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Urist likes nightwings for their manes.

Alignment: Evil

· Flying · Genderless · No Pain · No Exert · Learns · Fanciful · Humanoid

Cannot be tamed 
Max: 120,000 cm3

Adult at: Birth
Max age: Immortal
Cannot be butchered
This article is about the current version of DF.
A flying monster with stretched skin over its emaciated body. It has the head of a jackal with needle-like horns protruding through its mane.

Nightwings are fanciful, intelligent creatures who are only found in evil deserts, where they spawn one at a time. Resembling a humanoid jackal with wings, they are twice the size of the average dwarf and will attack them on sight (or at least are supposed to, but currently don't Bug:10031), using their wings to fly away from attacks and mauling civilians with their fangs and nails. If under attack by a nightwing, it is recommended to fight it with crossbows to take it out of the air before moving in with a melee squad, as they will make short work of it provided they can reach it.

Nightwings possess a great number of unusual characteristics. They need no sustenance to survive, don't need to breathe, are immune to pain and exertion, don't feel fear or emotion, cannot be stunned and nauseated, and are unaffected by dizziness or fevers. They will suck the blood out of those hit by their bite attacks, are born adults and are also genderless, meaning they are incapable of breeding. They are sapient (though they can't speak) and are able to equip items and open unforbidden doors.

Nightwings possess a pet value of 1,000, but lack the necessary tokens to be trainable (and even if modded to be trainable, the fact they are intelligent creatures will lead to strange behavior). Due to the aforementioned intelligence, dwarves will not butcher, eat or use products made from nightwings, limiting their use to occupying space in your refuse stockpile, live training or putting them somewhere of your liking if you capture one in a cage trap.

Some dwarves like nightwings for their jackal heads, their bat wings, their long tails, their manes, their fangs, their ability to suck blood, their tightly-stretched skin and their needle-like horns.

A nightwing ambushing a fluffy wambler, drawn in crayon by Bay 12 Games.

On maps containing Batmen, Nightwings have been found to feel bitter at being constantly overshadowed.

"Nightwing" in other Languages Books-aj.svg aj ashton 01.svg
Dwarven: anan-fesh
Elvish: lithéme-nine
Goblin: anu-bustusm
Human: kulur-emtha