Amethyst dragon

Amethyst dragons were a breed of gem dragon.

Description
Amethyst dragons had skin that was lavender in hue and scales shaped like naturally formed mineral crystals. On a hatchling, these scales were small, translucent, and light purple, but as they aged they became steadily darker and more crystalline in appearance. An adult appeared a sparkling lavender and reached a length of.

Personality
They were considered wise and majestic even by dragon standards. But they were aloof and paid little heed to conflicts between good and evil or chaos and law, as they believed them to be but petty squabbles. They favored talking things out rather than fighting, but considered retreating, ambushing, and hiding to be dishonorable.

Abilities
Different kinds of dragon breath were reported for amethysts. Some shrieked like a banshee, with its attendant lethal power, but they could only do so twice a day. Others projected a line of force with concussive effect that could either stun or injure beings caught within. Finally, sometimes in addition to a line of force, once per day an adult could spit a kind of explosive crystal or faceted gem of violet with a lozenge shape. They could launch it up to and with perfect aim, usually into the ranks of their foes. It exploded on impact with concussive force, harming all in a radius of or. It could knock down creatures smaller than the dragon and knock them unconscious for a few hours.

Amethyst dragons were highly resistant to, if not entirely immune, to force-based spells, like magic missile, wall of force, Otiluke's resilient sphere, the Bigby's hand spells, and similar magic items like beads of force.

In addition to common dragon and gem dragon immunities, amethyst dragons were reported to be immune to poisons and to have an innate ability to breathe underwater they were born with, though this latter ability was later believed to be unique to topaz dragons.

Like any dragon, and in addition to the common power of gem dragons, amethysts gained an array of magical powers as they aged. In one version, young dragons could walk on water six times a day; juveniles could neutralize poison six times a day; adults could shapechange into an animal three times a day (bird, reptile, or mammal, but only once of each type); old dragons could use Otiluke's resilient sphere thrice a day; very old dragons could create a reflecting pool; and venerable dragons could control weather once a day. Alternatively, juveniles could stomp their feet on the ground to create a shockwave that would knock over those within in front of them, thrice a day. An adult gained the power of invisibility once a day. An old dragon could alter its body equilibrium to match that of solids or liquids, allowing them to walk (not run) on water, quicksand, and even spider's webs if there were any large enough, without sinking or breaking the surface, and reduce their weight in a fall, once a day. Ancient dragons gained the power of suggestion once a day. Finally, great wyrms could use a unique form of telekinesis, enabling them to lift up to or hurl creatures as large as ogres.

Similarly, amethyst dragons could acquire and cast new spells of their own, whether arcane or divine, but they were most noted for their talent in psionics. Those who were so gifted learned the psionic attacks psionic blast, ego whip, or psychic crush and the psionic defenses mind blank or mental barrier, thought shield, or tower of iron will For general powers, they favored psychokinesis as their primary discipline and psychometabolism as a secondary discipline, followed by telepathy. Common psychokinesis powers were control body, detonate, inertial barrier, molecular agitation, project force, and telekinesis; psychometabolism powers were cell adjustment, complete healing, energy containment, expansion, metamorphosis, and reduction; and telepathy powers were contact, domination, ESP, identity penetration, mindlink, mindwipe, and truthear. They also learned metapsionics powers like empower, magnify, pionic sense, psychic drain, psychic surgery, and ultrablast.

Society
Amethyst dragons were good parents to their young, but felt they should be independent and learn to look after themselves by the time they were young adult dragons. Families raised clutches of two to five offspring, and they were likely to be encountered alone or in such clans.

While they thought copper dragons and silver dragons were foolish and they disliked red dragons and white dragons, they were not fundamentally opposed to any creature. In fact, on occasion, amethyst dragons could mediate in conflicts between feuding dragons and even warring nations of humanoids.

They favored a diet of fish and gemstones but could subsist on elemental matter such as earth.

Amethyst dragons spoke Draconic and both their own language and a language shared among all gem dragons. Moreover, almost one in five hatchlings could communicate with sentient being, and the others gained this power as they aged, with nearly half possessing it by the time they were mature adults and nearly three-quarters when great wyrms.

Lairs
On the Material Plane, amethyst dragons enjoyed making their lairs on the shores of lakes and pools such as tarns lying in remote places in highlands and mountains. They might even dwell in caves below the water in such places.

However, a majority of amethyst dragons resided on the Elemental Plane of Earth, in caverns carved out of the endless rock. These comprised numerous tunnels and chambers bedecked with crystals of all the colors of the rainbow.

Combat
Amethyst dragons avoided combat if they could and preferred to parley instead, but if this failed or they were forced, then they would fight. Nevertheless, they refused to hide from or ambush their foes, and saw retreating as dishonorable. Young ones were more likely to fly away from a fight, and adults only when defeat or death seemed inevitable. They rarely retreated when they were defending their lairs or their young.

Once battle was joined, the amethyst dragon opened its breath weapon, followed by its magic and psionics. Younger dragons favored their breath, magic and psionics, and aerial assaults, while the older and bigger dragons got physical and used their weight with grabs, snatches, and crushes. Adult amethyst dragons preferred to use their invisibility and other powers to catch their opponents off-guard.

Notable Amethyst Dragons

 * Eldenser
 * Sh'derra D'zeer, an amethyst that resided within Highstar Lake.
 * Amaeraszantha