Sull

Sull, also known as floaters, are living flying saucers, predators who may also serve as aerial mounts.

The sull is a rounded saucer ten feet in diameter and one foot thick at the rim. A dome rises three feet on the top, while a mouth extends two feet from the bottom. The otherwise featureless body is light blue in color. The sull has a mildly sour odor.

Combat: A sull rams into opponents with its hard, rubber-like rim with as much force as it can manage. This attack causes 1d4 points of damage. The sull then rebounds away. If the sull is able to drop down on top of a victim, it bites for 4d4 points of damage. Sull do not crush with their bodies.

When engaged in combat, a sull emits gas from the orifices spaced around the underside of the rim. This gas is a byproduct of digestion and hangs in the air in a blinding, irritating cloud. The sull's opponents suffer a -4 penalty to their attack rolls if they fail their saving throws vs. poison and the gas affects their eyes. If they successfully save vs. poison or have magical protection for their eyes, they receive only a -1 penalty to their attack rolls as they contend with the swirling vapors.

Sulls support themselves by the buoyant gases within their hump. By rapidly inhaling and exhaling, sulls can travel vertically at a rate of 18 or horizontally at a rate of 6. Air currents can alter their speed and turbulence can cause sulls to lose control. For this reason, sulls fear aerial creatures who cause severe turbulence in their wakes (wind walkers, etc.).

Habitat/Society: Sulls are nomadic creatures that silently float along in small groups. Sulls live in the clouds most of the time. They descend when hunger forces them to hunt on the surface. Sulls prefer to hunt in open areas, such as fields and plains.

When a sull spots a quarry, it dives on it at a 45% angle at full speed. Further attacks are made horizontally at ground level. If the sull is prevented from feeding on the spot, it grabs its victim in its jaws and floats away with it in search of a quieter place to feed. A sull can carry 40 pounds of weight for each Hit Die.

Sulls are omnivorous. Prey is consumed by the great jaws that hang underneath. They can extend a six-foot tube to suck in liquids.

Sulls reproduce by budding asexually in their sixth year. The W miniature sulls (2d4) develop within the safety of the upper hump. When they are one foot wide, they are released through the mouth. Young sulls have 3 HD but do not attack. They trail behind their parent and share in its meals. By their firs.t birthday, the sulls have grown to five feet in diameter, developed their rims, and can now attack with either rim or bite. Each year the sulls gain an additional Hit Die and grow another five feet. At age four, the sulls reach their full growth of 20 feet and 6 HD.

Sulls lack visible sensory organs. However, they possess infravision (60-foot range) and hearing and smell (20-foot range for A these senses). They understand common but cannot speak it. Their own language consists of clicks and whistles. They are quick to learn new languages; if one is serving a humanoid master, the sull quickly masters more of that humanoid's language than the sull Jets on. Sulls always recognize their masters' voices and commands.

Ecology: Sulls are very secretive, neither hostile nor friendly to most other races. They are distrustful of humanoids, especially spelkasters, because such people view sulls as vehicles rather than intelligent beings. Sulls are used by birds as landing places; this annoys the sulls as they lack the means to drive the birds off.

Sull are occasionally captured and trained to serve spellcasters as aerial platforms. Sulls deeply resent such servitude. They cooperate only under the threat of pain from electrical shock or magic missiles. Sulls lack the ability to tum over in midair, thus they are helpless to voluntarily dump any riders. They conceal their true intelligence as they await a chance to escape.