Copyright 2011 Wizards of the Coast.

This post is part of a series! Click here to see the others.

Here’s our third dragon!

The Lore

The black dragon Shadowmire has made the Witchlight Fens his home for over two hundred years. He’s the more active and aggressive of the Vale’s current draconic inhabitants, and I guess also the one most like a typical dragon.

Shadowmire claims the entire extent of the Witchlight Fens as his dominion, but though his personal power is terrifying, his power base is not quite up to the task of controlling all of that territory. The dragon rules many of the lizardfolk tribes who live on the area as a terrifying overlord, and while they’re not always capable of preventing others from encroaching into the fens, Shadowmire uses them to punish any groups foolish enough to do so. He likes to brag that the fall of Kalton Manor was his greatest victory, though he was not the sole factor involved in that tragedy.

The dragon’s main goal is to turn his claims into reality, and to grow ever wealthier and more powerful in the process. He patrols the Fens to make its inhabitants fear him, and can sometimes be seen flying over the Nentir River where it passes by the swamp. He can also move more stealthily, even swimming silently where the water is deep enough.

Shadowmire’s lair is under the Cairnwater river, accessible through an underwater entrance at the river bed. Its true location is known only to the dragon himself, but there’s much speculation about it and the treasures it contains. Shadowmire is entirely aware of this and keeps a number of fake lairs throughout the fens, which he uses to misdirect his enemies and lure greedy adventurers to their doom. The dragon increases his hoard by looting those greedy adventurers, and by raiding trade boats that pass through the Nentir river.

Since he’s lived in the Fens for so long, Shadowmire knows practically every one of its secrets, and a good deal about the story of the Vale besides. He also makes some effort to remain aware of the Vale’s current affairs through his network of spies.

Not every inhabitant of the Fens serves the dragon, and some even try to oppose him. I imagine there might be a hag coven or two who have objections to his rule, but the group the book calls out as the most persistent torn on Shadowmire’s side are the Daggerburg Goblins! They regularly venture into the fens and clash with Shadowmire’s lizardfolk servants. I imagine they might be in a true pickle if the dragon decides to retaliate personally, but he doesn’t like leaving the Fens.

The Numbers

Shadowmire’s stats make me think all three dragons were written by different authors, because he’s Huge and a Level 19 Solo Lurker with 712 HP. This makes him the most powerful dragon in the book, even stronger than slumbering Calastryx. I guess this is balanced by the fact that he has the weakest army, as his lizarfolk aren’t very organized and can’t operate very well outside the swamp. This limits how far he can expand.

Despite having a level comparable to that of a “stock” Elder Black Dragon, Shadowmire has a slightly less varied repertoire of attacks. His passive traits are all work the same, as do his bite, Breath Weapon, and Bloodied Breath.

Bite and Breath Weapon do less damage than the ones from the base elder dragon. The difference here is that the Threats writers considered the added ongoing acid damage from both the bite and the breath to be part of the damage formula, while the Monster Vault writers added them on top of that. Both bite and breath do half damage on a miss, too, so a fight against Shadowmire is a grueling battle of attrition.

Shadowmire’s Claw attacks do the same damage as a base elder dragon’s, and pull the target 2 squares. His Tail Sweep works the same but does more base damage.

And finally we get to the star of the show, his custom ability: Swamp Simulacrum. When used, this makes Shadowmire turn invisible for a turn and summons 2 identical duplicates within 10 squares of the original. They last until the end of the encounter or until destroyed. The duplicates are effectively minions with Shadowmire’s defenses, and explode in a burst of acid when destroyed (Close Burst 2, acid damage, half on a miss). This recharges when the dragon is first bloodied.

Final Impressions

Shadowmire is an interest mechanical variation on an elder black dragon, and his lore is workable enough, but I think he’s a bit too high level to fit with that lore. I’d probably make him Level 12 or so. He’s more dangerous and intelligent than Bitterstrike, but is not seen as a living calamity like Calastryx.