Peryton

Although this monstrous carnivore feeds on any creature, it prefers humanoids, especially elves, half-elves, and humans. When it kills a humanoid, a peryton rips out its prey’s heart and takes it back to its nest to be devoured.

The peryton is a bizarre creature that blends the body and wings of a bird of prey with the head of a stag. Its strangest feature is its shadow, which appears humanoid rather than reflecting the creature’s physical form.

Perytons roost atop mountain ridges and lair in high caves. They prey on creatures living or wandering in the vales below, and travelers on lonely mountain roads learn to keep a wary eye on the sky. Because normal weapons are less effective against perytons, the folk of the mountains know to avoid confrontations with these monsters at all costs, and parties of adventurers are often paid to deal with them.

Sages postulate that the first perytons were humans transformed by a hideous curse or magical experiment, but bards tell a different tale- of a man whose infidelity caused his scorned wife to cut out the heart of her younger, more beautiful rival and consume it in a ritual intended to forever win her husband’s heart. The ritual succeeded until the woman’s villainy was exposed. She was hanged for her crime, but the lingering magic of her foul ritual caused the carrion birds that feasted on her corpse to transform into the first perytons.