Gulgol the Lizard Queen

Deep in the Feywild, in the swamps of a marshy isthmus the size of a small continent, a self-proclaimed god who calls herself the Lizard Queen demands worship from the native lizardfolk and tribute from all others.

This ponderous beast is unlike any black dragon known to adventurers or sages. Others of her kind are sinuous and slender, with low-slung bodies, but Gulgol is a massive, corpulent creature. Leathery flesh bulges between scales that never grew sufficiently to cover her astonishing bulk. It hangs in rolls from her tail, from her neck, and beneath her squinting, porcine eyes. She breathes heavily with exertion, her legs bent beneath her heavy body, and her voice is a deep slobbering rasp punctuated by sharp wheezing inhalations.

Do not mistake her corpulence and pumping breath for a sign of weakness, or assume that her inherent laziness makes her an easy target. Those who do rarely survive to appreciate the magnitude of their error.

Gluttony Personified. Gulgol has dwelt in the swamp for several centuries. She eventually grew to dominance over the rest of her clutch, and rumor has it she consumed her siblings. Through centuries of practice and the study of draconic magic, the Lizard Queen has altered her innate abilities and has acquired the power to force a measure of obedience from all around her.

Gulgol is known as lazy and gluttonous, not only to those who have studied her but to other dragons as well. She is amazingly obese for a dragon and refuses to expend any unnecessary effort; her worshipers’ duties include delivering all her meals and comforts. She is less agile than other black dragons but is nevertheless powerful,

and she can exert herself if need be.

Reptilian Royalty. The swamp’s lizardfolk and other tribes consider Gulgol a god, serving her fanatically. Communities of the swamp must send her tribute or be raided by her followers, and travelers who grow lost in the Fenreach must choose whether to be enslaved or eaten (the younger the better), unless they are rich enough to buy their freedom. She insists on being addressed as “Queen Gulgol” or “Your Majesty.” Anything less is an insult, and those who offend Gulgol become her next meal.

Caste Society. Under Gulgol's wings, reptiles are revered above all else. Even a lowly kobold enjoys more status than an eladrin diplomat. In ascending order, deference must be given to troglodytes, lizardfolk, dragonborn, and yuan-ti, with dragons above all others. An individual non-reptile might be given special status on a case-by-case basis.

Although most of Gulgol’s “court,” and many of her followers, consider her to be royalty, a large portion of the more primitive tribes that serve her treat her as a true goddess. She is not just a secular leader to them but a truly divine entity, to whom they direct the entirety of their worship and their sacrifices—both treasure and living beings. So complete is their devotion that some among the lizardfolk and yuan-ti have even been ordained as clerics of the Lizard Queen, and their faith is strong enough that they have the same sort of divine ability as the clerics of “real” gods.

The Priests of Gulgol. Gulgol's vizier and closest advisor is a spirit naga named Alhashna, whose greatest rival for influence is Gulgol’s high priest, Anachthul. A truly vile yuan-ti anathema (see Volo's Guide to Monsters), he and his yuan-ti underpriests rule utterly over Gulgol’s worshipers. Those who pay homage to the Lizard Queen are willing to die—and, far more frequently, to kill—at Anachthul’s slightest word.

Gulgol’s zealous followers include a coven of hags—named Zunuris, Ilbotha, and Shenvush—and their servitor trolls; a tribe of savage wood elves and their clutch of semitrained hydras; a tribe of blackscale lizardfolk whose name translates loosely as “Broken Fang Tears Violently;” and the cult of yuan-ti who believe Gulgol to be favored by the serpent-gods.