The subtle sound kept getting closer.
Marvin knew this was the scraping sound of a Hook Horror's legs when moving on stone walls.
Only with a sufficiently high Listen skill could he notice the Hook Horror before it found him.
Marvin silently listened for a while, quickly concluding, 'Only one, probably dispatched by the group to hunt.'
'A common Hook Horror shouldn't be too hard.'
But Marvin didn't treat it lightly. This kind of lifeform was a very frightening predator of the Underdark. It had a vulture-like head with bony hooks in place of hands, and their legs were thick and solid with sharp claws. Hook Horrors walked on two legs and could also climb cliffs. The very hard carapace layer on the back made them the natural enemies of rogues!
Ordinary Thieves might not be able to break through a Hook Horror's defense at all.
They would be blown away by the hooks and might lose their lives.
For those interested, we have started adding illustrations of races and monsters in NR's discord.
If you are curious about those, want to suggest a particularly cool illustration, or if you youself did a talented illustration, you can join us here:
https://discord.gg/j3CuetU