Dragon	-	Monsters	-	Dragon #91
-	-	Notes	-	-

From the Pseudobiblia of Edygulph
Eremmore, naturalist and sage:

One of the ugliest and most cruel of all
creatures is the leucrotta, a loathsome carnivorous
beast that inhabits wastelands in
the wilderness. On its cloven hooves it runs
as fast as a medium-sized warhorse, and it
savages prey with its jagged, bony jaws
rather as sharks do. Humans are its favorite
prey, and the ?ugly killer? is one of the
most dangerous and most feared predators
of the wastes because of its cunning and its
strange talent for mimicry.

Whether acting individually or in a small
group, leucrotta are sly and enterprising.
They can develop simple but effective tricks
to take advantage of their ability to mimic
the human voice, and are often able to lure
large groups of travelers to their doom.

One group of leucrotta, for example,
came upon and devoured a few pilgrims on
the road, took brands from their fire, and
carried these for miles along the road to a
long-deserted keep, where the creatures lit
many torches and brushpiles along the walls
to make it appear inhabited. Then, with
their human-like speech, they called out
(while in seclusion) to a passing caravan,
luring the group inside to rest for the night.
The leucrotta slew many of the party as the
members split up to explore the dimly lit
interior of the stronghold, bounding out of
the darkness to bite at faces and necks. The
monsters returned later to devour the bodies
? after harrying the fleeing survivors and
chasing them down the road until dawn.

Leucrotta often lurk along roads and near
habitations by night, learning information
about humans who live in the area or are
passing through the wilderness. They take
note of expressions often heard in Common
Tongue speech, so as to improve their mimicry.
One leucrotta ventured abnormally
close to civilization and took to prowling a
glen where thieves would come to meet in
the night. With the vocabulary it overheard
there, it was soon able to begin devouring
thieves who fell into its trap. The creature
returned to the glen every few weeks for
several years before it was discovered,
trapped, and slain.

Those who, for some reason, must dwell
near the known haunts of leucrotta are
prepared for a raid at any time, and they
quickly learn not to engage in conversation
with anyone whose face they cannot see.
They begin to expect an assault when their
dogs start to disappear; leucrotta hate these
noisy, persistent trackers and alarm-raisers.

Leucrotta almost always use concealing
darkness or terrain cover to draw near to
prey (or to remain concealed while the prey
comes closer). Then they rush out with
great speed, attacking furiously and tearing
with their powerful jaws. They will always
disable one victim and turn to another,
rather than finishing off one at a time, more
out of cruelty than voraciousness. The
creatures are skillful at tracking, and exult
in the gaining of food as much as in the
devouring of it.

The appearance of the leucrotta is not
utterly horrifying, but certainly repulsive,
nonetheless. Its bare, ragged-edged jawbones
give its face and head a ghoulish,
skeletal look. It has the body shape of a
large deer, but without even a close-cropped
coat of fur or hair; its trunk, legs, and
cloven hooves seem mismatched with its
head, which resembles that of a giant
badger or similar burrowing animal, and its
tail, which is thin and slightly tufted at the
end like that of a lion. If the creature had a
more pleasant demeanor, its appearance
might be tolerable or even humorous ? but
such is not the case.

Leucrotta have been known to cooperate
with other creatures, such as lamia or even
evil naga, for mutual gain, but most prefer
to hunt alone or with two or three others of
their own kind. Most other creatures shun
them, for even those stronger than a leucrotta
can never let their guard down near
one of them. Leucrotta will attack anything
that is at a disadvantage or that they think
they can defeat, whether or not the prey is
preferred or even edible. Leucrotta will
serve only evil creatures more powerful and
vicious than themselves, and then only
when promised enough reward. They have
been occasionally reported to consort with
and aid demons, and at least two observers
(the adventurer Ironbars of Elcathra and
the wizard Gulgath of Mulmaster), who
encountered the demon lord Kostchtchie
many years (and planes) apart, reported
that the demon was accompanied by two
astoundingly large leucrotta of exceptionally
vicious temperaments, which apparently
serve him as bodyguards.

Although they have no personal use for
it, leucrotta will gather treasure to bargain
with, or to lure prey into traps with. (Experienced
travelers know enough not to hastily
approach any hoard found in a cave or
grotto in the wilderness, for a leucrotta may
be planning to take greedy discoverers from
behind while they pore over their riches.) If
one of a group of leucrotta is captured or
injured in battle, the others will not aid it or
attempt to rescue it. On rare occasions
leucrotta will team up for a short time (perhaps
only one assault) with more powerful
creatures of like alignment in a hunting
group.

Male and female leucrotta (or ?leucrottas
?; either term is accepted) tend to be of
equal size, and appear identical to casual
scrutiny. They do not take permanent
mates, and the father does not usually aid in
the raising of young. Calves are born six
months after mating, live and in full control
of themselves. They follow their mother for
at least four months, learning trickery and
hunting skills, and always go off on their
own at the age of eight months, or shortly
before the mother is about to give birth
again. During the first two months after
giving birth, the mother goes into a killing
frenzy to provide her offspring with

sufficient food. The lifespan of a leucrotta is
not known, but is thought to be shorter
than that of a human.

Leucrotta tend to wander, following food,
and although they like to frequent a ?territory
? they know well (so as to readily escape
pursuit, arrange ambushes, and the
like), they do not fight off other predators to
defend such an area, and will leave it without
hesitation if threatened by very strong
foes, lack of food, or natural disaster.

Avoid this creature, travelers and even
warriors, unless you are prepared to fight
? and do not expect to win. Even some
strong bands of men who have gone forth to
slay leucrotta have not returned, and most
creatures give the ?ugly killers? a wide
berth whenever possible.

Appendix (Notes)
1. Leucrotta track as well as rangers do,
and try to make this task easier by savaging
prey so that it is weakened and slowed, and
perhaps leaves a bloody trail when fleeing.
In battle leucrotta bite, slash, and tear with
their ridged, bony jaws for 3-18 points of
damage. They have a chance of disabling or
killing prey with a strike to the throat,
determined as for the devil dog (see the
FIEND FOLIO® Tome): If the leucrotta?s
modified ?to hit? roll is 4 or more greater
than the number required, or a natural 20
in any case, the victim has been hit in the
throat. Damage from the bite is the normal
amount, but the victim is rendered unconscious
from the strike. This comatose condition
will last for 2-8 turns, and at the end of
this time the victim will die if not revived
beforehand by the application of cure serious
wounds or some similarly strong healing
magic.

A leucrotta can kick backwards with its
rear legs, even when fleeing, and still retain
its full movement rate in that round. The
hooves each do 1-6 points of damage (roll
?to hit? separately for each hoof) to anyone
standing directly to the rear of the creature,
or anyone in close pursuit of it. If pressed, a
leucrotta can rear up and lash out with its
front hooves (for 1-6 damage each), but it
cannot do this and kick with its rear hooves
in the same round. It can combine a bite
attack with either kind of hoof kick in the
same round, providing that victims are in a
position to be hit by both forms of damage.

The monster can stamp on or trample
any target that is lower than itself (on lower
ground, fallen, crouching, etc.), striking
with both sets of hooves together and crashing
down with the full weight of its body, for
4-16 points of damage. If this stamping
attack hits, all hoof and bite attacks against
the fallen victim in subsequent rounds are
made at +2 ?to hit,? unless and until the
victim avoids being hit for one round and is
able to get to his feet. When engaging a
fallen opponent, the leucrotta has a better
chance of scoring a hit to the throat (see
above) because of the +2 bonus ?to hit.? If
other opponents are nearby, the leucrotta
will break off its attack against a fallen foe
as soon as it scores a hit to the target?s
throat or when the victim is reduced to onethird
or less of his hit points.

2. Leucrotta have hardy constitutions;
the climate of the creature's habitat ranges
from subarctic to subtropical. Those encountered
in cold regions have a layer of
body fat which increases their ability to
endure physical attacks; opponents take a -1
penalty to damage inflicted on any successful
hit with a non-magical weapon (minimum
damage of 1 point per hit). All
leucrotta gain a +4 bonus on saving throws
vs. disease or poison.

3. All full-grown leucrotta can mimic the
human voice with the same degree of skill.
Any character within earshot who can understand
the common tongue will believe
that the voice is that of a human if the
character fails to roll less than his intelligence
or wisdom (whichever is higher) on
d20. Thus, a character with 16 intelligence
and 18 wisdom has a 3 in 20 chance of
being fooled by the mimicry ? on a roll of
18, 19, or 20. A character who is not fooled
will recognize the voice as an impersonation,
but will not know who or what is
doing the mimicry, and may well still decide
to approach and investigate. A character
who is fooled will not rush forward blindly;
he will assume that the voice is that of a
human, but may still be cautious about
approaching an unseen ?person.?

4. Young leucrotta are size M and have
3+1 HD when born. They gain 1 hit die
every two months thereafter until at full 6+1
HD and size L status at the age of six
months. The bite of a young leucrotta (less
than six months old) does 2-12 points of
damage, and each kicking hoof does 1-4
points of damage. They are able to mimic
the human voice at two months of age, and
characters receive a +2 bonus on their attempts
to ?disbelieve? the mimicry. This
bonus decreases to +l when the young leucrotta
reaches four months of age, and is
eliminated altogether at six months of age.

5. If two leucrotta are encountered at
once, there is a 50% chance that they are a
mated pair (a male accompanying a female
who is carrying young). The male will go
into a frenzy if either he or the female is
attacked, gaining a +2 bonus ?to hit? and
on damage. If a solitary leucrotta is encountered,
there is a 50% chance that it is a
single adult of either sex, a 25% chance that
it is a female on a hunting spree for her
young, and a 25% chance that it is a female
accompanied by young (85% chance of one
offspring, 15% chance of two) of between
1-8 (d8) months of age.

6. A leucrotta is not overwhelmingly
intelligent, but its innate evilness lends it a
slyness and cunning not usually found in
non-evil creatures of average intelligence.
The tricks a leucrotta uses to lure its prey
are not overly complex or sophisticated, but
are often all the more effective because of
their simplicity. One ploy that all leucrotta
use from time to time is to imitate the voice
of a wounded or diseased character crying
out for help ? a plea that most goodaligned
characters find difficult to ignore.