Shadow Griffon

Found only in the misty dread realm, a shadow griffon is rarely seen at all; those who do glimpse its outline against a full moon usually take it for a huge eagle or raven. It drops on prey without a sound under cover of night and carries it off to the nest.

Pairs hunt together. One glides in first, its eerie silence imposing -4 on surprise rolls, and either can lift a cow or large warhorse. If the strike misses and the prey is warned, that griffon keeps it busy while the mate tries a second surprise from behind. A well-fed pair then gives up; a hungry one fights with claws and bite, raking with the hind claws for 1d6 each if both foreclaws hit. Carrion-tainted wounds can carry an ugly but mundane disease (save vs. poison or lose 1 Constitution and 1 Charisma daily), curable with cure disease or the like.

Only +1 or better weapons hurt it. Outmatched, it breathes a sight-blocking cloud of shadowy mist 40 feet in radius and 15 feet tall, and once a day it can become a shadow, with all that creature's powers, for up to 3 turns. It is not undead and cannot be turned. Fire is its weakness: -2 on saves, plus 1 damage per die.

Mates pair young and stay together for life, the survivor seeking a new partner. A pair holds about 10 miles of ground against all other griffons, nearly always including a village, manor, town or busy road. Nests sit on cliffs and ledges, or failing that a treetop or roof.

They prefer human and humanoid meat but eat nearly anything, carrion included, sight and scent spotting a meal over a mile off and 120-foot infravision serving in pitch dark. They often hunt for sport and practice. Females lay 2 to 5 eggs every few years in a big twig-and-feather nest; chicks hatch in about a month and stay a year learning flight and hunting. They live about 20 years, a few to 40. Their own speech is shrieks and growls; they understand bird calls and Common but cannot speak it.