“Grant me your obedience, and I shall reward you with protection. Grant me your devotion, and I shall bathe you in the magnificence of my presence. Turn away from my benevolent guidance, and I shall pick my teeth with your bones.”
—Dawnwing of the Vast
Dawnwing prefers using the name his goblin servitors invented; to the great gold dragon, the name reflects his beauty and magnificence. In his lair on the Vast, Dawnwing rarely comes into contact with the elder dragons of Argonnessen, the only ones who might care about family names and official titles. So Dawnwing he remains.
Centuries ago, Dawnwing hatched amid fanfare and high hopes. His parents, both young gold dragons, served the Chamber and hoped their child would outdo them in devotion and accomplishment. Sadly, their hopes died only a few decades after Dawnwing’s hatching. The young dragon displayed arrogance, selfishness, and a desire for power incompatible with the Chamber’s goals. When Dawnwing left for the Vast, his parents made one last effort to convince their errant child to rethink his priorities. Dawnwing turned a deaf ear and has not returned to the Tapestry since.
For several years, Dawnwing fought to establish his place in the Vast. During construction of his lair, the dragon unearthed a tribe of goblins hiding underground. He pressed the goblins into his service, and now the tribe serves him with fear-filled devotion.
Dawnwing is by no means the strongest dragon on the Vast, but his great arrogance and unconquerable spirit makes him a dangerous up-and-comer. Dawnwing sees a great destiny in his future, and shows no compunctions about killing anyone who threatens that vision.
DESCRIPTION
Dawnwing takes his name from his magnificent coloring. The bulk of his scales shine a bright, buttery gold. His underbelly and the tips of his wings are a creamy ivory. The span of his wings and his whiskers hold the pale yellow tint of the sky just before the sun rises. Dawnwing’s orange irises glow in the molten gold of his eyes.
Larger than his peers, Dawnwing measures 62 feet from snout to tail. His outstretched wings measure 70 feet from tip to tip, and his curving tail is almost 30 feet long.
Dawnwing prefers to keep his hoard hidden and safe, but he does wear one item regularly: a white-gold torc set with a dozen topazes, each gem as large as a human male’s fist. MINIONS When Dawnwing unearthed the hidden tribe of goblins, he instantly discerned how useful the tiny creatures could be. Dawnwing considers his status greater when he has minions, and his prideful nature demands lesser creatures to rule over. His frightful presence set the goblins running and screaming in fear of their lives, but Dawnwing rounded them up and bullied them into submission. At first the goblins resisted, but after years in the presence of Dawnwing’s awesome Charisma and obvious might, they now serve him with utter devotion.
In tribute to their master, the goblins, self-titled the Dawn Servant Tribe, shave their body hair and paint their skin yellow. Over the years the goblins perfected an alchemical process to make the paint shine like gold, and Dawnwing grudgingly allowed them a few of his shed scales with which to make shields. When fully arrayed, the goblins shine almost as brightly as their master.
The Dawn Servant Tribe currently consists of 156 adult goblins, 135 noncombatants (the elderly, children, and pregnant females), 7 sergeants (4th-level warriors), 2 shamans (6th-level adepts), and their leader, Meroe (CN female goblin rogue 3/fighter 4). ####ALLIES AND ENEMIES Dawnwing has forged several alliances in his time on the Vast. He maintains hunting pacts with his two nearest neighbors, a juvenile red and a young adult silver. Each dragon has sworn not to hunt or recruit on the others’ lands, and so far all parties have upheld the truce. Dawnwing smarts at the lack of expansion possibilities, however, and has been plotting for several years how best to conquer the red’s territory. He occasionally sends one of his goblins next door to scout the land and report on the red’s activities. Still, Dawnwing doesn’t want to tip his claw too early, and hasn’t sent a scout in several months.
Within the Dawn Servant Tribe, one of Dawnwing’s minions plots his own coup. Smok (NG male goblin adept 6) is a tribal spiritual advisor. Smok possesses great intelligence and wisdom, and he believes that Dawnwing’s patronage could prove disastrous for the tribe. In time, the adept believes that Dawnwing will move on to bigger and more important conquests and either leave the tribe behind to be claimed by another dragon or, more likely, kill them and replace them with more prestigious minions. Smok wants the goblins to revolt and break free from Dawnwing one way or another.
Smok’s greatest challenge, however, is not the great gold dragon. Meroe, the current leader of the Dawn Servant Tribe, is also intelligent and charismatic. She believes that Dawnwing will protect the tribe as long as it serves him faithfully, and she has many supporters. Smok’s primary goal is to overthrow Meroe’s leadership and then focus his efforts on finding a way out of Dawnwing’s grasp.
HOOKS
Entering the Vast could put the characters in direct conflict with Dawnwing. Other possible hooks include: Expanding Territories: Dawnwing desires more territory. To ensure that the expansion effort goes smoothly, the dragon recruits nearby characters to assist in the assault. After a successful expansion, however, Dawnwing is reluctant to set his new minions free. Revolt from Within: After a successful coup, Smok becomes leader of the Dawn Servant Tribe. He encounters the PCs on their travels and convinces them to help free the goblins by slaying Dawnwing.