Dretchroyaster

Dretchroyaster, or simply "Dretch", was a venerable green dracolich.

Personality
Dretchroyaster was well known as a merciless hunter, an avaricious builder of hoards, and as a cunning adversary. Yet his perhaps most defining characteristic was his desperation to avoid death, which ultimately motivated him to become a dracolich. Still, because Dretch was so rarely challenged, his confidence had not grown to the point where he exhibited the fearlessness common to many other dracoliches. Dretchroyaster would usually only fight when cornered, and preferred to weaken and distract his foes with traps and foils rather than face them in the open. He had a keen mind for tactics and often sought to use familiar terrain to his advantage.

In terms of diet, he greatly enjoyed the flesh of centaurs and considered elves an unfortunately too-rare delicacy. Most of the time he was forced to eat more plentiful fare: humans and horses, either of which could be found in abundance in most any caravan. For the sake of his twisted humor, he would sometimes also eat treants. Aside from his relative cowardice, one of Dretchroyaster's primary weaknesses was letting his guard down too much when eating. Naturally, after his dracolich transformation his enthusiasm for food was lessened somewhat (but not entirely), and a few near-death experiences eventually taught him to be more alert when dining.

His primary goal was transforming himself into a spelljammer and flying into space.

History
(Born between and )

The Cult of the Dragon had long sought to convince Dretchroyaster to undergo transformation into a dracolich, but the green dragon refused to even consider it. Ultimately, it would take over a century of persuasion and two close brushes with death to coax him. The first of these occurred in the, when Dretchroyaster awoke from a hundred-year slumber and decided to terrorize the region. He devastated Battledale, Tasseldale, and Featherdale in a two-month long campaign that ultimately claimed the lives of over 700 Dalesfolk and destroyed more than six villages. The menace was so great that several normally independent adventuring companies banded together to form the Crossed Swords and hunt the dragon down. Dretchroyaster was seriously injured in the ensuing fight but managed to escape to his secret lair. The Crossed Swords could not find the lair, and so stopped the hunt. The events of Dretch's rampage were later recounted in the ballad "The Clouds Came Rolling In".

Dretch was first recorded in chronicles when, in the Year of Watery Graves, 1091 DR, he battled the old female black dragon Naxorlytaalsxar the Terror Tenebrous, in an aerial duel. In the so-called Battle of Falling Fishkill, Dretch accidentally poisoned Lake Sember, forcing the aquatic elves living there into exile. During this time, Dretch regularly mated with a venerable female green dragon Verthandantalynx, the Verdant Cloud, and considered her his mate.

After a century-long sleep, Dretch awoke in the Year of the Snarling Dragon, 1279 DR, and decided to terrorize the region. He devastated Battledale, Tasseldale, and Featherdale in a campaign recorded in the ballad "The Clouds Came Rolling In". However, the menace seemed so great that several normally independent adventuring companies gathered to form the Crossed Swords and decided to hunt the dragon. Dretch was grievously injured by the adventurers and hid in his secret lair. The Crossed Swords could not find the lair, and so stopped the hunt.

In the Year of the Crown, 1351 DR, however, the adventurers' band the Merry Marauders crossed paths with Dretchroyaster near Myth Drannor. Dretch was hunting centaurs and the adventurers managed to surprise the wyrm and inflict a major blow on him. Again he escaped into his lair but the wizard of the company cast some fire-based magic into one of the ventilation tunnels of the lair, wounding Dretch further.

At that time, the wizard Larkonlan, a high-ranking member in the Sembian Cult of the Dragon cell, approached the dragon, offering transformation into dracolich and a new lair. (Unknown to Dretch, it was Larkonlan who had sent the Merry Marauders.) So in the Year of the Dragon, 1352 DR, Dretchroyaster shifted his lair to Monarch's Fall Glade, the remains of an elven spelljammer discovered by some adventurers hired by the Cult. Dretch was amazed by his new lair and invested much time in modifying the surrounding terrain and studying the spelljammer. Finally, in the Year of the Sword, 1365 DR, Dretch accepted transformation into a dracolich and adopted the sobriquet "The Monarch Reborn".

In the late 15th century DR, the Turmish wizard Imani hired adventurers to infiltrate Dretchroyaster's lair and recover the Diamond Staff of Chomylla.

Rumors & Legends
Rumors circulated that the Sembian cell of the Cult of the Dragon attempted to accelerate Dretchroyaster's aging even in undeath by using daggers of life stealing to somehow inject him with the stolen lives of their victims.

Appearances

 * Organized Play & Licensed Adventures
 * Vault of the Dracolich
 * Search for the Diamond Staff
 * Search for the Diamond Staff