Prodigal Sun
species_ash_devourer, ash devourer, large lizard, three eyes, large yellow central eye, clear colorless side eyes, crocodile-like jaws, white and gray scales, fiery red and orange streaks, crystalline teeth
asH devouReR Description: These great crocodile-like lizards live in the long gullies of sand that exist in the deep deserts of the South. Their ambient temperature is extremely high: They scorch grass if they touch it and are painfully hot against bare human skin. Their scales are white and gray but streaked with fiery patterns of red and orange. They have three eyes, one on each side of their head and one large one at the center; the two side eyes are colorless as crystal, as though blind, but the central eye is bright yellow. The devourers are six feet high at the shoulders, with heads and bodies to scale, and their mouths are full of crystalline teeth. If they are killed, then their teeth turn to dust in their mouths, but if the teeth can somehow be harvested while they are still alive, they prove to be star topazes. Ash devourers de- test the taste of human flesh, as the blood in it is far too liquid for their taste. They gladly devour gems, crystal and glass, making no distinction on grounds of quality, and will accept such things as offerings or tribute. Their usual food, however, is ashes: They smite wood and vegetation with their tails, causing it to burst into flame, and, then, gulp it down still burning or charred to cinders. The creatures usually confine their depredations to scrubs, cacti and deserted buildings in the deep desert, which causes hardship to tribes and nomads in the vicinity but is of no great concern to the city-dwellers. The ash devourers do not approach too closely to the water at the center of oases, as they have a natural abhorrence for the element. For most of the year, ash devourers are moderately peace- able creatures that prefer to live in small family groups and discuss the tastes of different types of ash and gossip about particularly exotic flavors of ash that they have enjoyed in the past. The creatures are usually on good terms with their local spirit court and will often carry out missions of the seek-and-recover type for it, in return for payment in gems and crystals. However, at periods of the year when the Maiden of Journeys is in the ascendant, they are driven to seek out great quantities of ash to eat. During these periods (which can be predicted by a good astrologer who knows the pattern), the ash devourers range far afield from their usual haunts and will go so far as to kindle the buildings in small villages in order to assuage their hunger for ashes. The creatures retain enough sense to avoid large towns and cities, however, and will flee large bodies of armed men. Ash devourers all speak the low tongue of the Realm, and some of the older ones who have had commerce for a long time with spirit courts know Old Realm. The creatures can live for centuries, though their skins bleach as they grow older, and the very oldest are pure white, with the flame colors on their skin faded to mere indications of their former glory. The ash devourers have their own legends about the Solar Exalted, who they remember as the Beloved of the Eternal Sun, and naturally show the greatest re- spect to any Solar Exalted whom they meet. This does not actually extend to fighting for them or supporting them in a confrontation, how- ever, unless they are courted with gifts of ash or gems or cowed by a show of force. When they fight, the ash devourers do so with blows from their great tails (which set fire to anything flammable that they touch), bites and the outright trampling of anyone unfor- tunate enough to be prone on the ground. If salt water is poured upon their central eye, it causes them great pain, and they are at a -2 to all dice for the next five turns due to the distraction. Attributes: Strength 10, Dexterity 4, Stamina 8, Charisma 2, Manipulation 1, Appearance 2, Perception 4, Intelligence 5, Wits 3 Virtues: Compassion 2, Conviction 3, Temperance 4, Valor 3 Abilities: Athletics 3, Awareness 3, Brawl 5, Dodge 3, Endurance 5, Lore 3, Melee 3, Occult 2, Presence 4 (In- timidation +2), Resistance 4, Socialize 4, Stealth 3 Base Initiative: 6 Attack: Bite: Speed 6 Attack 6 Damage 12L Defense 6 Tail: Speed 5 Attack 6 Damage 7L Defense 6 Trample: Speed 4 Attack 5 Damage 8L Defense 5 Dodge Pool: 4 Soak: 6L/8B (Scaly hide, 5L/5B) Willpower: 6 Health Levels: -0/-0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-2/ -2/-4/Incap Essence: 1 Other Notes: Anything flammable that the ash devourers strike with their tails will catch fire.
