|
Huge beast, unaligned
Armor Class 16 (natural armor)
Hit Points 188 (13d12 + 104)
Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft.
Saving Throws Str +12, Con +13
Senses passive Perception 9
Languages —
Challenge 13 (10,000 XP)
Bear Hug. The hukolgur has advantage on Strength (Athletics) checks made to initiate a grapple.
Brave. The hukolgur has advantage on saving throws against being frightened.
Fossorial. The hukolgur has advantage on Strength (Athletics) checks made to dig.
Keen Smell. The hukolgur has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.
Relentless (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). If the hukolgur takes 24 damage or less that would reduce it to 0 hit points, it is reduced to 1 hit point instead.
Thick Skin. If a melee attack deals less than 20 damage to the hukolgur, the damage is reduced to 5.
Ultraviolet Dampened. Creatures with Keen Sight roll Wisdom (Perception) checks made to see a hukolgur with disadvantage and the hukolgur has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made to hide from them.
ACTIONS
Multiattack. The hukolgur makes three claw attacks. It may substitute two claw attacks for one slam attack, but can't make use them against the same target.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one grappled target. Hit: 21 (4d6 + 7) piercing damage. If the target is a living creature, it also takes 9 (2d8) damage from bleeding at the end of its turn.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 20 (2d12 + 7) slashing damage.
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 33 (4d12 + 7) bludgeoning damage.
REACTIONS
Unbridled Fury. In response to being hit by a melee attack, the hukolgur can make one melee weapon attack with advantage against the attacker.
|
Sloths can be found in every environment present in the Known World, from the mountain peaks to the verdant seagrass meadows. One sloth in particular however is the most awe-striking, its great size and lumbering bulk towering over most other beasts. This sloth is known as the Hukolgur (Tectospelaea archocnus “Ruling sloth that builds caves”) and is one of the largest mammals on Kaimere and the largest sloth ever, standing 15-20 feet tall at the head when they stand upright, 20-25 feet from nose to tail, and are absolutely massive: sows typically weigh between 4-6 tons and bulls routinely double that mass, with the largest known boar weight a humongous 14 tons.
Ruling Sloth. The sloths of Kaimere are split into the same two broad groups found on Earth: mylodontoidea (containing two toed sloths) and megatherioidea (containing the three toed sloth). Though they are called "two" and "three toed" sloths respectively, this is mostly with reference to cladistics as most sloths of both groups tend to have four or five toes. Regardless, both groups are found in abundance with the modern species living alongside unique clades of arboreal climbers, heavy set burrowers, and both bottom punting and swimming clades in the Inland Sea.
The hukolgur is descended from a relative of the mylodontoid lestodon[1] which was a burrower and covered in thick skin which also had subdermal osteoderms providing further protection. At the time of their ancestors, the largest sloths around were megatherioids but they relied mostly on size and claws alone to defend themselves from dinosaurs and were strict herbivores that were selective on what trees they would eat, which was disastrous for them when the planet cooled and the environment changed. The hukolgur on the other hand had armor, protective burrows, a more varied diet, longer, better parental care, and a more active metabolism than the megatherioids, which combined with their claws made them far more capable for Kaimere than the megatherioids. Overtime they grew massive and became one of the largest mammals of Kaimere, shoveling whatever they can fit into their mouths in bulk with no real preference for diet. Their burrows, which can extend half a mile in length, with sows inhabiting these caves with sisters, mothers, grandmothers, and other female relatives while the boars are mostly solitary. The upturning of soil and massive amounts of dung outside the entrances to these caves make for lush grassy meadows, which feed plenty of species like deer as well as hukolgur themselves in an otherwise gymnosperm dominated world.
Laziness and Belligerence. Boars will often dig rudimentary burrows to laze away their day, but come the rut they wander far and wide for sows in season and digging a hole simply isn't worth the effort, especially since there's no guarantee a boar will even find an eligible bachelorette: hukolgur pregnancy lasts about a year and a half and a sow will usually forgo mating for another year so her cub can have almost three years of devoted, unbroken attention. If another boar is present, it can easily come to blows, although hukolgur prefer to posture before charging into an all out brawl. This is due to the fact that the loser could become seriously wounded and be easy prey for a zentaur, which although some specialize in hukolgur, usually avoid the massive boars due to their defenses. The hide of a hukolgur is riddled with osteoderms and their skin is 6 inches thick in places, which combined with their tusks that self-sharpen and meter long claws makes them quite formidable.
Hukolgur have a reputation for aggression or even homicidal tendencies, but this is largely due to the context of their interactions with humanoids. Boars in particular need massive amounts of food and settlements with their large storehouses and farms do provide a tempting lure to a hukolgur, who is likely to also sleep off his drunkenness after guzzling their beer kegs. Most efforts to chase them off are met with halfhearted retaliation, but even a weak backhand from a 10-14 ton animal can still pulverize a warhorse, and if they actually do manage to get its ire, then the entire town could be in jeopardy: an angry bear sloth can rip a man's chest open or tear down a door, but a rampaging hukolgur can plow through half a town and destroy the surrounding walls. Attacks from sows actually account for far more hukolgur induced fatalities, mainly due to the fact that these attacks are usually in defense of their caves, often while the young cubs are still inside. All this to say, hukolgur are not as aggressive as is often touted and do not deserved their violent reputation, but instead respect which they have more than earned.
|
