Giant eagle

Template:Infobox Greyhawk creature Giant eagles are great birds who nest in high altitudes.

Ecology

Giant eagles, like many similar creatures, are prized for their value as aerial steeds. To tame one, the eagle must have a friendly attitude to the rider/tamer, and, being a goodly creature, they must be either good or neutral themselves. Riding one requires an exotic saddle, and six weeks of training. Sometimes giant eagles are raised to be mounts from birth, but giant eagle parents defend their nests to the death. Giant eagle eggs are worth 2,500 gp each.

Giant eagles, like their smaller kin, are carnivores.

Environment

Giant eagles live near great bluffs, cliffs, mesas, or mountain crags.

Typical physical characteristics

Giant eagles resemble ordinary eagles, but they're much bigger, ten feet tall and with an average wingspan of twenty feet. They have superior vision capable of seeing prey miles away.

Alignment

Giant eagles are usually neutral good (the 1977 Monster Manual lists them as neutral).

Society

Giant eagles are relatively friendly toward dwarves and elves, and they like aarakocra. Two to twelve giant eagles will typically guard an elven lair. They typically ignore good creatures but attack evil creatures with hostile attitudes. Their intelligence is about equal to that of humans.

Giant eagles are courageous. They fear dark and enclosed spaces, but little else.

Religion

Giant eagles worship nature, avian spirits, and their patron deity, Remnis. They have shamans among them capable of casting spells.

Language

Giant eagles speak Auran and Common. Their own tongue is composed of avian cries and gestures.

Creative origins

Giant eagles are very likely to be inspired by the eagles from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth.

Bibliography

• Gygax, Gary Monster Manual. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1977.

• Moore, Roger E. "Leprechauns & Giant Eagles—Oh My!" Polyhedron #116. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1996.

• Morris, Graeme, Phil Gallagher and Jim Bambra. Creature Catalogue. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1986.

• Nephew, John. Creature Catalog Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1993.

• Sargent, Carl. Monster Mythology. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1992.

• Williams, Skip, Jonathan Tweet, and Monte Cook. Monster Manual. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2000.

• Stewart, Doug, ed. Monstrous Manual. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1993.