Skurge

Skurge was an ancient female black dragon who laired in the Marsh of Tun.

Personality
She was especially intelligent for her kind, knowing not to despoil the area she lived in, but otherwise shared the traits common to other black dragons, being petty, cruel and aggressive. Her advanced age made her irritable due to pain caused by the strain of her own body weight upon her bones and joints but this was tempered by a surprisingly patient nature.

Lair
Through many years of magical effort, Skurge built several underwater lairs and ambush spots throughout the Marsh of Tun and when she was not occupying them, they were guarded by lizardfolk servitors drawn from one of the four tribes living in the Marsh, who believed her to be an emissary of Semuanya. At least one of these lairs was a brood chamber where she kept her unhatched offspring. The brood chamber was magically heated and as long as it was occupied by an egg (about 12–18 months every decade), Skurge would also live in that lair, leaving only to hunt when she needed to.

Allies

 * "King" Thaalim Torchtower and his Tun bandits had a mutual defense agreement with Skurge thanks to a kidnapped egg belonging to her kept in temporal stasis by Torchtower. As long as the egg was secured, Skurge wouldn't attack the humans but if the egg was lost, hatched, destroyed, or even given back, Skurge would likely destroy them all as it was easily within her power to do so.
 * The lizardfolk tribe that revered her as a deific emissary and worked as servants and guardians while Skurge slept.

Relationships
Skurge was a direct descendant of the mighty Thauglorimorgorus, the Black Doom, who once ruled the entire land of Cormyr.


 * Tyra, Skurge's daughter, was a young adult with her own lair in the Vast Swamp before the Dragonslayer tribe of lizardfolk killed her.
 * Despayr, Skurge's son and Tyra's clutchmate. He was spurned by his mother and sister when he showed no ability to breathe acid or cast spells. Despayr moved to the Vast Swamp and took up the worship of Shar, moving into his sister's lair when he learned of her death. Despayr was killed by adventurers in 1374 DR.

Activities
Skurge seemed content to rule over the Marsh of Tun, hunting when she wanted to and mating once a decade with her consort (an unknown black dragon from Chult). The only thing she seemed to put effort into was avoiding the attention of nearby Cormyr. She used magic to disguise herself as another breed of dragon whenever she ranged beyond the Tunlands, usually as a red or green dragon but sometimes, spitefully, as a gold or silver. She would also vary her hunting grounds, attacking south of the Storm Horns between Proskur and Elversult, the Goblin Marches and the farmlands of Cormyr to avoid anyone drawing a link between her and the various dragons attacking these places. As she aged though, her interest in adding to her hoard waned and she returned home not carrying any treasure more often than not.