Sphinx

Sphinxes are a highly intelligent, spiteful and often cruel race, always dangerous. Each has a man's head and upper body, a lion's body and four legs, and the wings of a great bird of prey. A male is twelve feet long and eight feet tall at the shoulder and usually wears a beard in tight curls; females are a little smaller, with longer, straighter hair.

Long life and a vast store of learning convince sphinxes that they are superior beings. They try to rule over humans, keeping some as servants and killing and eating others. They love contests of wit and use them to prove their superiority, demanding that anyone they meet answer a question, crack a riddle or puzzle, or recite an apt passage of literature. A wrong answer usually means death. Chiron the Wise records a sphinx that blocked a high road until a traveler, unable to recite the northern poet Braggi as she demanded, bluffed her into quoting the work herself, caught her in a slip, and watched her hurl herself from the cliffs into the sea rather than live with the error.

They prefer battles of wits but fight fiercely when they must, and their sharp minds make them wary and hard to surprise. Their urge to dominate keeps them apart; they mate rarely and only briefly, so there are few of them. Because they crave knowledge, a brave visitor can sometimes trade something new for their ancient wisdom, but a sphinx offered stale news can be vicious to whoever disturbed it. Sphinxes can fly and are immune to control spells, and by hovering one can strike with all four clawed feet at once. Perhaps a quarter of them know a few Enchantment spells, but a sphinx with more than 5th level skill in magic is very rare.