Audreeana

Possibly the mightiest of the magical beasts that bond with wizards, an audreeana (pronounced aw-dree-AN-a) seems stitched together from several animals. Its body is a horse's, but the legs are short and thick and end in gripping claws, and behind it trails a long, fishlike tail. Two bat wings sprout from its back and, when not in use, fold away almost unseen beneath a shaggy black mane that rings its neck and runs far down the spine. The rest of its coat is a spotted gray.

It has two heads, one a horse's and one an ape's, both with sharp teeth. A single mind runs them both, but each has a job. The ape head talks with ease in every human and demihuman tongue, and through the horse head it talks to every other warm-blooded animal. Cutting off either head kills it.

The audreeana opens with magic, always holding back one improved invisibility to protect itself. Its once-a-day spells, all cast at 10th level, are clairvoyance, clairaudience, ESP, mislead, delude, know alignment, confusion and suggestion, and it can cast improved invisibility twice daily.

In melee each of its two heads bites for 1d6, its front hooves strike for 1d12, and its tail lashes anything behind or beside it for 1d8. No missile weapon can harm it, and neither can missile-style spells such as magic missile, flame arrow, minute meteors and acid arrow, though other spells affect it normally.

It swims swiftly and powerfully and breathes water as easily as air. A wizard bonded to one shares its gift of speaking with warm-blooded animals, but only while the beast is in the wizard's direct line of sight; crystal balls and other scrying do not count.

The audreeana shuns company and prefers to spend its time alone in thought, on mountain peaks, in thick forest, or in empty country cut by rivers and streams. Local legend places it in certain eastern mountain ranges. Warfare fascinates it, though it has no desire to join large battles.

Nothing is known to hunt it. It eats a wide range of things, fish, fat game birds, tall grass and ripe fruit most of all.