Wyvern Drake

Born of a dragon and a wyvern, the wyvern drake measures 45 feet, half of it tail, with wings spanning 60 feet and a yard-long stinger. Its body, legs and wings share the wyvern's dark brown to gray hues, but the 5-foot head takes its color from the dragon parent. Swirls of red or orange in its irises recall its wyvern blood.

Along with hisses and roars it speaks common, its dragon parent's language, and one or two others it picks up. Drakes raised from the egg by a dragon-worshiping cult usually know common, the dragon tongue, and perhaps a local language or that of humanoids the cult deals with.

Smarter than any wyvern, the drake is a deadly foe that prefers open ground and always attacks from the air. Its scorpion-like sting injects type F poison, and a victim who fails a save vs. poison dies. The tail can strike in any direction within reach, even curling over the back at enemies ahead, which makes it handy in an aerial brawl. It may also grab a smaller foe, climb high and let go (normal falling damage), or drop boulders on enemies at -2 to hit for 1d10 points each.

Three times a day it can use the breath weapon of its dragon parent. The breath always inflicts damage equal to the drake's full normal hit points, no matter how wounded or healed it currently is. Attacks resembling its own breath cannot harm it, and weapons or items made to slay dragons gain no extra effect against it. Against flying enemies it relies on breath over claws and teeth.

It stalks with patience, giving off no sound or shadow, and its silent dive imposes -2 on the victim's surprise roll. It avoids obviously stronger enemies, but a hungry drake will tackle a group of humans.

Wild drakes live alone, pairing only for the few months needed to raise young to fledglings. They lair on cliffs or peaks above forests and plains, ideally near caravan roads or migration paths. A typical hunting ground covers about 25 square miles, but a drake can fly 150 miles out and back again in a day. Unlike common wyverns they never fight each other unless there is truly nothing else to eat, and they gather treasure as dragons do.

Cult-raised drakes serve as aerial scouts and flying war platforms, most trained to carry cult members as riders.

A drake eats about a cow or horse a day, swallowing it whole after the fight is over (never during melee); bones, metal and stone the victim carried are not digested. It eats carrion only as a last resort. Few creatures prey on it, though other large predators may attack if they feel it has invaded their range.