SOURCE: "The Gem in the Tower" by L. Sprague de Camp & Lin Carter (Conan the Swordsman, 1978)

DESCRIPTION: "Tall and lean was this dark figure, and strangely misshapen, although Conan could discern no obvious deformity. Perhaps it was his high shoulders that lent his figure a suggestion of abnormality, or the crooked, bony jaw and slitted yellow eyes that glared from the mask of his face like the feral orbs of a savage beast...The thing was naked, with a pallid body, lean and fleshless. Its upper chest bulged forward to form a kind of keel; and on either side of its bird's breast bulged massive muscles. Its narrow, elongated skull was bald and shapen like that of some ancient, predatory reptile. Its translucent, leathern wings were supported by a structure that corresponded to a human wrist, whence were prolonged downward two free digits that ended in hooked and lethal claws." ("The Gem in the Tower" by L. Sprague de Camp & Lin Carter)

NOTES: The bat-creature's wings make it look like a bald man in a cloak at first. Once its wings are spread you can see the large wing span and razor-sharp talons on each wing. Its eyes glow a yellowy color. The bat creature of Siptah lives in a tower with no doors or windows. It can only be accessed at the top. Siptah, using the power of his gem, controlled the creature, making it kill anyone who came to his island. The bat is the last of its race, dating back to prehistory and the time of Cthulhu. Carvings on the top of the tower show both the bat race and Mythos creatures.

HISTORY: Descended from a lengthy line of bat creatures, the Bat-creature of Siptah is similar to the winged man of "The Garden of Fear" and the winged ape of "The Queen of the Black Coast" by Robert E. Howard. There is a smidge of Yogah of Yogi as well since the bat-creature is controlled against its will. The thing it most reminds me of is DC Comics Man-Bat.

DC Comics' Man-Bat

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