Lepidossus

 

Submitted for the 2021 Creature Cabal

The forests of Ardrak hold many secrets, but it's important to know where to look.
Here we see a monster that isn't so monstrous. Local legends say that this creature can grow up to seven feet from wingtip to wingtip and feasts off the blood of heratics, but the truth is far more benign. The largest ever recorded only measured two feet across, and while it is carnivorous, its diet mostly consists of small rodents, lizards, and insects. Experts believe its reputation comes from its otherworldly appearance, owed to its placement in a rare phylum in the animal kingdom- so ancient that it doesn't even have proper ears and relies heavily on its sense of smell to hunt. Unfortunately, while it's quite a capable hunter, it was outcompeted for its food by birds of prey, so these woods may be the only place in the world that this lineage even exists.

Rendered in Photoshop 2021