chromatic dragons.pdf - Free

VINCENT DUTRAITDeathThe mighty dragons, despite all their power, arestill mortal. With the exception of those who extendtheir existence by unnatural means, such as the viledraco liches, death eventually comes to them all. Mostchromatic dragons die in battle—defending their territoryfrom rivals, invading other wyrms’ territories,or falling victim to the business ends of adventuringparties’ swords and spells.Chromatics who reach the end of old age findthemselves in a quandary. Although some dragonvarieties, such as certain metallics, can will themselvesto die, chromatic dragons cannot. Thus, thosepowerful or lucky enough to reach old age face theslow decline into twilight, further weakening, and,eventually, death.Most chromatic dragons do not desire a gradualdecline, instead choosing to go out in the proverbialblaze of glory. They invade other dragons’ territories,particularly those of lifelong rivals, prepared to end itall in a final, calamitous clash of fire and claw. Othersraze entire communities, challenging the greatesthumanoid heroes to face them. Invariably, a dragonwith a death wish finds someone or somethingcapable of killing it—but the amount of destructionit can wreak in the process is on par with the worstof natural disasters. A single ancient dragon withnothing to lose and no concern for consequences orself-preservation can decimate kingdoms or renderentire regions uninhabitable.Dragons setting out on these crusades for glorymight consume their entire hoard before doing so.They find the notion of leaving all their hard-earnedwealth for thieves utterly anathema.A few particularly religious dragons choose moredevotional routes. Some draconic sects set areas asidewhere ancient dragons can lie down and die peacefully,perhaps euthanized by their fellow believers.These areas lead to tales of dragons’ graveyards.Other dragons seek out plane-traveling rituals,attempt to find the astral domain of their patrondeity (usually Tiamat, among chromatic dragons),and disappear from the mortal world. What happensto them when they arrive there is unknown even toother dragons.Environmental DiffusionOne of the strangest aspects of a dragon’s mystical,elemental nature sometimes comes into play afterdeath. Most dead dragons decay into bones and dustover the course of years. On occasion, however, theenergy flowing through the dragon’s heart and blooddiffuses into the surrounding region, creating an areaof environmental chaos.This phenomenon happens most often withancient dragons, very rarely with elders and adults,and almost never in young dragons—but within thosecategories, there appears to be no way to predictwhich dragons will decompose in this way. Evenamong the ancients, fewer than 20 percent experienceenvironmental diffusion.When environmental diffusion occurs, the dragon’sentire body decays into nothingness relativelyquickly: over the course of a few months. The surroundingarea becomes inundated with the dragon’sinternal energy, resulting in a permanent (or at leastextremely long-lasting) environmental shift. The areaaverages a radius of about 100 squares (500 feet) perlevel of the deceased dragon.The nature of the environmental change dependson the dragon. In the case of blue dragons, forinstance, the area becomes the center of a permanentstorm, one that rages and thunders regardless of predominantweather patterns. For a list of the effectsthat emanate from the different dragon varieties, see“Chromatic Dragons in Detail” on page 30.In draconic tradition, a dragon that locates anarea of elemental diffusion left by a wyrm of its ownvariety considers such a discovery an omen of luck.Dragons that find such areas normally attempt tomake lairs within.CHAPTER 1 | Dragon LoreLIFE CYCLE17