Ancient Stag Wyrm

Stag wyrms are a little-known species of true dragon that live in the hearts of impossibly old forests, where a thin mist always hangs just above the ground and where the leaves of the trees prevent all but the brightest sunlight from piercing the canopy. They have large stag antlers, and their front legs end in hooves, not claws. Their tails end in a sharp venomous tip, which they use to sting their prey.

Unlike most true dragons, the breath weapon of a stag wyrm is not directly harmful. Instead, the white fog-like gas a stag wyrm produces drastically disrupts a creature's sense of balance, making them overwhelmingly dizzy, and the opacity of the cloud makes it all but impossible for affected creatures to maintain any sense of direction.

Stag wyrms are blind but can sense the presence of nearby creatures; the fog they create doesn't pose any disadvantage to stag wyrms but can debilitate creatures who do rely on sight. They are also relatively unintelligent; they're easily the most bestial of the true dragons, and don't have the ability to make ethical or moral choices. They kill for survival, not for pleasure or selfishness, and the ability to tell when they are outmatched in combat is more or less the extent of their mental capacity. Stag wyrms are hunters, but will abandon powerful creatures if it's proving too difficult to kill them.

A Stag Wyrm’s Lair

Stag wyrms, easily the most bestial of the true dragons, dwell deep within ancient forests or far-off hills. Their homes are called nests, and can range from a simple hollowed-out hillside in a forest to the ruins of an ancient temple. A stag wyrm cares not about the appearance of its home or its proximity to civilization; the only factor that truly matters to a stag wyrm when searching for a lair is the availability of nearby prey in the area. Because stag wyrms are naturally blind, they typically do not cover great distances when searching for a lair; young stag wyrmlings often simply take over their parent's lair when the parent dies, leading to the mistaken belief that stag wyrms live extraordinarily long lives, even for dragons.

Lair Actions

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

• The stag wyrm creates fog as if it had cast the fog cloud spell. The fog lasts until initiative count 20 on the next round.
• An oppressive gloom settles over the area around the stag wyrm; creatures within 120 feet of the wyrm must make a DC 24 Wisdom saving throw or suffer one level of exhaustion and have their speed reduced by 5 feet until the end of their next turn.

Regional Effects

The region containing a legendary stag wyrm's lair is warped by the wyrm's magic, which creates one or more of the following effects.

• Once per day, the stag wyrm can alter the weather in a 6-mile radius centered on its lair. The stag wyrm doesn’t need to be outdoors; otherwise the effect is identical to the control weather spell.
• Within 1 mile of the lair, organic creatures the stag wyrm could consider prey feel a strange compulsion to move toward it. They know the direction in which the stag wyrm lies, but not its exact location. When a creature enters the 1-mile radius, they must make a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, they must use at least half of their movement on their next turn  to move toward the stag wyrm. The creature must repeat the save every hour while within 1 mile of the lair. A creature who succeeds the save is immune to the effect for 24 hours.

If the stag wyrm dies, changed weather reverts to normal, as described in the spell, and the other effects fade in 1d10 days.