Janissary Skeleton (Basic Lore)

Janissary Skeleton (CR 11)
Pure Evil - Medium - Undead
Skeleton Janissaries look like better maintained, better equipped, and more skilled Skeleton Soldiers. Unlike lesser skeletons, Janissaries are not identical units. Instead, each one has some small distinct element to it, such as a decorated weapon or a tassel upon a sword hilt, small touches of personalization. The reason is simple. Unlike all other lesser skeletons, Janissaries are sentient. When you look into the empty black eye sockets of a Janissary, there is unmistakably something terrible looking back. They are individuals, with mannerisms and foibles and personalities, made all the more terrible by their utter hatred of life. A Skeleton Janissary is driven by a cold, calculating mind, one that is first and foremost a professional killer, implacably the enemy of everything that lives and absolutely murderous in their drive to kill. Like all skeletons, Janissaries are driven by a coldly implacable hatred of the living. It should be noted that Skeleton Janissaries, unlike Vampires or Morhgs or even Mummies and Liches, do NOT have the same mind in undeath that they had in life. Intelligent skeletons are inhabited by terrible spirits of murderous will. They are alien, inhuman, genderless things that have no memory of the bones they now command. A Skeleton Janissary created from the bones of a saint is just as murderous and vile as one created from the bones of a murderer. Once a Janissary has sensed the existence of the living, they are completely unwavering in their drive to exterminate them. Nothing will stop them, nothing will dissuade them, they know no fear or failure, they keep coming until they win or are destroyed. But Janissaries are not stupid. If they see the living and are undetected, they will withdraw to prepare an ambush, or wait until the living have to sleep, and attack from advantageous positions whenever possible. Their desire to kill is backed up by a scary degree of skill. Janissaries are smart, vicious combatants who will do everything they can to fight dirty. They will set up encirclements and defilades, they will provide cover fire for each other, they will coup de grace any wounded, they will ignore strong melee players if they can possibly reach a soft target, they will set up traps and ambushes, they use good, dangerous tactics. They are killers of the highest order, unhesitating, remorseless, and tireless.