Monster Monday: Brongya - Evil Yak Men of the Mountains

Today's Monster Monday is the brongya, a humanoid yak that binds elementals to its will and can possess the bodies of humanoids. Brongyai (the plural of brongya) live in hidden cities secreted away in high mountain valleys, where they rule over enslaved giants, bound genies, and servile elementals. Using magic and their ability to possess others, they lure unwary travelers into a false sense of security before capturing them for their own nefarious purposes. The brongyai believe themselves to be the predestined rulers of the world, and they delight in inflicting suffering and torment on those they see as 'slave races'. From their mountain strongholds, they secretly infiltrate and manipulate surrounding lands in centuries-long plots for conquest and domination.

Brongya, by Jonah Bomgaars

The brongya is obviously heavily inspired by the yak folk first introduced to D&D in the al-Qadim campaign setting. Yak folk made their way into D&D 3rd Edition's Monster Manual II, which was released shortly before the switch over to 3.5 Edition. When Wizard's of the Coast created the Open Game License, upon which all of Pathfinder was built, that oddball 3rd Edition Monster Manual II sadly did not make it into the OGL, so the yak folk presented therein are still 'private property', as it were.

Even though a race of humanoid yaks seems pretty silly, they quickly became one of my favorite villains, and two of my longest running campaigns featured significant yak folk encounters. The brongyai are my OGL-friendly take on these not-so-classic, mostly-forgotten monsters, made from scratch without direct reference to the stat block in MMII. It is presented here so that all might someday live in fear of these surprisingly sinister shaggy bovine beasties.

The name brongya comes from the tibetan 'brong (འབྲོང), meaning 'wild yak'. Its alternate name, qutazi, comes from the tatar word for yak - qutaz (кутаз). The sword the brongya is holding in the picture is a forward-curving Nepalese sword called a kora - actually, a ceremonial executioner's version of the traditional kora.

The following text in gold is available as Open Game Content under the OGL. Open Game Content is ©2018 Jonah Bomgaars.


This bipedal bovine has a regal bearing. It has long black fur, steel lamellar trimmed with colorful tassels, and numerous gold and silver ornaments on its person.

Brongya       CR 6

XP 2,400

CE Large monstrous humanoid

Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +12

DEFENSE

AC 20, touch 10, flat-footed 19 (+6 armor, +4 natural, +1 Dex, -1 size)

hp 68 (8d10+24)

Fort +7, Ref +7, Will +7

Defensive Abilities protection from elementals and genies

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft.

Melee mwk great falchion +12/+7 (2d8+6/18-20)

Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.

Ranged alchemist’s fire +8 touch (1d6 fire) 10ft.

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 6^th)

   At will – unseen servant

   1/day – body possession (DC 18), summon (level 5, 1 janni 25%, or 1 djinni 10%),

   summon monster IV (Medium air elemental only)

STATISTICS

Str 18, Dex 12, Con 16, Int 15, Wis 13, Cha 15

Base Atk +8; CMB +13; CMD 24

Feats Deceitful, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Vital Strike

Skills Bluff +15, Climb +12, Diplomacy +5, Disguise +4, Intimidate +13, Knowledge (planes) +5, Perception +12, Survival +10, Use Magic Device +14; Racial Modifiers +4 Bluff, +4 Use Magic Device

Languages Common, Auran, Giant

SQ high altitude adaptation

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Body Possession (Sp)

Once per day, a brongya can attempt to merge its body with that of a Medium or Large humanoid. This is a spell-like ability with a casting time of ten minutes. The brongya must maintain direct physical contact with the target for the duration of the casting. Upon completion of the casting, the target must make a DC 18 Will save. Failure means the brongya takes possession of the target’s body in a similar manner to the spell magic jar, except that the brongya’s body physically merges with the target’s. Whether or not the save is successful, the target is immune to all further body possession attempts made by the same brongya. Protection from evil and similar wards prevent body possession.

   While in possession of the target’s body, the brongya retains its own Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, level, class, base attack bonus, base save bonuses, alignment, and mental abilities, and uses the target’s Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, hit points, natural abilities, and automatic abilities. The brongya can leave the host body at any time as a full-round action. If the host body is slain, the brongya is ejected from the host body and must make a DC 20 Fortitude save or take damage equal to half the host’s total hit points; if this would reduce the brongya’s hit points to below 0, the brongya is instead dropped to 0 hp and is staggered.

   Unlike magic jar, body possession has no maximum range because the brongya’s body is physically merged with the host’s. This ability also has no maximum duration, lasting until the host is slain or the brongya relinquishes the body. This ability does not leave a magic aura and is not revealed by detect magic, but true seeing and similar divinations reveal the nature of the possession.

   This is a 5^th level necromantic spell-like ability. The save DC is Charisma-based and includes a +2 racial bonus.

Protection from Elementals and Genies (Su)

Brongyai are supernaturally protected against the attacks of elementals and genies. Any creatures with the elemental subtype or creatures described as genies (including the undead ghul) are unable to attack brongyai. Any brongya within the area of effect of harmful spells cast by such creatures are unaffected by the spell.

High Altitude Adaptation (Ex)

Brongyai are adapted to life at extremely high altitudes. They are not subject to altitude fatigue or altitude sickness, even at altitudes of 15,000 feet or more.

ECOLOGY

Environment any mountains

Organization solitary, pair, gang (3-5), band (6-12 plus 1 leader of 3^rd level plus 1-2 giant slaves), settlement (15-40 plus four elites of 3^rd level, two lieutenants of 5^th level, 1 leader of 7^th level, 35% noncombatants, 2d4 giant slaves, 4d6 janni slaves, and 1-2 noncombatant slaves per brongya)

Treasure standard (mwk great falchion, mwk lamellar armor, 3 alchemist’s fire flasks, other treasure)

The brongyai – also known as the qutazi or yak folk – are a race of humanoid yaks who dwell in high mountains and rugged valleys. They bear a passing resemblance to minotaurs, but where those are brutish and warlike, brongyai are composed and cunning. They take great pride in their appearance, grooming and combing their long black fur and ornamenting themselves with silver and gold jewelry and brightly patterned clothing. Their settlements, whether high mountain outposts or valley-hugging cities, seem at first to the weary traveler to be welcome islands of hospitality.  But the veneer of brongya civilization conceals untold cruelties. Brongyai are inveterate slavers, binding local humanoids, mountain giants, and wayward travelers to lives of servitude and endless toil. Their most notable slaves of the brongyai are the genies and elementals they summon and control as if they were mere playthings. The entire brongya race has been rendered immune to attacks by elementals and genie-kind, and they use their immunity to the fullest advantage. Most brongyai summon and bind air elementals, although some specialize in mastering other elements.

   The brongyai specialization in magic is not limited to their forays into elemental binding. Brongyai have mastered an evil ritual of possession magic that lets them inhabit the body of a helpless captive. They use this ability to infiltrate other humanoid societies, to hide their true forms from visiting travelers, or even to ‘wear’ their slaves into battle as a sort of living armor. The machinations of the brongyai run deep in many societies that touch even tangentially on their secret mountain holdfasts. 

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Plot Hooks and Encounter Ideas

• Lost in a blizzard, the party seeks shelter in a lonely monastery, but the monks there are all possessed by yak folk preparing for a ritual sacrifice.
• An ancient djinn vizier has been captured and bound by a ruthless brongya lord. If the party rescues his lamp from the brongya's mountaintop fortress, he will grant them a wish.
• All intelligence indicates that the little mountain hamlet of Nil-Qorum has been infiltrated by brongyai. No one in town is quite sure who is possessed, but they all have their pet theories. Can the PCs separate truth from rumor and discover the real brongya agents?
• A wizard hires the PCs as bodyguards as he goes to bargain for a rare elemental-binding censer from a brongya magus. Only at the threshold of the brongya's door does he reveal to the party that he is not a wizard, does not have the money to pay, and his true aim is to rescue his beloved from the brongya's slave pen.

-your fair use, original, non-copyright-violating d20 despot