Rhoon

Description

Cross a giant dragonfly and a skycrane helicopter and you have a rhoon. Being bio-mechanical in nature, they are immune to poisons and become more talkative when drunk. They are carnivores with voracious appetites and hunt and kill dinosaurs (or your campaign equivalent) for food. Huge mouth and compound eyes forwards, six double-elbowed legs along the body, huge lift rotor (like a huge helicopter) on top of the body; small control rotor on the tail. Metallic skin.

Combat

The bite is a main attack, it's effect is like a sword of sharpness. All six claws can be used while airborne, only one while grounded. Young and older can carry and throw rocks as a heavy crossbow, ballista, and trebuchet for range for young, mature, and aged. This is done at altitude of 2 x range. It is also done at night, but only if the beasts have been deeply offended or enraged.

Ramming is the beast flying into the target. This is not done against weapons set to receive charge. Ram damage is from impact, a bite is attempted at the same time. Separate to-hit rolls required. If the bite misses, 2 claw attacks are attempted. If either hits, the target may be lifted into the air and dropped.

Rotor downblast is used to blind ground targets and mess up missile fire. This is dust and small debris kicked up by the fierce winds of the rotor. Rhoon will scare heards of grazing animals into stampeding towards annoying groups of experienced irritants. Threats to nests will get the whole clan involved in the defense and counter-attack. These may even set a fire and fan it towards the offenders. This driven fire attacks as a fire elemental.

Their hide, basically metallic/organic, is a defense comparable to the Tarrasque; though it is not a source for valuable material. Although the Rhoon are rather territorial, they are not suicidal except in the defense of their nest. They do not use their rotors as direct weapons. They do not cast spells or believe in magic.

Habitat

Rhoon are loosly clannish. They excel in wisdom and poetry, at least in their own opinion. We see them as ale-house philosophers, and their corney, doggerel poetry as worthless. It is, however, their main treasure. They have excellent hearing and idetic memories... although they will retell what they have witnessed in cheap poetry form. They have no interests in "groundlings" affairs, and recognize no national borders. They guard their own nests, their own hunting grounds and their own precious philosophy. If somehow confined indoors they will go mad, and die.

For a hefty bribe in horseflesh or cattle, and some cute trash poetry or limerick, they will occasionally transport humans across mountains or flatlands; they do not cross large bodies of water. They go around. They do not lie. They admit no masters or equals in the air, but avoid dragons and sky jellies. Djiini admire them. Their lifespan is about 40 years. They do not manufacture anything. They suffer a penalty to a singing charm effect as from a bard or siren as though they had a wisdom of 3. If they have then been cheated of their fair trade for transport or some such, they will be enraged when the charm wears off.

Ecology

The Rhoon see the world they guard as a living sculpture, and they the sculptor. The wind and the light of the sun is the worlds loving embrace to them. They are roving carnivores and kill and eat dinosaurs and large herd animals converting them to hot air and crack-pot philosophy and unscannable poems. They live mostly above flatlands and plains, nesting on the tops of buttes and volcanic spires. They lay eggs (2-5) every 5 years. These hatch in 3 months. They graduate an age bracket every 4 years, with 'aged' status for 4d12 years.