The Strange
Dlammas are believed to be champions of the weak and downtrodden in Ardeyn, which is true often enough to keep the perception alive.
Dlammas are creatures of the Age of Myth, when they served as steeds of qephilim who fought human dragon riders in the war against Lotan. A relative handful survived to the present age, but most dlammas alive today are younger. Many retain a semblance of the protective nature attributed to the original dlamma, but some—the bleak dlammas—have become twisted.
Dlammas reproduce, but they do so only very rarely. A legendary dlamma spawning ground called Isum—one of the skerries in northern Ardeyn—is sometimes a site sought by adventuring companies, thanks to the legend that dlamma egg fragments insulate against the effects of magic.
Dlamma visual senses are incredibly sharp, so much so that even from half a mile (0.8 km) in the sky, they can see details as if they were in immediate range (though at night, they must be within long range to gain the same level of awareness).
Motive: Protection
Environment (Ardeyn | Magic): Daylands or Borderlands, usually alone
Health 32
Damage Inflicted: Moderate wound (6 points)
Armor: 1
Movement: Short; long while flying
Modifications: Perception, Ardeyn lore as level 7.
Combat: They can attack with their hooves, making two attacks as a single action. However, dlammas are more feared for the words of power they use to heal, create shelter, and even move elements.
In combat, they fall back on a Word of Smiting, an attack that inflicts a moderate wound (6 points) on up to three targets within long range. When they use Word of Healing, they can confer the ability to regenerate 2 points of damage each round for one minute upon themselves or upon a target within immediate range (if a creature is reduced to 0 health, the regeneration ends early).
Interaction: To call upon a dlamma, folk wisdom dictates that a petitioner should engrave the image of the creature on a clay tablet and bury it at a crossroads. If a dlamma is anywhere near, it is drawn to the location thanks to sympathetic sorcery. What a dlamma decides to do upon arriving, however, might be far different than what the petitioner had in mind. Even dlammas who retain their protective urges are realists, and they rarely help others without at least a promise of payment in return.
Use: A woman who keeps her identity secret is hiring adventurers to look for Isum, where stories suggest that dlamma egg shards are lying around for easy pickings. It turns out that the woman is a dragon in disguise, and she wishes to find Isum to destroy any eggs or hatchling dlammas she can find.
Loot: A dlamma usually carries 1d6 x 100 crowns and a few cyphers.
GM Intrusion: The character is affected by the Word of Smiting so severely that he is dazed and takes no action other than to attempt to clear his head (a difficulty 6 Might-based roll).