Anzu

Anzu is a Hostile (Monster) — a colossal storm-bird with leonine shoulders, a ruff of bristling feathers and the slow, deliberate menace of a predator that rules the sky. Field notes record a palette of extremes: Smell: sharp ozone and the warm, metallic tang of scorched reeds as if lightning has been ground into the air. Sound: a deep, resonant wingbeat that rolls like distant thunder and a high, keening cry that sets smaller birds to silence. Temperature: the air tightens and warms around its passage, static prickling at the skin; stray gusts carry the dryness of midday heat and the sudden chill of a brewing storm. In daylight it casts a shadow like an eclipse; at dusk its silhouette is a ragged crown against the clouds.