Gray Condor
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Climate/Terrain | Any |
| Frequency | Very rare |
| Organization | Solitary |
| Activity Cycle | Any |
| Diet | Carnivore |
| Intelligence | Exceptional (15-16) |
| Treasure | Nil |
| Alignment | Neutral Good |
| No. Appearing | 1-6 |
| Armor Class | 5 |
| Movement | 4"/26" (MC: D) |
| Hit Dice | 3 +1 |
| THAC0 | 17 |
| No. of Attacks | 3 |
| Damage/Attack | 1-4/1-4/1-6 |
| Special Attacks | +2 to hit and damage undead |
| Special Defenses | See below |
| Magic Resistance | Nil |
| Size | Large (14+ wingspan) |
| Morale | Elite (13-14) |
| XP Value | 280 |
Description
Most regard the vultures and condors with distaste, as they are ugly, smelly, and feed on the worst things. At best, most treat vultures as necessary evils, feeding on carrion and basically acting as nature's garbage man; at worst, they are hated and reviled, and hunted down as birds of evil.
Not so the Gray Condor, for it is a creature of good and of great benefit to mankind, appreciated by wise individuals. Condors and vultures are noted for feeding upon the dying but more often the dead, everything from fallen soldiers on the field of battle, to sick livestock, the remains of a lion's kill. While the Gray Condor does not bypass the opportunity to feed, it often seeks out more aggressive prey. Still dead from a natural point of view, but a danger to many; undead.
Gray Condors eat undead creatures as their preferred meal. Zombies, huecuva, mummies, ghouls, anything they can catch. Only skeletons and their like are disdained, as there is nothing to eat on them (as well as incorporeal creatures such as ghosts), but even the most putrid flesh on an undead creature is a tasty snack for these birds.
Powerful combatants, they have a strong talon and beak attack, and are +2 to hit and damage the undead. Further, they are immune to the rotting disease of mummies, level draining, and the parylization attacks of ghouls. Only the truly powerful undead, such as vampires, are able to foul these good aligned beings.
Having a strong nose for finding undeath, they are drawn to any area where necromantic spells are commonly cast or undead lair. The astute adventure, seeing one of this large, silvery gray feathered birds with white necks, will know that some form of undead can't be too far away.