Foulwing

Foulwings are hideous, probably from some other plane. A squat, tailless body shaped like a toad's hangs between black leathery wings, topped by a head that is faintly horse-like. Writhing horn-shaped skin growths cover the black hide, their size and placement differing from one beast to the next, as does the shape of the head. Three jaws full of needle teeth ring a snout with one nostril. The eyes are red, faceted and glowing, with infravision to 90 feet. Foulwings talk to each other in harsh creaks that convey who they are, simple feelings, urges and alarms.

These savage, destructive creatures kill for pleasure. They like to fight on the wing or drop from the sky, battering foes with their wing-claws and using their weight and heavy wings to knock prey down and hold it. In battle a foulwing twists its head to bring all three jaws to bear, and its stinging, ammonia-laced breath irritates eyes and nose, giving foes -1 on attack rolls during the round of contact and the round after.

Escaping a pin without help requires Strength 16 or better, with one Strength check allowed per round. A pinned or helpless victim is bitten open and slowly drained through one of the foulwing's hollow tube tongues, losing 1d4+1 points of blood per round; tearing free costs another 2 points of damage every time.

Trained foulwings can dive on running or mounted targets, slamming into them for 2d4 and trying to pin them (a Dexterity check avoids it), and can smash carts, fences and flimsy buildings the same way. When such a strike risks impaling the beast on a braced spear, beam or other point, it makes a Dexterity check. On a success it takes half damage from a weapon someone deliberately braced or wielded, or 1d4 from wreckage; on a failure it takes full weapon damage or 3d4 from wreckage.

Evil humans and drow raiding the surface by night often tame these lazy, mildly empathic hunters as mounts. Carrying a rider it moves at MV 11 (E) in the air; within 1d3 rounds its wingbeat steadies enough for riders to shoot and cast spells without penalty. It can carry two Medium riders or up to four Small ones in a pinch, but then spellcasting is impossible, every weapon use costs both riders -3 to hit and a Dexterity check to stay seated, and the overloaded beast slows to MV 9 (E).

Some foulwings hunt alone. Others gather in flocks of up to four, whether families or unrelated individuals drawn together for courtship or to bring down dangerous prey. The biggest dominates the flock, and the group cooperates to scatter, cripple and drive its quarry.

Foulwings are greedy hunters but will settle for carrion, or even leaves, when nothing better offers, and they sometimes keep live captives as a larder. They loathe griffons and asperii and attack either on sight. Females give birth to 1d3 live young in nests among rocky mountain wilds. Newborns have 1 Hit Die and only bite attacks, 1d2 per jaw, but grow to full size quickly, after which the parents leave them and each other.

Their meat is heavy, greasy and awful-tasting, which earned the creature its name; it rots fast after death and is useless for armor or magic. The blood and saliva, however, make a mildly caustic polish that leaves metal brightly gleaming for a long time.