Big Shadows

In a world with dragons, vampires, banshee queens and Kruin, it's possible for a lot of power to be concentrated into a single person. Today, we catch up with a few of the powerful creatures in the post-Orcus Valley. 
Editor's Note: This was meant to be a look at a variety of creatures. Turns out? Just dragons. Welp.
==== Aurelius Abelio, Green Dragon ====
"Abby" was born just over 500 years ago, before the second Righteous March. Most of her siblings were hunted to extinction, but some escaped to the wilder north of the Valley. Being a green dragon is a good gig: you're stronger than most things you come across, and you naturally get stronger with age. On the down side, you make a tempting target for hunters and adventurers.
Abby's solution was very true to her scales. She picked an area that was large enough to provide ample food but small enough to be defensible, and recruited nearly a hundred kobolds and hobgoblins to her banner. The north and northwest of the Valley is mostly held by orc tribes, so their arrangement was mutual: Abby would keep the roving orcs and bay, and her followers would warn her about anyone with magical nets.
At the center of her domain, near a large lake is a fort that's been built and added to over the years. It's large enough to hold Abby and most of her followers, with traps and fortifications to deal with even the most enthusiastic adventurers. It doesn't see much use, but it serves as a warning: Abby has had 500 years to plan her defense, and 500 years to dream of terrible things to do to those who'd threaten her.
==== Phitus the Philosopher, Gold Dragon ====
In contrast to Abby, Phitus is a city-dweller, although in many ways he's much the same. He is usually to be found in Tsar, although he goes to great lengths to disguise himself, so very few know of his existence. Like Abby, he relies on mutual alliances to find protection from hunters.
The difference is that while Abby trades in security, Phitus trades in information. His skill is as a shape-changer is unmatched among his kind, and has allowed him to remain relatively unknown for decades, and perhaps for centuries. He lives in comfortable quarters in a nice-but-not-too-nice part of town, and holds no political office. 
When asked, Phitus just says he wants to be left alone, and a little honorable spycraft is a good way to ensure his friends stay safe; as well as enabling him to control a large enough information network that he can rest easy, knowing he'll be alerted long before a threat can present itself.
The few that know him well are dubious about some his history. After all, can you ever really know the true form of a master shapeshifter?
==== Mayor Karlbotablepas of Spinnaker, Mist Drake ====
Karl is a mercenary, hired by Dejune to protect it from airborne threats. Karl's contract works in an usual way; it does not have an expiry or duration. Rather, she values herself based on her skills and sets her own fee. Anyone who pays that fee ensures her loyalty for life, or until someone else pays the next fee she sets for herself. This unusual arrangement is apparently standard where she's from, and has worked out well for the inhabitants of Dejune, and no one has yet been able to afford to hire her away.
When it looked like Orcus might destroy the Valley, Dejune and its allies founded a small outpost on the plane of air as a last resort. The threat of Orcus has passed, but the outpost is still operational, and Karl is its' queen. Native to the plane, Karl is untroubled by the icy winds and unreliable gravity, and so is both the protector and administrator of the outpost. The outpost was named Spinnaker, as a nautical pun on 'kite'.
Her mercenary party now includes two humans, Barrack and Avale. Avale was her rider while she was tasked with defending Dejune, and while Avale brings little to the table besides boundless enthusiasm and a complete immunity to air-sickness, they've grown fond of each other. Barrack is Avale's husband, who's just happy to be there.
The immense gain in skill, combat prowess and wealth has cause Karl to set her fee at the very reasonable price of two-million gold pieces. Perhaps one day, someone will buy out her contract, although it may be a little while yet.
==== Priest Herb of Tiamat, White Dragon ====
Herb was born deformed, too frail to even break the shell on his egg, and his mother abandoned him. He would have starved to death, if he hadn't been found by tribe of kobolds. A group of adventurers raided the kobold's lair where the wyrmling (barely 4 months old at that point) was being groomed to be the kobold tribe's totem and future leader. 
Herb was 'rescued', and the heroes tried to rehabilitate him. Herb's birth had left him with a mind of a stubborn child, instead of the regal intellect of his kin. The kobolds had tried to raise him on the teachings of Tiamat (the evil dragon god), but had not made much progress. One of the heroes, a dwarven wizard named Klaus, tried to re-educate him, but to no avail. Eventually, Klaus did the best he could, rewriting a holy book of Mitra (the goddess of compassion and charity), replacing "Mitra" with "Tiamat", and making a few adjustments to the holy scripture to bring it in line with the dragon's entrenched beliefs. 
Herb is now nearly 50, and is growing extremely fast by dragon standards. He speaks in a slow, drawling manner, as an inept tongue dances around a misshapen jaw. He spends his days with the adventurers who rescued him (including Klaus), who now go by the name of The White Flight. Herb is powerful in his own right, with spellcasting abilities of a dragon twice his age. That said, he doesn't fight unless his friends are in danger, and even then he does so reluctantly. That's because of a little book he carries around with him, The Kind Glory of Tiamat. 
He lives in a tower outside Sandpoint, and spends his off-time catching and lecturing thieves (The Kind Glory of Tiamat is very adamant that thievery is one of the worst crimes). Fear of the hangman's noose is one thing, but it's quite another for a would-be jewel-thief to suddenly come face to face with a house-sized creature that glistens like diamond. Few are prepared for the rattle of claws on cobblestone, the smell of sulfur, and the low grumble "Hello, friend. Have you heard the good word about Tiamat?"
There's rumors of a white dragon, seen using divine magic to heal a flock of sheep that were injured after a storm. Klaus would be quick to point out that Herb could not have been responsible. After all, surely "Tiamat" wouldn't grant him spells. Surely not.