Maddened Speaker

Maddened Speaker (CR 9)

True Chaotic - Medium - Humanoid (Outsider)

Lore:	Know (Local)
18		33
Basic DC		Full DC

Initiative

14

Perception:
24	+14
Passive	Active

Ambush:

10+

on a d20

Senses:

• Standard Senses

Movement Types:

Defense

AC

26

Man Def

26

Monster Health
158	79	14
Hit Points	Bloodied	Hit Dice

Saving Throws
Fort:	+6
Refl:	+6
Will:	+11

Strong Against:

Weak Against:

• Vulnerable: Interstice damage

Offense

Size:	Medium
5 ft.		10 ft.
Space		Reach

To-Hit

+15

Man Off

+14

Action

0

Points

Standard Attack (Melee):

• 1x Reaving Dagger +15 (2d8+4/19-20 x2)
  as slashing (physical, common)

Full Attack (Melee):

• 3x Reaving Dagger +15 (2d8+8/19-20 x2)
  as slashing (physical, common)

Standard Attack (Ranged):

• 1x Chaos Orbs +19 vs. AC (always hits on a 17+ on the die) (2d8+8/19-20 x2)
  as interstice (physical, rare)
  (Increment: 50 ft.; Max Range: 500 ft.)

Full Attack (Ranged):

• 3x Chaos Orbs +19 vs. AC (always hits on a 17+ on the die) (2d8+8/19-20 x2)
  as interstice (physical, rare)
  (Increment: 50 ft.; Max Range: 500 ft.)

Siege Damage: Not siege capable

Statistics

10

STR

18

DEX

18

CON

20

INT

10

WIS

14

CHA

Skills:

• Bailiwick (Spellcraft): 16
• Diplomacy: 16
• Perception: 14
• All other skills: 9 (no ranks)

Languages: Common, Gurahn'lloig (Low Aberrant)

Feats:

Special Abilities

Fanatical Vengeance (Ex) Immediate Action, 1/Enc, After Ally Death

Once per encounter, whenever any Maddened creature is killed by enemy actions, any Maddened Speaker who has line of sight and line of effect to the attacker who made the killing blow may choose to make an immediate action attack of opportunity against that creature. They must have an attack of opportunity available. They may make this attack with either their Reaving Dagger or their Chaos Orbs, and they must take all normal modifiers for such attacks as normal.

Oration of Madness (Sp) Standard Action

Concentration: 1d20 + 11 vs. a DC of 25 (14 needed on the die) As a standard action, the Maddened Speaker may stand tall and proclaim the magesties of their Dark Beliefs. This is a spell-like ability and is subject to disruption if attempted while threatened, but if they complete their declamation, they may choose one square within 100 feet to which they have line of sight and line of effect. All enemies in that square, and all adjacent squares (a 3x3x3 space) suffer 2d6+5 of interstice (physical, rare) damage. There is no saving throw against this terrible ability.

Maddened Speaker

It is widely accepted among most intelligent creatures, at a very general level, that the world we all live in is balanced upon the surface of a much larger, darker, and far more terrible reality called the Outer Madness. Most people have little understanding of Planes, and in the minds of most people, Demons, Devils, Aberrations, and most 'weird' monsters are part of this terrifying background reality.

However, there are always those who think that 'larger and more terrible' means, 'a convenient way to get power'. As a result, all over the world, in every race, creed, and culture, civilized or not, there are those with far too much greed and far too little wisdom who seek out this Deep Darkness and pledge themselves to it. The Creeping Madness is easy to access, easy to draw upon...and insanely dangerous. A fair number of those who attempt this foolish act are consumed utterly by their very first sup of that dark well, their lives, essence, souls, and flesh consumed entire.

Many of those luckless fools do not quietly disappear, however.

Maddened Speakers are those creatures, with the Spark or without, who have reached out to the Madness, and not only survived, they have thrived, although the corruption seething within a Speaker has grown so extreme that they no longer look 'normal', and so they often wear cowls, veils, or masks. Some Maddened Speakers are likely to be Maddened Thugs who have survived and grown and been granted greater gifts by the Deep Dark. Maddened Speakers are usually drawn from the Civilized Races, people who should have known better. It is possible that the occasional Orc, Goblin, or Gnoll will also be subsumed by the Outer Madness, and thus become Maddened Speakers, but amongst those without the Spark, this terrible transformation is not so stark, and their native 'cultures' tend to exterminate such fools quickly. Such non-civilized Speakers tend to migrate to the fold of their civilized brethren, where they are given a place...until their use comes to an end.

Maddened Speakers, like all of the Maddened, are united in their allegiance to the Devouring Madness, the True Depths that lie Outside. They are more organized and better thinkers than most Maddened, and serve as 'wise' council for their brethren. Speakers also have powerful and deadly ranged attack abilities, and are often seen in the back ranks of attacking Reavers or Assassins, pouring the Madness down upon their enemies in a deadly ranged barrage. Like all Maddened, Speakers lurk and plot, they poison, murder, and ruin, they steal and burn, everything. Madness Speakers will attack babes in arms just as readily as they will battle undead, and for the same reason: All things must fall to the Dark, sooner or later.

Unlike lesser breeds of the Maddened, Speakers are actually uncomfortably good at what they do. Madness Speakers are a terrible force in the world, although they are thankfully rare. When Speakers are discovered, they must be confronted and rooted out with terrible urgency.

When more than one Maddened Speaker meet each other, they naturally band together, as every hand in the Prime Plane is raised against them as their enemies, and you must take your allies where you can find them. Bands of Madness Speakers seem almost like cults, except that there is no Deity involved, simply the utter alien void that has subsumed these maniacs, and invests their every action.

Combat Tactics

Maddened Speakers are simple, murderous enemies. Once battle begins, they will never break away, fighting to the last maddened breath, utterly convinced they are winning. They usually try to make pack attacks, jumping their victims from ambush if they can manage it and always from a ranged position, using either their deadly touch attack Orbs or their even worse Oration of Madness attack. Like all the Maddened, Speakers want to destroy as much of the structure of the world as they can before they are destroyed, and so they sneak and creep, attacking under cover of darkness.

Their connection to the Outside gives them the ability to detect the living, their hated foes, within a short distance. This is not terribly useful for getting around, since it is short ranged, but once they have closed into battle range, they are nigh-impossible to deter, and will frequently try to knock out lanterns and other light sources and fight in the dark.

They prefer to use their Orb attacks, unless they are having trouble hitting with them or three or more enemies bunch up enough for an Oration to affect them all at once. They will stay at range as well as they can, moving back and using Orbs or Orations as they flee. Their Fanatical Vengeance power is a terrible, terrible surprise to whoever manages to drop one of their Dark Brothers, and they will typically use this ability without hesitation as soon as they are able to do so...waiting to use it rarely works out well. With luck, the barrage of ranged attacks will kill or cripple one of their enemies outright, and allow them to turn the tide of a battle.

Out of Combat

Maddened Speakers do not try to blend in with civilization...but they can hide and lurk while their more skilled brethren work out deeds to perform. Maddened Speakers, more than any other Maddened, seek out their more robust brethren, as the company of some Reavers or Assassins make their lives much better. It is very rare to see a whole pack of Speakers without at least one or two other sorts, but it is possible. Maddened Speakers venture out as the powerful artillery of the True Dark, and then go to lair again, secure in the invisibility of no witnesses. Maddened Speakers often wind up living in lairs and dungeons of other monsters, or hidden in sewers and abandoned, ruined places in cities, acting as merciless exterminating raiders. Maddened Speakers, to be fair, can and will attack monstrous neighbors just as readily as they will attack the civilized, and an infestation of madness can actually drive away local orcs or hobgoblins, as the maddened fiends kill everything they can catch.

Surprisingly, Maddened Speakers seem to tolerate Vampire Thralls quite well, and it is not unheard of for the two types of wild-eyed beasts to work...not together, but toward similar goals. Such alliances are dark days indeed for all other creatures, and must be rooted out immediately.

Rewards

XP: 6,400

Treasure: Sellable Goods worth 5,125 gp.

Weight: 90 lbs.     Volume: 3.6 cu. ft.

Optional Treasure Rules: Roll a d20 on Table 1 below once per encounter (NOT per creature). Any items discovered are in addition to the normal treasure for the encounter.

Table 1: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 10	Nothing Found
11 - 14	1 Languid Remnant (tier 1)
15 - 17	1 Pale Remnant (tier 2)
18 - 19	1 Bright Remnant (tier 3)
20	Roll on Table 2
###	Nothing to see here!
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 2: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 5	3 Languid Remnants (tier 1)
6 - 10	3 Pale Remnants (tier 2)
11 - 14	1 Intense Remnant (tier 4)
15 - 17	1 Blazing Remnant (tier 5)
18 - 19	1 Vital Remnant (tier 6)
20	Roll on Table 3
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 3: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 5	3 Bright Remnants (tier 3)
6 - 8	3 Intense Remnants (tier 4)
9 - 11	3 Blazing Remnants (tier 5)
12 - 14	3 Vital Remnants (tier 6)
15 - 17	1 Prime Remnant (tier 7)
18 - 19	1 Mythic Remnant (tier 8)
20	1 Empyrean Remnant (tier 9)