Murdakus

A grown murdakus tops 90 feet: a vaguely dragonlike bulk on six legs, with bat wings, triple spine rows down its back, and a gripping tail ending in a scythe stinger. Its horned head has two eyes per side and two separate jaws of razor teeth.

Its five attacks per round can target different foes: two bites for 3d10 each, two claws for 2d6 each while rearing on its rear four legs, and a tail slash reaching 45 feet for 2d12, which severs a random limb on a natural 20.

Beyond melee its only weapon is its breath, once per turn: a narrow heat beam from each jaw, aimed in different directions within a 90-degree arc. Each beam is 120 feet long and 5 feet wide and deals 12d6+24 to everything in its path, but a size L or smaller creature can be struck by only one beam. It uses this reluctantly, since it cannot regenerate for the next turn.

Drawing heat from its surroundings, it regenerates 1d4 hit points per round amid swirls of flame and light, and anyone touching it then needs a save vs. breath weapon to avoid 1d4 heat damage. It cannot regenerate acid or negative energy damage. To kill it for good, bring it below 0 hit points in the turn after it breathes. Below 1 hit point it frenzies, doubling its attacks for 1 round, then loses another 3d8 hit points and collapses.

Mind-affecting attacks fail against it, poisons other than instantly lethal ones do half damage, and heals 1 point per point of fire damage. Natural cold barely troubles it, but magical cold deals normal damage.

One murdakus can strip 2 square miles of life in under a day, but its metabolism is wasteful: after 1d3 days of activity it must rest 2d4 weeks, and until it does it suffers +4 to AC, -4 to THAC0 and half movement. Intense fire, such as dragon breath or a fireball, renews it for 1d3 days.

During a recent great war, a cruel demigod's inner circle bred a hybrid horror to crush their foes. The first, lesser version soon fell into a fatal coma, so they gave it the power to feed on heat. The improved murdakus quickly shook off magical control, savaged the demigod's own armies, and withdrew into the northern wilds. Furious, the demigod had everyone who knew the secret killed and their notes destroyed. None have been made since, and none are known to breed.