Great Owl

Appearance
Extremely large bird, white and black in color, with a curved beak and very large, round green eyes. Hover over the ground constantly.

Background
Wizards have observed a very interesting mutation in the angry owl species in areas usually associated with the dead such as graveyards. Many owls have had their feathers somehow bleached white and have gained an ethereal green glow to their eyes. Analysis of their feathers have showed that their bodies are effectively supercharged with spectral energy, the mysterious substance that glows in the same way spectral appearances does. Observation of those great owls has allowed wizards to confirm their theory ; those unique owls somehow are able to attack specters, leading them to hunt and devour them, the white color of their feathers and the glow of their eyes being a product of the spectral energy thus consumed.

Theories as to the birth of those mysterious owls are many but demonic intervention has been discredited ; they lack the freak mutations or the blood lust usually associated with demonically enhanced species, being little more than particularly strong owls with glowing feathers. They are also not a monster variant, being just as docile as normal angry owls usually. The current leading theory is that they are the result of angry owls hunting down undead and other spectral energy-charged creatures in Death's domain, leading to this unique mutation occuring.

Wizards are, to this day, trying to understand this species ; its strange behaviours, especially regarding when other owls around them are injured, lead many wizards to theorize that the great owls may have a hidden sixth sense that allow them to feel the souls of creatures. Replicating this ability with magic may allow people to finally study and understand the mysteries of specters once and for all.

Tactical analysis
Great owls are largely like angry owls in the way that they are docile wild animals who show little interest in sapients but will counterattack viciously if provoked. However, many adventurers have reported that great owls have charged them despite not being attacked first though further questionning has shown that those people had attacked normal angry owls before being charged, leading one to believe that the great owls can sense the pain of their kin and will react to it in that same offended manner as if they had been themselves attacked. In light of this, adventurers should always make sure to be aware of the presence of great owls when moving to engage angry owls.

If an adventurer face both great owls and angry owls, the great owls should always be eliminated first ; apart from their tendency to react harshly to attacks to their kin, the spectral energy has also made the great owls particularly deadly. It make their claws unnaturally sharp and confers almost unreal strength to their attacks ; even a single strike from a great owl will do considerable damage, tearing off massive chunks of unarmored targets and making deep cuts into one's body even through fine steel. Likewise, it also confers them enhanced durability. It is nowhere near as great a durability boost as those that monsters benefit from but it will still allow them to better endure strikes than angry owls can.

Even more than the angry owl, it is best to just leave them alone. Still, if an adventurer really wants, or need, to destroy those creatures, isolating them and taking them down individually after every other enemy type (except for the angry owl) has been taken down is best.