Brine dragon

Brine dragon

(Creature)

Common

LN

Amphibious

Dragon

Elemental

Water

Level

8–17 (by age category)

Alignment

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Images of brine dragons

Source: Bestiary 2, pg(s). 87–88

Type

Dragon
(extraplanar, water)

CR

3–19 (by age category)

Environment

Plane of Water

Alignment

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Images of brine dragons

Source: Bestiary 2, pg(s). 94

Ⅰ

Ⅱ

Brine dragons are primal dragons native to the Elemental Plane of Water.

Abilities

Brine dragons gain in power as they age. They have formidable physical abilities, and as they age they gain spell-like abilities and sorcerous spellcasting. Older brine dragons are adept at capsizing boats.

The salty bite of elder brine dragons' teeth can desiccate and further weaken its victims. The bite of the very oldest brine dragons is so potent that any who survive the damage might still be temporarily stunned by the pain.

Brine dragons can breathe a spray of acidic salt water.

Appearance

Razethka, a brine dragon.

Brine dragons are covered in spines, and have sweeping neck frills and crests. Their scales are shiny and often colored blue-green.

Habitat and society

They are believed to have originated as elemental creatures in the area between the Planes of Water and Earth, although some speculate that they could also be transplants from another plane.

Brine dragons inhabit the darker, more saline depths of their home plane, far from the light of the Plane of Air. Each brine dragon rules its own realm in the depths, which increase in extent the deeper one goes, as do the size and power of the individual rulers. These realms are united into the greater empire of Kelizandrika, ruled by several overlapping councils. The most senior of these councils advises the empire's ultimate ruler, the elemental lord Kelizandri.

The brine dragons are in conflict with the krakens who also inhabit the depths of the Plane of Water. Due to the krakens' disunited nature, this conflict has often resolved in the brine dragons' favor, forcing many of the krakens out of the depths and into the lighter waters of the plane.

Brine dragons are solitary creatures, but as they age they become more and more concerned with ruling over "lesser beings". They are often served by numerous humanoids and monstrous humanoids such as merfolk, murajaus, sulis, undines, and faydhaans, whom the dragons force into their service through ironclad contracts. The faydhaans, however, are often clever enough to subvert their would-be masters' authority.

Some dragons have chosen to forsake Kelizandrika, due to both its internal power conflicts and the constant warfare against the krakens. These deserters are often hunted down by Kelizandri, who despises such betrayals, forcing the survivors to live as nomads or in exile. These dragons often live in floating cities pushed by the currents, while the largest of their kind carry their hoards and kingdoms on their own backs.

Notable brine dragons

See also: Category:Brine dragon/Inhabitants

Notable brine dragons include:

• Brisaswaithe, who pursued the legendary Feathered Galley of Ataylos to its purported demise in Jalmeray.
• Hyntheragha, a great wyrm who lairs in the exact center of the Obari Ocean, rules over and is worshipped by a tribe of merfolk whom legend claims she rescued after their settlement was destroyed by a storm.
• Izhkarial, an art aficionado of the northern Shackles.
• Kelizandri, said to be the child of a brine dragon and a minor divine power, rules his realm of Kelizandrika and is in frequent conflict with the neighboring sedacthy kingdoms.
• Machazmroh, who lives in the Shackles and is a vague associate of the Dankblade Crew, often visits Raptor Island where the Dankblades offer them tribute.
• Razethka the Scarred, a dethroned brine dragon, lives in the city of Vialesk on the Plane of Water.
• Rezlarabren lives on Thoska Isle and is allied with a tribe of ulat-kinis, whom she employs in exchange for protection to mine salt that she trades with the elves of the Mordant Spire. She is an enemy of the Ulfen of the Lands of the Linnorm Kings who hunted her in her youth.

References

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.