Manggus

Few ever see a manggus as it truly is, since it nearly always wears a borrowed shape. Its real form is ogre-sized, with skin hanging in loose, wrinkled folds and bloodshot eyes that weep blood. Four long fangs jut from its mouth, two curving up nearly to the eyes and two hanging well below the chin.

In its own body it bites and swings a weapon, most often a huge maul dealing 2-12 +4 for its strength. It opens with savage fury and keeps pressing while things go well, but if outclassed, outnumbered or simply unlucky it flees at the first chance. Cornered, it tries to surrender, and only when that fails does it fight on with everything it has.

Usually, though, it fights in another shape. Up to four times a day it can transform, as the shapechange spell, into any creature it knows: humans, animals, giants, nagas and similar beasts of its region, but nothing very rare, unique or foreign. Each manggus keeps favorite forms, perhaps a stone giant to brawl, an invisible stalker to go unseen, or a swift asperii to travel, and it chooses cleverly.

It can also cause disease by touch three times a day and has ESP (60 feet), cause fear and comprehend languages available at will. Only +1 or better weapons harm it, and it is immune to charm, hold, cold and cold-based spells. Fire is its weakness: magical flame striking it while shapechanged forces it back to true form, and in that form it saves against fire attacks at -1.

A manggus lives alone or with a lifelong mate to whom it is deeply devoted. It avoids others of its kind, fearing both rivals and the exposure a crowd of monsters would bring.

Humans are its preferred meal, and aware that its prey is more numerous and finally stronger than it, it relies on trickery. Its favorite scheme is to take human form and rule a village or town, then use its shapes to frighten the folk into paying offerings and sacrifices. Failing that, it hunts lone travelers and remote farms. When things get risky, it simply moves to a new town and starts over.

It is purely a predator of humans. If prey grows too scarce or too well guarded, it relocates. Despite its flawless human disguise, it shuns big cities, where discovery is too likely.