Warm Mountain

These lizards are mostly docile and shy away from attacking creatures larger than a cat or dog. Despite their shyness, they are ultimately curious creatures, and often approach bigger creatures simply to investigate. Of course, a giant gecko is more than capable of defending itself, biting creatures that react violently to the lizard when fleeing is not an option. Some humanoids train giant geckos as bestial guardians. Smaller humanoids (in particular, goblins) can even use the creatures as mounts, taking advantage of their superior climbing skills to attack from seemingly impossible positions and angles. A giant gecko measures 8 feet from nose to tail and weighs 120 pounds. Coloration among giant geckos can vary wildly, though most are some shade of green.

Chuspikis are intelligent, mouselike creatures covered in a coat of downy tan fur which makes them appear much larger than they actually are. A chuspiki’s tail is substantially longer than the rest of its body, fanning out into a sail-like structure. The base of its tail is strong and flexible, allowing the chuspiki to whip around the fan at the tip with surprising speed. It can use this motion to create concussive blasts of air, or to scratch opponents with barbs on the underside of its tail bones.  Like the wind itself, chuspikis are always moving. Chuspikis soar through the air, riding their fans like gliders and summoning minor gusts to steer their flight. They rest in short bursts, napping for just an hour at a time.  Whenever they can, chuspikis seek out new experiences. They are social creatures that prefer to travel with others of their kind, or with members of other species. Chuspikis feel an especially strong connection with other creatures who share their bond with the skies, such as air elementals and sylphs. Chuspikis enjoy exploring unique locations, and when they find a particularly fascinating site, they announce their find on the winds to encourage others to share in their discovery. A mysterious disembodied voice promising glorious adventure may very well be a chuspiki; however, the playful creatures are just as likely to play pranks on hapless passersby as they are to provide legitimate guidance.  A typical chuspiki is 1 foot long, with its tail extending out an additional 5 feet, and weighs 1 pound. Its bones are hollow, like a bird’s.  A chuspiki will sometimes ally with a spellcaster as a familiar. A chaotic spellcaster can gain a chuspiki as a familiar at 7th level by taking the Improved Familiar feat.

The derhii, or flying ape, is a carnivorous and dangerous form of the gentler earthbound ape. Derhii resemble gorillas with the enormous black-and-gray wings of buzzards or vultures. They stand 9 feet tall and weigh 400 pounds. Derhii form relatively small groupings known as troops, which usually consist of a single adult male, several adult females, and their offspring. Occasionally, multiple males or females band together in single-gender troops with no young, but such groupings are usually formed for a specific purpose, such as hunting, raiding, or war, and break up when they have fulfilled that purpose. Multiple troops of derhii form large primitive tribes, usually under the rule of a single powerful chieftain. Derhii often roost in jungle canopies and in cliff dwellings, preferring nests woven in tall trees or cliffside caves high above ground level. From these roosts, derhii sometimes demand tribute from lesser apes, while allying themselves with even more powerful flying creatures, such as dragons or dragonnes. Occasionally, derhii can be found inhabiting crumbling and overgrown ruins hidden deep in the jungle. Derhii are carnivorous by nature and hunters by preference, attacking prey from high above with javelins thrown from their powerful arms before descending to finish things off with their blades, but when meat is scarce, they eat fruits and roots or whatever else they can forage.

Dwelling in crumbling ruins and lost cities, maftets are a race of winged feline humanoids. Accomplished hunters and stalkers, maftets are highly skilled in fighting with dual scimitars. A typical maftet is 7 feet tall and weighs 270 pounds. The fur on their leonine bodies ranges in coloration from a light buff to goldenrod or rust red. In some climates, maftets have the spotted lower bodies of leopards, and in rare circumstances they may possess white fur and pale skin or black fur and grayish-purple skin. Such individuals frequently rise to positions of power among their kind. At home in dry deserts and mountains, maftets prefer to lair in abandoned ruins, mysteriously drawn to such desolate places. They also make do with dens in cliffside caves or mountaintop eyries, but only if no suitable abandoned edifices can be found. When a young maftet comes of age, it receives its runic tattoos from a shaman, usually the eldest female in the pride. The art and magic of creating these tattoos has been passed down from mother to daughter for thousands of years, along with the race’s oral history and legends. Their origins now lost to history, these tattoos are always the same (with minor cosmetic variations between the sexes and between different prides) and always have the same effects. Under no circumstances are these tattoos ever given to non-maftets.

Magma oozes are living pools of molten rock. They roam the borders of the Plane of Earth and Plane of Fire, and on the Material Plane they sometimes arise spontaneously from strange magic, usually in the vicinity of volcanoes. Magma oozes avoid water, and if forced into enough of it, they become encased in a cooled stony shell, unharmed but immobilized, waiting indefinitely until the water retreats. A typical magma ooze grows to 10 feet across and is about 6 inches thick.

VARIANT MAGMA OOZES
Differing types of molten stone and the nature of the magic that created them can influence what types of magma ooze form.
Brimstone: Influenced by fiendish energy, brimstone magma oozes stink of evil, and the patterns of cooled stone and hot lava on their surfaces resemble tortured or demonic faces. They have the fiendish creature simple template.
Crystalline: Formed from rock densely laced with rare minerals, crystalline magma oozes have hot gases trapped within their bodies. Striking a crystalline magma ooze with a non-reach melee weapon causes this gas to erupt, dealing 1d6 points of fire damage to the attacking creature.
Poisonous: Whether from toxic metals or magical contamination, these oozes are deadly poison in addition to mobile burning death. A poisonous ooze is +1 CR.
Magma Ooze Poison: Slam—injury; save Fort DC 19; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d2 Con; cure 2 consecutive saves.

Magically crafted and crossbred from fire giants and stone giants by ancient wizards, slag giants are among the foremost artisans and crafters of giantkind. Proportioned more like stone giants than fire giants, slag giants have long limbs with lean muscles; they stand 14 feet tall and weigh 3,000 pounds. Slag giants’ skin color ranges from a deep and ruddy hue to a rusty orange. Their hair is black, gray, or white, though males and females both tend to keep their hair cropped close or shaved off. Slag giants can live to be 400 years old. Slag giants usually evince a cold, detached attitude about everything other than their work. Their inherent understanding of metalworking and resistance to fire allow them to craft arms and armor from inside their huge forges, sometimes working the metal with their bare hands. Small families of slag giants often ally with clans of other giants, providing masterwork armor and weapons in exchange for ore and the freedom to practice their crafting skills in peace. Even militaristic fire giants (who pride themselves on their strength and martial prowess) respect the fine work of the weaker slag giants, and usually attempt to ally with the artisans rather than enslaving them. Slag giant settlements usually consist of several stone homes (built from or surrounded by forge slag) with built-in forges and large, smoking chimneys. Most are in hills or mountains, but they can be found anywhere there is a ready supply of iron ore. Although they prefer creation to combat, slag giants are brutal and efficient fighters, capable of destroying an enemy’s weapons or armor in a few precise blows. They often let opponents retreat if it gives the giants the opportunity to collect any broken weapons and armor as salvage. If approached peacefully, they are willing to barter or sell their goods, though they usually don’t have human-sized items on hand. Trespassers who carelessly or wantonly destroy a slag giant’s work or foul its forge usually end up in the fire. Most settlements have several giant sized breastplates the residents can don if they expect a serious fight.

Garudas are noble, birdlike creatures that inhabit rugged hills. While they remain detached from humanoid societies, they are impetuous and gallant, often serving as protectors of nearby communities. Most garudas stand around 6 feet tall with a wingspan of 15 feet and weigh approximately 150 pounds.

The deviant and destructive cousins of primal magma dragons, lava drakes rise from smoldering volcanic crevasses to terrorize and devour those creatures weaker than themselves. While far less intelligent that their draconic kin, they are equally arrogant and seek out the adoration of humanoids. They can and often do submerge themselves in molten rock, burrowing through the lava to sneak up on prey, or to provide a dramatic display of power to those who worship them. Thick, black-crusted scales cover a lava drake’s body. Stockier than other drakes, adults can grow up to 18 feet in length and weigh over 3,000 pounds.

Creatures of the badlands and regions scarred by the gods, rift drakes are as savage and brutal as the lands they hunt. Their strength and savagery often make them seem like mere deadly beasts, but rift drakes simply delight in battle more than most drakes, frequently clashing even with other members of their own kind. They rarely deign to talk with other creatures, often doing so only as a cruel game in which they make more and more outrageous demands until their victims realize the drakes are toying with them or the manipulative drakes grow bored. A rift drake rarely stays on land for long, preferring to circle high above near ominous peaks or spires and roosting in the crevices of the same. When a rift drake spies prey from such heights, it breaks from its flight to dive onto victims, scattering groups and sowing terror with its sudden emergence. With particularly agile foes, a rift drake will use its breath to slow victims first, then pick them off one by one. Rift drakes enjoy the taste of blood, and focus their attacks on the fleshiest-looking creatures. A rift drake is around 14 feet long, end to end. Its burly, spiky body weighs about 2,500 pounds.

Rocs are terrifying, legendary birds renowned for their ability to carry off elephants and other big animals. A typical roc is 30 feet long from beak to tail, with an 80- foot wingspan and weight of up to 8,000 pounds. While their beaks are hooked like an eagle’s and designed for slashing and tearing, most rocs prefer to seize prey in their massive, clawed talons and drop them from great heights before feasting on the shattered remains. For this reason, they are often followed by flocks of scavengers like rooks, buzzards, and eagles hoping to steal portions of the roc’s messy meals. The roc generally ignores such opportunists, but if the scavengers don’t take care, they nevertheless may find themselves accidentally consumed by the feeding roc. Rocs are equally comfortable over land and sea. While they are capable of sleeping in the air as they soar solo across great ranges in search of food, they generally return home to the mountains to roost and procreate. They prefer rocky crags that are completely inaccessible by terrestrial means, building vast nests of tree trunks and ruined masonry. Once a decade, a mated pair lays a clutch of 3–5 eggs and raises its young. Outside of mating, rocs are extremely antisocial, and may attack others of their kind in vicious aerial battles in order to establish their territorial boundaries. When a nest contains eggs or chicks, parents trade off in their long-ranging flights, with one restricting its wanderings to within a 10-mile radius of the nest. Rocs are most commonly white but can be a number of different colors, from dark brown or gold to black or blood red. Their massive feathers are highly prized, and their eggs even more so. Due to their scarcity and the high risk involved in harvesting them, a single man-sized roc egg can net 4,000gp if transported to market undamaged. A roc can be trained as well as any other animal, but its great size makes this a daunting task for most would-be trainers of human size. The same isn’t true for giants—particularly cloud and storm giants, who often use trained rocs as guardians for their lairs. Rocs are even large enough to serve as mounts for the most prestigious of giants. Rocs taken as animal companions by druids or rangers are typically newly hatched birds—a baby roc is the size of a person and ready for flight and hunting within minutes of hatching. Unfortunately for druids seeking animal companions of legendary size, an animal companion roc is limited to Large size—still large enough for a Medium druid or ranger to use the flying beast as a mount.

Fire giants are the most rigid and militaristic of all the giant races. They constantly train for war and practice brutal tactics on anyone and everyone that gets in their way. Their rigid command structure is complete with soldiers, officers, and even generals, and they obey orders from their kings unquestioningly. Fire giants have bright orange hair that flickers and glows almost as if it were aflame. An adult male is 12 to 16 feet tall, has a chest that measures 9 feet around, and weighs about 7,000 pounds. Females are slightly shorter and lighter. Fire giants can live to be 350 years old. Fire giants wear sturdy cloth or leather garments colored red, orange, yellow, or black. Warriors wear helmets and half-plate armor of blackened steel and wield large greatswords that they use to cut swaths across the battlefield. In large groups, fire giants fight with brutal and efficient group tactics, and aren’t afraid to sacrifice one or two of their members to draw an enemy into an ambush. Fire giants prefer hot locations—the hotter, the better. They’ve been found in deserts, volcanoes, hot springs, and deep beneath the earth near lava vents. They live in castles, walled settlements, or large caverns, and the design of these locations reflects their rigid, militaristic lifestyle, with officers living in better quarters than the rank-and-file.

Rukhs are foul-tempered creatures related to rocs, except they resemble two-headed vultures instead of raptors. They hunt live prey and carrion, typically gliding high above the desert in search of things to eat. They avoid creatures of their size or larger, preferring easier prey—horses, camels, and humanoids for adult rukhs, or Medium and Small creatures for juveniles. They nest on mountains and in cliffside caves, as they are too large to roost in trees. Few young rukhs reach adulthood, as many tribes and caravans hunt them for meat, often using a lone, weak-looking scout to lure a hungry juvenile into striking distance for an ambush. A typical adult rukh stands nearly 35 feet tall and has a wingspan of more than 60 feet. Most are scrawny due to hunger. Coupled with their lightweight bones for easier flying, they rarely top 800 pounds. Juvenile rukhs usually stand about 10 feet tall, with a relatively small wingspan of nearly 18 feet, and weigh about 200 pounds.

Razormouths most often reside in mountainous areas or large canyons with steep cliffs. While most creatures would find such areas difficult to traverse, razormouths are especially mobile, being choice climbers that are able to leap from cliff faces to outcrops with singular alacrity. This exceptional mobility, along with a devastating pair of long, serrated fangs, make the fearsome razormouths unparalleled hunters, and few survive getting too close to their fangs.

Few creatures are more cruel and fearsome than the mighty red dragon. King of the chromatics, this terrible beast brings ruin and death to the lands that fall under its shadow.

Fire yai prefer to live in luxury—an orderly and well-built abode is essential. Even a lone fire yai prefers to build or inhabit a fortified stone dwelling in its territory, and surrounds itself with as many luxuries as it can acquire. Vain, greedy, and brutal, fire yai are the most impulsive of their kind—several tales tell of clever heroes taunting fire yai to act rashly. They rarely let challenges pass uncontested and react quickly to squelch any threat to their rule. While many fire yai seek out tribes of fire giants to infiltrate and rule, not all follow this compulsion. Capable of assuming the form of many types of humanoid, some fire yai seek to subtly invade and eventually rule entire nations of humanoids from within. A fire yai is 16 feet tall and weighs 7,000 pounds.

Saurians make their homes on the sides of tropical volcanoes or tropical mountains. Though they respect all life, saurians consider themselves the protectors of primordial creatures and defend them violently when the need arises.  Saurians stand 20 feet tall and weigh 8,000 pounds.

Deathsnatchers dwell amid the ruins of fallen civilizations, where they play at being godlings worshiped by undead slaves. Though self-aggrandizing, deathsnatchers are known to give homage to (and claim descent from) the various demon lords of darkness, the desert, and undeath.  A deathsnatcher is 6 feet tall and weighs 280 pounds.

Regarded as living legends, simurghs are held in high regard by desert dwellers. Those who live in the desert lands where these benevolent creatures sometimes reside consider it a lifetime’s worth of luck even to spot one soaring through the sky. Simurghs prefer to keep to themselves, well out of the way of lesser creatures and their often dubious morals, though they can be relied upon for aid when called by those in true need and with a pure heart. A simurgh can live for thousands of years, and frequent mentions of these giant avian beings throughout a region’s historical record are more often than not sightings of the same creature.

Most evil dragons spend their lifetimes coveting and amassing wealth, but when the end draws near, some come to realize that all the wealth in the world cannot forestall death. Faced with this truth, most dragons vent their frustration on the countryside, ravaging the world before their passing. Yet some seek a greater solution to the problem and decide instead to linger on, hoarding life as they once hoarded gold. These foul wyrms attract the attention of dark powers, and through the blackest of necromantic rituals are transformed into undead dragons known as raveners. Although its body quickly rots away, a ravener does not care for the needs of the flesh. It seeks only to consume life, be it from wild animals, would-be dragonslayers, or even other dragons. A ravener is often on the move, changing lairs frequently as its territories become devoid of life. The ravener presented here is built from a red dragon wyrm.

Agyra, the Forever Storm, is believed by many cultures to be the cause of seasonal typhoons or other great storms— such tempests being a manifestation of Agyra’s monstrous breaths as she exhales during her long slumber every season. While this kaiju is not in fact responsible for the world’s storms, her powers over wind and lightning are significant, and when she is vexed to rampage, the effects of her hurricanes can be as devastating to a region as her more direct attacks. Agyra has the appearance of a primeval, two-headed flying reptile with a wingspan of over 150 feet. Her tail is perhaps the most fearsome of her aspects. This lengthy and flailing appendage is covered with razor-sharp blades and wickedly barbed spines capable of slashing through buildings and tearing through armor with great force and from great distances. Agyra dwells on the upper slopes of a long-dormant volcano that sits on a remote tropical island beyond the main shipping lanes and the scope of most explorers’ travels. As with many kaiju, she spends the bulk of her time in deep and peaceful slumber. She is ferociously protective of the strange peoples who dwell on the shores of this island, and has been known to rouse herself to come to their defense against slavers, pirates, or other external threats to their way of life. Despite this strange protective streak, Agyra is not a kindly creature—and none know this more plainly than those who share her island. Her responses to intrusions to the island may simply be defenses of her perceived territories, for certainly the villages of the locals suffer significant damage during her local rampages. She’s been known to take wing to travel to distant cities as well, often as a result of some of her island’s inhabitants being taken from the shores as slaves. Yet the devastation she wreaks upon the slavers’ destination cities pays no regard to the safety of the slaves themselves—they are in as much danger as anyone else from the kaiju’s vengeful wrath in this situation. There are rumors that certain shamans on the isle conceal sacred words or some ancient ritual to waken and command Agyra, and that many of her rampages are not the result of the kaiju being territorial or protective, but simply due to an ancient bargain the natives’ ancestors forged with the mighty beast in some forgotten era. Some speculate that such rituals require the sacrifice of trespassers, but this may be nothing more than fearful superstition or rumors spread by shamans to persuade foreigners to stay clear of their island. Agyra has a particular hatred of the kaiju Mogaru, and often leaves her volcanic lair to fly west to the remote jungle lake that serves as Mogaru’s home to clash with her nemesis. Mogaru’s penchant for attacking coastal cities often results in a devastating escalation when Agyra arrives to do battle with the land-bound kaiju. Sometimes, methods of conjuring Agyra are used to deliberately lure the kaiju to a city besieged by Mogaru, but just as often her arrival seems to be driven by self-interest. Agyra typically manages to weaken Mogaru enough to drive him off, but is often slain herself in these battles, resurrecting and returning to her home at the same time Mogaru returns to his. The nature of this rivalry is unclear, but kaiju scholars believe that the two monsters have been enemies for longer than humanity has existed.

Lord Varklops is indisputably the most powerful of the known kaiju, a tremendously destructive force of devastation that dwells in the heart of an active volcano in a tropical mountain range when not hunting his favorite prey—other kaiju. Although the fact that Lord Varklops so eagerly hunts and slays kaiju might seem to make him an ally of all civilizations threatened by such creatures, in truth Varklops is also one of the few kaiju to be actively evil in his predations upon the world. When no other kaiju present themselves as victims and the urge to destroy seizes Varklops, the so-called Thrice-Headed Fiend thinks nothing of razing entire cities for his pleasure.  This eagerness to destroy appeals to apocalypse-minded cultists and to deranged exiles who seek revenge against the cities they were forced to flee. Varklops is known to look favorably upon those who approach him with requests for targeted devastation—particularly if the offer includes the opportunity to attack another kaiju. Varklops has little interest in assaulting civilizations in polar regions, but his greatest weakness is his inflated, if rudimentary, ego.  When facing multiple kaiju, Varklops often gets distracted and frustrated—a condition that several societies have risked using to their advantage by luring other kaiju to their defense. Of course, the devastation a city might suffer when three or more kaiju fight may well exceed that wrought by Varklops alone, so such desperate actions are not taken lightly. Varklops has a particularly strong hatred of King Mogaru, as this kaiju alone can resist Varklops’s rage. The reasons for this immunity are unknown, but certainly Mogaru matches Varklops’s hatred, and battles between the two kaiju are the stuff of legend.  Varklops is 200 feet long and weighs 16,000 tons.