The hatori are a monstrous reptile-like creature though to be native to the deserts of Gaeleth. Hatori are massive creatures, some reaching nearly a mile in length. Although normally in their semi-dormant feeding stage, when active they can rise from the sands and stand nearly a thousand feed off the desert floor on four massive pillared legs. They have been described in appearance as being a desert crocodile.

In their semi-dormant feeding stage, the hatori lies the sandy areas with its maw open, using its massive rasped tongue and one-way gut to slowly pull in great quantities of sand. The beast digests all organic matter within the sand, and even takes in a great quantity of silica, breaking silicon dioxide down, as well as carbon-based matters. Solar heating during the day helps power this semi-crystalline beast, and its massive size and insulation serve to keep the sand flowing and digesting during the cool of the night. During the more winter months, or when roused to wakefulness, the hatori can move two hundred miles in a day to a new feeding ground, generating massive amounts of heat in its movement to keep the digestion of sand and biomatter going.

Young hatori are hatched from silica eggs that appear to be large boulders, with clutches of a dozen eggs each a hundred feet in diameter not uncommon. Hatori young are often cannibalistic, eating one another or the others' eggs until there is only one, and this young one goes to find sand of its own to ingest. Hatori can take centuries to grow to maturity, and yet they grow quite rapidly, adding on a hundred feet or more in length each year. Adults five millennia in age are not unusual.

Their cloaca is a marvel of bioengineering, in that it bakes out and retains all water taken from the internal mucus generated to help with the passage of the silica. The internal fluids are quite acidic, and only extreme bacteria survive and aid in the digestion of the hatori. In many considerations, their size alone make the hatori an independent biome. It is thought that the hatori help spread deserts, as their feces are remarkably dry sand, but whether this is true or not is unknown, as they take millennia to affect the lands around them, despite their great size.

Some hatori were used as mobile command centers during the War of the Four Winds.

Hatori, Level 30, Solo Brute
Gargantuan, XP 95,000
HP 1116; Bloodied 558
AC 42; Fortitude 43; Reflex 42; Will 42
Speed 20, Burrow 10
Saving Throws +5; Action Points 2
Initiative +22
Perception +22

(aura) Sizeable Terror • Aura 100 All creatures subject to fear suffer a -5 morale penalty to all attacks.

(standard melee) Snap of the Jaws • At-Will
Attack: Reach 25; +33 vs. AC
Hit: 3d10 + 13.
Miss: 3d8 + 1 thunder damage.

(close burst) Heat of the Desert (fire) • Daily
Attack: Range 10 (all creatures); +31 vs. Fortitude
Effect: 5d12 + 14 and ongoing 30 fire damage.

(close burst) Trample the City • Recharge 4 5 6
Attack: Range 50; +33 vs. AC
Hit: 6d10 + 13 and ongoing 20 thunder damage.

(close blast) Mesa Roar • At-Will
Attack: Range 25 (all creatures); +31 vs. Fortitude
Hit: 2d10 + 12 and Stunned for 1d6 rounds.

(none) Swallow the Prey • At-Will
Effect: If Snap of the Jaws is successful, the hatori will swallow its prey; the target takes ongoing 20 fire and acid damage.

Str 45 (+32), Dex 22 (+21), Wis 25 (+22)
Con 31 (+25), Int 8 (+14), Cha 23 (+21)
Alignment unaligned, Languages —