Elananx

APPEARANCE

This strange feline resembles a broad-bodied bobcat, but its form ripples and billows with heat and its eyes glow from within. Wisps of smoke and flickering cinders whirl around its body.

Elananx CR 6

XP 2,400
NE Medium fey (extraplanar, fire)
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +14

DEFENSE

AC 19, touch 15, flat-footed 14 (+4 Dex, +1 dodge, +4 natural)
hp 75 (10d6+40)
Fort +9, Ref +11, Will +8
Defensive Abilities cinder dispersal; DR 10/cold iron; Immune fire
Weaknesses vulnerability to cold

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft.
Melee bite +11 (1d8+5 plus 1d6 fire), 2 claws +11 (1d4+5)
Special Attacks pounce

TACTICS

During Combat The elananx attacks alongside allies that have the Precise Strike feat. When a noticeably powerful foe attempts to attack it, it uses Cinder Dispersal.

Morale In the absence of allies with which it can benefit from Precise Strike, the elananx runs away if its drops below 10 hit points.

STATISTICS

Str 21, Dex 18, Con 18, Int 5, Wis 13, Cha 6
Base Atk +5; CMB +10; CMD 25 (29 vs. trip)
Feats Dodge, Great Fortitude, Precise Strike, Weapon Focus (bite), Weapon Focus (claw)
Skills Acrobatics +17, Perception +14, Survival +11 (+15 when tracking)
Languages Sylvan (can’t speak)

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Cinder Dispersal (Su)

Once per day as an immediate action, the elananx disperses into a cloud of smoke and cinders, filling a 20-foot emanation. While in this form, the elananx gains DR 10/magic and becomes immune to sneak attacks and critical hits. Anything within the cloud gains concealment, and any creature ending its turn in the cloud takes 2d6 points of fire damage. At the start of its next turn, the elananx returns to its normal form in any square the cloud covered. The target of its first attack in the same round it returns to its normal form is flat-footed and takes an additional 1d6 points of fire damage.

ABOUT

Elananxes are otherworldly predators native to the Fey Realms, though many have lived on the Material Plane for centuries. Their bodies ripple and billow with heat and their eyes glow from within as if they contain tiny, flickering flames, as the pungent scent of rotting leaves smoldering in a bonfire clings to their fur. They are no base animals, however, hunting their prey with cruel and savvy instincts, reveling in the pain they inflict. They prefer to dwell in regions where there is a ready supply of intelligent creatures to chase, hunt, and toy with before a killing blow, though they prefer hilly and wooded terrain for their stalking grounds.

Elananxes typically hunt alone, but sometimes these cunning and malicious hunters of the First World roam in packs called “billows” to take down large prey. Like many house cats, elananxes are not content to merely track and devour prey, but prefer to toy with their victims, drawing joy and excitement from the fear and pain of those they capture. To this end, elananxes rarely use their cinder dispersal ability to evade their targets, instead opting to foil their quarry just before the end of the hunt—though, as selfish creatures who wish to live to hunt again, elananxes often reserve one use of this ability, just in case.

Because of their clever and malicious ways, elananxes are favored as hunting companions by redcaps, who go out of their way to befriend or make deals with these creatures. Redcaps also find great sport in hunts where competing elananxes chase a single creature. Although they’re large enough to serve as mounts for redcaps, elananxes despise being ridden and resist such attempts—little is as sure to cause a supposedly friendly elananx to turn on its redcap ally than a foolhardy attempt to treat the fey cat as a horse!

Elananxes have a strange affinity to forest fires. Because they are immune to the damage caused by flickering flames, they enjoy capering and caterwauling through the smoky, burning ruins of forest infernos. Some have even been known to use their burning bites to deliberately light undergrowth on fire, simply so they might experience the beauty of the flames combined with the inevitable pain such disasters inflict on other creatures.

Elananxes have a strange affinity to forest fires. Because they are immune to the damage caused by flickering flames, they enjoy capering and caterwauling through the smoky, burning ruins of forest infernos. Some have even been known to use their burning bites to deliberately light undergrowth on fire, simply so they might experience the beauty of the flames combined with the inevitable pain such disasters inflict on other creatures.