Gynosphinx

D&D 2024 monster: Gynosphinx. Source: Monster Manual (2014). challenge rating 11, creature type Monstrosity, Large size, speed 40 ft., fly 60 ft. A gynosphinx bears the head of a humanoid female. Many have the regal countenances of worldly queens, but some are marked with wild, leonine features. A gynosphinx's eyes see beyond the present time and place, and penetrate veils of invisibility and magic. Supplicants who look deep into those eyes might find themselves magically displaced, banished to some far flung plane where a difficult trial awaits them. Gynosphinxes are virtual libraries of knowledge and lore. They ask riddles and present puzzles to test the wit of supplicants that come to learn their secrets. Some are willing to bargain with such supplicants for treasure or service. Sphinxes In sacred isolation, a sphinx guards the secrets and treasures of the gods. As it calmly regards each new party that comes before it, the bones of supplicants and quest seekers that failed to pass its tests lie scattered around its lair. Its great wings sweep along its flanks, its tawny leonine body rippling with muscle and possessed of forepaws powerful enough to tear a humanoid in half. Divine Guardians Sphinxes test the worth of those who seek the treasures of the gods, whether forgotten secrets or mighty spells, artifacts or magical gateways. Creatures that choose to face a sphinx's test are bound to that test unto death, and only those worthy will survive it. The rest the sphinx destroys. Some sphinxes are high priests of the gods that create them, but most are simply embodied spirits, brought into the mortal realm by devout prayer or direct intervention. A sphinx maintains its vigil tirelessly, not needing to sleep or eat. It rarely engages with others of its kind, knowing no other life except its sacred mission. Magical Tests The secrets and treasures a sphinx guards remain under divine protection, so that when a creature fails a sphinx's test, the path to the object or...