A Space owl is a highly intelligent avian creature from the Spelljammer campaign setting.[1]
Overview[]
Space owls are highly intelligent avians with a knack for navigation. Since every spelljamming ship needs a skilled navigator, space owls are often employed in this role by humans, dwarves, and gnomes. They have also been known to serve as familiars for arcane spellcasters.[1]
Description[]
Space owls resemble normal owls, standing about 2 1/2-feet tall with a 4-foot wide wingspan. They have big, yellow, unblinking eyes and their plumage ranges in color from dark brown to snowy white. Space owls live for 110 to 200 years.
These highly intelligent birds can communicate with all birds, both terrestrial as well as those native to wildspace. They can also speak the common trade tongue, and typically learn to speak another three languages.[1]
Behavior[]
All space owls are naturally gifted spelljamming navigators. They have an innate sense of direction, and instinctively memorize the positions of all heavenly bodies in their native crystal sphere. This means that they can serve as a ship's navigator without having to rely on star charts when travelling in their native sphere. They can also learn the astronomical layouts of other crystal spheres, but this requires at least one month of travel in any given system, or up to 4 days studying an accurate map of the sphere.
Besides navigation, space owls are also adept at calculating planetary orbits, debating philosophy or science, and even playing chess. Their only drawback is an unfortunate tendency to ramble, over-analyze, and use huge polysyllabic words. Some space owls go on to study up to four other subjects, including Ancient History, Animal Lore, Astrology, Engineering, and Spellcraft. Space owls also dedicate time to learning new languages, as well as how to read a humanoids lips.[1]
Combat[]
These intellectually inclined birds are rather reluctant to enter combat. They would much rather discuss the conflict with their opponent, trying to dig deep into their subconscious in an effort to explain their violent tendencies. Is it nature? Is it a bad upbringing? Since most sentient beings resent being mentally dissected, this tendency often winds up infuriating an enemy even more.
This means that space owls often have no choice but to defend themselves, using their sharp talons as well as their hooked beaks to fend off their opponents. However, they realized long ago that their physical attacks were unlikely to deter an enemy. Consequently, they developed the following spell-like abilities, which they can use up to three times per day, including invisibility, minor image, blink, ventriloquism, and spook. In addition, they can also use find the path, true seeing, and augury once per day.[1]
Society[]
Space owls congregate in small groups called parliaments. They nest in trees, on the roofs of buildings that house knowledge (observatories, mage towers, libraries or laboratories etc.), or in the wrecks of spelljammer ships. (When space owls lair in a shipwreck, they often try to rebuild it.) A parliament may consist of a number of mated pairs who have come together to tend their young. Females may lay up to 5 eggs, producing up to 4 owlets.
Space owl are nocturnal, and love the starry night sky of wildspace. They have exceptional hearing and darkvision, but bright lights, such as light spells, blind them. Space owls require little air to survive in the void of space; and only need to spend a few minutes in an atmosphere every couple of days to meet their needs. They eat almost anything, including cooked food, wine, and sweets. In the wild, they eat plants, insects, and small rodents.[1]
As a familiar[]
An arcane spellcaster who wishes to attract a space owl familiar must first cast the find familiar spell, and must then persuade the owl to bond with them.[1]
Appendix[]
External Links[]
- Space owl article at the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition Wiki, a wiki for official Dungeons & Dragons content from 2nd edition AD&D.