The format will be a letter in the first post, the stats in the second, and whatever design notes and thoughts in the third. Please feel free to comment.
Here we go:
Dear Foxgrove-Weathermay Ladies;
I write to you with two purposes: to commend and, hopefully, inform. Before I begin, I must inform you that I am what you would call an outlander. Like many outlanders, I came from a land free of the Mists and had already established myself as an adventurer.
First, let me commend you for taking up your Uncle Van Richten’s work. While I have never met the man, I am sure that he would be proud. My first exposure to his Guides was with a rather well-worn copy of his treatise on vampires. Since then, I’ve made an effort at considerable expense to obtain a copy of each of his treatises plus obtain copies of your works; which brings me to the purpose of this letter.
disturbing lack of knowledge concerning dragons. While nearly everyone in the northern Core has heard about Ebb, Lord Azalin’s erstwhile shadow dragon mount, an alarming number people have otherwise relegated dragons to creatures of myth; almost in the same way fiends were until your Uncle’s guide. Enclosed are notes concerning the general biology and psychology of dragons [author’s note: Draconomicon]. The goal of this letter, and hopefully, future correspondence is to reveal a dragon or dragon-related being living (or unliving) in the Core and beyond.
I hate to say that my first adventure in these Mist-filled lands coincides with the acquiring of the well-used guide mentioned above. Emerging from a heavy fog, I found myself in a land that I would eventually come to know as Nova Vaasa. The abrupt change in scenery (I was originally hiking in a snow-covered mountain forest) prompted me to be more cautious. As a skilled tracker, I determined that I was near a large settlement (Bergovitsa) and made my way to it. Without boring you with the details of my arrival and time in Bergovitsa, I stayed at a local inn once the language barrier was overcome. In an effort to get my bearings, I stayed in the inn’s common room/tavern. Eventually, an adventuring party had come into the inn searching for a place for the night and to hire a tracker. I approached and offered my services as a tracker, once a common language was discovered (Elven and Draconic). The group was very helpful in filling me in about Nova Vaasa, the world in general, my status as an outlander, and their need for a tracker. They were a band of vampire-hunters that had tracked a vampire to this region and apparently kept a lair outside of town. It was during this conversation about the vampire that I was introduced to Van Richten’s Guide to Vampires (albeit, I couldn’t read the language yet). It was through this guide that the band had become successful. The party had managed to identify the following things about the monster: He was a powerful spellcaster and he transformed into a huge snake instead of a wolf or bat. Ironically, for all their preparation, even with your Uncle’s warning about no vampire being typical couldn’t save them, for I doubt even your Uncle would have imagined what we encountered.
We set out the next day in search of the vampire’s lair for reconnaissance and eventually battle. After spending much of the morning searching trails, I found a promising trail that lead to a semi-hidden cave. During the exploration of the cave and its tunnels, vampire spawn attacked us at several points. All the while, I was becoming nervous but I couldn’t figure out why. I shared my concerns with my employer-compatriots: While the cave was inhabited by a vampire, something was wrong about this lair. My employers attributed my nerves to inexperience (admittedly, I had never fought a vampire before), but I insisted on extra caution.
Eventually we found the lair. Within it stood our quarry, waiting for us. While it was almost mid-day outside the caves, the sun couldn’t reach here. I panicked, but not because of the awakened presence of the vampire, it was the lair. The lair was enormous, far larger than any humanoid would normally need, and surprisingly well-lit with continual torches. In a side-cave off to the left and back, I could see the glint of a large mound of treasure. To the right of this entrance was a dedicated altar. The statue was rather large, with bifurcated stone (black stone on one side, white stone on the other) was carved into a statue of a dragon. The vampire was worshipping a dragon god! [author’s note: the FR dragon god Null] The vampire welcomed us by becoming invisible. Prepared for this, the priestess cast a spell that allowed her to see our quarry. She looked around for a moment, then her face changed to confusion then to absolute horror. The next thing I witness is her getting picked up in the mouth of a dragon of deep purple color and being drained of blood. In that instant I knew we weren’t facing a human vampire but a dragon vampire. My earlier unease now made sense. I was subconsciously seeing signs of living dragon occupation that had faded with time. I fled for the exit with the sounds of a massacre ringing in my ears. I didn’t stop running until Bergovitsa. From there, I fled north making efforts to keep the draconic vampire from following me. Why I survived or why I wasn’t pursued I’ll never know. In the years since that encounter I’ve made cautious forays into Nova Vaasa to learn about this foe. The vampire’s original dragon species is of a variety called “deep dragon.” This type of dragon is native to underground regions but occasionally comes to the surface to hunt. Apparently, this undead dragon seems to prefer the surface for hunting.
That is my tale of my first encounter with a dragon (albeit an undead one) in this land. Since then, I’ve come across tales of dragons and dragon-related creatures and objects and I hope to share them with you.
Thank you for your time.
With regards,
Rothin
Male mature adult vampiric deep dragon
CE Huge undead
Init +7; Senses Listen +40, Spot +40, special senses
Languages
AC 36 (-2 size, +3 Dex, +25 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 33
hp 174 (24d12+96), DR 10/magic, fast healing 5
Immune charm, undead traits
Resist electricity and cold resistance 20, fire resistance 10, SR 26, turn resistance +4
Fort +8, Ref +13, Will +19
Speed 40 ft., fly 150 ft. (poor), burrow 20 ft, swim 30 ft.;
S/R 15 ft./10 ft. (15 ft. with bite)
Melee +32 melee (bite, 2d8+7, 19-20),
Ranged
Full Melee bite and +26 melee (2 claws, 2d6+3) and +26 melee (tail slap, 1d8+10) and +26 melee (2 wings, 1d8+3)
Full Ranged
Base Atk +24; Grp +39
Atk Options: breath weapon, energy drain, blood drain, charm, domination, spells, spell-like abilities
Class Spells Prepared (CL) DC + spell level
Abilities Str 29, Dex 16, Con –, Int 22, Wis 21, Cha 22
SQ fear aura, true seeing, snake form 4/day, human form 4/day, create spawn, divine conversion
Feats Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Track, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Survival), Snatch, Skill Focus (Hide), Improved Critical (bite), Shockwave, Weapon Focus (bite)
Skills Bluff +14, Concentration +33, Hide +41, Intimidate +33, Knowledge (arcana) +33, Knowledge (religion) +33, Listen +40, Move Silently +38, Search +41, Spot +40, Sense Motive +40, Survival +35
Possessions
Charm: 210 feet, Will DC 28
Breath Weapon: Flesh-corrosive gas, 14d8 acid damage, Reflex DC 28, 50-ft. cone.
Domination: 100 feet, Will save DC 28
Divine Conversion: Necropsiix casts divine spells as an 11th-level cleric instead of a sorcerer.
Snake Form: Same size as dragon form with no legs, -6 to the AC, speed 30 ft, fly 10 ft. (poor), swim 30 ft., no claw attacks but can constrict for 3d6+7 damage with a free grapple check (no attacks of opportunity)
Sources: Monsters of Faerun, Draconomicon, Monster Manual
Design Notes: Necropsiix was actually featured in an early campaign I ran in 2nd ed. He was originally an old vampire deep dragon but due to the potential CR (epic), I cut is age down. It should be noted that the statue in the lair is my interpretation of FR dragon god Null as at the time Null was only a perception of Falazure and Chronepsis.
Cheers.
but why did'nt you just post him in my thread (I invited everybody to post their dragons on my thread)?
Seriously you should post a link in my thread to this thread then start posting your next dragon creations in my thread. I originally intended for my dragon work to be collaborative but nobody has till now taken the chance to post their own creations in my thread
Please post your next dragons in my thread "dragons of Ravenloft":D
Cool dragon
Seriously you should post a link in my thread to this thread then start posting your next dragon creations in my thread. I originally intended for my dragon work to be collaborative but nobody has till now taken the chance to post their own creations in my thread
Please post your next dragons in my thread "dragons of Ravenloft":D
I meant no offense.
:D ;) I had thought about it and decided that the letter-story didn't fit (but what do I know). Now that I think about it, though, I'll probably post the rest on your thread (only in the format I'm using).If the mod is watching, could you move my 3 posts on Necropsiix over to his thread, please?