It was really big. I remember Lizzie always said you should tell about an animal from the front to the back or from the top to the bottom so you don't forget about anything, so that's what I'm gonna do. At the top of its head there were six eyes. There were three eyes on each side of its head all lined up in a row. The eyes were all yellow and they seemed kinda small for such a really big monster. They also looked like a bug's eyes, because they didn't have any eyelids or anything.
[6] It was hard to tell if the gray render was awake or asleep except it was breathing funny like it hurt to breathe.
Between its eyes on its forehead were a bunch of bony plates. Lizzie said they're probably for protection.
[7] If the gray render had a nose or any ears I didn't see them.
[8] But it had a mouth all right. All of its teeth were black, and there were lots of teeth. Lizzie said the teeth were like a shark's teeth because they grew in different rows and she said she thought maybe they always grew all the time like a shark's did, too.
[9] There was blood coming from the gray render's mouth. It was black like the teeth so I said, "Maybe it's oil," but Lizzie said "No, Vrak, it's blood. I think it's hurt real bad." I said "Maybe if it's got black blood in its mouth that's what made its teeth all black," and Lizzie said "Maybe."
The gray render didn't have any neck. Its head just kind of stuck out from its shoulders.
[10] It had really big shoulders too, and big thick arms, even way bigger than mine. I knew it was really strong then. I wish we would have killed it then, but we didn't. If we did, I know Lizzie would be alive today.
The gray render's skin was all gray all over but with no hair or fur and it was real thick, too.
[11] There were four fingers and a thumb on each hand and it had claws and they were black too like the teeth.
[12] Its feet were kinda the same, except for no thumbs, and there were only three toes, except there was also a little toe that pointed backwards, and it had a claw on it, and it was black, too. I mean the claw was black, not the toe, it was gray. It was kinda like a bird's feet, but only bigger. It looked like one of its legs was maybe broken.
The gray render had a little tail, too, but it was really little. And it was laying on its back, so I couldn't see the tail at first until Lizzie showed it to me. She said it was probably vestigial but I didn't know what that was. Sometimes I didn't ask Lizzie what she meant because I liked it when she thought I already knew something. She was a lot smarter than me, but even so she never made me feel dumb. I don't like feeling dumb, so sometimes I don't talk so much out loud. Especially around people.
The gray render was laying on its back and making wheezy noises like it was hard to breathe and its black blood kept coming out of its mouth. Lizzie said, "I'm going to heal the poor thing," and I said, "Don't, Lizzie, it might try to attack us again when it isn't hurt," but again Lizzie said, "Don't worry, Vrak, my god will protect me." And she went over to the monster and put her hands on its chest and on its head and said some prayers to her god and helped the monster feel better. I said, "Why don't you use your spell that makes monsters fall asleep, just in case?" and she said, "I think this one's too big for that spell, but look, I think it's asleep now anyway."
[13] And she was right, because the gray render wasn't making that noise in its mouth that sounded like it was hurting to breathe, it just made a sound like snoring. Lizzie said, "Let's just let him sleep here for awhile." I said, "Is it all better now?" and Lizzie said, "No, but I think the worst of it is over. I'll have to fix its leg in the morning."
Then Lizzie looked around in the sky to see if the wyvern was coming back but it wasn't. I said, "Don't worry, Lizzie, I'll protect you," and she just smiled and said "I know you will, Vrak." Then the fighters finally came back by us again after running away when they saw the wyvern and they wanted to kill the gray render but Lizzie said, "No." They also said they had found a dead rabbit with its head bitten off,
[14] but Lizzie didn't want to hear about it, I think because she really liked bunnies.
Oh, I almost forgot about its belly. On its belly Lizzie said, "Hey, look at this, Vrak," and it was a little slit. I said, "What is that?" and Lizzie said, "Look, it's a pocket." That made me laugh because what would a monster be doing with a pocket? But she felt inside and said, "Look, feel here, there's a nipple inside," and I thought that was funny too, because why would a monster carry its nipple in a pocket? But then I looked and it didn't have any nipples on its chest. I said, "How come there's only one nipple, not two?" and Lizzie said, "Maybe gray renders only have one baby at a time."
[15] I guess that would make sense.
Lizzie explained that it was a pocket like on a possum, not like on an apron. Then I understood, because I've seen possums before and they have pockets on their bellies too. I like possum stew. I used to catch them all the time when I was little.
Anyway, Lizzie said we should back away and let the gray render sleep. One of the fighters said, "Fine, we've wasted enough time on the stupid monster anyway, let's get going," and Lizzie said, "No, we're gonna stay with it and make sure it's okay in the morning," and the fighter said, "That's stupid, come on, guys, let's go." And they went off by themselves without us, which was fine with me because I didn't like them anyway. One of them kept looking at Lizzie like he wished I wasn't there because then he'd try to make her be his woman. I think that's one of the reasons Lizzie liked me around, because I kept what she called the undesirables away. But I think she would of just liked me anyway, even if I wasn't as strong as I am. Lizzie was just nice that way. But she was real pretty too, which is how come the undesirables always wanted to be by her, even if she was kinda short.
So anyway, we went a little ways away and made a camp by some small trees where we could see the gray render, but we were far enough away from it that we wouldn't disturb it. The cattle was there again too, and they had calmed down from when the wyvern attacked, and they just ignored us and ate grass. Lizzie spent her time writing in her journal book about the gray render while I set up her tent. I didn't need a tent because I'm used to sleeping outside and I like it better when I can see the stars when I look up at night and not a tent. I slept right outside Lizzie's tent, though, in case she needed me because maybe the one fighter would come back when it was dark. I could hear her saying her prayers to her god in her tent when I went to sleep.
NOTES
6. A gray render's eyes are one of its most distinctive features and cause naturalists all sorts of difficulties. There is no doubt as to their insectlike structure, each being composed of hundreds of tiny ocelli. The gray render's vision is designed to detect even the tiniest movement, granting the creature a +4 racial bonus to Spot checks. Gray renders have both low-light vision and 60-foot darkvision.
7. The thick, bony plates on a gray render's head bear distinctive patterns that make it easy to differentiate between different gray render "families." Since a newborn is basically a clone of the parent, its plate "crest" is identical. A newly-created gray render (crafted in the alchemical laboratory of a wizard after intricate magical rituals) bears a unique crest on its forehead, and all subsequent generations of that creature bear crests identical to the original. This might be useful to the wizard who created the original gray render of a particular "line," but the gray renders pay no attention to their respective crests, avoiding all others of their kind regardless of crest shape.
8. Gray renders lack external ears and have two thin horizontal slits for nostrils which are easily overlooked. Nonetheless, a gray render enjoys a sense of hearing comparable to that of a human and has an excellent sense of smell. In fact, gray renders can track other creatures by following their scent spoor; this allows a gray render to track down its adopted "family" even if they migrate many miles away during the render's absence (while it hunts, for instance).
9. Indeed, a gray render's teeth continue to grow throughout its lifetime, with new teeth replacing older ones that have come loose. The teeth grow in several different layers, one behind another, which helps to explain the creature's horrific bite damage. It's not uncommon for a tooth to dislodge from the render's mouth and remain embedded in the flesh of a bite victim; this usually only means that the tooth was being pushed out by the growth of a newer tooth beneath it.
10. Although an adult gray render stands 9 feet tall, it walks in a hunched-over fashion so that the highest parts of the creature are its massive, hulking shoulders. Gray renders walk with a simian gait, often "knuckle walking" with their hands in the manner of gorillas.
11. A gray render's thick skin gives it a +10 natural bonus to Armor Class. Combined with its -1 size penalty for being a Large creature, this gives the gray render an overall AC 19. The creature's thick skin also protects it from the bites and stings of insects, few of which can penetrate a gray render's hide. Exceptional hide armor can be crafted from a gray render's skin.
12. Gray renders have excellent manual dexterity, on par with that of a human. A gray render might pick up a dropped weapon and snap it in half, but isn't likely to wield the weapon itself. Despite their ability to do so they seldom use tools or weapons, preferring to use their razor-sharp claws to rend their opponents (hence the name).
13. With 10 Hit Dice, gray renders are immune to the effects of sleep spells. They are light sleepers in any case, the better to respond to any danger threatening their charges.
14. Regardless of the bond-creatures' feeding habits, the gray render offers them fresh meat every day. Herbivores ignore these gifts, of course; such offerings are left behind as the gray render refuses to touch food it's given to its wards. These leftovers often attract scavengers like jackals or hyenas, many of whom follow the migration of the gray render's "family" for just that purpose.
15. Gray renders reproduce asexually in a manner most unusual for such an advanced species. Once in each gray render's lifetime (shortly after attaining adulthood) it produces a single offspring, which grows from a bud and develops in the adult render's pocket. Its first six months are spent nursing in the marsupial pouch, after which time it has grown to the size of a small chimpanzee and is ready to go off on its own.
The next year is one of rapid growth for the gray render. In the span of a single year it not only attains its full size but chooses its adopted animal family. This a biological drive hard-wired into the gray render's brain; a grown gray render cannot function for long without an adopted family to protect, becoming sluggish and listless. (Speed drops to 20 feet, and all attacks are made with a -2 circumstance penalty.) The choice of which new family to adopt is a personal one and difficult for an observer to predict in advance, although several constants remain inflexible: Gray renders only adopt vertebrates from sizes Small to Large, and then only creatures smaller than themselves (so a gray render only adopts a herd of horses or unicorns once it has attained its full size); they prefer larger family groups over single individuals; those with animal-level intelligence over more intelligent creatures; and herbivores and omnivores over carnivores. In general, the more defenseless a group of creatures is, the more likely a gray render will choose to bond with them.
Once the bonding has taken place the gray render remains completely loyal to its new family. As a gray render can live for several hundred years, it often watches over many generations of its adopted wards. In the event that all members of its adopted family die off, a gray render immediately goes forth in search of a new group of wards to protect. However, as long as even one member of its original adopted family exists, the gray render remains with it regardless of circumstances. (A gray render whose only remaining ward is a mortally wounded foal unable to move stays close at hand, delivering the foal its daily proffering of freshly-slain flesh, until the foal eventually dies of starvation.)