This strange dragon appears to be as much serpentine as it is draconic, with a long, slender body striated in blues and greens. Its elongated head is filled with sharp teeth, while its blue-rimmed eyes glow with a azure radiance. Along its body, brightly-hued fringe sways gently in the water, while its webbed foreclaws enable it to propel itself gracefully through the depths.

An aquatic dragon’s scales can vary greatly from individual to individual, although shades of green and blue are the most common hues. The scales are small and layered to provides the dragon with protection from the crushing depths of the deep ocean canyons they prefer to lair in. The multihued fringe covering their bodies provide the aquatic dragons with bioillumination at the dragon’s mental commands, glowing with a shimmering radiance capable of chasing away all but the most stygian darkness. Their coloration provides the aquatic dragons with some ability to blend in to their underwater environments, although their bioillumination can just as easily give away their presence. However, their breath weapon enables them to conceal themselves as an octopus does, creating a cloud of inky darkness to blind their enemies, giving the dragon enough time to escape.

The eyes of an aquatic dragon are a blazing cobalt or azure; their voices are as sweet and melodious as a songbird. Aquatic dragons have a long snout similar to a sea horse’s that comes to an almost cylindrical tip. These elongated jaws are filled with deep rows of small, sharp teeth capable of delivering a nasty bite. They possess no wings, rarely venturing from the sea, and their claws are webbed with pale green flaps that aid in graceful and agile maneuvering in the water.

The colorful leafy fringes that run the length of its tail are not only splendid to behold, but on male aquatics form flaps that serve as pouches. In an emergency, the male can haul its wyrmlings inside these sacs for a wild ride, one the wyrmlings undoubtedly love. The male can also use these pouches to haul treasure from sunken ships back to his lair.

Aquatic dragons speak their own tongue, a tongue common to all good dragons, and 14% of hatchling aquatic dragons have an ability to communicate with any intelligent creature. The chance to possess this ability increases 5% per age category of the dragon.

Aquatic dragons are shy and reclusive, so much so that they were considered a myth even by the Dimernesti and Dargonesti until the return of the good dragons following the War of Souls.

Combat: An aquatic dragon defending its lair, or a creature it has chosen to protect, becomes a fierce opponent. It generally prefers its underwater breath weapon as an opening attack. Aquatic dragons unleash hoarfrost into the air, but beneath the waves their breath weapon manifests as a black cloud of chilling, strength-draining ink that confuses and weakens opponents. If its goal is to create an escape route for others or itself, an aquatic dragon will continue to confound opponents by using its spell-like abilities to create walls of torrential water, turn invisible, or alternate its form to that of a sea snake, starfish, or other inconspicuous fish; all while its foe’s sight is obscured by ink. An aquatic dragon generally disdains direct physical combat and will usually seek to avoid a fight unless there is little other choice. When pressed, it will rely on its magic and breath weapon for as long as possible, before viciously attacking with its painful bite, sharp claws, and twisting tail.

Aquatic dragons’ sinewy tails are highly dexterous and strong, capable of grasping onto coral reefs or sunken masts for leverage against strong currents. As an aquatic dragon ages and increases in size, its tail becomes a potent weapon, able to grasp and constrict its enemies into submission. An aquatic dragon that is young adult or older can encoil a victim in its tail, automatically inflicting 2d6 points of constriction damage per round (though there is a 50% chance that an encoiled victim’s arms are pinned, making him unable to attack the dragon).

Breath Weapon/Special Abilities: An aquatic dragon’s breath weapon takes two forms, one underwater and one out of water. Underwater, the breath weapon manifests as an inky cone-shaped spread (40’ long, 5’ wide at the dragon’s mouth, and 40’ wide at the base)of chilling darkness. Creatures caught within the spread must save vs. breath weapon or be slowed for 1d6 rounds plus 1 round per age category of the dragon. The cloud lasts for 1d6 rounds plus 1 round per age category before dissipating. Creatures immune to cold are not slowed by the effect. Above water, the aquatic dragon’s breath weapon manifests as a cone of hoarfrost 70’ long,5’ wide at the dragon’s mouth, and 25’ wide at the base, inflicting cold damage. Creatures caught in the blast may save vs. breath weapon for half damage.

From their birth, aquatic dragons are immune to cold and have continual light ability (multihued radiance from their fringe only). This ability functions continuously, but can be negated or resumed at will. They can also polymorph self in the form of any animal or humanoid, three times per day. Each change in form lasts until the dragon chooses a different form and reverting to their normal form does not count as a change.

As they age, aquatic dragons gain the following additional abilities, useable once per day:

• Juvenile: fog cloud thrice a day.
• Adult: invisibility twice a day.
• Ancient: greater invisibility once a day.
• Old: wall of water twice a day.
  This create a wall of solid water. Underwater, this functions identically to a wall of force cast by a mage of the dragon’s caster level. Above water, the wall mimics the effects of a wind wall (with an area up to one 10-ft. square per caster level), although any creature passing through the wall will suffer 1d6 points of bludgeoning damage +1 point per age category (no save).
• Great wyrm: control weather once a day

Habitat/Society: Aquatic dragons dwell in the deepest, darkest depths of the ocean. Some aquatic dragons still reside in the distant region of Saturnalia, a place of glittering darkness. There, the arctic waters are lit by thousands of bizarre, luminescent deep-sea fish that twinkle like stars in the dark depths. Great ice caves, carved from the underbelly of glaciers, still serve as the lairs for the most ancient of the aquatic dragons. Those that have migrated from Saturnalia prefer to lair in the hulls of sunken ships or in dark caverns at the sea bottom that remind them of their former homeland. Despite the frigid waters of the north pole, aquatic dragons don’t mind warmer seas, some even choosing to lair at the bases of underwater volcanoes.

Aquatic dragons love to decorate their lairs, scavenging the sea floor for sunken ships to add to their collection. They use their mighty tails to salvage shipwrecks and tow them back. In addition to countless treasures from the surface world, an aquatic dragon’s lair is often artfully decorated with briny anchors and helms, masts with water-logged sails swaying in the currents, and broken hulls displaying glistening treasures. Aquatic dragons often fancy their lairs to be museums of sorts, and they will spend countless hours studying the art, ships, and magical artifacts of surfacedwelling races in order to learn more about them.

Though aquatic dragons are generally reclusive, bonds are beginning to form with other sea races in the Age of Mortals. Most notably, the Dimernesti and Dargonesti elves, who show proper awe and respect for aquatic dragons, are earning their favor. Other benevolent races of the sea, such as merfolk, ocean striders, children of the sea, and sea giants, may receive an equally warm reception, though the dragon may prefer to keep its true nature concealed. Aquatic dragons often appear to others in the form of a colorful sea snake or talking sea horse. They are likely to use a similar disguise, such as that of a chattering dolphin, in an encounter with humans, or other sea-faring surface race; aquatic dragons have become increasingly curious about them and sometimes seek interaction.

An aquatic dragon will generally avoid kuo-toa, sahuagin, and yrasda, and will use trickery to drive them off if they venture too close to its lair. The dragon will not usually confront them or make its presence known, preferring to lure them off to distant waters through subtlety and magic.

Though an aquatic dragon has little to fear from the ocean’s predators, dragon turtles, aboleths, and especially sea dragons can be cause for alarm. An aquatic dragon’s superior wit generally enables it to trick a dragon turtle or aboleth, using its magic to lure the menace away from its territory. A sea dragon, however, can be a serious threat to an aquatic dragon. The aquatic dragon will typically avoid a confrontation by fleeing, for it is by far the superior swimmer. But, in a situation where its territory is threatened, the aquatic dragon must make a difficult choice. If it inhabits a remote and secluded region, an aquatic dragon might desert its lair for a new one, remembering well the location where the sea dragon now resides in order to monitor its activities. If the aquatic dragon’s lair lies between the sea dragon and nearby communities of sea races, however, it will not back down or flee, but defend its territory and allies to the death.

Ecology: Aquatic dragons feed on plankton, krill, shrimp, and masses of other miniscule marine creatures, many of which blur the lines between plant and animal. Swimming with its jaws parted, it takes in these creatures by the thousands which flow straight to its stomach. If pressed for food, these gentleminded dragons will feed on kelp, barnacles, and other plantlife before resorting to larger fish.

Aquatic dragons are usually solitary and playful, quite capable of entertaining themselves, and they delight in whimsical joy. Indeed, they have a healthy curiosity that sometimes leads them on eccentric journeys along the ever-fascinating seabed, oblivious to how far they have wandered. Their curiosity and love of bounty leads them to make friends with the endless variety of fish and plantlife they encounter. However, this is an example of an aquatic dragon’s light-hearted side. Aquatic dragons are as formidable as any dragon in battle, and they will go to great lengths to nurture and protect sea life, even sacrificing their lives for the good of a cause. An aquatic dragon might swim alongside and protect a whale-mother giving birth, or guard a giant coral reef from destruction at the hands of kuo-toa.

Some aquatic dragons migrate back near the north pole to find a mate, while others search the seas far and wide. Solitary and independent, finding a mate in Krynn’s vast oceans can be difficult. Fortunately, female aquatics produce many eggs, up to as many as a dozen, which remain well-guarded during their maturation. The male and female mates remain together for a time, until the eggs are laid by the female and bestowed upon the male. The male then cares for the eggs, guarding them closely until they hatch. The male aquatics use the saclike flaps along their tails to carry large numbers of eggs off to safety if necessary.

Wyrmling aquatic dragons form chains by hanging on to each other with their dexterous tails, and they play mischievous games amidst coral reefs. Racing is a particular favorite; at a time in life when most dragons are learning to hunt, aquatic dragons develop skills that rank them among the fastest swimmers in the sea. The wyrmlings’ curious natures lead them to one day swim off in exploration of the vast oceans.