Vortalon

The Fallen Brood

These are the direct descendants of the sons who murdered the Tyrannus Sharvaulus’Dorathen to try and steal the crown, they and their followers were cursed for their transgression. The moon Kindralth was said to turn into a massive ruby and shone it's angry red light on those responsible as the empire crumbled. These fallen are stripped of their birth signs and any eggs from one of the fallen as a parent will never receive a birth sign, once this fate had stripped them of all that was dear to the dragons the moon turned diamond once more. They are the standard run of the mill dragons, they do not ascend in power as the true Belthurian dragons do, and while some of the fallen can become truly powerful they do not enjoy the protection of the Tyrannus. While the Tyrannus will not use the crown against them they do not tolerate them and they are forever forbidden from Mordereth, and any dragon of the empire who sees them should rebuke them first, kill them if needed.
These fallen are victims of their nature, while intelligent and often angry for their lot in life their souls are punished by coming back into the body of one of the Fallen, they seem to be attached to a new cycle that limits them to repeating a difficult life again and again. There is no real society to them anymore, they are nations onto themselves and often take the feral kobolds and orcs as slaves.
The Fallen act just like their normal stats however their scales have been irreversibly turned ash-colored, they maintain the same special abilities as their original color, this makes them a bit more difficult to tell the type based on color but they are all considered evil, even if otherwise neutral or good.
While the fallen are not liked nor are they protected harvesting their bodies for weapons is still not accepted, for it sets a dangerous precedent to the true dragons. However, neither the Grey Wyrms, nor the Empire cares if their bodies are used for other purposes. The Tyrannus will not use the crown to reverse their curse, as it was set upon them by the Firstborn and even the crown is rather confident that they shouldn’t try, for there is a way for a fallen to be made whole again.
A fallen must show true selflessness, not trying to end the curse, the desire can be there but it can’t be the motivating factor. It must be something worth the notice of the Firstborn and move him from his anger towards them, he must feel they learned their lesson. How this is done is up to a DM if they pursue this. If they are forgiven then their scales will gain the color they should have, and a birthsign will show on them as it should have. This marks them as one of the True Dragons again.

The Curse of the Ruby Star (moon)

The curse the Vortalon have been inflicted with is one of the most powerful ever to be laid on anything in the world. The key points of their curse are:

• Cut off from the Arcane


• Scales turned to the color of ash regardless of type


• Bound to their own cycle of reincarnation where they will be born again into the Vortalon.


• Forever shall they see Kindralth as an angry ruby moon glaring down at them.

Being cut off from the Arcane does not mean they are entirely without magic, they must get it from another source, this could be divine or pact-based. There are Vortalon clerics and warlocks, they are how the influence of Tiamat can be felt in the world where otherwise she must contend with the other evil gods from other realms through The Tyrant.
Their scales are always grey ash in color this can NOT be changed by magic and will even persist through polymorphs into humanoid shapes, though non-magical means such as face paints or masks can be used to conceal this.
When a Vortalon dies their soul isn't freed from the curse they instead go to an otherwise dormant egg created by those who suffer the curse of the Vortalon. With only a small amount of souls available to them the Vortalon will produce large numbers of eggs and so long as they share a blood tie to a Vortalon when he or she dies their soul passes to one of those eggs which hatches. In the early times, they forgot everything about who they were, but through pacts, with powerful beings, they have found a means to retain themselves after death and rebirth.
When a Vortalon looks to the sky they see Kindralth not as a diamond-like moon the rest of the world sees, instead they see a seething ruby of rage that to this very day hates them for their treason a constant reminder of their fate.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The noteworthy feature is the ashen colored scales as if the color had been drained or burned away. Otherwise, they can look like any other dragon.

Ecology and Habitats

Preferring isolated caves or ruins these dragons have at least one secret stronghold where they keep their stockpile of eggs, which serve as new vessels for them to be reborn into should they be killed. This does not always have to be in the lair they live in and many choose to hide theirs away from their main lair. Otherwise they inhabit the same kind of habitat that they would if they were the normal variety of dragon of their color.

When you want to use a Vortaloon select one of the standard chromatic dragon types to use their stats, most Vortalon do not have spells though some have become clerics or warlocks to get around the fact that their magical connection has been severed by the curse they bear. You can choose to let them use a different type of breath attack than the statblock normally has, this also shifts their elemental resistances/immunities to the new element.

The Vortalon are more numerous than the true Belthurian dragons but they are on average far weaker, don't have access to the same kind of magic, they are not united even in their anger and hatred they do not work together, and most importantly lack something to equal or counter the Tyrannus crown. It is for these reasons the Vortalon have not tried to overtly take on the Draz Tyran. Small groups have surfaced from time to time but in short order, they betrayed one another in a bid for more power and removed themselves as a threat.
The Vortalon are expert manipulators and schemers the eldest of the Draz Tyran believe that the Vortalon first instructed the dragon hunters on how to hunt dragons. When using one of the Vortalon, in particular, the spellcaster ones they should be the ones with a plan and while they are happy to fight and kill, they try not to draw a lot of attention to their presence, lest the true dragons come hunting.
The only one of the Vortalon who could unite the Vortalon would be the Ashen King, the one who murdered Sharvaulus’Dorathen and was rejected by the Tyrannus crown. Shortly after his new fate the twin brother of Sharvaulus’Dorathen defeated him and sealed him away in an elaborate magic circle that is rumored to have focusing points across the continent, the dragon who defeated the Ashen King was Aren'Valesh before his ascension to godhood. There remains no one alive who knows if the Ashen king was slain and his body hidden or defeated but had to be sealed away perhaps unkillable save by some precise means.

Genetic Ancestor(s)

• Belthurian Dragons