Despayr

Despayr was a black dragon that was unusual in a number of ways. He was born covered in glowing purple runes, could not breathe acid, and lacked the ability to cast spells like others of his kind.

Relationships
Despayr was the spawn of Skurge, the great dragon of the Tun Marshes, and the clutchmate of Tyra. Through Skurge, both Despayr and Tyra were direct descendants of the mighty Thauglorimorgorus, the Black Doom, who once ruled the entire land of Cormyr. Despayr's father was unknown, but was reputed to be a black dragon living in the jungles of Chult.

History
Marked from birth with strange runes by Shar, Despayr was quickly ostracized by both his mother Skurge and sister Tyra. The young dragon was forced to live a solitary existence until he received a shadowy vision teaching him to turn the curse of his birth into a powerful tool.

Both Despayr and Tyra made their lairs in the Vast Swamp. When they began to raid outside its edges by 1367 DR, several adventuring companies made expeditions into the swamp with the aim of slaying the dragons and/or stealing their treasure hoard. However, most disappeared, few returned unharmed, and none were successful.

Despayr took up the offer of the visions and began to follow Shar's will. With the visions as his guide, he eventually learned to breathe a cloud of shadowstuff consisting of many dark shards. Additionally, he learned of his potential to create a tear in the Weave. As he followed these visions, he gained in power and abilities. Soon his visions shared with him his sister's fate at the hands of the Dragonslayer tribe of lizardfolk, a tribe he swiftly defeated and enslaved when he settled into Tyra's unguarded lair.

Not long after this, Despayr was met by Esvele Greycastle, who, after easily rebuffing his attempts to destroy her, did not slay him, but revealed to him Shar's hand in the visions he had been following. Pulling a shadow shard from Despayr's newly gained hoard, Esvele schooled the dragon in the artifact's use and how to use the shard to transform creatures into shadowslain. With this new knowledge, Despayr accepted Esvele's plan to use him and the shadow shard to tear a hole in the Weave of magic. While bringing much of the Vast Swamp under his control, Despayr discovered the Lost Refuge containing the Dusk Lord's Passage and, using the portal, relocated his lair to the Black Rift on the Plane of Shadow.

Description
Despayr looked much like other black dragons of his age, bearing the distinctive curling horns and dark scales of its kin. However, Despayr was marked with numerous purple glowing runes all over his body. These markings were supposedly a gift from Shar that marked even the interior surface of the egg he hatched from.

Abilities
Despayr had a unique ability to expel a gout of shadowy shards instead of the usual acid of other black dragons. These shards would open dry wounds over a person's body and sap life from them. Additionally, as part of his marked birth, Despayr was unable to cast spells.

Discrepancies
In Dragons of Faerûn, a dragon also by the name of Despayr is listed in the Roll Call of Dragons as an Old female black dragon living in the Vast Swamp. However, considering Cormyr: The Tearing of the Weave is the more recent source, it is considered to be an update to the former info.

Despayr's first mention was in Elminster's Ecologies: The Cormyrean Marshes but there he is presented as a standard juvenile black dragon.