Errtu

D&D character


caption=
name=Errtu
home=Abyss
gender=Male
race=Balor
class=
alignment=Chaotic Evil
age=
universe="Forgotten Realms"

Errtu is a balor, a true tanar'ri (chaotic evil demon) in the "Dungeons & Dragons" role-playing game, chiefly in the "Forgotten Realms" campaign setting. Errtu was featured as a villain of the first book in the "Icewind Dale" trilogy, "The Crystal Shard" by R. A. Salvatore, and the main villain of "Passage to Dawn", the final book in Salvatore's "Legacy of the Drow" series. Second to the assassin Artemis Entreri and Obould Many-Arrows, Errtu is the greatest nemesis and most powerful and dangerous foe of the drow renegade, Drizzt Do'Urden, though Errtu has described himself as 'he who hates Drizzt most'.

Appearance

Errtu is some twelve feet tall, covered in red scales, with a large pair of bat-like wings and a tail, and is frequently described as having a "horned, ape-like head" (Salvatore 2007) and a "canine maw" (Salvatore 2007). When he's in the throes of lust for power, he drools an acidic saliva. His voice is gravelly, guttural, and harsh. He is the ruler of a layer of the Abyss characterized by the growth of giant mushrooms, and even has a throne carved into the stalk of one. His weapons are usually a many-tailed whip, a sword of lightning, and his considerable magic and wits.

Personality

Errtu's motivations are primarily that of the average demon's — his own power, his own survival, and the chance to cause havoc in the Prime Material Plane. He is concerned entirely with himself and his own quest for power and control, and his selfishness leads him nearly to paranoia — in his view, anything that goes wrong is a conspiracy against him. Given Errtu's native environment, and the temperament of its denizens, this is an excellent survival trait and not too far off the mark.

Despite that, Errtu is intelligent, and a capable tactician. The simple fact that, unless something greater destroys him in the Abyss (which is unlikely), he will exist for almost eternity, allows him to have considerable patience if it will be rewarded with a considerable increase in power.

He's also able to think laterally, and work around his problems. In Passage to Dawn, he released himself from a wizard's circle by using an anti-magic stone he kept in a bag, a leftover from the Time of Troubles. This dispelled the summoner's protective magic circle, which was otherwise flawless, and likewise disabled Errtu's magical abilities. However, Errtu, massive as he was, did not need them to kill the summoner.

He has been known to cooperate with other evil beings, gaining allies or even being them. In "The Crystal Shard" he chooses to ally himself with the wizard Akar Kessel, on the promise that when Kessel died (which wouldn't be long in Errtu's view, even if Kessel died of old age), he would gain "Crenshinibon". In "Siege of Darkness", he became a reluctant ally of the drow goddess Lolth — at first because she could obliterate him if he didn't cooperate, and later because she offered him a chance to gain total, personal revenge on Drizzt. A few times he offers subordinate posts to lesser demons to ensure their aid.

Obsession with Drizzt

Like Artemis Entreri, Errtu holds an intense hatred of Drizzt Do'Urden, a drow outcast. Unlike Entreri, whose rivalry was based on pride and discovering who was the best, Errtu is motivated by sheer malevolence and revenge. Drizzt defeats Errtu twice in the course of his adventures.

The first time, when Errtu was serving as Akar Kessel's general, Drizzt summoned Errtu, to pose as a drow scout and inquire about Crenshinibon. When Errtu discovered Drizzt's ivory unicorn pendant, he attacked the drow, surrounding himself with flames and using his whip to catch Drizzt and pull him into the flames. Upon contact with Drizzt, the flames were extinguished—due to the magic of the as-yet unnamed scimitar Icingdeath. In a confused moment for both of them, Drizzt slashed Errtu with Icingdeath—causing the balor real pain and the blade's magic even freezing the tissues at the edge of the wound. Errtu was shocked—having never even heard of a weapon with that effect—and was stabbed in the stomach before he could recover. The scimitar's magic won out, destroying Errtu's material body and banishing him for a hundred years. As his body dissolved, Errtu reminded Drizzt of their long lifespans and promised revenge.

The second time proved much harder for Drizzt, as the balor had gained the artifact Crenshinibon, and the balor had used it to build a stronghold in the Sea of Moving Ice, a body of water west of Icewind Dale and dotted with icebergs. Despite his dislike of cold, Errtu chose the place because of its natural barriers. He opened a gate to the Abyss and let innumerable lesser fiends through, as well as more powerful demons. Drizzt and his friends managed to fight their way through, and confronted Errtu in an ice cave. This time, Errtu had space to fly, and repeatedly teleported around the room, using his flames to melt nearby ice and fill the floor with water—in which he would periodically thrust his lightning-bladed sword to shock the companions. Drizzt and his friends would have died, if Wulfgar had not joined in the fight. Together, the companions managed to bring Errtu out of the air, where Drizzt could strike with Icingdeath.

Origins

Errtu was one of the original six named type VI demons in Gary Gygax's "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons" books. The other five were Ndulu, Ter-Soth, Alzoll, Wendonai, and the greatest of all was named Balor. The Type VI demons later took the name of Balor to refer to their breed of demon as a whole.

References

*Gygax, Gary. "Monster Manual" (TSR, 1977).
*Salvatore, R.A. (2007:4). "", Wizards of the Coast. ISBN-13: 9780786942466