Blue-Ringed Dragon

A surprisingly elusive animal, the blue-ringed dragon is little more than a legend amongst those of sea-faring careers. These dragons, though highly intelligent and curious, are almost never seen by those that they may watch or investigate.

Dark blue rings in the markings of misshapen bullseyes and cartilage spikes decorate much of the blue-ringed dragon's upper body, with a yellow underbelly and suction cups creating its vivid underside. Equipped with a retractable hood on its head, this dragon will typically have four legs and four webbed tentacles creating a cloak behind it. This cloak can be used to launch the blue-ringed dragon into flight, though it is much more frequently used as a system of propulsion underwater.

Camouflage Masters. Blue-ringed dragons are masters of disguise, utilizing a unique ability to mimic any color pattern and texture in order to hide themselves. This ability is typically used to hide themselves while hunting prey or watching individuals of interest, though a more mischievous blue-ringed dragon may take to mimicking some of the more intimidating local fauna in order to scare passerbys without fully revealing its presence.

Endless Curiosity. Blue-ringed dragons do no crave specific types of knowledge or wealth like most other dragons, but rather are piqued by anything and everything they do not immediately recognize and understand. Though shy, members of this species will frequently overcome their wariness of others in order to investigate a new or unusual visitor or object they encounter. Because of this, adventurers and similar who seek out blue-ringed dragons will frequently bring anything from an interesting, but useless, trinket, to rare magical items with them in order to lure the dragon out.

Devastating Toxins. The blue-ringed dragon's tentacles are outwardly lined with spikes that inject a deadly toxin into those it constricts. This toxin causes total paralysis and permanent blindness and is capable of killing larger animals within minutes, making it extremely valuable. Though the dragon is primarily an ambush predator and prefers to run and hide if attacked, when forced to defend itself it is capable of reversing its cloak to reveal a sharp shield of deadly spikes. The reversed cloak makes it near impossible to physically attack the blue-ringed dragon without getting jabbed by its deadly spikes.

A blue-ringed dragon's Lair

Preferring temperate waters, blue ringed dragons tend to dwell in massive coral reefs, spending their whole lives blending into the brightly lit clusters of rocks and organisms. Due to this, it's extremely rare for a blue-ringed dragon to settle anywhere near human coastal settlements, as fishing activities disturb on takes a lair and destroy corals reefs too much to allow them to get to a size suitable for the dragon.

Lair Actions

On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the dragon takes a lair action to cause one of the following lair effects: (The dragon can't use the same effect two rounds in a row)

‌• A strong current moves through the blue-ringed dragon's lair. Each creature within 80 feet of the blue-ringed dragon must succeed on a DC 26 Strength saving throw or be pushed up to 80 feet away from the blue-ringed dragon. On a success, the creature is pushed 15 feet away from the blue-ringed dragon.

‌• Non-hostile aquatic creatures within 240 feet of the dragon that can see or otherwise sense its presence will come to its assistance, attacking its enemies or using other abilities to defend it. These creatures will remain a part of the fight until falling to half of their maximum hitpoints, upon which they will individually flee.

‌• Water in a 60-foot radius around the dragon begins to heat to a boil. All other creatures in the radius must succeed a DC 20 Constitution saving throw, taking 33 (6d10) fire damage on a failed save and half as much on a successful one.

Regional Effects

The region containing a legendary blue-ringed dragon's lair is warped by the dragon's magic, which creates one or more of the following effects:

‌• Water sources within 6 miles of the lair unnaturally flourish, resulting in expansive kelp forests, gigantic coral reefs, and large fish and whale populations.

‌• Within 1 mile of the lair, winds become weak or completely non-existent and the water sources become brightly colored, but difficult to fully see through--creatures can make out vague shapes and colors beneath the waves, but not much more than that.

‌• Whenever a creature that can understand a language enters within 10 miles of the dragon's lair, the dragon can create a current to turn them off-course and out of the area around its lair.

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