Today's Monster Monday is the caladrius, a pure white bird with the power to heal the sick. The caladrius makes an excellent Improved Familiar for a benevolent spellcaster, but it is also highly sought-after by the unscrupulous and the desperate. The caladrius does not just heal sickness - it takes another's sickness on itself. For this reason, the caladrius will not usually heal those with a fatal illness, for the caladrius itself would die.
The caladrius is first mentioned by the Roman author Plutarch, who said:
we know how often those who suffer from jaundice are healed by looking at the bird charadrius. This small animal seems to be endowed with such a nature and character, that it violently attracts to itself the disease, which slips out of the body of the sick man into its own, and draws off from his eyes as it were a stream of moisture. And this is the reason why the charadrius cannot endure to look at jaundiced persons nor help them at all, but turns itself away with closed eyes; not because it grudges the use of the remedy which is sought from it, as some consider, but because it might be wounded as by a blow.The magical bird remained a popular inclusion in medieval bestiaries, where it was used as a Christ analogue (medieval bestiaries tended to view any animal as a metaphor for either Satan or Jesus, except the bonnacon). According to the Aberdeen Bestiary:
The bird called caladrius, as Physiologus tells us, is white all over; it has no black parts. Its excrement cures cataract in the eyes. It is to be found in royal residences. If anyone is sick, he will learn from the caladrius if he is to live or die. If, therefore, a man's illness is fatal, the caladrius will turn its head away from the sick man as soon as it sees him, and everyone knows that the man is going to die. But if the man's sickness is one from which he will recover, the bird looks him in the face and takes the entire illness upon itself; it flies up into the air, towards the sun, burns off the sickness and scatters it, and the sick man is cured.Other bestiaries say that the caladrius' bone marrow, not its poop, cures blindness. I decided to go with that one.
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| Caladrius - Bestiary, Royal MS 12 C XIX; 1200-1210, via Wikimedia |
This pure white bird seems to exude serenity
Caladrius CR 1
XP 400
LG Tiny magical
beast
Init +3; Senses low-light vision, darkvision 60
ft., deathwatch; Perception +3
DEFENSE
AC 15, touch 15, flat-footed 12 (+3
Dex, +2 size)
hp 15 (2d10+4)
Fort +7, Ref +6, Will +3
OFFENSE
Speed 10 ft., fly 40 ft. (average)
Melee bite +7 (1d3-4)
Space 2-1/2 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 2nd)
constant – deathwatch
at will – detect evil, diagnose disease
(can only target creatures)
1/day – cure
light wounds
STATISTICS
Str 2, Dex 16, Con 15, Int 3, Wis 16, Cha 13
Base Atk +2; CMB -4; CMD 9
Feats Great Fortitude
Skills Fly +11 Heal +4
Languages none
SQ absorb sickness, restorative body
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Absorb Sickness (Su)
Once per
week, the caladrius can touch a single diseased or poisoned creature to
instantly cure it. The caladrius takes
the disease or poison into its own body and immediately begins to suffer its
effects, automatically failing its first save against it.
Restorative Body (Su)
Any creature
that eats an entire caladrius is affected as if by the spell hero’s feast. If the caladrius was under the effects of a
disease or poison at the time it was slain, the eater must make a successful
Fortitude save or be affected as well.
The marrow of the caladrius’ bones can be used as a poultice that cures
blindness in one creature with a successful DC 15 Heal check. Slaying a caladrius or knowingly eating of
its flesh or using its marrow is an evil act.
ECOLOGY
Environment any
Organization solitary
Treasure none
The
caladrius is a rare bird with pure white plumage, highly sought after for its
renowned curative abilities. It uses its
magical abilities to heal those close to death’s door and diagnose the diseases
of the sick. The bird naturally seeks to
aid good-hearted creatures by taking their afflictions into itself and
suffering in their stead. However, the
caladrius does not want to die, and will usually refuse to take on any diseases
that are likely to kill it. Legend says
it turns its head away from those destined to die of their disease. The desperate and the depraved seek to kill
the caladrius, knowing that eating its flesh cures most ailments and restores
health. This is likely the reason for
the caladrius’ rarity and natural wariness.
Characters of at
least 5th level with the Improved Familiar feat who are within one
step of Lawful Good can take a caladrius as a familiar.
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-your pure d20 despot
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