Kraggen the Peryton

A haughty peryton who believes he’s destined for greatness. He’ll stop at nothing to ensure that Salty Maude succeeds with her ritual. Unlike other perytons, Kraggen can talk, due to Maude’s nefarious magic.

Appearance. Perytons have the heads of stags with sharp wolves’ teeth, and the bodies, wings and talons of birds of prey. They stand roughly 5-feet-tall and 7-feet-long. Males have light blue chest feathers and females are brown. Kraggen is a brute, standing nearly a foot taller than others of his kind.

Habits. Carnivorous and thoroughly evil, Perytons feast on the hearts of their prey, which are preferably humanoids. Female perytons must eat a freshly-slain humanoid heart before they can reproduce.

Shadows. Perytons cast human shadows. When a peryton feeds on a heart, its shadow changes briefly to show its true bestial form. However, when Kraggen consumes a heart, his shadow remains that of a man, fueling Salty Maude’s belief in his destiny.

Mythology. Several myths surround the mystery of the peryton’s shadow. One of these is that the first perytons were in fact humans, magically transformed through some curse or experiment. Maude is convinced that Kraggen is one of the first of the perytons.

Ritual. Using an old ritual, Maude plans to transfer Kraggen’s monstrous nature over to a fledgling peryton. If she succeeds, Kraggen will shed his bestial features and emerge, reborn, as a man. At the same time, the young peryton will lose its human shadow and be left only with its true shadow. Maude has prophesized that she and Kraggen will become a powerful force for evil in the world. To ease their scheming, she’s magically grafted a human tongue into Kraggen’s throat, allowing him to speak Common.

Stats

Medium monstrosity, chaotic evil

Armor Class 13 (natural armor)

Hit Points 20

Speed 20 ft., fly 60 ft.

• STR 16 (+3)
• DEX 12 (+1)
• CON 13 (+1)
• INT 9 (−1)
• WIS 12 (+1)
• CHA 10 (+0)

Skills Perception +5

Senses passive Perception 15

Languages understands Common and Elvish but can’t speak

Challenge 2 (450 XP)

Dive Attack. If the peryton is flying and dives at least 30 feet straight toward a target and then hits it with a melee weapon attack, the attack deals an extra 9 (2d8) damage to the target.

Flyby. The peryton doesn’t provoke an opportunity attack when it flies out of an enemy’s reach.

Keen Sight and Smell. The peryton has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight or smell.

Actions

Multiattack. The peryton makes one gore attack and one talon attack.

Gore. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) piercing damage.

Talons. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (2d4 + 3) piercing damage.

Roleplaying Kraggen

Kraggen is narcissistic, overconfident, and utterly evil. He preens and poses and believes he is king of the perytons, soon to be king of mankind. He basks in Maude’s adoration of the man that his shadow portrays. This proud beast is easily insulted, and any hint of belittlement towards him throws him into a frothy-mouthed fury.

Due to one of Maude’s rituals, Kraggen has a human tongue and can speak Common. His voice is guttural and grating, and he coughs frequently when talking; a side-effect of the procedure.

“You should feel honored to be killed by me! I will enjoy feasting on your still-beating heart.”