Behir

A behir (pronounced be-HEER) was a great serpentine monster with twelve legs and an electrical breath.

Description
A behir was often mistaken for a wingless blue dragon. It had a long, snake-like body and could slither on the ground like a snake, but it also had six pairs of legs upon which it could walk or climb if it chose to do so. Each of a behir's twelve feet contained three clawed toes. They were surprisingly quick, and could outrun the typical human.

Behirs had thick, armored scales, much like a dragon. Their scales were colored in variations of dark blue, being lighter on their undersides.

They had long narrow heads, crocodilian in shape, with curved, black horns on the top, which were used for preening. Their mouths were full of many sharp teeth.

A typical adult behir was 40 feet (twelve meters) long and weighed two tons (1,800 kilograms) but could grow to gargantuan sizes. They were expert climbers.

Variations
A subspecies of behir were native to Halruaa and were bred there as pets or guardians.

Personality
Behirs hated all dragons and would refuse to share any territory with them.

They were not particularly intelligent but could speak Common.

Behavior and Ecology
Behir were most active during the day. Their main diet consisted of medium-sized animals, such as boars.

In the winter months, behirs hibernated.

Mating took place in early spring. Females produced between one and four blue-green, leathery eggs, which were buried under dirt or sand. There were conflicting reports about how long it took for their eggs to hatch. Some sources claimed it took eight months for them to hatch. Others insisted that it only took three or four weeks. The young were driven from the den soon after hatching.

Hatchlings were about two feet (half a meter) long and did not yet have their full compliment of twelve legs. They began life with six or eight legs and grew additional legs as they aged. They grew about eight additional feet per year. Like other reptilian creatures, behirs continued to grow throughout their lifetimes and had to shed their scales periodically. They reached adulthood by ten years.

Combat
If a behir grabbed a hold of an opponent or prey with its mouth, it had several options. It could wrap its body around the victim and constrict, it could tear at the victim with its many clawed limbs, or it could simply swallow the victim whole.

Behirs could breath a magical burst of electricity from their mouths, much like a blue dragon. (They themselves were completely immune to damage from electricity.) There were some reports that they were immune to poisons as well.

Society
Behirs preferred to live in warm, hilly terrain. They made dens in caves&mdash;which were often in the side of high cliffs &mdash;or hidden thickets.

A behir's territory usually encompassed an area of 400 square miles (1,000 square kilometers). They were usually solitary creatures but could be found in mated pairs, but only until their eggs were hatched.

Uses
Behir horns could be used to make the ink necessary for scribing a magic scroll for a lightning bolt spell. Similarly, a scroll of neutralize poison often used ink from a behir's talons, and that of protection from poison used ink made from a behir's heart.

Behir scales were sometimes used to make armor, much like the hides of dragons.

Notable Behirs

 * The lamia noble Transtra kept a behir as a companion, although she had to charm it to do so.
 * Grimlight was a behir who lived in a gorge near the Cold Vale.
 * Longjaws was a powerful behir who served the lich Alokkair.
 * Vozhin was a behir who lived in the corpse of the primordial Petron, in the world of Abeir.

Additional Reading

 * Monster Manual II 1st edition
 * Dragon #333