A brine dragon was a fully aquatic creature more akin to sea serpents than any other type of dragon.[1][2]
Description[]
Brine dragons were fully adapted to the deep seas, and could neither fly, walk on land, nor breathe air.[1] In fact, they only broke the surface of the waters if the proper incentive was given, such as hunger combined with a boat full of humans,[1] or they were forced to, as they did under the influence of the likes of Iakhovas.[2]
They were massive creatures with flippers where other dragons would have claws. Their heads were triangular and wedge shaped but still quite reminiscent of normal dragons.[2] Their oversized teeth gave an impression of them always smiling, though quite an unfriendly one at that.[1] The hides were rough, mottled, and craggy, with the scales irregular and not fitting quite well together. Huge discolored pieces of salt were pressed into the hide that could not be dissolved.[1] Newborn brine dragons were but 5 to 8 feet (1.5 to 2.4 meters) long, while the oldest largest specimens could reach 102 feet (31.1 meters) in size.[1]
Personality[]
Brine dragons were a violent and unpredictable lot, and almost all had nihilistic tendencies, even going so far as to eat their own eggs or young if they were hungry enough.[1] They all loved salt to an almost obsessive degree and it was from it that they got the name 'brine dragon'.[1] They would naturally absorb it while swimming the oceans, but if they could locate deposits, like in coastal salt marshes, they would eat it.[1] They hated black dragons with a passion.[1] They would attack with little provocation if they felt like it, and ignored soft targets if they didn't, being extremely unpredictable creatures, eating everything they caught and overpowered, including marine undead.[1]
Combat[]
Brine dragons were very good swimmers, able to move through waters without causing so much as a ripple. As such, they were quite capable ambush predators while they themselves were aware of every disturbance in the currents around them.[1]
Their bite caused terrible damage due to their great teeth, which would gouge large marine creatures such as whales or other amphibious types of dragons.[1]
The breath weapon of a brine dragon was a liquid spray of salt and an alkaline substance that burned like acid, working equally well whether above or below the water, even against aerial targets who would be caught in a caustic rain up to 90 feet (27 meters) high.[1] The brine dragons themselves were immune to acids, salines, and all poisons.[1]
Society[]
The nihilistic egos of the brine dragons meant that they never had leaders nor formed any real society, being persistent solitary creatures unless mating.[1]
They made their lairs by using their caustic breath and spittle to glue together coral and rock formations into convenient caves. With these caves as their fixed point, they staked out their individual territories, which could range from 100 yards (91 meters) to 10 miles (16 kilometers) across, and could change daily as the aquatic situation changed.[1]
Once a brine dragon had laid its eggs, it was a matter of chance whether one or both parents stayed with the eggs or let them fend for themselves, or just ate them. This extremely random parenting was one of the main reasons for the low numbers of brine dragons in the great seas.[1]
History[]
In the Year of the Gauntlet, 1369 DR, early in the Twelfth Serôs War, the mighty wereshark Iakhovas compelled a brine dragon to attack Waterdeep alongside a force of sahuagin and other usually solitary aquatic creatures such as a dragon turtle.[3]
Appendix[]
Appearances[]
Novels & Short Stories
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 Jon Pickens ed. (1995). Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Two. (TSR, Inc.), p. 44. ISBN 0-7869-0199-3.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Mel Odom (January 1999). Rising Tide. (TSR, Inc.), p. 139. ISBN 978-0-7869-1312-1.
- ↑ Mel Odom (January 1999). Rising Tide. (TSR, Inc.), pp. 139–140. ISBN 978-0-7869-1312-1.
Connections[]
Chromatic dragons: Black • Blue • Brown • Gray • Green • Orange • Pink • Purple • Red • Salt • White • Yellow
Gem dragons: Amethyst • Beljuril • Crystal • Emerald • Obsidian • Sapphire • Topaz • Ruby
Neutral dragons: Amber • Jacinth • Moonstone • Pearl
Lung dragons: Chiang lung • Li lung • Lung wang • Pan lung • Shen lung • T'ien lung • Tun mi lung • Yu lung
Ferrous dragons: • Cobalt • Iron
Planar dragons: Adamantine • Astral • Battle • Blight • Chaos • Ethereal • Hellfire wyrm • Howling • Mirage • Oceanus • Pyroclastic • Radiant • Rust • Shadow • Styx • Tarterian
Spelljamming dragons: Moon/lunar • Radiant • Sun/solar
Epic dragons: Force • Prismatic • Time
Catastrophic dragons: Blizzard • Earthquake • Volcanic
Miscellaneous dragons: Cobra • Dzalmus • Mist • Rattelyr • Song • Vishap
Linnorms: Corpse tearer • Dread • Rain • Stygian
Drakes: Ambush • Black firedrake • Dragonne • Elemental (Earth • Fire • Ice • Magma • Ooze • Smoke • Water) • Felldrake (Crested • Spitting) • Greater • Guard • Mind • Portal • Rage • Space • Storm • Vulture
Dragonbloods: Draconic creature • Dragonborn of Bahamut • Dragonspawn
Drow-dragon (shadow) • Drow-dragon (deep) • Half-dragon • Kobold (Dragonwrought • Urd) • Weredragon • Zar'ithra • Zekyl
Hybrid monsters: Dracimera • Dracolisk • Mantidrake • Wyvern drake