Vain and territorial, desert turquoise dragons soar through the skies over deserts, preying on caravans and plundering herds and settlements in the verdant lands beyond the desert’s reach. These dragons can also be found in dry steppes, searing badlands, and rocky coasts. They guard their territories against all potential competitors, especially other dragons.

A desert turquoise dragon is recognized by its dramatic frilled ears and the massive ridged horn atop its blunt head. Rows of spikes extend back from its nostrils to line its brow, and cluster on its jutting lower jaw.

A desert turquoise dragon’s scales vary in color from an iridescent azure to a deep turquoise, polished to a glossy finish by the desert sands. As the dragon ages, its scales become thicker and harder, and its hide hums and crackles with static electricity. These effects intensify when the dragon is angry or about to attack, giving off an odor of ozone and dusty air.

A Desert Turquoise Dragon’s Lair

Desert turquoise dragons dwell in dry deserts and savannas, using their lightning breath and their burrowing ability to carve out crystallized caverns and tunnels beneath the sands. False walls in the lair hide secret antechambers where the dragon stores valuable ores, art objects, and other oddities it has collected over its lifetime. Worthless items are put on display in open caves to tantalize treasure seekers and distract them from where the real treasure is hidden.

Thunderstorms rage around a legendary desert turquoise dragon’s lair, and narrow tubes lined with glassy sand ventilate the lair, all the while avoiding the deadly sinkholes that are the dragon’s first line of defense.

A desert turquoise dragon will collapse the caverns that make up its lair if that lair is invaded. The dragon then burrows out, leaving its attackers to be crushed and suffocated. When it returns later, it collects its possessions — along with the wealth of the dead intruders.

Lair Actions

On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the dragon takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects:

• A strong wind blows around the dragon. Each creature within 60 feet of the dragon must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be pushed 15 feet away from the dragon and knocked prone. Gases and vapors are dispersed by the wind, and unprotected flames are extinguished. Protected flames, such as lanterns, have a 50 percent chance of being extinguished.
• Part of the ceiling collapses above one creature that the dragon can see within 120 feet of it. The creature must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take 11 (3d6) bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone and buried. The buried target is restrained and unable to breathe or stand up. A creature can take an action to make a DC 10 Strength check, ending the buried state on a success.
• A cloud of sand swirls about in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on a point the dragon can see within 120 feet of it. The cloud spreads around corners. Each creature in the cloud must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be blinded for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
• Lightning arcs, forming a 5-foot-wide line between two of the lair’s solid surfaces that the dragon can see. They must be within 120 feet of the dragon and 120 feet of each other. Each creature in that line must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take 11 (3d6) lightning damage.