Devil, Furcas, Duke of Rhetoric

Devil, Furcas, Duke of Rhetoric

CR 18 XP: 153,600

LE Large outsider (devil, evil, extraplanar, lawful)

Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft., see in darkness, telepathy 100 ft.; Perception +22

AC 25, touch 20, flat-footed 19 (-1 size, +5 natural, +5 deflection, +6 Dex)

HP 136 (16d10+48)

Fort +13, Ref +16, Will +13

DR 15/good and silver; Immune fire and poison; SR 26; Resist acid 10 and cold 10

Speed 40 ft.

Melee +3 brilliant energy short sword +22/+17/+12/+7 (1d8+7/19-20)

Space 10 ft., Reach 10 ft.

Special Attacks Spell-like abilities, spells, words of power

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 20th) At will—greater invisibility, levitate, polymorph (self only), suggestion (DC 19), greater teleport (self plus 50 pounds of objects only), whispering wind; 2/day—discern location, globe of invulnerability, protection from good, prying eyes; 1/day—dispel good (DC 21), foresight, nondetection, plane shift (DC 23). The save DCs are Charisma-based.

Spells Prepared (CL 20th) 

  0th-Arcane Mark, Detect Magic, Mage Hand, Resistance

  1st-Detect Secret Doors, Mage Armor, Magic Missile (x2), Shield, True Strike

  2nd-Detect Thoughts, Eagles Splendor, Flaming Sphere, Foxs Cunning, Owls Wisdom, Scorching Ray

  3rd-Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, Deep Slumber, Displacement, Fireball (x2), Vampiric Touch

  4th-Bestow Curse, Detect Scrying, Fear, Ice Storm, Phantasmal Killer, Wall of Fire

  5th-Cloudkill, Feeblemind, Major Creation, Mind Fog, Telekinesis

  6th-Chain Lightning, Eyebite, Greater Dispel Magic (x2), True Seeing

  7th-Banishment, Greater Arcane Sight, Greater Scrying, Spell Turning, Waves of Exhaustion

  8th-Incendiary Cloud, Maze, Mind Blank, Moment of Prescience, Polar Ray

  9th-Dominate Monster, Energy Drain, Power Word Kill, Summon Monster IX

During Combat Duke Furcas enjoys the occasional physical confrontation. He likes to set up traps and ambushes using his impressive array of spells. He considers a battle boorish if it actually comes to smelly grunts swinging swords at him. In such cases, he teleports away as soon as possible.

Duke Furcas’s natural weapons, as well as any weapons he wields, are treated as evil-aligned and lawful-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Str 19, Dex 22, Con 17, Int 26, Wis 17, Cha 22

Base Atk +16; CMB +21; CMD 42

Feats Empower Spell, Improved Counterspell, Maximize Spell, Quicken Spell, Spell Penetration, Still Spell

Skills Appraise +8, Bluff +25, Craft (alchemy) +27, Diplomacy +29, Disguise +6, Intimidate +8, Knowledge (arcana, history, nature, planes, religion) +27, Linguistics +22, Perception +22, Sense Motive +22, Spellcraft +29, Survival +3

Languages telepathy 100 ft.

Environment Hell (Dis)

Organization Unique or with bodyguard (2-5 enforcers of Dis)

Treasure Double standard

Spells (Ex) Duke Furcas casts spells as a 20th-level wizard. His spell selection is usually heavy with divinations, but he switches to combat spells if he knows a confrontation is imminent. Wizard Spells Prepared (4/6/6/6/6/5/5/5/5/4; save DC 18 + spell level)

Words of Power (Sp) Furcas is a master of language and he knows how to make the most out of even a single word. He can disrupt hostile spells with such quickness and efficiency that he can cast counterspells at will without needing to ready an action to do so. Furcas may cast but one counterspell per round (doing so is a free action).

A glance of cunning in his eyes, this humanoid man has horns extending straight out on either side of his bald head and a long beard twisted into a point. His robe is turned down at the waist to reveal a toned torso and, flanking his neck, two iron rings set into the flesh of his shoulders. 

Duke Furcas is Hell’s foremost intellectual, at least in his own mind. He is a member of Dispater’s court and thus spends the majority of this time in the city of Dis. This suits Furcas just fine, since Dis is the closest thing Hell has to a center of knowledge. Furcas has written many books that circulate throughout the Material Plane. His favorite is Gods or Monsters: An Investigation 

Into the Nature of Divinity. This book argues that the gods are not gods at all, but powerful yet petty beings who fool mortals into worshipping them. All of Furcas’s books are meant to lead the reader into evil by destroying their cherished beliefs with cold logic and powerful rhetoric.

Furcas presides over the Forbidden Library, an octagonal edifice in the city center. The library is a den of blasphemous secrets, the ultimate destination for evil mages and cultists from across the planes. Parts of this collection are nearly as old as the planes themselves. Access, of course, is strictly controlled by Furcas. Only those willing to donate a rare volume or their own services may enter. Furcas has collected more than one soul in this way, and it allows him to maintain a cadre of agents on the Material Plane second to none.

If Duke Furcas has a weakness, it’s that he craves recognition for his genius. It is not enough for him to outsmart a foe; he must make sure that the deed is publicized. Even his books, written under pen names, contain complicated ciphers that reveal the true author to those smart enough to figure it out. His thirst for accolades has gotten him into trouble in the past. Dispater pierced his body with

iron rings and hung Furcas from his tower for a year after a particularly notorious incident. Furcas has kept the rings in his body as a sign of obeisance. 

Furcas’s greatest rival in Hell is Bune, Duke of Eloquence. Both devils use honeyed words as weapons, but Furcas’s rhetoric is backed up with knowledge. His arguments are based on fact and logic, while Bune’s manipulate the psyche. They have never confronted each other directly, instead preferring to play a great game down through the centuries. The dukes try to prove their mastery by converting each other’s minions. Both courts are riddled with double agents, and only intellects such as theirs can keep track of where true loyalties lie. Neither Furcas nor Bune misses an opportunity to show up his rival.

Source: The Book of Fiends