Turul

Turul

(Creature)

Type

Outsider
(extraplanar)

CR

19

Environment

Any (Creation's Forge)

Alignment

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Source: Bestiary 5, pg(s). 256

Ⅰ

Turuls are a race of majestic birdlike outsiders from Creation's Forge.

Appearance

Resembling gigantic birdlike humanoids, turuls stand nearly 30 feet tall and have a wingspan of almost 50 feet. They weigh upwards of 15 tons.

Ecology

Turuls often watch over places with thin boundaries between the Universe and Creation's Forge, roosting amid crystalline trees or mountains of force. Some turuls view the Universe as grounds to hunt wild beasts, undead, and creatures that spread mayhem, while others work to shepherd societies toward mysterious goals. Most turuls view their charges as pets and only intervene in dire circumstances, though a few go as far as to ask for worship in exchange for boons.

Society

Turuls tend to be loners, and couplings between them last for a few decades at most. They have a curious relationship with the jyoti, another race of avian outsiders native to Creation's Forge. Some believe the two races to be different incarnations of the same genesis, with others going a step further to suggest turuls represent a higher form of reincarnation than jyoti. Neither turuls nor jyoti speak of the matter, and both hypotheses are just that.

Turuls are haughty but talkative and sometimes welcome visitors. As soon as they lose interest, they either dismiss themselves or the visitor. Turuls do not appreciate being ignored and insulted, and those persistent visitors who refuse to leave will be met with scorn or aggression.

Unlike the jyoti, turuls hold no hatred towards the divine, and are willing to work alongside non-evil outsiders to protect their hunting grounds and humanoid charges in the Universe.

A single turul might rarely dwell at the centre of a jyoti city, acting as protectors and advisors even though jyoti tend to ignore their presence, and adopt the jyoti's attitudes towards outsiders and deities. These arrangements and attitudes are temporary, lasting at most a century, and might be the result of a bargain wherein a turul agrees to become part of a jyoti community, living by their rules for a period in return for something the turul covets.

Phoenixes often treat turuls like royalty and willingly serve them, no matter the turul's desires. In turn, turuls tolerate the presence of phoenixes better than they do others.

In the Universe, turuls are best known in myths of many cultures as bringers of prophecies of light and peace, to the point that many mortal heroes venture to Creation's Forge to seek them out. Turuls have little patience for those who presume upon their occasional benevolence, and their prophecies typically come true via changes affected by themselves, or as inevitabilities predicted due to their foresight. Some very rare turuls claim to serve as messengers of the Logos; the truth of this claim is unverified.

External links

• Turul (real-world mythological creature) on Wikipedia