Bearded thawn

The largest species of the reptilian thawn, the bearded thawn are also the only of their kind enormous enough to pose a true hazard to man. The size of a small ghoul-bear, these beasts are so-named for the underside of their throat which darkens when they are stressed or aggressive.

Requiring great amounts of heat to maintain their large body’s temperature, the bearded thawn are normally found basking by day in desert wastes, where their pebbled hides may be mistaken for a portion of the landscape, and retreating into burrowed caves to lair by night, the gleam of their golden eyes the only aspect to pierce the darkness. Woe be to the unwary traveler who strays across such a beast, for they may be held fast by its gaze and devoured whole. As ectotherms, bearded thawn incur double damage from coldbased attacks, while damage sustained from fire is reduced by -1d per damage die.

The golden eyes of the beast are the size of platters and gaze deep into the mind of its victims. As an action, a thawn may lock its gaze with any target capable of seeing its eyes. The victim must make a DC 15 Will save else be held in rapt motionlessness as the bearded thawn closes in for the kill. Breaking the creature’s gaze for a full round (merely waving a hand once or twice before the victim’s eyes accomplishes nothing) will sever the paralytic bonds and free the target.

The bearded thawn’s massive jaws are large enough to swallow most victims whole. Upon a successful bite attack against an opponent man-sized or smaller, the target must

make a Reflex save vs. a DC of the attack roll else be swallowed and rendered utterly helpless. Targets within the belly of the giant reptile suffer 1d5+1 damage per round as internal musculature slowly crushes the life from them. A trapped creature can try to cut its way out with a small weapon (such as a dagger) by inflicting 10 points of damage against AC 14. A bearded thawn with a full belly will seek to disengage from any combat, preferring to bask and digest its meal over the course of several days.

Like their smaller cousins, bearded thawn hunt using special sensory organs within their extremities which enable them to detect vibrations in the surrounding sands. This sense has become so evolutionarily heightened that they are able to differentiate between naturally occurring vibrations caused by movement vs. those originating with wind, rockfall, and the like. Due to this ability, invisibility and other forms of obfuscations (both magical and mundane) have no impact on the ability of the bearded thawn to find its target. Even when a target is standing perfectly still, the thawn may still detect the vibrations caused by the beating of its prey’s heart with a DC 20 Will save.