Cwn Annwn

Cwn annwn (pronounced coon-a-NOON), also called the hounds of the dark god, are giant supernatural hunting dogs about 5 feet tall at the shoulder and 7 feet long. Powerful, savage and swift, they have blue-black fur, razor teeth, cruel claws and burning eyes. A faint trace of fey glamour clings to them, so they seem even bigger and more savage than they really are, though they cannot control it (no bloodline or blood abilities; their glamour rating is slight).

Meetings with these hounds are nearly always violent. Their howling, an omen of death, carries up to two miles, so they seldom catch anyone unawares, yet they themselves can never be surprised. Anyone within 100 yards of a baying hound must save vs. paralyzation or stand frozen in terror for 1d4 rounds.

A pack encircles its quarry and opens with fiery breath from as far as 10 yards, each blast dealing 1d4+6 points of damage (half on a successful save vs. breath weapon). Then it closes to bite and claw. On a natural 20 a hound pins its victim and breathes on it, dealing bite and fire damage together.

Elves are always attacked first and are the only prey the hounds eat, but nonelves carrying elven scent are eventually attacked too. With an elf present, cwn annwn fight to the death; without one, they can move so stealthily that the party never knows exactly where they are. Fire does not harm them, and only magical or silver weapons can hit them. Bright sunlight or magical light troubles their eyes, and if foes using such light also confuse their sense of smell, the hounds suffer -2 on all attack rolls.

Packs roam the shadow realm hunting elves, one reason elves feel an inborn dread of that place. Once they catch an elf's scent they never give up, and even nonelves who spent time close to an elf within the last seven days can end up hunted.

Lately the hounds have crossed into the continent itself, mainly around an elven borderland beside the shadow veil. Its elves keep watch constantly, yet each year about half a dozen slip through and kill a few elves before being hunted down. No other sightings have been confirmed, but the hounds may have reached other regions. When not hunting alone, they may run with the Wild Hunt.

Cwn annwn eat elves and nothing else. Half-forgotten elven tales say that in the earliest days, when the continent and the shadow realm were one, these were the elves' own hunting dogs. The same power that split the two lands apart supposedly twisted the hounds into creatures of the night and turned them on their masters, and some believe the dark god himself planted their deep hatred. Scholars link them to hell hounds, yet unlike their likely cousins, cwn annwn can never be tamed.