Tanar’ri, Semi-True, Cambion Lord General

Cambion Lord General Tanar’ri

“…I showed them my papers, signed by an Abyssal lord (or so I thought) but they laughed, telling me to pike it, and chained me, taking me away. They said I intruded onto a secret military training ground and that I’ll probably never get to leave, alive anyhow. They were taking me towards a fortress in the distance but then a shadow appeared and commanded them to bring me to him. Damn them, those leatherheaded tanar’ri. The tiefling who sold me the papers probably turned stag on me, the bastard. I was then taken to the fortress and up to the highest tower and thrown into a room, the door closed behind me. They left right away, and I sensed fear in their eyes. Fear in the eyes of vrock ? Now I was really scared!

“I walked ahead into empty halls that all lead to a closed door. Then I heard a calm, yet insistent voice, telling me to enter. There I beheld a beautiful hall filled with paintings and sculptures that were clearly worth a fortune and in front of one painting he stood. A terrifying yet beautiful creature. I knew he was a cambion but unlike one I have ever seen or met, wearing expensive clothing and with the manners of a prince. He then glanced at me and said, ‘A human merchant cheated to use forged papers and entering the wrong portal into the Abyss? Do you expect to live? I don’t think so. But then again, I am different than the rest of my thrice-damned race and I will let you live’.

“He then motioned me to sit and we spent about an hour talking philosophy. Afterwards, the tanar’ri began thinking, and there was a moment of silence which terrified me until he spoke, ‘I will also give you this gift, a priceless statuette from Arcadia, and in return I ask you remember my name – Gaxirius. I was then transported somehow to Sigil for I only remember waking up in an inn with my board already paid by an ‘ugly-look’n brute’ as the innkeeper described the mysterious…”

— From the ancient diaries of Mindreib, a planar merchant 

Rare to the point of being virtually unknown to Cagers, a Lord General Cambion is the result when an exceptional cambion proves himself a hero in the Blood War. It ain’t known how or why it happens, but some of these cambions become immensely powerful and are given command of armies in the Blood War. Some reckon they’re rewarded by an Abyssal Lord, some say by the Abyss itself. All that is known for certain is that these powerful creatures are a match for some Abyssal Lords and that they ain’t sods to be underestimated. While most balors, when building an army, need to recruit it — this ain’t so with Lord General cambions. When they’re given command, tanar’ric armies tend to flock to their side. 

Like other cambions, Lord Generals are black skinned, white haired and have pointed ears, except they wear fine armour and use powerful magical weapons. Though they always seem to have a faraway look in their eyes and though they may be paying attention to their surroundings, they seem to be (or perhaps like they want to be)somewhere else.

Typical ranges of ability scores for Lord General cambions are Strength: 18-20, Dexterity: 16-20, Constitution: 17-19, Intelligence: 20-22, Wisdom: 18-22, Charisma: 15-24.

COMBAT: Lord General cambions have very keen senses and a strange “feel” of their surrounding that prevents them from ever being surprised. What’s more, these cambions are truly demons in battle. They use enchanted sword with no less than +4 magical rating and they usually use some kind of battle art (fencing, dual weaponry – a sword in each hand, etc.) When in command of armies they always attack first and head the brigade — a quality which credits them even more respect among their soldiers. In addition to the powers granted to all tanar’ri, Lord General cambions have the full abilities of an 16th level mage (with a fine pick of spells and spellbooks) and the following powers: detect magic (at will), fear (by gaze – at will), fly (7 times per day), regenerate (at a rate of 3 hp/round) and chaos (as per the 6th level spell, 3 times a day). Just like the more common cambions, these cambions are also stealthy and can climb walls (95%), hide in shadows (99%) and move silently (99%). 

Berserk: twice a day a Lord General Cambion may go berserk during battle in which their AC drops to -6, the number of his attacks are doubled and he causes 150% damage with any physical attacks (only with weapons — not with spells). During these periods the cambion becomes extremely fast, virtually, a demonic terror!

HABITAT/SOCIETY: These poor sods, though they are extremely powerful, looked-up at by some tanar’ri and respected by many others, may be perhaps the loneliest creatures in existence. Although they begin at chaotic evil, as time goes by they slip towards chaotic neutral (and perhaps, eventually, to good! As for this — it remains yet to be seen) and they begin to see how pointless the Blood War is yet they remain, each for his own reasons (this process usually takes place in their first 50 years as Lord General cambions). When not battling the baatezu they usually remain in their castles/forts where they pursue music, art and philosophy. Thus they remain very secluded and out of the day-to-day Abyssal politics and dealings. Their knack for surviving doesn’t help either since anybody they know (which is almost always — in their armies) usually perishes at some point while they continue on living. This contributes to their being sad, even depressed yet it also brings out their human qualities which are so rare in the Abyss: mercy, compassion and kindness.

ECOLOGY: Lord General cambions serve in the Blood War as commanders of extremely loyal crack forces legions or armies with them as single commanders. They take the place of the balors in the commanding of their own armies and also of the marilith in strategy since they are considerably more intelligent — in fact, Lord General cambions are the most intelligent tanar’ri known.

Source: David ‘Draegarius’ Alexander