Dragons

      Winged Serpents, also referred to as Lesser Dragons, Common Dragons, or (by the irreverent) “Dragonettes”, are the most common form of dragon-like creatures.  They are generally defined as large, winged creatures of either lizard or serpentine form, but specifically with four “walking” limbs and separate wings.  The latter definition sets them specifically apart from creatures with wyvern-like (bat form) or roc-like (bird form) appendages.  Fully grown, these creatures can easily reach lengths of 60 feet or more in length as adults, with a wingspan even greater.  While thankfully not common in numbers, they are common to every environment and habitat type known;  and they come in a wide variety of shapes and colors, which somewhat tend to correspond to those habitat types.  As a rule they have average to exceptional intelligence, and are typically conversant in the languages of all humanoids and other speaking creatures native to the area around their territories, as well as Common and their native Draconic.

     Wherever they are found, Winged Serpents are always the apex predator of their area.  They tend to be highly territorial, favoring either a specific habitat (swamp, mountains, etc.) or a specific location (ancient ruins or landmarks).  They are highly individualistic creatures who appear to live predominantly solo lives, and while history has examples of dragons acting (generally meaning "attacking") together, there are no known examples of dragons living in groups.  Mothers do raise young for a brief period of time, but it is believed that even then juvenile dragons fairly quickly set out on their own.  

      Very little happens in a dragon's territory that it won't quickly learn of.  Most command an entourage of lesser creatures common to their habitat and they have intimate individual knowledge of the lands they claim.  Unlike the Elder Dragons, common dragons are regularly active, sleeping on average only a few days every month or so.  They are thus seldom caught unaware, and will react quickly to anything that appears to be either a threat or a challenge.  Yet react is not attack;  dragons don't live long lives by being stupid.  They will take time to size up and evaluate threats or intruders, and many are capable of being approached and even bargained with -- if they can be persuaded it is to their advantage.  

     Winged Serpents have a wide range of motivations and interests, and their long life spans (five centuries or more) give dragons time to indulge them.  Some become substantial historians and lore masters, often with a surprising degree of knowledge in affairs well beyond their individual territories.  On the other hand, others appear interested in little more than eating anything that looks tasty.  So it's fair to say, there is a fair amount of variance from dragon to dragon.  But one thing does appear consistent, and that is their legendary propensity for treasure collection.  Some are fairly active in this endeavor, others seem to simply keep souvenirs from dead intruders.   Yet inevitably, dragons do indeed appear to consistently collect treasure.      

      Although we technically call them "Lesser" Dragons, there is really nothing lesser about them.  A Lesser Dragon, even a young one, is still going to be a class 9 or 10 encounter on the Guild scale, meaning about as dangerous as anything an adventurer can encounter.  They have big claws and big teeth capable of tearing through magical armor, and exceptional senses that render them generally immune to illusion magic, including invisibility.  Most have spellcasting ability that becomes increasingly formidable with age, and the rest tend to have a high degree of magic resistance instead.  Most additionally have (or perhaps evolve?) magical abilities appropriate to their habitats, and some even appear to have a shape-changing ability (again, usually to creatures of their habitat).     

      Despite their nicknames, neither the terms “lesser” or “common” should be fooling anyone.  A “lesser” dragon is still an exceptionally dangerous creature that will rate at least a 9 or 10 on the Guild scale.  They have big claws, big teeth, and they do indeed usually have a breath weapon, fire being the most frequent, but cases of frost, lightning, sonic damage, and poison gas have been reported.  All have extraordinary senses, including the ability to see invisible or ethereal creatures, and they are generally unaffected by illusion-based spells.  There are rare cases of dragons with magic resistance.  Some are themselves spellcasters, often of wizard-level equivalence, but this is also unusual.  More often a dragon will possess a few natural magical abilities appropriate to its habitat;  there is some evidence that swamp and forest-dwelling dragons tend to have more druidically oriented magic, while those living in cave, mountain, or deserts are often more arcane.  

      Winged Serpents are in some cases to have unique or unusual immunities to specific weapons, spells, or (very rarely) even both.  One might be immune to swords, a second one unharmed by smashing attacks, the next unaffected by any spell of third level or less.  Most experts believe that such dragons probably have something specific it is unusually vulnerable to as well, a theory perhaps believed more by the experts than by those who actually go out and fight them.  The grand difficulty is determining what that vulnerability might be, of course, and neither color or nature or habitat or anything else predicts what that might be.   

      And no, we didn't forget the best part.  Dragons really do have bad breath.  It comes in many forms -- fire, lightning, poison gas, acid goo, and more.  Contrary to legend, a common dragon's breath is not predicted by its color, particularly as fire specifically seems to be attributable to every color and dragon type known somewhere in the records.  Likely as not each individual is unique, determined in some way by dragon hereditary, about which we will not speculate.

      The True Dragons, also known as the Elder Dragons, are the pinnacle of the pyramid of Prime Material plane creatures, and truly deserving of the title "Legendary".  There is nothing else like them on the Prime Material plane, they are the most singularly powerful creatures we know of, and many experts actually consider them Immortals.  They are among the oldest creatures known, present in both elven and dwarven legends that predate humanity's existence entirely and thought by some to date back to the creation of the plane itself.  Throughout our human history, these creatures have been the ultimate bane of civilizations across the Western Continent;  they are known for destroying not just cities but entire cultures and civilizations.  They are the ultimate symbol of terror and power, of overwhelming disaster and yet also of fabled riches and adventuring opportunity.  There is nothing else even in their category.      

     The Elder Dragons do not appear to be breeding population but a specific group of unique individuals.  Their exact number is uncertain;  we know for certain there are at least six , each known to us by name, appearance, and a long history with mankind.  Most experts think there are more, with total estimates of between 10 and 12 being the most popular, and totals of even more are held by some extremists.  However, their existence remains unproven, and one might also say unwanted, as the seven we have history with have been terrible enough without needing more.  

      The scale and power of these creatures defies belief, but history has left us clear enough descriptions that exaggeration seems almost impossible.  They are truly creatures of nightmare proportions;  big enough to seize an elephant in their jaws and powerful enough to fly away with it, capable of crushing stone buildings and even castle walls just by landing on them.  The immense strength of their massive hands can snap bones like paper, a strike of their tail can knock a knight unconscious, and a single strike of their razor-sharp talons will slice through armor and can disembowel a horse.  The scales covering their lizard-like bodies are tough enough to turn aside not just normal weapons or projectiles, but even many magical ones.  And the deadly weapons possessed by all the world's creatures, whether fire or other element, there is nothing, but nothing, like the destructive power of True Dragon Breath.  

       If you're not impressed yet, there's more.  Elder Dragons are ultimate masters of arcane magic, capable of channeling power described by some of history's greatest arch-mages as "off the scale as we know it".  They don't cast magic spells so much as cause magical events.  But in addition, it makes them almost completely magic resistant to anything less than an entire guild of Mages.  Some legends claim the Elder Dragons actually tap a primal sort of power inherent to the Prime Material plane which is yet beyond our understanding.  In any case, to their sheer power is added the accumulation of knowledge gained over their almost incomprehensible life spans.  Once again, they are truly in a class by themselves.  

      And what a class it is.  It is no exaggeration to say that each and every one of these creatures are capable of destroying not just a kingdom, but an entire civilization -- human history has recorded it more than once.  Wherever and whenever they appear, disaster follows in their wake.  And there is no victory against them, in the sense that there are no known instances in human history (or any other we know of) recording the killing of an Elder Dragon.  It does appear they can be hurt, it seems, and even occasionally driven away, if one has some legendary weapons, heroes,  and a Mage Guild handy in their kingdom.  Never mind that the cost in live and treasure required might still be enough to catastrophically bankrupt that kingdom by itself, at least something survives.

       The only good thing about the Elder Dragons is that they spend the majority of their time sleeping in their lairs, and are only individually active for relatively short periods;  usually a few years of activity and then several decades of rest.  Sometimes, they as much as vanish for extended period, centuries at a time, and at these times even previously-known lairs are unexplainably empty.  Each has his (of note, we know of no female Elder Dragons) own pattern, and no two are completely alike in what seems to drive them.  But when they are active, they leave their mark not just on some local area, but in many cases on the whole of human history. 

       And to the adventuring world, of course, the magic word in all this is that word "lair", for it is clearly no exaggeration to say that with the greatest monsters come the greatest treasures.  As there is nothing like the Elder Dragons, so too there is nothing like their treasure hordes.  These aren't even treasure collections as we normally describe them.  These are hordes collected not over centuries but over millennia, starting in a time before humanity even existed and probably containing items lost and forgotten even to dragon-memory.  Except for the disappearing acts, the Elder Dragons tend to reside in the same spot for centuries at a time.  Their lairs grow into vast complexes guarded by minions and underlings of any type imaginable.  Most are believed to have multiple treasure vaults within these lairs, each containing more wealth than an individual adventurer party could possible carry away.

      We know this because it has been tried, and it succeeds more often than one might expect -- if success is judged at minimum by survival.  Of the six Dragons we know of, the current lairs of five are known to the adventuring community.  Those who have risked it say it's really just a simple adventuring gamble.  The lair is like a large chessboard with many pieces, and only one of them is actually an Elder Dragon.  If you can avoid the Wumpus, you can win.  But if you don't, then it doesn't really matter who you are, you lose, game over, and thanks for playing.  Of those we know of who have tried, a little more than half manage to return, the majority with little except their lives.  But there have been successes, and there are eyewitness descriptions, and there even changes in history that have occurred from some of the great artifacts that were known to once be dragon horde.  

      So as noted, the total number of Elder Dragons is uncertain and hotly debated by scholars.  Human history identifies six by name and color:  Tarestor the Red, Alcagon the Black, Juragatha the Green, Ssesterus the White, Magua Ti the Gold, and Kaladrax Rex, another red dragon.  There appears further to be convincing evidence from elven and dwarven sources of at least one or two more;  a blue dragon named Penthar and a silver dragon whose name we do not know.  And again, there may be more, depending on which theories of color, alignment, or other classification you choose to accept. 

      Details of the individual Elder Dragons are given below.

       Of all the Elder Dragons, the red dragon Tarestor is probably the most known and feared of them all.  Almost every major culture and civilization in the west has at some point directly felt his wrath.  In some cultures to this day, his very name is a symbol of fear, and many a child in the West has been put to bed and warned by a parent that "Tarestor will get you if you don't watch out!"   His existence has without question altered the course of human civilization in the west, and it is impossible to fully catalogue the catastrophes he has inflicted on humanity.  History has, however, left plenty of record.  

      Stories of Tarestor date to very early in human history, beginning with the pre-literate early cultures of the Celtic Isles during the First Age.  While there are contradictions in the oral histories, most scholars accept a date between -1200 and -1100 PC as "reliable"  regarding the dragon's initial appearance amongst the earliest human communities.  Lore of the time makes it clear he was the very embodiment of evil and destruction for the developing civilizations of the time, both throughout the Celtic Isles and the northwest continent.  Some apparently worshipped him as a terrible god and were ultimately consumed by him, others struggled against him and were usually destroyed in the process.  Many sages and scholars of human history believe the long period of cultural stagnation in the area during this period is specifically due to Tarestor's deprivations, and it is perhaps significant that real civilizations in this area appear to have begin develop only when the dragon's activity abruptly ceased around -450 PC.  

      For almost six centuries, Tarestor vanished from record, only to reappear late in the second century of the Phoenician Calendar, we think in the same lair he occupies today --a rocky and probably volcanic island in the sea north of the Celtic Isles.  For the next 600 or so years, until the mid-700s PC, he would issue forth two to three times a century, sometimes into the area nearby, but sometimes traveling great distances across the continent as far south as the Phoenician Sea.  In these periods, usually five to eight years, he would terrorize wide areas, laying waste to entire kingdoms and depopulating areas, often deliberately focusing on whomever might appear strongest or most prominent.  While his favor could be courted, through tribute of wealth, magic, and sacrificial victims, in most cases it would only buy time.  Inevitably, extortion would be repeated and the price would become higher, until of course it could no longer be met.  Few had the strength to turn him away, usually at a cost making victory synonymous with defeat.  

      In the year 768 PC, a well-documented attack on the capital city of the Batavian Gauls was beaten off by a coalition that included a dedicated cult of wizards, a force of wood elf archers and a gift of set of dwarven-forged weapons.  This event would mark the last time Tarestor would be seen in the First Age.  Even his island seemed to disappear, lost in an area of storms and fog no ship could survive.  At the time, it seemed a miracle had occurred.  Ironically, the ceasing of one catastrophe only proved to herald the next, as within the next 200 or so years, all these kingdoms would meet their destruction in the Great War. 

      In the post-war Second Age, Tarestor was for many years nothing more than an ancient myth, a happy state of affairs that ended in 1522 PC with the sudden and unheralded attack by the red dragon on the Hanseatic port-town of Schone.   The event heralded a return to activity that has lasted to this day.  However, he seems now to have both much shorter rest periods, often only two or three decades, and then similarly short appearances seldom lasting more than a year or two.  His general pattern seems largely the same as before, a mixture of extortion and destruction aimed at wealthy and powerful communities.  While the majority of his activity is in the northern and western parts of the continent, he has ranged as far south as Frankish Kingdoms on the Phoenician Sea and Gothic lands stretching to the Black Sea.     

     Records of earlier times make it clear that adventurers of the First Age knew the location of Tarestor's lair, and that for some time, several major guilds and organizations targeting both the Dragon and his lair existed.  In the modern Post-War era, it was probably re-located some time in the very early 1600s, but it remained a carefully guarded secret for nearly two centuries, particularly through the efforts of the still-famous Holy Order of the Dragonslayers, until its location gradually leaked into the adventuring community at large.  

      Since then, it has been on the target list of only the boldest and bravest.  The Dragon's mountainous island is honeycombed with endless caves and passages, and clearly appears to have numerous separate treasure vaults.  There have been successes, but this term must be qualified; for on at least two occasions, Tarestor has apparently tracked down and recovered items that adventurer groups had otherwise successfully recovered striking the lair when the Dragon was out on a rampage half a continent away.  Legends (unproven) similarly claim a long series of Tarestor raids on the lands of the Northmen in late 1900s and early 2000s is linked somehow to adventurer activity or behavior.  It doesn't happen every time, but the Red Dragon seems capable of holding a grudge. 

      Tarestor has been given many names; the Destroyer, the Scourge, the Red Death, the Firebringer, the Cruel;  they are all appropriate.  He is considered the archetypical Dragon, Chaotic Evil to the core, a creature without pity or mercy that delights in its ability to terrorize and to destroy. Unpredictable, capricious, greedy, vain, and destructive, he is an embodiment of physical force and violence and a scourge on mankind's existence for which there appears to be no answer.

      The green Dragon Jurgathar is often called "the Wanderer" by sages who study the Elder Dragons.  This nickname comes from a habit of changing the location of his lair, which he has done more frequently than any of his brethren.  Starting with his first encounter with the ancient Sumerians, he has had at least five separate lairs, including his current location in the great wilderness area between the lands of the Hanseatic States and those of the Rus.  Why he changes so frequently is unknown;  it appears a fully voluntary activity (not like being forced away) as far as we can tell, nor does there seem to be any other trigger.  It just another dragon mystery. 

He also seems to keep his activity within a smaller geographic area around that lair than some of his continent-spanning fellows, hence his influence tends to "wander" around the western world.

      The first human historical record of Jurgathar comes from Sumerian records, perhaps as early as -650PC.  It was, in fact, his existence, and his depredations against those original tribes, that ultimately led to their uniting and forming their first empire.  For nearly four centuries, he and the lesser drakes he gathered around himself were the greatest challenge to the existence of that civilization, whose heroes ultimately captured his lair and drove him away by -282 PC.  More than two and a half centuries would pass before reports of  a great green Dragon begin with Phoenician mariners exploring the western sea.  By the founding of the Phoenician empire proper, the dragon was identified as living on what is known today to all seamen as the "Monster Islands".  Until the middle of the second century, his presence was a prohibitive factor to exploration and potential expansion in the middle and primarily western parts of the Phoenician Sea.  

       Jurgathar vanished again, only to reappear somewhere in the fourth century, where he appeared in the lands north of the Aegean Sea.  Here he is believed responsible for so weakening the previously flourishing human kingdoms of the eastern Gauls as to cause them to collapse entirely.  By the fifth century, his range extended into the Phoenician colonies around the Aegean itself, and over the next two hundred years, seven were destroyed and numerous others damaged.  His attacks abruptly stop, and he is not seen again until a short phase in the dark forests between the lands of the developing post-War Frankish and Germanic cultures, particularly the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries.  He then appears to move rather abruptly to the east, to the area in which he now resides, in the deep forests east of the Germanic states and west of those of the Rus.  

      When active in an area, Jurgathar seems to have the most frequent activity cycle of all the Elder Dragons.  He appears every 20 to 25 years for a three or four year period, during which time he will extensively plunder the area around him.  He seems almost to prefer tribute to destruction, particularly preferring gold and fine jewelry, but over time his demands inevitably increase until they are not enough.  As a result, he is particularly known for having a rich treasure horde in his lair.  Yet paradoxically, each time he has left an old lair and disappeared, it would seem that he leaves his then-current treasure horde behind, inevitably in a number of partial hordes and often in differing locations.  As a result, the treasures he has plundered from an area eventually have a chance to be rediscovered again, and in a great many cases have been.  It is never free, of course;  there are inevitably lesser drakes and other fell creatures left as guardians, and often magical tricks and traps.  And if those guardians fall, he doesn't seem to care, or at least has never returned to a former lair area, either to seek out treasures or extract vengeance.      

      It is difficult to speculate on the ultimate motivations of the great green Dragon, but he is undoubtedly Evil to the core.  Whether through violence or submission, civilizations around him suffer slow and steady destruction, steadily plundered until there is no meat left on the bone.  The fact that their treasures will be cavalierly left behind for someone in the future can only add to the pain of their loss.  Perhaps there is some great agenda, or perhaps it is simply a game he plays until tired of it.  Perhaps one day, we will actually know.   

      Of all the Elder Dragons, the one surrounded by the greatest mysteries is Penthar the Blue.  Sages and scholars are certain that he exists, and beyond that, the theories begin. 

       As far as human history goes, Penthar would be almost completely a story without substance.  There are many claimed sightings of this Dragon, but the ones with reliable sources are always of the same variety: an apparently large blue dragon-shape is seen, in the air at some distance, flying in essentially a random direction towards an unknown destination.  Stories of supposed encounters with this Dragon, or of finding evidence such as shed scales, broken teeth, claws or horns, pop up constantly, but none ever are found to have credibility.  

       The truth is, no one knows where Penthar is, or what he does, at least no one in the human world.  There do appear to be legends in both dwarven and elven lore of a blue dragon named by both as "Penthar the Guardian".  The similarities end there, and what it is that he guards varies by the story  (all now contaminated by innumerable human translations).  A place, an item, a gateway, secret knowledge, take your pick.  He is placed in the mountains, the forests, the deserts, the snowy wastes, even underground or at the deepest spot in the Phoenician Sea.  No real evidence has surfaced yet.  

     The black Dragon Alcagon might well be the most enigmatic of all the Elder Dragons.  Most sages believe he has appeared both early and regularly throughout human history, but all the evidence is complicated by the Dragon's habit of appearing in humanoid form and almost never revealing himself as an actual dragon.  In human societies, this is typically the guise of a human sage or wizard-warrior, but he is believed to have appeared at least once in the dark elven world as a Drow Elf Sorcerer.  As a result, the constant question always accompanies his legends -- "but was it really him?"  

      Alcagon's interventions (in human history at least) are believed to follow a common pattern.  He appears in a small kingdom or community, often one in a politically diverse area, in the role of a person of knowledge, often a sage or magician.  Never a person of power himself, he becomes instead the mentor or advisor to either the ruler himself, or someone who quickly advances into that role.  The chosen kingdom immediately prospers, but rapidly becomes a dark and evil land, regimented and repressive, enslaving its own people and then those around it through military conquest.  Within just a short time, the community will grow from relative obscurity to the status of a dominant military power.  Then, abruptly, Alcagon will abandon his protégé and their kingdom, leaving it entirely to its own devices.  Inevitably, since it has become a terrible place, and only the Dragon's power kept it all going in the first place, the kingdom will then rapidly collapse, implode, or be conquered by angry neighbors.     

      One hardly needs the influence of an Elder Dragon for the general "rise-and-fall" story just described to appear in human history at least, nor should every historical collapse of an empire or kingdom be blamed on one.  Nevertheless, there is strong evidence, particularly from the reappearance in each case of oddly similar magical artifacts, for at least three to five such cases in both the First and Second Ages, and maybe more.  In one of these cases, the Dragon's identity is in fact certain, as he apparently made his true identity clear at the end.  The others, as noted, are too similar to be coincidental.  However more such cases there may be is unclear, but likely there are some that we'll never even know of.    

      As with all the Elder Dragons, the motivations behind this behavior are obscure.  The evidence suggests Alcagon is not hesitant to enrich himself in the process of his activity, doubtless contributing to what must be a magnificent treasure horde.  Still, this doesn't seem to be his primary motivation, as it would seem there are easier, or at least less involved, ways of accomplishing this.  As with several of them, one wonders if it is just a game to the creature, or whether there is a pattern of some form in how he chooses his victims.  We're not likely to learn.   

      Adding to this Dragon's mystique, no one has ever proven they have found Alcagon's true lair.  Like all his kin, he certainly spends a great deal of time sleeping somewhere, and he's clearly been collecting treasures for a long time.  Yet this lair remains elusive.  Multiple expeditions in different times have found evidence tracing him to areas deep within the Carpathian Mountain area.  Inevitably, when they finally arrive, these explorers find dragon sign but no Dragon, bits of wealth and treasure but nothing resembling even a common drake's lair.  There are claims of finding the dragon himself asleep and in dragon form, others of an encounter with a very awake human magician, but all are from sources questionable at best and are discounted by most historians.  Either he's the most impoverished Dragon one can imagine, or his true lair and home remains yet unfound.  We're guessing it's number two.    

Ssesterus is a white dragon known to live in the arctic region of the high northeast, beyond the Rus and even the barbarian orc tribes.  Next to Tarestor, he might be the most widely known and most active of all the Elder dragons in modern times.  He is occasionally described as an uncaring force of nature, not so much evil as simply reflecting the cruel and harsh side of the natural world.  Undoubtedly, his victims would find this description entirely too forgiving.

      Accounts of Ssesterus prior to the Great War are somewhat rare, but in the centuries since, sightings have come fairly regularly, roughly every forty to seventy years.  Appearances have no real geographic pattern, and sometimes he travels a great distance;  he has historically been reported by Norse, Rus, German, Frankish, Greek, and Persian sources.  He always seems to strike at an individual kingdom or specific city-state, often the strongest or most sophisticated in the general area.  

       Unprovable but consistent stories claim he often visits the area first in the guise of a human sorcerer all dressed in white.   In any case, his attacks are always subtle, first manifesting as a winter of unusual coldness and harsh weather, and then when spring just doesn't come.   A short spring will finally arrive when it should be mid-summer, a weak summer will barely last until overtaken by an early fall, and another viscous and lengthy winter will begin.  Unlike other dragons, there is usually only a little direct confrontation on the Dragon's part, as Ssesterus frequently seems to prefer simply to take up residence in an area and allow the inevitable agricultural disaster to create famine and social disruption.

      The Dragon's motivations do not always appear consistent, which many experts cite as evidence of a clearly Chaotic nature.  There are plenty of cases on record where he appears simply to wish evil upon some specific community or area.  But in some cases, he sooner or later appears to be open to negotiations with his victims (granted, usually only after a certain amount of suffering has been inflicted).  Repeated references suggest a preference for tribute in the form of powerful magical items or magical craft, in order to go away.      

     Now, however, the story takes an odd turn.  Obviously, a dragon that collects magical treasures is going to develop quite a collection, which obviously he'll defend it with all his ability, right?   Well, not exactly.  The location of the White Dragon's lair has been known for a long time, and adventurers have been making the trip probably well back into the First Age.  As ice caves, their internal pattern changes over time, but the path to get there doesn't.  Repeated expeditions have proven that when the dragon himself is active, he "stays in the field", and is content to let his home defenses do their best.  And while those defenses are formidable, they aren't an Elder Dragon.  So the result is that whenever the presence of Ssesterus is detected, a window of opportunity opens.  Of course, a great way to mount a failed expedition is to rush an attempt to traverse some of the most hostile terrain and face some of the most difficult monsters with a minimum of planning and preparation.  But hey, if it was easy, everyone would do it, right? 

      Known to various cultures as "the Loremaster", "Whisperer of Secrets", and "Keeper of Knowledge", Magua Ti the Gold Dragon is famous for both the extent of his knowledge and the price he will demand to share it.  The Gold Dragon is held by many to be the greatest source of arcane knowledge and lore on the Prime Material plane.  

      Like all the Elder Dragons, exactly where fact ends and fiction begins is a cloudy line, but with Magua Ti, the fact side is unusually heavy.  To begin with, he is certainly the most reclusive of the Dragons.  He lives in a high mountain valley in just about the most unreachable part of the High Alpine Mountains, north of Roman lands.  Unlike the other Dragons, he doesn't travel, and he never leaves the valley, and so there is never a question where he is to be found.  The valley itself is a magically saturated land with its own unique population of creatures and inhabitants.  It cannot be reached by magical travel, but there are several known specific routes that lead through the mountains to reach it.  The trails are long, difficult, and dangerous;  the legends associated with them claim those who travel the paths are intentionally tested and that the Dragon is aware of all that happens along them.  The Dragon himself is always found atop a small rocky outcrop roughly in the center of the valley, and here he will speak with those who have successfully made the journey.  No matter a supplicant's ethos or alignment, whether highborn or low, Magua Ti will treat equally with all. 

      Legend claims there are no questions regarding the arcane that Magua Ti cannot answer, and known history appears to offer no contradiction.  He is said to keep a series of books called the Tomes of the Ages which chronicle the history of magic on the Prime Material plane.  One set is said to contain a list of every arcane spell ever known or created, a second set catalogues every artifact ever created, and a third set records every locus of magical power on the Prime Material plane.  The magic of these books, and the scope of Magua Ti's awareness, is such that even as new spells, artifacts, or sanctified places are created, new pages appear to record them, and the catalogue of knowledge grows ever deeper. 

      In addition to the Tomes, there is the Dragon's personal knowledge regarding the passage of time and the history of the plane.  Like all the Elder Dragons, he appears to have existed just about as long as anything on the Prime Material plane, and maybe only a little less than the plane itself.  Legend claims Magua Ti has a sort of "cosmic awareness" that extends across the plane, which you can accept or not as you like, but his knowledge of the great events of history is said to be like that of a first-hand witness.   

      Magua Ti will share his knowledge with anyone, but that individual must be willing to pay the price he demands, and the price he demands is always as cruel and harsh as the Dragon is himself.  His mantra is that those who will not sacrifice for the truth are not worthy of it, and the greater the truth, the greater the sacrifice.  It is perhaps revealing that virtually none of those whom history has known to seek him out have revealed what was actually demanded of them, but will only say it was something too terrible to willingly remember or discuss.  

      Even on the scale of the Elder Dragons, Kaladrax is colossal almost beyond description.  He is more than twice the size of any other Elder Dragon, and if standing erect, would easily look into a 10th floor tower window.  His wings span well over 200 feet when stretched out, his clawed hands are nearly six feet across, and he can swallow an entire horse in an effortless gulp.   His strength is probably titan-equivalent;  he has been known to collapse reinforced stone structures just by brushing against them.  And his breath is a fire that has literally been known to melt stone.  

      Stories of Kaladrax are as old as stories can get;  he can apparently be traced back in time to some of the most ancient elven myths those people possess.  Since the earliest times, he has made his lair in the mountainous regions of north-west Iberia.  Its precise location seems to have moved a number of times over history, and many scholars believe these moves come about specifically because someone finally locates it -- even if such an even proves fatal for the discoverer.  Like all his brethren, he is subject to long -- often many centuries long -- sleep periods where he is thankfully unknown to the world.  In his wakeful periods, he is, if legends are to be believed, the single greatest force of destruction the Prime Material possesses.  

      There are only a few times in human history when Kaladrax has awakened or been active, primarily a period of about three centuries in the First Age which ended abruptly in the early 8th century (Phoenician Calendar).  Most scholars believe there are records from pre-First Age archaeological sites suggesting there may have been another similar period in humanity's pre-history.  However, there are also a number of scholars who believe that Kaladrax may have further bouts of activity which we are not aware of because they either occur within Iberia or in other places and conditions not known to us. 

      We do know that his lair can be found, there are in fact three such "successes" in modern (Second Age) times -- success meaning a minimum of one person survived.  Two of them claim to have confirmed a vast treasure horde, but equally claim no more than sight;  nor for that matter are there any known stories from elves, dwarves, or any others of successfully plundering the treasure of Kaladrax.  It is almost certainly the greatest undisturbed treasure in the world ... and is likely to remain that way.   

      It's a horde that could literally contain objects as old as the Prime Material plane measures time.  The Dragon has had a long time to collect.  If his appearances have been relatively rare in our time, it is not so in history as a whole.  Both the elves and dwarves appear to have legends of this creature involving millennia-long periods of warfare in a time before humanity came to be.  Armies were raised against him, yet not just kingdoms but entire civilizations fell not just to the Dragon but to minion armies of trolls, orcs, and other fell creatures.  In time, the great crafters of that time forged armor and weapons that could stand against, and even bring serious injury to, Kaladrax and the other Elder Dragons.  Some of the few that survive to this day are counted among the greatest artifacts known in the world.

      In addition to common dragons and Elder Dragons, the discussion cannot end without mentioning undead dragons. 

      The "common" form of undead dragon is known properly as a Bone Dragon (shown to left).  They are not naturally occurring creatures, but powerful undead spirits raised specifically by necromantic magic of the highest power -- the rituals are known to require 9th level spells.  The result is a dragon in skeletal form, powerful and intelligent, yet loyal to its creator.  The powers and abilities of these creatures are summarized below. 

      The Dracoliches are another thing entirely.  They are as deeply shrouded in legend as any creature in this handbook, and many scholars deny their existence entirely, holding them to be other creatures in a deceptive form.  Yet the historical record holds strong evidence to suggest they are real, and that they may be the most frightening manifestation of Evil known to this world.  

      The Dracoliches (we think there are three) are surely the ultimate manifestation of undead power.  They have no natural physical existence, and we don't really know what sort of limbo their spirits normally exist in.  They can only be brought into physical existence through a complex series of necromantic rituals and sacrifices on a scale requiring not individuals but entire guilds or communities of magical casters.  Once manifest, the Dracolich takes on a physical form similar to an extra-planar avatar;  however, this form is not subject to magical banishment or control as an avatar is.  It IS subject to physical destruction, which banishes the spirit back to wherever it goes, but this of course does not truly "kill" these creatures.  There are various theories about how to truly destroy them, none of which seem to have met success yet.       

      Slaying the mortal form of a Dracolich is a daunting proposition.  Like most undead, they channel negative energy, although in this case on a scale that is difficult to quantify.  It makes them frighteningly close to physically indestructible:  every physical bit of the creature apparently has to be pulverized almost to a powder or the energy bonds will regenerate  like a troll with a haste spell.  This natural energy flow is powerful enough to overwhelm not just most arcane magic, but even most holy magic, rendering them immune to all but the most powerful spells and magical effects.  It is undoubtedly also responsible for their tremendous physical strength, and powers their spellcasting, such that they are able to continually channel the most powerful of spells with no debilitating effects whatsoever. 

      But of course, what is most fearsome is their breath weapon.  It has many names -- Zombie Breath, Death Breath, Black Breath, Death's Decay.  It is a cloud of life-sapping energy that will drain the life force not just from opponents, but anything living -- man, animal, even plant life dies when touched by the cloud.  The cloud dissipates as it cancels life energy, but it persists until all of its energy finds something to negate or destroy. Worse, the Dracoliches have a magical aura about them that causes creatures that died from the breath to immediately revive in undead form. The stronger in life, the stronger in death, and while most ordinary people devolve into ghoul-like forms, powerful opponents can manifest as revenants or wraiths, with their skills and abilities intact.  Fighting a Dracolich without careful planning and extensive protection doesn't just create dead heroes, it creates dragon allies.

    Most sages and scholars hold that the Dracoliches are related to the Elder Dragons, a few believe they are actually Elder Dragons, but this is very controversial.  We know  their origin lies, like the Elder Dragons, in a time well before humanity, but little else is known as fact.  It is generally thought that the dragon form is their actual natural form, although their bodies show the rot and decay of the grave, in a manner similar to revenants.       

      A brief historical recounting of the Dracoliches and their appearances is given below.

     Xanthix the Dracolich appears as an enormous blue dragon, gaunt and scarred, probably sixty or more feet in length and a wingspan even greater.  He is Chaotic Evil in nature, so much so that he is believed to be nearly as dangerous to those who summon him as he is to those he is summoned against.  He appears to truly delight in destruction, both flesh and stone;  in addition to his Death Breath, Xanthix can also breathe a lightning bolt which will topple great buildings and shatter stone walls.  Where Xanthix strikes, little survives.        

      Xanthix has been positively identified four times in known human history.  The first comes from very early Egyptian, where he was "brought to life" by a powerful cult of necromantic mages.  Although the fact of the event seems clear, details from this time (roughly -600 to -450 PC) are very scarce.  His second manifestation came nearly eight hundred years later at the hands of the necromancer Kazdrim the Damned, the great Lieutenant of Vecna and builder of the Twin Towers citadel.  For more than four centuries, this Dracolich spread terror throughout the West, until he was slain defending that Tower in the expedition that finally destroyed Kazdrim himself in 732 PC.  

      His third appearance is the most mysterious.  In the single year of 1264, he appeared three times in Visigothic lands, spreading destruction among their then-most powerful kingdoms.  Where he came from and who invoked him has never been clear, but the attacks abruptly stopped just under one year after they began for reasons equally unclear.  

      Most recently, Xanthix was invoked by the Black Shroud necromancer cult, led by the infamous LeMorgan Prykos, on the island of Raxos, in 1593.  Surviving records and accounts suggest that whatever the original intent, Necro-Mage Prykos lost control of the situation as he and his cult members were slain by a rampaging Xanthis.  The Dracolich's occupation of the island was a curse to all sailing traffic for more than sixty years, until a massive international expedition was mounted, led by a Greek coalition, and succeeded in destroying the creature.  

      Xanthix has not been seen since.  

     The Dracolich Korag Tol naturally appears as a rotting, half-skeletal,  dragon, green in color where the flesh still exists.  Despite his gaunt form, he has immense strength, and has been known to tear down thirty foot high stone castle walls.  He is thought to be the most accomplished caster of the Dracolichs, and likely uses his magic more than even his dragon abilities.  He is a merciless and sadistic creature, believed Lawful Evil in alignment, and is known to delight in the suffering of his victims.  

    The question of Korag Tol's first appearance in the world is uncertain.  There are archaeological records from the lands east of today's German kingdoms which include extensive primitive cave art picturing a green skeletal dragon.  These images and the pre-civilization they came from are generally dated around -1000 to -1200 PC, but really tell us very little and may simply be a fictional creation of those people.  

     Korag Tol's first certain manifestation was at the hands of the great Arch-Lich Vecna himself, probably early in the fourth century.  His earliest attacks on humanity were thought to be Vecna himself in some kind of dragon-form, and the history of the time shows some confusion.  Nevertheless, by the late 500s, his existence was well established, as Vecna began to send him forth regularly to strike at the kingdoms of the West.  For centuries, he was cursed by humanity as "the scourge of Vecna", until somewhere around 800 PC, he suddenly disappeared -- destroyed, it truly appears, by his own master Vecna.  What treachery, and upon whose part, is involved, we will likely never know, but it is surely the one act Vecna took for which the Western kingdoms felt gratitude.

      Korag Tol made a second appearance when he was brought to the Prime by the Black Princes of the Rus in the early 14th century.  Relatively little is known of this time to western sages, but it is certain that the Dracolich helped maintain that evil regime's reign of terror for better than three hundred years, until finally being destroyed by the great hero Voldarin and the paladins of the Protectors of Eternity Guild.  During this time, the Dracolich would typically take the form of a human magician, and acted as much advisor as enforcer for the Black Princes.  Many stories of dark rituals, mass torture, and other horrors of this terrible time are tied to Korgal Tol in this guise.  

      It appears Korag Tol was almost brought into the world in Celtic lands on the Isle of Cydwyth by a necromantic guild led by a renegade half-drow mage and a cult of undead-worshippers in the middle 1700s.  Their final ceremony had just begun when their stronghold was overrun by a coalition of local heroes and adventurers who put an abrupt end to the proceedings.      

     Yrakis takes the form of a white dragon, and it is claimed that wherever he flies, he is surrounded by a wind as cold and cruel as he is.  Very little is known to western sages about this creature, as his only known appearances are prior to the First Age proper, and even then most of the records regarding him are from second- or third-hand sources of that time.  In roughly the period -300 to -120  PC he appears to have resided somewhere in the extreme north and intermittently terrorized the northern kingdoms of that area.  He literally appeared "out of nowhere", and exactly how he came to be there in the first place is not known.  It appears that eventually a major campaign was mounted by the kingdoms that lasted nearly 18 years, until the creature was defeated some time around -120 PC.  

      There have been, over the last few centuries, new rumors of this creature's existence, all of them unconfirmed but periodically reappearing. These began in roughly the middle 17th century from areas along the Great Silk Road, and particularly ancient Sumerian lands.  Most involve small- to moderate-scale destruction of isolated hamlets, villages, or particularly monasteries and leaving undead "survivors" in their wake.  There are supposed stories of a white, dragon-like creature but no credible eyewitnesses exist, and whether these incidents require a dragon to explain remains uncertain.