Slayer Genie

(from Monstrous Compendium: City of Delights -1993):

The tasked slayer genie's only purpose is to commit murder as often as possible — by stealth as long as possible or through berserker rages when discovered. As this sort of behavior tends to be noticed by sentient creatures nearby, slayer genies are usually very discreet about their activities, controlling the rage which motivates them because of their fear of discovery and punishment.

Slayer genies are massive genies with four arms and dark, polished skin and are usually naked to the waist. Two of their hands are human; the other two resemble lion's paws with ivory claws. Their red eyes sparkle with flame. Above and between their two eyes lies a third eye, which is green and resembles that of a panther. The third eye is centered between two horns. Their hair is coarse as horsetails. On their backs are two massive wings.

Combat: Slayer genies prefer to kill their targets quietly, and they are extremely well-equipped to do so, either by magical or physical means. They can cast blindness, silence 15’ radius, darkness, improved invisibility, ventriloquism, misdirection, assume gaseous form, polymorph self, and dimension door. If they reveal their true form they can cause fear in creatures of 3 Hit Dice or less.

In melee, they attack either with their terrible claws or with a melee weapon in either normal hand (at no penalty). Their enormous Strength gives them a +9 damage bonus when using melee weapons. Slayer genies prefer scimitars, axes, cleaving polearms, morning stars, and maces. Slayer genies will use missile weapons in unusual circumstances. They suffer no penalty for using such weapons instead of their usual melee weapons.

Habitat/Society: It is believed that slayer genies were first created with the specific function of terrifying the enemies of the genie lords, but that they later began to serve as efficient assassins in noble genies’ power struggles. Given their nature and their origin, it is not surprising that slayer genies are always servants. Those few slayer genies that become free generally have very short reigns of terror. They serve humans, demihumans, and other genies, but their masters always closely monitor their actions. An unwatched slayer genie is extremely dangerous, and may begin slaughtering its master’s followers.

Slayer genies enjoy the company of other warriors, and will spend hours discussing the advantages and disadvantages of various weapons, the fine points of anatomy, and the details of stealth, tactics, martial trickery, and armor with anyone willing to listen. Their fascination with violence and bloodshed goes far beyond the professional level. They have a disturbing fixation with the process for its own sake, and their descriptions of past battles are full of loving details of exactly how a foe looked as he died, how well each of their weapons performed, the quirks of various fighting styles and their appeal, and so on. The joy they have in battle and death extends to their own demise, which they all look forward to as a glorious occasion. Nothing spoils the mood of a slayer genie quite so much as the thought of dying some way other than in combat.

Slayer genies know neither shame nor pride when asked to complete some mission; they merely seek to fulfill their role, and boast about it afterward. No trick is too cruel, no tactic too immoral, no job too unsavory for them to undertake.

Ecology: When tasked genies are driven mad they become tasked slayer genies, genies unable to stay sane after long labor at the same task. They seek release in bloodshed, and they retain only a limited cunning.

Slayer genies view all other creatures as merely sets of abilities and attributes to be overcome, creatures whose only purpose is to meet their death at the hands of the slayer. Hearing a slayer genie inform creatures that they are denying their purpose (that is, not dying at its hands), and thus upsetting it, can be very alarming — refusal to admit that one wants to die by the slayer’s hands just upsets it further. Living creatures rarely survive, much less profit, from meeting a slayer genie.

The only exception to this general rule are the undead; slayer genies are puzzled at whether or not they should bother to kill things that are already dead. Given a choice, slayer genies always leave undead creatures for last, and if there is any chance of discovery, they leave the undead alone. This often results in undead creatures being blamed and hunted as the perpetrators of slayer genies’ crimes.