Dragon, Metallic, Adamantine
Adamantine Dragons
* Image: Adamantine Dragon
Most people and creatures go their whole lives without knowing that Adamantine dragons exist, because these dragons rarely come out of their Underdark homes. Their short tempers and brutish demeanors often give others the impression that they are stupid and easily angered, but nothing could be further from the truth. Though not the brightest of dragons, they are far smarter than one might think.
Within their dark domains, adamantine dragons treat their territories as personal kingdoms, and all creatures within as their subjects. A dragon always demands obedience and respect of its "subjects," but also takes its lordship seriously, taking care to protect and ensure the safety of its (obedient) "subjects" at all times.
Adamantine dragons are a dark, metallic color, with scales that ruffle like feathers when it is angered or hunting. Creatures that have never seen a true black dragon often call adamantine dragons "black dragons" (which can lead to quite a bit of confusion when interacting with surface dwellers). Their heads and snouts are sleek, with a large beak that resembles that of a snapping turtle's. A row of spines begins at the base of the dragon's head and trails all the way to the tip of its tail, which ends in a spade-like blade.
Occasionally, one can hear the disembodied roar or earth-shaking rumble that denotes an aftershock caused by an adamantine dragon's breath weapon. Though they are solitary creatures, these dragons use their breath weapons to communicate over long distances in tones lower than most creatures can hear. Adventurers in the Underdark often think they are becoming prey to a terrible threat, rather than hearing a benign message sent between Underdark dragons.
Terrain and Habitat
If an adamantine dragon cannot find a suitable place to live in the Underdark (or if it is entirely inaccessible), it will settle for a rocky mountain range, as long as it can find a lair with large, deep caves and ledges large enough to support its bulky body.
Within the Underdark, they often come into conflict with purple dragons, as they prefer the same sort of terrain. Purple dragons avoid direct confrontation because adamantine dragons are bigger and stronger; this results in long wars of attrition or in the purple dragon attempting to dominate powerful allies to help defeat their rivals.
Lairs
Within their lairs, adamantine dragons prefer twisting tunnels and great caverns far from the light of day. They also prefer high ledges or other caverns on the cliffs and walls of their lair.
Favored Treasure
Adamantine dragons favor treasure that reminds them of their home, especially natural unworked ores and gemstones. Their most coveted lairs are those within silver, mithral, or adamantine mines, especially those with visible veins of ore.
Diet
Large game isn't usually accessible underground, so these dragons eat lots of smaller prey. They particularly enjoy giant spiders and other giant insects. They do not hunt sentient prey, but they will eat it if there are no other options; even then they don't like the taste or texture. They will never eat good-aligned prey or their "subjects," unless starvation is the only other option.
Tactics
Adamantine dragons are used to fighting in close quarters where their isn't much room to fly, so this is how they usually prefer to fight. They always know the terrain of their territory very well and use it to their advantage: utilizing chokepoints, flying over obstacles that will hurt/impede their foes, or executing an ambush.
Lair Actions
On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the dragon takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; the dragon can't use the same effect two rounds in a row.
* The dragon unleashes a mighty roar. All creatures within 60 feet of the dragon that can hear must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or take 7 (2d6) thunder damage and be deafened until the end of their next turn.
* A tremor shakes the lair in a 60-foot radius around the dragon. Each creature other than the dragon on the ground in that area must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone.
* A cloud of darkness with a 30-foot radius originates from a point of the dragon's choosing that the dragon can see. It functions as if cast with the Darkness spell.
Regional Effects
The region containing a legendary purple dragon's lair is warped by the dragon's magic, which creates one or more of the following effects.
* Within 1 mile of the lair, the dragon's presence magically creates silver, mithral, and adamantine ore veins, and makes them more common.
* Within 6 miles of the lair, benign tremors occur frequently.
* Adamantine objects that weigh 5 pounds or more are warm to the touch, when brought within 6 miles of the lair.
If the dragon dies, these effects fade over the course of 1d10 days.
Genetic Ancestor(s)
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