Maddened Reverend (Basic Lore)

Maddened Reverend (CR 15)
True Chaotic - Medium - Humanoid (Outsider)
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 Reverends are those creatures, with the Spark or without, who have reached out to the Madness, and not only survived, they have thrived. Some Maddened Reverends are likely to be Maddened Speakers who have survived and grown and been granted greater gifts by the Deep Dark. Some Maddened Reverends have fallen into their might as a Dark Gift, and as such, Maddened Reverends are the most likely to wear their radical deformities proudly, showing their massively mutated faces and new limbs to the world. Whatever their provenance, Maddened Reverends are usually drawn from the Civilized Races, people who should have known better. It is possible that the occasional monstrous creature will also be subsumed by the Outer Madness, and thus become Maddened Reverends, but amongst those without the Spark, this terrible transformation is readily apparent, and their native 'cultures' tend to exterminate such fools quickly. Such non-civilized Reverends tend to migrate to the fold of their civilized brethren, where they are given a place...until their use comes to an end. Maddened Reverends, like all of the Maddened, are united in their allegiance to the Devouring Madness, the True Depths that lie Outside. They are more organized and far more insightful than most Maddened, and serve as 'senior' council for their brethren. Reverends also have powerful and useful abilities to harm their foes and aid their fellow Maddened, and are often seen directing from the back ranks of attacking Reavers or Assassins, or serving alongside the confounding Maddened Mages, or supporting the terrible Maddened Fanatics. Like all Maddened, Reverends lurk and plot, they poison, murder, and ruin, they steal and burn, everything. Madness Reverends will attack babes in arms just as readily as they will battle undead, and for the same reason: All things must fall to the Dark, sooner or later. Unlike lesser breeds of the Maddened, Reverends are extremely good at what they do. Madness Reverends are a terrible force in the world, although they are thankfully rare. When Reverends are discovered, they must be confronted and rooted out with terrible urgency. When more than one Maddened Reverend 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 Reverends 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.