Inquisitor Fiend

Half shadow and half flesh, this fiend appears as a twisted, horned figure trailed by writhing shadows that look by turns like a flowing cloak or great bat wings. Its oddly long arms dangle nearly to its knees and end in big claws, and its feet carry hooked talons that would hobble it if it ever walked; instead it flies everywhere. Worst are its eyes, which blaze a wicked black-green unless it is hidden in shadow.

It speaks telepathically to everyone within a radius it chooses, up to 10 yards, and cannot single out one listener. The link lets it speak any language, in either a coaxing whisper or a harsh screech.

It strikes from hiding, leaping on a victim from behind so that Dexterity bonuses to AC do not apply, and attacks each round with four claws and a bite. Once it draws blood it becomes more solid and can no longer slip back into the shadows; it must go two rounds without drawing blood again, or escape by ordinary means such as flying away. If it attacks while swooping past, it uses only its four claws but adds +1 to each, dealing 1d6+1 per hit.

Only magical weapons, spells and crimson-steel legacies can affect it. Three times a day it can use fear, enthrall or curse as the priest spells, and once a day suggestion as the wizard spell. After three turns of concentration it can heal itself with cure light wounds.

Flight is its only movement: it covers up to 240 feet per round, in whatever direction it likes, while carrying up to 100 pounds without penalty. With effort it can lift up to 200 pounds, at half speed and maneuverability class B.

It must shun sunlight. By day it lurks in the shadows of alleys and buildings or waits in its shadow-lair for dark. At night it roams freely and effectively hides in shadows 90% of the time, as the thief skill.

These fiends were drawn to a devout coastal nation by the dark emotions its religious persecutions breed. They feed on the fear, suspicion and destructive thoughts of the inquisitors, priests charged with rooting out and punishing heresy. The fiends' very presence inflames the inquisitors' zeal against evil, meaning heresy, and the resulting terror is a feast.

To keep the purges growing, the fiends lure ordinary citizens into compromising situations, and they appear before the inquisitors to torment them with lies about a secret cult of fiend-worshipers among the faithful and the clergy.

Its real damage is social, eating away the faith that binds its homeland; the resulting chaos is merely its food.

It builds a lair of shadow-stuff, usually about 1,000 square feet in area, whose entrance looks like nothing more than a patch of shadow the fiend can move by willpower. Placed in a gloomy alley or similar dark corner, this door is almost impossible to find, and even elves' keen senses notice it only if actively searching. Detect magic or true sight will reveal it.

Inside, mist and darkness confuse everyone but the fiend. Each round a character rolls 1d8: only a 1 lets him go the way he intended, and any other result sends him in a random direction. Distances seem warped, every door counts as secret, and the fiend can shape crude, distracting illusions at the edge of vision.

The fiend can kidnap someone by quietly sliding its door behind the target. A surprised victim struck by two or more of its four claws is drawn inside, unharmed; if all four hit, it happens without a sound. The door cannot move while anyone other than the fiend is inside, so friends can search for it and attempt a rescue. Because the lair is a null-dimensional space outside the Prime Material Plane, no light, sound or magic passes through the door.

When the fiend dies its lair starts to dissolve. Anyone inside has five rounds to get out before being dumped onto another plane. The confusion lifts in the first round, but greedy looters who linger may still be lost. A wizard can preserve the lair before it fades using the normal magic item creation process, including a wish, making it a large portable hole whose shape can change as long as its area stays the same.