Roc

Rocs are gigantic birds of prey found in some warm, fertile regions. Their wings can span 150 to 300 feet or more, and a roc can snatch up a small elephant and fly off to eat it. They have cruel hooked beaks and gripping talons. In a fight it carries off prey as big as an elephant on a d20 roll of 18-20.

Like hawks and falcons they hunt alone. Each needs a hunting range of no less than 150 square miles of good land, and they claim and defend territories against rivals. Only in the mating season will a roc tolerate another of its kind without a fight to the death. Chiron the Wise recorded colonists who had not known of the Roc of the Eastern Mountains until its shadow blotted out the sun above their herds; it swooped and carried off the biggest bull while the cattle stampeded and the herders threw themselves to the ground in terror.

Few in number and very slow to mature, rocs are becoming rarer, and they are seldom met outside wild country far from human lands. When one is killed near a settlement, people celebrate with a great feast, since roc meat is a prized delicacy and a single bird can feed a whole village or small town. In some regions a roc egg sells for as much as 1,000 gold pieces, though only a quarter of those taken from the nest ever hatch.