Zhackal

''You spot a pack of small canines with brown and grey hides. Despite their dog-like features, the creatures are completely silent.''

Combat
Zhackals follow dying or weak victims until they are near death. The pack, led by an alpha male, then closes in and unleashes psionics against the victim until it is dead.

Description
Zhackals are small pack animals that delight in feeding off the emotions of those about to die. The packs gathers around the dying victim and feed off its emotions, using psionics to accomplish this.

Zhackals are most frequently encountered in the wilderness but some packs have been known to sneak into large cities in order to prowl through the slums and warrens in search of vulnerable prey. As the zhackal is a cowardly beast, however, these packs will generally flee if confronted by serious resistance.

Even stranger, certain jaded nobles even keep single zhackals as pets, feeding them from the emotions of dying slaves and gladiators. A zhackal fed this way becomes slavishly loyal to its new "pack leader". A zhackal is very expensive to keep in this fashion as slaves and gladiators that might otherwise live die off much sooner with a zhackal feeding upon their very feelings.

Zhackals are sometimes hunted for their fur, which has a consistency like cotton when correctly spun. A large number of unmarked pelts are required for clothing of any significant size and zhackal skin garments are extremely expensive as a result. Zhackals look like small dogs and are usually brown or gray in color. Zhackals make no sounds, although they communicate with other zhackals via mindlink.