Prince Derendil

This hulking Quaggoth is the most menacing-looking prisoner in the slave pens, and the other prisoners give him a wide berth. If any of the characters speak to him, however, the Quaggoth replies in urbane Elvish. He explains that he is not, in fact, a Quaggoth, but a gold elf prince polymorphed into Quaggoth form by a curse. He claims to be Prince Derendil of the kingdom of Nelrindenvane in the High Forest. His crown was usurped by the evil wizard Terrestor, who trapped him in this form and exiled him from his people. Although Derendil behaves like the highborn prince he believes himself to be, he responds to stress—and particularly threats—like a Quaggoth: violently tearing foes limb from limb and rending their flesh with sharp claws and teeth. He comes back to himself only after battle, or when someone reinforces his “true identity” to snap him out of it. Derendil laments that he is slowly but surely losing himself to the savagery of his Quaggoth form. In fact, Derendil is simply mad, touched by the delusions of the demon lord Fraz-Urb'luu. The kingdom of Nelrindenvane doesn’t exist, and all of “Derendil’s” recollections and personality are an illusion created by the Demon Prince of Deception. The Quaggoth refuses to believe the truth, and any incontrovertible evidence as to his real nature sends him into a murderous rage.