Apollyon, Lord of the Eighth

[KaiserKris]

Apollyon, Lord of the Eighth
You know that out there, somewhere, is the lord of the Eighth, and you also know, frighteningly, that you may not be able to either see him or hear him. Knowing Apollyon's stealthy ways, though, is no preparation for the fact that the Lord of the Eighth has been stalking you quietly the whole time. And when his attack comes, it is with terrifying speed, as he tears a vicious sword out of his belly and begins slaying your party in swift order.

Size: Medium
HP: 345 (27d10+162)
Move: 60 (walk), 100 (fly)
Attacks: 3x Slam (2d8+6) or 3x Sword of Slaying +5 (3d8+11) or 3x Slayspears (2d6+6, range 100)
Special: Atmospheric Control, Devilish Attributes, Immunities, Infernal Stalker, Psionics, Shadow Projection, Summoning, Slayspears, Sword of Slaying
Statistics: Str: 24 (+6), Dex: 30 (+9), Con 25 (+6), Int 21: (+4), Wis: 22 (+5), Cha: 20 (+4)
Primes: Strength, Dexterity, Wisdom
Int: 21
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Type: Extraplanar (devil)
Treasure: Sword of Slaying +5
XP: 400,000

Special Abilities:
Atmospheric Control: When inside the Eighth Circle of Hell, Apollyon possesses the ability to control the atmosphere, and can manipulate the weather and wind conditions at will, and can additionally call lightning as the druid spell.

Devilish Attributes: Like all true devils, Apollyon has the ability to assume the shape of a humanoid creature, disguising their infernal nature and alignments. Attempts to magically detect alignment must make a successful Wisdom check at 18 + 27 or roll a natural 20. True seeing will punch through this disguise, however. Apollyon also has the ability to speak in any language she desires, as well as to use telepathy. Whenever Apollyon speaks, all within hearing range will hear her words in their native language, unless he specifically wills otherwise. Apollyon possesses perfect darkvision, and sees in total darkness as if it were daylight, has constant true sight and projects a magic circle against good.

Immunities: Apollyon cannot be damaged with magical weapons of lower than +4 enchantment, or good-aligned or silver weapons of less than +2 enchantment. He is immune to fire, poison, lightning, death, charm, fear, polymorph, disease and petrifaction attacks. He has an SR of 12.

Infernal Stalker: Apollyon is completely silent unless he chooses to speak and is additionally always invisible when not moving or attacking. Even in flight, Apollyon makes no sound whatsoever, and casts no shadow. He constantly possesses an active jump and spider climb spell active.

Psionics: Apollyon is a powerful psionic, possessing telepathic and telekinetic powers, granting him the ability to use detect alignment, detect thoughts, discern lies, emotion, suggestion, telekinesis and charm person at will, and hold monster, charm monster, mass suggestion and blade barrier three times per day, and mental domination and mass hold monster once per day.

Shadow Projection: Once per day, Apollyon can create 1d4 shadow projections of himself, which possess 9d10 hit points each and are capable of moving and making his basic melee attack. The shadow projections last for 1d10 rounds. These shadow projections can be distinguished from the real him by true seeing, and can be dispelled by a successful dispel magic or disjunction spell.

Slayspears: Apollyon can create razor-sharp projections of raw energy and hurl them at enemies, striking as weapons. If Apollyon scores a critical hit with a Slayspear, the creature must make an immediate save against death. A successful save results in 6d6 damage.

Spell-Like Abilities: Apollyon can cast lightning bolt, chain lightning, plane shift, unholy word and teleport without error at will. He can cast gate once per day.

Summoning: Apollyon can summon up to 30 HD of demons once per day.

Sword of Slaying: Lodged inside of his belly is one of the most powerful weapons in Creation, the legendary Sword of Slaying. Drawing the sword from his belly inflicts 4d8 damage upon Apollyon, but allows him to use the powerful weapon. A successful hit from the Sword of Slaying instantly slays any creature of below 10 HD without a save, and any creatures between 10 and 20 HD must make an immediate save against death. Any creature normally immune to a death attack is not immune to the Sword of Slaying, but gains a +4 bonus to their save against death. The Sword of Slaying also allows Apollyon to use power word kill once per day.

Appearance: Apollyon is rather tall, but quite thin in his physical body with a somewhat lupine head crowed with devil horns, glowing green eyes and is covered in a hardened black carapace. He possesses two pairs of raven-black wings and, most notably, has a sword lodged in his belly, a wound that constantly drips greenish blood around him. He possesses no visible mouth or any other notable facial features.

History: Apollyon was an angel of great beauty and power in Heaven, who originally joined with Satan largely because he believed that the cause of law sometimes necessitated harsh and cruel methods. As a slayer of demons, Apollyon had little equal, though for the most part, he simply stayed out of politics. Indeed, Apollyon even eschewed social company and largely dedicated himself to the extermination of the demonic race. However, in time his nature became more and more corrupt from the time spent slaying demons and he began to take on a more monstrous and vile form. As his former beauty faded, he became angrier and angrier at the angels.

By the time that Satan began to orchestrate his renewed War against Heaven, Apollyon was a more than willing soldier for the cause- and a horrifically deadly one, slaying countless angels, even beings as mighty as cherubim. Apollyon’s power was so feared amongst the angels that their greatest champion, Metatron, the Regent of Heaven, was forced to battle Apollyon in open battle. Against the Regent, even Apollyon could not hope to emerge victorious and the Infernal champion was plunged back into the Abyss violently, run through with Metatron’s Sword of Slaying, one of only a handful of such weapons ever created. Cursed to bear the wound for eternity, Apollyon soon learned that the curse was not without its benefits as, if he could bear the pain that it created to tear the blade out of his flesh- he could use the power of the Sword of Slaying himself.

Still, though Apollyon had little desire to use the blade for any purpose other than destroying the enemies of Hell- and when the civil war erupted in Hell after Satan’s disappearance, Apollyon played no part in it actively, though quietly he let it be known that he preferred the rule of Asmodeus to that of Baalzebub and Astaroth. His benevolent neutrality during the civil war in Hell was rewarded by Asmodeus, who granted Apollyon the rulership of the Eighth Circle of Hell- albeit a Circle that had been almost totally devastated by Asmodeus.

For his part, Apollyon recognizes the gesture of trust that Asmodeus has made, knowing that the only gate to the Ninth Circle, the private domain of Asmodeus lies in his realm. He has little inclination to try to revolt against or usurp his master, and instead focuses on doing his duties as efficiently as possible, relentlessly tracking down and annihilating the enemies of Hell.

Combat: In combat, Apollyon is a dreadful force, using a combination of stealthiness and mobility to place himself in an ideal position, often summoning allies to pin down adventurers in a particular location, where he can rain down slayspears or use some of his deadly spells to greatest effect. Apollyon will frequently use these abilities to harass more powerful opponents, sometimes slaying them outright so he can draw his Sword of Slaying and quickly mop up weaker enemies in a few swift blows.

[Geleg]

thanks for keeping on this ambitious project, kris

[clavis123]

I really like the imagery of the sword embedded in the Devil's stomach, which he must mutilate himself to use. It adds a nice touch of grotesque body horror, reminding the players that they are facing Evil, not just another humanoid race that happens to have horns and wings.

[Andred of Albans]

Kris, perhaps you have sources of information we don't have?

I really like your stuff, man

[KaiserKris]

Kris, perhaps you have sources of information we don't have?

I really like your stuff, man

Not really! A lot of stuff for the archdevils is from various comic book or other fiction characters I liked, some of it is extrapolation from myth, or half-remembered glimpses of other role-playing incarnations.

[Andred of Albans]

Not really! A lot of stuff for the archdevils is from various comic book or other fiction characters I liked, some of it is extrapolation from myth, or half-remembered glimpses of other role-playing incarnations.

I had this image of you drawing pentacles and burning incense to bring the "boys" in for in-depth interviews