Tidepool dragon

Tidepool dragon

(Creature)

Type

Dragon
(aquatic)

CR

3

Environment

Warm coastlines

Alignment

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Source: The Wormwood Mutiny, pg(s). 82

Tidepool dragons are diminutive dragons native to warm, shallow seas.

Appearance

Tidepool dragons are roughly the same size as faerie dragons and pseudodragons, typically growing to two feet in length. A tidepool dragon's body is covered in a combination of scales and chitinous shell, both blue in color. Tidepool dragons possess a pair of finlike wings attached to their backs, as well as two legs ending in crab-like pincers. Behind their torsos, their bodies end in long, muscular tails.

Ecology

Tidepool dragons are carnivores and feed primarily on fish, although they also prey on crustaceans, shellfish, and seabirds. They possess two bones at the backs of their throats that can be rapidly vibrated, generating intense heat. By forcing water over these bones as they vibrate, a tidepool dragon can produce a jet of scalding water hot enough to melt glass. This jet quickly diffuses when released underwater, and serves as the dragons' primary way of killing schools of fish when hunting.

Tidepool dragons are amphibious, and can breathe air indefinitely. Their wings, in addition to being used for propulsion underwater, are capable of sustaining flight, allowing a tidepool dragon to pursue seabirds in the air.

Tidepool dragons prefer to live in coastal waters, especially the tide pools that give them their name.

Tidepool dragon eggs and hatchlings are often preyed upon by bunyips.

Unless they succumb to accident or other causes, tidepool dragons can live for up to 300 years.

Society and culture

Typically, tidepool dragons live in mated pairs or family groups in coastal caves. Parents raise their young until these can survive on their own, typically at three years of age, at which point the young dragons set off to find their own lairs and mates and to explore the wider world. Young tidepool dragons often band together in pods of unrelated individuals while adventuring.

Tidepool dragons tend to have a tempestuous relationship with other species, as they are highly territorial and prone to attacking individuals they feel are trespassing on their territories. They are also prone to playing tricks and mischief on other beings. However, tidepool dragons can be bribed or bargained with fairly easily, as they respond well to offerings of gems, coins, colorful shells, and shiny trinkets; they are also partial to exotic foods, especially deepwater fish, and inland fruits that they normally cannot obtain themselves.

When suitably paid, tidepool dragons can be convinced to act as scouts and lookouts for ships. Aquatic races such as merfolk, tritons, aquatic elves, and sahuagin are also known to ally with bands of tidepool dragons for these reasons. Rarely, a spellcaster may be able to take a tidepool dragon on as a familiar.

References

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