ECOLOGY

Environment temperate deserts and hills
Organization solitary
Treasure standard

Slow-witted but possessed of a dangerous temper, massive red reavers are violent forces of nature. With weights of almost 4,500 pounds, they often leave sizable depressions in the ground when they crash to earth upon their disproportionately small wings. While red reavers do not seek out creatures to battle and are rarely aggressive at first, these simple creatures’ territorial natures and tendency to misinterpret threats make approaching one an exceedingly dangerous proposition.

Ecology

Red reavers are omnivorous. They spend days at a time hunting along rivers and secluded shorelines for fish and larger creatures that come to the water to drink. While red reavers often seek out caves in foul weather, most of the time these brutes merely collapse where they stand when overcome by slumber.

Simple in both heart and mind, red reavers are often transfixed by the natural beauty of random curiosities. On occasion, red reavers have been spotted standing as still as statues watching multi-colored sunsets. Others might be beguiled for hours when they spy their own reflection in a clear pool of water. Tales are told of red reavers drawn to traveling bards, the reaver listening to the minstrel’s music with fascination but then unintentionally tearing the hapless performer to shreds after the exhausted bard at last puts down his instrument.

Habitat & Society

Red reavers prefer to live among mountain ranges, particularly those with an abundance of rivers and streams or near the sea. The massive brawlers are almost always solitary, save for a brief frenetic mating season every 6 years. Following its live birth, a reaver infant grows swiftly and leaves home within months, eager to claim its own territory.

Red reavers do not get along with gray renders. A chance passing between the two invariably results in an immediate brawl. Each brute clamps its jaws on the other’s neck and the pair rolls around on the ground as each tears away at its opponent’s flesh, completely oblivious to its surrounding environment. Although these battles are often long and vicious, they are rarely fought to the death.

Bonded Site

Like their gray render cousins, red reavers possesses the curious habit of bonding, although red reavers typically become the stalwart guardians of places or particular things. Red reavers imprint themselves with a unique natural structure, such as unusual outcroppings of rocks, pristine waterfalls, or even elaborately grown, solitary trees. In more unusual cases, though, the brutes might find a discarded piece of art, a statue in a ruined temple, or even an ornate monument or road post to fixate on.

Upon finding a location or beautiful work, a reaver usually stays in close proximity to the site. A red reaver guards its bonded site from a distance, content to simply check in from time to time and stare in wonderment. When its favored site is approached by other creatures, though, a red reaver rushes in to guard its charge, roaring at the first whiff of danger.

If a red reaver’s bonded site is ever moved or destroyed, the brawler flies into a vengeful rage, wrecking whatever it comes across and slaying everyone it believes responsible—typically the first living creatures it encounters after finding its charge damaged. After its spat of mournful revenge is complete, the reaver collapses and blubbers for days on end. It takes 1d4 days before a red reaver who has lost its bonded site spontaneously brightens and wanders off to find a new locale to adopt.