Nagpa

A nagpa is a withered human form 5 to 6 feet tall with a vulture's head, brown mummy-like skin, and knotted joints. It smells of bird droppings, mildew, dust, and stale alchemical reagents. It speaks Common and Nag (said NAWC), a racket of caws and screeches useless for whispering.

Nagpa avoid outsiders, preferring to hide or flee. Forced to fight, they open with long-range spells to end things fast, then turn to deadlier magic or melee if foes persist.

Each casts as a mage of level 9 to 12 (the DM rolls 1d4+8 and picks the spells), memorizing them and using full components like any wizard. It also has several innate powers, each usable thrice daily.

Its staff of swirled iron and wood deals 1d8 in a nagpa's hands (1d6 for others) and works like a ring of spell storing, holding three 1st- to 3rd-level spells cast at 8th level, usable by anyone. A desperate nagpa may also peck for 1d8.

There are no nagpa families or young. Few people know why: every nagpa was once a selfish human or half-elven mage whom the gods cursed and set wandering. Only a wish can undo it.

The curse also lets a nagpa feel any mention of its kind within 100 miles, its ears burning hotter as it nears the speaker, whom it can track while they stay in range. An amulet of nondetection blocks this. Ashamed beyond reason, the nagpa slays each speaker, then wanders off torn between guilt, regret, relief, and joy.

A nagpa cannot eat, sleep, laugh, breed, or share any living pleasure. Evil wizards use its skin as parchment for powerful necromantic scrolls.