Shasalqu

A ridge of jagged ice runs down the back of this glistening, goat-sized lizard.

Shasalqu (CR 3)

Small Magical Beast
Alignment: Neutral
Initiative: +6
Senses: Darkvision 60 feet, Low-Light Vision; Perception +6
Aura: trapping cold (10 feet, DC 13)

Speed: 30 feet
Space: 5 feet

Defense

Armor Class: 15, touch 13, flat-footed 13 (+2 Dex, +2 natural, +1 size)
Hit Points: 30 (4d10+8)
Saving Throws: Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +2
heat absorption
Immunity: fire
Energy Resistance: cold 10

Offense

Melee: tail slap +6 (1d6+1 plus 1d6 cold)
Reach: 5 feet

Statistics

Str	Dex	Con	Int	Wis	Cha
13 (+1)	15 (+2)	14 (+2)	2 (-4)	13 (+1)	12 (+1)

Base Attack Bonus: +4
CMB +4
CMD 16 (20 vs. Trip)

Feats: Improved Initiative, Step Up

Skills: Climb +5, Perception +6, Stealth +10

Languages:

Special Qualities: frigid flesh

Special Abilities

Frigid Flesh (Ex)

A creature that successfully hits a shasalqu with a natural attack or an unarmed strike takes 1d6 points of cold damage.

Heat Absorption (Ex)

Fire deals no damage to a shasalqu. Instead, the shasalqu absorbs the fire and gains 1 temporary hit point for every 3 points of fire damage it would have taken. These temporary hit points disappear after 1 hour.

Trapping Cold (Su)

A shasalqu exudes a heat-sapping aura that makes the air temperature around it plunge. Any creature that begins its turn within 10 feet of a shasalqu takes 1d6 points of cold damage and becomes entangled. A successful DC 13 Fortitude save negates the damage and the entangled condition. An affected creature is entangled for as long as it is within the aura's area plus 1 round after leaving. Other shasalqus are immune to this aura, as are any creatures immune to cold damage or whose cold resistance causes them to take no damage from the aura. When a shasalqu dies, its trapping cold aura persists around its corpse for 1 hour.

Ecology

Environment: Warm Deserts
Organization: solitary, pair, or cluster (3-6)
Treasure: none


While some reptiles bask in the sun's warm embrace to raise their body temperature, a shasalqu is ravenous in its search of warmth. Even in the deserts of the Inner Sea region, it never seems to have enough heat. Instead of just relying on the sun, a shasalqu gathers energy by sapping the heat from the air (and creatures) around it. An icy, saw-toothed ridge protrudes from its back, and its tail ends in a small club of accumulated ice. A shasalqu uses the intense cold generated from this heat absorption to trap its prey, which is often unprepared for the effects of blistering cold in the middle of the desert. Fighting shasalqus is dangerous business as their cold flesh damages any creature coming into contact with them. A shasalqu is 3 feet tall at the shoulder and weighs about 40 pounds.

Ecology

Most desert scholars believe that strange biology that fuels a shasalqu's heat absorption ability is the same as that of brown mold, and some even claim that the creatures carry brown mold spores in their bodies. This could account for shasalqus' ability to sap heat from their surroundings even after they die. Shasalqus have rough, gray-blue skin dotted with small beady extrusions much like those of a horned lizard. Because of their sandy environs and the drops of water that melt off their icy ridges, shasalqus' bodies are often caked in a layer of gritty mud. Motionless shasalqus are often mistaken for rocks or small muddy clumps from a distance—a mistake desert travelers quickly come to regret.

Shasalqus' ability to harvest heat from nearby creatures makes them one of the few types of lizards that actively hunt at night. They prefer eating warm-blooded creatures, so they prey upon nocturnal desert fauna such as rabbits, desert foxes, and nesting birds. By catching prey in their chilly auras, shasalqus can bring down animals that would normally have the advantage of speed. Occasionally, shasalqus creep up on encampments and kill travelers' camels while they sleep. Shasalqus prefer to eat larger animals since these creatures can provide food for days, but because they dwell in the resource-poor desert, they typically eat whatever they can. Shasalqus are particularly partial to fire elementals or other supernaturally warm beings, and may pursue such creatures for days in single-minded pursuit of heat and sustenance.

Habitat & Society

Shasalqus live primarily solitary existences. They are territorial creatures and mark off their territory with a unique scent, by which others of their kind can readily determine whether they have come across that particular shasalqu before. To maintain their territorial boundaries, shasalqus must walk the perimeter of their claimed land once every few days to ensure that their scent sticks. They deliver their scent through the droplets of water that melt off their hides (their \"sweat\") during their patrols. When a shasalqu comes across the territory markers of another shasalqu, it slowly follows the edge of the other's territory, giving ample time for a greater volume of its own droplets to permeate the ground and deliver a stronger scent. The difference between the scents of two shasalqu is almost imperceptible to other creatures, leaving many creatures unaware of territory wars between two or more shasalqus.

Shasalqus dwell in hidden places. Their rocky lairs can be found near oases or along trade routes where prey is likely to wander by. Near oases, they make their lairs far enough away to allow them to sneak up on drinking or bathing creatures and then retreat to their lairs with little effort. When a shasalqu finds a trade route within its territory, it also ensures that its lair is not so close to the route as to betray its presence.

Regardless of their location, shasalqu lairs are often extremely damp since the desert's heat melts the accumulated ice that crusts on shasalqus' hides. This makes shasalqu lairs breeding grounds for a variety of mosses and plants, especially those that can withstand colder temperatures. These tiny oases rapidly become too mossy for the shasalqu, forcing it to leave its den in search of a new one. Shasalqus frequently keep multiple dens within their territory and rotate between them.

In rare cases, brown mold forms in the darkened corners of the den, leading some naturalists to conclude that the strange lizards carry spores from this dangerous mold. This conclusion has led expeditions of naturalists into the blazing desert to locate abandoned shasalqu dens and collect samples of brown mold from them. To avoid entering shasalqu dens on their own, these naturalists use long-handled scoops that they prod into the shasalqu den to collect the dangerous mold. Since shasalqus are not immune to cold damage (merely resistant), they abandon their lairs when patches of brown mold form.

Sometimes shasalqus' moist and muddy lairs attract other thirsty desert creatures. Shasalqus can easily contend with the desert foxes and occasional weary traveler, but should a more powerful creature come across their dens, shasalqus either remain perfectly still, hoping the creature will drink and leave quickly, or else they slink away to avoid confrontations, only returning once the threat has passed.

Though shasalqus usually keep to themselves, some naturalists have recorded clusters of them in places with abundant food. In these rare situations, a hierarchy forms among these simple creatures, and the leader is invariably the shasalqu with the largest ice-club on its tail, a visible status indicator among shasalqus. Shasalqus that challenge the current alpha end up in quick brawls for superiority. In these fights the challenger often tries to ruin its icy spines or to chip off portions of the ice that has accumulated on the leader's tail, so its opponent has a less impressive display. Because of this behavior, and the fact that the clubs grow more ice eventually, the dominance of these rare clusters of shasalqus is in constant flux.

Desert nomads sometimes capture shasalqus and use them as sources of water. They dig pits to serve as enclosures for the lizards, and feed them captured rodents or birds. With the shasalqus safely ensconced in these makeshift wells, the nomads then harvest the resultant condensation as a slow but sure method of obtaining water in the desert. Because of the deadliness of the shasalqu's frigid aura, such hunters often try to catch the creatures with long nets or lassos, and even then only the hardiest and most desperate attempt the feat. For one far from the nearest oasis, capturing a shasalqu could mean the difference between life and death by dehydration.