Red dragon

Red dragons, referred to by sages as draco conflagratio horribilis, and sometimes flame dragons, fire wyrms, and mountain dragons, were a breed of chromatic true dragon. They were covetous, evil creatures, interested only in their own well-being, vanity and the extension of their treasure hoards. They were supremely confident of their own abilities and were prone to making snap decisions without any forethought. The largest and most powerful of the chromatic dragons, red dragons were also the most fearsome and cruel. These dragons delighted in ruin, death and destruction. They breathed a cone of fire. In countless lands, they were considered the archetypal villainous dragon of legend and fable, exemplars of all their most notorious traits, and the red dragons thought so too. "Rapacious, cunning, and destructive, red dragons are Tiamat's favored children, embodying the worst that dragonkind has to offer."

- Jothan Ironspell

Description
Red dragons were physically distinguished by their enormous size and wingspan, which was the widest of all dragons,   both in absolute size and relative to body length. The outermost alar phalange was extremely long and made the wing appear to taper, while the trailing edge was the longest section. The trailing edge joined the body behind the rear legs and partway along the tail.

And of course they were recognized by their scarlet and crimson scaled hides. A wyrmling had small, bright, and glossy scarlet scales (becoming pink on its belly ), which turned dull and a deeper red by the time they were young dragons. In older dragons, the scales grew thicker and larger, and as tough as metal. In contrast to their red hide, their wings and neck frills turned a purple-gray, ash-blue, or blue-black toward the edges, similar to metal scorched in a fire, which darkened as they aged. The pupils of their eyes faded with age, such that especially old red dragons had eyes that seemed to be orbs of molten lava.

A red dragon had two large horns upon their head, which pointed backward toward their wings. These horns, which were big enough to noticeable from below, could be either straight or twisted and any color from white as bone to black as night. They had smaller horns on their chin, cheeks, lower jaw, and in rows over their brow, as well as on their beak-like snout. They also had frills around their ears that often combined with their cheek horns as they got older and a backward-sweeping frill running down their necks and spine, from just behind the head to the end of the tail. The frills around the dragon's internal ears assisted its hearing, by collecting sounds and ascertaining directions. A red wyrmling had the two main horns, but the others were only stubs.

They smelled of smoke, sulfur, and pumice. Their bodies were so warm that the air around occasionally shimmered as in a heat mirage while their blood was, when outside its body, hot enough to produce steam. Smoke blew from their nostrils constantly. When a red dragon was enraged, flames flickered in its eyes and nostrils.

The vanity of red dragons was often revealed in their prideful postures and the looks of disdain with which they regarded all others.

A hatchling had a body and  tail, while an adult had a body length of around  to  and a tail length of around  to. The biggest great wyrms grew to or  long in the body, with tails  or even  long.

Personality
"To have is nothing, to keep is all."

- A red dragon saying

Out of all dragon kind, reds were the most avaricious and were constantly looking to expand their hoards with treasure, no matter whose it already was,   and they were the most obsessive collectors. They valued material wealth more than anything else—if it was worth something, they wanted it. Other than that, they were so greedy they generally didn't care what they collected, and while individual red dragons could have certain preferences, there were no common trends across the species. They accumulated amazing hoards and showed them off in pride as a show of their own superiority, with a particular love for anything taken from a slain rival. They knew the value, origin, and precise location of every piece of treasure in their hoards, and remembered well how and when they'd claimed it. Losing even one coin or tiny trinket could cause a red dragon to fly into a rage and hunt down and mercilessly destroy the supposed thief. If they could not, then they would rampage across the land, slaughtering all it encountered and devastating local settlements where a thief might hide before it could calm down,

Red dragons were known for their swift and fiery tempers—if angered, they would explode into a destructive rage and become even more impulsive and vengeful. They never forgave even the most minor offense, theft, or infraction, and would kill the offender or, if they were unavailable, instead raise havoc to inflict their outrage on everyone else. They would kill even on a whim. Such rages were in part due to their fragile pride and feeling that any loss, insult, or defeat meant a loss of status if not addressed—causing chaos and destruction assuaged wounded pride and mitigated lost status. Their rage could only be quelled with blood and death or great tributes of riches.

They were incredibly vain, even by dragon standards,  and were supremely arrogant. They thought themselves chosen by Tiamat herself to reign in her stead, with all the world their dominion and all the beings in it their subjects, while all other breeds of dragon were inferior Red dragons believed that they were the pinnacle of draconic nature and that all other dragon species were impure. They valued vengefulness, rapaciousness, avarice, and ferocity above other traits and recognized these traits in themselves with pride. Thus, maintaining their status among their fellow red dragons was their main focus.

They were solitary creatures and cared little for news of other types of dragons, though they did look for news of other red dragons in their area   and of affairs in the world in general. They used other creatures as messengers, informants, and spies to bring them information, paying particular interest in the deeds of fellow red dragons, with whom they always competed for status. If they believed their own achievements and possessions to be greater than these other red dragons, then they stayed in their caves, smugly congratulating themselves. However, if they learned that the achievements or possessions of the other red dragons were greater than their own, then they would fly into a vengeful rage, decimating the surrounding area until they believed that they had outdone their rivals. The dragon became much less cautious during this time and much more likely to underestimate their foes.

A red dragon would go to extreme lengths to ensure that they were superior to every other red dragon in the area. They would often burn down only half a village or let a single adventurer flee from a battle so that word of their power spread throughout the region. Not only would this anger other red dragons but it was also like a shining beacon to adventurers and treasure hunters.

Red dragons believed that if a being was not strong enough to protect what it had, then it did not deserve to keep it. They despised weakness among their own kind. If one ever found out that another of their kin showed any signs of fragility, either by getting badly wounded or becoming senile in old age, then local red dragons would descend on the lair, stripping it clean and usually killing the owner..

Reds were also highly territorial. They were constantly on the lookout for intruders in their territory, and especially other dragons encroaching on it, which was cause for death. Entering an area a red considered its domain was just asking to be attacked, especially if it was another dragon entering the area (even more so if it was a red dragon). Conflict was inevitable if this was the case and it was almost always to the death as neither would dare show weakness to the other. Thankfully, most other species were smart enough to flee if they realized the area belonged to a red dragon. Red dragons could get so territorial that, on rare occasions, they would adopt a protective yet patronizing attitude towards creatures they considered inferior that lived within their self-imposed borders. A few liked to set themselves up as rulers of communities within their territory, enjoying the feeling of power, but they reigned as tyrants, demanding obedience and using threats to gain it, and killing or destroying those that did not comply. In their view, humanoids were a renewable resource. Communities in or around a red dragon's territory could appease it with tributes and sacrifices.

Red dragons hated any authority other than their own. They never asked elders for advice, even if doing so would save their lives as to them, admitting they needed something their elders had was the same as putting themselves under their authority.

Abilities
Red dragons expelled an extremely devastating cone of fire. For an adult, this blast could be or  in length and breadth. Its raw elemental fire could burn flesh and heat metal and, for ancient red dragons, could even overwhelm magical protections against fire.

They were naturally resistant or even completely immune to fire, but vulnerable to cold.

Like any dragon, and in addition to the common powers of chromatic dragons, red dragons gained an array of magical powers as they aged, though accounts of these varied. In one version, a juvenile could cast locate object once a day or more often as they got older, while an old red dragon could use suggestion, an ancient one could use find the path, and a great wyrm could discern location.

Similarly, red dragons could learn and cast new spells of their own, similar to a sorcerer.

They were skilled in appraisal, deception, and jumping, because, although they flew quickly, they were not very maneuverable. They could accurately estimate the value of any treasure or trinket, down to the last copper piece. They also had good hearing.

Combat
"Battle is a dragon's natural element; it is made for combat. It has teeth like spears, claws like scimitars, wings like hammers, and a tail like a battering ram. Lesser beings cower in its presence, and its breath fells armies."

- Munwithurix, a red dragon of another world

Highly confident combatants, a red dragon would, on sighting a potential foe, decide in an instant whether to attack. They rarely stopped to size up a foe or make a plan, instead relying on a general strategy they'd figured out earlier, often over years and covering every imaginable situation, and picking it on the fly. Usually, though, they just flew into their foes and blasted them with fire, then used their claws on whoever was left. If attacking small, vulnerable creatures, they preferred to land and slay them with claw and fang, rather than use their flame and risk destroying whatever valuables they might have, but not if it meant defeat or death. Like any dragon, they could fight with their claws, teeth, wings, tail, and just sheer weight. They loved this chance to show off their strength, but weren't shy to use their fire breath either.

Though they fought just as well in the air as on the ground, a red dragon was not agile in flight, so they usually elected to land and fight on the ground when appropriate, where they showed remarkable mobility and grasp of tactics. They would jump from point to point or fly short distances to seize an advantageous location from which to cast their magic or breathe fire.

Despite its ferociousness and unwillingness to retreat or compromise, a red dragon was not mindless nor suicidally reckless. It had enough of a sense of self-preservation to know when not to attack or to break off combat against a superior opponent, albeit reluctantly and if it could retain its pride and status in doing so; retreating hurt their pride most of all. Nevertheless, after first blood had been drawn, they were much less likely to retreat, even if it was an option. Their overwhelming pride led more red dragons to fight to the death than any other chromatic dragons. In particular, the fearless and bloodthirsty red wyrmlings lacked the sense to flee and had no clever tactics to back them up, so they usually fight and win or die trying.

A red dragon would not always kill a defeated enemy. They would regularly let some survivors escape to tell of its victory and thereby bolster its status. With an obviously weaker opponent, they might intimidate or trick them into providing information or performing some deed. The only requirement was that the red dragon got what it wanted, and if not, the enemy should die.

Activities
Like all chromatic dragons, reds lived their lives in cycles of activity and hibernation. While these cyclical rhythms weren't as extreme as green dragons, red dragons sealed themselves within their lairs for upwards of ten years at a time.

Their red scales gave them little camouflage or chance of them being overlooked. Young red dragons, especially wyrmlings, were easy prey for predators and hunters because of their bright, glossy, scarlet scales, so they tended to stay underground during the day and came out only at night until they felt that they could defend themselves properly. Otherwise, they gave little thought to caution or self-preservation and targeted anything they thought they could eat. Hence, they had difficult, dangerous lives. However, when they were older and not as brightly hued, and especially bigger and more powerful, they were much more confident. They preferred to be conspicuous, and had no wish to hide from lesser beings.

They spent their spare time concocting tactics for use in future battles, developing a wide variety. They were master strategists as a result.

Diet
They were carnivorous by choice, with a particular taste for young humans and elves, especially young women, an appetite for which they were notorious. They insisted that it just tasted better. It was not unknown for a red dragon to intimidate or charm the people of a local village into periodically sacrificing their young folk to them or else to kidnap young humanoids for later consumption. Otherwise, they made do with other humanoids, animals, and other dragons, again with a predilection for younger, tender flesh. Yet they preferred meat charred by flame, both liking the taste and finding it easier to digest.

Despite this, similar to most other dragons, red dragons could consume and live on just about anything, including vegetation and minerals. They just didn't want to, more than any other carnivorous dragon, so much so that a few would rather starve almost to death than eat anything other than meat.

During their active periods, they were known as voracious over-hunters, whose hunger ensured that the populations of any nearby creatures did not grow beyond ecological stability.

Lairs
Red dragons typically dwelled in warm mountainous regions, hills, desert mesas, and badlands,    though these were not necessities. The main factors in them choosing a place to live were primarily a high elevation and secondarily a high temperature; while cold did not especially hamper them, they did not like it, but would put up with it for the sake of elevation. Many preferred to dwell within volcanoes—even within the caldera itself—or sulfurous geysers or other areas of geothermal activity, where the intense heat and dangerous gases kept others at bay and comforted a sleeping dragon. However, they could make their lairs almost anywhere, from ice-capped mountains to hills to deserted dwarf mines and holds.

They particularly loved to make their lairs in large caverns or cave systems that reached deep underground and received geothermal activity. These places were warm with the heat of their bodies and smelled of smoke and sulfur. Despite this, almost all red dragons required a high perch somewhere close by from which they could look over their domain—the higher the better, as they believed that their domain encompassed all that they could see. They were just as likely to be found up here as they were in their lairs. Otherwise, for security, they preferred to sleep and store their treasure deep underground, below masses of stone.

Red dragons that dwelled within dungeons or like would make their lairs in heated or fire-filled locations. In lieu of a high place with a panoramic view of the area, they keep watch in large open spaces or down long corridors, wherever they could get a wide view.

As it was rare for a natural cave system to have all the features a red dragon desired, they would claim spaces already excavated or constructed by others where possible, or else enslave other creatures to build or modify them. Hence, they would seize such places as dwarf holds and drow access tunnels. Furthermore, a red dragon liked to have its minions build monuments to it and place these around its lair. These praised the dragon's power and told of its life, deeds, and victories.

While within its volcanic lair, to defend itself and its hoard, a red dragon could cause earth tremors, clouds of toxic gases, and geysers of magma. The lair of a legendary red dragon could alter the land around it, causing minor earthquakes up to away, heating and tainting water sources within, and even opening portals to the Elemental Plane of Fire within rocky fissures, through which beings of elemental fire could cross over. (Such effects faded within a tenday if the dragon was slain.)

Lands
Red dragons made their homes in mountainous lairs, particularly throughout the peaks of northwestern and northern Faerûn, surrounding the great desert of Anauroch. They were particularly abundant around the snow-capped mountains of the Spine of the World.

Some red dragons have been spotted as far south as the Sunset Mountains and even Tethyr.

Religion
Many red dragons were known to worship the deities Bane, Garyx, Loviatar, and Malar. They were also the dragons most likely to venerate Asmodeus, owing to their tyrannical impulses. Strangely, a few on other worlds even worshiped Corellon as a god of magic.

Reproduction
Mating was initiated by the female every century or so when she felt the urge to have children. She looked for the nearest red dragon with the most wealth and power. As such, males never denied their advances, as it was a sign of prestige among other males to be requested to mate. Nevertheless, red dragon courtship was a risky matter, as the majority of potential suitors were still considered also as dangerous rivals. Females conducted much of the courting, though it was not unknown for males to try as well, and it typically saw the younger, though still high-status, usually female dragon carefully approaching the elder, usually male dragon. Rarely did two red dragons fight over a potential mate; such a battle would inevitably be deadly, and when a superior suitor pressed their case, all but the most unwise lesser would give up.

After mating, the elder then left the younger to protect the eggs. An typical red dragon female produced two to four eggs with an incubation time of 270 days to 22 months, and they were laid after approximately 5.5 months. All were viable if laid under ideal conditions, namely deep underground and close to a natural heat source, for example, in a volcano's empty lava tubes.

The female jealously guarded the clutch, occasionally with the assistance of an infertile female, but rarely laid down her own life for her hatchlings. Rarely, two parents of the same age would tend their young together.

However, once hatched, even the wyrmlings were left to take care of themselves. Often, within the first few months, they would fight and kill one another until only one remained; otherwise, they would remain cooperative until they came of age. They remained close to the hatchery for a few years before spreading out to find more food and their own lairs. Hence, a full surviving clutch typically included two to five offspring from several matings, ranging in age from wyrmlings to young adults. Once her young reached the young adult stage of development, or sometimes earlier, the mother's natural instincts overruled her maternal ones and she forced all of her young from her territory.

Aging
Under the categories of dragon aging, the offspring were counted as wyrmlings for the first 8 years and as young dragons for up to 200 years.

A red dragon became an elder at 950 years of ancient dragon at 1,900 years. The oldest known red dragon lived to about 2,500 years.

Death
When a slain red dragon underwent environment diffusion—an uncommon occurrence by which a deceased dragon's body decayed and affected the local environment —there were two possibilities according to the landscape. In mountainous or stony landscape, the ground split open where it had died, creating one or several small volcanic vents that spewed acrid smoke or else large sulfurous geysers. Otherwise, in less rocky or more fire-prone lands, a wildfire started, one that never spread beyond the site but also which never went out, no matter the weather or lack of fuel.

Relationships
Red dragons hated silver dragons with a passion as their familiarity with the element of cold and other natural powers often made red dragons appear weak in battle with them, which they naturally resented. They also occasionally conflicted over territory, with the red's high perch often crossing into a silver's domain. Fights between them were often vicious and lethal, but silvers worked together and even enlisted human allies, so they generally got the advantage over the reds.

Similarly, red dragons who delved deep underground for their lairs would sometimes run into the deep dragons, also known as purple dragons, who dwelled in the Underdark.

As copper dragons regularly dwelled in hills that would be within view of a red dragon's perch, they commonly came into conflict, though the smaller copper dragons rarely won out against the more powerful red dragons in open battle. The coppers normally fled until they could find a way of improving their chances, like luring them into narrow winding canyons and caves where they could climb walls and outmaneuver a red dragon. Of course, coppers viewed reds as challenges to be irritated and embarrassed as much as possible without getting killed.

Above all, though, red dragons hated gold dragons, for golds were so similar to reds, yet their natural moral differences were extreme. However, while red dragons might loudly proclaim that they would fight and defeat any gold dragon they came across, they often found an excuse not to fight when that time eventually came.

White dragons, meanwhile, were seen as unworthy of even a red dragon's rivalry, and whites sensibly stayed out of the more powerful reds' paths. Occasionally, they came into conflict, but a red dragon was often happy to let a white dragon neighbor live nearby, provided they stayed out of the way and out of sight.

A red dragon in need of minions would find some local chaotic evil humanoids and demand they pledge their service, and if they needed encouragement, killed off their leaders. Those who did survive and serve a red dragon must be constantly obsequious to it and were fearful of displeasing their master or even delivering bad news lest they be roasted and devoured. The red dragon displayed a patronizing manner to these minions, who served it as agents, spies, and emissaries.

A small contingent of red dragons served high-ranking githyanki as mounts and companions, following a treaty established with Tiamat during the war between the gith and the mind flayers. These red dragons served the githyanki during their young age, being dismissed as soon as they reached adulthood and keeping the wealth accumulated over their years of service. These dragons resented their time of servitude, but were eager to participate in raids thanks to the promise of treasure and of growing in power. The dragons remained loyal to their riders as long as they were treated respectfully and were given ample opportunities to pillage. While not all red dragons elected allied with the githyanki like this, few counted them as enemies. Some of the descendants of these red dragons remained with the githyanki in the Astral Sea, becoming pact dragons.

Usage
It was said the flesh of red dragons tasted extremely spicy. To be properly prepared, it had to be exposed to open air for at least two days and aged for some time. Anyone who ate red dragon meat that was not treated in this manner was susceptible to horrible cramps and extreme pain.

Notable Red Dragons

 * Ashardalon, an ancient and fiendish red dragon who spanned the multiverse.
 * Balagos, also known as "Dragonsbane" and "The Flying Flame", who laired in the Starspire Mountains
 * Dran Draggore, the high priest of the Darkmoon temple.
 * Ephelomon, the red dragon consort of the Lich Queen Vlaakith CLVII who gifted the githyanki the scepter that symbolized the pact between the two races.
 * Firkraag of the Windspear Hills in Amn, who used polymorph to regularly pose as "Lord Jierdan Firkraag"
 * Fyrentennimar, also known as "Old Fyren", who laired in the Snowflake Mountains of Erlkazar and aided Cadderly Bonaduce in destroyed Castle Trinity.
 * Hoondarrh, also known as "The Red Rage of Mintarn"
 * Imvaernarhro, also known as "Inferno", an ancient wyrm of the Star Mounts/
 * Klauth, also known as "Old Snarl", a great wyrm of the Spine of the World.
 * Lux, a rogue red dragon that had a crisis of conscience during the 12 century DR
 * Mistinarperadnacles Hai Draco, also known as "Mist". She was the ancient red dragon who destroyed the avatar of Moander in 1357 DR.
 * Narlgathra, who attacked Tangled Trees during the Rage of Dragons.
 * Palasiraks, daughter of Pelendralaar, a dracolich ally of Kya Mordrayn and the Cult of the Dragon circa 1369 DR.
 * Rylatar'ralah'tyma, also known as "Rylatar"
 * Tchazzar, the "Father of Chessenta" was revered as a deity among his people well into the 15 century
 * Tharas'kalagram, also known as "Kalag"
 * Themberchaud, also known as "The Wyrmsmith of Gracklstugh"
 * Thraxata the Flamefiend
 * Velcuthimmorhar, also known as "Hephaestus", who dwelt in the mountains west of Mirabar

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * The Tomb of Damara • Dungeon #32: "Changeling" • Pool of Radiance: Attack on Myth Drannor • Out of the Abyss • Curse of Strahd • Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage
 * Novels
 * Azure Bonds • Elminster in Hell
 * The Ring of Winter • Tymora's Luck
 * Comic Books
 * Legends of Baldur's Gate (#5)
 * Video Games
 * Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of Darkmoon • Descent to Undermountain • Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal • Neverwinter Nights series (Neverwinter Nights • Neverwinter Nights 2 • Neverwinter Nights: Tyrants of the Moonsea) • Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone • Baldur's Gate III
 * Neverwinter Nights: Darkness over Daggerford
 * Film & Television
 * Honor Among Thieves
 * Board Games
 * Battle for Faerûn • Betrayal at Baldur's Gate
 * Card Games
 * AD&D Trading Cards • Spellfire: Master the Magic • Dragonfire •
 * Gamebooks
 * Escape the Underdark
 * Gamebooks
 * Escape the Underdark

Connections
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