TurulFlickers of light and energy radiate from this awe-inspiring,
birdlike creature.Turul CR 19Source Bestiary 5 pg. 256
XP 204,800
N Gargantuan outsider (extraplanar)
Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft., detect magic, see invisibility;
Perception +37DefenseAC 34, touch 10, flat-footed 30 (+3 Dex, +1 dodge, +24 natural,
–4 size)
hp 350 (28d10+196); fast healing 15
Fort +23, Ref +12, Will +22
Immune death attacks, disease, energy drain, fire, poison; SR 30OffenseSpeed 40 ft., fly 120 ft. (good)
Melee 2 talons +39 (2d8+14/19–20), bite +38 (2d10+14/19–20)
Ranged 2 energy feathers +27/+27 (8d8 electricity or fire)
Space 20 ft., Reach 20 ft.
Special Attacks adamantine attacks, deadly swoop, energy
feathers, piercing scream, rend (2 talons, 2d8+21)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 20th; concentration +25)
Constant—detect magic, see invisibility
At will—cure critical wounds, greater dispel magic, remove curse
3/day—breath of life, heal, searing light, summon (level 8, 1 phoenix 75%)
1/day—reincarnateStatisticsStr 34, Dex 17, Con 24, Int 17, Wis 22, Cha 21
Base Atk +28; CMB +46; CMD 60
Feats Combat Reflexes, Deflect Arrows, Dodge, Flyby Attack, Hover, Improved Critical (talons), Improved Critical (bite), Improved Initiative, Improved Vital Strike, Power Attack, Snatch, Vital Strike, Weapon Focus (talons), Wingover
Skills Acrobatics +34, Diplomacy +36, Fly +32, Heal +37,
Intimidate +36, Knowledge (planes) +34, Perception +37,
Sense Motive +37, Spellcraft +31
Languages Auran, Common, IgnanEcologyEnvironment any (Positive Energy Plane)
Organization solitary or pair
Treasure doubleSpecial AbilitiesAdamantine Attacks (Ex) A turul’s talons and beak are as hard
as adamantine, and are treated as weapons made of that
material for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction
and bypassing hardness.
Deadly Swoop (Ex) When a turul flies more than 60 feet
before making a talon melee attack, it deals an additional
2d10+14 points of damage with that attack. If that attack roll
is a confirmed critical hit, the struck creature must succeed
at a DC 31 Fortitude save or be slain outright. This is a death
effect and the save DC is Constitution-based.
Energy Feathers (Su) Once per round as a standard action, a
turul can throw two energy feathers. Each feather deals 8d8
points of electricity or fire damage. The turul chooses the
type of energy damage each feather deals when it uses this
ability, and can have each feather deal a different type of
energy damage.
Piercing Scream (Su) Every 1d4 rounds, as a standard action, a
turul can emit a mighty scream that deals 10d6 points of sonic
damage to all creatures within a 60-foot cone (DC 31 Fortitude
half). This is a sonic effect and the DC is Constitution-based.DescriptionThere is a common myth among many far-f lung tribes
of a great and regal bird who comes sometimes with
prophecy and other times as a savior for a great hero.
These majestic creatures are both stern and benevolent,
using their power to scatter a tribe’s foes or to herald great
eras of prosperity. To benefit from the being’s attention,
the leaders of the tribe must acquiesce to the bird’s
demands, which typically include accomplishing some
difficult quest to which the bird’s enigmatic prophecies
allude. While sometimes these radiant messengers are
phoenixes, occasionally they are a rarer sort of prophet—
majestic birdlike creatures from the Positive Energy
Plane known as turuls.
Turuls often treat the Material Plane as a hunting
ground, where they might feed upon wild beasts or hunt
undead and other creatures that wantonly spread mayhem.
Such hunters keep to themselves, avoiding other creatures,
but other turuls take a more active role with peaceful,
intelligent creatures. While a few turuls go so far as to
portray themselves as deities, granting protection and
healing in return for worship, most of these magnificent
outsiders watch from a distance, treating their chosen
tribe more like pets, meddling only when their favorites
are threatened or in the midst of dire circumstances.
While many turuls enjoy their forays on the Material
Plane, the massive avians are intrinsically tied to the Positive
Energy Plane. They also seem to be somehow related to the
jyoti—another race of avian natives of the Positive Energy
Plane—though neither turuls nor jyoti care to divulge
the true nature of the relationship. Some scholars of the
outer planes suggest that the two avian species are actually
incarnations of the same genesis, while others postulate
that turuls are some higher form of jyoti within a cycle
of reincarnation intrinsic to many of the Positive Energy
Plane’s denizens. Both theories are mere speculation.
Unlike the more social jyoti, turuls tend to be loners.
They keep company for short periods of time, either to mate
or purely for the enjoyment of one another’s company, but
such couplings last for a few decades at most. Instead of
dwelling in crystalline cities like the jyoti, turuls roost at
the tops of tree-shaped gemstone formations that spring up
from the landscape of their home plane. Turuls are haughty
but talkative and sometimes welcome visitors. They perch
silently upon their crystal trees, taking time to speak to any
who approach them, so long as they find the conversation
worthwhile. As soon as they lose interest, they politely
dismiss themselves or their guests. Those who don’t leave
are typically met with scorn if not aggression. Turuls are
not used to or fond of being ignored or insulted.
In stark contrast to the jyoti, the turuls hold no hatred
or ill will toward deities and their servants, at least when
they encounter such creatures on planes other than the
Positive Energy Plane. While on the Material Plane,
turuls will even work with good- and neutral-aligned
outsiders to protect their hunting grounds and adopted
humanoid communities.
In rare circumstances, a turul dwells at the heart of a
jyoti crystal city, supervising these settlements from atop
their eyries as ever-vigilant protectors. Those who do
become more like the jyoti over time, and treat outsiders
with the same anger and vehemence as their wards.
Such arrangements are typically short-lived, though.
Turuls who live with jyoti only do so for a century at
most, and when they leave, their personalities and
relations with others revert to a more calm
and contemplative manner. Such might
hint at some arrangement wherein a
turul agrees to become part of a
jyoti community, living by their
rules for a period in return for
something the turul covets—
such as mystical knowledge,
information about egress to the
Material Plane, or possibly one of
the artifacts that the jyoti hoard.
The most consistent relationship the turuls have is
with phoenixes. Those fiery avians often treat turuls
like royalty and willingly serve them, whether or not
the turul has expressed any interest in gaining a
flaming entourage. Though, for all their impatience
with other creatures, turuls tolerate the presence of
phoenixes better than they do others.
Part of turuls’ legendary moodiness stems from the
same myths for which they’re best known—those
wherein they bring prophecies of light and peace.
On some Material Plane worlds, such tales are so
pervasive that mortal heroes go as far as venturing
to the Positive Energy Plane to seek blessings
and wisdom from turuls. The great avians have
little patience for those who presume upon their
occasional benevolence. Not only that, but a turul’s
prophecies are not merely boons to be meted out.
Rather, their promises of peace and prosperity typically
come about via changes they’ve affected using their own
considerable power, or as inevitabilities they’ve had the
foresight to predict. In the rarest of cases, some turuls
claim to have communed with the power of the deepest
Positive Energy Plane and that they serve as messengers of
that mysterious cosmic will. Whether or not such is true
few can know, but that possibility has certainly influenced
the greatest variety of mortal myths regarding turuls.
Gigantic in stature, turuls stand nearly 30 feet tall and
have a wingspan of almost 50 feet. They weigh upwards of
15 tons. While they reside on the Positive Energy Plane,
turuls are effectively immortal. They age only when
traveling from their home plane.
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