Copyright 2011 Wizards of the Coast.

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The fourth and final dragon described in this book.

The Lore

Vestapalk is an adult green dragon who lairs in the Cairngorm Peaks. He’s very typical of his demographic in that he’s an evil asshole whose favorite food is the flesh of sapient mammals. Every time he kills an opponent he considers worthy, he marks another scar on the inside of his right forearm to remember the occasion. He currently has nine, most of which are ill-fated adventurers who tried to loot his hoard.

Until recently, Vestapalk used to hunt in the Stonemarch region beyond the vale, but he’s begun flying into the Vale more and more often, which has the population of Winterhaven in a fright. One of the reasons for this is that the dragon has started receiving prophetic visions in his dreams. These showed him sitting proud as the overlord of a kobold tribe, and he decided to see if there was any truth to them.

Most kobold tribes Vestapalk encountered ran scared from him, but one did not. The Greenscale tribe was led by a wyrmpriest named Tiktag, who had been receiving similar visions, and who welcomed Vestapalk as his awaited ruler. The dragon’s support turned the Greenscales from just another embattled kobold tribe to a local power that’s busy securing territory between Winterhaven and Lake Wintermist.

Tiktag has great ambitions - he wants all others to fear him as his tribe fears Vestapalk. I’m not sure he believes the dragon is a god, like his followers do, but he does definitely think there’s something mystical about their partnership, since Tiktag’s divination rituals have become amazingly accurate when done at the dragon’s behest. The dragon, meanwhile, believes he might have been chosen for greatness by the Elder Eye.

Though they would be loathe to admit it, the kobold and the dragon have come to see each other as friends. They’re almost always together and Vestapalk even allows Tiktag to ride on his shoulders for safety.

The Numbers

We get stats for both Vestapalk and his tiny friend.

Tiktag

The wyrmpriest is much more powerful than is typical, being a Level 6 Artillery monster with 56 HP. As a kobold, he’s Small, has a Speed of 6, Low-Light Vision, and the Shifty ability that lets him shift as a minor action.

Tiktag will always be found close to his dragon friend, and the Prophet of the Elemental Eye trait gives him 5e-style Advantage on saves when he’s within 10 squares of Vestapalk. He’ll fire Poison Orbs that do poison damage from the safety of his perch, and use his poison Dragon Breath (close blast 3) when they happen to be close and bunched up. If an enemy moves adjacent to him he can use Fierce Rebuke once per encounter to attack their Will. The enemy is pushed 3 squares as an effect and either immobilized on a hit or slowed on a miss. When that power is spent, the priest needs to resort to his spear to discourage melee attackers.

Once per encounter he can use Incite Faith to give every kobold ally within 10 squares 5 temporary HP and allow them to shift 1 square.

Vestapalk

Our main event is a Large green dragon, and a Level 13 Solo Skirmisher with 524 HP. Most of his abilities are similar to the green dragon described in the Monster Vault, but he’s the first Adult example you’re likely to see if that’s the only other monster book you have (the MV has Young and Elder variants). He has a speed of 10 with Forest Walk, and a flight speed of 14.

Like a typical green dragon, Vestapalk can use Action Recovery to shake off the Dazed, Stunned, and Dominated conditions at the start of his turn, and the poison in his veins works as a damaging aura when he’s bloodied. He can also use an Instinctive Flyby at his Initiative count +10, flying his speed with a +4 bonus to defend against opportunity attacks and making a bite or claw attack along the way. This is a free action - if a condition prevents him from using free actions, that condition ends instead.

The dragon’s bite inflicts ongoing poison damage and his Claw attack lets him shift 2 squares on a hit. His breath weapon (recharge 5+) deals immediate and ongoing poison damage, halving both on a miss. He can use a Luring Glare as a minor action to slide a target 3 squares, and has the standard Bloodied Breath ability.

All of that is standard green dragon stuff. He also has two exclusive abilities: Tail Sweep is a reaction that lets him attack any enemy who ended his turn next to him without moving, dealing decent physical damage and knocking them prone on a hit. And instead of an in-turn flyby attack, he can Share The Mad Visions with every creature in a Close Burst 2, which deals psychic damage and pushes targets a number of squares equal to their speed. This deals half damage on a miss, and Vestapalk can shift his speed as an effect. This powerful ability recharges when he’s bloodied.

Final Impressions

This sure is an odd pair. The level disparity means it’s a bit hard to fit them both in an encounter. If you’re at the level where Tiktag would make a good boss, Vestapalk is going to splat you. If you’re at a level where Vestapalk makes a good boss fight, you’re going to splat Tiktag.

I would suggest either making them separate encounters at different times in the PC’s career, or increasing Tiktag’s level. Note that Vestapalk would actually be kind of reluctant to use Share the Mad Visions if the little kobold is around, since that ability is not selective.