Agonizing Spellcasting. Salathiir's spellcasting ability is
Wisdom (spell save DC 21). Whenever a creature makes
a saving throw against one of Salathiir's agonizing spells,
it takes 11 (2d10) necrotic damage, even if it succeeds on
the saving throw. He can innately cast the following spells,
requiring no material components:
At will: bestow curse, fear
3/day each: confusion, contagion, counterspell, harm, hold
monster
1/day each: teleport, plane shift, power word stun
Aura of Suffering. Whenever a creature starts its turn within 60
feet of Salathiir, it takes 16 (3d10) necrotic damage and must
succeed on a DC 21 Wisdom saving throw or have its movement
reduced to 0 until the end of its turn.
Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If Salathiir fails a saving throw,
he can choose to succeed instead.
Magic Resistance. Salathiir has advantage on saving throws
against spells and other magical effects.
Magic Weapons. Salathiir's weapon attacks are magical.
Multiattack. Salathiir can use his Frightful Presence. He then
makes three attacks: one with his bite and two with his claws.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +17 to hit, reach 15 ft., one
target. Hit: 21 (2d10 + 10) piercing damage plus 14 (4d6)
necrotic damage.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +17 to hit, reach 10 ft., one
target. Hit: 17 (2d6 + 10) slashing damage.
Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +17 to hit, reach 20 ft., one
target. Hit: 17 (2d8 + 10) bludgeoning damage.
Frightful Presence. Each creature of Salathiir's choice that is
within 120 feet of the dragon and aware of him must succeed
on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened 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. If
a creature's saving throw is successful or the effect ends for
it, the creature is immune to Salathiir's Frightful Presence for
the next 24 hours.
Gaze of Suffering (Recharge 5–6). Salathiir's eyes flash, and
all creatures he can see in a 120-foot cone must make a DC 21 Constitution saving throw, taking 77 (14d10) necrotic
damage on a failed save or half as much damage on a
successful one. After this, if the creature has fewer than 100
hit points, the creature's mind is overwhelmed by pain. A
creature can repeat this saving throw at the end of each of its
turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
While in pain, the creature's speed is reduced to 0 and it
has disadvantage on attack rolls, ability checks, and all saving
throws except saves to resist this ability. Additionally, the
creature must succeed on a DC 21 Constitution saving throw
whenever it tries to cast a spell. On a failure, the spell slot is
consumed, but the spell fails.
Salathiir can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options
below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time
and only at the end of another creature's turn. Salathiir regains
spent legendary actions at the start of his turn.
Tail Attack. Salathiir makes a tail attack.
Wing Attack (Costs 2 Actions). Salathiir beats his wings. Each
creature within 15 feet of Salathiir must succeed on a DC 25
Dexterity saving throw or take 17 (2d6 + 10) bludgeoning
damage and be knocked prone. Salathiir can then fly up to
half his flying speed.
Tenebrous Blink (Costs 3 Actions). Salathiir blinks his eyes.
A 60-foot radius sphere of magical darkness surrounds him
until the start of his next turn. Additionally, Salathiir's Gaze of
Suffering recharges.
Description
Encounter Conditions
Salathiir's lair is the festering pit of despair at the heart
of the Abyss that birthed it. In some legends, it is said
that destroying the Demon Dragon here will eliminate
him forever, but others attest that the root of the Demon
Dragon's evil burns within the hearts of mortals, and
Salathiir will always be reborn as long as such evil exists.
If Salathiir is encountered outside of the Abyss, it is often
because his destructive power has been harnessed by a
prideful warlord through a spell such as planar binding. In
these circumstances, Salathiir destroys all in its path until it
manages to break free of its arcane shackles.
If the Demon Dragon is encountered within the Abyss, he
lurks within the pool of primordial suffering that spawned
him. This lightless void is a 1,000-foot-wide cavern of
roughly spherical shape, save for a gaping opening at
its top. Its bottom half is filled with viscous liquid that
shimmers with oily, spectral colors. This defiling lake has
no shores, and a living creature that is not a fiend that
touches the liquid or starts its turn touching it must make
a DC 21 Charisma saving throw. On a failure, the creature
is affected by the confuse spell. If a creature fails this saving
throw again while confused, it gains a form of short-term
madness. If it fails this save again while affected by short-
term madness, it gains a form of long-term madness. On a
failure while affected by long-term madness, it gains a form
of indefinite madness.
Each time a creature fails this saving throw, its form warps
to become similar to Salathiir.
First, its eyes turn crimson, then its flesh becomes covered
in jet-black scales, then its head becomes perfectly spherical
and dominated by a gaping mouth of sharp teeth, then
dozens of flapping bat wings burst from its flesh. These
transformations can be cured individually by a greater
restoration spell. If the creature fails this save while affected
by indefinite madness, it is transformed into a salthezau
demon. Its soul cannot be recovered until the demon is
killed and the creature is returned to life by a wish.
On initiative count 20, two salthezau demons spawn from
the surface of this pool and attack the closest creature.
These winged monsters try to drag Salathiir's enemies into
the pool of suffering, just as they once corrupted Aurathiir.
Encounter
Salathiir seeks only to destroy and defile. His greatest
wish is to see all worlds reduced to the primordial chaos
which once encompassed the entire Multiverse. While
corruptible creatures populate the Multiverse, however,
Salathiir longs to sow the seeds of suffering, turning
brother against brother and razing orderly civilizations
into barbarous wastelands. In combat, he uses his
Frightful Presence and his Gaze of Suffering to turn his
enemies against one another.
Salathiir roars and gnashes his hundreds of teeth in combat,
but rarely speaks intelligibly. Only when he is killed does
some semblance of his sanity break through the millennia
of corruption. The mind of Aurathiir rasps out the following
words in its dying breath, "You have won a brief reprieve,
but so long as evil lurks in mortals' hearts, the Demon Dragon
will be reborn anew."
Salathiir can only be killed permanently if he is killed in
the heart of the Abyss where he was born, and then a wish
spell is used to destroy Aurathiir's body and soul, freeing
him from his eternal suffering. If Salathiir is killed but not
permanently destroyed, even in the Abyss, he reforms in his
birthplace after twenty-five years of agonizing rebirth.
Tactics
Salathiir's tactics are simple: he follows whatever course of
action would cause the most suffering in the world. When
the Demon Dragon is bound to the will of an evil mortal, it
is often forced to create pain by destroying blindly, rending
armies and cities asunder, indiscriminate of warrior or
civilian, friend or foe. Despite this, only fools believe the
Demon Dragon to be a mindless beast. In truth, Salathiir
is a cold and calculating demon lord when left to its own
devices, and often passes up causing temporary pain in the
name of causing greater suffering in the future.
Even when bound to a mortal, Salathiir is accompanied by
a cloud of 2d20 salthezau demons that buzz about him like
flies about a corpse.
Wealth
Salathiir does not hoard wealth, but his scales are made
of a supernaturally powerful material that can only be
worked by the most skilled armorers. When destroyed,
3d100 of these scales clatter to the ground, and each
is worth 1,000 gp to a master blacksmith. A weapon or
piece of armor made from these scales is a +3 adamantine
weapon, armor, or shield.
Comments