Sphinx

Sphinxes are a race of intelligent, immortal magical beasts. It is said that they once held a vast kingdom given to them by the gods in an effort to teach mortals the way of truth. The sphinxes had their own methods, however, of teaching mortals to think for themselves with riddles and parables. Four common subraces of sphinx included the androsphinx, criosphinx, gynosphinx, and hieracosphinx.

Appearance

Sphinxes are enigmatic creatures with great, feathery wings like a falcon, leonine lower bodies, and the upper bodies of various humanoid creatures and animals depending on their subspecies. 

Ecology

Sphinxes tend to be very solitary creatures and are territorial. Many make their lairs within the ruins of ancient civilizations or in isolated caves. Alignment among sphinx subraces differed vastly; androsphinx are known for their good nature, while hieracosphinx are known to be inherently evil. At the same time, some sphinxes have made pacts with magically powerful mortal beings, but these are always mutually beneficial arrangements. Sphinxes speak their own language as well as Common and Draconic.