Erac's Cousin

Greyhawk Character
Erac's Cousin
Homeland	Unknown
Gender	Male
Race	Human
Age
Class	Fighter 6/Wizard 16+
Alignment	Lawful Evil

The man known as Erac's Cousin is a mysterious figure who has not revealed his real name. He is also called simply the Unnamed.

Description

Erac's Cousin was a mage who was able to wield swords with great proficiency. He was seldom seen without a red-eyed rat on his shoulder, his imp familiar. He commanded an army including 50 medium cavalry, 50 light cavalry, 50 light horse archers, 100 heavy infantry regulars, 100 heavy archer regulars, and 100 pole armed infantry regulars. Many of his troops were rumored to be evil humanoids.

The Unnamed may have been reborn as a greater devil.

History

Erac's Cousin was once a lawful good human magic-user. He gave up being a spellcaster to become a fighter with a penchant for wielding a pair of vorpal swords.

In one adventure, Erac's Cousin and his companion Ayelerach are purported to have stumbled upon the stone prison of the demon prince Fraz-Urb'luu in the dungeons below Castle Greyhawk. The Prince of Deception, with his honeyed words, tricked the pair into reading from a scroll that released the demon from his prison. The two hapless adventurers were then whisked away by Fraz-Urb'luu to his layer on the Abyss, where they were forced to become his slaves and the vorpal swords were destroyed. Erac's Cousin and Ayelerach were eventually able to return to the Material Plane, but describe the Abyssal realm they visited as depressing and sickening, due to its totally flat and featureless terrain, and ability to drain the magic out of any item.

Upon his escape from the Abyss, an unknown form of insanity overtook Erac's Cousin and he slew all of his friends to steal their possessions, forsaking his former deity who he blamed for not saving him from the demon prince. Erac's Cousin, now thoroughly evil, made a pact with the archdevil Baalzebul. As a reward for the souls of those he slew, Baalzebul agreed to make Erac's Cousin into a greater devil upon his death, despite Erac's Cousin's fear of dying.

There is speculation (by Erik Mona) that Erac's Cousin may have become a Hierarch of the Horned Society. Many of the Hierarchs were killed by Iuz's vengeance, but one was able to return. This being, known only as the "Unnameable Hierarch" was reborn as a greater devil thanks to a pact with the archfiend Baalzebul.

Creative origins

Erac's Cousin (and Erac before him) were characters played by Ernie Gygax, one of Gary Gygax's sons. Ernie Gygax was also the player of Serten and Tenser.

Bibliography

• Blume, Brian, David Cook, and Jean Wells. The Rogues Gallery. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1980.
• Gygax, Gary. "From the Sorcerer's Scroll: Greyhawk-the Shape of the World." Dragon #37. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1980.
• -----. "From the Sorcerer's Scroll: Protection Circles and the Like, Plus News of the North Central Flanaess." Dragon #56. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1981.
• -----. Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1982.
• -----. "Up On a Soapbox." Dragon #320. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2004.

• Jacobs, James. "The Demonimicon of Iggwilv: Fraz-Urb'luu." Dragon #333. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2005.

• Kuntz, Robert J., and Douglas J Behringer. "Robilar Remembers: Erac's Cousin." Oerth Journal #5. Council of Greyhawk, 1997. Available online:[1])

External links

• Listing on Doomsday Games's message board.