Melusine

The creature looks down at you from the gate of its sumptuous palace. It has the head and breasts of a woman, with the scaly lower body and four reptilian legs of a dragon. A set of bat-like wings protrudes from the creature’s back, its snaky tail curling and twisting as if it had a life of its own. The creature proudly wears an ornate tiara upon its brow.

Monster Encyclopaedia II: The Dark Bestiary
Author J. C. Alvarez
Series Monster Encyclopaedia
Publisher Mongoose Publishing
Publish date 2005

Dracolamias, also called melusinae (sing. melusina) are related to both lamias and sphinxes, although they are smarter and more refined, concerning themselves with cultural pursuits such as architecture rather than the pursuit of mortal prey. Dracolamias appear as Large blue-green winged dragons with human women’s heads and chests. Although they can assume fully human shape at will. Their lairs are often magnificent structures, built by the creatures themselves with their magic. Dracolamias are also pretty fond of head ornaments such as crowns, tiaras and diadems, the more regal the better.

Dracolamias are usually found in civilised sites, such as large cities, temples or museums. They have a passion for building and creating, but their twisted souls, impatient and capricious, lack a true artistic sense and always use magic to complete their work, which imposes a perpetual flaw in their talent.

Dracolamias are not above falling in love with human beings, which has given birth to many a legend of the tragic union between a mortal and a monster. As with their crafts, children created by dracolamias always have some flaw. The children born of dracolamias are often anomalous.

Dracolamias speak their own language, plus Common and Draconic.

Dracolamia
Medium magical beast (Water)
Hit Dice	7d10+7 (45 hp)
Initiative	+4
Speed	40 ft. (8 squares), Fly 40 ft. (poor), Swim 80 ft.
AC	22 (+4 Dexterity, +8 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 18
Base Attack/Grapple	+7/+10
Attack	Claw +10 melee (1d6+3) or sceptre +10 melee (1d6+3) or touch (1d3 Wisdom drain)
Full Attack	2 claws +10 melee (1d6+3) and sceptre +8/+3 melee (1d6+1) or touch (1d3 Wisdom drain)
Space/Reach	5 ft. /5 ft.
Special Attacks	Cry of doom, spells, spell-like abilities, Wisdom drain
Special Qualities	Darkvision 60 ft., human form, Low-Light Vision
Saves	Fort +6, Ref +9, Will +6
Abilities	Strength 16, Dexterity 18, Constitution 12, Intelligence 19, Wisdom 14, Charisma 18
Skills	Appraise +18 (+20 when appraising stonework), Concentration +11, Craft (stonemasonry) +21, Disguise +18*, Knowledge (architecture and engineering) +14, Search +4 (+6 when looking for secret doors or compartments), Swim +21
Feats	Iron Will, Multiattack, Skill Focus (Craft (stonemasonry))
Environment	Any (cities)
Organisation	Solitary or pair
Challenge Rating	8
Treasure	Triple standard
Alignment	Often chaotic evil
Advancement	8-21 HD (Large)
Level Adjustment	+4

Combat

Dracolamias prefer to fight using the few offensive spells and spell-like abilities they have, engaging in physical combat only when cornered (which is hard to achieve given the creature’s same spells and spell-like abilities).

Cry of Doom (Su): Three times per day, a dracolamia can emit a penetrating wail that causes every living creature within 100 feet of the dracolamia to make a Will save (DC 17, Charisma based). Failure at this save means the creature is cursed as per the bestow curse spell at caster level 7. Dracolamias themselves are unaffected by a cry of doom.

Spells: Dracolamias can cast arcane spells as 14th level wizards. Save DCs are Intelligence based.

Typical Wizard Spells Memorised (4/5/5/5/5/3/3/2; save DC 14 + spell level):

• 0th – arcane mark, mending, open/close, read magic;
• 1st – animate rope, comprehend languages, Hold Portal, identify, unseen servant;
• 2nd – magic mouth, mirror image, obscure object, rope trick, whispering wind;
• 3rd – displacement, Illusory Script, major image, secret page, tongues;
• 4th – fire trap, resilient sphere, shadow conjuration, scrying, summon monster IV;
• 5th – permanency, secret chest, wall of stone;
• 6th – guards and wards, Legend Lore, mage’s lucubration;
• 7th – simulacrum, vision.

Spell-Like Abilities:

• At will – arcane sight, dimension door, greater teleport (self plus 50 pounds only), hallucinatory terrain, instant summons, minor creation, stone shape, teleport object (DC 21).
• 1/day – fabricate, mage’s magnificent mansion, major creation.

Caster level 14th. Save DCs are Charisma based.

Wisdom Drain (Su): The touch of a dracolamia in its natural form forces a victim to make a Will save (DC 17, Charisma based) or suffer 1d3 points of permanent Wisdom drain. The dracolamia is not healed in any way by using this ability. A dracolamia in human form loses this ability.

Human Form (Su): At will, as a free action, a dracolamia can assume human form indefinitely. While in human form, a dracolamia can relate to humans and even bear human children (although these are usually anomalous creatures). If a dracolamia is submerged in water, it immediately reverts to its natural form.

Skills: A dracolamia gains a +4 racial bonus on Appraise, Craft (stonemasonry) and Disguise checks.

*When in human form, a dracolamia gains a +10 circumstance bonus on Disguise checks made to pass as a human being. It gains a +8 racial bonus on Swim checks. A dracolamia can always take 10 on Swim checks, even if rushed or threatened. It can use the run action while swimming, provided it swims on a straight line.