GM: I want to
spend a wish to get a new
Arabian-inspired monster for my campaign.
Like a roc but worse. But my
budget’s tight—maybe just…a better
roc?Efreet Malik: How
do you feel about vultures? Like a roc
but more vulture-y?GM: I like where
you’re going with this. Can I get it
with two heads?Efreet Malik:
Definitely. That’s gonna drive your
Perception checks through the roof.GM: Really? Sweet!
Efreet Malik:
Plus your standard boost to Hit Dice, damage, etc. for going up a CR. And a swallow whole attack comes standard with
the upgrade.GM: What about
animal companion stats?Efreet Malik: No
good. Multiple heads would be too much
of an advantage in the hands of PCs. And
do you even know how much vultures
puke? Now imagine double that. But I can stat up a juvenile option for you.GM: Okay, write
her up; I’ll take her!Efreet Malik:
There is the matter of price. You said
your budget was tight, and your debts are already quite substantial.GM: Hey, I’m good
for it! And we said no souls!Efreet Malik:
Please, I’m not a devil. But there is
the matter of that Arabian Nights Magic: The Gathering booster pack you just
won on eBay… Since you had room in your “tight”
budget for that, I’ve already taken the liberty of changing your shipping
address to the City of Brass.GM: Noooooooo!
Hey guys! It’s the double-headed rukh! (Where was this Arabian monster yesterday when I needed it?)
A garuda has fallen
from grace, driven mad by the loss of his family to medusas. He blames the local Vashites for doing too
little to drive out the serpentkin from their cities, and he attacks their
caravans and any soldiers or tax agents he finds. His only companions are two rukhs, and in
battle he augments them with spells so that they are terrifyingly quick and
resistant to arrows.Known to sailors as
Jan and Shan, a rukh lairs near the cliffs off Agony Beach. Its specialty is driving ships toward the
charybdis that lurks there, then feasting on the unfortunates who risk the
water when the aberration begins to tear into their vessels. Jan and Shan have also recently mated, and
any swallowed adventures may be vomited up to meet their juvenile fledglings.Used to the
disorganized and feral gnolls of the North, adventurers are unprepared for
a devastating attack by Southern rageborn marauders and a flind pack (see the Monster Codex). The good news: The adventurers aren’t killed.
The bad news: They are staked spread-eagle
out in the desert to lure a rukh away from her nest so that the pack can claim
her eggs.—Pathfinder Bestiary 4
228Efreet Malik:
Hey, I got a rare card!GM: You’re at
least going to give my monster a badass new name, right? Like “hypervulture” or “kaijubeak”? Not like that ifrit guy you sent me.Efreet Malik:
Wow, this is awkward…
Rukhs inhabit the northern desert of Koll, being one of the few creatures large enough to tackle desert giants. Juveniles will rarely venture to the coasts, where they are the bane of fishing folk; they think nothing of attacking a full boat and swallowing up the fisher as an appetizer.
Shores of Swords 