Monster Monday: Glatisant, the Arthurian Questing Beast

Today's Monster Monday entry is the glatisant, a strange, chimæric beast of Arthurian legend.  Born of an incestuous union and symbolic of corrupting evil, slaying this beast is often the object of a knight errant's quest.

The following text in gold is available as Open Game Content under the OGL. Open Game Content is (C)2013 Jonah Bomgaars.

Glatisant       CR 7

XP 3,200

NE Large magical beast

Init +7; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +7

Aura Unnatural Aura (30 ft.)

DEFENSE

AC 20, touch 14, flat-footed 17 (+3 Dex, +6 natural, -1 size, +2 deflection vs. Good)

hp 85 (9d10+36)

Fort +10, Ref +9, Will +4; +2 vs Good

DR 5/magic or good; SR 18

Defensive Abilities Fast Healing 5

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft.

Melee bite +15 (1d8+7 plus poison), 2 claws +15 (1d6+7)

Space 10 ft. Reach 10 ft. (15 ft. with bite)

Special Attacks bark (DC 15), poison (Ex) (Bite—injury; save Fort DC 18, frequency 1/round for 6 rounds, effect 1d4 Cha, cure 2 consecutive saves) , pounce, rake (2 claws +15, 1d6+7)

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 6)

   Constant – Protection from Good (self only)

STATISTICS

Str 24, Dex 17, Con 19, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 12;

Base Atk +9; CMB +17 (+19 sunder); CMD 30

Feats Skill Focus (Stealth), Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Improved Sunder, Run

Skills Acrobatics +7 (+11 jumping), Climb +12, Perception +7, Stealth +12 (+16 in undergrowth); Racial Modifiers +4 Acrobatics when jumping, +4 on Stealth in undergrowth

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Bark (Ex)

As a free action, the glatisant can unleash a cacophonous bark.  All creatures within 30 ft. must make a DC 15 Will save or be shaken for 1d4+1 rounds.  This is a fear effect.  The save DC is Charisma based. 

Unnatural Aura (Su)

Animals do not willingly approach the creature and attempt to flee unless the animal's master makes a DC25 Handle Animal, Ride, or wild empathy check.

ECOLOGY

Environment any forest

Organization solitary

Treasure none

   The glatisant, or questing beast, is a rare creature with the body of a leopard, the claws of a lion, the legs of a rabbit, and the head and neck of a serpent.  It is known primarily as the object of a quest in many stories and legends about great paladins.  A glatisant makes a noise which sounds like a pack of hunting dogs issuing forth from its belly.  Its presence unnerves animals, and it is considered an abomination to nature and all that is good.  It presents formidable defenses against good creatures, making it a worthy quest for a knight errant.  Paladins attempt to slay glatisants on sight. 

   According to legend, the first glatisant was created when a young noblewoman desired her brother and slept with a devil in order to bed him.  The devil persuaded the girl to go to her father and claim her brother had forced himself on her.  The father believed her and had the brother put to death by his pack of hunting dogs.  Before he died, the brother cursed his sister, and the glatisant was the product of their incestuous union.  It tore its way out of her, making the same sound as the pack of hounds which had killed her brother.  The appearance of a glatisant is considered an omen of ill-favor for the lord of that land.  

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The glatisant is a pretty weird monster, but it has a lot of interesting quest hooks and it fits well in the fantasy setting.  The most obvious quest hook is the quest to slay the beast - this was, in fact, the family quest of King Pellinore of Arthurian legend.  The beast can also play an interesting role as an ill-omen and/or demonic punishment.  Imagine: a glatisant has been sighted in the woods by villagers near the king's castle.  Given the beast's legendary nature, rumors begin to swirl about the king and possible incestuous unions, egged on by bawdy bardic songs.  The king summons the party and tasks them with slaying the beast as quickly and quietly as possible.  In truth, the king is troubled because he has done something very wrong, as the party finds out when they discover a demonic pact signed by the king in the belly of the slain glatisant...  Or something along those lines.  It might also make an interesting monstrous mount for an antipaladin.  

The glatisant's... irregular origins and chimæric nature lend itself well to monster variations.  I have found many varying accounts of what sort of limbs and feet the glatisant is supposed to have (I chose ones that lend themselves well to fighting), and the creature's physical appearance varies even more widely when you do a google image search for it.  I have seen glatisants with deer hooves, dragon heads, spiny bodies, and all sorts of fun and dangerous mutations.  

-your Arthurian d20 despot