Green Dragon

Green dragons were master manipulators who reveled in corrupting lesser creatures and hoarding them like possessions. The most cunning and treacherous of true dragons, green dragons use misdirection and trickery to get the upper hand against their enemies. Nasty tempered and thoroughly evil, they take special pleasure in subverting and corrupting the good-hearted. In the ancient forests they roam, green dragons demonstrate an aggression that is often less about territory than it is about gaining power and wealth with as little effort as possible.
A green dragon is recognized by its curved jawline and the crest that begins near its eyes and continues down its spine, reaching full height just behind the skull. A green dragon has no external ears, but bears leathery spiked plates that run down the sides of its neck.
A wyrmling green dragon's thin scales are a shade of green so dark as to appear nearly black. As a green dragon ages, its scales grow larger and lighter, turning shades of forest, emerald, and olive green to help it blend in with its wooded surroundings. Its wings have a dappled pattern, darker near the leading edges and lighter toward the trailing edges.
A green dragon's legs are longer in relation to its body than with any other dragon, enabling it to easily pass over underbrush and forest debris when it walks. With its equally long neck, an older green dragon can peer over the tops of trees without rearing up.
Capricious Hunters. A green dragon hunts by patrolling its forest territory from the air and the ground. It eats any creature it can see, and will consume shrubs and small trees when hungry enough, but its favorite prey is elves. Green dragons are consummate liars and masters of double talk. They favor intimidation of lesser creatures, but employ more subtle manipulations when dealing with other dragons. A green dragon attacks animals and monsters with no provocation, especially when dealing with potential threats to its territory. When dealing with sentient creatures, a green dragon demonstrates a lust for power that rivals its draconic desire for treasure, and it is always on the lookout for creatures that can help it further its ambitions.
A green dragon stalks its victims as it plans its assault, sometimes shadowing creatures for days. If a target is weak, the dragon enjoys the terror its appearance evokes before it attacks. It never slays all its foes, preferring to use intimidation to establish control over survivors. It then learns what it can about other creatures' activities near its territory, and about any treasure to be found nearby. Green dragons occasionally release prisoners if they can be ransomed. Otherwise, a creature must prove its value to the dragon daily or die.
Manipulative Schemers. A wily and subtle creature, a green dragon bends other creatures to its will by assessing and playing off their deepest desires. Any creature foolish enough to attempt to subdue a green dragon eventually realizes that the creature is only pretending to serve while it assesses its would-be master. When manipulating other creatures, green dragons are honey-tongued, smooth, and sophisticated. Among their own kind, they are loud, crass, and rude, especially when dealing with dragons of the same age and status.
Conflict and Corruption. Green dragons sometimes clash with other dragons over territory where forest crosses over into other terrain. A green dragon typically pretends to back down, only to wait and watch-sometimes for decades-for the chance to slay the other dragon, then claim its lair and hoard. Green dragons accept the servitude of sentient creatures such as goblinoids, ettercaps, ettins, kobolds, orcs, and yuan-ti. They also delight in corrupting and bending elves to their will. A green dragon sometimes wracks its minions' minds with fear to the point of insanity, with the fog that spreads throughout its forest reflecting those minions' tortured dreams.
Living Treasures. A green dragon's favored treasures are the sentient creatures it bends to its will, including significant figures such as popular heroes, well-known sages, and renowned bards. Among material treasures, a green dragon favors emeralds, wood carvings, musical instruments, and sculptures of humanoid subjects.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Green dragons were most notable for the large, waving crest or fin that started at the dragon's nose and ran the entire length of the dragon's body. They also had exceptionally long, slender forked tongues.

Genetics and Reproduction

Green dragons were reasonably good parents, with both mother and father typically staying close to their eggs while they were incubating. Green dragon females either kept their eggs in a solution of acid or buried them in leaves moistened with rainwater. The green wyrmling was easily mistaken for a black, due to their nearly black scales. As the wyrmling matured, its scales became steadily lighter in color until they reached the striking green shade of an adult. The wyrmlings typically stayed with both parents until they reached adulthood (approximately 100 years).

Growth Rate & Stages

Medium 5 years or less
Young Large 6–100 years
Adult Huge 101–800 years
Ancient Gargantuan 801 years or more

Ecology and Habitats

The typical green dragon lair was located underground and was a complex of caves and tunnels, with its main entrance hidden behind a waterfall. The preferred green dragon lair was a cave high up on a cliff, but such locations were usually hard to find and thus only home to the oldest and most powerful green dragons.
These dragons were typically found to live near woodlands.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Green dragons valued their territory, but only as a means to gain as much power as possible without expending considerable effort. They would sometimes trade safe passage for a worthy item to add to their hoards. Even so, they were extremely cunning and duplicitous foes, and loved double-crossing others. A traveler who stumbled into a green dragon's territory might be able to bribe the dragon for safe passage, but more often than not the dragon would pretend to agree and then attack the unsuspecting offender once their guard was down. Worse, if the traveler impressed the green dragon during its stay, they might start thinking of the newcomer as a prized possession to be corrupted and sculpted to its will.

Scientific Name

Draco Chlorinous Nauseous Respiratorus

Average Height

• Wyrmling: 5 ft.
• Young: 9 ft.
• Adult: 15 ft.
• Ancient: 20 ft.

Average Weight

• Wyrmling: 320 lb.
• Young: 2,500 lb.
• Adult: 20,000 lb.
• Ancient: 160,000 lb.

Average Length

• Wyrmling: 16 ft.
• Young: 31 ft.
• Adult: 55 ft.
• Ancient: 85 ft.