Tanar'ri, Greater -- Abat-Dolor

Climate/Terrain: The Abyss
Frequency: Common
Organization: Group
Activity Cycle: Any
Diet: Carnivore
Intelligence: exceptional (15-16)
Treasure: R, C
Alignment: Chaotic Evil

No. Appearing: 4-40
Armor Class: 3
Movement: 15
Hit Dice: 12
THAC0: 13
No. of Attacks: 2
Damage/Attack: By weapon + 5
Special Attacks: See below
Special Defenses: See below
Magic Resistance: 30%
Size: Medium (6'+ to 7')
Morale: Champion (15-16)
XP Value: 21,000

The Abat-Dolor, known as "the Black Ones" to the fearful, are a race of beautiful, black-skinned demons, kin to Graz'zt. They stand 7' to 8' tall and wear red bronze plate armor and helmets. The Abat-Dolor originated in Iyondagur, the 399th abyssal layer. This was a realm of earth and darkness, where they dwelt in grand fortresses made of basalt. The coming of Urdlen changed all that.
They had nothing to do with Urden before the invasion. Most of them didn't even know what a gnome was. Urdlen, who who had been wandering the planes for eons making trouble for Garl, suddenly wanteed a lair to rest in between missions of pranks and terror, and what Urdlen wants, Urdlen takes.
Urdlen decided that the rock and soil of Iyondagur was perfect for its taste, and the attack began.
With the touch of the mighty god, the infinite palaces of the Abat-Dolor crumbled. They fled the layer, exiles and nomads in the Abyss.
Eventually they settled in a layer of endless halls much like their old, but more airy and open; called Degrazazt, it was catalogued as the 121st layer of the Abyss. At the time it was ruled by the lady Pale Night, who took them under the protection of her hollow robes. She took their high chieftain as her consort and birthed Graz'zt, the young Abyssal Lord of Shadows, who at the time was little more than an Abat-Dolor himself.
Graz'zt grew to be the greatest of his tribe, and along with his consort Elazalag he ruled them, Pale Night moving on to Baphomet's embrace after Graz'zt slew her Abat-Dolor consort. In time, though, Graz'zt grew too ambitious to be satisfied with ruling one layer, and began recruiting allies of other tanar'ric breeds in order to build an invicible army. The reclusive Abat-Dolor refused to be a part of this, and prideful Graz'zt created a schism, leading four of the thirteen tribes to the new layers he conquered, while the others stayed behind.
The remaining Abat-Dolor are ruled by Elazalag, their mistress and Graz'zt's former consort. They bear a great grudge against Graz'zt, who split their power and hurt their pride. They aren't powerful enough to conquer him, but neither is he powerful enough to force them into his fold.

Combat:
They wield swords, spears, and arbalests; they also use tubes which discharge a black radiance that dissolves Abyssal matter, transforming it into ghost-flame.
Abat-Dolor have all the standard tanar'ric abilities: darkness 15' radius, infravision, and teleport without error. They also have abilities similar to those of the drow: faerie fire (three times per day) and levitation (at will). Unlike the drow, the Abat-Dolor are not restricted by sunlight in any way. Finally, they can detect magic at will, cast fear by touch, and polymorph self 3 times per day. Three times per day an Abat-Dolor can attempt to gate in another of its kind. There is a 40% chance of success.

Habitat/Society: Through a secret technique known only to them, the Abat-Dolor are able to distill an Abyssal essence into what outsiders call the Black Radiance, actually an exotic oil that acts as a mysterious bane to matter and the Abyss itself.

Nonweapon Proficiency:

Distill Black Essence (Wis) -- two slots

Use of this proficiency, taught only to other Abat-Dolor, requires first an enchanted ring of standing stones with which to focus the energy of the Abyss. The stones must be made of basalt and be of a size, pattern, and location that resonates with the that particular layer. In Azzagrat, this is three overlapping hexagons in Zrintor, the Viper Forest built of eighteen monoliths, each fifty feet high. In Degrazazt, this is
twenty-five monoliths, each ten-foot square, arranged in five rows of five.
These stones are then enchanted by one of the geomancer-druids of the Abat-dolor tribe with a spell similar to the Enchant Standing Stones spell in Legends and Lore (available for download at wizards.com). Similar spells are known to many tanar'ri, though only the Abat-dolor know how to use in making the Essence.
The next stage is to prepare the altar in the center of the circle. The altar is made of basalt, and pincher-shaped. The altar is soaked in the blood of the weakest member of hte tribe, and grooves on the central basin guide the blood down the pincher-arms into a single bowl.
This is when the proficiency check is made. The Abat-dolor grasps the arms of the altar and concentrates on manipulating the energy that flows with the blood, on inverting it into something that even the Abyss finds repellent. On the role of a 1 or 2, the Abat-dolor dissolves into ghost flame. On a 3-18, the skill works and black essence flows into the bowl for as long as concentration can be maintained (typically long enough for 5-20 doses). On a role of 19-20, twice as much essence is produced.
Black essence: "Anti-matter" effect, dissolves Abyssal and other forms of matter, causing it 10d6 points of damage with an additional 10d6 from the resulting ghost-flame.

Ecology: Abat-dolor generally reproduce by mating, disdaining all outsiders. Rarely, an outsider who proves itself supremely useful will be initiated and guided in its transformation to Abat-dolor. Allowing the outsider to retain its original form, as was done for Pale Night, is a sign of true need.