Coral Capuchin

A coral capuchin resembles a hairless pink monkey with large eyes and batlike wings. Something of a tropical nuisance, these amphibious creatures follow trade ships, hoping to filch small valuables they can take home or perhaps find a sailor they can befriend to secure a regular supply of food.

Coral capuchins live in tropical climates, and while they can breathe water or air with equal ease, their membranous skin means they rely heavily on having a nearby source of water. Fresh- and saltwater serve equally well for this purpose, though the creatures generally congregate near oceans and seas for other reasons. Jungles, islands, and warm coastlines are their most common nesting sites, though they usually hide their nests high in trees or in other locations out of easy reach of predators, scavengers, or anything that might steal the trinkets they've collected.

These little flyers are insatiably curious, and they love to follow humanoids around. Capuchins largely agree that humanoids have the best food and trinkets. Smarter than animals and capable of rudimentary speech, the creatures can be quite useful with the right training, learning how seek out sunken treasures or hunt down rats and other pests on a ship. Some spellcasters residing along tropical coastlines have taken coral capuchins as familiars, though many claim the critters as far more trouble than any benefits they provide are worth. A capuchin familiar might pilfer spellcasting components, gemstones, vials, crafting materials, and other trinkets from their master, though a clever magic user will intersperse more appealing (and less valuable) baubles to draw their familiar's attention away from actually important items.

Capuchin clans live together under a single matriarch, a slightly larger female who can be identified by her unusually prismatic skin and colorful eyes. These females refuse to be tamed or kept as pets and violently resist all forms of capture. The most powerful among them even possess divine powers which they call upon to protect their homes and kin. In return, the remainder of the clan fights fiercely to protect their matriarch, defending her (and her trinkets) from threats far larger than themselves.