Sphinx

Sphinx

The Sphinx is a surprisingly intelligent, solitary creature that prefers to live in dry rocky areas such as mountains, canyons, and deserts. They are most common in Wisteria and Heliopolis, though they have been known to stray into the western most edge of Celestina on rare occasions.

Medium Magical Beast

Element:

Fatigue: d+ ()

Speed: squares

Physical Base Bonus: +

Mental Base Bonus: +

Attack: Melee + ()

Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.

Special Attacks:

Defenses: Fort , Ref , Will , Wit

Physical Threshold: , Social Threshold:

Abilities: Str 10 (+0), Dex 10 (+0), Con 10 (+0), Int 10 (+0), Wis 10 (+0), Cha 10 (+0)

Skills:

Racial Features:

Feats:

Talents:

Maneuvers:

Languages:

Environment:

Organization: Solitary

Challenge Rating:

Level Adjustment:

Reward:

Appearance

Somewhere between a pony and a griffin in terms of size, a sphinx is described as having the body of a lion, the wings of an eagle, and a primate-like face. Sphinx gender can be easily differenciated by their faces, as males have a thick curly mane and a short beard while females have long straight hair.

The sphinx's most remarkable feature, however, is their sophisticated vocal cords which can mimic the sounds of many different animals, including the languages of sentient races.

Behavior

Sphinxes hunt by mimicing the sounds of another creature in distress and luring their prey into a secluded area. Once the potential "rescuer" is alone, the sphinx will pounce from its hiding spot and use their suprisingly dexterous paws to strangle their victim, preventing them from warning others of the sphinx's presence. Once the prey has been killed, the sphinx will drag the carcass back to their dens and store it for later consumption.

As mentioned earlier, sphinxes have a surprising dangerous capacity to learn the languages of sentient races and they will use this skill to their advantage. There have been well recorded instances of sphinxes using the voice of a specific victim to try and lure rescue teams (searching for the very same missing pony) to the same fate. In potential sphinx habitat, it is advised that you never do anything alone and that you should carry a defensive weapon with you at all times if you plan on answering any calls for help.

Trivia

• The Heliotians have managed to breed and domesticate three wingless subspecies of the "True Sphinx" for use as guard animals: the Hieracosphinx (with the body of a lion and the head of a falcon), the Criosphinx (with the body of a lion and the head of a ram), and the Androsphinx (which has the furless ape face of a true Sphinx, the body of a lion, and no wings). These creatures are often trained to guard the entrances of their most important temples and palaces by reciting a cryptic riddle that only individuals with the proper authority will be given the answer to.