Hellhound

Of all the dangers in the Zuran Expanse (and there are many), perhaps none provoke as many nightmares the hellhounds or fury hounds. Though there are less than twenty of these monsters in existence, they’re reputed to have decimated small cities and forced the destruction of entire habitats in an effort to keep their threat from spreading.

The hellhounds are synthetic beings, sophont weapons of mass destruction; though if the tales are to be believed, they were originally created to be the playmates of a lonely prelapsarian princeling in an isolated habitat. Today, though there are less than 20 of these monsters in existence, they’re reputed to have decimated small cities and forced the destruction of entire habitats in an effort to keep their threat from spreading.

The hounds are the size of Old Earth great cats and have triangular heads more reminiscent of birds of prey or snakes. Their faces are much more expressive than an animal’s would be. 

They hunt in groups, and anything and anyone is fair game.

They aren’t mindless animals; in fact, they’re quite erudite and are likely to attempt to engage their prey (or at least taunt them) with allusions to and quotations from pre-Great Collapse works of art before the kill.