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Dragotha agreed, and not long afterward, Tiamat’sspawn descended on him and killed him. As thedragon lay, broken and dying, Kyuss made good on hisvow. Instead of restoring him to life, however, Kyusstransformed Dragotha into a terrifying dracolich.DC 35: After this final betrayal, Dragotha withdrewto a hidden cave, contaminating the landsaround. Hoarding treasures in the endless depths,the great monster rarely stirs these days. Rumor holdsthat the dracolich was drawn out of its lair once whenadventurers breached the dungeons of White PlumeMountain, and again when Kyuss’s cultists sought toelevate the undead priest to godhood.TacticsDragotha strikes quickly to maim and incapacitatevictims. At the first sign of intruders, it takesto the air, blasting its foes with its breath weapon. Itthen spends an action point tovomit death wind over the sameenemies, followed by Dragotha’scurse against the least damagedstriker to ensure that the agileadversary doesn’t slip past thedragon’s vicious fangs.In the next round, Dragotharecharges its breath weapon andspends its second action pointto breathe again, all the whilekeeping in the air. Against foesthat have dangerous rangedattacks, Dragotha descends anduses frightful presence to stunthem, followed up by fury oftooth and claw. Over the followingrounds, Dragotha toys withits foes, using mesmerizing glareto set up attacks against thosereckless enough to face it in melee, and Dragotha’scontempt to worry those too craven to close. Againstpowerful foes, Dragotha might reserve an actionpoint to aid escape, but overconfidence is the oneweakness of this dracolich.Encounter GroupsThe entrance to Dragotha’s lair is rarely used, beingovergrown by tough brambles and crawling withghouls, wights, and worse. Beyond this narrowentrance lies an enormous dungeon descending milesinto the earth, home to hideous aberrant creaturesand legions of undead. Navigating these tunnels is asperilous as facing the Death Dragon.Level 32 Encounter (XP 143,000)✦ Dragotha (level 31 solo controller)✦ 4 dread wraiths (level 25 lurker, MM 267)DRAGOTHAANDREW MURRAYAs powerful as Dragotha is, its most hated enemies areeven more so. If there are two beings in the world—nay, allthe worlds—whom Dragotha can be said to despise aboveall others, they would be Tiamat, the Queen of Dragons,and Kyuss, the Worm That Walks. The former is a goddess;the latter an undead priest of horrific might, not a god yetbut very nearly as potent. Both granted Dragotha greatpower, great authority—and both ultimately betrayed him,leading him to his current, abhorrent state.Many of Dragotha’s current schemes are devoted towreaking horrible vengeance upon those who turned onhim—and yet the undead dragon is nothing if not cunningand oh, so patient. At times the dracolich has masqueradedas a loyal servant to both entities, most recentlytaking part in a convoluted scheme intended to grantKyuss true godhood. Though it led the Worm that WalksUNHOLY WARto believe that its service was genuine, Dragotha soughtonly to grow close enough to Kyuss to slay the vile priest.It hopes for the opportunity to commit deicide againstTiamat as well, though it is unsure how. Some sages speculatethat it seeks to usurp her place as a god of dragons,but Dragotha—though ambitious—currently shows no signsof any such objective. Lately, Dragotha has contemplatedturning the followers of Tiamat and Kyuss against eachother, but as yet hasn’t come up with a viable way of goingabout it.Because of this burning hatred it holds for two beingsof ultimate evil, Dragotha could potentially wind up alliedeven with good-aligned PCs, if their objectives overlap withits own. Anyone who proves worthy, and demonstrates thewillingness to take on either the worshipers of Tiamat orthe mad cults of Kyuss, attracts Dragotha’s interest.CHAPTER 4 | New Monsters237