Monster Monday: Zitiron, Mer-Knight in Shining Scales

Today's Monster Monday is the zitiron, a merfolk-like creature with a body covered in bony armor plates that gleam like steel. Zitiron are knightly sea creatures, who train by jousting with each other under water or at the ocean's surface - much to the delight and amazement of passing ships. Zitiron knightly orders are often called upon to fight in wars between merfolk kingdoms, or enrolled by port cities and merchant concerns to defend stretches of sea from rampaging sea monsters.

One of many zitirons depicted in the awesome Bosch painting, The Garden of Earthly Delights (c.1490-1510).

A black-scaled zitiron dueling a woodwose on a battle-gull. From the Hastings Book of Hours (1480).

As A Book of Creatures points out, the fanciful, knightly depictions of zitirons likely derive from descriptions of sea turtles. A common medieval artistic trope is that everything in the surface world has its counterpart in the sea. On many medieval maps and manuscript illustrations, you will see sea cows, sea horses, sea goats, sea cats, and other aquatic versions of surface animals. Early modern fishermen reported encounters with sea monks and sea bishops. Dolphins and porpoises were even sometimes called mereswine - sea pigs. In this context, is it any wonder that late medieval Flemish artists reinterpreted stories of sea turtles - altered through oral transmission as if by a game of telephone - into sea knights?

c. 1350 illustration of a zitiron accompanying Jacob van Maerlant's poem "Der Naturen Bloeme", via Wikimedia

The following text in gold is available as Open Game Content under the OGL. Open Game Content is ©2017 Jonah Bomgaars.

This knightly merfolk-like humanoid is covered with thick, gleaming scales in the shape of plate armor

Zitiron             CR 4

XP 1,200

LN Medium monstrous humanoid (aquatic)

Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +7

DEFENSE

AC 21, touch 11 (14 vs rays), flat-footed 20 (+9 natural, +1 Dex, +1 shield)

hp 42 (5d10+15)

Fort +6, Ref +5, Will +3

Defensive Abilities shining armor

OFFENSE

Speed 5 ft., swim 50 ft.

Melee masterwork lance +9 (1d8+3/x3)

STATISTICS

Str 16, Dex 13, Con 17, Int 10, Wis 9, Cha 12

Base Atk +5; CMB +8; CMD 19

Feats Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Power Attack

Skills Intimidate +9, Knowledge (nobility) +8, Perception +7, Swim +19

Languages Aquan, Common

SQ lancer

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Shining Armor (Ex)

The zitiron’s natural armor gleams with highly reflective scales, granting the zitiron a +3 bonus to its touch AC against magical ray attacks.

Lancer (Ex)

A zitiron deals double damage with a lance attack made as part of a charge. When making a charge attack, the zitiron can move and attack as if with a standard charge, and then move again (continuing the straight line of the charge), as long as the total movement does not exceed double the zitiron’s speed. Movement in the way does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

ECOLOGY

Environment temperate ocean

Organization solitary, pair, patrol (3-6), order (6-18 plus one captain of 4^th level)

Treasure npc gear (masterwork lance, darkwood light shield, other treasure)

Zitirons look like merfolk wearing a gleaming suit of full plate. That armor is actually a natural growth of the zitiron’s body: thick scales that are as light and strong as steel, bearing a superficial resemblance to a terrestrial knight’s suit of plate. Zitirons are related to merfolk, and tend to live near but outside of merfolk society. They form themselves into knightly orders devoted to upholding certain ideals and fighting with honor. They hone their skills by holding jousting tournaments where opposing orders compete underwater and at the water’s surface.  Merfolk often call upon zitiron knightly orders to wage war and defend their underwater kingdoms from terrible threats. 

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-your zeeridder d20 despot