Frost Roc

Stories of immense rocs swooping down to carry off livestock or strafing armies into bleeding ruin are popular in taverns, but what many don't realize is that there are even more dangerous magical rocs dwelling in the remote corners of the world. These oversized birds have supernatural abilities linked to the region they favor, but they share one thing with the common roc—their vast size.

Frost rocs are owl-like predators adapted to life in arctic regions. They nest among the craggy peaks of snowcapped mountains or amid rifts of sprawling glaciers, treating the taigas and tundras as their sprawling hunting grounds. Frost rocs are nocturnal and tend to hunt nightly for a few weeks at a time, as the moon is waxing or waning full. They go into short periods of hibernation for the weeks on either side of a new moon, or during prolonged periods of cloud coverage, such as during a storm. They abandon these habits when they're trained to work as mounts or guardians—something that giants or the church of Gorum often does in the remote reaches of the Lands of the Linnorm Kings or the Realm of the Mammoth Lords.

Other Bestial Rocs

Additional varieties of roc have evolved to adapt to remote, hostile environments and, like the frost roc, often possess some form of elemental magic. The albatross-like wind rocs of western Azlant nest among the ragged cliffs of shattered isles, commanding mighty winds with their wings. In remote Arcadian archipelagos, bright pink, long-legged swamp rocs stride through wetlands and use watery magic to aid their hunts. Others doubtless exist in even more remote reaches of the world.