Yrthak
Yrthaks are flying reptile-like predators that hunt barren wastelands for live prey. They can focus sonic waves into powerful destructive blasts.1
Appearance
A yrthak resembles a huge spiked pterosaur with vast leathery wings, measuring 20 feet from head to tail and weighing 1,500 pounds. Its horned snout is long and narrow with a brightly colored crest on its head. Its eyes are tiny and almost useless.1
Abilities
The yrthak's signature ability is its ability to emit powerful sonic blasts from its maw in the form of a lance of pure sound that can rend flesh and explode rock and stone. The creature is unable to see anything more than a few feet away but can sense sound and movement. Yrthaks are immune to sonic attacks.1
Habitat and society
Yrthaks hunt alone or in small clutches of up to six. They are more intelligent than mere [[animal]s and are capable of speaking Draconic, but have no apparent interest in forming societies. Yrthaks are exuberant hunters who cover wide areas in search of prey to wildly blast with sonic lances, and resort to scavenging only in times of extreme hunger.1
Yrthaks are sometimes eaten by death worms, which can leap dozens of feet into the air to grab flying prey.2
Scholars speculate that yrthaks might be related to the strange dragons known as kongamatos.3
On Golarion
Yrthaks have been encountered in the mountains of Katapesh,4 the Kortos Mounts on the Isle of Kortos,5 on Mount Rinia in Cheliax's Menador Mountains,6 and Nirmathas near Glimmerhold.7
On other worlds
Yrthaks are not restricted to Golarion, and can be also found on Triaxus.8
Variants
A fur-covered, black-and-white-striped subspecies known as the boreal yrthak inhabits the arctic wastes of the Crown of the World. It emanates a glowing blue and green aura of electricity that blurs its form and makes it difficult for prey to detect in flight, but also hinders its ability to hide on the ground.9
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 . “Monsters A to Z” in Bestiary 2, 290. Paizo Inc., 2010
- ↑ . “Death Worm” in Mystery Monsters Revisited, 18. Paizo Inc., 2012
- ↑ . “Bestiary” in Sanctum of the Serpent God, 89. Paizo Inc., 2011
- ↑ . “Land of Adventure” in Dark Markets, A Guide to Katapesh, 3. Paizo Inc., 2009
- ↑ . The Kortos Envoy, 16. Paizo Inc., 2011
- ↑ . “Adventures in Cheliax” in Cheliax, The Infernal Empire, 30. Paizo Inc., 2015
- ↑ . Clash of the Kingslayers, 9. Paizo Inc., 2009
- ↑ . “Bestiary” in The Frozen Stars, 83. Paizo Inc., 2013
- ↑ . “The Hungry Storm” in The Hungry Storm, 9. Paizo Inc., 2011