Non-Dark Sun Creatures in Dark Sun - Elemental, Composite

 There are many creatures from the various monstrous manuals that have been officially added to Dark Sun. I added some unofficially for my game and I'm sure a lot of other DMs do the same.
There is no inherent problem with this, although the flavor text often doesn't fit with the Dark Sun setting. My goal is to list the various monsters that "don't fit" and rewrite their flavor text to make them fit.
I often add a new Athasian variant as well.

Elemental, Composite

	Tempest	Skriaxit	Cherufe
Climate/Terrain	Any, non Underground	Any Desert and Silt Sea	In or near Volcanoes
Frequency	Very Rare	Very Rare	Very Rare
Organization	Solitary	Pack	Solitary
Activity Cycle	Any	Any	Any
Diet	Moisture	Emotions	Ashes
Intelligence	Low to Average (5-10)	Exceptional (15-16)	Average (8-10)
Treasure	M x 3	Nil	N x 2, Q
Alignment	Chaotic Neutral	Neutral Evil	Chaotic Evil
No. Appearing	1	3-18	1-3
Armor Class	2	-5	-3
Movement	Fl 24	12, 18, or 24	16
Hit Dice	9-12	16+16 or 24+24	12-14
THAC0	9-10 HD: 11 11-12 HD: 9	5	12 HD: 9 13 HD: 8 14 HD: 7
No. of Attacks	1	2	1
Damage/Attack	2-16	2-20/2-20	2-24
Special Attacks	Whirlwind, Lightning	Sandstorm, Dispel Magic	Fire Rain, Spells
Special Defenses	+2 or better weapon to hit; see below	+2 or better weapon to hit; see below	+2 or better weapon to hit; see below
Magic Resistance	Nil	50%	25%
Size	G (50' diameter)	L (10' tall)	H (15' tall)
Morale	Champion (15-16)	Fanatic (17-18)	Fanatic (17-18)
XP Value	9 HD: 6,000 10 HD: 7,000 11 HD: 8,000 12 HD: 9,000	16+16 HD: 16,000 24+24 HD: 24,000	12 HD: 12,000 13 HD: 13,000 14 HD: 14,000

TEMPEST
The tempest is a living storm which appears as a dark storm cloud of comparatively small size. Human or bestial features can often be seen in the roiling vapors of the tempest. Silver veins extend across the creature and carry the electrical impulses that maintain the storm’s energy.
Tempests have no language that humans may learn. They can communicate with air and water elementals and their kin, and genies, through subtle wind buffets and spatterings of precipitation. A few, perhaps 10%, have learned to speak a few words of a Tableland language. Their voices are very soft and sibilant, with a hint of malice behind the words.
As living storms, tempests are exceptionally rare on Athas.

Combat
Tempests are territorial and consider any violation of their airspace to be a direct challenge. They feed on moisture from animals and often hunt in and around their territories. They have a number of innate abilities which they can use to make life miserable for other creatures. Unless otherwise specified, all special abilities are used as if the tempest were a 9th-level wizard. A tempest can make two attacks each round, one using its wind powers and one using its lightning power.
Once per round, a tempest can use wind wall or gust of wind, or may attack with a strong wind buffet for 2-16 points of damage. Alternately, it may create a small whirlwind, which is conical in shape, 10 feet in diameter at the bottom, and 30 feet in diameter at the top. The whirlwind can be up to 50 feet high, and must connect to the tempest’s main body.
The tempest takes one full round to create the whirlwind, which can cover an area of 100 square feet per round. Within that area, it automatically sweeps away and kills all creatures with less than 2 Hit Dice, and causes 2d6 points of damage to all creatures which it fails to kill outright.
Tempests may also use their powers over the air to penalize missile attacks by -6, or to batter down flying creatures, causing falling damage to flying creatures that fail to make a successful saving throw vs. paralyzation.
A tempest can also cast a lightning bolt once per round, at one victim. The lightning bolt causes one die of damage per Hit Die of the tempest. A victim of a lightning attack can make a saving throw vs. spells; if successful, the victim takes only half damage. The tempest’s lightning bolt is like the 3rd-level wizard spell in other respects, having a length of 80 feet, setting fire to combustibles, melting metals, and shattering barriers. An exceptionally hungry or perturbed tempest may use lightning to destroy an entire building to reach the creatures inside.
Tempests can also use a chilling wind to affect opponents, causing damage as a chill touch spell, 1d4 points of damage and the loss of 1 point of Strength, unless the victim makes a successful saving throw vs. spells. This attack takes the place of either an electrical attack or another wind attack.
A tempest can produce up to 20 gallons of rain per round if it concentrates and forgoes other attacks while raining. While precipitation is usually evenly distributed throughout its area, the tempest can concentrate the fall to fill a hole, wash out a road, or otherwise harm its victims.
Tempests are immune to wind, gas, and water attacks, and take only half damage from electrical or cold-based attacks. They are immune to all weapons of less than +2 enchantment.

Habitat/Society
There is much speculation about the origin of these beings, who are apparently related to elementals and to genie-kind. Tempests are composed of all four basic elements, fire, earth, air, and water; fire in the form of lightning, earth in their silver “circulatory system”, air in their winds, and water in the form of rain. They may be summoned accidentally when a spellcaster tries to summon an elemental, especially one of air or water. At the DM’s option, when a summoning is interfered with, the caster may be given a 2%-10% chance to summon a tempest. These beings may also be attracted by a weather summoning spell, with a 1% (non-cumulative) chance of appearing each time a spell is cast.
Some sages believe these creatures are jann that have been injured in some way and cannot retain human form. Whatever their origin, they do breed and reproduce as storms. Though “male” and “female” do not truly describe the different types of tempests, there are two genders. When living storms of different genders meet, they have a brief, tempestuous affair, causing a great conflagration that may last more than a week. Tornadoes are produced irregularly from the mass, to wreak havoc upon the surrounding area.
When the storm finally breaks, the two tempests leave the area, and the residue they leave behind forms 1d4 infant tempests. These infant storms, sometimes referred to as tantrums, often travel together until they reach maturity, one year after birth. The young storms have 6 Hit Dice each, and can use only the gust of wind power, besides producing rain. Most young tempests do not survive their first year.
Most tempests quite naturally seem to have very stormy dispositions. Their hunger for animal life goes beyond their need for the moisture contained in animal bodies. Some sages speculate that their physical form, or possibly some event in their history, causes them to hate animal life. It is quite possible that the electrical impulses produced by animal brains cause pain to the tempest.
Tempests may be related to skriaxits, the living sandstorms of some worlds’ deserts. No tempest has ever been known to encounter a skriaxit, and their relationship and possible interactions are completely unknown.

Ecology
Tempests feed on the moisture found in animal bodies. Though unable to cause harm to living creatures by draining their moisture, they hover close to the ground after a battle to suck the water from dead opponents, as well as any water they may have precipitated during the battle. They are sometimes found scavenging after great battles between humans. By removing water from a corpse, they render it inviable to return to life via a raise dead spell, though resurrection and other spells work normally.
When a tempest is killed, a silver residue rains down from its form. If carefully gathered, this residue provides a mass of silver equivalent to 3d6 silver pieces. Though valuable as a precious metal, the silver can also be used as a component in making a wand of lightning or casting a weather-related spell. Bits of the silver are also useful for making other weather or elemental related magical items.
Genies and elementals are generally enemies of tempests; they often attack them, and tempests respond in like manner. However, some genies, especially djinn and marids, keep tempests as pets, training them as guards, or to be used in the elemental war.
Tempests can be quite devastating to a local ecology if annoyed, and can cause great damage with wind, rain, and other attack forms. The rain they provide to areas is not always bemoaned. Living storms are never found inside buildings or underground.

SKRIAXIT
Skriaxits, also called blackstorms or living sandstorms, are the most feared creatures in many desert areas. Twisted silt paraelementals created on the plane of silt and released on the elemental planes and Athas. They are, fortunately, only rarely active. They speak the tongue of silt paraelementals and their own language, a howling, shrieking tongue that frightens most humans who hear it.
Much like very large versions of the dust devils created by the wizard’s spell, blackstorms take the sand, dust, and silt of the desert and Silt Sea and whirl it to create their 10-foot-tall conical forms. At rest, a skriaxit appears to be a wind-scattered pile of black dust. As a pack, they create their greatest terror, generating high winds and a fierce sandstorm that can render a human fleshless in minutes.

Combat
Skriaxits move by generating a large vortex of wind that propels them at high speeds. If there are 1-6 skriaxits together, their speed is 12; 7-12 skriaxits have a speed of 18; if there are 13 or more skriaxits, their speed is 24. The skriaxit vortex creates a sandstorm in a 200-yard radius around them; those caught in this storm suffer 1 point of damage per round per skriaxit (so if there are 12 skriaxits in a pack, victims take 12 points of damage per round.
Within this sandstorm, the skriaxit pack constantly dispels magic as a 16th-level wizard.
Each skriaxit can form its winds into razor sharp lashes, inflicting 2d10 points of damage on a successful strike.
Many skriaxits were created on the plane of silt, but many were also created on Athas, by powerful silt clerics working closely with their masters. There is a 80% chance that skriaxits encountered on Athas were created there and are considered native to Athas, for many spell effects. No known magic can control them, though they are susceptible to wards against silt paraelementals.
Each skriaxit pack is led by a Great Skriax, the most evil member of the pack. This creature has 24+24 Hit Dice and gains a +4 bonus to attack and damage rolls.

Habitat/Society
Skriaxits are highly intelligent, but extremely evil, silt paraelementals. They hate and fear nothing, but simply delight in destruction. They feed on terror and destruction; once they have caused enough catastrophe, they sleep for 1d3 centuries. They can be awoken by taking damage, but will generally kill whatever woke them and return to slumber. They reawaken when hungry. They view humans, demihumans, and humanoids as playthings, with the same sadistic attitude as a human child playing with a fly. They may amuse themselves by listening to humans bargain with them, but only silt clerics have anything of interest to offer them. They even see silt clerics as inferior, but useful tools.

Ecology
Skriaxits feed upon the emotions of terror and fear they generate in those they destroy and kill. They are not a part of the natural ecology of Athas. They are never found underground or inside buildings.

CHERUFE
Cherufe, also called Black Clouds of Vengeance, are elementals of fire and air. Cherufe appear as huge blackened humanoids surrounded by swirling smoke and flames. Cherufes have no language that humans may learn. They can communicate with air and fire elementals, their kin, and genies. Very few of them, perhaps 5%, have bothered to learn a language common to the Tablelands.
Many cherufe serve the elemental planes of fire and air, but some have defected and joined the forces of magma or sun. Fire and air genies watch cherufe closely, as they are unpredictable and always seeking to fight and destroy. Most are zealots and fanatically fight in the elemental war.
A cherufe may destroy an entire village, if it hears a rumor that an enemy cleric resides there.

Combat
Cherufe have a number of innate abilities which they can use to destroy their enemies. Unless otherwise specified, all special abilities are used as if the cherufe were a 10th-level spell caster.
Once per round, a cherufe can cast any priest or wizard spell of level three or less, or they may attack with a column of flame for 2-24 (2d12) points of damage. Spells cast by the cherufe must be air or fire spells and they may cast each spell only once per day.
The cherufe may forgo its normal attacks and take one full round to create a fiery rain, which can cover an area of 100 square feet. Within that area it causes 7d10 points of damage to all creatures, which are allowed a saving throw vs breath weapon for half damage. The cherufe may use this ability once every 2d4 rounds.
Cherufe, like Tempests, may also use their powers over the air to penalize missile attacks by -4, or to batter down flying creatures, causing falling damage to flying creatures that fail to make a successful saving throw vs. paralyzation, with a +1 bonus.
Tempests are immune to wind, gas, and fire attacks, and take only half damage from electrical or magma-based attacks. All saving throws vs water and cold based spells are at a -2 penalty. They are immune to all weapons of less than +2 enchantment.

Habitat/Society
Cherufe are created on the elemental planes of fire or air. They occasionally find themselves moved to Athas through natural portals, or sent to destroy a hated enemy. They delight in destruction and death, but only if that destruction and death is caused by themselves.
On Athas, they seek out the hottest places to make their homes, usually volcanoes. The may be found in small groups there, but do not purposefully join fighting groups.
Cherufe are created and, unlike Tempests, cannot breed on their own.

Ecology
Cherufe feed upon the ashes of the items and creatures they destroy and kill. They are not a part of the natural ecology of Athas. They are rarely found inside a building or underground, but may be found there if a sufficient source of heat is present.