Zalgaldar

Zalgaldar (or just Zal) is a male bronze dragon serving as a high priest of the Queen of All Seas in Our Church Below the Sea on Kraljica Island. To most people he appears as a human.

Description

Zalgaldar is a shapeshifter, but considers himself to have two true forms: one is his dragon form, the other his preferred human form. A common element of these two forms is his left eye that has been replaced with a shiny white pearl, granting him truesight.

His dragon form is huge. His scales are matte from spending most his life at the mercy of the stormy seas. His back frills and the skin on his wings are a dark, aquatic green, and his horns and claws are shiny black. His one normal eye has a deep, blue color.

In his human form his blue eye remains. He tends to keep his dirty blonde hair at about shoulder length. He keeps a fairly short, but full beard. In just the right light, his hair and beard appear to be somewhat greenish. His face is rough with scars all around. One deep scar over his left eye was inflicted by his own claws, and serves only for him to have plausible explanation for having a fake eye. His body is lean, but muscular.

Usually he wears a red headband with strings of pearls running along the lengths of his hair. His upper body is bare to show off faded tattoos, one of which depicts the great southern star, the holy symbol of the Queen of All Seas. He wears red breeches ending just below his knees, and usually he walks around barefoot.

He has a distinct voice, rough, but calm.

Personality

Zal usually conducts himself in a calm and friendly manner, regardless of whether people are being friendly or hostile towards him, greeting both pilgrims and pirates in the same way. He rarely displays strong emotions. He is not emotionless, however, just because he doesn't show it. Zalgaldar truly enjoys his work as a priest, and finds happiness in guiding his parish. He finds human ways of life to be amusing and interesting, and by living alongside them he develops deep bonds with his church members.

Though assumingly very religious, on a surface level, he apparently does not take his religion very seriously. Those who know him well, however, will know he spends a lot of time praying, working on sermons, and preparing extra teaching materials for his disciples, who he trains to become priests themselves. He puts a lot of effort into not sounding too religious, as it might drive away those who are wild and free spirited, an archetype you often find among seafarers.

Special Abilities

Amphibious

As with other bronze dragons, Zal can breathe under water as well as he can breathe above water.

Breath Weapons

Just like other bronze dragons, Zalgaldar has the ability to exhale two kinds of magical forces:
Lightning Breath:
He exhales a thunderous roar of lightning bolts, sending them in a straight line causing major damage to anyone in the way.
Repulsion Breath:
He exhales noxious fumes from his underbelly with tremendous strength, forcing those in its way to be pushed far backwards

Divine Awareness

Zal knows if he hears a lie. Unless a serious lie, he tends to play along with it. With some effort, he is also able to detect the thoughts of other.

Shapechanger

Like many other types of dragon, Zalgaldar could transform himself into any type of humanoid or animal of his choosing, though he preferred staying in his true dragon or human form. He sometimes changes into the shape of any of the animals found on Kraljica Island to interact with them, and he has convinced many of them to help protect his church.

Tempest Cleric

Being a priest of the Queen of All Seas has given Zal access to a number of powers, including the ability to cast the associated spells, and divine channeling.

True sight

Thanks to his left eye being replaced by a magical gem, Zal is capable of true seeing, allowing him to see perfectly in natural and magical darkness, see through illusions, see the true form of shapeshifters, and to see into the ethereal plane.

Weather Master

On his island and the area around it, Zal is capable of completely controlling the weather and water, creating fog, waves in the ocean, and even conjuring storms.

Possessions

Zalgaldar keeps a moderately sized hoard in a secret room his church. It is made up from salvaged valuables from the bottom of the sea. The ocean around his island is often stormy, even without his intervention, and there are plenty of sunken ships and loose cargo ending up on his so-called "hunting grounds." Here he finds trinkets, jewels, gold and other precious metals, and even the odd magical item. Zal is not greedy, however, and recognize the fact that these items really don't belong to him. Should anyone come to him and lay forth a legitimate claim to something that once belonged to them, he will happily give it back. He usually have a time limit for these things, though, giving a year at most to reclaim what was lost. Otherwise he may start spending the valuables to the benefit of his small community.