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The story of the Lord of Wrath begins in the depths of the lower planes, paradoxically in Barathus and Malor at the same time. In an echo of the Dark God Vornoth's betrayal of the other evil gods when he created the Book of Seven, the origin of the Captain of the Deadly Lords began when evil turned on itself, seeking its own advantage. Two warlords, the Pit Fiend Nabarus and the Balor Bakahul, clashed in the astral river, pitting their devilish and demonic armies against one another. The fiendish armies were able to take advantage of the less restrictive boundaries between the lower planes set by Vornoth, who was known as the Walker-in-Darkness because of his habit of traversing the planes of evil at will. Both creatures hoped that the destruction of such a powerful adversary would win them prestige in the eyes of the demons and devils above them. So evenly matched were the two fiends, however, that neither was able to gain the upper hand and, their armies decimated, each returned to their infernal fortresses to nurse their egos, Nabarus stewing and Bakahul raging at the stalemate.
There, in his black-spired, lava-moated castle, the wily devil Nabarus hatched a plot to rise in the ranks of the strict hierarchies of Hell. He began slowly researching a demonic ritual that would allow him to absorb the powers of his enemy Bakahul, thereby increasing his own personal power and prestige at the same time. After several years, Nabarus was unable to make much progress on his rite, and it seemed that such a thing might be impossible. Then, in his search for knowledge, he encountered a powerful evil being from another plane: he contacted the Dweller in the Wintervale herself. After soliciting a promise of service from Nabarus, the Dweller supplied the Pit Fiend with the magical phrases, drawn from the Book of Seven, that were the key to unlocking the ritual. Luring the Balor to the astral river under flag of truce, Nabarus uttered the magical words and began, in a blinding flash, to absorb the power of the Balor. Taken by surprise at the betrayal, Bakahul, in a fit of anger, called for aid upon the darkest power of the lower planes: the god Vornoth himself. Normally, the Walker-in-Darkness would not have batted an eye at the plight of a single demon, even a demon lord, but in this instance, the cunning Lord of Evil saw a valuable tool. He answered Bakahul's call, permitting his consciousness to continue existing inside Nabarus, even though the body of the Balor was destroyed once and for all. Nabarus and Bakahul were forever merged. The Pit Fiend thus found himself with a problem that he did not anticipate; he discovered that in times of stress or injury, the personality of his enemy Bakahul, ever fighting to come to the surface, would gain control of his body and would seek to undue the desires of Nabarus.
Anger at this unexpected development filling him, Nabarus put his ambitions of rising in the hellish hierarchies on hold and began trying to research ways to remove the personality of Bakahul from his body. But these efforts too were thwarted, for at that moment the Dweller in the Wintervale called in her favor. She summoned the Pit Fiend to Núrion to serve as the Captain of the Lords of Sin. Using the Book of Seven, the Dweller imbued Nabarus with the Dark Will, and, bound to his promise, the devil angrily agreed to become the Lord of Wrath, his dreams of becoming an Overlord of Hell slipping away forever.
But here the Lord Vornoth's plan came to fruition. The dark god knew that the Dweller had long chafed at his control and sought to escape her sentence of doom. He knew that the fallen elf would betray him, somehow, if she only felt she could get away with it. Thus Vornoth communicated with the personality of Bakahul, making it known to the raging, nearly-insane demon that it owed its continued existence to Vornoth, and that its plight was the fault of the Dweller in the Vale. Vornoth charged Bakahul with noting all the movements and machinations of the Dweller and reporting them back to Vornoth. This was a necessity for the Walker-in-Darkness, since any direct presence or intervention on Núrion by a deity had been forbidden by the Council of the Gods. Because of this interdiction, Vornoth's awareness of what exactly transpired on Núrion was occluded, and the Dweller had grown especially adept at hiding from his sight when she wanted to. Bakahul agreed to spy for Vornoth on his master the Dweller in the Vale.
In terms of personality, both Nabarus and Bakahul are colored through and through by anger. Nabarus' wrath is cold and calculating. Bound by his oath to serve the will of the Dweller, wrath at being unable to achieve his personal ambition of becoming the Overlord of Hell still pierces his heart like an icicle. Bakahul's anger, however, is fiery and chaotic. He burns with rage because of his defeat at the hands of Nabarus and by the loss of his own form. His fury is primarily directed at the Dweller in the Vale and at his captor, though he hates every creature in existence besides the Walker-in-Darkness, whom he views as his salvation. Nonetheless, when he is in control of Nabarus' body, Bakahul is able to martial his anger long enough to use mighty magics to report to Vornoth on the doings of the Dweller.
In combat, Nabarus is cold, calculating, dangerous, and strategic. He is constantly guarded by legions of hobgoblin troops, as well as the crack force called the Crimson Lion Guard, and he is glad to let these minions do his fighting for him. However, if he is injured, Bakahul will try to gain control of his form, and it will become more and more difficult to resist as he grows more angry or injured. Once Bakahul does manage to gain control, the Lord of Anger will tend to be more reckless and less tactical. Bakahul is still quite intelligent, but he will usually give himself over to his anger eventually and wade into combat with his fearsome magical greataxe.
Large Fiend (Devil), lawful evil
AC 22 Initiative +14Hit Points 525 (35d10 + 315)
Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft.
Skills Intimidate +15, Perception +12, Persuasion +15
Resistances Cold, Lightning
Immunities Fire, Poison; Poisoned
Senses Truesight 120 ft., Passive Perception 22
Languages Dark Speech, Farlandish, telepathy 120 ft.
Challenge 24 (62,000 or 75,000 in lair XP; PB +8)
Fear Aura. The Lord of Wrath emanates an aura in a 20-foot Emanation while it doesn't have the Incapacitated condition. Wisdom Saving Throw: DC 23, any enemy that starts its turn in the aura. Failure: The target has the Frightened condition until the start of its next turn. Success: The target is immune to the Lord of Wrath's aura for 24 hours.
Legendary Resistance (4/Day, or 5/Day in Lair but Bakahul's uses count against Nabarus' uses). If the Lord of Wrath fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead.
Magic Resistance. The Lord of Wrath has Advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Multiattack. The Lord of Wrath makes one Bite attack, two Devilish Claw attacks, and one Axe attack.
Bite. Melee Attack Roll: +16 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 27 (6d6 + 8) Piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it must make the following saving throw. Constitution Saving Throw: DC 23. Failure: The target has the Poisoned condition. While Poisoned, the target can't regain Hit Points and takes 27 (8d6) Poison damage at the start of each of its turns, and it repeats the save at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. After 1 minute, it succeeds automatically.
Devilish Claw. Melee Attack Roll: +16 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target.Hit: 34 (6d8 + 8) Necrotic damage.
Axe. Melee Attack Roll: +16 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target.Hit: 25 (5d6 + 8) Force damage plus 27 (8d6) Fire damage.
Hellfire Spellcasting (Recharge 4-6). The Lord of Wrath casts Fireball (level 7 version) twice, requiring no Material components and using Charisma as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 23). It can replace one Fireball with Hold Monster (level 7 version) or Wall of Fire.
Large Fiend (Demon), chaotic evil
AC 22 Initiative +14Hit Points 525 (35d10 + 315)
Speed 40 ft., Fly 80 ft.
Skills Intimidate +15, Perception +11
Resistances Cold, Lightning
Immunities Charmed, Frightened, Fire, Poison, Poisoned
Senses Truesight 120 ft., Passive Perception 21
Languages Dark Speech, Farlandish, telepathy 120 ft.
Challenge 24 (62,000 or 75,000 in lair XP; PB +8)
Death Throes. The Lord of Wrath explodes when he dies. Dexterity Saving Throw: DC 23, each creature in a 30-foot Emanation originating from the Lord of Wrath. Failure: 37 (12d6) Fire damage plus 37 (12d6) Force damage. Success: Half damage.
Fire Aura. At the end of each of the Lord of Wrath's turns, each creature in a 5-foot Emanation originating from the Lord of Wrath takes 21 (5d8) Fire damage.
Legendary Resistance (4/Day, or 5/Day in Lair but Nabarus' uses count against Bakahul's uses). If the Lord of Wrath fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead.
Magic Resistance. The Lord of Wrath has Advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Multiattack. The Lord of Wrath makes one Flame Whip attack and one Axe attack.
Flame Whip. Melee Attack Roll: +16 to hit, reach 30 ft., one target. Hit: 30 (7d6 + 8) Force damage plus 22 (7d6) Fire damage. If the target is a Huge or smaller creature, the Lord of Wrath pulls the target up to 25 feet straight toward itself. The target has the Prone condition.
Axe. Melee Attack Roll: +16 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target.Hit: 25 (4d8 + 8) Force damage plus 26 (5d10) Lightning damage. The target can't take Reactions until the start of the Lord of Wrath's next turn.
Teleport. The Lord of Wrath teleports himself or a willing creature within 10 feet of him up to 60 feet to an unoccupied space the Lord of Wrath can see.
Legendary Action Uses: 3 (4 in Lair). Immediately after another creature's turn, the Lord of Wrath can expend a use to take one of the following actions. He regains all expended uses at the start of each of his turns.
Enrage. A random creature that is an enemy of the Lord of Wrath within sight of the Lord of Wrath must succeed at a DC 23 Wisdom saving throw or become enraged. On its next turn, the creature uses its action to make a melee or ranged attack against a randomly determined ally within its reach or range. If there is no ally within its reach or range, the creature does nothing on its turn except fume.
Axe. The Lord of Wrath makes an axe attack. The Lord of Wrath can’t use this action again until the start of his next turn.
Hellish Fury. The Lord of Wrath makes a Devilish Claw or Flame Whip Attack. The Lord of Wrath can’t use this action again until the start of his next turn.
The Lord of Wrath lairs in the Flamespire, the highest tower in the Palace of Wrath in the Far City. Creatures that dwell within a mile of the Flamespire are short-tempered, irritable, and given to angry outbursts and even unnecessary violence. The Palace is guarded by hobgoblin legions as well as the dreaded Crimson Lion Guard. But the Flamespire itself also works to defeat the foes of the Lord of Wrath. On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), The Lord of Wrath takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects. The Lord of Wrath can't use the same effect two rounds in a row. The Lord of Wrath is CR 25 (75,000 XP) while in his lair.