William O’Connor. Accessed at the Dracopedia Project here
[This was originally, yes, an amphiptere. Bestiary 5 has an amphiptere in it which is pretty neat, and fits nicely CR-wise between my lesser and greater versions. Mechanically, however, it’s nothing like them.]
Pterotus, Lesser A garishly colored serpent flitters before you on
leathery wings. It gazes at you with intelligent eyes.
Lesser pteroti are unusual
offshoots of dragon-kind. Unlike most dragons, they are limbless save their
bat-like wings. They are also unusually gregarious as dragons go, feeling most
comfortable in large associations of a dozen or more. These groups are often
made up of several extended families, and the branches of trees inhabited by lesser
pteroti chirp and rustle with conversations in Draconic. They will gladly
converse with humanoids who speak this language, so long as they are civil and
polite.
Lesser pteroti are
carnivores, feeding mostly on large insects and arachnids, rodents and small
birds. They have very keen senses of smell and prefer to nest in trees with
aromatic barks or resins, such as cedar, frankincense or gum trees. This often
brings them into conflict with humanoids who seek to harvest these trees for
their own purposes. The acid they spit is not very strong, but causes such pain
that few people willingly cross a lesser pterotus twice. Ibises are apparently
immune to this pain effect, and gladly feed on lesser pteroti, a fact which
makes them beloved in many communities that depend on incense and gum for
trade.
A lesser pterotus can be
taken as a familiar by a 7th level spellcaster with the Improved
Familiar feat of any alignment with a neutral component.
Lesser pteroti are native to Koll, where they inhabit the central jungles of that continent. Their relation to the greater pteroti is uncertain, but the two species are friendly to each other. Once a year, the lesser migrate north from their jungles in great flocks to meet the greater over the savannas, performing dazzling acrobatic displays.
Shores of Swords 