Waervaerendor (The Black Death)

Note. This Depiction of Waervaerendor is based on the conversion done in the Ghost of the Mere Additional Module for Rise of Tiamat. 

Waervaerendor shares an unusually powerful empathic link with his twin Voaraghamanthar. They truly act as one soul in two bodies and their greatest fear is that someone will discover their secret.  They hatched in the Mhair Jungles and thanks to their link they managed not to kill each other after hatching. On the contrary, they killed all their other siblings and fled before their parents came back.

After wandering Faerun for a time, they finally found a home in the Mere of Dead Men, attracted by the isolation of the place and legends about the hoard of Chardansearavitriol and the treasures of flooded Uthtower and other realms. They especially hoped to find the lost Twin Crowns of Myrmoran, reputed to have enhanced the empathic bond between the fraternal monarchs of Uthtower and Yarlith and granted them magical powers.

From a young age, Waervaerendor and his twin desired immortality, but they were not interested in normal dracolich transformation. However, they believed that Chardansearavitriol's condition was somehow different and they trying to replicate it. Both are able sorcerers, with Voaraghamanthar preferring to study ancient tomes.

They started posing as only one dragon, named Voaraghamanthar, and soon tales were told across the Realms about the legendary Wyrm of the Mere, a strange black dragon that could appear out of nowhere to assault adventurers.  Despite not being really interested in becoming dracoliches, they approached the local Cult of the Dragon cell to use them for their plans. Thanks to the cultists, the Black Brothers have recovered one of the Twin Crowns of Myrmoran.

They see most other creatures only as food or annoyances to be quickly disposed of. The exceptions are adventurers and other dragons. They avoid other dragons, not out of fear, but in order to avoid being discovered as twins. Adventurers, on the other hand, they view as tools too useful to be killed and the Black Brothers need to recover too many artifacts to not use adventurers that agree to work for them.

Black Claws Up Close
Both wyrms are experienced in battle, prefer to study opponents beforehand, and like to begin a fray with a clawing, biting pounce, thereafter breathing as often as possible, kicking and tail-slapping as opportunities arise. Each flees if brought to fewer than half hit points. If the other brother is close, either twin tries to entice foes into reach of his sibling's breath weapon.

The brothers prefer aquatic combat to aerial or dry-land fighting and are well versed in drowning foes by beating opponents down into the mire or using grappling to pin opponents under the water. Both dragons are also comfortable fighting perched on stony heights, employing spider climb when needed.  When battling another wyrm in the skies, either brother employs his breath weapon to damage a foe's wings, then draws the enemy into the nearest swamp or open water. 

The brothers resent intrusions into their affairs or domain. When they let self-control slip, they fight with unbridled fury and cunning, but they're never needlessly cruel or destructive. They've little interest in displays of power or acquiring territory, considering discretion the better part of valor and their lives more important than victory.

Waervaerendor is more outgoing, preferring to acquire information face-to-face. He relishes the hunt more than his twin and is more apt to tackle difficult quarry for the challenge. Both brothers are practiced actors, can read and reason, and thirst for magical knowledge.

Black dragons dwell in swamps on the frayed edges of civilization. A black dragon’s lair is a dismal cave, grotto, or ruin that is at least partially flooded, providing pools where the dragon rests, and where its victims can ferment. The lair is littered with the acid-pitted bones of previous victims and the fly-ridden carcasses of fresh kills, watched over by crumbling statues. Centipedes, scorpions, and snakes infest the lair, which is filled with the stench of death and decay.

Lair Actions

On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the dragon takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; the dragon can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:

• Pools of water that the dragon can see within 120 feet of it surge outward in a grasping tide. Any creature on the ground within 20 feet of such a pool must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be pulled up to 20 feet into the water and knocked prone.
• A cloud of swarming insects fills a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on a point the dragon chooses within 120 feet of it. The cloud spreads around corners and remains until the dragon dismisses it as an action, uses this lair action again, or dies. The cloud is lightly obscured. Any creature in the cloud when it appears must make on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 10 (3d6) piercing damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. A creature that ends its turn in the cloud takes 10 (3d6) piercing damage.
• Magical darkness spreads from a point the dragon chooses within 60 feet of it, filling a 15-foot-radius sphere until the dragon dismisses it as an action, uses this lair action again, or dies. The darkness spreads around corners. A creature with darkvision can’t see through this darkness, and nonmagical light can’t illuminate it. If any of the effect’s area overlaps with an area of light created by a spell of 2nd level or lower, the spell that created the light is dispelled.

Regional Effects

The region containing a legendary black dragon’s lair is warped by the dragon’s magic, which creates one or more of the following effects:

• The land within 6 miles of the lair takes twice as long as normal to traverse, since the plants grow thick and twisted, and the swamps are thick with reeking mud.
• Water sources within 1 mile of the lair are supernaturally fouled. Enemies of the dragon that drink such water regurgitate it within minutes.
• Fog lightly obscures the land within 6 miles of the lair.

If the dragon dies, vegetation remains as it has grown, but other effects fade over 1d10 days.