Asperi

At first glance, an asperi appears to be nothing more than an unusually beautiful horse. An individual asperi can be white, gray, or dun-colored, with a graceful, flowing mane of silver, white, or light gray. A secondary mane of the same shade as the first extends from the creature’s front shoulders down along the backs of its front legs.

Unlike typical horses, asperis are intelligent magical beasts. They live in the permanent cold of remote mountain peaks, where they gallop across the glaciers and through the frigid skies. By catching prevailing winds and flying with them, asperis can move even faster through the skies than their normal flying speed permits. Their ability to “ride the wind” in this way has earned them the common name of wind steeds.

The typical asperi belongs to a herd with up to twenty members, but it spends much of its time roaming the skies alone or with just one or two chosen companions. Hippogriffs and griffons, the mortal enemies of the asperis, are almost never encountered in mountains where wind steeds live, since the far more intelligent asperis take pains to drive them off or kill them. Asperis also dislike rocs, but they get along well with pegasi. Lasting friendships between asperis and pegasi are rare, however, because the winged horses seldom venture into the cold mountain heights where the wind steeds live.

If captured when very young and raised with respect and consideration, an asperi can be trained as a steed. Any potential rider must realize that an asperi mount is not a mere animal; it is an intelligent, sentient being with opinions and ideas of its own, and it demands to be treated as such. Under no circumstances will an asperi tolerate a rider who is chaotic or evil. A paladin might convince an adult wind steed to serve as a permanent mount, but full-grown asperis usually agree to bear riders only in the short term, since they value their independence.

Asperis with 5 or more HD are very rare. Such creatures have iridescent hides that glisten like snow and rainbow-hued manes and tails.

Combat

Asperis are inoffensive creatures by nature. Given their great speed, their usual response to danger is simply to fly away. Like most horses, however, they can fight ferociously when aroused. In combat, they usually kick and slash with their front hooves and bite with their powerful jaws.

Asperis prefer to fight from the air, which gives them a significant advantage against opponents on the ground, under the right conditions. Near their mountain homes, asperis always look for opportunities to attack intruders when the latter are at the edges of cliffs or maneuvering on narrow ledges. The wind steeds use combinations of charges, bull rushes, flyby attacks, and trip attacks (all while airborne) to force their enemies over precipices or into glacial crevasses. They usually prefer to use their speed and maneuverability to avoid combat until conditions are in their favor.

Dodge Arrows (Ex): A flying asperi gains a +2 dodge bonus to AC against any missile attack during any turn in which it takes a move action. If it has a rider, he or she also gains the bonus. The bonus lasts until the asperi’s next turn.

Feather Fall (Sp): An asperi can use feather fall up to four times per day. Caster level 4th.

Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex): Because of its preternatural alertness, an asperi retains its Dexterity bonus to AC even when flat-footed, and it cannot be flanked.

Ride the Wind (Su): This ability is similar to the effect of the air walk spell in most respects. When an asperi uses ride the wind, it gains bonus movement (+1 ft. to fly speed for each 1 mph of the prevailing wind) when moving with winds faster than 20 mph. Adverse winds do not slow the creature down, but they provide no bonus movement. An asperi carrying a rider gallops through the air so smoothly that the rider can cast spells without making Concentration checks, provided that the asperi does not attack or perform any sudden aerial maneuvers.

Telepathy (Su): An asperi can communicate with any creature that has an Intelligence score of at least 1 through a form of telepathy. This communication has a range of 60 feet, and its complexity is limited by the Intelligence score of the other creature.

Wind Immunity (Ex): Winds, either natural or magical, have no effect on an asperi unless it chooses to ride them for additional movement (see Ride the Wind, above). This benefit applies equally to mountain gales, magical windstorms, elemental whirlwinds, and other similar effects.

Training an Asperi

Young asperis are worth 7,000 gp per head. They mature at the same rate as horses do. A professional trainer charges 2,000 gp to rear an asperi or to train it as a mount.

Training an asperi requires a successful Handle Animal check (DC 22 for a young asperi, DC 29 for an adult) and the willing cooperation of the creature. An asperi can fight while carrying a rider, but the rider cannot also attack unless he or she succeeds at a Ride check.

Carrying Capacity: A light load for an asperi is up to 150 pounds; a medium load, 151–300 pounds; and a heavy load, 301–450 pounds. Unlike most flying mounts, an asperi can fly with a medium or heavy load, thanks to its ride the wind ability.

Source: Monster Manual II, page 25. This creature’s statistics block has been updated to version 3.5 as given in the D&D® V.3.5 Accessory Update for Monster Manual II.