Chromatic Awakening (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). If Ashardalon would be reduced to 0 hit points, his current hit point total instead resets to 425 hit points, he recharges his Breath Weapon, and he regains any expended uses of Legendary Resistance. Additionally, Ashardalon can now use the options in the “Mythic Actions” section for 1 hour. Award a party an additional 155,000 XP (310,000 XP total) for defeating Ashardalon after his Chromatic Awakening activates.
Fire Aura. At the start of each of Ashardalon's turns, each creature within 5 feet of him takes 10 (3d6) Fire damage, and flammable objects in the aura that aren't being worn or carried ignite. A creature that touches Ashardalon or hits him with a melee attack while within 5 feet of him takes 10 (3d6) Fire damage.
Legendary Resistance (4/Day). If Ashardalon fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead.
Magic Resistance. Ashardalon has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Unusual Nature. Ashardalon doesn’t require food or drink.
Multiattack. Ashardalon makes one Bite attack and two Claw attacks.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +19 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (2d10 + 10) piercing damage plus 13 (2d12) fire damage.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +19 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 19 (2d8 + 10) Slashing damage plus 13 (3d8) Llightning damage. If the target is a Huge or smaller creature, it is grappled (escape DC 20) and is restrained until this grapple ends. Ashardalon can have only one creature grappled this way at a time. If Ashardalon scores a critical hit, he rolls damage dice three times, instead of twice.
Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +19 to hit, reach 20 ft., one target. Hit: 19 (2d8 + 10) Bludgeoning damage plus 10 (3d6) Fire damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 27 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
Breath Weapon (Recharge 5–6). Ashardalon exhales a blast of fire in a 300-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 27 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 78 (12d12) fire damage. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage.
Spellcasting. Ashardalon casts one of the following spells using Charisma as the spellcasting ability (save DC 25):
1/day each: Banishment (9th level, 6 targets), Dominate Monster, Fire Storm, Meteor Swarm, Plane Shift, Power Word: Kill, Reverse Gravity, Sunburst
Teleport. Ashardalon magically teleports, along with any equipment he is wearing or carrying, up to 120 feet to an unoccupied space he can see.
Ashardalon 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. Ashardalon regains spent legendary actions at the start of his turn.
Attack. Ashardalon makes one Claw or Tail attack.
Abyssal Magic (Costs 2 Actions). Ashardalon uses Spellcasting or Teleport.
Wing Attack (Costs 2 Actions). Ashardalon beats his wings. Each creature within 30 feet of him must succeed on a DC 26 Dexterity saving throw or take 17 (2d6 + 10) bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone. Ashardalon can then fly up to half his flying speed.
Arcane Spear (Costs 3 Actions). Ashardalon creates four spears of magical force. Each spear hits a creature of Ashardalon’s choice it can see within 120 feet of it, dealing 12 (1d8 + 8) force damage to its target, then disappears.
Ashardalon’s Chromatic Awakening trait has activated in the last hour, he can use the options below as legendary actions.
Bite. Ashardalon makes one Bite attack.
Chromatic Flare (Costs 2 Actions). Ashardalon flares with elemental energy. Each creature in a 60-foot-radius sphere centered on greatwyrm must succeed on a DC 26 Dexterity saving throw or take 22 (5d8) fire damage.
Description
A traditional song called The Coming of Ashardalon describes the depredations of this red dragon of immense power and self-importance. Ashardalon is well known for his renacious clasp on life, no matter his injuries and setbacks. When he was struck a mortal blow, the dragon bound a demon into his breast as a second heart. But when that too threatened to fail him, Ashardalon left the world to find the sustenance he required to live forever.
Ashardalon resembles an ancient red dragon in its prime, but certain odd features stand out. He has a demonic visage, and on his chest is a gruesome scar in the shape of a large winged humanoid—a balor. The dragon's eyes are twin beams of burning fire, and tiny bolts of lightning constantly play between his claws and fangs.
Immortality at Any Cost. Ashardalon received a blow so grievous that his heart was damaged beyond repair. The dragon, calling on all his craft and knowledge of ancient rituals, managed to replace his heart with a magically bound demon—no less than a balor, named Ammet. But so terrible was Ashardalon's wound that even Ammet's enchanted labor began to fail the dragon's body. Ashardalon began to search for a source of life energy so pure that nothing could ever again threaten to kill him, ending up at his current lair on the Astral Plane.
The Sunless Citadel. Ashardalon was a creature of great fury and power even before he achieved his legendary status or gathered a cult following. Indeed, at least a century prior to the wound that ultimately paved the way for his demonic heart, he and his red dragon mate hunted a lush green land called the Golden Plain. The Golden Plain was ruled by a human king who dwelt in a many-towered fortres. As Ashardalon grew more reckless with his power, he came into direct conflict with the kingdom and its king. Thinking to show the dragon a monarch's true might, the king sent a secret force of his knights to slay Ashardalon's mate. Upon learning of his mate's death, Ashardalon went on a ramage so fierce and so extended that the land itself finally buckled, pulling the king's fortress beneath the ground. The once-lush region was renamed the Ashen Plain, and the fortress was rechristened the Sunless Citadel. In this sunken castle, Ashardalon's first followers came to revere him.
Heart of Nightfang Spire. Remnants of the cult survived this disaster, and it reconstituted itself around a relic of its dragon liege: Ashardalon's heart. With a magic born of equal parts skill, faith, and desperation, the cultists rekindled the heart—but not to life. The ritual infused it with the energy of the Shadowfell and transformed it, reborn in undead darkness, into the center of faith and necromantic power for the cult. The cultists hoped to call back Ashardalon, but the dragon never answered their summons.
Some sages and adventurers are aware of Nightfang Spire, where the remnant of Ashardalon's cult yet keeps its faith alive, worshipping the undead heart of Ashardalon. Stories paint a picture of a tower overrun by undead, former cultists that linger despite their dragonlord's departure. The cultists are led by a vampire named Gulthias, whose single-minded dedication to the memory of Ashardalon keeps the residents of the tower—including the heart—animate and instilled with a sense of purpose. Gulthias, growing more and more desperate, has initiated the mass sacrifice of nearby villages and cities to attract the attention of Ashardalon. No matter what atrocities Gulthias commits, though, Ashardalon is unlikely to return to his undead heart and his followers.
Lair and Lair Actions
Ashardalon's lair is a mysterious domain in the Astral Plane called the Bastion of Unborn Souls. Claims that the Bastion is a font of preincarnate souls are derided as improbable. Still, the Bastion's crystalline trees sprout soullike manifestations like brilliant points of light. When "ripe," they fall from the trees and flow away, possibly to incarnate as living creatures. Whatever the truth, each point of light is a source of life and energy to a creature that consumes it. Ashardalon has ensconced himself in the center of the Bastion, bathed in a stream of raw soul stuff to keep his faltering body steady. Like a boulder in a stream, the dragon's body interrupts the flow, which beads across him like water.
Creatures who stay within the confines of the Bastion of Unborn Souls do not noticeably age—the raw soul stuff keeps them young and vibrant. Ashardalon could conceivably live forever here. If indeed its points of light are preincarnate souls, creatures of the world might be born as soulless husks, shambling vestiges of what they might otherwise be, and open to malign influence.
Lair Actions
On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), Ashardalon takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; the dragon can't use the same effect two rounds in a row:
- Ashardalon gorges himself on the life force cascading around him, regaining 30 hit points.
- Ashardalon casts dispel magic. His spellcasting ability is Charisma.
- Soulstuff is energized at a point within 120 feet of Ashardalon that he can see, creating a 20-foot high, 5-foot radius geyser of positive energy. Each creature in the geyser's area must make a DC 20 Dexterity saving throw, taking 35 (10d6) radiant damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Should Ammet, Eater of Souls, burrow forth from Ashardalon's corpse, he also has access to these actions.
Regional Effects
The Bastion of Unborn Souls is on the Astral Plane, and has all the properties and effects of that place. The vicinity of the Bastian also has the following effects:
- Creatures on the Astral Plane don't age or suffer from hunger or thirst. Additionally, creatures within 6 miles of the Bastion are immune to all diseases and can't have their maximum hit points reduced.
- Within 6 miles of the Bastion, resting restores more vitality. A creature regains all spent Hit Dice at the end of a long rest. With a short rest, a character regains Hit Dice equal to their level divided by four (minimum of one die).
- Within 1 mile of the bastion, characters can heal themselves even faster. As an action, a character can use a healing surge and spend up to half his or her Hit Dice. For each Hit Die spent in this way, the player rolls the die and adds the character's Constitution modifier. The character regains hit points equal to the total. The player can decide to spend an additional Hit Die after each roll. A character who uses a healing surge can't do so again until he or she finishes a short or long rest.
The Bastion is a permanent fixture of the Astral Plane, and these effects remain whether or not Ashardalon is present.
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