Spinewyrm

A close relative of the silk wyrm, the spinewyrm wears a hard chitin shell of bony plates from head to tail, each plate studded with rows of vicious spikes that skewer anything caught in its coils. It has no wings, yet it flies by means of a special organ found only in the wyrms of the desert world.

Spinewyrms hunt from the air over the city-state heartlands, rarely striking before dusk. On spotting prey, one prefers to combine ectoplasmic form and chameleon power, becoming 90% undetectable to the eye, and dive while still camouflaged, attacking at +4 if unnoticed.

A hit means the target is wrapped in its spiked coils and takes 2d6 damage that round, unless a Dexterity check at -4 lets the target slip free. Each following round deals 2d4 more. From the fourth round of constriction on, the victim must save vs. death magic each round or pass out, at which point the wyrm flies off with its catch to some lonely bluff or spire to eat.

Reduced to a quarter of its hit points, the wyrm drops its prey and fires 2d4 spines (up to eight) at one or two targets, which must be within 10 feet of one another. Every spine needs its own attack roll and deals 1d6. Spent spines regrow in six weeks.

Psionics: the psychometabolic science shadow form and the devotions chameleon power, displacement and ectoplasmic form.

Spinewyrms are loners that wander in search of food, though groups of two to six are sometimes seen flying together, always around the same season, which suggests a mating migration. Anything that sparkles fascinates them, and their nests often hold gems, coins, jewelry and other glittering objects.

A spinewyrm nests on a remote peak, usually in a shallow cave where it can hide while sleeping and eating, and brings its prey there. It unhinges its lower jaw to engulf a meal whole, which takes 1-6 hours depending on size. It swallows everything at once, and digestion is slow: another one to six hours may pass before it can fly again, and after a large meal up to 12 hours before it can move about comfortably.