Syvleth, the Rotten

Description:

The Thirst, Pestilence Dragon, Scourge of the Tropics and the Great Desiccator; all these names refer to Syvleth the Rotten, an unholy chimeric creation of a mad wizard from ages ago. Necromantic rituals, genetic tampering, and forced reproduction resulted in the union of a green and black dragon eons ago. The resulting magical genetics manifest themselves in the form of chimera expression, with half of the cells in Syvleth's body having green dragon genetics, and the other half comprised of black dragon genetics. The result of this, along with decades of magical manipulation in her egg, is an ancient chimeric dragon with horrifying properties. Her breath takes the form of a pestilent miasma that lingers for weeks, drying out all those that breath it in. She uses it to subjugate entire regions, parching the land, and withering plant and animal alike. Any who breathe the smallest amount of her breath find themselves drying up from the inside out, and dying of thirst, no matter how much water they drink. Death is slow and terrible, and she uses the threat of this horrible demise to exert control over huge regions. The only cure is at her whim, as she may lift the desiccating curse from those suffering from it, only to give it right back and start the process over again. Those subjugated by her cruel influence are desperate for an end to the pestilence, as she allows those who fail to provide sufficient tribute to perish.

Syvleth's body is covered in patches of green or black scales. Her body is gaunt, with scales and skin pulled taut over her bones and lean muscles. Her mouth has the lips pulled tightly back, with cracks all around the gums and bared teeth. This theme is present around her eyes, mouth, claws and wings. Magically enhanced to have shapeshifting abilities, Syvleth sometimes takes the form of a Yuan-Ti, but with all of these traits remaining. She is feral, ruthless, intelligent, and a tremendous threat.

Syvleth resides in a deep cave system in the heart of the dense Tropics of Arabangan, where she was born in a long defunct laboratory. From here, she controls the natives through her irregular tribute collections and pernicious exhalations. A perpetual fog hangs over the area from her pervasive breath, lightly obscuring the land, and getting heavy and dense close to her lair. The air becomes unbearably humid and acrid within the caves. Within the massive cave, standing rank pools filled with the desiccated corpses of Syvleth's victims line the space. The bones of her countless victims line the floor. Centipedes, scorpions, and snakes infest the lair, which is filled with the stench of death and decay.

Within 1 mile of her lair, Syvleth leaves no physical evidence of her passage unless she wishes to. Tracking her there is impossible except by magical means. In addition, she ignores movement impediments and damage from plants in this area that are neither magical nor creatures, including the thickets described above. The plants remove themselves from Syvleth's path.

This dragon was conceptualized by u/NonchalantWombat, and the art was done using a prompt by u/lady-quen on Reddit.

Dried thorny growths form labyrinthine passages within 1 mile of the dragon’s lair. The thickets act as 10-foot-high, 10-foot-thick walls that block line of sight. Creatures can move through the thickets, with every 1 foot a creature moves costing it 5 feet of movement. A creature in the thickets must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw once each round it’s in contact with the thickets or take 3 (1d6) piercing damage from thorns. Each 10-foot-cube of thickets has AC 5, 30 hit points, resistance to bludgeoning and piercing damage, vulnerability to fire damage, and immunity to psychic and thunder damage. Beyond one mile, the dense jungles form dense, thick swamps and tangled vines, with the water being undrinkable.

Rodents and birds within 1 mile of the dragon’s lair serve as the dragon’s eyes and ears. Deer and other large game are strangely absent, hinting at the presence of an unnaturally hungry predator. If the dragon dies, the rodents and birds lose their supernatural link to her. The thickets remain, but within 1d10 days, they become mundane plants and normal difficult terrain, losing their thorns. If Syvleth were to die, vegetation remains as it has grown, but other effects fade over 1d10 days.