Large Magical Beast

        As you look up, you see a nightmarish abomination of nature. A massive bird like creature with the wings of a bat soars above you, reeking of carrion and offal. Before you can react, it screeches once and swoops down towards you.

        Screaming down from the night skies like demons, the gyaos are the scourge of all warm-blooded life on the face of the world. Created by the same extinct, ancient beings that crafted the gods Gamera and Iris, these monstrous birds are voracious predators, spreading pain and death wherever they nest. Add into the picture that they rapidly breed asexually, and these creatures pose a serious threat to all life on the face of the world.

        Gyaos resemble massive, hideous crosses between bats, reptiles and birds. Their wings span an impressive 30ft. when they are fully extended, but can fold up and be used to walk like a vampire bat's. A gyaos has a long, birdlike neck, but its head more closely resembles that of a predatory dinosaur, and sports a large, V-like crest that opens towards the back of the beast's head. Gyaos have large, light sensitive eyes, which let them see well enough at night, but make them susceptible to exposure to bright lights.

        There is a special contention between the gyaos and the priesthood of Gamera. Priests of the Burning Guardian often hunt down and destroy gyaos nests with such violent zeal that one often can hardly recognize the normally peaceful priests. While the priests are not forthcoming with why they despise the gyaos so much, it is speculated that it has something to do with the connection the gyaos have with Gamera and Iris's extinct creators.

Combat:

Gyaos are ferocious beasts, and will often attack even large, well-guarded settlements to sate their hunger for flesh. Often they will swoop down out of the night sky, grab any prey they can find and take their prize back to their nest to devour. If they encounter resistance, they will start combat by strafing their prey with their sonic ray attack, then land and finish it off with its bite and wings. Because of their constant, overwhelming hunger, gyaos never retreat from combat.

A gyaos's natural weapons are considered magical for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction.

        Frightful Presence (Ex): When a creature with fewer hit dice than the gyaos first spies the creature, it must make a Will save (DC 12) or be frightened for 5d6 rounds. A successful save renders the creature immune to that gyaos's frightful presence for one day. This save charisma based.

        Sonic Ray (Su): Once every 1d4 rounds, a gyaos can fire a 60ft. long beam of concentrated sonic energy from its mouth. In order to hit with the ray, the gyaos must make a ranged touch attack. On a successful hit, the ray inflicts 4d4 points of sonic damage. If the beam is directed against objects, it inflicts 10d6 points of damage and ignores hardness.

        Snatch (Ex): If the gyaos hits an opponent or object at least one size category smaller than it is with its bite attack while flying, it can start a grapple as a free action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. Should the gyaos get a hold, it grabs the creature in its talons. Each round, the creature may make an opposed grapple check to try an break free, but if it fails, the victim takes 1d4 points of damage and is still held. Once it grabs its prey, a gyaos will typically fly rapidly upward, thus making the prospect of breaking the hold much more dangerous. Prey that continues to struggle is often taken to great heights and dropped. A gyaos has a carrying capacity equal to a creature with twice its strength score.

        Light Sensitivity (Ex): Gyaos eyes are extremely sensitive to light. If abruptly exposed to bright light (such as sunlight or a daylight spell), a gyaos is considered stunned for 1 round. In addition, while exposed to bright light, gyaos suffer a -1 circumstantial penalty to all attack rolls, saves and checks.