Metallic Dragon

A metallic dragon is a type of true Dragon infused with the essence of goodness. Their scales have the color and brilliant sheen of a type of metal: gold, silver, copper, brass, or steel. Unlike their Chromatic Dragon counterparts, they believe that they are merely one powerful species among all other souls on the Material Plane, designed to preserve and protect those around them rather than destroy and subjugate them.
All metallic dragons are the beloved children of Bahamut the Titan, one of the two first dragons. His avatar is that of an immense dragon with scales of pure platinum. Metallic dragons worship Bahamut as a god.
Metallic dragons collect treasure just as avidly as their chromatic counterparts do, though their aim is less to hoard for the sake of hoarding and more to satisfy their innate curiosity. If a particularly noble and trusted person can offer a good enough reason why doing so would be in the interest of the greater good, a metallic dragon can occasionally be persuaded to release an item from its hoard. 
Unlike chromatic dragons, metallic dragons who have reached adulthood are innately able to shapeshift into humanoids or beasts. Many do so to survey their lands, collect additional artifacts, learn more about the world around them, or simply to experience life in another form for its own sake. Uniquely among dragons, the steel dragon spends most of its life in shapeshifted humanoid form. Its hoard, called a composition, consists less of artifacts and more of great works or accomplishments the dragon made or achieved in their various humanoid lifetimes. Their shapeshifted bodies age and die as humanoids do, and the steel dragon retreats to the wilderness for several years and emerges again as a humanoid child, ready to start a new extraordinary life.

Basic Information

Anatomy

There are six main subtypes of metallic dragon, divided by color. Each color of metallic dragon is associated with its own element, as follows:

• Brass (fire)
• Bronze (lightning)
• Copper (acid)
• Gold (fire)
• Silver (frost)
• Steel (acid)

A dragon has immunity to its associated element, as it is an intimately integrated part of its anatomy. It can expel this element from its throat as a powerful projectile weapon, either in a long stream or a cone.
Dragons have four stomachs for digestion, much like ruminants, plus a fifth "pseudostomach" that connects directly to the esophagus. This contains the raw fuel that powers its breath weapon.

Additional Information

Geographic Origin and Distribution

They primarily make their home in Draxhaven, though a few (particularly steel dragons) live scattered among the rest of the Material Plane.

Average Intelligence

Dragons, particularly metallic dragons, are perhaps the most intelligent creatures native to the Material Plane. Even a newly-hatched dragon has the intelligence of the average adult Humanoid, and ancient dragons can gain such incredible wisdom as to rival the gods. Dragons have extraordinary memories, able to recall specific details of their hoards or meeting a human's ancestors generations ago.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Dragons, particularly metallic dragons, have exceptional abilities of sight. Very little escapes their gaze, even from high in the sky. The most powerful of ancient dragons can see into the past, the future, and even some mortals' dreams. 
A dragon's sense of smell is also extraordinary. It can identify a humanoid's bloodline and ancestors by smell alone, even if it has been hundreds of years since it last encountered one of these ancestors.

Civilization and Culture

Major Organizations

The church of Bahamut among the metallic dragons is also known as the Golden Guard, a brotherhood of (nearly) all metallic dragons sworn to protect both the ideals of Bahamut and the rulers of the metallic dragons in northern Draxhaven.

Major Language Groups and Dialects

A metallic dragon's native language is always Draconic. However, their great intelligence and natural curiosity about the other mortals of the world leads them to pick up as many languages as possible, as quickly as they can. Nearly all metallic dragons speak Common, Elvish, Dwarvish, and Celestial by the time they turn 100 years old. Many metallic dragons consider knowledge of languages to be part of their "hoard;" some collect knowledge up to 12-15 languages during their lifetime.

Genetic Descendants

• Steel Dragon

Conservation Status

Metallic dragons are vanishingly rare. Only a few dozen are believed to be extant; even the sight of those few is the stuff of myth and legend.

Geographic Distribution

• Draxhaven

Related Ethnicities

• Dragon