Agglax is the main villain and final enemy of the Fighting Fantasy gamebook Armies of Death. He is a powerful Shadow Demon sealed long ago, who escaped and raised an immense army of monsters to devastate the continent of Allansia. The playable character, former hero of the gamebook Trials of Champions raises their own forces to put an end to his threat.
Nature[]
Agglax is a Greater Demon, the second tier of the hierarchy in the Demonic Planes, right below the Demon Princes of Titan themselves. He is explicitely described as their servant in the narration.
As demons, they were created by the Gods of Evil Death, Disease and Decay from the corruption of creation. But while normal demons of the same kinds all share the same aspects and powers, they have unique aspects, traits and abilities each, in addition to enormous influence over Evil and monsters.
They most likely fought during the First Battle opposing Good and Evil at the Dawn of Times, and followed the Demon Princes when they settled in the Demonic Planes after their deities were forever imprisoned into the Void.
Agglax is a Shadow Demon, a featureless being of pure shadow and darkness delimited by the black robe he wears. He has no face but two red, glowing eyes under his hood, though the illustration portrays him wearing a skull-mask and having gnarled hands. As a demon, he is bound to the Demonic Planes, where his essence returns after being physically destroyed, until he can regenerate.
While there is another Shadow Demon of same rank and similar appearance, Ikiru, their powers and modus operandi are completely different.
Powers and Abilities[]
As expected from a Greater Demon, Agglax is very powerful. While his title implies control over shadows, he instead displays the power to breathe huge clouds of frost that can flash-freeze anyone to death in a matter of seconds. His evil influence is felt by how fast he managed to attract and recruit enough monsters and evil beings to threaten the largest continent in the world of Titan. Moreover, he is virtually invulnerable, and can only be felled by magic light.
Personality[]
As a demon, Agglax is cruel, hateful and sadistic, being merciless and unforgiving for enemies and servants alike and trampling hundreds of lives without a care. He strives to wreak havoc all across the continent, most likely wanting to take a domain away from the gods' influence for his kind to dwell, where he could lord over and torment survivors. He is an excellent strategist and field general, able to perfectly organize his troops and weapons, and move them to meet any enemy force, meaning that the hero must be equally strategic if they want to win.
But to his core, he is haughty, aloof, scornful and exceedingly arrogant, being unable to fathom being matched, mocking foes while being carried on a huge throne by servants. Worse, he is a disgusting coward who only attacks when absolutely sure of his victory, and runs away screaming without a look back as soon as the tide turns.
Role in the Story[]
The story begins with the hero of the gamebook Trials of Champions. After being enslaved by the despicable Lord Carnuss Charavask and forced to take part in the titular trial: a labyrinth full of traps, ordeals and powerful monsters reputed to be virtually inescapable. They could come out alive and won twenty-thousands gold coins from Baron Sukumvit Charavask, the creator of the trial who used it to make his domain prosperous, and won a duel to the death with Lord Carnuss to settle their score, before building themselves a palace.
The hero learns that an old scavenger named Drek explored an abandoned temple and opened a jar, accidentally releasing the Shadow Demon Agglax, who left without sparing them a glance. They learn that an enormous army of monsters have been spreading ruin all over Allansia for weeks, under Agglax's command, and decide to raise an army of their own to lift the threat.
The hero spends the story roaming the land and recruiting troops, having to count how much money they have left, to collect items, and defeat both rival warriors to recruit them. Some enemies are fought individually, but many battles will oppose the hero's troops against and enemy force, such as monster assassins sent by Agglax to kill them and stop their army in the bud, or his scouts. They will travel in settlements devastated by Agglax's forces, but some people will help the hero, recognizing their forces as their best chance.
The hero must meet with an Oracle to learn how to defeat Agglax. Then, they must drink the Water of the Gods and venture into a temple to gain the Crystal of Light, and learn how to activate its power. Finally, they will confront the Shadow Demon's armies in open battle.
Clash of Forces[]
The Final Showdown is decided by how many troops the hero could gather and how much gold they have left, naturally, the more the better. They need specific warriors like knights and archers and to have hired the right lieutenants, depending on the situation. The hero's main task being to fight their way towards Agglax to get rid of him once and for all, while their troops take on his own.
- The first wave of enemies is a wave of flying fire imps, needing enough archers to take them down or get burned and overwhelmed.
- Then, Agglax's elite phalanx of Chaos Warriors will attack, needing knights to counter them. If the hero hired the fabled White Knights, they will deal with them with contemptuous ease, otherwise they prove much more dangerous.
- Without at least a hundred soldiers left, the hero and their troops get slaughtered by many spears hurled with catapults by a bunch of goblins.
- One of the hero's hired lieutenants will sacrifice their life to save them from a crossbow bolt. Without them in their forces, the game is lost.
- Finally, the hero must throw what is left of their gold to distract the enemy forces with greed, or get slaughtered.
Faced at long last with Agglax on his throne, the hero can only survive with the Crystal of Light, or get frozen to death by their foe. The wretched Shadow Demon will flee in sheer terror, ordering one of his Elite Fanatics to kill the hero; upon defeating the Fanatic, the hero chases after Agglax, who pathetically trips on his long robe and falls. Catching up with him, the hero needs the incantation to activate the Crystal, or get frozen to death.
The power of the Crystal of Light obliterates Agglax's physical incarnation, leaving only his robes and sending his essence back to the Demonic Planes to face his lieges' wrath. The monster army is immediately destroyed by infighting, each faction trying to wrestle command. The hero and his remaining recruits can now retire in glory, celebrated for saving the continent.
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 Villains
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Dark Gods Demon Princes of Titan Allansia Khul Old World Others | ||