Red Hawk Dragon [Savage Coast]

Nicknamed the feathered dragon, it is smaller and leaner than most dragons, with a sleek body ending in a stubby tail. It walks on huge hind legs, keeping its short forelimbs for handling things, and its angular head ends in a hard, pointed, beaklike upper jaw.

Hatchlings wear bright red down that becomes red feathers. Scales begin in the juvenile years on vital areas such as the chest and brow, then thicken and darken to reddish brown as the feathers deepen to dark red. By young adulthood the head is scaled save a few decorative feather lines, chest and legs are fully armored, and bands of feathered small scales border the big plates; wings and tail stay feathered.

They share a language among themselves and know the tongues of the winged elves and winged bull-folk. 15% of hatchlings can talk with any intelligent creature, plus 5% per age category.

Grounded, it bites and uses its upper claws. Aloft, it rakes with each hind talon for 2d6. If both talons hit a creature under 25 feet long, the dragon can hold it fast and fly away with it, biting at +5 while it holds on; a bend bars roll frees one claw each round.

Its fire breath, usable three times daily, is weaker than a red dragon's but still deals (2 x age category)d6. It is immune to fire and suffers double damage from cold.

Believed to be a red dragon and giant roc hybrid, it lives only on a rugged mountain peninsula, though some wander as far as the western frontier coast. Communities can top a dozen adults plus young, living in big caves or even a whole hidden valley, though members usually hunt alone on nearby slopes and plateaus or on long trips beyond. Each dragon mates for life and raises two to four young per clutch; after the first few years the whole group helps raise them.

They collect treasure without craving riches or power, but they are proud and suffer no insult to their kind. As top predators of their peaks, any rival or upstart faces the entire community. They are friendly enough with the winged elves and bull-folk, neutral to others, and prey only on creatures of Low Intelligence or less.