Cave Dragon
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Homeland: Caves in Xalious Mountains, Underdark
Combat Style: Melee
Combat Rating: Very Strong
Magic Style: Moderate Terramancy
Magic Rating: Moderate
Strong Against: Physical Attack, Dark Magic, Lightning Magic
Weak Against: Fire, Water, Psychological Attack
Preferred Races: Drow, Shadow Gnomes, Mind Flayers
Preferred Alignment: Any Evil
Intelligence: Very High
Aggressiveness: Very High
Contents |
Physiology
Also known as Stone Wyrms, these dragons are rather large, can range from sixty to a hundred-twenty feet in length, depending on maturity and gender (males tend to be larger). Their scales are black or blackish brown, or the nearest color to the stone of their environment. Most often, their eyes glow softly, as an adaptation to give them sight in pitch-black areas and remove the need for external light. Unlike most dragons, Cave Dragons do not have wings, for they have no use of flight in caves, or closed spaces in which they are most commonly found. (Cave Dragons are aptly named due to the fact they are commonly found in deep, remote recesses of the earth.)
However, to compensate for the lack of flight, Cave Dragons are more armored as their scales tend to be heavier and more resistant to magic and weapons than those of other "flight-born" dragons. Their bones tend to be heavier, and thicker than flight-born dragons, and they tend to have much more muscle, and pack a bigger punch to make up for the lack of maneuverability in the skies. This also, consequently, prevents them from attaining the ability to fly (even if they wanted wings) due to their sheer weight. Among all the dragons, Cave Dragons the heaviest and physically, the strongest.
They are distant cousins to the Deep Dragons, some would even say "evolved". Adapting to the cave environment, Cave Dragons have a natural camouflage against infra-vision (vision in the infrared spectrum) and normal vision. They also possess the ability to adjust their sight between infra-vision and vision in the normal color spectrum. Depending on their age, some Cave Dragons have been known to possess the ability to see through magical illusions, or conjured shadows and even conjure some of their own. Cave Dragons are developed toward fighting in a dark, damp cave rather than an open field or the sky.
As with many dragons, Cave Dragons can can 'alter' their dragon form into other appearances, they have knowledge of assuming any native humanoid form as most other dragons can, but unlike others, they can also assume smaller forms (simply more compact) to make a tight-fit not so tight when moving through the caves or certain tunnels in the Underdark. These forms have been seen as an anthropomorphized dragon.
As with all other dragons, Cave Dragons have their own unique breath-attack. This is the first and foremost reason why Cave Dragons are so well-armored. Their breath attack is a deadly and caustic acidic gas, designed specifically to aid in their preferred environment: caves. While the breath itself will whittle anything organic to a bubbling pile of goo that was once flesh, it can remain in one area for up to a day. The compound that the gas is makes it heavier than air, so the breath-attack does not dissipate easily in closed spaces. A direct hit is a guaranteed death while walking through the mist, even inhaling once can have serious ramifications. However, this mist will have little effect on inorganic material other than causing it to oxidize at an accelerated rate, though a direct blast will result in complete oxidation in seconds.
Psychology
Cave Dragons tend to all have a varying psychology as they are extreme nomads of the saurian race. Some have been found that were fetal-position insane, and others as civilized as a guest at a very expensive dinner party. Since they prefer solitude, they often conjure up ideas that society has either abandoned or will not look too kindly upon. However, no matter what the mental state of the dragon is, they all seem to be inherently evil.
Skills/Magics
- Breath Weapon
- Ability to breathe out an incredibly caustic, flesh corrosive gas in any non-Humanoid form
- Saliva
- Saliva is acidic, corrosive to flesh, stone and metal alike, stems from breath attack.
- Claws
- Claws for Cave dragons are most unique, for they are used to pierce into and grip smooth stone as well as rending the flesh of prey.
- Razor-Sharp Teeth
- Cave Dragon teeth can break bone and rip flesh with ease, used in dragon form only and tend to be very needle-like, meant for piercing armor.
- Rock Manipulation
- Ability to alter rock/stone/earth to some extent, best classified as a moderate terramancy
- Flight
- No known ability to fly, but they can jump great distances which has been sometimes characterized as flight.
- Climbing
- Cave Dragons have specialized claws to deal with crawling on rock, and clinging to sheer surfaces. Their 'palms' have special scales that rise when the dragon needs them for traction or grip.