Dodriar

Dodriar is an NPC from the Temphere campaign universe. He is a very young green dragon, just barely too old to be classed as a wyrmling. He was nominally the leader of the Black Claw, but had lost control to Wenrule well before the adventuring party arrived at the temple. With his cooperation, the group was ultimately disbanded.

## History

### Pre-Game

Dodriar at some point got into an argument with his parents, as young teens are prone to doing. He wanted to leave to start his own territory away from the nest, but his mother and father insisted he wasn't ready. Unsatisfied with this answer, Dodriar snuck away in the middle of the night to strike out on his own. He eventually arrived at the swamp that was the home of the Shifting Mist tribe, and there he met the kobold Wenrule. Wenrule's brother had recently perished during an archaeological expedition into the nearby Yuan-Ti ruins, and the embittered kobold explained to Dodriar how the human inhabitants of the town of Mire's Edge where invading the Shifting Mist swamp and slowly forcing them out. Dodriar, being young and impressionable, was upset to learn about this and agreed to help Wenrule and anyone else who was like-minded to force the humans out. Together they formed the Black Claw.

At an unknown point, a group of six resentful individuals from Mire's Edge attacked the winged kobold captain Yuty and an injured scout of hers, intent on killing them. Dodriar and Wenrule saw this going on and intervened, killing the attackers and winning Yuty's cooperation as a double-agent between the Black Claw and the members of the Shifting Mist who weren't hostile to Mire's Edge. Whenever Yuty was at the temple that was now the Black Claw base, she was tasked with being Dodriar's babysitter, more-or-less, as those who spent a great deal of time with him had come to realize that despite being as big as a horse, he had the maturity of a kid about eleven or twelve.

While Dodriar was the leader of the Black Claw, they tried to drive Mire's Edge out through indirect tactics. They robbed passing supply wagons, stole livestock, and generally made a nuisance of themselves in the hopes that if the marsh became inhospitable enough, the humans would just leave. When it became clear this wasn't working, however, Wenrule started to plot under Dodriar's nose to take much more violent tactics, up to and including outright murder. Though Dodriar advocated against this, not wanting to hurt anyone, and Yuty pointed out that murder would bring down retaliation much harsher than mere theft had done, Wenrule was unwilling to listen to reason. Surreptitiously, he started using an enchanted artifact he'd found in the temple- the Silvertongue Staff- to bend the will of the rest of the Black Claw members, making them more inclined to cooperate with his methods.

### Adventure 2 - The Black Claw Gang

The first evidence that the party got to the fact that Dodriar was in the swamp was the brief sighting of an adult green dragon on the road towards Mire's Edge. This was likely either Dodriar's mother or his father, out looking for him after he'd run away from home.

Later on, the group found dark green scales in a lower level of the temple, near an altar. On the level just below it, they got confirmation on the creature to whom the scales belonged, as they overheard Wenrule and Yuty arguing about "our little dragon." Thoroughly intimidated- after all even a young adult dragon is a force to be reckoned with- the group agreed to try to approach the situation diplomatically. They followed Yuty into the room where she'd retreated after the argument with Wenrule, and after a terse discussion they agreed to help her sort out the mess that the Black Claw's situation had devolved into. She brought them then to meet Dodriar, and they were surprised (and relieved) to see just *how* young he actually was.

After some discussion everyone agreed that they would try to talk to Wenrule and make him see reason- though they were ready for things to devolve into a fight if he was unwilling to talk. The bereaved kobold turned out to be *thoroughly* unwilling to talk, and in his anger at Yuty and Dodriar's betrayal he used the Silvertongue Staff to cast Charm Person on Dodriar. A fight then broke out, though Dodriar wasn't as aggressive as he had the potential to be on account of Cree keeping Wenrule too distracted to give many direct orders to the dragon, and the limitations of Charm Person meaning that he wasn't willing to take actions against his morals. Eventually Anther managed to take Wenrule out, freeing Dodriar and by extension the rest of the Black Claw from his control. With Wenrule down, Dodriar reasserted is control and ordered the rest of the Black Claw to stand down. He followed the party and the gangsters back to Kuria when the group agreed to surrender. The Shifting Mist's leader, Apogri, opted not to try to imprison or punish Dodriar- instead she concluded that they would let his parents take back custody of him, and they could sort him out. It is presumed that at some point after the party left Kuria, Dodriar's parents did indeed find him there and took him back home.

## Personality

Dodriar is well-meaning, but not all that bright. He legitimately wants to help the scalefolk of the swamp, and lacks the maturity or experience to realize just how backwards and unproductive what he's been roped into really is. He sometimes tries to put on a front of being tough and intimidating, but his acting chops aren't the best and the mask falters at the least bit of uncertainty. When confronted, he concedes that he's lost control of the situation, and shows sincere remorse for the harm his actions have caused. In short, he's a kid; a sweet, but woefully ill-equipped kid in a situation way over his head.

## Trivia

* Like most of the Black Claw members, Dodriar was tricked into believing that Dahlia is a gold dragon wyrmling shapeshifted into halfling form. Since the truth was never clarified to him before the party left Kuria, presumably he still believes this.
* When asked his age, Dodriar states that he's thirty. (Very young for a dragon.)
* Dodriar is the first true dragon met by either party during the game.
	+ His parent spotted in the earlier scene doesn't really count as "met" since it was only a distant sighting.