Wyvern (/ˈwaɪvərn/)
The Winged Serpent
This creature resembles a dragon, except is only has a pair of hind legs instead of a set of four. It is covered in dark brown scales (sometimes gray), has red-orange eyes and a jaw filled with long and sharp teeth. It has a long tail with a stinger at the end, similar to a scorpion. The creature is about 20 feet long (average: 15-35 feet) with a 50 foot wingspan.
Travelers in the wild sometimes look to the skies to see the dark-winged shape of a wyvern carrying its prey. These cousins to the great dragons hunt the same tangled forests and caverns as their kin. Their appearance sends ripples of alarm through the borderlands of civilization.
A wyvern has two scaly legs, leathery wings, and a sinewy tail topped with its most potent weapon: a poison stinger. The poison in a wyvern's stinger can kill a creature in seconds. Extremely potent, wyvern poison burns through its victim's bloodstream, disintegrating veins and arteries on its way to the heart. As deadly as wyverns can be, however, hunters and adventurers often track them to claim the venom, which is used in alchemical compounds and to coat weapons.
Aerial Hunters. A wyvern doesn't fight on the ground unless it can't reach its prey by any other means, or if it has been fooled into a position from which aerial combat isn't an option. If forced into a confrontation on the ground, a wyvern crouches low, keeping its stinger poised above its head as it hisses and growls.
Aggressive and Reckless. A wyvern intent on its prey backs down only if it sustains serious injury, or if its prey eludes it long enough for another easier potential meal to wander along. If it corners a fleeing creature in an enclosure too small to enter, a wyvern guards where the quarry hides, lashing with its stinger whenever opportunity allows.
Although they possess more cunning than ordinary beasts, wyverns lack the intelligence of their draconic cousins. As such, creatures that maintain their composure as a wyvern hunts them from the air can often elude or trick it. Wyverns follow a direct path to their prey, with no thought given to possible ambushes.
Tamed Wyverns. A wyvern can be tamed for use as a mount, but doing so presents a difficult and deadly challenge. Raising one as a hatchling offers the best results. However, a wyvern's violent temperament has cost the life of many a would-be master.Basic Information
Anatomy
A wyvern (pronounced: /ˈwɪvɜːrn/ WIH-vurn listen or: /ˈwaɪvɛrn/ WY-vern listen) was a large winged lizard, distantly related to the dragon, with a poisonous stinging tail and sharp teeth.
Description
These creatures varied in length from 15 to 35 feet (4.6 to 11 meters), weighed around a ton, and were covered in dark brown or grey scales. They typically had either red or orange eyes and their jaws were filled with long and sharp teeth. Unlike true dragons, wyverns only had a pair of hind legs instead of a set four. Their wingspan could get over 50 feet (15 meters) in length. And their tails were often quite long, comprising almost half of their bodies, yet very mobile. These ended in a thick cartilage knot with a stinger protruding out of it, not unlike that of a scorpion. Telltale sounds that these creatures produced included loud hisses and throated growls, similar to the vocalizations of alligators.Ecology and Habitats
Ecology
Wyverns can be both solitary and group animals. They did not have a strong odor, although their lairs often could be tracked by following the smell of their recent kills. Cloud giants kept griffons, perytons, and wyverns, akin to what humans did with hawks and other birds of prey. These tamed wild creatures could also be often encountered patrolling the cloud giants' gardens, together with other tamed predators like owlbears. Dragons, griffons, and wyverns had a fierce rivalry over hippogriff meat. Manticores, chimeras, griffons, perytons, and wyverns were territorial rivals.Habitats
These creatures were typically found in areas that were favored by dragons, such as tangled forests or large caverns. Many were known to inhabit the Forest of Wyrms, as well as the Cloak Wood forest. On the Chultan Peninsula, wyverns were a common sight in the jungles of the nation of Samarach.Behaviour
Behavior
Wyverns were aggressive and not greatly intelligent. They were not averse to attacking anything less powerful than themselves. Their sleek, strong legs proved very useful for an attack.Combat
When fighting these creatures would dive down from above, grabbing prey with their hind leg claws, and then attempt to sting them to death. They were also known to slash at creatures with their claws mid-flight. Their tails were so long that opponents were typically struck by a wyvern's tail before their legs.Additional Information
Uses, Products & Exploitation
Usage
Wyvern hide was used in the creation of bookbindings, and its blood was an ingredient in the belarris poison. The dried blood of a wyvern was one of the components used in create darkenbeast spells. The meat of a wyvern's tail was said to be particularly delicious, having a taste and texture reminiscent of juicy pork. In Cormyr, a dish known as "jack wyvern tail" was a mixture of minced pork, rabbit, and turkey designed to mimic the flavor of real wyvern.Harvesting
Instructions
Instructions: ecause this creature is an Dragon, the player should roll a Nature Check using the DCs in the table below. On a success, the player is able to harvest the item. On a failure, the item cannot be harvested (either because the character is not skilled enough, or because the item is ruined). The DM should note that many of the items have an expiration, and can not be sold or used after the expiration has passed.
| DC | Item | Description | Value | Weight | Expiration | Crafting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Wyvern Claws/Teeth (pouch) | A wyvern has sharp, dark, bone-like claws, and pointy, triangular teeth. Both are valued hunting trophies, often used to make jewelry and decorations. Alchemists can grind the items down to make a fine powder, useful in some potions. | 10 gp | 5 lb. | ∞ | - |
| 15 | Wyvern Skin | The tough reptilian skin of a wyvern is covered in pointy scales. The hide is valued among armorsmiths, but can be used in cloaks and other apparel. | 25 gp | 10 lb. | 10 days | - |
| 15 | Wyvern Wing (×2) | Like the wings of many magical creatures, the wings of a wyvern are capable of being removed and transformed into artificial wings for their new owners. | 25 gp | 50 lb. | 10 days | Wings of Flying |
| 20 | Wyvern Poison (vial) | Perhaps the most ubiquitous of all poisons, no assassin's kit is complete without at least one jar of wyvern poison. Use: Can be used to coat up to 15 pieces of slashing or piercing ammunition or one slashing or piercing weapon. Applying the poison takes 1 minute. For the next 10 minutes, any creature successfully hit must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 7d6 poison damage on a failed save, or half that on a successful saving throw.. | 600 gp | 1 lb. | ∞ | - |
| 20 | Wyvern Stinger | A wyvern has a long tail with a poisonous stinger on the end. The poison is difficult to remove, and the poison is extremely potent. Proficiency with the poisoner kit may be used for harvesting this stinger. On a successful check, the character harvests the creature's stinger that must be refined before producing 1 dose of Stinger Poison (see below). On a failed check, the character is unable to extract the stinger. If the character fails the check by 5 or more, the character is subjected to the creature's poison. Refining the Poison: Once the stinger is extracted, an alchemist (or someone proficient in the poisoner's kit) can spend 6 days and 600gp worth of material to create Wyvern Poison (DC 14 Poisoner Kit or Alchemist Supplies check). Wyvern Poison (Injury): A vial of Wyvern Poison (DMG p258) can coat up to 3 pieces of ammunition or 1 melee weapon for 1 minute. Applying the poison takes 1 action. Any creature successfully hit must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 24 (7d6) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. This poison usually sells for 1,200gp, but the poison is often considered an illicit good (and may not be sold to normal vendors). | 600 gp | 7 lb. | 14 days | - |
This kind of creature does not normally carry treasure. This kind of creature does not normally have or collect treasure. However, the creature may have a lair full of bodies, or reside somewhere that treasure already exists.
This creature produces 6-36 pieces of Harvested Meat, weight total of 24-144 lb. DC: 5, Expire: 1 day, Value: 12-72 sp It also will have a higher quality of meat as discussed above.
Civilization and Culture
Major Language Groups and Dialects
Languages
Despite their middling intelligence, wyverns were fluent speakers of Draconic.History
Wyverns were created by the aearee of Viakoo in −30,700 DR. (Toril History)
Historical Figures
Notable Wyverns (Toril)
Trill, companion of Mattias Farseer. Two-Headed Wyvern of Stamislot, a unique wyvern with two heads defeated by the hero of Daggerford and Talarenne sometime before 1372 DR. Wyvernspur family received a magical ability to be able to transform into a wyvern. Not everyone in the family was able to channel said magic. Giogi and aunt Dorath were the only family members in recent years able to transform using the Wyvern Spur heirloom.Common Myths and Legends
Cultural Significance
Some wyverns served the dark Chultan demigod Eshowdow, and their appearance was seen as a good sign by his followers. House Dlardrageth, a powerful sun elf family from Arcorar that corrupted their bloodline by breeding with fiends, used the image of a golden wyvern against three red crossed swords as their house's insignia. Expensive wyvern whiskey from Nimbral had a wyvern scale floating in every bottle.Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Relationships
Wyverns were used as mounts by various races and cultures, including Zhentarim skymages and the extradimensional marauder Imgig Zu. The black dracolich Hethcypressarvil kept a pair of wyverns as pets at his lair in the nameless swamp of the Dragon Coast.Sources
Source(s):
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Genetic Ancestor(s)
Scientific Name
Animalia, Draconia, Dragon-kin, Wyvern
Origin/Ancestry
Dragon (Dragonkin Dragon | Wyvern)
Conservation Status
No real protection in most places, may be hunted as they are skilled predators.
Average Length
20 feet long (average: 15-35 feet) with a 50 foot wingspan
Geographic Distribution
Related Ethnicities
5E Statistics
Wyvern
| Size | Large |
| Type | Dragon |
| Alignment | Unaligned |
| Challenge Rating | 6 |
General Information
| Movement | Flying |
| Language(s) | Draconic |
| Favored Climate | Warm |
| Favored Terrain | Hills |
Appearance
| Average Length | 15‒35 ft (4.6‒11 m) |
| Average Wingspan | 20 ft (6.1 m) |
| Average weight | 2,000 lb (910,000 g) |
| Skin color(s) | Dark brown to gray |
| Eye color(s) | Orange or red |
History
| First appearance | Monster Manual, 1st Ed. |
Session Reports
- Session 56
See Also: Wyvern on Forgotten Realms Wiki