Tingual

Medium Magical Beast

Hit Dice: 5d10+5 (27 hp),dying/dead –2/–13 Initiative: +2 Speed: 30 feet AC: 17 (+2 Dexterity,+5 natural),touch 12,flat-footed 15 Base Attack/Grapple: +5/+7 Attack: Bite +7 melee (1d6+2) Full Attack: Bite +7 melee (1d6+2) and 4 claws +5 melee (1d4+1) Space/Reach: 5 feet/5 feet (Face/Reach:5 feet by 5 feet/5 feet) Special Attacks: Heat drain Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 feet,low-light vision, fire suppression Saves: Fort +5,Ref+6,Will +2 Abilities: Str 15,Dex 14,Con 13,Int 5,Wis 12,Cha 9 Skills: Listen +5,Sneak +8 Feats: Light Sleeper,Multiattack*,Skill Focus (Listen)

Environment: Any warm Organization: Pack (4–9) Challenge Rating: 4 Treasure: Standard Advancement: 6–10 HD (Medium);11–15 HD (Large) Level Adjustment: —

*Denotes a feat from the MM.

Sparkling blue eyes.

Those are the first words that come to mind ofmost people who’ve encountered a tingual.The next words are often “cold,very cold.”

The tingual is a shaggy mammal with six legs.Its head is broad and its eyes are large,as are its long,pointed ears.It dwells in hot regions,often in the same area as creatures of the fire subtype—hellhounds,red dragons,and the like. However,such creatures hate the tingual,for the tingual eats heat.

The creature can draw any amount ofheat within 30 feet ofit into its body immediately—this is an unconscious and reflexive action that the tingual does not control.Thus,creatures that come close to the tingual notice a severe drop in temperature,both in the air around them and within their own bodies.(The air around a tingual is about 40 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit at all times.) Fire ofany kind,even that generated by magic,is immediately extinguished within this radius.Torches go out.Fire spells fizzle.A witch’s fire shield winks out.Further,the tingual can focus its ability to drain heat on a single target each round,just by looking at it.

Tinguals measure 4 feet long and 3 feet high.They run in packs,like wolves,always with a strong,dominant leader.While they can feed on any heat source,only temperatures over 90 degrees Fahrenheit can really sustain a tingual,and temperatures of100 degrees Fahrenheit or more are best.Thus,living creatures usually provide some ofthe easiest “meals.” During the high summer months, however,the tingual need not hunt at all—it is sustained by the ambient high daytime temperatures.Likewise,a pack oftinguals lucky enough to find the vent ofan active volcano or hot spring can feed easily for days.(Ofcourse, even these geothermal heat sources won’t last forever when drained at a tingual’s insatiable rate.Alternatively,such an area might sustain only a few tinguals at a time.) In any case,ifthe tinguals have a nonliving source ofheat,people will find them quite docile.

Tinguals were created by the dramojh to combat fireusing creatures.Most such creatures attack tinguals on sight,and the tinguals love to fight them,as they provide such high temperatures to feed upon.Some people use tinguals as guardians—bribing them with fire (mages might bribe them with conjured fire elementals).A human mage blade named Kerreckis lives in the southern Elder Mountains within an active volcano.His trained tinguals draw the heat from the surrounding magma to cool it, allowing him to dwell safely within a fortress surrounded by molten rock.By getting the tinguals to move,he can slowly change the shape ofhis molten manse,expanding or contracting its area,creating entrances or sealing it up tight with hardened magma.

Combat

Tinguals drain heat,upon which they subsist;with enough heat,they have no need to kill prey and eat meat.However, since most creatures do not want their heat drained,the tingual has adopted keen combat instincts as well.It can support itselfon two legs long enough to make four claw attacks against foes in melee.A tingual initiates combat by draining heat,resorting to melee only ifthe victim chooses to do so first.

Fire Suppression (Su): Fire within 30 feet ofthe tingual ceases to exist.Natural fires go out,and magical fire is suppressed.For example,a fiery sorcerous blast detonating next to a tingual has no effect,while one centered on a point at the edge ofits effect only spreads out in areas not within the tingual’s suppression.A fiery energy blade spell ceases to exist while a tingual is nearby,but it flares back to life again when it leaves.This effectively makes the tingual and anyone within 30 feet ofit immune to fire and heat damage. Even lava cools and hardens in this area,although ifthe tingual leaves and conditions are right,the stone becomes molten once again.A fire elemental in a tingual’s range

must make a Fortitude saving throw (DC 13) or be snuffed out (destroyed) instantly.Even those who make successful saves suffer 10d6 points ofdamage.Likewise,any creature with the fire subtype within the area ofthe tingual’s suppression suffers 4d6 points ofdamage (Fortitude save, DC 13,reduces the damage by half).The save DC is Constitution based.

Heat Drain(Su): Once per round as a standard action,a tingual can drain the heat from one target it can see within 30 feet.The victim must make a Fortitude save (DC 13) or suffer 3d6 points ofcold damage.The save DC is Constitution based.

Tingual Encounter (EL 8)

A terrible forest fire rages in the woods outside a large town.The people ofthe town cannot stop the spread of the fire—their only course ofaction is to flee,letting the town be engulfed.However,a learned local greenbond has an idea.He offers the PCs a great reward ifthey will travel into the nearby hills and capture at least four tinguals.The group must bring the creatures back alive and let them loose in the forest,where their innate powers will extinguish the flames.The tinguals feed on the fire, so it is to their benefit as well,but ofcourse they will not understand that fact when the characters arrive at their lair to haul them away.

Smart PCs will know what the tinguals can do going in and won’t waste fire spells or similar useless magic in an encounter with them (in fact,they probably won’t even ready them at all).

The tinguals fight tenaciously to keep themselves from capture,but ifthe player characters succeed and take them to the fire, they greedily “attack” the blaze and consume it. The town is saved.Now there are four tinguals in the area,though,and travelers into the woods are not safe.The PCs are faced with a decision:Leave the situation as it is, kill the tinguals,or capture them again and take them back up to the remote hills where they lived before.The first two choices are the simplest,but neither is particularly ethical.

The town rewards the characters in any event,but respects them far more ifthey actually finish the job.