Elephant Bird

An elephant bird stands about as tall as a man, clad in green feathers, with a hooked yellow beak that looks cruel even at rest. A strange pouch of a gullet hangs below its throat. Males usually sport a bold red stripe running from each eye back to the tail, while females are a plain dull green. Jungle veterans know their harsh, grating squawk at once.

Alone or in small groups the birds are harmless and would rather fly off than fight. Everything changes when the flock's leader calls a hunting flight. The birds rise together into a vast green cloud, and anything that has met them before runs for cover. With numbers on their side they are savage, and stories tell of elephants worn down and killed by their relentless massed assaults.

Each bird carries up to three stones in its thick gullet. One round of effort superheats a stone within its body, and the bird drops it on a target for 1d10 points of damage, followed by another 1-4 points from the lingering heat on the next round. Birds that grab fresh rocks during a battle can rearm, but none can hold more than three at once.

Without stones, they strike with beak and talons and try to bear their victims to the ground, each trio of attackers adding +1 to the flock's attack rolls. Against a prone foe their beak attacks gain +4, their claws hit automatically for 1d4 each, and the beak tears for 1d6 per round. If they cannot knock a foe down, they settle on him and beat their wings in his face; this causes no damage, but the flurry of feathers imposes a -3 penalty on his attack rolls.

Elephant birds haunt clearings in hot, wet, leafy jungles and the thinning tree line along jungle edges, where the open ground lets them spot and strike at prey quickly. They usually move in pairs or threes but never stray far from the main flock. Nests sit high in the trees, giving a clear view of any approaching threat. Many jungle beasts crave their eggs but dare raid the nests only while the flock is out hunting, and even then a few birds may have stayed behind.

They eat almost anything, preferring fresh kills, then carrion, and in lean times berries, worms, insects or grain. Their cooperation puts them near the top of the food chain, and few predators bother them. Their real enemies are humans and humanoids, who hunt them at every chance because the birds threaten both people and crops. As a result, the flocks generally keep clear of human lands, entering farms and villages only when food runs short or the targets look unusually easy.