Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Carnivora
Genus: Drakkus
Species: Draco Wivrus
Height: 4 meters
Length: 9.6 meters
Wingspan: 22.6 meters
Weight: 421 kg
Point Total to Slay: 23 points
Description:
While it may look similar to a small dragon, a Wyvern is what is known in scholarly circles as a Dragonelle or Dragon-kin. That means it has no breath weapon and is missing one or more physical characteristics associated with dragons. In this case, a Wyvern has only two legs (instead of four), lacks the prominent horns and scales found on most dragons, and is dramatically less intelligent than its draconic cousins. Telltale sounds that these creatures produce include loud hisses and throated growls, similar to the vocalizations of alligators.
Native to Britain, Ireland, Northern France and Iceland, the Wyverns are highly aggressive creatures who are constantly on the lookout for prey. They spend 70% of their lives in flight, only landing to eat, mate or raise their young. When hunting, Wyverns prefer to crash into their targets talon-first – as their thick skin and resilient bodies take little damage from such collisions – to stun their prey before injecting it with venom and carrying it off to be devoured. Due to their aggressive tendencies, wyverns are normally solitary creatures, though they sometimes band together to hunt larger prey that a single wyvern cannot kill alone.
As stated earlier, Wyverns do not have the interlocking scales that dragons rely on for protection. Instead, they have thick, elephant-like skin that is hardened against blunt force attack but relatively simple to penetrate with hardened steel weapons. And while a Wyvern does not possess a breath weapon, it can inject a paralyzing venom using a small claw at the top of each foot or the barb at the end or its tail.
Hunting the Wyvern:
One of our Jaeger Meisters has experience fighting Wyvern from her time serving with the Scottish Guard. Her advice is to aim for the heart. While the beast’s underbelly skin may look like armored scales, what you are seeing are actually skin flaps that the creature uses to aid in flight maneuvering. Two to three arrows to the heart and lings should bring the Wyvern down easily.