Balagos

Balagos, known as the Flying Flame, was one of the most famous red dragons.

Personality
Balagos was a megalomaniac. He truly believed that his destiny was to rule over all dragonkind and lead them in the extermination of humans and elves. However, on his path to dominion, he had to destroy all who opposed to him; he killed so many other dragons that elves nicknamed him Dragonsbane.

Despite his ego, Balagos was not stupid in the least, and he would escape from a losing battle in order to have vengeance another day. His three main talents were that he never forgot the face, name, or attitude of any being that he met; he was a good judge of character (and not limited only to dragons); and he always calculated the consequences and outcomes of his acts.

Balagos had no special affinities or hatred for anyone. In his mind, all were his rightful subjects, and only those who opposed him deserved death. He felt that he was one of the few rulers in Faerûn who could carry out such a policy and survive, as he had done for more than a thousand years.

Activities
Balagos was very fond of human flesh, particularly that of youngish females. In ancient Amn, villagers would try to sacrifice their maidens to appease him.

Unusual for a dragon, the Flying Flame liked to bathe. His preferred spot was the Chionthar, using water from Lake Esmel or the Gaping Face Cascade.

Balagos maintained a lair in the Smokespire, an extinct volcano in the Troll Mountains of Amn.

He had no preferred hunting place. Instead, he usually took creatures while on the move.

Balagos changed his daily routine many times in order to avoid a foe using his routine against him and to make sure that all beings in his domain knew that no place or time was safe. For example, Balagos could land on the roof of a coster hall in Athkatla or lie in the sun on high ledges in the Troll Mountains. Sometimes he would fly hard and fast along the Trade Way, frightening both horses and humans as the wind of his flight knocked over carts and cargo. Thanks to this strategy, Balagos defeated a large number of foes, usually presumptuous wizards.

History
Balagos only one time took a mate, the venerable red dragon Uluuthavarra, who laired somewhere near the Lake of Steam. However, his offspring killed their mother, and so Balagos slaughtered all of them.

Several wizards, (including Elminster Aumar,) believed that Balagos was secretly in search of a method to prolong his life without losing most of his powers, such as a clone spell or a more advanced kind of lichdom than the Cult-assisted undead dragons that he contemptuously called "bone dragons."

Balagos conquered his personal holding by slaying the old red dragon Hulrundrar in 1258 DR and the venerable silver dragon Eacoathildarandus in 1216 DR, among others. Plus, Balagos considered all lands that stretched from from the southern edge of the Wood of Sharp Teeth to the Giants Run Mountains and from the southern banks of the upper River Chionthar to the River Ith his domain, treating the other dragons that lived in the area as his vassals.

Over the years, Balagos destroyed the Esmeltaran-based Company of the Firestar, the Amnwater Company of the Coin, the Laughing Lynx Long-haul Caravan Company of Riatavin, the Keshlan wizards of the Tower of Tyruld, and the entire seven-ship pirate fleet of the Silver Swords Boarding Company. He was also suspected to have killed Tastrar Nagthalass and at least four other Red Wizards and, in three separate occasions, three Zhentarim magelings sent by Manshoon to try to steal magic from his lair.

In 1372 DR, Balagos tried to gather a small group of human agents loyal to himself in order to infiltrate any human organization or dragon cabal that might plot to work together against him. The first successful mission of his agents neutralized a Red Wizard who had tried to poison the Gaping Face Cascade, in order to debilitate Balagos.

Appearances

 * Magazines:
 * Dragon #232 ("Balagos, 'the Flying Flame'")