Harrier

Harriers are hairless humanoids with two arms, two legs, and a head bearing slightly pointed ears, red eyes that glow, and a cruel beak rimmed with needle teeth. Beak and leathery hide are both mottled green. A thin flap of skin runs from each arm down to the knee, letting the creature glide between treetops; its clawed hands and feet serve for climbing as well as fighting. Mercifully, they live only in the hottest jungles.

Motionless against green foliage, a harrier is very hard to spot, giving opponents -2 on surprise rolls. It swoops in fast, striking with claws and beak. Any successful peck carries a 25% chance of injecting a burning venom that deals an extra 2-12 damage for one round; the agony imposes -2 on the victim's attacks and cancels any Dexterity bonus to Armor Class while it lasts, 5-20 rounds in all. A successful saving throw halves the damage and eases the pain to a -1 attack penalty.

If both front claws hit, the harrier clamps on and brings its hind claws into play, each dealing 2-5 per hit. Once attached it deals 1-3 per front claw automatically every round and gains +2 to hit with beak and rear claws. Prying it off takes a successful Strength check and tears 2-5 per front claw, even from a dead harrier, unless the victim spends a full round working each claw loose. Heat and fire-based spells have no effect on harriers.

Harriers come together only briefly to court and mate. About three weeks later the female lays 2-8 eggs in shallow scraped pits, split into two or three clutches a few feet apart. Predators, adult harriers among them, wreck most of them; after a month only 2-5 larvae hatch and forage alone, and just 1-2 survive to adulthood.

A harrier attacks any animal it sees, even huge and dangerous ones such as dragons. If nothing living is available it eats any carrion, dead harriers included. Nothing preys on it naturally, though it has several jungle enemies.

An egg may bring as much as 1,000 gp if the buyer is right. A hatchling fed by one person through its larval stage learns to recognize that master, provided the master also spends at least an hour daily with it as it grows. Because harriers know nothing of parental care, recognition is all it will ever learn, and it stays dangerous and unpredictable. Posted as a guard, it defends that spot to the death.

A larva is a little worm-shaped grub with see-through, mottled brown skin and a toothless beak that develops as they grow. Near maturity, limbs and organs show beneath the skin. With plenty of food a larva develops fast, molting at two months to emerge as a small but complete harrier.