Dragons, Bone Dragons
aka Death Dragon, Ash Dragon, ShadowFell Dragon, Shadow Dragon, Calcium
The bone dragon is quite terrifying and usually of a nasty disposition. They are one of the smaller dragons. They can be mistaken for a cousin of bone devils or a dracolich. Their hide is covered in plates & ribs of hard bone with boney spikes protruding. They are chalky, gray-white but when wet the bone can have shimmers of many colors refracted on the surface. Three sets of greenish-yellow eyes sit just under ridges with the tiniest of black pupils. Their tails have spike-like spurs that can be thrown as missiles. They regrow quickly so unused ones tend to fall off. They make interesting daggers (or short swords for shorter folk.) Although they will require more sharpening and honing than a metal blade would. Their skull has a series of curved bones swooping over the forehead and back. The center bone comes down and forward as if the nose were a plow.
Bone dragons are excellent diggers, which helps with their diet of bones. Their powerful jaws and wide flat teeth crush and grind bone easily. They can chew through most rock, breaking it into chunks and random-sized gravel. Softer stone is pulverized into sands. They have a second set of mandible teeth deeper in the throat. On longer bones the bone dragon will close their jaw on one end. The mandibles will move forward inside the mouth grabbing the end of the bone and pull it inward, allowing the teeth to scrape through the flesh, and pulling the bone into the mouth. They throw away the flesh, the way we discard bones.
Driven by Appetites. Bone dragons enjoy feeding. And a dragon driven by its appetites is a dangerous thing. Thankfully, they can feed on the bones of any cattle, humanoid, undead, giant beasts, and common animals. Undead are a delicacy for them. Something about the re-animation of bones long after death makes them tasty. So undead are never safe from a bone dragon. This leaves them with a jumbled reputation through stories about them as destroyers of the undead, bone breakers, grave eaters, etc. Their six yellow-green eyes don’t give any comfort when looking into them, either.
They are more self-centered than the better halves of the dragons. They do not recognize sovereignty or ownership of land or beast. The world is a hunting ground. You hunt or are the hunted. And bone dragons enjoy the hunt too much. They eat first, ask questions later.
Lurkers Amongst Graves and Tombs. Bone dragons have a distinct connection to the dead. They can often be found lurking amongst gravesites, wandering between crypts, mausoleums, tombs, and memorials. Within the first fourteen days after death, spirits tend to linger near their corpse. They are very disassociated, blurs, and flashes of emotion or memories. This is the infancy of an afterlife. Bone dragons can see these wisps of spirit. Devouring bones destroys that gravity-like pull that the corpse exerts on the weakly formed soul. This sets the soul free from staying with their corpse, a common behavior for those not dealing well with finding out they are dead.
Living amongst the dead more than the living, bone dragons can sometimes develop disturbing personalities. This could range from socializing solely with the ethereal dead, difficulty distinguishing the dead from the living to taking on the mantle of death and seeking out those that deserve such a sentence. Some bone dragons have become truly evil, orchestrating mass deaths to gorge on their bones.
Antiques of Past Lives. Bone dragons hoard items of value and notoriety from the past. The older the better. There will certainly be skulls of famous people amongst their collections. This could include magic of some fame, especially if the item is very dated from an earlier era. But beautiful antiques of master craftsmanship are common. The bone dragon will set aside a place fit to keep such treasures safe from destruction and damage.
For fresh kills, the bone dragon avoids the flesh, so scavengers will be numerous around their lairs. Hyenas, vultures, rats, spiders will naturally be drawn to the regular leftovers from kills.
In their search for bones, they will sometimes eat out a graveyard from beneath. Eventually, the ground will become a massive sinkhole from too many graves having no solid ground beneath them. Ossuaries are magnets for them. They may live and wander them in humanoid form for decades. Their humanoid form also has a powerful jaw and teeth that chew and break bones.
The dragon creates a spectral fog as if it had cast the fog cloud spell. The fog lasts until initiative count 20 on the next round. On initiative counts 5, 10, and 15 during the next round one target in the cloud is attacked by spectral claws of the dead within the fog (Spectral Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, Hit: 10 (3d6) damage (roll d6 for type separately each attack: 1-2: necrotic, 3-4: cold; 5-6 slashing)
Once per day, the dragon can alter the weather in a 6-mile radius centered on its lair. The dragon doesn't need to be outdoors; otherwise, the effect is identical to the control weather spell.
Within 1 mile of the lair, winds buoy non-evil creatures that fall due to no act of the dragon's or its allies. Such creatures descend at a rate of 60 feet per round and take no falling damage.
Given days or longer to work, the dragon can make clouds and fog within its lair as solid as stone, forming structures and other objects as it wishes.
Boneskin. Some people may be affected by a very rare curse from the presence of the bone dragon. It is unclear how or why it starts, but it does not spread from person to person. Still, the visual appearance becomes frightening and most refuse any contact with the sick. Victims of boneskin begin developing hardening skin with no feeling over smooth muscular parts of the body. Eventually, the tough skin thins and dies, sloughing off like the velveting of antlers to reveal a boney carapace beneath. While it does become a natural armor, it means months of painful growths and most don’t survive. There have been stories of victims seeking out a bone dragon to end the pain, only to become servants to the dragon.
The corpse ---
The bone dragon is quite terrifying and usually of a nasty disposition. They are one of the smaller dragons. They can be mistaken for a cousin of bone devils or a dracolich. Their hide is covered in plates & ribs of hard bone with boney spikes protruding. They are chalky, gray-white but when wet the bone can have shimmers of many colors refracted on the surface. Three sets of greenish-yellow eyes sit just under ridges with the tiniest of black pupils. Their tails have spike-like spurs that can be thrown as missiles. They regrow quickly so unused ones tend to fall off. They make interesting daggers (or short swords for shorter folk.) Although they will require more sharpening and honing than a metal blade would. Their skull has a series of curved bones swooping over the forehead and back. The center bone comes down and forward as if the nose were a plow.
Bone dragons are excellent diggers, which helps with their diet of bones. Their powerful jaws and wide flat teeth crush and grind bone easily. They can chew through most rock, breaking it into chunks and random-sized gravel. Softer stone is pulverized into sands. They have a second set of mandible teeth deeper in the throat. On longer bones the bone dragon will close their jaw on one end. The mandibles will move forward inside the mouth grabbing the end of the bone and pull it inward, allowing the teeth to scrape through the flesh, and pulling the bone into the mouth. They throw away the flesh, the way we discard bones.
Driven by Appetites. Bone dragons enjoy feeding. And a dragon driven by its appetites is a dangerous thing. Thankfully, they can feed on the bones of any cattle, humanoid, undead, giant beasts, and common animals. Undead are a delicacy for them. Something about the re-animation of bones long after death makes them tasty. So undead are never safe from a bone dragon. This leaves them with a jumbled reputation through stories about them as destroyers of the undead, bone breakers, grave eaters, etc. Their six yellow-green eyes don’t give any comfort when looking into them, either.
They are more self-centered than the better halves of the dragons. They do not recognize sovereignty or ownership of land or beast. The world is a hunting ground. You hunt or are the hunted. And bone dragons enjoy the hunt too much. They eat first, ask questions later.
Lurkers Amongst Graves and Tombs. Bone dragons have a distinct connection to the dead. They can often be found lurking amongst gravesites, wandering between crypts, mausoleums, tombs, and memorials. Within the first fourteen days after death, spirits tend to linger near their corpse. They are very disassociated, blurs, and flashes of emotion or memories. This is the infancy of an afterlife. Bone dragons can see these wisps of spirit. Devouring bones destroys that gravity-like pull that the corpse exerts on the weakly formed soul. This sets the soul free from staying with their corpse, a common behavior for those not dealing well with finding out they are dead.
Living amongst the dead more than the living, bone dragons can sometimes develop disturbing personalities. This could range from socializing solely with the ethereal dead, difficulty distinguishing the dead from the living to taking on the mantle of death and seeking out those that deserve such a sentence. Some bone dragons have become truly evil, orchestrating mass deaths to gorge on their bones.
Antiques of Past Lives. Bone dragons hoard items of value and notoriety from the past. The older the better. There will certainly be skulls of famous people amongst their collections. This could include magic of some fame, especially if the item is very dated from an earlier era. But beautiful antiques of master craftsmanship are common. The bone dragon will set aside a place fit to keep such treasures safe from destruction and damage.
A BONE DRAGON’S LAIR
The lairs of a bone dragon usually have systems of wet caverns covered in colorful calcium deposits and spectacular stalagmite and stalactite formations. Large quantities of limestone, dolomite, and gypsum ores can be found surrounding their habitat. They are amphibious, so deep-water passages are common. When their carapace gets wet, they tend to show off many color variations, just like the cavern formations they live amongst. This is used by them to hide amongst the crags, stalactites, and winding walls. They can remain still for hours, possibly weeks.For fresh kills, the bone dragon avoids the flesh, so scavengers will be numerous around their lairs. Hyenas, vultures, rats, spiders will naturally be drawn to the regular leftovers from kills.
In their search for bones, they will sometimes eat out a graveyard from beneath. Eventually, the ground will become a massive sinkhole from too many graves having no solid ground beneath them. Ossuaries are magnets for them. They may live and wander them in humanoid form for decades. Their humanoid form also has a powerful jaw and teeth that chew and break bones.
LAIR ACTIONS
On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the dragon takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects:The dragon creates a spectral fog as if it had cast the fog cloud spell. The fog lasts until initiative count 20 on the next round. On initiative counts 5, 10, and 15 during the next round one target in the cloud is attacked by spectral claws of the dead within the fog (Spectral Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, Hit: 10 (3d6) damage (roll d6 for type separately each attack: 1-2: necrotic, 3-4: cold; 5-6 slashing)
REGIONAL EFFECTS
The region containing a legendary bone dragon's lair is warped by the dragon's nature, which creates one or more of the following effects.Once per day, the dragon can alter the weather in a 6-mile radius centered on its lair. The dragon doesn't need to be outdoors; otherwise, the effect is identical to the control weather spell.
Within 1 mile of the lair, winds buoy non-evil creatures that fall due to no act of the dragon's or its allies. Such creatures descend at a rate of 60 feet per round and take no falling damage.
Given days or longer to work, the dragon can make clouds and fog within its lair as solid as stone, forming structures and other objects as it wishes.
SWEY OF THE BONE DRAGON
Bone is one of the eight forms of earthen works that grew from the void. Bone represents the remnants of the living after the rest has decomposed. The swey lines drawn around a bone dragon’s lair relate to the transition after death. Consequently, ghosts and hauntings are not unusual in the surrounding region. Graveyards and large-scale deaths occur near them providing a food supply. This makes them an omen of death and disaster. Portals to the ShadowFell can form near them. Calcium formations, such as large deposits of limestone, gypsum, dolomite, and winding wet caverns of stalagmites and stalactites naturally occur. These are often part of or lead to their lairs.Boneskin. Some people may be affected by a very rare curse from the presence of the bone dragon. It is unclear how or why it starts, but it does not spread from person to person. Still, the visual appearance becomes frightening and most refuse any contact with the sick. Victims of boneskin begin developing hardening skin with no feeling over smooth muscular parts of the body. Eventually, the tough skin thins and dies, sloughing off like the velveting of antlers to reveal a boney carapace beneath. While it does become a natural armor, it means months of painful growths and most don’t survive. There have been stories of victims seeking out a bone dragon to end the pain, only to become servants to the dragon.
DEATH OF THE DRAGON
When the dragon dies, changed weather reverts to normal, as described in the spell, and the other effects fade in 1d10 days.The corpse ---
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