My rationale behind the Azimukuth was more or less along these lines, Demiurge. While Inevitables cover a lot of fundamental laws, that of planar boundaries was sadly forgotten... and in its place, we got some bug-like tank which enforces... desertification! Ooookay...
Moving on to next beastie...
Oh, this one I have a fond memory of. In one adventure in a deep forest, my players (a pretty good 6-men party about to enter level 7) had come across two trails of footprints, which the druid identified as respectively belonging to a bear, and to what might have seemed an overlarge horse. Their curiosity piqued, they carefully followed the trail... until they heard the roar of a bear and the whinny of a horse! But something just did not feel right about the whole scenario... after that, in fact, another horse was heard, and then another, and another one...
Now seriously alarmed, my players hid themselves in bushes and peeked out, somewhat expecting to see the bear making a meal out of a dead horse...
And what they got, instead, was a bunch of two-headed horses devouring the STILL-LIVING BEAR!
The expressions on their faces were quite satisfying, to say the least...
Of course, they decided to turn tail and run... but the monsters were hot on their trail, and they had to fight them off. In the end, they killed four of these "blood stallions", and the others split before getting hurt all the more... but I got what I wanted: I shocked the players into complete disbelief!
Ah, good times...
Blood Stallion
Truly nightmarish in appearence, this creature is a powerful, overlarge two-headed horse, its muscles developed to exaggerated proportions. A dirty white all over, it possesses a bifurcated, blood-red made which whips around incontrollably in its uncontrollable rage, and a nauseating mix of blood and froth drips from its fang-filled mouth. It gallops in a disorderly manner, and you can make out, behind the thin blanket of dust it kicks up, that its hooves are hollow and shaped like hooks, in some sort of mockery of a claw. It lets out a double whinny, which sounds more like a roar, before rushing in to attack!
Blood Stallion CR 5
Usually CE Large Magical Beast
Init +2;
Senses darkvision 60 ft, low-light vision; Listen +8, Spot +8
Defense
AC 17, touch 11, flat-footed 15 (-1 size, +2 Dex, +6 natural)
hp 69 (6d10+36)
Fort +11,
Ref +7,
Will +5
Special Qualities gallop
Offense
Spd 60 ft.
Melee 2 bites +12 melee (1d8+7) and 2 hooves +4 melee (1d6+3)
Space 10 ft;
Reach 5 ft
Special Attacks Devour, rend 2d8+10
Tactics
Before Combat: A pack of blood stallions relies on numbers, sheer power and advantageous positions to bring their opponents down, therefore they will try to place themselves in places where they easily surround prey before charging in with ear-shattering neighs. A lone blood stallion is a lot more straight-forward, and will usually leap to attack as soon as it has an opponent in sight. They usually avoid opponents with superior numbers.
During Combat: While intelligent, blood stallion are usually too blood-crazed to care about strategy. They go for the unarmored (or lightly-armored) foes first, bringing their hooked hooves and their vicious bites to bear. They take unholy delight in tearing off chunks of flesh from their opponents' bones, before feeding on them in front of their still-living foes.
Morale: Blood stallions rarely retreat, unless most of their pack has been killed. They will try to stay in the fight as long as possible, if only to feast on an opponent's flesh and get a Constitution boost.
Statistics
Str 24,
Dex 15,
Con 23,
Int 10,
Wis 17,
Cha 16
Base Atk +6;
Grp +17
Feats Multiattack, Power Attack, Run
Skills Jump +20*, Listen +8, Spot +8, Survival +6
Languages none (understands Common)
Ecology
Environment Temperate swamps and forests
Organization solitary or pack (2-8)
Treasure none
Advancement 7-12 HD (Large), 13-18 HD (Huge)
Level Adjustment—
Special Abilities
Devour (Ex): When a blood stallion scores a killing blow on an opponent (that is, a blow that brings its opponent to -10 hit points or fewer) with one of its bite attacks, it gains a temporary +4 enhancement bonus to its Constitution score for 1 hour. More killing blows during the course of the hour do not stack, but prolong the duration of the effect for 1 hour each.
Gallop (Ex): A rider who succeeds at a DC 18 Handle Animal check can push a blood stallion to gallop, allowing it to reach amazing speed for a relatively long period of time. A gallopping blood stallion takes nonlethal damage instead of lethal damage when being pushed, and does not automatically fail Constitution checks under such circumstances.
Rend (Ex): A blood stallion that successfully hits an opponent with both bite attacks in the same round latches to the opponent's body and tears the flesh. This attack automatically inflicts 2d8+10 points of additional damage.
Skills: A blood stallion has a +8 racial bonus on Jump checks. Thanks to its Run feat, a blood stallion enjoys an additional +4 bonus to Jump checks when getting a running start.
An unusual, fierce and bloodthirsty beast, the blood stallion is a veritable corruption of the order of nature, a blight that devours anything smaller than itself that dares cross its way. Gifted with human-like intelligence despite their brutish appearence, blood stallions serve nobody save for those who can physically dominate them. A blood stallion accompanied by its rider is a truly heart-stopping sught even for the bravest adventurers, only matched by the sight of a pack of blood stallions' feeding frenzy. Rumors persist that these beasts are sacred to Karaan the Beast-God (see
Book of Vile Darkness), but so far this has remained a simple theory.
Slightly larger and much heavier than a normal heavy warhorse, a blood stallion canot speak, but does understand Common. The very few who have a rider may understand snippets of other languages as well.
Ecology
Blood stallion are not easily placed in some kind of ecological system. They are a perversion of the natural cycle of nature, and very few beasts could match them in combat. In fact, the presence of a pack of blood stallions in an area can easily depopulate it in a matter of days, since these monsters have a ravenous appetite which requires them to consume huge amounts of flesh every day. Blood stallions are strictly carnivores, with a preference for reptiles, and especially snakes; but they do not pass up a chance to devour a human being, possibly a still-living one. They find the screams of sentient creatures to be particularily pleasurable, and delight in the feeling of quivering flesh and warm blood sliding down their dual gullets. Only in the most dire of circumstances will a blood stallion feed on carrions.
Habitat and Society
Blood stallions live in packs, led by an alpha male, just like wolves. However, their society is a lot less cooperative and orderly than that of wolves, with frequent power struggles and infighting for a better position. During the hunt, though, this all slips away, replaced by a terrifying ferocity and a surprisingly good teamwork that leaves little chance of escape for most creatures. When the prey has been brought low and devoured, however, any semblance of community gets immediately thrown away, in favour of a feeding frenzy that is hideous to behold.
Some blood stallions, unsatisfied with living in a pack, willingly abandon it. Such rogues are usually the ones who advance in Hit Dice, and will usually ally themselves with other evil wild creatures for the sake of spreading mayhem. They usually get into alliances with leucrottas (see
Monsters of Faerun): the leucrotta removes an opponent's armor, leaving the blood stallion free to savage prey. Such alliances, however, are not known to be too stable, due to the chaotic and evil nature of the creatures.
Some blood stallion can be reared and trained by an evil individual who is sufficiently powerful as to cow them into servitude. To be trained, a blood stallion must first be made friendly towards the would-be rider (which can be done with a sufficiently high Diplomacy or Intimidate check). Then, a DC 25 Handle Animal check must be done, after a six-week period of training. Riding on a blood stallion requires an exotic saddle. A blood stallion can fight while carrying a rider, but the rider himself cannot attack unless he makes a Ride check.
Alignment
Being creatures of relentless hunger and pointless destruction, blood stallions are usually chaotic evil, especially in the case of solitary rogue specimen. A blood stallion who is caught young and brought up by creatures of a different alignment might turn neutral, or even good, but such cases are rare, and the creature usually bolts back into the wild and succumbs to its vicious tendencies.
Treasure
Wild blood stallions don't have any treasure. They have no use for coin and gems, and lack the manipulative abilities to use most magic items. Sometimes, a rider might allow them to wear magic armor, or magical items made for horse-like creatures, but that's about it.
