Refusal was met with savagery, while cooperation could earn the ghost's help and knowledge. Ghost dragons rarely ambushed their trespassers, preferring to make their terrible presence known and to offer one chance to submit to the tithe. Ghost dragons considered any treasure that came into their lair to be part of their hoard, and thus any visitors or trespassers were expected to surrender their wealth immediately as a "tithe" to the dragon. This obsession with reclaiming their treasures could make them dangerous as it led to them coveting any and all wealth they could acquire, whether in the form of money, gems, or magic items. Nothing could dissuade them or distract them from the goal of acquiring treasure, and the loss of their hoardes-and their inability to restore them quickly-was a constant source of anguish. They were deeply attached to their hoards and were fixated on their lost treasures, often unable to think about anything else. Ghost dragons were solitary spirits that retained many of their faculties from before their deaths, although they generally became less aggressive than in life. If defeated and dispersed in combat, a ghost dragon would reform within two to eight days. Ī ghost dragon could not be truly destroyed, only released from its undeath by providing it with the treasure it desired. Ghost dragons were so thoroughly steeped in this kind of magic that even just being near one could cause a creature to age by as many as three decades instantly. This aging was proportional to their race's longevity, so humans might find themselves as much as a century older while elves could find themselves older by a millennium. This mist was paralyzingly cold and could induce nightmarish hallucinations and physical weakness, but the real danger was that anyone caught in the breath weapon would begin aging rapidly. Instead, they breathed a cone of gray mist, which sometimes took the form of a ghostly parody of the breath weapon in life-such as flames, lightning, or acid -which sapped vitality from any creature in its path. Abilities Īlthough ghost dragons retained many of the traits that identified the breed of dragon that they were before their deaths, they did not retain their breath weapons. There were conflicting reports as to whether or not the treasure always remained behind to be claimed by others or if it too would vanish alongside the ghost. When its treasures were satisfactorily restored, the dragon would curl up atop the treasure and disappear into the afterlife, thanking anyone who had aided it. It was generally not necessary for the exact treasures to be returned, and a hoard of equivalent value was usually enough to placate a ghost dragon, although some had more particular requirements as well. Most often, ghost dragons had been killed while defending their lairs, and could only find peace if their stolen hoard was returned. Some formed particularly strong attachments to a specific, priceless treasure that then became the locus of their undeath. Ghost dragons were too powerful to be created via necromancy, and instead attained undeath by being bound to their hoards in a manner far more profound than by mere greed. Normally, they dwelt within the Ethereal Plane entirely, being both invisible and incorporeal, but they could manifest themselves at will to become visible on the Material Plane, but remained incorporeal. Only the most powerful of dragons had the strength of will to persist as ghosts, and as such many dragon ghosts were already of ancient age and size by the time of their deaths. Their forms were translucent and composed of swirling, sinister shadows. A ghost dragon resembled the dragon as it was in life, except far more terrifying.
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