Impersonator. The angel can impersonate other beings. At will, outside of combat, it can shapeshift into a humanoid creature it has killed, driven to suicide, or otherwise caused the death of, replacing its own stats with that of the creature, save for its Charisma. If its impersonated form reaches 0 hitpoints, the angel is forced back into its true form and its true stats are restored.
Spellcasting. The angel is a 17th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 23, +15 to hit with spell attacks). The angel has the following Warlock spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will): eldritch blast, friends, toll the dead, true strike
5th level (4 slots): negative energy flood, hold monster, danse macabre, wall of light, banishment, charm monster, summon greater demon, crown of madness, cloud of daggers, shatter, darkness, hellish rebuke, witch bolt, protection from evil and good
Discorporate. The angel takes on an ethereal form. It transports itself instantly into the Ethereal Plane, leaving behind anything it is carrying. While in the Ethereal Plane, it can be harmed as normal by any creature in the plane. It can use this action at will to escape from the Ethereal Plane back into its previous plane once more.
Reveal the Truth. The angel reveals its true nature to a being that can see it. The creature must make a DC 15 Dexterity save to avert their eyes. If they do not, they must make a DC 23 Charisma save or take 8d10 Psychic damage and gain a permanent madness trait. A creature that makes the save takes half damage and is permanently immune to this action afterward.
Flaming Blade. Magical Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 10 ft., 1 target. Hit: 12 (2d8 + 4) Slashing damage + 13 (1d8 + 9) Radiant damage.
The angel can act before the turn of any other creature in the turn order. It has four legendary actions with which it can do this, which it regains at the start of its turn. It can take more than one action at a time.
Rebuke the Attempt (Costs 4 actions). The angel rebukes another creature it can see immediately before it takes its turn. The creature must succeed on a DC 19 Charisma saving throw or lose its turn.
Move (Costs 1 action). The angel moves up to 35 feet.
Decisive Act (Costs 2 actions). The angel takes an action such as attacking or casting a spell.
Description
Before seeing this creature, you didn't know something could be breathtakingly beautiful and horrifyingly ugly at the same time. Hands clasped before their chest, the entity exudes an almost divine light, but the light is too harsh, and it seems to disagree with your very being. Its eyes are soft and welcoming, but the number of teeth in its innocent smile is constantly changing. Something is fundamentally wrong with what you see before you.
The Horrid, Horrid Truth. Those most versed in the occult arts inevitably come upon the realization that the demons and devils of the Lower Planes, with their horns and pitchforks, are but a reflection of the sentient races' expectations of what a demon should be like. Far below the quaint approximation that is the Nine Hells is the Pandaemonium, a plane within which even the Outer Gods do not tread. It is a plane which obeys no laws of physics, logic, or reality, and from which spring the true demons, beings formed of purest misery. Only rarely does a true demon escape from the bounds of the Pandaemonium to spread hatred, bring death, and drive mortals to madness and suicide. Some even say that there lies something at the center of the Pandaemonium, a true demonic king, to whom Asmodeus himself would seem to be a mere poser.
Apotheosis. A favorite trick of the true demon is using their beauty and radiance to extract reverence and worship from mortals. True demons' strength lies in their unbelievable charisma and their spellcasting ability, and they can quickly accrue enormous cults in their name. They cause additional misery when they utilize their abilities to take forms, allowing them to impersonate others almost perfectly. True demons, if they can, prefer to keep their enemies alive for as long as possible before they inevitably are driven to suicide. It simply amuses them to see others made miserable.
The ultimate goal of the true demons is not known, but almost certainly involves the extinction of all sentient life in the known planes.
Immortality. True demons do not die. At worst, they are returned to the Pandaemonium, a highly troublesome, but not lethal fate that can be escaped from in a few millennia at most. Even the gods themselves are stymied when they attempt to permanently destroy one. Even extremely powerful magical means such as wish fail at this task, and magical recordings of attempts show that something far bigger than the demon intervenes on its behalf when such a spell is cast.
There are rumors that the wizard Karsus once discovered a method to destroy a true demon for good. It is also rumored that the true demons had a hand in his death and the wholesale destruction of his home civilization of Netheril.
Lair and Lair Actions
Angels often live in temples constructed in their honor. They are commonly extremely opulent and beautiful, constructed of fine jewels and precious metals. Most have large retinues of guards and worshipers who would gladly give their lives for their object of reverence.
Lair Actions
On initiative count 14 (losing initiative ties), the angel takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; the angel can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:
- Deafening music blasts from every corner of the building. Hostile creatures must make a DC 16 Constitution save or take 2d6 Thunder damage and be deafened for 1d6 rounds. Deafened creatures are immune to this effect.
- The entire lair is enveloped in magical darkness for 1d4 rounds.
- 1d8 cultists appear from a side entrance.
- 1d4 guards appear from a side entrance.
Regional Effects
The region containing a legendary angel’s lair is dark and inhospitable, which creates one or more of the following effects:
- Sapient creatures are markedly more hostile to outsiders, ranging from turning them away to outright attacking them.
- Strange, otherworldly music whistles through the air. Adventurers cannot benefit from the effects of a long rest if they can hear the music.
- Natural bodies of water turn into blood, and food rots almost immediately if not properly preserved.
- At night, the air is bitterly cold. Unprotected adventurers must make a DC 15 Constitution save every 15 minutes or take 1d10 Cold damage and suffer a level of exhaustion.
- The sun is sickly pale and offers little warmth. Its light does not count as sunlight.
If the angel dies, these effects fade over the course of 1d10 days.
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