Monstrous Menagerie: Three Arcane Avians (D&D 5e)
Monstrous Menagerie: Three Arcane Avians (D&D 5e)
Doom comes from above with this trio of monstrous magical birds! The three-eyed pale striganes (CR 5) is a psionically empowered owl that paralyzes prey with psychic blasts then scatters any companions with a burst of mental fear before sinking its claws into its victims flesh, devouring the thing's mind and draining any mental prowess to feed its young. Conversely there's the cacophony cockatoo (CR 1), a brightly colored, highly intelligent, and extremely mischievous tropical bird with a knack for disrupting spellcasters with its cries. Individually these creatures can neutralize spells, but larger flocks have been known to turn spells back on their casters, and they are clever enough to ally with tribes and creatures in their native lands in exchange for food and shiny trinkets. Finally there's the carrion crow (CR 3), a necromantically-gifted corvid with the ability to raise and control the dead, forming small hordes of zombies to defend their nests—yet they also learn to drag secrets from the decaying minds of their zombie guards, occasionally trading information with sinister folk for magical treasures.
Wonderfully designed by Joe Crow (yes the irony was not lost on anyone) and illustrated by Xanditz.