Ice Walk. The dragon can move across and climb icy surfaces without needing to make an ability check. Additionally, difficult terrain composed of ice or snow doesn't cost it extra movement.
Master of the Ice Fog. Arauthator can see normally through fog, mist, and magical obscurity caused by cold effects.
Lair Awareness. Arauthator is aware of any creature that triggers traps or disturbs treasure within his lair.
Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the dragon fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Innate Spellcasting. Arauthator is an 8th-level spellcaster. His spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 17, +9 to hit with spell attacks). He requires no material components to cast his spells.
He has the following spells prepared:
At will: detect magic, fog cloud, sending
3/day each: gust of wind, wall of ice, detect thoughts
2/day each: greater invisibility, wall of ice
1/day each: ice storm
Calculated Predator. Arauthator does not engage recklessly. He prioritizes isolated targets, uses terrain to his advantage, and retreats if reduced below 100 HP while outnumbered.
Multiattack. The dragon can use its Frightful Presence. It then makes three attacks: one with its bite and two with its claws.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +14 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 19 (2d10 + 8) piercing damage plus 4 (1d8) cold damage.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +14 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d6 + 8) slashing damage.
Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +14 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (2d8 + 8) bludgeoning damage.
Frightful Presence. Each creature of the dragon's choice that is within 120 feet of the dragon and aware of it must succeed on a DC 14 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 the dragon's Frightful Presence for the next 24 hours.
Cold Breath (Recharge 5–6). The dragon exhales an icy blast in a 60-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 19 Constitution saving throw, taking 63 (14d8) cold damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Predator's Mark. Arauthator marks one creature he ca see within 120 feet until the end of his next turn. The next time Arauthator hits that creature, the attack deals an extra 9 (2d8) cold damage, and the target's speed is reduced by 10 feet until the end of its next turn.
The dragon 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. The dragon regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Detect. The dragon makes a Wisdom (Perception) check.
Tail Attack. The dragon makes a tail attack.
Wing Attack (Costs 2 Actions). The dragon beats its wings. Each creature within 10 feet of the dragon must succeed on a DC 19 Dexterity saving throw or take 15 (2d6 + 8) bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone. The dragon can then fly up to half its flying speed.
Blizzard Shift (Costs 2 actions). Arauthator moves up to half his speed without provoking opportunity attacks. If moving through fog or dim light, he becomes lightly obscured until the start of his next turn.
Description
Arauthator, known as the Old White Death, is not a mindless brute like others of his kind. He is a patient and calculating predator who has survived for centuries in the frozen wastes by never taking unnecessary risks. He studies his enemies, isolates the weak, and strikes only when victory is assured. Those who enter his domain often never realize they are being hunted until it is far too late.
Unlike most white dragons, Arauthator possesses a sharp and disciplined intellect, augmented by his mastery of arcane magic. He uses fog, ice, and terrain to control the battlefield, disorienting prey before closing in for the kill. He prefers to separate intruders, picking them off one at a time, and will retreat without hesitation if a fight turns against him.
His lair within the iceberg of Oyaviggaton is both a trophy hall and a killing ground, filled with the frozen remains of giants, monsters, and adventurers who underestimated him. Every passage, every ledge, and every gust of froze wind serves his will.
To face Arauthator is not to fight a beast. It is to be hunted.
Lair and Lair Actions
A White Dragon’s Lair
White dragons lair in icy caves and deep subterranean chambers far from the sun. They favor high mountain vales accessible only by flying, caverns in cliff faces, and labyrinthine ice caves in glaciers. White dragons love vertical heights in their caverns, flying up to the ceiling to latch on like bats or slithering down icy crevasses.
A legendary white dragon’s innate magic deepens the cold in the area around its lair. Mountain caverns are fast frozen by the white dragon’s presence. A white dragon can often detect intruders by the way the keening wind in its lair changes tone.
A white dragon rests on high ice shelves and cliffs in its lair, the floor around it a treacherous morass of broken ice and stone, hidden pits, and slippery slopes. As foes struggle to move toward it, the dragon flies from perch to perch and destroys them with its freezing breath.
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:
- Freezing fog fills a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on a point the dragon can see within 120 feet of it. The fog spreads around corners, and its area is heavily obscured. Each creature in the fog when it appears must make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw, taking 10 (3d6) cold damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. A creature that ends its turn in the fog takes 10 (3d6) cold damage. A wind of at least 20 miles per hour disperses the fog. The fog otherwise lasts until the dragon uses this lair action again or until the dragon dies.
- Jagged ice shards fall from the ceiling, striking up to three creatures underneath that the dragon can see within 120 feet of it. The dragon makes one ranged attack roll (+7 to hit) against each target. On a hit, the target takes 13 (3d8) piercing damage.
- A blast of freezing wind erupts from a point Arauthator can see within 120 feet, forming a 30-foot cone. Each creature in that area must succeed on a DC 17 Strength saving throw or be pushed 15 feet away and have disadvantage on ranged attack rolls until the end of its next turn.
- A bank of freezing mist fills a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on a point Arauthator can see within 120 feet. The area is heavily obscured and becomes difficult terrain. Each creature that enters the area for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there must succeed on a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw or fall prone.
Regional Effects
The region containing a legendary white dragon’s lair is warped by the dragon’s magic, which creates one or more of the following effects:
- Chilly fog lightly obscures the land within 6 miles of the dragon’s lair.
- Freezing precipitation falls within 6 miles of the dragon’s lair, sometimes forming blizzard conditions when the dragon is at rest.
- Icy walls block off areas in the dragon’s lair. Each wall is 6 inches thick, and a 10-foot section has AC 5, 15 hit points, vulnerability to fire damage, and immunity to acid, cold, necrotic, poison, and psychic damage.
If the dragon wishes to move through a wall, it can do so without slowing down. The portion of the wall the dragon moves through is destroyed, however.
If the dragon dies, the fog and precipitation fade within 1 day. The ice walls melt over the course of 1d10 days.
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