Gaurdront’s Guide to Draconic Beasts

Written by Gaurdront Mehill, "Gaurdron'ts Guide to Draconic Beasts - A Guide to Identifying the Great Wyrms in the Sky" is a book giving a thorough overlook of the most well-known dragons.

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"Draconic creatures come in a wide array of shapes and sizes. Contrary to popular beliefs, the word “draconic” isn’t limited to the great winged wyverns that legends speak of, some would even consider creatures as weak as the kobolds “draconic”.

"Creatures that are arguably humanoid like the aforementioned kobolds and others like halfdragons, dragonborn and so on will not be covered in this book. Furthermore, some draconic creatures like the dracolich, sunwyrm and others have little to no lore to be found in even the great libraries of Candlekeep, thus starting from the least threatening nontraditional dragons and continuing up, the first dragonkin to be discussed is the pseudodragon. Pseudodragons have bodies around 1-2 feet big in the same shape of a red dragon. They’re playful and typically kept as pets or familiars by Wizards or other weavers of the arcane. The Pseudodragon communicates through limited telepathy.

"The faerie dragon is a cat sized dragon. The dragon varies in colour according to its age, being red at birth then progressing through various colour until being violet when above 50 years of age. The dragon moves through all the colours of the rainbow gaining more power with each colour. Faerie dragons possess spellcasting ability, invisibility and more. They enjoy playing pranks.

"The guard drake and the ambush drake are human sized four-legged wingless dragons of any chromatic colour with a muscular appearance. The Drakes is unable to reproduce and its very existence is unnatural as it’s the result of a ritual by the Cult of the Dragon, created for their dog-like obedience and combat abilities.

"Wyverns are often confused with dragons when peasants see them fly by, sending terror through the local population. Wyverns have leathery skin and only two legs, differing them from the traditional dragon. Wyverns tend to favour a fight in the air and can be great mounts if trained correctly. When facing a wyvern, your slim chance of survival may increase by keeping it grounded.

"The dragon turtle, more powerful than even some adult dragons, is amongst the most fearsome creatures of the oceans. The turtle collects treasures, often sinking ships to collect their loot, swallowing them whole as a means of transporting the loot. When fighting a dragon turtle on the open sea, your choices are limited and none currently live to tell the tale, thus not much is known about how to fight it.

"Moving on the traditional dragon, there’s still a lot of categorizing to be done. The two greatest and most prominent draconic subraces are the metallic dragons and the chromatic dragons. Then there are the Planar-, Gem- and Lung Dragons. The remaining subraces are what I call the Miscellaneous Dragons, as they all have major differences.

"Starting with the Metallic Dragons, they are inherently morally good, worship the Platinum Dragon Bahamut as their god and king and feature the following:

* "The golden dragon, strong, majestic, scales glimmering the polished crown of a king. The golden dragon is graceful, wise and knowledgeable, though they avoid contact with other dragons. They are found in warm climates and are immune to fire, which is also what their breath weapon consists of.

* "The silver dragon is regal and statuesque. Sometimes also called “Shield dragons”, they enjoy taking the shapes of elves or mankind to mingle and socialize with them. They avoid combat if necessary, but they are still without question a lethal force to be dealt with as they wield not only cold and paralyzing breath, but they are also immune to the cold.

* "The bronze dragon features yellow scales striped green. They are believed to be the third most powerful of the metallic dragons. They are fascinated with battles against evil, and will typically not fight living beings if not necessary. They will use their lightning breath as well as the sheer force of their breathing to push away enemies.

* "The copper dragon is weaker than some of its fellow metallic dragons, but is not to be underestimated. It is a trickster and a jokester yet also devious and clever. If you find yourself in the lair of a copper dragon, you’ll want to play along with its jokes, for even though they may seem childish in combat, taunting and teasing their opponents, they still wield acid and the ability to slow opponents.

* "The brass dragon is the weakest of the metallic dragons, even though it arguably has the most menacing looks due to its highly muscular body. Brass dragons enjoy long-winded conversations and the oldest among them even speak thousands of languages. Some tales tell of Brass dragons talking with young men until the human dies of age. The brass dragons wield fire like their golden relatives, though they also wield the ability to put enemies to sleep, both through conversations and sheer breath.

"Moving on to the Chromatic Dragons, commonly considered the counterpart to the metallic dragons, the Chromatic Dragons have non-reflective scales and they’re generally evil, greedy, predatory and worship Tiamat as their goddess and queen. The Chromatic Dragons feature the following:

* "The most well documented dragon in different legends and perhaps also the strongest dragon is the red dragon. Red dragon are only interested in their own well-being, their treasure hoards and their own power. They obsess over materialistic gain and may at times even take slaves and rule like a tyrannical king. They are territorial and settling on their turf is a guaranteed way to die in dragonfire.

* "The black dragon, sometimes also called a “skull dragon” is a slender type of creature typically living in swamps. When planning to face a black dragon there’s a lot to consider. The black dragon typically prefers ambushes over straightforward fighting. Their acid breath melts through even the thickest armour and the fate that awaits you when losing to a black dragon is worse than death as they’re cruel and enjoy toying with their prey.

* "Also known as “storm dragons”, the blue dragon is a dragon unusual for the Chromatic Dragons as the blue dragons keep well-ordered hierarchical societies. They’re more manipulative than outright murderous, this however doesn’t mean they aren’t a force to be reckoned with as they wield lightning breath and deadly claws. The blue dragon is typically found in deserts.

* "The green dragon has a long and slender body, noticeably a long neck compared to other dragons. Green dragons enjoy intrigue and secrets. When facing stronger foes, which is fairly rare, they use diplomacy and deceit, but when their foes are weak, they reveal a cruel and petty nature. Green dragons stalk their prey and especially enjoy consuming Elves and Fey creatures. In combat they wield a breath of poisonous and corrosive chlorine gas.

* "The white dragon is considered the weakest of the traditional dragons, less intelligent and more feral than its relatives. They dwell in frigid cold regions. Vicious, cruel reptiles driven by hunger and greed. They avoid other dragons, especially those of another colour, out of fear, but when facing non-draconic creatures, they will take out their frustrations with breath that can freeze one solid in an instant. Though they lack intellect even compared to mere humanoids, they have excellent memories and will at times seek out revenge.

"Other subraces are to be covered in the prequel to this book: Gaurdront’s Second Guide to Draconic Beasts"