Catoblepas

An episode of The Dungeons &Dragons Podcast referred to the catoblepas as “the death cow.”  Mystarans and the D&D Cyclopedia referred to it as the nekrozon (for no discernable reason other than the nekro- prefix.) But a mythological animal that dates back to Pliny the Elder (and one of the few we have from non-Egyptian Africa) deserves some respect.

When a black dragon is slain far from its swamp, speculation is rife as to where its treasure might lie.  Would-be salvagers must contend with the catoblepas which has stumbled upon the dragon’s lair, as well as the will-o’-wisps who follow the beast, reveling in the terror it causes.

Some truly daring (or foolhardy) gourmands believe the mildly poisonous cheese of the female catoblepas to be a delicacy—mostly for its reputation, not its flavor.  Since the cows are impossible to domesticate, they seek equally daring (or foolhardy) volunteers to milk the beasts in the wild.

Though a magical beast, not an aberration, even nature recoils from the catoblepas.  A forest springs up in the middle of a village as grove of treants begins animating and replanting trees out of the path of a marauding catoblepas.

—Pathfinder Bestiary 2 52