Bitterstrike

The White Wyrm of Winterbole is queen of her forest. Half blind from an old wound, Bitterstrike has acquired a multitude of subjects to be her eyes. Her icy vengeance is legendary; although her servants wander, they never stray. Without warning, a lithe, powerful form bursts upward through the ice of a frozen lake or streaks down from a storm-shrouded sky, announcing the presence of the white dragon Bitterstrike. Bitterstrike’s temper is well known, and any slight against her incites her cascading wrath. Her vassals and spies often use her violent tendencies to their advantage, cleverly delivering information to her that directs the dragon’s anger against those they want to see destroyed. Nursing a Grudge: In her youth, the dragon hungrily snatched beast and humanoid alike from the Nentir Vale. Brutal, random, and reckless, she cowed the populace. Over the years, the white wyrm came to see the vale as both a holding pen for her meals and an outlet for her terrible anger. Chief Fangstrike of the Tigerclaw barbarians (page 100) was the first to stand against her—and he survived. In fact, with a single strike of his war pick, the chief gained legendary status as he cleaved the dragon’s brow and skewered her left eye. Screaming in agony, the dragon turned tail and fled. For thirty years, the white wyrm disappeared from the valley, and the barbarians’ songs of victory spread. Nine moons after Chief Fangstrike’s death, the white dragon returned. Visibly shaking with shame and rage, the beast desecrated the chief’s grave, murdered his kinfolk, and destroyed the Tigerclaw’s main settlement. The barbarians cursed the dragon, naming her “bitter strike” in acknowledgment of the revenge she had nursed all those years. Ruthless Warlord: When Bitterstrike lost her eye, her behavior deviated from that of other white dragons, a breed well known for the random, wanton destruction they brazenly inflicted on anyone in their way. During her thirty-year retreat, the seeds of bitterness in Bitterstrike’s heart swelled into a forest of hatred and misery, and the dragon swore to repay each insult with mayhem and death. In an uncharacteristic moment of clarity, however, the maimed wyrm realized she could not enforce such vengeance on her own. Bitterstrike approached the remaining Tigerclaw barbarians and threatened to lay low the tribe’s survivors as she had Fangstrike’s kin, unless they swore to annually yield to her a tribute of wealth and a high-status hostage from their clan. Then the wyrm approached other Winterbole races—including the Frost Witches (page 54), the treants (page 104), and the satyrs—and gave each the same ultimatum. Those that refused lived to regret that decision. Now, Bitterstrike rules her part of Winterbole Forest the way a queen rules her vassals. The Winterbole races pay their annual tributes to her hoard, and their hostages serve the dragon as emissaries, guards, spies, and warriors. They communicate with their tribes and inform the dragon of rumors pertinent to her. Even the smallest reported offense incites her vengeance. Usually, Bitterstrike delivers swift revenge personally, pouncing on the offending individual and snuffing out its life. When facing uncertain odds, however, Bitterstrike intimidates the Winterbole races into raising cooperative forces to punish transgressors. The dragon’s close brush with death made her realize that a little patience, fear, and control of one’s allies can go a long way toward facilitating a long, deeply satisfying, revenge-fueled life.