Grootslang

While it’s easy to mistake a grootslang for an elephant upon first glance, once the rest of its body becomes visible, the creature resembles a grotesque puppet manipulated like a marionette from the inside by a snake large enough to swallow a building. A grootslang stands 20 feet tall, with skin like plated armor and a pair of massive forearms. It sports six deadly tusks capable of piercing flesh and bone with ease. The rest of its body extends up to 60 feet long. A grootslang’s face resembles that of an elephant, but much like its serpentine cousins, it can unhinge its lower jaw to swallow its prey.

A person encountering a grootslang has a slight chance of reasoning with or bribing the beast, possibly escaping a deadly fate. A hoard of gems is no guarantee of safety, however, and a particularly cruel grootslang will just as likely go back on their word upon receiving the offering.

Unwise Creations

The grootslang sounds like a cruel cosmic prank by the gods of creation. Tales among the Mwangi peoples claim that when Golarion was young, an unwise and now forgotten deity created beasts with unmatched strength and cunning, which became the first grootslangs. These creatures proved too fearsome, and the deities separated them to create the first elephants and snakes. One of these grootslangs escaped, however, and the deities were unable to stop grootslangs from repopulating as they hid among the Mwangi Expanse.