[The zeugalak is an example of a one-hit wonder, a monster that appeared only in Lords of Madness and never again. Which is a shame, because it’s hilarious and weird. Any monster that can be summarized as “carnivorous extreme sports elephant” is a-OK in my book. I feel like it should fight Ultraman.]
Zeugalak This
immense creature looks like a bizarre parody of an elephant. Three trunks
surround a gaping, lamprey-like maw. Its legs end in thick claws, and a long
tail with a scorpion-like stinger lashes around it. It moves with remarkable
agility for something so massive.
Zeugalaks are predatory creatures
native to the rugged slopes of warm mountains. There, they prey upon giants,
rocs and other creatures built to their scale, but they are as driven by the
desire for excitement and sport as they are for meat. A zeugalak spends its
idle time seeking out new and thrilling experiences. A favorite game is to
dance among the mountaintops during thunderstorms in order to be struck by
lightning and teleport high into the clouds. The bellows of delight a zeugalak
emits on its long descent to land is the source of their strange name.
Zeugalaks are typically solitary
creatures, coming together only to mate. Zeugalak mating rituals are quite the
spectacle, as each seeks to impress the other with its physical strength and
agility. If the zeugalaks are satisfied with each other, they mate—zeugalaks
are simultaneous hermaphrodites, and both parents will lay a single large,
leathery egg. Zeugalaks abandon their eggs after laying them, but take care to
lay the egg in a secluded area.
Although zeugalaks are dim-witted,
they are devastating opponents with their incredible reach and physical might.
Zeugalaks prefer to consume prey that is immobilized by their venomous stings,
and lash out at multiple opponents at once with claws, trunks and tail. The
electrical teleportation ability of a zeugalak can have devastating
consequences to an ignorant mage or archer, as a single electric spell or magic
arrow can suddenly transport the zeugalak to the back rank with the blink of an
eye.
Zeugalaks are highly respected by worshippers of Aenma, though the beasts do not profess any faith themselves. Legend posits them as a creation of Yennba, an attempt to combine his mountainous solidity and Aenma’s storminess, and this is exemplified by their bombastic mating rituals.
Shores of Swords 