Lamashtu (Dungeons & Dragons)

Lamashtu is the demon queen of monstrous births, in the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, currently imprisoned by her former lover Pazuzu.

Creative origins

Lamashtu is named for a demon goddess in Mesopotamian mythology. Pazuzu was her rival, and frequently invoked to protect people from her predations. The historical Lamashtu is described as possessing a hairy body, a lioness' head with donkey's teeth and ears, long fingers and fingernails, and the feet of a bird with sharp talons.

Publication history

Lamashtu was first mentioned in the article "Demonomicon of Iggwilv: Pazuzu" in Dragon #392 (March 2005), by James Jacobs.^[1] Lamashtu received further details in third edition in Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss (2006).^[2]

Lamashtu received further description in the fourth edition book Demonomicon (2010).^[3]

Description

She is described as a wretched and deformed hag, well known for her bottomless hunger for the bones of pregnant mothers and newborn babes.

Relationships

Dragon #329 (2005) and Demonomicon (2010), list Pazuzu as Lamashtu's most notable enemy. She was once his consort, but she betrayed him by abusing her knowledge of his true name. In retribution, Pazuzu put out her eyes and banished her to the Abyssal layer of Torremor, in the sprawling construction known as Onstrakker's Nest.

Realm

Onstrakker's Nest is built on a towering spire from timber, bones, earth, and stone pillars, is hundreds of miles in diameter. Lamashtu is impaled on a gleaming spire.

In Demonomicon (2010), Lamashtu has recently gained control of Torremor, taking it from Pazuzu, though she has yet to escape from her prison. Despite her theft of his Abyssal layer, Pazuzu still only barely considers her a threat. He rarely visited Torremor regardless, having long since abandoned the layer for the skies above Pazunia.

Other publishers

Lamashtu appeared in Paizo Publishing's book Book of the Damned, Vol. 2: Lords of Chaos (2010), on pages 6–7.^[4]

Lamashtu appears as a major goddess of the Pathfinder campaign setting. There, she is described as resembling a heavily pregnant human woman with the head of a three-eyed jackal, a raven's wings, a snake's tail, and a vulture's feet. She is given credit for the creation of any number of monstrous races, including gnolls, minotaurs, and many more, often in myth mating with some beast to create bestial humanoid offspring.

References

Additional reading

• Jacobs, James. Lords of Chaos. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2010.