PCs are soon to do a thing where they'll be delving into a semi-open-ended gauntlet of 16 tombs. They're like mini-dungeons that can be tackled in any order. They're going to have to do them all eventually to progress with their goal (unless they get really clever), and if they're clever they'll find the hints about which ones have the toughest guardians and save those for last. They might ultimately go in any order though, so I need them all ready.
I've got most of them. This last one, I still need the main guardian. There's a theme of announcing the glories of the guardian's boss and inspiring people with his name in this one, so I figure the guardian ought to be a bard. He's evil, but will be leading a unit of bound angels who're forced to obey his commands (mostly choral angels).
He needs to be CR 14.
I've already used a (mummified) dragon in one of the other tombs, so we probably shouldn't do another dragon. There's likewise been plenty of daemons, demons, devils, divs, elementals, kytons, and qlippoth guarding the other tombs, so no more of those.
On the one hand, it'd make sense for the leader to also be angelic. On the other, it'd be funny if he was something the angels hated being forced to work for.
Maybe an Efreeti? It has a decent Charisma score of 15, the Deceitful feat and very good Bluff and Intimidate bonuses, so the flavor fits. It's CR 8 and six levels of Bard could make it a decent challenge. I think it'd be funny if the angels got bound to it through someone's poorly worded wish. However, it's fire-themed and Lawful Evil, so it might be a bit too close to a devil to be all that interesting.
A Marid isn't evil (it's CN), but this particular example might have fallen a bit. It has a Charisma of 16, a high Diplomacy bonus, CR 9 and "many marids become dancers, storytellers, performers, or other types of artists", so it fits the idea of a powerful Bard quite well. It's water-themed, so maybe a nice change. And again, it can grant wishes, though much more rarely.
Why not a lich bard? With some cleverness (and vanity) his undead nature might not even be obvious and he might be able to pull off the 'I'm not evil' gambit at least for a bit.
A Rakshasa is CR 10, and fits thematically (in particular, a Rakshasa would find commanding Angels to be very ironic).
Give it a few Bard levels, and its special abilities will complement them nicely. Disguised as a Human, it will be very difficult to determine what they are actually fighting.
Oh, genies are already used up. I mentally tagged them under 'elementals' and didn't consider that that would be confusing.
The fallen celestial is a neat idea. Will definitely give it thought.
This person's boss is a mummy lord (so, basically a desert lich in pyjamas), so a lich lieutenant might be stepping on some thematic toes.
Are Rakshasas super long-lived? That'd definitely be cool, but I didn't know they had long lifespans.
I created an advanced, giant gibbering mouther arcane duelist bard for a campaign that never got to that part. I designed it to be CR 17, but you could always adjust the bard levels to suit your taste. The thought of a gibbering mouther bard was just too fun to pass up. He turned out to be a pretty nasty beastie, too (on paper). Enjoy!
In Pathfinder/Golarion rakshasas reincarnate. They could go on forever. What about nagas? Or a clockwork (contruct) guardian?
Are Rakshasas super long-lived? That'd definitely be cool, but I didn't know they had long lifespans.
I think the bestiary states that they live for "500 years or more" before dying. So it depends on your definition of "long" lifespan.
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How about a Veiled Master? Make its perform skill Oration for some extremely erudite monologues about the comparative stupidity of the mouth-breathing races? With their outlook, I'd expect them to believe that all outsiders should be subserviant to them. It would be extra painful for it to demand the angels treat everything it opines as indisputable fact.
You could look for a protean who happens to like swan feathers and togas, despite otherwise looking and acting nothing like an angel.
Other than that, I've got nothing.
Like the David, I was going to suggest lillend (it's the only monster I know of with bard casting already cooked in).
I also like the idea of a construct made up of old church bells and chimes, with some player piano and/or pipe organ added on. It also reminds me of the Fiddlehead from the Cheri Priest novel of the same name.
If you go with naga or rakshasa, replace their sorcerer spellcasting levels with bard spellcasting levels, and then add additional actual levels of bard for zest.
Also, check to see if a level of bard is worth a level of CR. It might be yes if it has minions to buff, and not quite worth it without minions. So a level in bard might be worth +1/2, +2/3, or +3/4 CR depending on the encounter and the rest of the set up.
I like adding class levels to monsters. I do it enough that I (almost) definitely won't be forgetting those extra additions.
How about a mind flair or illithid. This one is from Pathfinder :Homebrew Mindflare,the CR 11 so you could add ranks of Bard if you wished, and since they control slaves as part of their society having angel slaves could work. Plus, should scare the piss out of them.the They fit well in deep dark dungeons, and they usually make my players hands sweat.
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I think some type of fey creature would fit your theme nicely. They may even have decorated the tomb with images and traps from the first world.
An alternative may be a construct or golem of some type. Bard levels would not add a whole heck of a lot to them mechanically for a fight, but then again, do you really need "bard" levels, or just skills that bards have?
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I'd go for an oni instead of a rakshasa. Rakshasa tend to be behind-the-scenes players, running thieves' guilds and such. Oni on the other hands are corrupted kami that grew jealous of the pleasures of the flesh. An oni could certainly be an attention-hungry bard. They're also shapeshifters that can look less dangerous than they really are. An oni bard could pretend to be a typical not-so-scary-in-melee bard and then suddenly unpack inhuman strength and fighting skill.
Arcane Duelist might be a good archetype, and [url=http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/bestiary/oni.html#oni-ogre-mage]ogre mage[/ur] as base creature. With seven levels of bard that gets you to CR 14, and CL 7 lets you prebuff Resist Fire 20 and Resist Acid 20, to protect its regeneration a bit.
I keep thinking of the bound celestials and then think an erinyes with bard levels could be fun. She stays back, shoots people, inspires her troops so to speak. Professes the glories of her 'master'...who of course served Asmodeus. Having some fallen celestials with her that either resent her for a role in their fall or seek to become like her adds a nice touch to it too.
This person's boss is a mummy lord (so, basically a desert lich in pyjamas), so a lich lieutenant might be stepping on some thematic toes.
How about a worm that walks?
It is similar to lich (and mummy lord, by extention), but it replaces 'long, carefully planned rituals designed to transcend mortality' with 'being a crazy bugger that got gutted and left in a ditch, and by chance he managed to pull something together at the last minute'.
Why use this? It could be loyal herald that cried his lord's glories until the last moment, even while he was being torn to pieces (by his lord's new minions? By the local lords that wanted to seal away the mummy lord during his ritual? etc.- whatever works for you). In any case, it is a mad, driven individual that could have followed your mummy lord through the eons through sheer force of will and madness, rather than careful planning.
Thematically, you can reskin the worm part to be scarabs (since this seems somewhat egyptian themed).