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Blue DragonsBlue dragons, also known as storm dragons, areamong the most vain and prideful of an arrogantrace. They take great pleasure in wielding theirpower, engaging in combat or lording over humanoidsand other lesser creatures to prove that theycan do so, rather than out of any real desire forresults. A blue dragon might forgive insults, but itreacts with rage to any insinuation that it is weak orinferior.Blues are also extremely territorial dragons.They rarely give intruders, even accidental ones, theopportunity to explain themselves. Blue dragonsare more likely than other varieties of chromaticdragons to battle powerful enemies or other dragonsover violated borders. This can prove particularlyproblematic, given that blue dragons are alsoto unleash a few barrages, then vanish, and thenreturn—sometimes minutes or hours later.On rare occasions when a blue dragon hunts fromthe ground or rests away from its lair, it conceals itselfbeneath the terrain, burrowing with powerful claws.Because most stormy regions have soft ground, suchas the sand of a coastline or the rich soil of a rainforest, blue dragons find it easy to hide in this fashion.Lairs and TerrainSages (and the Monster Manual) maintain that bluedragons prefer coastal regions. More precisely, bluedragons prefer areas subject to frequent, violentstorms. Although coastal areas and seaside cliffs fitthis description, so too do certain tropical isles andmountainous highlands not terribly distant from thepounding sea.32more finicky about their environment than theircousins.When other creatures give due respect to bluedragons’ pride and territorial claims, however,blues can be the most reasonable of the chromaticdragons. Blues lack the cruelty of black dragons andthe ambition of greens and reds. Some blue dragonslive as peaceful neighbors of humanoid communitiesor even, on occasion, of other dragon varieties. Bluesmight also employ humanoids to perform tasks forthem, because blues enjoy both the opportunity tocommand others (thus showing their superiority) andthe accomplishment of goals without having to exertthemselves.Blue dragons savor large prey such as cattle andherd animals, preferring meals of fewer, largercreatures over many small meals. Blues have no particulardesire to hunt sentient prey, but neither havethey any compunction about doing so if opportunitiespresent themselves. Blues prefer their meat charredbut not cooked through: “lightly kissed by the lightning,”as one blue reputedly put it.Blue dragons rarely land during combat, preferringflight and far-reaching attacks to lumbering overland in close melee. Because they like to fight from adistance, blue dragons consider combat a long-termengagement. They fly near enough to their opponentsCHAPTER 1 | Dragon LoreIf a blue dragon cannot find a properlystormy region in which to settle, it can make dowith whatever terrain is available. As long as ithas its own territory, a blue dragon might locateits lair on a mountaintop, in a jungle, in theUnderdark, or in a desert—anywhere except perhapsthe coldest of arctic climes—but any blueliving in a location that lacks frequent stormsthinks of that location as temporary, even if itends up dwelling there for a few hundred years.Ultimately, a blue dragon finds happiness onlyin a place where it hears regular thunder beating onthe horizon and where it can soar between cloudswith the lightning.For their lairs, blue dragons favor enormous stoneruins or caves in the sides of hills, cliffs, or mountains.Blues enjoy taking over structures built byother races. They make their lairs as lofty as possibleto survey their domains from the heights. Elevationmakes them feel truly part of storms that rollthrough. Even if a blue dragon cannot find or constructa lair at high altitude, it will likely choose a lairin which it can easily access the main entrance onlyby flight. Would-be intruders on land must undertakedifficult, if not nearly impossible, climbs.SAM WOOD