The Hordelands breeds creatures harsh and deadly, and in no creature is this more evident than the native dragons of the Endless Wastes, the dreaded, multi-headed dzalmus.

Dzalmus are malevolent and relentless hunters that roam the lengths of the Endless Waste. They are three-headed scourges of the steppes famed for their ravenous appetites. Their feasting on horse and goat herds cause much hardship and suffering for local barbarian tribes.

The three heads of a dzalmus dragon rest on long muscled necks that taper smoothly into their torso. Their bodies are flatter and broader than most other dragons, and their scales range from drab yellow to dull sandy brown in color.  These characteristics allow a dzalmus dragon to hide more easily in the grasslands in which it hunts.  Their leathery, fin-like wings taper back into a broad tail, which sports a wedge-shaped fin at the tip.

The dzalmus shun social contact, even refusing to acknowledge their own kind most of the time. Coupled dzalmus dragons part soon after mating, abandoning the nest to fate. Breeding occurs more often for dzalmus than for other dragons, which accounts for their greater numbers.

Like all dragons, dzalmus dragons are brimming with elemental energy.  Theirs is aligned with the Void, the Elemental Plane of Vacuum that forms the border between the planes of Air and Negative Energy. Their link to elemental void energy may explain their ceaseless hunger as well as their bizarre breath weapon: a cloud of vampiric gas that drains the life from its victims and siphons the stolen vitality back to the dzalmus dragon.

A Dzalmus Dragon’s Lair

Young dzalmus do not hoard wealth or maintain permanent lairs, leading nomadic lives until they mature. Adult dzalmus prefer to dwell in isolated caves, or ruins close to abundant food sources.  They favor arid, open grasslands, such as prairies or steppes, where their natural coloration helps them to blend with their surroundings, and prey have few places to hide.

A legendary dzalmus dragon’s innate magic creates unhallowed ground around its lair, causing any unconsumed remains of its victims to rise as undead under the dragon's command.  Given their ravenous appetites, dzalmus dragons typically leave behind nothing but bones to be reanimated.

Lair Actions

While most legendary dzalmus establish permanent lairs, many maintain the nomadic life of their youth.  While such dragons may not have an established lair, all legendary dzalmus possess innate magic that allows them to manipulate their environment, effectively making a lair out of whatever location the dzalmus dragon finds itself.

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:

Permanent Lair

• Piles of bones littering the lair rise as skeletal undead.  Roll on the Skeletal Remains table to determine the type and number of skeletons. Halve the result for the number of each type of skeleton to appear, rounding down (minimum 1).  That number of the determined type of skeletons appear in unoccupied spaces of the dragon's choosing within 120 feet of it.  Roll initiative for the skeletons as a group, which has its own turns.  The skeletons pursue and attack the nearest non-skeleton that isn't the dragon to the best of their ability.
• A cloud of sand swirls about in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on a point the dragon can see within 120 feet of it. The cloud spreads around corners. Each creature in the cloud must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be blinded 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.

• Gravity reverses in a 50-foot-radius, 100-foot high cylinder centered on a point the dragon can see within 120 feet of it. All creatures and objects that aren't somehow anchored to the ground in the area fall upward and reach the top of the area. A creature can make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw to grab onto a fixed object it can reach, thus avoiding the fall.  If some solid object (such as a ceiling) is encountered in this fall, falling objects and creatures strike it just as they would during a normal downward fall. If an object or creature reaches the top of the area without striking anything, it remains there, oscillating slightly.  This effect lasts until initiative count 20 on the next round, at which time, all affected objects and creatures fall back down.

Nomadic Lair

• The dragon calls down a storm of vengeance (save DC 15), requiring no concentration, centered on itself.  The dragon is unaffected by its own storm of vengeance.  The dragon can't use this lair action again until the storm subsides.
• A cloud of sand swirls about in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on a point the dragon can see within 120 feet of it. The cloud spreads around corners. Each creature in the cloud must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be blinded 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.
• The dragon casts whirlwind (save DC 15), requiring no concentration.  The dragon can't use this lair action again until the whirlwind subsides.

Regional Effects

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

• The skies within 6 miles of the lair are darkened by clouds.  Though lightning flashes and thunder rolls, rain doesn't fall, given the area a sense of foreboding and dread.
• The land within 6 miles of the lair takes twice as long as normal to traverse, since brush grows thick and twisted, and soil becomes sandy and treacherously loose.  Brush within 1 mile of the lair become twisted and thorny, producing briar patches.  A briar patch's area is affected as it would be by the spike growth spell. A briar patch can be identified and avoided with a successful DC 12 Intelligence (Nature) or Wisdom (Survival) check. Otherwise, a creature moves into a briar patch as far as its movement will allow before it determines its nature.
• Dust devils scour the land within 6 miles of the lair. A dust devil has the statistics of an air elemental, but it can’t fly, has a speed of 50 feet, and has an Intelligence and Charisma of 1 (−5).
• Deer and other large game are strangely absent within 1 mile of the lair, hinting at the presence of an unnaturally hungry predator.
• The reanimated skeletons of the dragon's past victims roam the land within 6 miles of the lair, growing more concentrated within 1 mile of the lair.

If the dragon dies, the dust devils disappear immediately.  The brush and soil return to normal within 2d6 days. Skeletons animated by the dragon or its lair remain, but collapse into inanimate piles of bones after 1d10 days.

Skeletal Remains

Creatures traveling within 6 miles of a dzalmus dragon's lair may encounter the roaming remains of the dragon's previous victims.  For each hour spent within 6 miles of the lair, roll 1d6. On a 1, the party has a random encounter as determined by the Skeletal Remains table below.

Skeletal Remains