Mastermind Fiend [Greater Mercenary]

A mastermind fiend is a dark gray humanoid without a face, save for large eyes like fire opals, usually wrapped in a sweeping cloak or cape. It communicates telepathically.

Reserved and cerebral, mastermind fiends seldom need to fight and are never surprised. Barehanded they strike twice for 1d12 energy damage each. Their Strength of 21 adds +9 damage with weapons, and they wield swords and polearms of at least +2 with expert skill; 40% of these have a random special property such as vorpal, and a rare few are true relics whose powers, limits, and curses the DM chooses. The fiend always knows everything its weapon can do.

Anyone meeting its gaze must save vs. spell or stand transfixed by its swirling colors, as if under hold person. Against one who saves, the fiend can use a special alter self to look like someone the victim loves or respects.

It casts at 15th level. Always active are know alignment, pass without trace, read magic, and detection of invisibility, lies, magic, poison, and scrying. At will it uses wall of fire, solid fog, shout, passwall, geas, fear, ESP, control winds, call lightning, bind, animate object, and airwalk, plus color spray 7 times a day and fire storm, mass suggestion, and symbol of any type once a day, in addition to the common mercenary fiend powers. Once per day per type it can automatically gate in one each of the nine lesser kinds: scholar, hound, clatter, ravager, water, soldier, winged, overseer, and oathkeeper fiends.

Nonmagical attacks never harm it, and only weapons of +3 or better do. Like all its kind it has 240-foot infravision.

No lower-planar mercenary dares defy one, fearing its cruelty, and even other fiends give them a wide berth. In truth a mastermind fiend is not vastly stronger than some of its kin, but it cultivates mystery so that lesser fiends never learn its real limits, and its sheer presence, cunning, and will often count for more than the strongest magic.

Mastermind fiends are the final stage of their race's corruption, and almost nothing happens in the mercenary ranks without their knowledge.