Sometimes called Gloom Hounds or Hounds of Hades, these three-headed creatures are bred to be the ultimate guardians. Very few creatures can successfully sneak past a cerberus hound that guards a doorway or treasure.

Tortured by Hags#

Hags train these creatures through abuse designed to instill fear and rage. No hound in their charge is ever shown affection, and they are kept either in total isolation or attached to chains too short to allow the pups to comfort each other. Large groups of cerberus hounds are sometimes given very little food in order to identify weaker dogs for culling. The hags then sew shut the mouths of the runts and encourage their former pack-mates to devour them. The hags also present the hounds with captive humanoids, bound and mutilated, in order to give them a taste for blood.

Progenitors of Death Dogs#

Cerberus hounds can spawn litters of death dogs. They will only do this if there is enough food to satiate the hunger of all the hounds. The death dogs acknowledge the cerberus as the pack alpha. Whenever a cerberus dies, the death dogs fight for primacy. The victor devours the losers and, over the course of a month, it grows a new head, becoming a new cerberus to replace the original.

Fearsome Guardians#

Cerberus hounds take pride in sniffing out and devouring trespassers. Once they have been set to guard something, they never tire of their charge, even should hundreds of years pass without incident. Most hounds keep piles of their victims’ bones as beloved trophies to gnaw on. Although the hound does require sleep, it rarely succumbs to the urge, and only one of its heads sleeps at any given time.

Young Cerberus#

When a death dog transforms into a cerberus, it takes many years to grow to its full size. While these juveniles are not as large as an adult, they are still dangerous.