Swetonian, the Afflictor
Swetonian the Afflictor is one of the ten remaining True Dragons of Illiria, and the last of the black Dragons. He is the lord of Wyrm's Grave, a swamp-city in Dark Isle made from the bones of Swetonian's ancient enemies. Swetonian is the most feared of all dragonkind, known to be cruel for the sake of cruelty and to kill servants for no other reason than boredom. The screams of his victims carry for miles as a result of his latent magic.
The Afflictor has three horns etched with glowing violet Contingency Runes, one in the center of his snout and two growing from the top of his skull resembling bull's horns. His scales resemble a crocodilian's in design, and his teeth are serrated. The mortal form of Swetonian is a heavily tattooed male human that retains his head-horns and teeth. Swetonian hates being in mortal form and will only use it to travel to other cities. His favored pastimes almost always involve tormenting mortals, especially humans. Aside from that he is heavily involved in breeding reptiles for interesting colors and behaviors, though he despises dinosaurs.
The magic of the Afflictor is powerful, though he rarely practices it. His Living Spells patrol his territories and do his hunting for him, and his Contingency Runes are designed mostly to prevent his mortal subjects from escaping, oftentimes destroying their very desire to leave. When he deigns practice mortal magic, it is almost always necromancy. He does not share the same affinity for the crafting of true constructs as other True Dragons, so he uses skeletons to fill the same purpose. The undead of Wyrm's Grave serve primarily as overseers, as Swetonian prefers that his mortal servants maintain his domain, though he does use them for tasks that would be impractical for mortals to fulfil.
Swetonian is named The Afflictor for an unfortunate side effect of his latent draconic magic, the mutation and spread of disease. He specifically employs many divine healers for the purpose of treating his servants that fall ill and preventing the same. His active magical abilities are similarly foul, namely his ability to corrupt water into brackish liquid that life cannot survive in. The bone palace of Swetonian is partially submerged in this substance, as the Dragon himself is immune to it's effects, and he keeps undead reptilians in the murky liquid at all times. The waters around Wyrm's Grave are safe enough, though if the Dragon is not careful his mere presence might cause it to go bad, at which point he must hire spellcasters to purify it.
The Dragon is capable of not only communicating with reptiles, but also commanding them with his thoughts. The people of Wyrm's Grave do not fear the thousands of snakes, lizards, turtles, and crocodilians that live in their city, as those will not attack them by the will of the Afflictor. He feels some affection for these creatures, which he considers pets, and many mortals in the service of Swetonian are full-time caretakers for the beasts. They also breed the reptiles on behalf of the Dragon, and despite the ominous look of the city, parts of it have been called "moving gardens" to describe the colorful reptiles that live there.
Swetonian is cruel, but he does not constantly torment all of his followers. Instead, he selects one or two every once in a while seemingly at random to be the target of his wicked entertainments for months or even years at a time. These are given special quarters in his bone palace, which are lavishly decorated and full of luxuries they might not otherwise have experienced. Those that survive long enough are also made to join his harem, which is not quite as extensive as those of other dragons. The resulting Half-Dragons are given special places on the outskirts of Wyrm's Grave which they are never to leave, though they are given some of Swetonian's personal servants and have access to his undead. Others choose to live under the bone palace, for they are able to live indefinitely in the poison water. Like the Dragon himself, all of his children can breath underwater and are comfortable in such circumstances.
The Afflictor can breath acid, but also can vomit forth a pool of the stuff that fills a very large area, killing everything in it slowly. This pool does not last for more than a minute or so, but it is potent, concentrated acid. He can also target his ability to corrupt liquid, specifically rendering magic potions undrinkable, or turn the blood of his victims to brackish water.
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