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• Dec 2, 2025

  Let's Read the 4e Creature Catalog: Hamanu

  

  The Lore

  Hamanu is the Sorcerer-King of Urik. He looks like a big strong man, and is known to be deeply invested in the success of his city-state. He spends the days governing it and training with his soldiers, and the nights deep in arcane study since he no longer has any need for sleep. For Hamanu is the Sorcerer-King who most genuinely cares about his state and its people.

  I’m sure there are some tech billionaires in today’s real world that would read the above paragraph and think “this guy is goals”. And they would not change their opinions if they learned that he’s also the most totalitarian of the Sorcerer-Kings as well. The price for his “love” is constant supervision and total submission.

  Despite being a very classically-trained wizard, Hamanu loves physical combat and is quite good at punching people to death. He’s managing his gradual draconic transformation so that the signs remain subtle for as long as possible, so most of the time they consist of golden eyes and slightly long teeth. When wounded in combat, however, be transforms into a big lion-dragon-thing.

  Urik templars live spartan lives, but do get to enjoy the perks of their station, chief among which is the right to push the common people around.

  The Numbers

  We get stats for Hamanu and for a typical templar.

  Toil Templar

  Unlike the templars we saw in previous entries, this isn’t a high-ranking officer who spends their days next to their king’s throne. Instead, this one is drawn from the lowest ranks of Urik’s templars, the one responsible for managing its enslaved population. It’s a Level 14 Controller with 133 HP, meaning the PCs are likely to tussle with them long before they ever come face-to-face with Hamanu himself.

  Toil Templars are armed with a whip and a rod, which is very thematic. The whip is Reach 2 and its attacks damage and push the target 2 squares on a hit. The rod is used as an implement for their spells: Eldritch Scourge (ranged 5) deals force damage and knocks prone; Dazing Bolts (encounter, ranged 10) deals lightning damage and dazes for a turn; and Sulfurous Detonation (encounter; area 2 within 10) is a fancy name for a fireball that leaves a stinky zone lasting a turn and dealing 5 poison damage to any enemy who ends their turn inside.

  Hamanu, Sorcerer-King

  The man himself is a Level 27 Solo Controller with 693 HP, Speed 6, and Darkvision. He exhudes a Regal Presence (aura 2) which inflicts a -2 attack penalty on any enemy who starts their turn inside. This lasts until the start of the enemy’s next turn, so it remains for that long even when they leave the aura.

  Hamanu’s basic melee attack is done with his Mighty Fists, whose 6d6+14 damage is the envy of every 2e and 3e monk but is typical for a creature of his level.

  He also has a big selection of “classic”-feeling spells. Thunderous Command is an at-will close blast 5 that deals thunder damage, pushes 3 squares, and knocks prone. The next three are all big blasty encounter spells:

  • Sulfuric Bolts (ranged 5) targets up to 5 enemies, deals fire damage, and inflicts ongoing 10 fire+acid damage (save ends). Until the target saves, any of the target’s allies that ends their turn next to it takes 10 acid+poison damage. Stinky!

  • Life Drain (close burst 5, enemies only) deals necrotic damage and inflicts ongoing 15 necrotic damage. Every time a target takes that damage, Hamanu gains 15 temp HP.

  • Hamanu’s Whisper (area 2 within 10, the fireball template) is an “acidball” that deals immediate and ongoing acid damage (save ends). It leaves a zone behind that inflicts a -4 penalty to saves on any enemy inside. This lasts for a turn but Hamanu can sustain it with minor actions and move it around with move actions.

  As a minor action he can use an Invasive Glare (ranged 5) that deals heavy psychic damage and stuns (save ends). This recharges whenever Hamanu bloodies an enemy or reduces an enemy to 0 HP.

  If an adjacent enemy targets him with a melee attack, Hamanu can interpose a Cerulean Shield spell as an interrupt, gaining 15 temporary HP just before the attack is rolled. If someone manages to daze or stun him, he can use Mental Fortress as an interrupt to roll an immediate save against the effect, even if it would not normally allow one. On a success, the triggering enemy takes 15 psychic damage and the effect never happens.

  When bloodied, Lion of the Desert automatically triggers with no action required. This pushes every enemy in a close burst 2 squares, and attacks their Fortitude to knock them prone on a hit. And then Hamanu turns into the eponymous beast, which is going to be a nice surprise to any PCs who thought he had spent all of his tricks already. The Lion has its own stat block, below.

  When the Lion form is reduced to 0 HP, Hamanu returns to his human form with the same HP he had when he transformed into the Lion. When he reaches 0 HP, he uses Lion of the Desert again, one last time.

  Lion of the Desert

  Hamanu’s beast-form is a big lion-dragon hybrid, probably created by hiding all of his ugliest draconic mutations in one metaphysical place. It’s a Level 27 Solo Brute with only 125 HP because it’s a stage in the bigger fight against Hamanu and not something that can appear independently. On the bright side, it cannot become bloodied, even when reduced below half HP. It has a Speed of 8, and retains Darkvision.

  Its basic attack is a Reach 2 Claw that deals heavy physical damage, and Double Claw lets him use it twice against different targets. It can also use a Reach 2 Corrosive Bite that deals a little less damage but inflicts ongoing 15 acid damage (save ends). Lion’s Fury is an encounter power that lets him pull off an old-school claw/claw/bite attack sequence.

  If an enemy misses the Lion with a melee attack, its Warding Tail slams them as a reaction, damaging and pushing them 3 squares on a hit.

  Encounters and Final Impressions

  As a character, Hamanu seems to be what you get when you leave most of your settings at default, the very first picture that comes into your mind when you read the general description of what a Sorcerer-King is. The surprises only start when it’s time to actually fight him, because “muscle wizard” is probably not the very first thing that comes to your mind, and neither is “lion-dragon monster”.

  In a fight, Hamanu will likely want to alpha strike as soon as possible, using Hamanu’s Whisper and Sulfuric Bolts as soon as enough targets are in range and then wading in to catch people in his aura and let them catch his hands. He will sustain the zone from Hamanu’s Whisper and then use Invasive Glare on the PCs that are inside it, too. Cerulean Shield and Mental Fortress give him plenty of extra durability for these tactics. As he approaches his bloodied value, make him look like he’s on the ropes and out of tricks, and then spring the Lion on the PCs.

  The book doesn’t specify whether the uses of Hamanu’s many encounter powers should be tracked across his transformations. I’m guessing that the human form’s spells should be, but Lion’s Fury should not, meaning it will be ready for a second use when he transforms again.

• Dec 1, 2025

  Let's Read the 4e Dark Sun Creature Catalog: Dregoth

  

  In our narrative present, everyone in Athas believes the Dragon of Tyr is the only dragon on the planet. Even the Dragon himself.

  But there is one other.

  The Lore

  Every Sorcerer-King wants to ascend in the same way their buddy Borys did, but for some of them that feels more like a side project. They all have other things going on, lands to rule, vices to indulge. Dregoth, on the other hand, made “I shall become a god!” his whole personality. While they partied, he studied defiling magic.

  Dregoth completed his draconic transformation ahead of everyone else except Borys (who had help!). He created a whole new species in his image (the dray), and was in the process of perfecting their design and teaching them to worship him when Abalach-Re decided to see what he was up to and became terrified.

  She warned the others, and they banded together to eliminate the threat because the community of Sorcerer-Kings works exactly like a bucket of crabs. The ensuing battle was titanic. Dregoth was slain, and his city of Giustenal was shattered, scattering the survivors and flooding the spirit world with the souls of the dead (many of whom haunt the ruins).

  And then Dregoth got better. He returned in secret as an undead dragon, setting up in a giant cavern far beneath the surface and calling his surviving loyalists there. Every inhabitant of this New Giustenal is required to undergo transformation into a dray, if they weren’t one already.

  The plan remains the same: gather enough worshippers to undergo apotheosis and become a real god. By now, centuries after his death, Dregoth has a sizable army of dray, undead, and other creatures under his command. Real Soon Now (TM), he’s going to invade the surface to get revenge on his former “buddies” and gather all the worship he needs to finally complete his unlife’s work.

  Dregoth’s undeath works like that of a lich. His soul is hidden in an artifact somewhere in New Giustenal, and if he’s killed he will reform next to that artifact within three days. The only other person who knows this is Absalom, his high priest. Absalom used to be human, and was one of the first of Dregoth’s subjects to be transformed into a dray after Giustenal’s fall. Dregoth then killed him and raised him as a unique undead being, which explains why he’s still around.

  Absalom is a competent high priest, but his true loyalty is to the dragonborn of New Giustenal. Should he ever have to choose, that’s whom he’ll pick. Canny epic-tier PCs might be able to discover this.

  The Numbers

  As usual, let’s see them in order of level.

  Absalom

  The high priest is a Medium Natural Humanoid with then Shapechanger, Undead, and Dragonborn tags. He’s a Level 22 Elite Soldier with 414 HP, Speed 8, and Darkvision. Like many undead, he’s immune to disease and poison, and has 15 Resistance to both fire and necrotic damage.

  His main weapon is an ancient Bastard Sword that’s probably made of metal. Its blows do light damage for his level but inflict ongoing 10 damage (save ends). Slicing Maneuvers lets him attack twice and make his move action between these attacks. At range he can use Spirit Siphon (range 20, recharge 4+) to inflict 45 ongoing cold+necrotic damage (save ends both). Each time an enemy takes damage from the power, Absalom or a nearby ally gain 10 temporary HP.

  Instead of running like a pleb, Absalom can use Dread Wings as a move action to teleport 8 squares and gain a flight speed equal to his speed for a turn. This is at-will, so it can be the movement he does between Slicing Maneuvers.

  His soldierly skills live in his minor and triggered actions. Overshadowing Oath marks a visible enemy within 20 squares for a turn, and can be used multiple times per round. If a marked enemy ends their turn in a square that’s not adjacent to Absalom, they take 20 damage as a reaction and grant combat advantage for a turn. This means the high priest wants to stay away from marked enemies, generally.

  Other minor actions include Swirling Breath (recharge 6+), which does a blend of necrotic and fire damage, and slides 3 squares on a hit; and Change Shape, which lets him shift between his natural undead form, a disguise as a living dragonborn, or a specific individual he’s seen. Equipment and clothes don’t change. The DC to pierce the disguises is 41, though I imagine it would be lower if he turns into a specific individual without changing out of his robes.

  Absalom is a strong melee combatant, but he’s much better as a ranged nuisance. Mark someone at the limit of his Oath’s range and then stay away from them while attacking with Soul Siphon. When someone gets close, use Slicing Maneuvers to stab them, and teleport to a distant squishy to stab them too.

  Dregoth, Sorcerer-King

  The scale of that illustration is a bit misleading: Dregoth is a Huge Natural Magical Beast with the Undead and Shapechanger tags. Interestingly enough he doesn’t have the Dragon tag, so maybe he isn’t quite done with his transformation yet. It could also be an oversight, as he has pretty much everything he’d need to be a dragon in his stat block.

  Dregoth is a Level 30 Solo Controller with 1072 HP. His ground speed is 8, his flight speed is 10, he’s immune to disease and poison and has 20 resistance to both fire and necrotic damage. His special senses include darkvision and Blindsight 5.

  He projects a Soul Defiler aura with a radius of 3, which is a lot given he’s Huge. Whenever an enemy starts their turn inside, they take 10 damage and Dregoth gets to roll a save if he needs one.

  He has a reach 2 bite that damages and inflicts ongoing 10 necrotic (save ends), and a reach 3 claw that does the same and also slows. He can attack at range 20 with a Defiling Gaze that deals necrotic damage and dazes (save ends). Dread King’s Wrath lets him do a bite/claw or claw/claw combo, though the fact that it has both “ranged” and “melee” icons next to it seems to indicate he could replace one of those attacks with a Gaze too. I wonder which version (melee only or melee and ranged) is the right one.

  Anyway, his Breath Weapon (encounter) is a close blast 5 that deals a blend of cold and necrotic damage, immobilizes, and inflicts a -4 penalty to AC and Fortitude (save ends both). Supreme Defiling (encounter) covers a Close Burst 3, deals heavy untyped damage, and crits on a 17-20.

  As a move action, he can use Nightmare Travel (encounter) to become insubstantial and phasing, and shift 8 squares. If he passes through a creature’s space during this movement, the creature takes 15 psychic damage and is knocked prone.

  So many encounter powers, that means he becomes a lot less dangerous once they’re all used up, right? No, because he can use Spellmaster (recharge 5+) as a minor action to recover any of them. He can also Change Shape to appear as a Medium dragonborn, or as a specific individual he’s seen before. The DC for seeing through such a disguise is 47.

  When Dregoth is hit by an attacker within 4 squares he can use a Tail Riposte as a reaction. This does some damage, inflicts 15 fire+necrotic damage, and slides the target 5 squares.

  Being in melee with Dregoth is extremely dangerous, because it puts you within easy reach of nearly all of his attacks. Plus the more PCs are inside his aura, the better he is at shrugging off negative conditions. Trying to snipe him from a distance works better, but he’s very mobile and his gaze attack can make it hard to maintain that distance. And if he has any idea at all that the PCs are coming for him, he’ll be smart enough to pick a battlefield that forces them to stay close.

  Encounters and Final Impressions

  I like that Absalom is a unique undead being that you can’t easily slot into any classification. Dregoth is technically one too, though the individual components of his schtick are more familiar. He is a dragon who is a lich, but he’s not a dracolich. Savvy?

  In any case, he feels to me like better villain material than the Dragon of Tyr. The Dragon and the other Sorcerer-Kings mostly want to maintain the status quo, while Dregoth has an intrinsinc motivation to shake things up. At least, he would make much better villainous speeches about how he’s going to Show Them All than any of the others.

  Any campaign with Dregoth as an active antagonist will have the PCs meet his troops much earlier. They’re mostly dray, both alive and undead, who tend to be evil assholes and consider themselves superior to those who have ties to the old Giustenal. They often have the Psionic Adept monster theme (more on Monster Themes later).

  Absalom is dangerous, but his level is so much lower than Dregoth’s you’re not likely to meet both of them at once. He’s either the guy you convince to ally with you against Dregoth, or the guy you defeat on the way to enlisting Dregoth’s aid to fight the Dragon of Tyr.

• Nov 30, 2025

  Let's Read the 4e Dark Sun Creature Catalog: Andropinis

  

  The Lore

  Andropinis is the Sorcerer-King who rules the city of Balic. His official title is Dictator, and his city has a lot of Greek and Roman elements as we saw in the other thread.

  Here, the book says that Balic is clean, orderly, and mostly run along democratic lines. Its templars, called praetors here, are elected to their posts. Andropinis himself has an excellent reputation among his population, and encourages the region’s tradition of ancestral worship and primal magic, resulting in a remarkably fertile kingdom by Athasian standards.

  Of course, the reasons for all of this are quite selfish. Andropinis has mystically tied himself to the land and its ancestral spirits, and he teaches his disciples to do the same. He encourages his people to love the land and tend to it using primal magic because it increases his own power and makes the area ripe for defiling. And obviously there’s never going to be elections for Dictator if he has anything to say about it.

  His magical ties to the land form the basis of Andropinis’ power, and he also seems to be pursuing a more traditional draconic ascension path as a defiler. While he normally looks like a strong human in late middle age, when angry his features take on a reptilian cast, with golden scales appearing here and there.

  The Numbers

  Here we get stats for the man himself and some of the allies he is likely to surround himself with. We’ll look at them in order of level.

  Legionnaire Vestige

  This is one of those spirits venerated as Balic’s civic heroes. Andropinis can summon them and order them around. It’s a Medium Shadow Animate and a Level 21 Minion Soldier with a ground speed of 6, a Flight speed of 5, Darkvision, and immunity to immobilization. Them being Animates instead of Humanoids makes me think the average Balic citizen is being misled about their true nature.

  Anyway, every vestige has a Guarded Creature chosen when they enter the fight, usually their summoner or creator. They fight with Shade Spears that deal a bit of damage and mark the target until the vestige is defeated or the encounter ends, whichever comes first. Yes, they can have multiple marked targets if they last long enough.

  If a marked enemy attacks the vestige’s guarded creature, the vestige teleports to space adjacent to their guarded creature as an interrupt, and grants the guarded creature +4 to all defenses against the attack. If the attack misses, the vestige drops to 0 HP. They’re jumping in front of the attack, essentially, so they’ll want to mark as many enemies as possible to better defend their charge.

  High Praetor

  An example of the highest-ranking templars of Balic, those chosen to stand by their Dictator’s side. It’s a Level 22 Soldier with the Leader tag and 211 HP. Their ground speed is 7, and they have a teleport speed of 5.

  They’re equipped like cliche Roman legionnaires, and their basic attack is a short sword that deals increased damage on opportunity attacks. They can use it in a Face Cut attack, which deals standard damage and dazes for a turn.

  They attack at range with eldritch javelins that deal force damage and slow (save ends). Once per encounter they can upgrade this to an Entrapping Javelin, which deals extra force damage and immobilizes (save ends).

  Their High Praetor Assault maneuver lets them throw an Eldritch Javelin and then charge. This also summons a legionnaire vestige, and lets the praetor determine its guarded creature.

  The praetor’s soldierly skill is Prateor’s Mark, which lets them mark an enemy within 20 squares for a turn with a minor action. Marked enemies grant combat advantage when not adjacent to the praeto, and take 15 psychic damage if they make an attack that doesn’t target the praetor. So unlike most soldier monsters, high prateors want to be far away from enemies they mark.

  Andropinis, Sorcerer-King

  The Dictator of Balic is a Level 25 Elite Controller (Leader) with 468 HP, a ground speed of 8, a flight speed of 5, darkvision, and blindsight 2. The fact that he’s an Elite instead of a Solo means he will have a sizable honor guard made up of high praetors and epic-level mages when you fight him. The more allies he has, the more dangerous he is, even beyond the usual encounter maths.

  Andropinis’ ties to his city and the surrounding region manifest in several ways. One of them is the Dictator’s Concord, an aura (10) that gives a +2 bonus to saves for all allies inside, and allows them to save against charm, fear, and stunning effects even if they would not normally allow saves.

  His Wound Pact lets him automatically deal psychic damage to anyone who damages him while he is already bloodied.

  His basic melee attack is with a Pact Dagger, which damages and knocks prone on a hit. The first time Andropinis takes damage before the end of his next turn, the target takes 10 damage and is slowed (save ends).

  At range, he can use psychic powers to inflict Overwhelming Memories on a target, dealing psychic damage and sliding them 3 squares.

  Aggression Pact lets him use one of the two basic attacks above and let one ally he can see make a free basic attack. Land Pact attacks enemies in a Close Burst 3, deals untyped damage, and slows (save ends). While any target is slowed by the power, Andropinis has Regeneration 15. Land Pact also causes 4 Legionnaire Vestiges to appear in the area, with Andropinis as their guarded creature. It recharges when he is first bloodied.

  Andropinis can also use Transposition (move) to switch places with an ally within 10 squares, and Dictator’s Authority (minor) to let an ally take a whole standard action right then and there. This, fortunately, only recharges when he’s first bloodied.

  Finally, if Andropinis ever starts his turn without any allies within 10 squares, a legionnaire vestige automatically appears within 10 squares, with him as the guarded creature.

  Final Impressions

  Andropinis might outwardly seem to be one of the least bad sorcerer-kings, and a good propspect for an alliance against his peers. Of course, Balic being inspired by Greece and Rome means that it’s an enthusiastic practitioner of slavery. Those nifty civil rights are for citizens, and then only if Andropinis isn’t angry at them. And when the chips are down Andropinis would not hesitate to drain his whole kingdom of life in order to protect himself.

• Nov 27, 2025

  Let's Read the 4e Dark Sun Creature Catalog: Abalach-Re

  

  The Lore

  Abalach-Re is a Sorcerer-Queen who rules the city of Raam as its Grand Vizier, a title she chose because she claims to rule on behalf of a (fictional) deity named Badna. Outwardly, she seems like a lazy, decadent and debauched ruler, who lets her nobles make war on each other while her police forces oppress a starving population and numerous rebellions grow right under her nose.

  In reality, she’s a lot more aware of what goes on in her domain. It’s just that she enjoys the cruelty on display, and likes to see those nascent rebellions crushed. She is decadent and debauched, but even that is a fruit of her explorations on the limits of her own physical form. This research has granted her prodigious body manipulation abilities, which she teaches to her closest agents and favored children.

  Abalach-Re keeps a close eye on her peers and was the one who alerted them when Dregoth got a bit too uppity. She makes sure to keep her own self-modification experiments a secret from the other sorcerer-kings, as these are her chosen path to ascension as a god-like being.

  Raam’s day-to-day administration is in the hands of several noble houses, each of which controls a different district. They’re more like organized crime syndicates than anything else, constantly at each other’s throats and united only in their desire to exploit the people under their charge. They’re aided in this by the city’s police force. Its officers, the Mansabdars, theoretically answer directly to the Queen, but in practice are all in the pockets of whatever noble house oversees their beat, and are no more than brutal thugs.

  Abalach-Re lets them all do it because, as stated above, she likes the cruelty. Instead of reining it in, she created an elite secret police force, the High Kuotaghas, who actually enforce her will in the city and act to smack down any noble who gets a little too confident. Kuotaghas often receive their queen’s “gifts” and as such have access to some body horror powers.

  Most of the Queen’s children are part of her court or members of the Kuotaghas, but some have turned against her. She lets them, because all of ther children have unknowingly been implanted with magical locator beacons. Even the rebellious ones are useful tools to detect other rebels.

  The Numbers

  We get three entries here and as usual I’m going to talk about them in order of ascending level.

  Street Mansabdar

  A typical member of the force that should be enforcing the city’s laws but is instead enforcing the will of some local warlord in exchange for fat bribes. It’s a Level 7 Soldier with 76 HP and a speed of 6. Clad in hide armor, it’s armed with a mace and a scourge.

  The Mace is our basic attack, which damages and marks on a hit. If a marked target ignores the mark, the mansabdar can use its scourge against them as an interrupt. It does the same damage as the mace, and knocks prone on a hit.

  Then the mansabdar can use Beat Down against the prone target, which deals the same damage as a basic mace strike and slows for a turn. If the target stands up before the end of its next turn, it also takes ongoing 5 damage (save ends).

  High Kuotagha

  A trusted agent of Abalach-Re, member of the group actually responsible for enforcing her will in the city. While still tagged as a human in its stat block, this kuotagha was extensively mutated by his boss, which I’m sure will be a nice surprise to the PCs. It’s a level 21 Lurker with 150 HP, a ground speed of 7, and a Spider Climb speed of 6. It also has low-light vision.

  The kuotagha fights with Claws, which target Reflex instead of AC, meaning they’re the “shreds armor like paper” kind. It can also extrude a Flesh Garrote that does the same damage and grabs on a hit. This grab inflicts a -4 penalty to escape attempts, and there is no limit to the number of victims the kuotagha can grab in this way. I’ll let you imagine how that works. All grabs can be sustained at once with a single standard action, which also does some automatic damage to the victim.

  All other traits here depend on the kuotagha having one or more grabbed victims. The creature agent of the law can inflict criticals on its grabbed victims on a 18-20 (which is very generous in 4e), has a +4 to all defenses while it has a grabbed victim, and when someone attacks it while it’s grabbing someone it can shift 1 square and slide any grabbed victims 1 square to a square adjacent to it as in interrupt. This will only happen once per round, but it’s gonna be so annyoing.

  And this is a regular monster, meaning you could potentiall fight a whole team of them at once.

  Abalach-Re, Sorcerer-Queen

  Abalach-Re is a Level 23 Solo Controller with the Leader tag and 856 HP. Like her henchthing above, she’s technically human, but “technically” is doing even more heavy lifting in her case. As mentioned above, she’s seeking a custom path to immorality that involves lot of self-bioengineering, and the fruits of this are evident in this stat block.

  Abalach-Re has low-light vision, a ground speed of 8, and a flight speed of 5 with hover and an altitude limit of 2. The Spirit Flight trait gives her insubstantial and phasing while she moves.

  Two of her three basic attacks can be either melee 1 or ranged 10: Telekinetic Thrust targets Fortitude, deals physical damage, slides 5 squares and immobilizes (save ends); Instinct Overload targets Will, deals psychic damage and lets Abalach-Re dictate the next move or standard action the target will take on their turn, though she cannot force a victim to use a power.

  The third basic attack is Disrupting Touch, which targets Reflex and can be either Melee 3 or Ranged 10. On a hit it deals physical damage and ongoing 10 force damage (save ends). Unlike the others, which are obviously psychic powers, I think this one might be a touch spell where she stretches her arms really far.

  Anyway, Morphing Power Splice lets Abalach-Re make three attacks with one action without provoking opportunity attacks, so she could use any combination of the above on the same turn.

  She can also lay down a Defiling Field, creating a zone in a Close Burst 3 that lasts until the end of the encounter. Any enemy that takes damage within the zone also takes ongoing 15 necrotic damage (save ends). Thankfully this is an encounter power, but it recharges when she’s first bloodied.

  Her movement power is Allocation, which lets her teleport 10 squares and then slide any enemy adjacent to her at the arrival point 5 squares. This also recharges when she’s first bloodied.

  In addition to all of the above, when Abalach-Re is hit with any attack she can use Vengeance of Adaptive Flesh as a reaction. This is a Ranged 10 attack that targets Will, and deals 15 ongoing damage of the same type she just took (save ends). Like all of her other ranged attacks, this doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks.

  It looks to me like she wants to stay mostly away from the PCs, using her powers to slide them into the defiling field so she can further damage them with more attacks and ongoing damage.

  Encounters and Final Impressions

  This is a pretty strong opening for this section, and a brief look tells me Abalach-Re is likely the weakest of the Sorcerer Kings. She doesn’t seem to have any particular resistance against being stunlocked by PC powers, so even though she’s a solo you might want to add some high kuotagha bodyguards to her fight.

• Nov 25, 2025

  Let's Read the Dark Sun Creature Catalog: Dragon of Tyr

  

  This entry appeared among the monsters, right where you’d find standard dragons in another monster book. I thought this was odd, because he’s the only dragon in Athas and also one of its more important “personages”, so why isn’t he in that section?

  The answer, I suspect, is because to be in the Personages section the character has to be someone who could be a potential ally to the PCs, and the Dragon of Tyr is not someone any party of PCs should be allying with. Instead, he’s the final boss of Dark Sun.

  Nevertheless I’m talking about him here, because he is an important personage and knowing his story gives a lot of context for the sorcerer-kings you’ll also find in this section.

  The Lore

  Everyone in Athas knows and fears the Dragon of Tyr. This great and terrible monster comes in from somewhere on the other side of the Sea of Silt every once in a while, and demands a huge tribute of treasure and slaves. Even the sorcerer-kings fear him, and so they scramble to meet his demands. Once that’s done, the Dragon flies home with his loot, leaving the region alone until his next appearance.

  All of this is common knowledge. Only the sorcerer-kings themselves know the full story: the Dragon was once one of them. His original name was Borys the Butcher, and like his colleagues he was one of the fifteen secret apprentices of Rajaat the Sorcerer.

  You see, arcane magic on Athas is a truly unnatural phenomenon, a flaw that slipped into the world when the primordials defeated the gods way back when Athas was still green. Rajaat was the first mortal to discover and master arcane magic. He was also the first to learn that you could pull more power from the life around you to cast bigger spells - in other words, the first defiler.

  Rajaat taught dozens of pupils, but he only taught the secret of defiling to his inner circle of fifteen secret apprentices. For Rajaat was a major asshole, and when he felt his Champions were ready, he ordered them to go out on a worldwide genocidal rampage to cleanse Athas of all the species he deemed “impure”. So much defiling magic was flung around in those wars that Athas’ previously green ecosystem was completely destroyed, starting the world’s transformation into the desert it is today.

  In time, even the Champions became convinced that all of this was a bit too much. Led by Borys, they turned on their master and managed to imprison him in a pocket dimension outside of time and space. Once Rajaat was out of the picture, the former Champions quickly conquered or built city-states in one of the last habitable regions of Athas, setting themselves up as the Sorcerer-Kings.

  By then, they knew that attaining the pinnacle of power as a defiler would lead to transformation into a dragon. Borys, who had taken it upon himself to guard Rajaat’s prison, successfully argued that the other Sorcerer-Kings should help him speedrun the transformation, since he’d need the power to contain their former master forever. And so they did.

  The ritual for the final transformation required the sacrifice of every citizen of Ebe, the island city Borys ruled. Borys renamed the resulting hellish wasteland Ur Draxa, the City of Doom. The Dragon dwells in the ruins of Ur Draxa’s palace to this day, leaving the city only to collect his tributes.

  The city itself is inhabited by a very large number of undead, and by the living slaves brought in as tribute. The city’s day to day operation is in the hands of the Dead Lords, a council of liches who serve the Dragon.

  The Dragon keeps their soul vessels (the book uses the p-word here) hidden deep within his palace to ensure compliance. He is wise to do this, for the Lord Vizier who leads the council has his own agenda. He’s secretly researching a way to cross into the Astral Sea and escape Athas altogether, and often sends his personal minions out on missions to recover any bit of planar lore he hears about.

  The Numbers

  We get stats for the Dragon of Tyr and for the Lord Vizier in this entry. The two are completely different, of course, so we’ll cover all their traits in their respective entries.

  The Dragon of Tyr

  The only dragon in Athas is a Gargantuan Natural Magical Beast with the Dragon tag (obviously). He’s also a Level 33 Solo Controller with 1216 HP, Darkvision, ground and flight speeds of 10, and a teleport speed of 5. He can hover, too. His alignment is Chaotic Evil.

  The Dragon’s Actions trait means old Borys doesn’t roll initiative at all. He has three whole turns per round at initiative counts 40, 30, and 20. He cannot delay or ready actions.

  His basic attack is a massive Reach 4 Claw that damages and strips all necrotic and psychic resistance on a hit (save ends). His bite deals more or less the same damage and immobilizes (save ends), with a Slow aftereffect (save ends).

  He can also use wider swipes to perform the Raking Claws attack, attacking all enemies in a Close Blast 4 for slightly less damage than the single-target version and also sliding them 2 squares on a hit.

  That’s it for physical attacks. Now for the spells and psychic powers, because of course he has both!

  The Dragon’s Defiling is a hazard all on its own, targetting all creatures in a Close Burst 5 and dealing necrotic damage on a hit. He can use the energy gathered with this to cast Defiling Death (ranged 10), dealing heavy necrotic damage and ongoing 20 necrotic damage to the target (save ends). After the first failed save, the ongoing damage increases to 30!

  The Dragon of Tyr starts the fight with Defiling Death charged, and once it’s cast he must hit with Dragon’s Defiling to recharge the attack.

  Once the Dragon is bloodied, he can use his Breath of Shredding Sand, attacking all creatures in a Close Blast 20 and dealing the same amount of damage as the bite on a hit, half on a miss. Fortunately this is an encounter power and doesn’t recharge.

  Finally, if the PCs manage to surround Borys, he can use a Telekinetic Pulse (encounter), a Close Burst 5 that deals the same damage as the bite, pushes its targets 5 squares, and knocks them prone. On a miss, it deals half damage and pushes 3 squares.

  The Dragon can use his move action on a Psionic Uplift, automatically pushing every adjacent enemy 2 squares and flying his Speed + 2 (i.e, 12 squares). If an enemy ends its movement within 4 squares of the Dragon, he can hit them with his Lashing Tail as a reaction, dealing the same damage as the claw and knocking them prone. And when the dragon is first bloodied, Telekinetic Pulse recharges and he can use it immediately as a free action.

  The physical attacks all target AC, the necrotic and tekekinetic ones all target Fortitude, and the sand breath targets Reflex. As the most powerful arcane caster in the whole world, you can say he knows pretty much every ritual in the game for use outside of combat.

  The Lord Vizier

  This is the oldest and most powerful lich among the council of Dead Lords, which makes him their leader. Ostensibly, he un-lives to serve his master the Dragon, but as we saw he’s also privately looking for a way off this dying rock. He is a Medium Natural Humanoid with the Undead tag, and Level 26 Elite Artillery. He has Speed 6, and Darkvision. He’s immune to diseases like all undead, and has Resist 15 Necrotic and Resist 10 Poison. His alignment is Evil.

  The Lord Vizier has a Necrotic Aura (5) that deals 10 necrotic damage to anyone who enters it or starts their turn inside. Like all liches, he’s Indestructible while his soul vessel remains intact: when reduced to 0 HP, his body and possessions become dust and reform within 1d10 days near the vessel.

  He wields the Dead Lord’s Scepter, and his basic attack is to bonk someone with it, dealing lightning-and-necrotic damage. His basic ranged attack is the Grasp of the Dead spell (range 20 vs. Fortitude), which deals necrotic damage and lets one undead creature adjacent to the target make a free melee basic attack. If the attack hits, the creature marks the target for a turn.

  He can also cast a Plume of Death (area 2 within 10 vs. Fortitude, recharge 5+), a fireball-sized spell that deals acid-and-necrotic damage and summons a Vizier’s Skeleton on a square within the burst.

  As a move action, the Lord can draw on his secret knowledge and perform a brief Planar Displacement, teleporting 15 squares and leaving a brand-new Vizier’s Skeleton in the origin square.

  Vizier’s Skeleton

  These sophisticated undead minions are constantly produced by the Lord Vizier’s special attacks, and he will probably have a whole bunch of them on hand when the fight starts in addition to some powerful non-minion undead. They’re Medium Natural Animates (undead) and Level 26 Minion Brutes who fight with Deadflame Swords that do fire-and-necrotic damage, and can shoot Chill Shards (Ranged 10) to do cold-and-necrotic damage.

  Encounters and Final Impressions

  When met outside his city, the Dragon is always alone and on a specific mission. He will usually completely ignore most people who have nothing to do with his goal, believing they are beneath his notice. Of course, if those people are stupid enough to pick a fight with him, he is only too glad to oblige, completely confident of his victory and with good reason.

  If he is attacked in Ur Draxa, I imagine the Dead Lords would join the fight too. Better bring an army or ten.

  The Lord Vizier generally obeys the Dragon’s every order and kills whoever he wants dead. I wonder if he can be met in friendlier terms when following his own agenda. Epic PCs would make perfect agents for recovering that lost lore without the Dragon noticing.

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