White dragons (also known as ice dragons or glacial wyrms) are the weakest and the most feral of the classic chromatic dragons.[3]
Description
A review of white dragon anatomy.
White dragons are physically the smallest of chromatic dragons, even smaller than blacks. They appear in shades from white to grey and ice-blue, and in arctic environments, this appearance serves as good camouflage.[4]
White dragons are physically distinguished by several features: their heads and necks seem to blend seamlessly into one another, and their wings appear somewhat frayed along the edges. They have a flap of skin, called a dewlap, lined with spines beneath their chins. Their heads are very streamlined, and they have a high crest atop their skulls. They have a crisp, vaguely chemical odor.[citation needed]
White dragon toes are spaced more widely than other dragons, with barbed claws to aid movement on ice. Their very thin eyelids prevent snowblindness when observing arctic landscapes.[4]
Combat
White dragons are not strong combatants as dragons go, but they should never be underestimated. Their icy breath can freeze an unprepared foe solid in an instant. They typically avoid fights with more powerful dragons, but will avail themselves of any opportunity to take their frustrations out on 'lesser' creatures.[citation needed]
Whites also have exceptional memories,[3] and will often hunt down beings who cross them, no matter how long it may take.[citation needed] They are not as cruel as black dragons and are not as ferocious as reds, but they are still competent in combat.[3]
White dragons prefer to attack first, then eat their prey, rather than pausing to ask questions. They do not often contemplate what to eat, simply choosing the most convenient prey, and will often freeze it after the kill by burying it in snow or ice for days.[3]
Breath weapon
White dragons expel a cone of intense cold, a direct hit from which is fatal as it instantly freezes its victim. Even a glancing blow can be seriously debilitating.
Ecology
They are still powerful enough to overwhelm most humans and have exceptional long-term memories. Adult white dragons have several abilities well suited to their arctic habitat: they can climb ice cliffs with ease, fly very high and fast, and are exceptional swimmers. They love to swim in cold water; the more frigid, the better. Much of their diet often consists of aquatic creatures, even Whales.[3] White dragons are always hungry, and tend to become more savage as they mature. Knowing that they are the smallest and weakest of dragons, many whites harbor inferiority complexes. They take any opportunity to bully beings such as giants and younger dragons of other species.[citation needed] White dragons prefer to scavenge for and collect treasure, rather than involving themselves in politics as other dragons might. Like other dragons, they look down on others, and will tend to view other creatures as prey.[3]
Lairs
Most white dragons lair in ice caves, often dug into the side of an arctic mountain, on tundra, or glacial plains, although they do not need ice and snow, and some settle near mountain peaks or in forests. They can create their own caves by applying the breath weapon to tightly packed snow in order to transform it into solid ice.[3]
White dragons make their homes in frozen lands and ice-covered mountains. Their lairs often contain many more tunnels and chambers than those of other chromatic dragons. More powerful white dragons will sometimes turn a large iceberg into a floating lair. Such lairs always have an underwater entrance as well as one to the open air.[citation needed]
Whites prefer glittery treasure such as diamonds or light gems, but platinum, silver, and anything reflective or polished works of art are also popular.[4]
Parenting and development
White dragon Wyrmling
White dragons usually lay about eight or ten eggs in a clutch. A white dragon egg is incubated for fourteen months. The first three and a half months are within the mother's body. On average, between a quarter and a third survive to hatching.[4]
White dragon eggs must be buried in snow or encased in ice while incubating. The parents do not bother to tend or protect the eggs in any way, although they will usually lay them near their lairs. A newly hatched white wyrmling has scales as clear as ice, which become white as the dragon matures. They are expected to survive on their own from the moment they hatch, although some white dragon parents will permit their young to live in their lair until they reach adulthood.[citation needed]
The wyrmling develops into a young dragon after about three or four years, and then into an adult after about 100 years. Elder white dragons age from about 750 years, while ancients age from 1700 years, and the oldest white dragons have lived around 2100 years.[4]
Known white dragons
- Tymofarrar
- Glacialamacus[5]
- Ingeloakastimizilian : Also called "Icingdeath". A white dragon that lived in a region of the Reghed glacier known as Evermelt. Killed by Wulfgar after he threw his warhammer, Aegis-fang, into a stalactite that fell and impaled him. Unusually for a white, Icingdeath had horns, which Wulfgar removed after slaying the beast so that he would have a trophy that would enable him to challenge the leader of his barbarian tribe to a duel.[6]
- Wintercloak[7]
- Arauthator[8]
- Arveiaturace[9]
- Ravinsky[citation needed]
Template:IWD and expansions
- Icasaracht : Matron mother of the white wyrms. She was slain by Aihonen's ancestor and her soul trapped in her broken heart at the bottom of Lac Dinneshere, one of the three lakes of Icewind Dale in the Frozenfar of the Sword Coast North, that the Ten Towns cluster around. The blade was later removed, allowing Icasaracht to reincarnate. She was later slain again by the hands of the Heroes of the Ten Towns.
- Ghaulantatra[10]
References
- ↑ Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Christopher Perkins (2014-09-30). Monster Manual 5th edition. Edited by Scott Fitzgerald Gray. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 100–103. ISBN 978-0786965614.
- ↑ Skip Williams, Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook (July 2003). Monster Manual v.3.5. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 77–78. ISBN 0-7869-2893-X.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Bruce R. Cordell, et al. (November 2008). Draconomicon: Chromatic Dragons. Edited by Michele Carter, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 42. ISBN 978-0-7869-4980-9.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Bruce R. Cordell, et al. (November 2008). Draconomicon: Chromatic Dragons. Edited by Michele Carter, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 43. ISBN 978-0-7869-4980-9.
- ↑ Warning: edition not specified for Road of the Patriarch
- ↑ R.A. Salvatore (March 2005). The Crystal Shard. (Wizards of the Coast). ISBN 0-7869-1606-0.
- ↑ slade, Jim Butler (October 1996). Netheril: Empire of Magic. Edited by Jim Butler. (TSR, Inc.), p. Cannot cite pages from this boxed set. See {{Cite book/Netheril: Empire of Magic}} for a list of citations that may be used.. ISBN 0-7869-0437-2.
- ↑ Eric L. Boyd, Eytan Bernstein (August 2006). Dragons of Faerûn. Edited by Beth Griese, Cindi Rice, Kim Mohan. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 42. ISBN 0-7869-3923-0.
- ↑ Eric L. Boyd, Eytan Bernstein (August 2006). Dragons of Faerûn. Edited by Beth Griese, Cindi Rice, Kim Mohan. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 17. ISBN 0-7869-3923-0.
- ↑ Eric L. Boyd, Eytan Bernstein (August 2006). Dragons of Faerûn. Edited by Beth Griese, Cindi Rice, Kim Mohan. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 49. ISBN 0-7869-3923-0.