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| Climate/Terrain: | Subterranean |
|---|---|
| Frequency: | Rare |
| Organization: | Solitary, but see below |
| Activity Cycle: | Not applicable |
| Diet: | Special |
| Intelligence: | Highly (13-14) |
| Treasure: | Nil |
| Alignment: | Neutral good |
| No. Appearing: | 1 |
| Armor Class: | -8 |
| Movement: | Special |
| Hit Dice: | 15 |
| THAC0: | 5 |
| No. of Attacks: | Up to 4 |
| Damage/Attack: | 4-24 |
| Special Attacks: | Nil |
| Special Defenses: | Regeneration |
| Magic Resistance: | Special |
| Size: | H (15� tall) |
| Morale: | Steady (12) |
| XP Value: | 12,500 |
Razhaks do not care for combat, being essentially peaceful creatures. But if pressed, they strike with up to four pseudopods (formed from their bodies). These attacks can be directed at up to four separate targets; a razhak generally does not use multiple attacks against a single opponent, unless the opponent is extremely large and powerful or the razhak is extremely upset. (An upset razhak, by the way, is a rare sight that few remember happily.)
Defensively, razhaks are extremely difficult to harm. In addition to their high number of Hit Dice and exceptional Armor Class, razhaks can retreat through solid rock at a rate of 3 per turn, regaining 1d6 hit points each turn as they travel. Essentially, they leave their damaged flesh behind (as cracked and crumbled rock) and absorb new rock as they move. This is the razhaks� preferred method of movement; if there is no rock available to move through, razhaks can slide along open ground at a rate of 1 per turn.
Razhaks are not related to earth elementals, so they are not affected by rings of elemental control or stones of controlling earth elementals.
Habitat/Society: Razhaks are solitary creatures, but all razhaks in an area are linked by a limited telepathy. Each razhak is aware of the general state of each other razhak, and they can also communicate verbally (in their own special language). This is not a communal intelligence � a razhak could not, for example, see what a distant fellow sees. The distant razhak could, however, tell the first one all about it. This telepathy cannot be detected by standard magical means.
Razhaks feed on the mineral content of the surrounding rock to live. They do not breathe or sleep. If a razhak were somehow kept from contact with any other rock or dirt (magically levitated, say), it would feed on itself until it finally disappeared and died. This would take approximately 150 years � a razhak is nearly 12 tons of solid rock, and it needs very little sustenance to survive.
At first glance, it would seem that razhaks are somehow related to earth elementals. That is not the case. Earth elementals are magically-created beings, formed from rock, dirt, clay, mud, and other forms of earth. Razhaks, while they have some magical powers, are not inherently magical. They cannot be conjured or controlled like elementals, and they are made only of solid rock, not of any other earth materials.
Ecology: Razhaks have a natural life span of thousands of years; while interested in the lives of humans and other shorter-lived races, their perspective is one of taking the long view. This means they are not likely to get involved in human events, since it all happens so fast. If they could somehow be convinced to aid in a cause, they could be very useful, and not just for their formidable combat skills; their shapechanging abilities could be used to form walls, create shelters, surround enemies, or any number of other useful things.
Last Modified: September 04, 2009, 18:40:18 GMT
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