Fang Dragons

The fang dragon body is covered in dark grey bony plates that end in curved and sharp scales with the appearance of small cutlasses, with the scales in his belly being a pale yellow almost like sand. Their eyes are red or orange, their hears are long ending on a sharp point to camouflage among the scales and have distinctive spikes in their chin. Their tail ends in two sharp scales with the form of scythes that as the dragon grows older becomes one of its more terrifying weapons. The dragon even in his wyrmling state shows great strength and has a characteristically developed jaw and small but muscled wings that it uses to improve their mobility in the ground since they are bad flyers.

Might Over Magic

Unlike other dragons, the fang is less capable in terms of magic even lacking a breath weapon, instead what magic the dragon has is expressed in his bite which is able to rip the souls of their victims like a vampire is able to but in a greater scale and in his hide which has the capability to bounce spells back at the caster in a limited way. They compensate for their lack of magic by being the physically strongest species in all Dragonkind. Because of this, it is rare to see a fang dragon wield high-level spells, while other ancient dragons will easily cast spells of 7th or 8th level while an ancient fang will probably be able to cast 5th or 6th at most.

Outcast Among Dragons

Dragons are usually divided into two categories, metallic that serve the lawful good Bahamut and chromatics that serve the chaotic evil Tiamat. Dragons from one category hate the dragons from the other and will kill one on sight no matter the context. Fang dragons are a rare breed of chromatics and yet are hunted and killed by both chromatic and metallic dragons. This is because Fang dragons while technically being chromatic were not created by Tiamat and are rumoured to have demonic blood. This infuriated Tiamat to the point of creating his own version of the fang dragon altering their habilities and tasking them to make the original fang dragons extinct, this new breed is known as the grey dragon.

The Lair of the Dragon

Fang dragons hunting grounds are enormous, they always have one main lair where they keep their hoard and multiple smaller ones that they use to rest or to hide treasure before taking it to the main lair. These lairs are usually small caves with low ceilings and twisting paths or grottos in dense dry forest. The dragon makes his lair in these places for the specific reason that it helps him to deal with flying enemies by forcing them in the ground to fight where the fang dragon is at its more dangerous like in the caves or by obstructing their vision and flying capabilities with dense foliage and tree branches. If the fang dragon is struggling to find a suitable lair it will use his incredible strength to produce one by riping trees or provoking landslides, this is also how the fang dragon hides and protects his main lair by putting giant boulders in the entrance. Using his strength is also the way he protects his favourite type of treasure, unrefined gems that the dragon nails to the walls and ceilings of his lair both to decorate and to make it difficult for thieves to steal them.

Adult Fang Dragons

Few Fang dragons reach adulthood, most young or wyrmlings end up hunted by Grey dragons or by adventurers, they rarely gather allies or minions due to their aggressive nature. This changes as they get older and wiser learning to suppress their instincts and tending more to their neutral nature becoming more open to the idea of trading and gathering allies with a single purpose, to get an edge against their nemesis the Grey dragons. These are the fang dragons you want to attempt to persuade to trade or to ally with, and it is easier than most dragons since on top of having a weakness for their favourite treasure they also trade very generously for magic items that allow them to resist acid damage or petrification. Experience has made them more sophisticated with their hunting, younger ones will attack anything that can put up a fight while adult fang dragon often ignores easy prey preferring to find a challenge. Some times more social fang dragon will organize competitions with renown hunters to prove their skill.

Fang Dragon Mating Rite

Fang dragons are rare to encounter so its even rarer for them to encounter competition when trying to court a female but when this happens they have a peculiar way to resolve it. All dragons are aware of their enormous strength especially the fang dragon so when intimidation doesn't work instead of starting a fight that could easily end in death for both dragons they resort to a competition of endurance. Both competitors will stand straight up in front of the lair of the female using their lower legs, their wings and tail to maintain balance while staring at each other in the eye. They will remain in this position without eating or drinking anything, barely moving, staring each other straight in the eyes for as long as they can endure it until one of them gives up or falls unconscious, in extreme cases this competition can last for weeks. While the rite endures the female will be the one watching over them and hunting a banquet for the winner while the loser will be vulnerable and exhausted, easy prey for adventurers or Grey dragons. The winner of the rite gets to eat and rest and after recovering his strength will stay with the female until their offsprings reach their young age and are able to hunt by themselves. Because of this particular rite and their affinity to hunt fang dragon tend to respect those with good hunting skills and instinctively act more respectfully when dealing with creatures they consider to have abnormal endurance for their species. Even in their younger year when they are at the peak of their aggressive and greedy behaviour, they tend to be more manageable when dealing with someone with high constitution.

Life Stealer Weaponry

The teeth of the fang dragon are one of his most powerful weapons and one of the few things fully magical of the creature, so strong is the magic in their bite that some of it lingers in their teeth even after their death. The teeth of an adult fang dragon are in fact an essential component in the creation of the Sword of Life Stealing and the Nine Lives Stealer and in most weapons with the ability to steal vitality. The fangs from a young or wyrmling dragon are not strong enough to create these mighty weapons and the ancient fang dragon is too much of a risk to hunt for this purpose so adventurers usually prefer to hunt adult dragons.

The fang dragon prefers to lair in caverns, especially ones with many twists and turns with low ceilings or in dry forests where it can easily camouflage with the vegetation. In their lair, the dragon can easily force close combat with intruders and avoid flying units to ensure the most advantage in combat.

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:

• The lair of the dragon magically influences the movements of the dragon's enemies to become clumsy and full of openings ready to be exploited by the dragon. The dragon makes a Wisdom (Perception) check versus the Charisma (Deception) check of one creature if the dragon succeeds he gains insight in the defences of the creature obtaining an additional damage dice and advantage on his next attack made against that creature until the next initiative of 20.
• The dragon roars imitating the cries of the creatures it has slain in his lair creating a maddening cacophony, those who hear it must pass a Wisdom saving throw of 15 or be incapacitated by fear until the next initiative count 20. 
• The dragon conjures an earth tremor in a 20-foot-radius area that the dragon can see within 120 feet of it, making it difficult terrain. Any creature in the affected area must pass a Dexterity saving throw of 15 or be knocked prone.

Regional Effects

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

• The hunting grounds of the fang dragon are heavily altered by the actions and the innate magic of the dragon. Any creature unfriendly to the dragon within the region has disadvantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks made to track the dragon.
• Large game animals in the region become rare to encounter and predators become more aggressive and territorial.
• Intelligent humanoids that wander into the hunting grounds of a fang dragon can not shake the feeling of being observed and that something is chasing after them.

If the fang dragon dies, these effects disappear over the course of 1d10 days.