Morvudd

These denizens of dark and ancient woods are some of the most dangerous monsters known to man. Morvudds are walking mountains of muscle capped with horned, tooth-filled heads. Like their smaller cousins, chorts, they live in thick forests, swamps and bogs. When possible, they avoid humans, but when confronted, they kill them — and without much difficulty.

Mistaken Folktale. Legends often mistake morvudds for sylvans, ascribing to them the ability to speak, stand on two legs, gobble up cabbage, play pranks and work mischief around the household. The arrival of a true morvudd in a region soon puts an end to such tales. The creatures do not speak, at best communicating with each other through grunts, snorts and moans. They get about on four legs, and as for their "mischief"... they destroy farmsteads, devouring anything that can be devoured, including cabbage, if such is available, but also extending to poultry, pork, the family dog, and then the family itself.

Hulking Menace. Their size alone makes morvudds and chorts extremely dangerous — one blow from their powerful paws can kill a knight along with its fully-armored mount. Their enormous heft also makes them almost invulnerable to mundane weapons; the only sure way to put them down is magic and enchanted weapons. Furthermore, any wounds they receive heal at lightning speed. When a morvudd is gravely wounded, it will fight with increased aggressiveness, caring little for its own security while it deals tremendous damage to what stands in its path. Morvudds are cunning fighters: if they are gravely wounded, they will retreat, counting on their regenerative ability, and charge back into the fight, completely healed.

Third Eye. As if they weren't already tough enough, morvudds need not rely on their strength and stamina alone when fighting. Inexperienced hunters assume that the only danger coming from morvudds is physical, they will die in the seconds that follow. Morvudds can call on a more refined weapon: the third eye located in the center of their forehead. They can use it to impede their prey with an array of powers. When this occurs, their victim does not see anything beyond this single burning eye — the last thing they see before their death. The morvudd’s third eye defines this monster as a force with which to be reckoned.

Controversial Origin. Many theories abound on the origins of morvudds. The most popular ones give them a demonic ancestry, but truthfully none has ever be seen collaborating with demons or devils. Others believe them to have originated from the Feywild, basing this assumption on the somewhat similar powers they share with fomorians. It's true that these twisted giants have been known to take "pets", but imagining that the ferocious morvudds could have ever been one of them is a conclusion that few are willing to make.

Chort

Chorts are the somewhat smaller kin of morvudds. Yet any adventurer who thinks their diminutive stature means they present no danger commits a grave error — the kind that can end his career permanently. Chorts fight with little finesse, running straight towards their opponent and trying to mow him to the ground with the force of their charge. After downing their foe, they bite, kick, and strike with their claw- tipped paws.

Relic Morvudd

Crossing's Guardians. Morvudds nicknamed “relic” are ancestral creatures that may have inspired many tales about classic underworld guardians. These hulking monstrosities lurk and establish their lairs near crossings to other planes. They can instinctively feel where the barrier between the worlds are thin and are attracted to such places. As they feed on the lingering magical energies, they grow even larger, rivaling in size with giants, and gain increasingly more magical abilities.

Natural Border. Few creatures can stand against a relic morvudd. They are usually at the top of the food chain in the region, killing any other predator that steps into its territory. They live in vast expanses of dark forest, in the deepest parts of the wood. The monster leaves corridors of broken trees and deep hoofed prints, making it quite easy to track down and to delimit its territory. However, clever rangers usually take these signs as natural borders and warn folks not to go any further. Some things are simply better left alone.

Third Eye of a Morvudd

The third eyes of morvudds and chorts are powerful magically charged organs. This disturbing appendice doesn't die with the morvudd. It's still alert even after the creature's death. If harvested from the corpse of the creature, it can be used as an alternative spell component. The third eye can be consumed to substitute any magical component of up to 5,000 gold pieces value; the eye is destroyed in the process. For this reason many wizard will pay a good price for it and some particularly brave and skilled hunters have made a lucrative carrier out of hunting the monster.

Optional: Curse of the Restless Eye

When a morvudd dies, the nearest intelligent creature to its body must make a DC 18 (DC 15 for a chort) Wisdom saving throw. In case of failure, the creature gains a form of indefinite madness: "I must keep the eye at all cost; it's now my most treasured possession".