Eblis

Eblis, sometimes called storkmen, were large, evil bird-people.

Description
Eblis resembled herons with off-white, grey, or tan plummage on the body and black plummage on the necks; males could be distinguished by their red-brown heads. The beak and the legs were also solid black in color.

Personality
Eblis were intelligent, cunning, and cruel creatures, delighting in hunting and killing. They wove self-serving plots and killed creatures that offended them.

Abilities
Eblis spellcasters utilized ilusionist magic through a combination of dancing and vocalizations. They were known to be capable of casting the spells audible glamer, change self, hypnotism, spook, wall of fog, blur, hypnotic pattern, and whispering wind each once per day.

Eblis secreted on oil on their feathers to protect them from the elements; this oil was also fire-resistant. They were also capable of using their feet to manipulate objects.

Combat
Eblis attacked by stabbing with their sharp beaks. They preferred to attack with ambushes and traps.

Society
Eblis lived in communities of up to eight mated pairs and their young. They built huts out of straw and grass in which they kept both their nests. Eblis liked shiny objects, such as coins, gems, shards of broken glass, and pieces of metal, and used them to decorate their huts by weaving the objects into the walls. Even particularly powerful and wise eblis were drawn to especially impressive gems. Eblis took great care to ensure that their huts were difficult for most creatures to notice. When a community grew too big for the area to support, the younger ones would split off to form a new community.

Eblis communities were always led by a single spellcaster. These spellcasters were suspected to be the source of the evil nature of their kind, as the average eblis were far less prone to evil and cruelty. Some theorized that spellcasting eblis acquired their powers by doing some horrific deed that permanently warped them into malevolent beings.

Eblis were naturally carnivorous and flightless, and lived similarly to more normal wading birds. They spoke their own language of of chirps and whistles; some spellcasters were capable of speaking Common and there were additional reports of eblis speaking Auran. The eblis language was impossible for humans to speak, although a trained listener could understand it.

Eblis lived in subtropical swamps and marshes; they were recorded to live in the jungles of Chult, the swamps of Kara-Tur, and the Mere of Dead Men in Faerûn.

Notable Eblis
Papazotl, one of the Nine Trickster Gods of Chult, was an eblis.

Rumors & Legends
In Chult, it was believed that eblis were the reincarnations of evil humans who were being punished for the crimes of larceny and kidnapping.

Appearances

 * Adventures : Dungeon #72: "Mistress on the Mere" • Tomb of Annihilation