Maddened Fanatic (Basic Lore)

Maddened Fanatic (Heavy; CR 16)
True Chaotic - Medium - Humanoid (Outsider, Aberration)
This creature possesses the Heavy role, and therefore counts as 2 monsters for purposes of encounter size, XP award, and treasure. This monster frequently has the Heavy role, but may be set to other roles if desired. It is widely accepted among most intelligent creatures, at a very general level, that the world we all live in is balanced upon the surface of a much larger, darker, and far more terrible reality called the Outer Madness. Most people have little understanding of Planes, and in the minds of most people, Demons, Devils, Aberrations, and most 'weird' monsters are part of this terrifying background reality. However, there are always those who think that 'larger and more terrible' means, 'a convenient way to get power'. As a result, all over the world, in every race, creed, and culture, civilized or not, there are those with far too much greed and far too little wisdom who seek out this Deep Darkness and pledge themselves to it. The Creeping Madness is easy to access, easy to draw upon...and insanely dangerous. A fair number of those who attempt this foolish act are consumed utterly by their very first sup of that dark well, their lives, essence, souls, and flesh consumed entire. Many of those luckless fools do not quietly disappear, however. Maddened Fanatics are those creatures, with the Spark or without, who have reached out to the Madness, and not only survived, they have grown exalted. Fanatics are abominations, horrifically twisted, warped, and mutated, their minds filled with the ecstasy of the Great Void. Some Maddened Fanatics are likely to be Maddened Thugs or Maddened Reavers who have survived and grown and been granted greater gifts by the Deep Dark. Other Fanatics were created new and whole, as the Mad Black Waste tears them from humanity to Other in one horrible, ecstatic wrench. Fanatics have warped and grown awful due to their corruption, but they can still sometimes mask their deformities with large enough masks, or large, shapeless clothing, to blend in at least some with normal humanoids. Maddened Fanatics are usually drawn from the Civilized Races, people who should have known better. It is possible that the occasional Orc, Goblin, or Gnoll will also be subsumed by the Outer Madness, and thus become Maddened Fanatics, but amongst those without the Spark, this terrible transformation is not so stark, and their native 'cultures' tend to exterminate such fools quickly. Such non-civilized Fanatics tend to migrate to the fold of their civilized brethren, where they are given a place...until their use comes to an end. Maddened Fanatics, like all of the Maddened, are united in their allegiance to the Devouring Madness, the True Depths that lie Outside. They are not terribly organized, but they act, vaguely and constantly, to tear down civilization, destroy all the structures of the world, material and social, for good and for ill. They lurk and plot, they poison, murder, and ruin, they steal and burn, everything. Maddened Fanatics are terrible juggernauts of bleak, writhing woe, and they will attack anything, civilized or monster, if they think it will lead them to the Final Truth: All things must fall to the Dark, sooner or later. Fanatics are utterly deadly, shambling, darting, dashing juggernauts of freakish insanity and murder. Madness Fanatics are a terrible force in the world, although they are thankfully rare. When Fanatics are discovered, they must be confronted and rooted out with terrible urgency. When more than one Maddened Fanatic meet each other, they naturally band together, as every hand in the Prime Plane is raised against them as their enemies, and you must take your allies where you can find them. Bands of Madness Fanatics seem almost like cults, except that there is no Deity involved, simply the utter alien void that has subsumed these maniacs, and invests their every action.