General Rules: Monsters - Bulgrif

Bulgrif (modified for rules compliance from Mercenaries)
Huge Animal

Hit Dice: 12d8+48 (96 hit points)
Initiative: -1 (Dexterity)
Speed: 20 feet, fly 60 feet (good)
Armor Class: 13 (-1 Dexterity, -2 size, +6 natural); touch 7, flat-footed 13
BAB/Grapple: +9/+23
Attack: Bite +15 melee (2d8+6, bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing, 20 x2)

Full Attack: Bite +15 melee (2d8+6, bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing, 20 x2) and 2 claws +12 melee (2d4+3, piercing and slashing, 20 x2)

Space/Reach: 10 feet by 20 feet/5 feet
Special Attacks: -
Special Qualities: None
Saves: Fortitude +12, Reflex +7, Will +4
Abilities: Str 22, Int 2, Wis 10, Dex 8, Con 18, Cha 6
Skills: Listen +8, Spot +8
Feats: Endurance, Flyby Attack, Skill Augmentation (Listen and Spot), Multiattack, Weapon Focus (Bite)
Environment: Any land
Organization: Solitary or flock (2 - 7)
Challenge Rating: 7
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 13 - 15 HD (Huge)

Those who have seen a bulgrif fill the sky with is presence rarely forget the sight. A typical adult measures 20 feet from beak to tail with a wingspan of nearly 30 feet and it strikes a majestic profile in flight. Reclusive in the wild, bulgrifs try to hide their lairs in the mountains or jubgle habitats they call home. Their size makes them hard to miss and their utility as beasts of burden makes them valuable prizes for anyone ambitious enough to capture them.

A bulgrif can carry up to 2,000 pounds of cargo on its broad, flat back. Its load has to be strapped down with the greatest of care and distributed low across its back so that it won't spill of the creature has to make any sharp maneuvers. If handled properly, they can move large amounts of cargo across difficult terrain much more quickly than surface-based transportation.

Bulgrifs are expensive to acquire and even more troublesome to maintain, since they require a lot of living space and prodigious amounts of forage. They can also prove tempermental in difficult situations. Civilian and military establishments for whome time is more valuable than gold have refused to make do without them.

Combat
To guide a trained bulgrif, its handler applies pressure to the sides, top, or underside of its head with a long stick looped around the wrist. The bulgrif moves following both the direction and force of the stick - pressing the top of the head orders it to descend, pressing hard orders it to dive, and so on). Under duress, they tend to value self-preservation over obedience. Whenever a bulgrif is reduced to less than half its hit points, it must make a DC 14 Will saving throw. If it fails, it immediately shis away from combat and flees until it is out of reach of whatever threatened it. In this case, its handler may attempt a DC 20 Ride check to reestablish control over the creature. Even if the bulgrif succeeds at the initial Will save, it must attempt another saving throw at the same DC every five rounds thereafter if it remains in combat.

Bulgrifs are normally stolid creatures that do not like to fight. If attacked, they will defend themselves with their enormous beak and claws. A handler must make a successful DC 20 Ride check if it wishes its bulgrif to initiate combat.

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