Aviarag

An aviarag looks like a grown male lion with 15-foot wings, goat horns on its head, and a forked, swallow-like tail of feathers that makes it remarkably agile in the air for its size. It walks upright on two legs as comfortably as on four. Its tawny hide contrasts with deep blue wing feathers tipped in white and plain deep blue tail feathers. Its black and yellow eyes can see 30 miles in clear weather.

Claws are its main weapons. In flight the foreclaws strike first for 1d8 each. If both land, the hind claws make one raking attack at +2 for 2d8+8 (10-24), after which the aviarag usually lets the victim fall. On the ground it uses its foreclaws but never rakes. It can also bite for 1d10.

It likes to dive at enemies from behind, letting out a shrieking roar just before impact. Its targets must save vs. petrification or freeze for 1 round.

It saves its psionics for when it is heavily outnumbered; then it uses psionic blast on one foe after another until the odds even out; in melee it keeps up a tower of iron will defense. For clairsentience it has no sciences, only the devotions radial navigation, poison sense, danger sense and all-round vision. In telepathy its sciences are mind link, psionic blast and mind wipe, with devotions of sight link, psionic crush, life detection, id insinuation, ESP and contact.

Aviarags live alone in roughly circular territories about 15 miles across, always laired on the highest peak available. They use psionics to read the intentions of intelligent creatures they meet. Thoughts of violence bring an attack. Peaceful minds have a 50% chance of being offered help, such as a guide to water or shelter, in trade for food or a shiny trinket. The beast does not crave treasure, but it loves shiny objects, and its lair holds 5d10 of them; each has a cumulative 1% chance of being valuable.

Every two years a female goes looking for a mate. They do not pair for life, and after a short mating season she returns home. Three months later she bears 1d4 young, which stay with her for a year before leaving to claim their own territory.

Aviarags prefer small rodents and mammals but take larger prey when hungry, and eat only fresh kills. A well-fed one can go three weeks without eating. They live about 30 years. Young aviarags can learn to work as pack beasts or aerial mounts, but they are intelligent and would far rather earn their keep, trading service for protection, shelter and meals, than work under a whip.