Galeb duhr

Galeb duhr were magical creatures of stone that appeared almost like animated boulders, with the power to control the rocks around them.

Description
When galeb duhr were not moving, they could choose appear exactly like a boulder, but when they opened their eyes or moved, one could see that they had dark, foreboding eyes, a wide mouth, and appendages that acted as both hands and feet.

Galeb duhr ranged in size from four feet (one meter) in height to as large as sixteen feet (five meters).

They were very slow-moving creatures.

Personality
Galeb duhr were very intelligent creatures. They tended to be very territorial and rarely shared knowledge of their rocky homes with strangers. To question them about such knowledge would likely irritate them.

Galeb duhr felt a responsibility to "tend" the smaller boulders and rocks around them, much like a treant tended trees.

Abilities
Similar to how treants had an innate power over trees, so galeb duhr had control over the stone around them. They could magically move earth, shape stone, create openings in stone, and turn rocks into mud. They could also create a wall of stone with their magic. Beyond these powers, they could also animate a number of boulders around them.

A galeb duhr could sense motions through the ground of approaching creatures or objects.

Biology
Some reported that galeb duhr ate rock, preferring granite and not liking the taste of sedimentary rock. They only needed to eat once every two or three months.

It was a mystery to most how galeb duhr reproduced. Some suggested that they could only originate on the Elemental Plane of Earth and travel to the Prime Material Plane. However, smaller galeb duh had been observed, which were assumed to be young ones.

Combat
While they had no natural enemies, sometimes creatures would try to steal gems from the galeb duhr, and sometimes intruders would disturb the galeb duhr's rocks&mdash;to their own peril.

A galeb duhr would typically avoid combat by vanishing into the ground by burrowing or through magic, or by simply not moving and appearing just like its surrounding rock. If annoyed by an intruder, however, a galeb duhr could be a powerful opponent, and would not hesitate to fight using its powerful control of the element of earth. They could also pummel an enemy with their rocky appendages, or roll at them.

Society
Scholars believed that galeb duhr were native to the Plane of Earth. Many galeb duhr were magically called to the Material Plane by spellcasters (most often wizards and druids) due to their talents as guardians, while others would form naturally in places where the Plane of Earth touched the Material Plane. Those on the Material Plane became permanently bound to it, so that they would not return to the Plane of Earth should they die. On the Material Plane, they could be found in any mountainous, rocky terrain. They were relatively solitary, living either alone or with only a few of their own kind, called a "tumble". They would not even live with earth elementals.

Galeb duhr seemed to enjoy collecting gems. Some claimed that they could be found with magic potions, but these most likely were left behind by those who had tried to attack the galeb duhr to steal their gems and failed. Besides the gems they kept for themselves, galeb duhr were likely to know the locations of veins of precious metal, ores, and other gems. They rarely gave up this knowledge, however.

Galeb duhr loved to make music, but their music was hard for most humanoids to hear, because the tones were so low. The subsonic melodies could be felt through the ground for many miles. These vibrations tended to make horses nervous. They would sit in small groups harmonizing with their gravelly voices. The music was resonant and often viscerally sad. Some sages believed that their was a magic in their songs that could prevent or cause earthquakes. Others speculated that low, rumbling sounds were not songs at all but rather warnings to other galeb duhr.

History
In 1085 DR, the galeb duhr of Tannath and Undergoth erected the great Watchwall of Aglarond.

Notable Galeb Duhrs
Hourm was a friendly galeb duhr living in Gravenhollow in the late 15th century DR.

Appearances

 * Out of the Abyss
 * Reclaiming Blingdenstone