Bestiary

Called “the Breaker of Boats,” Kongamato has long terrorized fishing villages all over Africa. They say you can’t see Kongamato coming; in the skies above, he looks just like any other bird. It’s not until Kongamato makes its descent that you realize what it is.

Kongamato announces itself with a piercing scream — not the call of a normal bird, but a shrill shriek that shatters eardrums and incapacitates people. Survivors often say that’s the last sound anyone heard before their fellow crewmen disappeared. Kongamato (or perhaps it’s the Kongamato, or a kongamato — accounts differ) then attacks the boat or shoreline by flying high into the sky and then darting down. The creature’s strong body and pointed beak pierce through boats on the water, shattering decks and sinking vessels. While the crewmen try desperately to swim to shore, Kongamato picks them off — grabbing them up, ripping their bodies in half, or sometimes dropping them from great heights and then carrying their broken bodies off to feast on in its nest.

The Kongamato doesn’t limit itself to human flesh. It also feasts on small animals such as dogs, cats, and goats. Its beak has a sharp point capable of tearing into bone, and its powerful jaws can crack a body’s bones before its large mouth swallows the shattered animal whole.

Kongamato lives along rivers, hiding its nests up high in sturdy trees. Some people claim to have seen more than one of them at a time, but most accounts portray the Breaker of Boats as a solitary creature. As with many predators that seem half-real, half-legend, Kongamato appears only when it’s hunting; otherwise, it seems to keep to the trees or fly so high in the skies that human eyes cannot spot its presence. Stalking the monster, therefore, is quite difficult, and while some men have claimed to have slain Kongamato, no proof for such deeds exist… and the Breaker of Boats continues to kill.

Attributes: Strength 5, Dexterity 6, Stamina 6, Charisma 1, Manipulation 3, Appearance 2, Perception 4, Intelligence 2, Wits 3

Abilities: Alertness 5, Athletics 3, Awareness 2, Brawl 5, Stealth 5, Survival 3

Willpower: 3

Health Levels: OK, OK, OK, ‒1, ‒1, ‒2, ‒5, incapacitated

Armor Rating: 4 (10 soak dice, total)

Powers/Advantages: Claw for Strength + 2 lethal damage); beak “bites” for Strength + 3 lethal damage) / Alacrity (6 pts.); Armor (4 pts.); Claws and Fangs; Hazardous Breath /Scream (three dice lethal, 15 pts.); Homing Instinct; Soak Aggravated Damage; Wings (5 pts.)

Image: With a wingspan roughly three meters across, Kongamato resembles a demonic parody of the prehistoric Pteranodon. Cryptozoologists speculate that the Breaker of Boats is a survivor of that era, a holdover species, or perhaps the manifested spirit of such a beast whose material body is long gone. Whatever its nature might be, Kongamato has the strength and mass to smash small watercraft and lift grown men into the skies. Its scaly, red and black skin seems too thick to puncture with handheld weapons, and guns seem only to make the beast angry. The sharp edges of its long beak, meanwhile, have been known to snip a man’s arm off like a titanic scissor blade.

Roleplaying Notes: You’re cunning enough to hide, quick enough to strike, and hungry enough to take on all manner of intelligent prey… and when you do, to win.