Ancient Spirit Dragon

Spirit Dragons: Draconic Scions of an Ancient Empire Treasure: Any

Spirit dragons, sometimes called song dragons, are powerful dragons whose powers stem from the magic and history of fallen realms. They embody the spirit of a bygone age, and so as they grow and mature, they develop an erratic control over time. A spirit dragon's primary motivation is to unearth and study the ruins of the ancient realm from which it arose. Spirit dragons share an innate intellectual curiosity, and many have a deep appreciation for the culture and art of humanoid societies. Spirit dragons find even the most commonplace melodies moving. A song written in the time and region from which a spirit dragon hails can potentially overwhelm the dragon, driving it to either morose despondence or passionate rage. No two spirit dragons are exactly alike; each individual bears features distinct to the empire from which it hails. Roll on or choose a result from the Spirit Dragon Origins table to determine which lost realm a spirit dragon is from.

Spirit Dragon Origins:

Ancient Spirit Dragon: Ancient spirit dragons have outgrown the petty concerns of the current age. After centuries of studying the culture and beliefs of an ancient empire, a spirit dragon's personality and outlook are often indistinguishable from that fallen realm's.

Spirit dragons, sometimes known as song dragons, are unique and powerful dragons associated with the magic and memory of bygone ages and realms.

Description: A spirit dragon can hatch from any dragon egg buried in ancient ruins and left to incubate under certain conditions. Once hatched, they grow into living embodiments of the ancient place from which they originated. Each spirit dragon has distinct features that belie the lost realm or age with which they are associated, although all have wings with which to fly. From a young age, they can also burrow with surprising efficiency, assisted by their natural blindsight.

Personality: Spirit dragons are driven first and foremost by a hunger to learn about, understand, and unearth the secrets of the society that left the ruins in which their egg hatched. They spend their whole lives learning about this lost culture and its beliefs and outlook, and assimilate much of what they learn into their own personalities. On occasion, they are known to hire adventurers to delve into the ruins of their homelands. They further have a general innate appreciation for and curiosity about the intellectual, artistic, and cultural facets of other humanoid societies, particularly their music. While they find even mundane songs to be moving, they are struck with deep and potentially overwhelming emotions upon hearing a song written by the lost society with which they associate.

Combat: Spirit dragons draw their power from the very history and magic of ancient and lost places, which manifests as both limited and erratic control over time itself as well as necrotic energy that suffuses their physical attacks. They are in turn resistant to the effects of necrotic magic. They also master spellcasting as they age. Older dragons can cast detect magic, shapechange (although they are limited to animal or humanoid forms), and thunderwave whenever they wish and without any material components (and are known to make extensive use of thunderwave in battle). Once each day, they can also cast legend lore and sequester. One of the most remarkable abilities they develop in their adulthood is the magic to physically unearth ancient ruins and raise them into the air. They use this power in battle to bludgeon enemies with ancient stones or to disrupt the battlefield and hamper enemy movements.

Breath Weapon: Spirit dragons possess two distinct breath attacks. The first is a ruinous, 90‑foot-long (27‑meter) blast of necrotic power. The second warps time in a 90‑foot-long (27‑meter) cone, which can cause creatures to appear to be moving and reacting half as fast as normal.

Homelands: While spirit dragons can theoretically be found in any ancient ruins, they are notably said to inhabit places associated with the ancient empires of Imaskar, Jhaamdath, Netheril, and Ostoria, as well as other places with long histories like Evermeet or Myth Drannor. They are occasionally known to cause trouble in nearby regions if they experiment with hazardous forgotten magic or inadvertently unleash long-buried dangers.

Lairs: A spirit dragon generally makes its lair in a ruined monument or city nearby to the remains or remnants of the ancient realm with which it is obsessed. The dragon's presence within its lair causes all music to become more beautiful, all creatures to age at one-tenth their normal rate, and anyone aside from the dragon or its friends to be more susceptible to charm magics. The region within 1 mile (1,600 meters) of the lair comes under the influence of this magic for as long as the dragon dwells there.

Lifecycle: Wyrmlings spend their days exploring the ruins in which their egg hatched. As they gain confidence and mature, they begin delving into the ruins' secrets and testing ancient magics. As adults, they are known to travel in disguise (using the shapechange spell) amongst humanoids to indulge their curiosity. Finally, ancient specimens have spent so many centuries immersed in the study of their ancient homeland that their world view becomes identical to that of the long lost society's. At this point, they hold almost no remaining interest in the concerns of their current time and place.