Sabu Lord

Sabu lords, also called lion lords, are intelligent giant lions standing 5 to 6 feet at the shoulder, far bigger and stronger than common lions. All have shining golden coats, and males carry flowing golden-red manes. Their roar carries for miles. They speak every feline tongue plus the common trade tongue of the desert lands.

A lion lord never fights alone: 2d6 ordinary lions, each at full maximum hit points, wait on it and fight to the death at its word. Its keen senses give +2 on surprise rolls, and it can leap 60 feet before raking with claws and bite.

Three times a day it can unleash a great roar, something like an enhanced shout, in a 60-foot cone. Everything inside takes 3d6 damage and is permanently deafened; a save vs. paralyzation halves the damage and limits deafness to 1d4 turns. Exposed crystal or brittle materials may shatter, though carried objects get a save vs. crushing blow. The deaf suffer a +1 penalty on surprise and initiative, and any spell needing speech has a 25% chance to go wrong.

The roar also calls every great cat within 15 miles. On open plains, 1d4 cheetahs and 2d6 lions arrive within a turn and the same number again 1d4+1 turns later; near forest edges, 1d2 jaguars, 1d2 leopards, and 1d4 wild tigers also come in 1d4+1 turns. All obey the lord to the death.

Proud and conceited, a sabu lord claims everything within 15 miles of its lair. Cats living there are its subjects; everyone else is a guest or a possible meal. Its attendant lions do the hunting, though the court sometimes hunts together for fun. No adult ever enters another lord's realm, so mating happens briefly at a shared border. The single cub grows up at its mother's court, then leaves to found its own realm. If two are met together, they are a mother and a cub of 1 to 7 Hit Dice.

Travelers who do not humbly beg leave to cross are trespassers. Merchants often leave gold, gems, and food as tribute, though a poor wanderer with a silver tongue may do as well. Even a big, heavily guarded caravan is fair game for an unappeased lord: its cats stalk the camp, roar all night to deny sleep, and strike in lightning raids to steal mounts. Small or weak groups get worse, and lone or poorly armed travelers are attacked again and again.

Superstitious folk believe sabu lords summon evil spirits, and after a night ringed by roaring lions, tigers, cheetahs, and jaguars beyond the campfire, few would argue. The pelt is said to ward off spirits, curses, and especially the evil eye; braided mane hair protects its owner for 60 days as if by avert evil eye in continual form.