Kaldravi the Black Courser

Kaldravi's current body is that of an enormous, supernatural black horse. His hooves are split like a goat's, which lets him scramble up the rocky slopes of the high eastern mountains with ease. He can haul or carry as much as two ordinary draft horses together and leaves even the swiftest riding horse far behind.

The Courser is no brawler, but he fights stubbornly to stay free. He kicks out with his forehooves and saves his breath weapon for when he is cornered: once per day he can exhale a fireball for 5d6 damage, halved by a save vs. breath weapon. Every other round he can take to the air and fly up to 800 yards, after which he must rest for a round. Only magic or +1 or better weapons can hurt him.

His story began when Saffravi, traveling with a prince of a vanished empire in his quest for enlightenment, gave birth to a litter of cubs. One cub gained an animal soul as she had, and began its own cycle of rebirths. Kesh Morvayan, the raja of a southern mountain kingdom, learned what the stallion truly was, seized him, and used him as leverage to force Saffravi to fight for him in his first war against a neighboring mountain realm. In that war the holy ruler of that realm took the horse, never guessing what he was. For the past 50 years he has been held by one ruler or the other, though he longs to roam the high meadows and tundra of the mountains.

He eats grass, grain and hay like any horse, but moonlight powers his strength, speed and magic. Each night he goes without enough of it, he weakens in proportion to what he missed: 30% less exposure means 30% less movement, damage, flying ability and so on. On a night with no moon at all he sinks into total inactivity, though he knows when such nights are coming and prepares when he can. Back in full moonlight, he regains his strength in 1d6 rounds.