Devil Carreau (The Dissenter, Duke of Apostasy)

Carreau was once a mighty messenger of the heavenly host; one the Heavens would not willingly have lost. He traveled frequently from the shores of the Silver Sea to the Material Plane, bearing messages of hope and salvation to those who held Celestia and righteousness in high esteem.

The Gates of Hell (Dice Freaks)

Grimoire of Cosmic Entities Volume One By Eli Atkinson, William Church and Serge W. Desir, Jr.

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It was Carreau’s fate to fall in love with a mortal woman, the queen of a mighty nation with whom Celestia kept in frequent contact. If the stories still told in Lunia are correct, the woman fell in love with him as well, but the two of them never spoke of their love, nor did they act upon it. Carreau, ever faithful, accepted the fact that love between a mortal and an immortal would not be condoned by his superiors. This notwithstanding, he managed to find excuses to visit his queen with messages as often as it was possible.

Upon a time, he was urgently summoned to the queen. It was in the evening, and she was more beautiful than the stars, her perfume sweeter than the night-flowers. There were tears in her eyes as she explained the dilemma she faced, how it was that her lands were beset by demon-worshipping invaders, and that she needed angelic help to overcome this threat. Carreau took her message to his Lord, who reminded the messenger of the terms of the Celestial Compact. With bitter defeat like gall in his mouth, Carreau returned to his love to tell her the ill news.

CARREAU
The Dissenter, Duke of Apostasy
Duke of Hell
Large outsider (Evil, Extraplanar, Fallen, Lawful)
Symbol	A leaden trumpet, cloven in two, superimposed over a black, inverted triangle.
Athar 12
Hit Dice	48d8 + 384 (768hp)
Initiative	+9
Speed	50 ft., Fly 100 ft. (good)
Armor Class	34 (-1 size, +5 Dexterity, +17 natural, +3 profane), touch 17, flat-footed 29
Base Attack/Grapple	+42/+57
Attack	Fallocantum +58 melee (3d6+22 plus 3d6 (unholy) plus 1 negative level (unholy)/ 19-20 x2 plus 6d6 (unholy) plus 2 negative levels (unholy))
Full Attack	Fallocantum +58/+53/+48/+43 melee (3d6+22 plus 3d6 (unholy) plus 1 negative level (unholy)/ 19-20 x2 plus 6d6 (unholy) plus 2 negative levels (unholy)) and 2 wing slams +52 melee (2d6+5)
Space/Reach	10 ft./ 10 ft.
Special Attacks	Apostate Power, Banishment, call baatezu, Dishearten, divine prevention, divine retribution, spell-like abilities, spells, trumpet, Voice of Apostasy
Special Qualities	Angel of Light, damage reduction 20/good and silver, Darkvision 60 ft., divine and holy damage immunity, divine cancellation, divine interference, divine resistance, Duke of Hell qualities, immunity to electricity, fire and poison, Low-Light Vision, magic circle against good, nondetection, regeneration 8, resistance to acid 20 and cold 20, see in darkness, spell immunity, Spell Resistance 46 (58 vs. divine spells), telepathy 500 ft., tongues, Unbeliever’s Troth
Saves	Fort +34 (+36 vs. divine spells, +38 vs petrification), Ref +30 (+32 vs. divine spells), Will +38 (+40 vs divine spells)
Abilities	Strength 33, Dexterity 20, Constitution 27, Intelligence 23, Wisdom 35, Charisma 30
Skills	Bluff +75, Concentration +59, Diplomacy +85 (+91 with evil beings), Disguise +57 (+63 when acting), Forgery +53, Gather Information +14, Intimidate +71 (+77 against evil beings), Knowledge (arcana) +45, Knowledge (religion) +70, Knowledge (the planes), Listen +51, Perform (oratory) +53, Perform (wind instruments) +53, Sense Motive +51, Spellcraft +61, Spot +51, Survival +12 (+16 on other planes)
Feats	Combat Reflexes, Corrupt Spell-like Ability B, Deceitful, Dodge, Heighten Spell, Improved Initiative, Mobility, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Knowledge: Religion), Spring Attack
Epic Feats	Epic Evil Brand B , Epic Reputation, Epic Skill Focus (Bluff), Epic Skill Focus (Diplomacy), Epic Skill Focus (Knowledge: Religion), Epic Spell-casting, Spell Stowaway (Heal)
Organization	Solitary or with confederates (1-4 Fallen Angels)
Challenge Rating	34
Treasure	Triple standard base creature including Fallocantum
Alignment	Lawful Evil

The queen was distanced from that time from Carreau, organizing a politically-based marriage in order to save her nation. She no longer sent her prayers to Celestia, and Carreau did not blame her. He watched her from time to time, and within him bitterness grew. His duties took him with similar messages of the seeming impotence of Heaven across many lands, and the seeds of doubt swelled into fruition. At last, in front of a high priest of Celzar, Carreau threw his trumpet to the ground, splitting it almost asunder, before declaring, “The Heavens are brass. They care for nothing but themselves.” Carreau wandered for a time, unsure of himself, with no message to bear. It was in this state that he met Murmer, the Duke of Philosophy. Murmer’s words worked against the gods without denying their power, and Carreau identified with this philosophy. He willingly followed the Duke, who had also been an angel at one point, into Hell, and studied at the Philosopher’s feet. Eventually, though, Carreau progressed beyond Murmers teachings: haunted by Heaven’s choice to keep itself aloof from conflict, particularly at the cost of his own love, the former messenger rejected the thought that the Gods had power at all.

Leaving the cold Academia Caniae, Carreau traveled abroad with a new message, now openly working against divine power, particularly that of Heaven. He used his extensive knowledge of scripture and philosophy to confuse and bewilder, if not convince, those that he spoke with. Many came to see him, with his angelic form as beautiful and appealing as ever, as a savior figure, believing that he had saved them from servitude to the Powers. He taught them to doubt the words of the Gods, to refuse to believe their eyes when miracles occurred, to stop up their ears to the demands of the clergy, and to dictate the course of their own lives. He furthermore encouraged individuals to serve their own selfish desires, teaching that love was a weakness through which the gods manipulate the Cosmos.

His steps always returned to Hell, though, and eventually he found his way to Nessus, into the presence of Asmodeus himself. The Lord of the Nine forced the former trumpet malak to bend the knee, and promoted him to Dukehood. The court at Nessus speculates that this was more to keep Carreau in line, and to provide a method of control, than out of any real desire to increase the Apostate’s power.

Carreau’s Appearance

Carreau appears as a 12-foot-tall humanoid with shining skin and silver-gold eyes. His wings are white like the driven snow, as are his robes, and his countenance shines with a faux holy radiance. His appearance as an -angel of light- has led many a servant of good to stop and speak with him when otherwise they would not. Carreau carries his trumpet, Fallocantum, on his person at all times. It is fractured, and appears to be made out of lead, but he will not be parted from it.

Among the denizens of Hell, Carreau counts Murmer and Caim among his allies. He has a healthy respect for Dispater, but loathes many of the angels who fell because of lust, particularly Semyaza. Carreau works most diligently to disrupt the work of the Virtues of Heaven, and any Lawful Good deity.

Combat

Carreau prefers to masquerade as an agent of good (using his high Bluff skill to fool alignment detecting spells), sowing seeds of doubt and apostasy amongst his foes, than to get involved in physical combat. Indeed, he is likely to teleport out of harm’s way should his usual guise fail him. On the rare occasions where he feels the need, or when he is unable to flee his foes, Carreau still tends to fight with a certain amount of subtlety, employing greater dispel magic or epic dispelling to negate foes’ protective magic (particularly effects that protect against mind influencing effects). He follows such efforts with his Dishearten ability, or a blast from his trumpet. Disheartened spellcasting foes may be a target for spell worm, whilst divine spellcasters in particular may be ignored, due to Carreau’s contempt for their class abilities (many of which he is immune to), but he tends to move close enough to them to allow his Divine Interference ability to disrupt their spells.

Carreau always casts epic mage armor on himself at the beginning of each day, increasing his AC by 20. Once in melee, Carreau is a shrewd opponent, quickly assessing whether he needs to fight defensively and flee, or deal extra damage by means of Power Attack.

Angel of Light (Ex): Carreau retains his appearance as a heavenly messenger, suffering no cosmetic changes due to his fall. He gains a +3 bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy and Intimidate checks made against good creatures (not factored into his stats above). As a consequence, he does not gain the usual cursed power of a fallen angel, and retains the tongues ability of the malakim choir.

Apostate Power (Su): There are many across the Realities Beyond who have now heard Carreau’s message. Some of these go so far as to desire that Carreau share his god-thwarting power with them, and go to great lengths to meet with the Apostate. To such individuals, Carreau willingly bestows favors. He is able to grant a +3 bonus to all mind affecting abilities possessed by the client (this stacks with Spell Focus: Enchantment and similar effects); he is able to grant Spell Resistance against divine magic equal to the character’s level plus 10; or he is able to grant the client immunity to holy and divine damage. Thereafter, the client must make a Will save DC 38 each day or be disheartened permanently. Each successful save increases the DC by 3. There are no other adverse effects while the creature is alive, but on death the suitor’s soul is taken and rent by Carreau, so that no resurrection is ever possible, not even by means of wish or miracle. Apostate Power can be erased from an individual’s life only by the casting of a miracle, followed by an Atonement spell. The client is considered to have Spell Resistance equal to his character level plus 20 against this effect, which cannot be suppressed. The save DC is Charisma based.

Banishment (Sp): Once per day, Carreau can send away an extraplanar creature as per the banishment spell as cast by a 44th level Cleric.

Call Devils (Sp): As a standard action, the Duke of Apostasy, as a vassal to a Lord of the Nine, commands the respect of lesser devils. As such, Carreau can call devils or summon devils. The Duke may call up to one time a day 12 lemures, 8 barbazu or erinyes, 6 hamatulas or osyluths, 4 cornugons or gelugons, or 2 pit fiends. Since these devils are called, they have the ability to summon other devils as their Monster Manual descriptions allow. Thrice a day, the Duke may summon the same spread of fiends listed above. The Duke may either call or summon in one day, not both; if the Duke uses his calling ability, he cannot use his summon ability until the next day. Carreau generally summons erinyes to aid him in his duties, since they are the most comely of the devils.

If faced with battle, however, he will always call pit fiends to his side, and instruct them to summon additional reinforcements.

Dishearten (Su): Perhaps because his own love was destroyed because of heaven – or so he believes – Carreau cannot abide the thought of closeness between any two creatures. He finds it repulsive, and actively teaches that love is a weakness. He furthermore uses his influence to make cold the hearts of those he comes into contact with. 3/day, Carreau can dishearten his foes. As a full round action, Carreau speaks out against love and compassion, calling on hearers to ‘be true to themselves’. Hearers must succeed on a Will save or Sense Motive check (DC equals Carreau’s Diplomacy check) or grow cold towards their friends and loved ones, and indifferent to enemies. An affected creature will not help any individual in need, will not work with another creature, and takes a -9 penalty on all Charisma based checks. In combat, such a creature will never use the aid another option, will allow allies to die rather than come to their aid (and actively try to prevent their resurrection), and, if a spellcaster, will tend to use spells and effects that will harm both friend and foe with no compunction or guilt. However, affected creatures are unlikely to enter combat without provocation from their foe, unless they succeed on another Will save (DC as above). Dishearten also ends rages, negates morale bonuses, and unravels the effects of bardic music; and spells or abilities that grant these effects cannot be used by a disheartened character unless she succeeds on a Will save (DC as above). This is a mind-affecting, language dependent ability.

Divine and Holy Damage Immunity (Ex): Carreau is immune to damage from divine power, such as that from half the damage of a flamestrike spell. He is also immune to holy damage, such as that dealt by a weapon with the holy special ability. Holy weapons still bypass his damage reduction – only the holy damage itself is ignored.

Divine Cancellation (Sp): Carreau can counterspell a divine spell by casting any spell of an equal level; it need not be the same spell. He must choose a
target, ready an action, and make a Spellcraft check to determine the spell as normal.

Divine Disavowal (Su): Carreau has Spell Resistance 58 versus divine spells.

Divine Interference (Su): Carreau generates a field that interferes with all divine spellcasting (except his own). Any divine spellcaster within 10 feet of the Duke of Apostasy must make a caster level check (DC 51) in order to successfully cast the spell. Failure indicates that the spell does not take effect but is lost as though cast. This ability can be suppressed or resumed as a free action.

Divine Prevention (Su): Once per day as a standard action, Carreau can bestow a +48 resistance bonus to saving throws upon a recipient. The bonus applies against the next divine spell to which the recipient is subjected, even beneficial spells such as bless and cure light wounds. If the recipient is unwilling, Carreau must make a successful touch attack and the target must succeed at a Will saving throw
DC 51 or be subject to the bonus.

Divine Resistance (Ex): Carreau has a +2 resistance bonus to saves against divine spells. This has already been factored into the stat block.

Divine Retribution (Sp): When using Divine Cancellation, Carreau can reflect a divine spell back at the caster instead of causing it to fail. He can use this
ability only on spells that target him personally, not area-affecting spells or those targeting a different creature.

Infernal Presence (Su): Carreau’s Infernal Presence has a Will save DC of 38. His caster level is 50 th .

Nondetection (Su): Carreau is constantly under the effects of a nondetection spell, as cast by a 50th level caster (DC 27). This ability can be suppressed or resumed as a free action.

Spell Immunity (Su): Carreau is immune to the following spells: bestow curse, blasphemy, doom, Holy word, and geas/quest.

Spell-like Abilities:

• at will: animate dead, blasphemy, charm monster, continual flame, deeper darkness, desecrate, detect good, detect magic, fireball, flame strike, greater dispel magic, greater invisibility, greater teleport (self plus 1,000 pounds), mass hold monster, message, mirage arcana, persistent image, polymorph, power word stun, suggestion, unhallow, unholy aura, wall of fire;
• 3/day: destruction.
• 1/day: meteor swarm, symbol of pain.
• 1/week: wish.

Caster level 50th , save DC 20 + spell level.

Spells (athar): 6 / 8+1 / 8+1 / 8+1 / 8+1 / 7+1 / 6+1/6+1/6+1/5+1; save DC 22 + spell level, caster level 37 th .

Carreau has access to the Evil and Law domains.

Typical spells prepared:

• 0- No Light, resistance x3, read magic, Slash Tongue;
• 1- Angry Ache x2, bless, command, divine favor, Heartache, protection from good*, seething eyebane, shield of faith;
• 2- aid, desecrate*, eagle’s splendor, Hold Person, owl’s wisdom x2, silence, Spiritual Weapon, Wave of Grief;
• 3- bestow curse x2, dispel magic x2, love’s pain x2, magic circle against good*, protection from energy, Wrack;
• 4- cure critical wounds, Damning Darkness x2, death ward, divine power, restoration, spell immunity, Stop Heart, unholy blight*;
• 5- Dispel Good*, Dispel Good, flamestrike, greater command, Insect Plague, Morality Undone, power leech, true seeing;
• 6- blade barrier, create undead*, Fiendish Quickening, greater dispel magic, harm, heal, Thousand Needles;
• 7- Bestow Greater Curse x2, blasphemy*, blasphemy, dictum, greater restoration, Wretched Blight;
• 8- antimagic field, dimensional lock, evil weather, fire storm x2, Pestilence, Shield of law*;
• 9- Apocalypse from the Sky, Despoil, energy drain, gate, soul bind, summon monster IX (evil creatures only)*.

*Domain spells.

Epic Spells: 5/day. Epic spells known: epic mage armor, greater ruin, nailed to the sky, spell worm, superb dispelling.

Caster level 37th , save DC 30. Carreau is usually under the effects of epic mage armor (armor bonus not factored into stat block; 33% chance that he has used a spell slot for the day to cast it, otherwise the spell was cast on a previous day and the duration has not yet expired).

Trumpet (Su): Fallocantum (“false sound”) is Carreau’s fractured trumpet, a remnant of his days as a heavenly messenger. At his command, it transforms into a large +6 unholy power greatsword as a free action. At will as a standard action, Carreau can blow on the trumpet to produce a note so discordant that all within 90 ft. must succeed on a Fortitude save DC 38 or suffer 6d6 points of sonic damage and be confused for 9 rounds. A successful save halves the damage and negates the confusion effect. Divine spellcasters that fail their save are unable to use divine magic until the end of the confusion effect.

Unbeliever’s Troth (Ex): Perhaps he did not entirely believe his own words at first, but Carreau has been preaching his apostate message for so long now that he believes it to be nothing but the truth. Carreau cannot be caught in a lie by magical means of any sort, although a deity, or a creature with a high enough Sense Motive modifier, might see through his deceptions. Furthermore, Carreau’s devotion to destroying the power of the Gods lends him great power: for the purposes of the divine prevention, divine interference, and divine disavowal abilities, he is treated as an Athar of his total HD. This has already been factored into the stat block.

Voice of Apostasy (Su): Carreau’s voice is melodious and enticing, and his knowledge of scripture is legendary. Using forged, altered copies of texts, and his great depth on knowledge of religion and philosophy, Carreau can enter into a debate with any creature with divine connections (e.g. levels of cleric or paladin, or an outsider with alignment-based subtypes) in an attempt to show them ‘the error of their ways’. Three times per day, Carreau begins to speak his doctrine as a full round action. His opponent is given a chance to respond (this exchange is simulated by an opposed Knowledge: Religion check). Should Carreau fail the exchange, nothing happens to his foe, but this still counts as a use of the ability. Should Carreau win the exchange, his opponent is stunned and cannot access divine magic for 9 rounds; furthermore, Carreau may opt to continue to speak for further effects. After a successful check in the second round, his opponent must make a Will save DC 38 or revoke her association with her deity. After a successful check in the third round, his opponent must succeed on another Will save DC 38 or else change her alignment to Lawful Evil. This is a language dependent, mind-affecting ability. The save DC is Charisma based.

Summoning Carreau

Carreau demands the sacrifice of a holy relic or symbol in order to summon him. The item must be worth in excess of 500gp, and must have been of worth to the summoner at some former point. Upon completion of the ritual, tomes of holy writ appear at each point of the compass, opening so that the pages face outwards. Illuminated script can then be seen to writhe and change, meanings become garbled, and myriads of pages are torn from the books, forever altering the content. The torn pages coalesce in the center of the spectacle, by degrees looking like the feathers of a set of angelic wings. The wings unfurl, and Carreau appears in the midst, shining like a beacon.

When the summoning ends, Carreau flares his wings wide, and a blinding light flashes through the area. When the light dies, he is gone. Mundane writings of any sort will, upon inspection, have been altered in meaning and content, generally so that they demean the heavens, or justify the dealings of the Pit. Magical writings (including spellbooks and scrolls) are unaffected so long as appropriate protections have been put in place (such as the epic spell summoning sanctuary); if not, each text receives a Will save DC 18 to avoid becoming garbled and useless (use the Will save bonus of the possessor of the writing).