Grell-Ba-Tross

 

Illustration by Noble Hardesty

Grell-Ba-Tross: Init +2; Atk Tentacle +2 melee (1d2 plus venom) or beak +0 melee (1d8) or screech; AC 14; HD 3d8; MV fly 30’; Act 7d20; SP Blindsense 120’, venom (1d3 temporary Agility damage, Fort DC 5 negates), screech (30’ radius, DC 8 Will or lose next action), tentacle vulnerability, afraid of cats; SV Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +3; AL C.

These smaller cousins of the grell lurk under wharves and in seaside sewers, scavenging fish guts and rats to sustain themselves unless some unlucky sailor, vagrant, or sewer-jack should encounter them. Ship’s cats and the strays which are found around the same places are singularly immune to the grell-ba-tross’s hunger; indeed, although the monster makes nocturnal forays along the docks and in the shallows, it is never seen in the presence of a cat. Some old sea dogs claim that the sudden appearance of a cat has saved them from a grisly fate. According to these ancient mariners, grell-ba-tross will even be so bold as to come aboard harbored ships on moonless nights, but flee from the sight of even a peg-legged cat, even though an easy meal was otherwise in their slimy grasp.  

The grell-ba-tross looks much like its cousin, the grell, but it is only three feet in diameter, with a large beak resembling that of an albatross, and only six tentacles long and strong enough to attack. Its tentacles exude a mild paralytic venom that causes 1d3 points of temporary Agility damage unless a DC 5 Fort save succeeds. This damage heals at the rate of 1 point per minute, starting 1 turn after it first affects a victim. Each tentacle has 3 hp; these do not count against the creature’s normal hit points, and a severed tentacle regenerates in 1d3 days. Blunt weapons cannot be used to sever tentacles.

A grell-ba-tross which forgoes a beak attack can also shriek – a powerful sonic and psionic attack which forces all creatures within a 30’ radius to make a DC 12 Fort save or lose their next action. Creatures with multiple action dice lose only their largest action die, and may still act using any additional action dice.

The venom sacs in a grell-ba-tross’s tentacles can yield 1d3 usable doses of venom with a successful Handle Poison check, and each of the six large tentacles (severed or not) can be milked of this numbing agent. This thin venom can be used as a contact poison, but if there is a way to further distill or strengthen it, it has yet to be discovered.

The true value in grell-ba-tross is in the meat of its tentacles, which is variable in flavor and can sometimes yield a high price from epicures and wealthy trenchermen. Untested grell-ba-tross tentacles can be sold for 1d6 sp each, but the potential value is higher if the seller samples a portion themselves. Even then, a buyer will wish to ascertain the flavor of a given tentacle before purchase.

1 in 20 grell-ba-tross have poisonous tentacles (1d6 damage plus DC 16 Fort or additional 2d8 damage and an additional DC 16 Fort or death). For non-poisonous tentacles, roll 1d6 and consult below:

1. You are what you eat, and this grell-ba-tross had a steady diet of garbage. Worthless.

2. Rather rubbery and gamey, but there is a lot of meat here. Worth 2d4 cp per tentacle.

3. What flavor is it? It’s bloody albatross flavored! Worth 3d10 cp per tentacle.

4. Tastes a bit like chicken. Worth 1d6 sp per tentacle.

5. Fine grainy texture and the taste of well-aged marinated beef. Worth 1d6 gp per tentacle.

6. Ambrosia steeped in nectar! These magnificent tentacles are worth 3d20 gp each!

Note that all of any specific grell-ba-tross’s tentacles have the same flavor. And, yes, grilling up poisonous grell-ba-tross tentacles to feed to regents, enemies, and overbearing supervisors has been known to occur!