Tidehawk
Image © Paizo Publishing, accessed at Archives of Nethys here
[The tidehawk is a fun monster; sort of an opposite day phoenix. I appreciate how its self-resurrection ability has limitations (like that of the mythological phoenix, where it's an allegory for the rising sun/resurrection of Christ instead of a power up), and I like that the artist went out of their way to make the face actually look like a hawk, as opposed to eagle or falcon.]
Tidehawk CR 12 N Magical Beast This massive bird is blue black in color, with broad wings and a long flowing tail of feathers. It has the hooked beak and piercing eyes of a bird of prey, and water runs along its plumage.
Tidehawks are aquatic avians that are metaphysical kin to phoenixes. They nest below the water’s surface in areas with a hard protected substrate—anywhere from coral reefs to sea caves to oceanic trenches. Most tidehawks live in saltwater, as they require a lot of food, but larger lakes may be home to these creatures as well. They come to the surface to exult in rainstorms, in pursuit of migrating megafauna such as whales, or to investigate any disturbance strong enough to be felt in the depths.
A tidehawk at the surface is perhaps the most dangerous tidehawk of all, as they can exploit the interface between sea and sky. When they breach the water’s surface, a tidehawk can create a massive wave that batters enemies and swamps boats, and the elemental birds can draw water over their feathers to act as a shield. Tidehawks are always in motion when they choose to fight, swooping to attack with natural weapons, firing high-pressure blasts of water to damage and knock down foes, or casting spells. Only fire can permanently injure a tidehawk, and so they only fight cautiously if enemies have ready access to fire damage.
Tidehawks and phoenixes share the ability to bring themselves back to life, but a tidehawk’s powers are rather more limited. They can only resurrect themselves once they flow back into the sea, which can be months or years if the tidehawk is caught in combat over land, and have no ability to remove the negative levels inflicted by their brief excursions into death. This, in combination with their neutral natures, means that phoenixes see tidehawks as rather poor relations, being flighty and unreliable in the fight against evil. Tidehawks, for their part, see phoenixes as meddling busybodies. The two lineages only cooperate in cases where both their interests overlap: if a powerful evil creature threatens an aquatic environment.
