Hezrou

Hezrou are large demons, standing roughly seven feet high at the shoulder. Their skin is reddish-brown, slick to the touch, and covered in warts and bony spikes along their back, shoulders, and upper arms. Their faces are something between batlike and sharklike in appearance, with a short, wrinkled snout, forward-facing eyes, and a wide jaw capable of vicious bite strength. Hezrou are incredibly muscular, with shoulders nearly half as wide as they are tall.   The movements and posture of the hezrou are gnoll-like, hunched and with a tendency to switch between bipedal and quadripedal movement. The four fingers on their forelimbs are somewhat opposable, but thick and clumsy. This lack of dexterity is partially due to their curved black claws, which are five to seven inches in length and nearly as dense as lead. The claws on their three-toed hindlimbs are just as long and tough, but much less dense, allowing them to keep their footing in rough terrain.

Hezrou are known to be the progeny of Yeenoghu, and typically originate from groups of demon larvae that huddle in ditches and riverbeds in the Death Dells of The Abyss. Groups of larvae that feed on another fiend may merge into a hezrou, who will then follow the scent of other hezrou to join a larger group of hezrou, also known as a putrescence.

As with many lesser corporeal demons, hezrou feed primarily on the blood of mortals. Unlike many of their counterparts, they gain as much strength from pus, bile, sweat, marrow, and other assorted bodily fluids as they do from blood. Hezrou are obligate carnivores, and cannot sustain themselves on other substances like charcoal and mud (as most corporeal lesser demons can in dire circumstances). They also cannot absorb mortal souls, which are typically harvested by their leaders instead.

The hezrou's size, stench, low intelligence, and general lack of stealth make them somewhat incompetent hunters on their own accord, whether alone or in groups of hezrou. Because of this, a putrescence of hezrou will typically follow a stronger, more intelligent non-hezrou leader, protecting them from harm and obeying their every command. In return, the leader will allow them to feed off the fluids of their victims en masse. Hezrou often follow a greater demon like a Yochlol or Marilith. Some serve other demonic-adjacent entities, such as Death Knights; the most famous death knight to regularly utilize hezrou is Sir Odoreth the Foul. The strongest hezrou serve as the first line of defene for a Demon Lord (most typically Yeenoghu or Zuggtmoy), who will typically treat them as completely disposable.

Hezrou are most well-known for emitting a sharp and extraordinarily strong stench of decay and fecal matter. The particular characteristics of this smell fluctuate periodically, making it extremely difficult for any mortal with a sense of smell to acclimate to.