Bi-Nou

Bi-Nou

Rockworms; Rocklords; Lords of Stone

DESCRIPTION: Among all the mysterious creatures of the Anvil, bi-nou are one of the least appealing. These are strange stalagmite-like creatures with short arms and almost unnoticeable legs. While they have something that appears as eye sockets, they are seemingly blind and deaf, instead relying only on infravision and tremorsense which they have developed to a precise degree. Despite looking like columns of stone, bi-nou are beings of flesh, who nonetheless incorporate minerals into their durable hide and—what’s more important, into their shells of their eggs—that look a lot like gems.

PREFERRED HABITAT: Overall, bi-nou can hardly be classified as anything other than aberrations. I, for one, believe their origin to lie somewhere in the Far Realm, though others maintain they come from some horrible experiments in wizardry. This is supported by their strange magic and utter immunity to psionics and enchantments.

PHILOSOPHY / SOCIETY: Many bi-nou viciously attack gnomes, who sometimes steal their colourful eggs. Some bi-nou have even been employed as guards by drow, through yet-to-be-known means of communication or compulsion. Thus suggests a unexpectedly high level of intelligence for those weird, brutish creatures. Most elementals steer clear of them, since bi-nou are known to attack them and galeb duhr. For shad, the bi-nou are a big problem, since they infest caves and hunt us. We retaliate by hunting them, and some shad even eat bi-nou, although I would not personally risk it.

ECOLOGY: Bi-nou consume organic material by splitting their rocky skin and revealing pink amorphous flesh underneath that envelopes their prey like an ooze. They’ll consume anything, but they prefer large animals and have even developed tactics to lure in humanoids—for one example, they can stockpile treasure from previously slain adventurers to attract more thieves. Additionally, they are able to recognise both races and individual creatures.

COMBAT: These creatures wield magical power over stone and rock, but prefer to remain motionless and disguise themselves as stalagmites until the have assessed the weaknesses of their prey. When they get an opportunity to attack by surprise, they strike with their limbs and attempt to crush their targets against their rocly bodies.

VARIANTS: Rockworms and rocklords are even more dangerous forms of this creature. Rockworms are not capable of disguising themselves as stalagmites, while the rocklords are far better as disguise.

Sources

FULL STATISTICS FOR: [ AD&D 2e ]

CANONICAL SOURCES: Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Two

SOURCE: Margarita and Jon Winter-Holt