Once a month or so, we’ll do a Random Monster Mashup! This could take many forms – maybe see what happens when the monsters fight or team up, think about what kinds of circumstances might result in this situation, and even, if we’re feeling really creative, think about what happens if we stick these two monsters in a teleporter together and hit “SEND.”

On the face of it, this is a really weird combination. On the one hand, we have the Marid, a decadent, reality-warping prince of the Elemental Plane of Water, all silks and storm-magic. On the other, a gritty, insectile footsoldier from the Lowest of the Lower Planes: the Mezzoloth.

What could two creatures like these possibly bring to your adventure?

I’m glad you asked!

In a glittering undersea palace of illusion and pleasure, something has breached the veil between the planes. The glittering marvel of this opulent kingdom has been invaded by the stench and chaos of the Lowest Planes. These intruders threaten to tear apart the beauty of the sea floor, and the Marid who rules this realm wants help.

Your Party now has a decision to make: ally with the unpredictable but proud Marid, or strike a bargain with the disciplined, brutal Mezzoloths. Where do their values lie? How do they even decide who to stand by.

And what if it’s not something as simple as a planar breach? What if the Marid actually invited the invaders? They were careless with planar magic, or perhaps owe a debt to a Demon Lord. What if they were just bored and wanted something to change for once?

Put your players in the uncomfortable position of having to choose between two unpleasant factions. And whichever they choose, there’s going to be a fight.

Now imagine an oasis in the middle of a trackless desert. For hundreds of miles around, this is the only water that can be found. A glittering spring burbles from the ground, and bound to that spring is an ancient Marid. For centuries, this spring has helped keep travelers alive as they make their way to the other side of the desert,

Unfortunately, by wild coincidence, this oasis sits atop a planar faultline, making it the ideal spot for a summoning gate to the Lower Planes. Creatures need to come in from the Lower Planes, and this is where reality is thinnest. A troop of Mezzoloths has been dispatched with some other demons to ensure that the gate is built.

Now the pure waters of the oasis are running red, and your Party has to decide how they want to get involved. Is a gate to the Lower Planes something they need in order to complete their Quest? Are they going to try to keep a pristine natural wonder safe? And what if the Marid tending to the oasis was doing so in order to kidnap weary travelers and rob them of their finery? Keep layering on the moral ambiguity and watch the fun happen!

How about one more: a game between two powerful entities, but the world is their game board? A Marid and a Mezzoloth, rivals of old, are sending their forces around the world. Seas boil, cities burn, and all for the pettiest of gambles: one single gold piece.

Your Party can come together as victims of this terrible gamble. Perhaps the forces of the lower planes ravaged their town, or it was swamped by rising, angry seas. And while other creatures and people are fleeing from – or taking advantage of the chaos, your Party discovers the true nature of the cataclysm overrunning the world.

They begin as pawns, swept along by forces beyond their control. But before long, they start flipping the board.

These creatures couldn’t be more different, and that’s exactly why they make such an unforgettable pairing.

Marids are creatures of grandeur: storm-born, jewel-draped, and steeped in caprice. Mezzoloths, by contrast, are grim mercenaries, all sulfur and obedience and insectile precision.

Put them on a collision course, and you don’t just get a fight. You get a philosophical mess of beauty vs. brutality, indulgence vs. discipline, illusion vs. cold hard steel. And somewhere in the middle? Your players, trying to survive the fallout.

It’s a clash of realms, of values, of genres. And your table will never forget it.