Sandy petersens cthulhu mythos 381

A shantak is large—as big as an elephant and

Shantaks secrete a thin coating of slime as an

weighing 2–4 tons—and though it is often considered

insulator and protective coating, making their scales

to be a bird, it has scales rather than feathers. It has

very slippery. They have the ability to fly into and

an elongated snout, making its head slightly resemble

through space and other dimensions. Their slime

that of a horse or, more closely, an iguanodon. It has

protects against almost all environmental effects and

four limbs—two legs and two wings—giving it a body

is effective in mitigating many attacks.

arrangement rather like that of a wyvern. Shantaks lay

Even the bravest person typically has some slight

eggs in excavated hollow places in mountain peaks and

degree of trepidation while facing a shantak, which

elsewhere to tend their young.

boosts the shantak’s effectiveness. This often terrifies
the shantak’s opponents, creating a feedback loop that
empowers the birdlike monstrosity.
There are two situations in which the
shantak’s empathic fear power does not
work. First, if the target is so powerful that
it doesn’t fear the shantak in the first
place, then there is no “foothold” for the
empathic loop to get started. Secondly,
if the prey creature is something that
is incapable of fear but is able to cause
fear, this sets up a negative feedback
loop that weakens the shantak. As
a result, they avoid entities such as
nightgaunts or undead.

Ecology
Shantaks are omnivorous but need protein
to breed, so they tend to prefer hunting prey.
Naturally empathic, their neural structure is
focused on their prey’s emotions. If their target
feels fear, this stimulates and boosts the shantak’s
abilities. Naturally, they like to chase their prey down
to induce the maximum amount of fear or panic before
feeding.
Shantaks, as semi-intelligent creatures, cannot
truly be domesticated, but they can be induced to work

for a strong and evil master in return for the obvious
considerations (such as terrified prey to toy with and
then devour).

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