Environment any (see text)
Organization solitary or pair
Treasure standard

Mantidrakes were born from fell experiments and dark rituals that crossed evil dragons with manticores. The result: a creature that combines the best and worst traits of both of its parents. From a distance, a mantidrake is often mistaken for a normal manticore. Only when opponents close against it do they see that the creature is something different.

Mantidrakes like dragons are territorial predators and often claim a wide expanse of land as their hunting ground. Creatures that wander into a mantidrake's territory rarely go unnoticed, especially during the daylight hours when the mantidrake spends most of its time hunting. Slain prey is either devoured on the spot (if the mantidrake is hungry) or carried back to its lair and stored for later (or fed to the young if such creatures are present). Mantidrakes are generally solitary creatures though sometimes a pair may be encountered. Such an encounter is with a mated pair.

Female mantidrakes are just as common (or rare depending on how you classify this creature) as males and are just as likely to be encountered as both sexes are skilled hunters. When gestating, a female curtails the time she spends hunting to spend it in the lair preparing both herself and the lair for her young. Young are born live and by 2 years of age they are independent enough to go out hunting on their own.

A typical mantidrake is about 10 to 12 feet long and weighs about 1,100 to 1,300 pounds. Its draconic head is scaled and is the same color as its dragon parent. The color slowly fades and meshes with the mantidrake's leonine body which is covered in dull tan fur, except for its underbelly which is scaled like a true dragon's. Its wings are of the same color as its dragon parent, dark, almost black (and in the case of a black dragon parent, the wings are actually black in color).

A mantidrake's environment varies based on its dragon heritage: black mantidrakes can be found in warm marshes, deserts, or underground; blue mantidrakes favor warm hills and mountains, rarely being found underground; green mantidrake s favor temperate or warm forests and underground settings; red mantidrakes favor warm mountains and underground settings; and white mantidrakes favor cold mountains, cold deserts, and underground environments.

Mantidrakes are aggressive combatants and begin most attacks with a blast from their deadly breath weapon. This is followed next by a volley of spikes or a claw/claw/bite routine against the closest opponent. Mantidrakes prefer to use their powerful wings to stay aloft and fight from the air where it can rain a combination of its breath weapon and deadly spikes down on its opponents.