Shadow Dragon

Shadow dragons are true Dragons that were either born in The Midnight or transformed by years spent within its dismal confines. Some shadow dragons embrace the Midnight for its bleak landscapes and desolation. Others seek to return to their home plane, hungry to spread the darkness and evil of the Plane of Shadow. Portals to the Midnight manifest in forlorn places and the deep gloom of subterranean caverns. The dragons that lair in such places often discover these portals and find themselves transported to a new realm. Ancient dragons that sleep in their lairs for months or years at a time might find themselves spirited away, never knowing that a portal has formed without their knowledge as they dream. The transformation to a shadow dragon happens over a period of years, during which time a dragon's scales lose their luster and fade to a charcoal hue. Its leathery wings become translucent, its eyes paling to pools of opalescent gray. Shadow dragons find sunlight abhorrent, and they are weaker in bright light than they are in darkness. Darkness makes the dragon fade to a spectral shadow of its former self. The magical nature of dragons holds an attraction for the Midnight, which seems somehow to crave the might and majesty of these great reptiles. The Midnight also has a dispiriting effect on its denizens, such that the longer a creature remains on the plane, the more it accepts the plane's malaise. As months and years pass for a dragon on the Midnight, it becomes aware of the transformation being wrought upon it, and yet can do nothing to prevent it. A shadow dragon is so suffused with the power of the Midnight that even a return to their home plane can't undo its transformation. Some shadow dragons attempt to lure other creatures from the mortal realm back to the Midnight to keep them company, at least until they tire of their guests and devour them. Others are happy to leave the Midnightbehind forever, understanding that treasure and power are easier to come by in the other planes. Only a true dragon can transform into a shadow dragon, and only if it is born in the Midnight or remains there for several years. A Dracolich can't be turned into a shadow dragon, since it loses its draconic nature when it becomes Undead.

Genetic Ancestor(s)