Gorak

A gorak is a 3-foot reptile of about 150 pounds, with skin anywhere from reddish brown to pale sand. A vivid, fan-shaped fin runs along its back and spreads to shed heat under the brutal sun; a duller frill rings its head. Its short legs end in small feet armed with claws up to 3 inches long, and its eyes look a bit too big for its small head. It hisses loudly when agitated.

Goraks would rather avoid trouble, but they punish anyone careless or hostile. Threatened, a gorak spreads both fins to look bigger. It attacks with two claws for 1-3 damage each and a bite for 2-8. Its surprising speed explains its good Armor Class.

The whole herd fights with a single purpose, swirling around a target and stabbing in and pulling back like a cloud of angry bees. Up to eight can attack a human-sized foe at once, and each target must save vs. paralyzation or be hypnotized for 1d4 rounds by the whirling colors of their fins. Throughout, the alpha bull hangs back as if commanding the fight.

Goraks live both wild and in domestic herds, which can reach 50 animals; wild herds seldom exceed 20 because food is scarce in the desert world. The alpha male is no different from other bulls except in size, reaching 4 feet and 300 pounds. Challenges for leadership, frequent in the wild and rarer among tame herds, are vicious fights to the death, usually won by the alpha unless he is sick or weak.

Wild herds wander ranges of up to 100 square miles with no fixed home, traveling by day and flipping stones and digging in sand for the insects they live on. Their noses keep a small herd well fed, but when food runs short the alpha kills off other males. Outsiders are never accepted; a herd attacks and kills a strange gorak on sight.

Nearly every predator in the desert hunts goraks, and meat-eating intelligent races prize them for flesh, bright hides and keen noses. Handlers train them as trackers, using their scent and their hypnotic display, so gorak eggs are valuable both as food and as future tracking beasts.