Month of the Dragon: Iconic Brass Dragons

In addition to the 10 facts about each type of dragon, I’m crafting three unique draconic NPCs for each type. Each NPC will have a bit of personality and history, a lair description, a unique ability, and a hoard.

Tarnished Kreig
Young Brass Dragon

• Age: 85 years
• Bio: When Kreig was barely more than a wyrmling, a celestial messenger bid him slay a hag that was working foul magics over a nearby village. The hag cursed Kreig so that half his scales appear tarnished, dull, and scratched, but the dragon was still triumphant. The celestial rewarded him with the powers of one of the hag’s servants. Kreig is a dutiful protector of the region once under the hag’s sway.
• Alternative Characterization: His youthful experience with the hag has burned into him a hatred of all fey and those who willingly associate with them, which blinds his judgment.
• Lair: Kreig’s Keep is an ancient watchtower along a mostly disused road through the badlands. From the top of his tower, Kreig can see several nearby villages.
• Unique Ability: Mimicry. Kreig can mimic animal sounds and humanoid voices. A creature that hears the sounds can tell they are imitations with a successful DC 13 Wisdom (Insight) check.
• Hoard: A sentient dancing sword called Tarquin,  approximately 4,000 gp in coins, and an assortment of gems with a total value of 1,500 gp.

Murl Broadbelly
Adult Brass Dragon

• Age: 570 years
• Bio: Murl Broadbelly is a braggadocios connoisseur of conversation and cuisine. Eager to meet both food and friends on the level of a humanoid, he began pursuing the power of transformation as a young dragon, traveling to meet with other dragons, doppelgangers, and humanoid wizards. Now, his home is constantly buzzing with the friends he’s made on journeys both as a dragon and as a halfling.
• Alternative Characterization: Some question the sincerity of Murl’s reasons to pursue transformation powers, noting his vast appetites. There are rumors that Murl isn’t even a true dragon but something else in disguise.
• Favored Form: When he attained the ability to transform, Murl picked a name to match his favored halfling appearance as a heavyset, perpetually sweating, middle-aged halfling man with an up-curled mustache, brass-colored hair, and bright red cheeks.
• Lair: Murl lives in a villa atop a mesa, with a massive lounging chamber carved into the mesa alongside numerous cellars for wine and other comestibles.
• Unique Ability: Murl can change shape as if he were an ancient brass dragon.
• Hoard: A ring of invisibility, 200,000 gp in coins, and a collection of gems and jewelry with a total value of 10,000 gp.

Professor Aes Centenia
Ancient Brass Dragon

• Age: 7,000
• Bio: Aes Centenia spends most of her time in her humanoid form, traveling from school to school as a renowned expert on languages. The professor has taught thousands of students over the centuries, though few humanoids are aware of her true nature. Her goal is to decode an inscription within an ancient tomb near her lair.
• Alternative Characterization: The professor’s love of languages comes before all else. She has endangered students for the opportunity to learn more, and she has turned her back on crises that might have been averted if she’d only put aside her research for a short time.
• Favored Form: To humanoids, Aes Centenia is primarily known as a thin, ancient halfling woman with wispy hair, ink-stained fingers, and a fondness for bright yellow robes.
• Lair: Centenia’s lair is embedded within a canyon wall overlooking an ancient tomb.
• Unique Ability: Linguistic Mastery. Centenia’s mastery of language is so great that she can understand the literal meaning of any spoken or written language as if under the effects of the comprehend languages spell. Additionally, once a day, she can grant this power to another willing creature for 24 hours by touching them.
• Hoard: A blue and white porcelain teapot that can be used to summon the djinni Rubin who knows Centenia’s identity (has the same function as a ring of djinni summoning), an intellect Ioun stone, three +2 weapons, 322,000 gp in coins, a library of books on language with a total value of 5,000 gp, and a collection of gems with a total value of 20,000 gp.