Earth Elemental Beast [Dark Sun]

This beast from the Elemental Plane of Earth is made of nothing but pure rock, minerals, clay and soil, with no trace of foreign or living matter. It walks on four legs, stands about 8 feet at the shoulder and looks roughly like a long-tailed reptile. Its mouth is enormous and full of jagged teeth of assorted stones and ores, a single row of spikes runs down its spine, and the spikes bunch together at the tail tip into a morningstar-like club. Its growl rumbles like a landslide.

It moves through earth and stone as fast and as easily as across the surface, and on the desert world it loves to burst up from below; a target notices the shifting ground in time to prepare only on a 1 in 6.

Its bite deals 3d6 (3-18). On a natural 20 against a foe no larger than medium size, the victim is caught in its jaws and must make a bend bars/lift gates roll each round to break loose, automatically taking 3d6 on each failure. A trapped victim can fight back only by passing a Dexterity check at -2. Its tail can also sweep in a full circle to hit anyone within 15 feet for 2d6 (2-12); unless that target saves vs. paralyzation, it is dazed and cannot attack for 1d6 rounds.

Against fortifications it hits like a small catapult: 8 points to hard stone, 11 to soft stone, 10 to earthworks, 17 to wood and 9 to thick wood. It can tunnel 20 feet through solid rock in a single round.

Nonmagical weapons cannot hurt it, but it has weaknesses. Lifted off the ground by levitation or flight, it panics and does anything to get back down. It cannot pass through water. Against flying or swimming foes it attacks at -2 and loses 1 point per die of damage, minimum 1 per die. Cast by a priest, earthquake deals 8d8 (8-64), but only if the priest is touching it when casting. Rock to mud halves its speed above and below ground and slows it so it can attack only every other round.

On its home plane the earth beast lives alone, using its razor teeth to grind up rock, stone, minerals and soil for food. Stranded on the desert world, it usually makes its lair among peaks or broken rocky wastes, though it may roam elsewhere. Treasure means nothing to it, but gems and precious metals are delicacies to it, and it can smell them out within 30 feet; on this metal-starved world, such treats are rare.

The evil earth genies called dao often capture and train these beasts and treat them cruelly, so many look for a way out. Such a beast may not mind at all being pulled away by a summons.