Gadacro

Gadacros were lesser tanar'ri demons that induced blindness in their prey and savored the taste of freshly plucked eyes. They were the carrion crows of the Abyss, appearing in the wake of death and disaster to harry and victimize the survivors.^[1]

Description[]

Gadacros resembled 4 feet (1.2 meters) tall, cherubic children, about 35 pounds (16 kilograms) in weight, with scaly, purple skin, black talons, and bat-like wings. They had large, horned heads, and were known to wear necklaces of eyeballs.^[1]

Behavior[]

Gadacros were savage, cruel, and vicious, but also craven. They would kill any creature available, torturing and tormenting them (often through blinding), and delayed the final act of murder as long as it was safe to do so. They had no true loyalty to each other, betraying their kin whenever convenient, and had a love for shiny trinkets, preferably those that could be worn or otherwise easily transported.^[1]

Abilities[]

Gadacros were difficult to kill and incredibly mobile, capable of both flight and instantly vanishing into a puff of smoke and brimstone in response to being hurt before reappearing 20 feet (6.1 meters) away somewhere they could see.^[1] Their talons were deadly, and with a precise hit, they could temporarily steal their opponent's sight and leave them blind for up to half a minute.

Once per day each, gadacros could use the earthbind and mirror image spell-like abilities, allowing them to keep flying creatures bound to the ground and create illusory duplicates of themselves respectively. They could also try to summon one or two more gadacros once per day, but succeeded only around one-third of the time.^[1]

Combat[]

Gadacros fought recklessly and wildly, quickly flying past their foes while slashing them with their claws. Though they harassed their prey, once an enemy was blinded, all the gadacros of a group would surround the vulnerable target with intent to rip them to pieces. They saved their ability to summon and create mirror images for when a battle turned against them, both seemingly and actually increasing their numbers.^[1]

Ecology[]

Gadacros gathered in either clutches, groups of two to six, or in murders (also called murders of eyes), groups of seven to twelve. All gadacro groups had a leader that was stronger, smarter, and swifter than its brethren, and the leader obtained and maintained their position through the assassination of rivals and the pitting of group members against each other. They also used favoritism to engender loyalty in select members, but the disenfranchised of the group, obviously, resented this, and would eventually replace the current leader with a more effectual one. In any case, gadacros rarely agreed on who would receive the tastiest parts of a meal.^[1]

Gadacros had little to do with the Blood War, but could be found in regions where it was waged. They trailed behind demonic hosts and lingered in areas wracked by war, searching for stragglers to pick off. Some acted as spies for more powerful demons like balors, but they were unreliable informants at best.^[1]

Evil spellcasters could summon gadacros using the summon monster IV spell.^[1]

Habitat[]

Gadacros were native to the Abyss and could be found anywhere within its infinite depths, but were particularly common in the Screaming Peaks of the Death Dells. They also lurked within the cliffs and crevices of the plane-spanning Blood Rift, plaguing the lost and unwary and picking the eyes of the dead.^[1]

Biology[]

Although they did not actually need to eat, gadacros enjoyed consuming meat and craved the flesh of living beings. Their favorite form of fresh meat was eyeballs, removed from the skull and preferably devoured while the victim was still alive.^[1]