Wizards of the Coast. Accessed at the Manual of the Planes Art Gallery here.
[In doing research on the narzugon, I was pleasantly surprised to find it had made it all the way into 4th Edition, in the 4e Monster Manual 3. Not bad for a blatant Nazgul rip-off (it’s even in the name for god’s sake). The mechanics are a gestalt of all three official versions. The CR was chosen to make balancing encounted with likely mounts easy. a narzugon plus nightmare is CR 8, a narzugon plus hellcat is CR 9 and a narzugon plus Nessian warhound is CR 10.]
Devil, Narzugon This gaunt warrior is covered from
head to toe in black, spiked armor. He lifts his visor, revealing a desiccated
face with blank eyes.
Narzugons,
also called black riders and devil knights, are elite mounted troops in
infernal armies. Legend has it that the first narzugons were created from
fallen angels who were deceived into allying with Asmodeus in his revolt. They
are among the most human-looking of devils, but their ashen skin and dull white
eyes reflect their monstrous nature.
Every
narzugon can conjure a magical steed to carry it into combat, but most prefer
to ally with other infernal creatures to serve as mounts, such as nightmares,
hellcats and even over-sized hell hounds. The telepathy common to all devils is
honed in narzugons to the point where they and their mounts act as a single
entity. This connection makes mounted narzugons lethal on the battlefield and
results in a loyalty that transcends even death. The banners and armor of a
narzugon are typically decorated in motifs reflecting their mount, and if a
mount is slain a narzugon will incorporate its body parts into said
ornamentation. A narzugon whose mount is slain will stop at nothing to avenge the death.
Narzugons
are loyal to their superiors to a fault—they are not creative thinkers and will
follow even suicidal orders given by a higher ranking devil. Most narzugons not
actively campaigning are found in Malebolge, the sixth layer of Hell. There they engage
in weapons drills and training inferior devils and mercenary units. A narzugon
typically stands about six feet tall but is thin and rangy for their height.
Shores of Swords 