Tyrantfowl (3.5e Monster)

''An dog-sized orange chicken patrols dutifully over a boiling vat of hot oil, pitchfork tucked under wing which it deftly twirls and stabs down at the crackling victims in the burning oil below. It seems to have razor sharp teeth within its beak and its feathers are like off-color rusted steel.''

The shock troopers and tormentors of the demon lord Bookbakoook the Mother Clucker, tyrantfowls oversee the torture and punishment of abyssal souls in her layer. These punishers deep fry their victims alive and serve them to other demons, only for the offal that results to be collected, recycled, and returned for a fresh round of torment. They enjoy their job, perhaps a little too much, taking great glee in the irony of cooking the ones who once cooked them. Their sadism knows no bounds to this end and they usually play with their victims if they have time to.

When not torturing petitioners, they form Bookbakoook's shock troops. Superior warriors than the demon chicken mooks, they storm into battles eagerly ripping and tearing with their demon fork, beaks, and powerful talons. They quickly become lost in the bloodlust and will not stop until every non-chicken is dead, making them a reckless but effective troop.

Tyrantfowl speak Abyssal and the language of chickens and other domesticated birds. They speak often, taunting their opponents and exclaiming how good they will taste once they drag their souls to the abyss.

Combat
Tyrantfowl are straight and to the point when possible, charging in and striking as many times as they can, using their damage reduction and sadism to protect them. They usually come with allies for flanking and distraction, or to aid another their attacks if they have trouble striking. Unusually strong for chickens, their damage would be unimpressive if it weren't so hard to remove. An army of tyrantfowls quickly overwhelm their opponents through sheer attrition.

Augmented Critical : In the hands of a tyrantfowl, the demon fork has a base critical range of 18-20, and they have a +4 bonus to confirm critical hits.

Demon Fork : All minions of Bookbakoook possess a special trident called a demon fork. It has the damage and reach of a +1 unholy trident of a creature one size category larger, and is a finessable weapon. In the hands of other creatures, they are simply medium sized tridents. Tyrantfowl somehow manipulate these weapons with their wings in spite of lacking hands, and can tuck it away hidden with a +20 search check to find when sheathed.

Frying : The attacks of a tyrantfowl sizzle and leave terrible scars and burns. Half of the damage a tyrantfowl does with its attacks is vile damageBoVD (round down), which cannot be healed normally. Magical healing can restore vile damage if the caster succeeds on a caster level check DC 11 + HD (DC 19), or if casting it within a consecrate or hallow effect. Creatures which are immune to fire take normal damage instead of vile damage.

Headless : Tyrantfowl are hard to keep dead. They can live without their head for 1d10 days, though they are blind and they become mindless creatures during this time (rending them immune to mind-affecting effects). This renders them partly immune to the vorpal weapon enhancement... at least for a short time.

Sadist : Tyrantfowl really enjoy the suffering of others. Whenever they confirm a critical hit, they gain the damage dealt as healing, and gain a +2 morale bonus on attack and damage for 1 minute.