Sacrifices are made of oathbreakers & adulterers on the small moon nights while murderers & worse's blood graces the alters on full moon. These cults often ply the wastelands trading potions, healing powders, & wares while spying for more criminals to kidnap for the alters. There is never enough blood & some towns turn over or sell their criminals for the rough 'justice' of the cults.


This alternative ecology of the Furies & their spawn was made by  Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea rpg adventure  using the alternative  historical Dark Albion & Dark Albion Cults of Chaos setting rules. Bits & pieces were taken from Lion & Dragon. 

Matters of Mythology - Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Deities & Demigods, Tartarus, & Matters of Darkness

Let me first take a moment to appoligize for the lateness of this blog post & give a very nice shout out to the Tales of the Whispering Thief blog. Thanks for the back shout & all of the amazing Godbound rpg content over the years. I gotta say that blog & its posts continues to impress. Especially the Corpse of the Machine-God series of posts part 1. Part of the Corpse of the Machine God part II The City & Part III The Tower.  There's some deeply influencial & highly creative deep OSR adventure backgrounds at work on that blog. I want to take a moment to take a step back from my Cha'alt/Godbound Las Vegas campaign that I've been planning over the last couple of weeks. 
Once again when ever I'm thumbing my way through Godbound somehow Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition's Dieties & Demigods finds its way into my hands. Sometimes I think of it as a sickness really, the GrecoRoman gods section opened up & I started to read a bit about Zeus. There's far more going on below the surface within the leader of the gods of Olympus. 


I began to think about the battle field of the Shadowfell. Wait what battle field are you speaking of!? When Zeus was born there was one titan last titan that was created Typhon; "Typhon (/ˈtaɪfɒn, -fən/; Greek: Τυφῶν, [typʰɔ̂ːn]), also Typhoeus (/taɪˈfiːəs/; Τυφωεύς), Typhaon (Τυφάων) or Typhos (Τυφώς), was a monstrous serpentine giant and one of the deadliest creatures in Greek mythology. According to Hesiod, Typhon was the son of Gaia and Tartarus. However one source has Typhon as the son of Hera alone, while another makes Typhon the offspring of Cronus. Typhon and his mate Echidna were the progenitors of many famous monsters.

Typhon attempted to overthrow Zeus for the supremacy of the cosmos. The two fought a cataclysmic battle, which Zeus finally won with the aid of his thunderbolts. Defeated, Typhon was cast into Tartarus, or buried underneath Mount Etna, or the island of Ischia.

Typhon mythology is part of the Greek succession myth, which explained how Zeus came to rule the gods. Typhon's story is also connected with that of Python (the serpent killed by Apollo), and both stories probably derived from several Near Eastern antecedents. Typhon was (from c. 500 BC) also identified with the Egyptian god of destruction Set. In later accounts Typhon was often confused with the Giants."



The battle field of the war of Typhon was so incredible that it carved a shadow of the plane Prime & the acts of violence & emotion so incredible that its impressions made way for the Feywild. Typhon is now locked away in Tartarus & nothing could possibly happen to release this plane destroying entity?! 

What if I told you that the titan was the father of some of the fiercest & most dangerous monsters of GrecoRoman mythology? "According to Hesiod's Theogony, Typhon "was joined in love" to Echidna, a monstrous half-woman and half-snake, who bore Typhon "fierce offspring""  Now imagine that if the Shadowfell is the dark reflection to the planes Prime then perhaps the Shadowfell also touches the prison plane  of Tartarus. The shadow plane is the home of some of the most dangerous undead & there is a good reason for this because it overlaps the prison plane of Tartarus; 

"As for the place, Hesiod asserts that a bronze anvil falling from heaven would fall nine days before it reached the earth. The anvil would take nine more days to fall from earth to Tartarus.^[5] In the Iliad (c. 700 BC), Zeus asserts that Tartarus is "as far beneath Hades as heaven is above earth."^[6] Similarly the mythographer Apollodorus, describes Tartarus as "a gloomy place in Hades as far distant from earth as earth is distant from the sky."^[7]

While according to Greek mythology the realm of Hades is the place of the dead, Tartarus also has a number of inhabitants. When Cronus came to power as the King of the Titans, he imprisoned the one-eyed Cyclopes and the hundred-armed Hecatonchires in Tartarus and set the monster Campe as its guard. Zeus killed Campe and released these imprisoned giants to aid in his conflict with the Titans. The gods of Olympus eventually triumphed. Cronus and many of the other Titans were banished to Tartarus, though Prometheus, Epimetheus, and female Titans such as Metis were spared (according to Pindar, Cronus somehow later earned Zeus' forgiveness and was released from Tartarus to become ruler of Elysium). Another Titan, Atlas, was sentenced to hold the sky on his shoulders to prevent it from resuming its primordial embrace with the Earth. Other gods could be sentenced to Tartarus as well. Apollo is a prime example, although Zeus freed him. The Hecatonchires became guards of Tartarus' prisoners. Later, when Zeus overcame the monster Typhon, he threw him into "wide Tartarus"."

Over the centuries there have been many entities working towards freeing Typhon & his mate Echidna. These two entities are still spawning some of the most dangerous monsters that make their way onto the various planes Prime & into many of the dungeons. 

Tartarus isn't simply the prison plane of the gods but also the domain the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons hags. Tartarus is also the home of the Graeae the mother of the hags, they are not the biological mothers but the occult ritual mothers of the creation rites of hags. The wiki entry on the Graeae goes into their history;

"The Graeae were daughters of the sea-deities Phorcys and Ceto (from which their name the Phorcydes derived), and sisters to the Gorgons.^[3] The Graeae took the form of old, grey-haired women. Their age was so great that a human childhood for them was hardly conceivable. In Theogony, however, Hesiod describes the Graeae as being "fair-cheeked". In Prometheus Bound, the Graeae are described as being half-swan.

Hesiod names only two Graeae, the "well-clad" Pemphredo (Πεμφρηδώ "alarm") and the "saffron-robed" Enyo (Ἐνυώ "horror" the "waster of cities" who also had an identity separate from this sisterhood).^[4] Pseudo-Apollodorus lists Deino (Δεινώ "dread", the dreadful anticipation of horror) as a third.^[5] Calling them "Phorcides", Hyginus, in addition to Pemphredo and Enyo, adds Persis noting that "for this last others say Dino".^[6]

They shared one eye and one tooth, which they took turns using. By stealing their eye while they were passing it among themselves, the hero Perseus forced them to tell the whereabouts of the three objects needed to kill Medusa (in other versions the whereabouts of Medusa) by ransoming their shared eye for the information.^[3]

The Graeae are similar to the Greek Moirai, the northern European Norns, the Roman Parcae, the Slavic Sudice, the Celtic Morrigan, and the Baltic goddess Laima and her two sisters. The Three Witches from the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare also are similar to the three Graeae." 

So the cults & covens of the Graeae persist well into the tulmus chaos of history of Western Civilization. 

The Graeae and Perseus (WG416) miniatures from the Foundry 

But the iron walls of Tartarus isn't simply the home to Typhon but some of the most dangerous cosmic entities that have ever graced creation. According to the wiki entry on Tartarus; "Tartarus occurs

in the Septuagint of Job, and in Hellenistic Jewish literature from the Greek text of 1 Enoch, dated to 400–200 BC. This states that God placed the archangel Uriel "in charge of the world and of Tartarus" (20:2). Tartarus is generally understood to be the place where 200 fallen Watchers (angels) are imprisoned.^[18]

In Hypostasis of the Archons (also translated 'Reality of the Rulers'), an apocryphal gnostic treatise dated before 350 AD, Tartarus makes a brief appearance when Zōē (life), the daughter of Sophia (wisdom) casts Ialdabaōth (demiurge) down to the bottom of the abyss of Tartarus."



Well, surely Tartarus has nothing what so ever to do with the Las Vegas campaign setting & Venger Satanis? Well actually it does! You see not directly but you see there are alien priests of shadow moving among the population here & there in Vegas. These priests of Shadow are from an ancient & highly alien world known as Torth! These dangerous & devilish masked priests come from a technological post apocalytic wasteland world from the fevered imagination of Venger Satanis. That's right I've brought Revelry in Torth to the table top.  



The planar crack of  Cha'alt has allowed the alien world of Torth to rise in the Las Vegas sky & things are about to get much more dangerous & weirder in the Vegas desert sands! Stay tuned! 

Death of A God & The Tomb Of Pan Dungeon Session Report '89

I saw a city in a lonely land:
Foursquare, it fronted upon gulfs of fire;
Behind, the night of Erebus hung entire;
And deserts gloomed or glimmered on each hand.
The City of the Titans  (1915) 
by Clark Ashton Smith

There was a quick debate on Twitter about how gods should never be killed in Dungeons & Dragons style games. This reminded me of one of the most dangerous dungeons our party of players encountered back in '89. The Tomb of  Pan was a home brew that my uncle had come up with whist his kids & me were in school learning Greco Roman mythology. 

The Clash of the Titans film was still on everyone's mind in '89

My uncle had picked up on a bit from Greek mythology & the closest I could come was this quote from the Stack Exchange Mythology  & Folklore beta ; 

"Then the voice said aloud to him, When you are arrived at Palodes, take care to make it known that the great God Pan is dead.

Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals. Translated from the Greek by several hands. Corrected and revised by. William W. Goodwin, PH. D. Boston. Little, Brown, and Company. Cambridge. Press Of John Wilson and son. 1874." 

We were to try & figure out what had killed him & the we were right in the middle of the events of Ragnarok during that time.  We were use Charon to get into Tartarus to find the tomb. Most of the adventure was sew up whole cloth from Deities & Demi Gods & The Manual of the Planes. 


We ported into the deathly quiet of the plane & began searching for the tomb. Our druid wasn't really sure what happened to her patron. It began with the shadow demons on the first level of the tomb after we investigated the wax seal & had made the offering to the gods. Tartus usual suspects were after us Demodands, Achaierai, Shadow demons, Mephits, & Vargouille. They all came at us & we died by the score as I remember. My wizards were cut down left & right but we had a pact with the gods. The tomb was fiendish, clever, & very dangerous.
Vrubel pan painting. 

The tomb was empty.
Fighting through the final rooms we entered the garden level of the tomb & found Zeus waiting for us & we didn't even wait around. We'd had some dealings with the father of the gods before & his wraith was nothing to fool with. Apparently he had resurrected the god & this was nothing for even the affairs of demi gods & heroes. 




Copyright Tsr, Deities And Demigods, Dungeons And Dragons

So did we feel cheated? No not at all we had gotten away with a bit of treasure & had learned that the Greco Roman pantheon was heavily involved with the events of Ragnarok. We had barely escaped with our collective lives at the time.  There were losing characters in my uncle's games & then there was  losing characters. That would come much later on! But that's an other blog post for another time. Is there a Christian allegory here? Umm yeah & my uncle used it to bait us & then switched up events in the same campaign. 

Gods devolve into demons over time & eventually fade or assume a different role. They may also become demons such as the Pagan gods were turned into devils & demons by later Christian church sources. Should player's high level PC's be able to kill gods or their avatars? Hmm very rarely & there should be some serious consequences for those actions. As we shall see there are some very nasty consequences & PC's will bare the brunt of them. 

OSR Commentary - Classic Dungeons & Dragons Player Character Races With A Mythological Twist

I take a far more mythological progression with the iconic Dungeons & Dragons fantasy races in my home campaigns. There are far more to them then meets the eye & its actually a form of rebellion on my part against the usual Dungeons & Dragons expectations. When dealing with many of the OSR worlds this approach has been far more rewarding by allowing the players to have more of a hand in their characters.



Let's start with humanity is the single greatest occult resource for the supernatural & occult world. The abundance of the human race means that its going to be widely available for millions of years to come. But its also the race that provides the greatest number of heroes. This could be form of occult natural selection or simply that this race provides its own supernatural immune system in the package of adventurers. The sheer variety of humanity provides an endless supply of food & amusement for the occult powers. But it also on occasion provides their death as well. 
Neither the Dwarves nor the Elves seen in Dungeons & Dragons are the true powers or royals of those semi divine breeds. The Dwarves of my own home campaigns are taken straight from Germanic & Norse mythologies & their pivotal to humanity's future;
:The modern English noun dwarf descends from the Old English dweorg. It has a variety of cognates in other Germanic languages, including Old Norse dvergr and Old High German twerg. According to Vladimir Orel, the English noun and its cognates ultimately descend from Proto-Germanic *đwerȝaz.^[2]
Beyond the Proto-Germanic reconstruction, the etymology of the word dwarf is highly contested. Scholars have proposed theories about the origins of the being by way of historical linguistics and comparative mythology, including that dwarfs may have originated as nature spirits, as beings associated with death, or as a mixture of concepts. Competing etymologies include a basis in the Indo-European root *dheur- (meaning 'damage'), the Indo-European root *dhreugh (whence, for example, modern English dream and German Trug 'deception'), and comparisons have been made with Sanskrit dhvaras (a type of "demonic being")"
The Dwarven peoples that we see in various settings are in fact the Dweorg, races created by the Dwarven 'gods' eons ago to survive the harsh conditions of various planes & worlds for mining, & other worldly activities.


Elves or huldra ("hidden being") are in fact humanoids bred to be the slave race of wizards & gods from the magical rich chaos laden realm of Fairyland. These beings have for millions of years been used as labor, military, work force, etc. in our world. Many ancient other dimensional gateways still exist under mounds & other historical sites of occult importance. Elven gods & powers are some of the most evil & dangerous beings that players can run across. Humanity once worshiped these beings but rebelled in ancient times before the Biblical flood.


Half Elves were a latter development for magically deleted environments & for use as traders with humanity often where valuable resources  & occult sites of power are still found. These beings look very human but display a wide variety of mythological racial traits that sets them apart. These beings often have individual tribal or racial identities depending upon the region or country they are found in.





The half orc has a deep & abiding connection to Orcus & the classic Underworld of Greco Roman mythology. The half orc is a product of war & chaos due to the influx of the Orc warmachine from from the Underworld. The Underworld is the passage of warfare between the gods of Hell & humanity. The half orc is a product of its background of violence & hatred but many rise beyond it. These beings are rare but not unheard of throughout Europe & the known world. Orcs, goblins, & ogres are far too common it would seem.

"Old English glossaries record the word orc corresponding with Latin Orcus (deity of the Underworld), and synonymous with þyrs/ðyrs "ogre" (cognate to Old Norse: þurs), as well as "hell devil". The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal defines ork in the very closely related Old Dutch language as a verslindend monster ("devouring monster"),^[3] and points at a possible origin in the Old Dutch nork "petulant, crabbed, evil person".^[4]
The Latin: Orcus is glossed as "Old English: Orc, þyrs, oððe hel-deofol"^[a] as given in the first Cleopatra Glossary (10th century), and on this entry Thomas Wright wrote, "Orcus was the name for Pluto, the god of the infernal regions, hence we can easily understand the explanation of hel-deofol. Orc, in Anglo-Saxon, like thyrs, means a spectre, or goblin."




With a bit of mythological adjustment a dungeon master can mold the classic Dungeons & Dragons player character  races to suit their players & their own needs for a campaign. The DYI nature of Dungeons & Dragons allows the dungeon master to take full advantage of the blank spots left in early editions of the; grand game.' Old & tired races that players have seen a million times can take on a far more 'Weird Tales' aspect with a bit of research & time.


Ten Reasons Why A Mythological
Twist Works For PC Racial Classes 

1. Each of the PC races mentioned in this blog post have some strange connection with Alchemy & this can easily be exploited by the dungeon master for all kinds of harrowing mayhem. 
2. The classic Greco Roman depiction of Hades & his connection with the creation of the orc  race is never used in adventures. 
3. Elven gods are dangerous & the Elven races connection to its Fairyland origins points to a far more alien view point then we traditionally see in Dungeons & Dragons campaigns. 
4. Dwarves have often been the lynch  pins in the affairs of the gods & should be exploited often. 
5. Half Elves are the perfect stand ins for many 'lost world' races in campaigns. They can be exceedingly rare. 
6. Don't count out humanity for being the perfect ancient plot device for old school adventures. 
7. Don't be afraid to make up stuff as needed to bridge gap your home campaigns when it comes to the cracks in mythology. 
8. The Underworld is a dungeon master's friend & a crack in the Earth is the perfect excuse for a PC to simply show up in an adventure. 
9. Screw with player expectations! While many gamers are familiar with the classic Dungeons & Dragons books. They often are not that well versed in the actual mythological  origins of their favorite monsters leaving plenty of room for dungeon master customization. 
10. Use mythology to breath new life into classic old school adventures using mythological resources. Play the unexpected and don't be afraid to exploit it for the game.

Myth Beyond The Monster Manual - The Erinyes Devils of Violence & Justice For Your Old School Sword & Sorcery Campaigns

I've  been quietly cracking open my first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual & looking into the devils section last night. I looked into the Erinyes entry  for a bit of Sword & Sorcery inspiration.The Monster Manual & even the original Dungeons & Dragons monster stats profile has been lacking. Greco Roman mythology is so much richer on these goddesses & children of Chronos's blood.

Its through Dante's Divine Comedy  that we get these female chthonic deities of vengeance 
that we get these deities & their devil kin offspring in Hell. The wiki entry on the Furies goes into their parentage & mythological background; 
"In Greek mythology the Erinyes (/ɪˈrɪniˌiːz/; sing. Erinys /ɪˈrɪnɪs/;^[1] Greek: Ἐρῑνύες [ῠ], pl. of Ἐρῑνύς [ῡ], Erinys),^[2] also known as the Furies, were female chthonic deities of vengeance; they were sometimes referred to as "infernal goddesses" (χθόνιαι θεαί). A formulaic oath in the Iliad invokes them as "the Erinyes, that under earth take vengeance on men, whosoever hath sworn a false oath".^[3] Walter Burkert suggests they are "an embodiment of the act of self-cursing contained in the oath".^[4] They correspond to the Dirae in Roman mythology.^[5] The Roman writer Maurus Servius Honoratus wrote that they are called "Eumenides" in hell, "Furiae" on earth, and "Dirae" in heaven.^[6][7]
According to Hesiod's Theogony, when the Titan Cronus castrated his father, Uranus, and threw his genitalia into the sea, the Erinyes (along with the Giants and the Meliae) emerged from the drops of blood which fell on the earth (Gaia), while Aphrodite was born from the crests of sea foam.^[8] According to variant accounts,^[9] they emerged from an even more primordial level—from Nyx ("Night"), or from a union between air and mother earth.^[10] Their number is usually left indeterminate. Virgil, probably working from an Alexandrian source, recognized three: Alecto or Alekto ("endless"), Megaera ("jealous rage"), and Tisiphone or Tilphousia ("vengeful destruction"), all of whom appear in the Aeneid. Dante Alighieri followed Virgil in depicting the same three-character triptych of Erinyes; in Canto IX of the Inferno they confront the poets at the gates of the city of Dis. Whilst the Erinyes were usually described as three maiden goddesses, the Erinys Telphousia was usually a by-name for the wrathful goddess Demeter, who was worshipped under the title of Erinys in the Arkadian town of Thelpousa."

When I was younger back in the Eighties, the Satanic Panic was in full swing I used to have to sneak readings & such of Dante's Divine Comedy.During the school season. I developed a monster ecology centered around the Furies & their kin. Hell wasn't simply nine levels of planes but a large sprawling series of planes, subplanes, & nether Hells. These all connected together by the river Styx & its many backwaters. I was influenced by the Dragon Magazine articles the 'Politics of Hell' & the many articles on devils & demons through the years.




These goddesses & their spawn are lawful evil  conforming  to the violent letter of the law including the breaking of sacred oaths. But they are far older then the Greco Roman pantheon & have strong connections to the titan especially Uranus.
"The three classic Furies sprang forth from the spilled blood of Uranus when he was castrated by his son Cronus. The sisters are:

• Alecto – Punisher of moral crimes (anger, etc.)
• Megaera – Punisher of infidelity, oath breakers, and theft
• Tisiphone – Punisher of murderers"

"The Roman writer Maurus Servius Honoratus wrote that they are called "Eumenides" in hell, "Furiae" on earth, and "Dirae" in heaven." So they have dominion in all of these planes under special circumstances.


But in a Sword & Sorcery game such as Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea set millions of years in the future under a dying Earth what possible role can the "Eumenides" & their spawn have?! Actually plenty considering that in my own campaigns Ragnarok & the Apocalypse has happened. In a post Ragnarok world they'd be responsible for the souls of dead royals, princes, bishops,etc. who broke their sacred oaths. Assassin's guilds sacred to them would be carrying out their divine agendas based on sacred dreams & visions.

The Amazons have whole cloth cults & state run religions centered around the Furies. During times of war the drums of the Amazon armies can be heard for miles around. A major summoning often accompanies these events especially before war or major battles.

Then there are the druidic groves dedicated to them scattered through the wilderness. Groves dedicated to Orestes  which are visited by bards who wish to gain the sacred madness of his mystery. Oedipus also has his own mysterious groves scattered throughout the weird wildernesses but scholars are unsure of if both Orestes & Oedipus are two different ancient princes. Or the same one who  attracted their 'tender affections'

"In Sophocles's play, Oedipus at Colonus, it is significant that he comes to his final resting place in the grove dedicated to the Erinyes. It shows that he has paid his penance for his blood crime, as well as come to integrate the balancing powers to his early over-reliance upon Apollo, the god of the individual, the sun, and reason. He is asked to make an offering to the Erinyes and complies, having made his peace"

 Pity the poor necrcomancer whose black heart summons these devils & wastes their time. His soul will be ravaged in some nameless back water Hell or in some corner temple of Underborea for eternity.



Make no mistake these devils while lawful are purely evil. Their visitations often leave behind the tell tale scent & trail of Chaos itself wherever they go.  The cults dedicated to whatever facet of the Furies often have the markings of mutation about them. There many be 1d6 mutations about these cultists.
These beings will not harm a worshiper or cult member of the cult of Cronus. That is unless they have broken the scared oaths & laws of the Furies or their spawn. Cults of witches & druidic circles dedicated to the Furies are always opposed to the toad god & its spawn's agenda. They will not hesitate to destroy any member of these groups that comes within their talons. Once per new moon one of the spawn of the Furies may be summoned from the underground back water of  the underworld or Hell.



The Grand Summoning happens once in the dead of Winter under the full Moon with one of the dread sisters appearing accompanied by 1d6 devil spawn from the deepest of Hells. A murderer or adulterer is often the sacrifice at such a summoning. Cults will seek divine guidance during these rites & major events. These events often happen at remotely located temples located on high mountains or in the wilderness ruins of some once major city state.

There are in the wastelands entire witch cults dedicated to the Furies who carry out ancient sacred rites under the watchful & wrathful eye of a devil. She will often inhabit or possess the head priestess & pass judgement on any brought before her. Sacrifices are made of oathbreakers & adulterers on the small moon nights while murderers & worse's blood graces the alters on full moon. These cults often ply the wastelands trading potions, healing powders, & wares while spying for more criminals to kidnap for the alters. There is never enough blood & some towns turn over or sell their criminals for the rough 'justice' of the cults.


This alternative ecology of the Furies & their spawn was made my Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea rpg adventure  using the alternative  historical Dark Albion & Dark Albion Cults of Chaos setting rules. Bits & pieces were taken from Lion & Dragon.