Azoul

In its own form, an azoul is a hairless, roughly humanoid creature with dark brown skin hanging in deep wrinkles and folds over its whole body, though heavy muscle can be seen sliding beneath when it moves. It has no arms, only powerful wings. Like a bat's, each wing is held up by an arm-like bone, but this one has four extra joints so the wing can curl any direction, and the wing membrane is itself muscle strong enough to clench or grab large objects. The azoul has no nose and no teeth, only two jaws like mandibles, since it absorbs nourishment through pores in its wings instead of chewing. Worst of all are its eyes: seven irises stacked around each glowing green pupil.

In its natural form the azoul batters foes with its wings and can wrap one around a victim to smother it. A wing can hold a creature as large as an ogre and still buffet with the same wing. The held victim cannot move and survives only as long as it can hold its breath. It is freed if the azoul dies or if someone deals 10 points of damage to the wing with a slashing weapon.

Every third round it can spit acid up to 10 feet, needing an attack roll; the jet deals 4d10, halved with a save vs. poison. If it grips one victim in both wings during the same round, the acid hits automatically with no save. It then keeps spitting until the victim is dead and soaks up the dissolved flesh through its wings, leaving only slimy bones. From then on it can take that creature's shape. It can hold the forms of its last five victims killed this way, any Small, Man-sized or Large animal, and it changes between them instantly.

In a stolen humanoid or animal shape, its great strength adds +7 to damage, but its hit points, THAC0, Armor Class and number of attacks stay the same. It speaks the language of every creature whose form it has taken.

Its eyes give it seven kinds of sight, only one at a time: normal human vision, 30-foot infravision, and sight working as detect magic, detect invisibility, know alignment or detect undead, plus a sight immune to illusions.

Nobody knows where azouls come from, but most sages assume magic created them, like dopplegangers. They have no society, and two that meet usually fight.

An azoul's impersonation is physically perfect, but it cannot read minds and acts badly. After stealing a person's shape it usually travels far away so no one recognizes it. When it does try to pose as a particular person, it often first becomes that person's pet or mount to learn about them.

Its favorite game is playing the heroic stranger. It stages a danger, rescues its chosen victim, and offers friendship, then pushes to meet the victim's family and friends and win them over too. Once its circle is wide enough, it finds a cause to champion, such as destroying a great evil, toppling a corrupt government or waging war, and uses it to lead everyone into a hopeless situation, where it abandons them. Betraying people who trust it is its greatest pleasure.

Only the normal and infravision irises can pass for another creature's eyes. Switching sight visibly shifts the irises in an unnatural way that ruins the disguise, so it hides those switches carefully, but when surprised or blinded it may do so by reflex.

Azouls live anywhere crowds of people gather and eat any animal. Each must consume at least one Man-sized creature per week, so no form stays in its collection for more than a month.