Bida

Bidas are black-scaled dragons with long, serpentine bodies and bat-like wings. Their legs and claws are smaller than those of most dragons, but their powerful undulating coils, like those of a boa constrictor, are potent weapons capable of squeezing the life from several unfortunate victims at a time.

A bida uses its impressive intellect and powerful magic to pose as a humanoid and infiltrate a settlement. Over the course of weeks or months, it establishes itself as a key member of the village, and only after it has become invaluable to the community does it reveal the terrible price of its assistance: regular offerings of flesh and gold. From this point on, the bida dwells almost exclusively within its smoggy lair, growing fat off the blood of its sacrificial offerings. To hide its presence from the outside world, a bida conceals its enslaved settlement in a large-scale illusion, leaving only a stand of jungle trees where once a thriving village may have been and ordering the townsfolk to destroy any roads in and out of town.

Bidas begrudgingly tolerate others of their kind, instead preferring the company of their small, tasty thralls. In rare cases, a pair of bidas may join forces to conquer a particularly large settlement, extracting that much more wealth from the populace as a result of their partnership.