The Grey Dragon

Grey dragons are slim and very agile with most of their scales being stone-grey while the scales in their belly are onyx-black, they develop porcupine-like quills the size of spears all over their body that become more clear with age. An ancient grey dragon will have pearl white quills all over his body, the dragon can launch this quills as a defence mechanism when threatened especially the ones in his tail which grow much larger and quicker, granting the dragon a ranged weapon in exchange to making his tail clunky and ineffective in close range. In the head of the dragon, three quills will grow larger than the others one in the middle of the forehead and the other two above the eyes, these quills can not be detached like the others and look like polishes horns. Grey dragons are the most adept at flying among all the chromatic dragons preferring to stay in the air than in the ground at all times especially while fighting, they have huge wings and the quills in their bodies are hollow allowing them great air mobility and even the ability to float. They bristle their quills when angered this combined with their aggressive nature gives them a terrifying look and makes them excel at intimidating other creatures into submission or to defend themselves. They are completely evil and cruel seeking at all times to cause pain and to gain recognition in the eyes of other dragons and especially in the eyes of Tiamat.

Lair of the Grey dragon

Grey dragons lair in caverns or canyons preferably those only accessible by air near badlands, scrubland, dry prairies, and other terrains that don't contain visual obstructions. They like to see potential quarry for miles around as they ride high thermals like gigantic birds of prey. The dragon always tries to lair next to natural water sources knowing that its presence will dry most of the land and its inhabitants, they don't need water any more than any other living creature but they enjoy knowing that they hold control over something precious that others desperately need, often trading it for treasure and control or denying it to watch humanoids suffer for their own amusement. Grey dragons usually transform the room where they have the water source into a pool, this room is only used to receive pleading visitors to mock them. The lair is often vertically spacious making it difficult for intruders to reach the dragon, keeping his hoard in the tallest point where the dragon can easily defend it. For the most part, the hoard of a grey dragon is what you will expect of a dragon, gold, jewels some magic items but its favourite treasure is also one of the defences of his lair, stone statues, in particular, the petrified bodies of his victims. They consider their statue collection to be the central piece of their hoard only keeping the ones that were petrified with a horrible expression of terror and pain. They may accept normal statues and busts as tribute but only those of great craftmanship and with the same agonizing expression as the rest of the collection. Failing to fulfil this condition when trying to please the dragon will insult his collection breaking his thin patience and send him into an aggressive frenzy.

Tainted Bloodline

Grey dragons, unlike other chromatic dragons, weren't originally created by Tiamat they were originally fang dragons that Tiamat modified to be closer to the dragon ideal and easier for her to control, altering most of their abilities and granting them a breath weapon. This new species of dragons were named grey dragons and their only purpose is to hunt and exterminate the fang dragons that Tiamat despises. With this purpose, Tiamat gave them powers specifically designed to exploit the weaknesses of the fang,  enormous wings with hollow bones and quills allowing them to maintain height with barely any wing movement, the ability to avoid close combat where the fang is at its strongest by launching the quills of their tail and using their new breath weapon. They were also given the ability to petrify with their bite since this power is dangerous to use in a fight with fang dragons they consider it a gift of her goddess, a power to call their own and is cherished by grey dragons as proof of their welcome into the dragon ideal of Tiamat. Because of their origin and devotion to Tiamat, grey dragons see themselves as lesser dragons compared to the pure chromatic and despise fang dragons with zealous fury. They consider their bloodline to be tainted and that it can only be cleansed by making the original fang dragons extinct which will make them pure chromatic. Other chromatic dragons look down on the grey dragon emphasizing their inferiority complex especially the red dragon which already seems himself as the peak of dragon kind. Because of this grey dragons avoid contact with other chromatic dragons and seek to conquer and dominate other creatures to boost their pride, while all grey dragons have this inferiority complex none will admit it and accusing one of feeling this way is an easy way to spark their imagination in how to kill in the cruellest and most painful way. In their younger years, grey dragons scales are completely grey and their quills are not yet developed giving them a look very close to a young fang dragon which the grey despises. It is common for grey dragon parents to abandon their wyrmlings or to kill them just for their appearance in a fit of rage, those who aren't killed or abandoned don't gain much from their parents for they will prioritize their lives over their young ones if the need arises.

Cruel Hunters

Grey dragon just like their predecessors the fang dragons are natural hunters and enjoy hunting when able. Fang dragons hunt for the challenge or training and revelled in the chase, unlike greys that rejoice in the catch and to see their victim squirm in terror under their claws preferring easy prey to a challenge. Grey dragons were made to kill fang dragons and for them is an important part of their lives because doing so improves their social status among other chromatic dragons. When they reach adulthood their hunt begins always targeting wyrmlings or young dragons as their victims never attacking a fang dragon of equal power to them unless they have a great advantage. When they are not hunting fang dragons they hunt intelligent humanoids which if able is the only thing they eat, the only exception being the occasional cockatrice or basilisk. Grey dragons hunting methods are nothing out of the ordinary compared to other dragons with the exception of their love to play with their preys especially with intelligent humanoids which they hunt it in a very specific and terrible way. Grey dragons are known by their ability to petrify but unlike other creatures, the grey dragon has the ability to control how much his victim is petrified from a full stone statue to petrifying only the surface of the body, the dragon will vary the amount of petrification on his victims depending on the use the dragon will give them. If the victim expression was one of true despair and fear the dragon will completely petrify it and kept it in the treasure room in his lair if the dragon was hunting for food or is displeased with the statue it will only petrify the skin of the creature and kept it as rations in a room of the lair that the dragon calls the stone garden. When the dragon needs to eat it will take a statue from the stone garden and use his strong maws to break the stone shell and eat the soft insides while the creature is alive. Those humanoids that the dragon really despise like clerics or paladins questing against Tiamat or adventurers interfering with the dragon's plans will have a different purpose, those will be completely petrified and kept in the entrance and around the lair of the dragon for reanimation in case of the dragon needing help defending his lair, delighting in the irony of those that tried to wrong him now defending him.

Grey Dragon Worshipers

Grey dragons occasionally find themselves the focus of savage humanoid tribal worship. Particularly primitive evil humanoid tribes might kowtow to Grey dragons in hopes that the dragons’ strength and cruelty will transfer to them. More sophisticated tribes select sacrificial victims either from among their own number or, more often, from among members of enemy tribes or visitors from distant lands. Upon obtaining a victim, members of such a tribe contact the grey dragon with smoke signals, then they release the poor soul with little more than a warning and a flint knife to flee across barren scrubland or badlands. Grey dragons might act as field scouts, spies, and hounds for sophisticated locals who have powerful interests. Payment for such a service is usually gold and riches and the promise to extend the fame of the dragon which often ends on the dragon demanding more until the local population ends up looking more like a cult than a contractor to the dragon. Since a grey invariably eats or petrifies what it catches, employers never entrust it with the delivery of live bounty—though the dragon might deliver a skull or another gnawed bone fragment from its quarry. Even with generous payments, grey dragons are incredibly dangerous to negotiate with, they particularly delight in turning social encounters into excuses to begin elaborate deadly chases. The only way to appease the dragon when a chase is brought up is to offer him a type of meat that the dragon considers a delicacy, the meat of a creature with the ability to petrify. Since the dragon considers his ability to petrify to be a gift from his deity any other creature with a similar ability is blasphemy and a thorn is his pride so they delight in their flesh, those who want to stay safe from the dragon or prevent to be chased by it will be wise to bring some cockatrice or basilisk meat with them.

A Grey Dragon’s Lair

Grey dragons lair in caverns close to deserts or badlands, dwelling in vast open spaces where the dragon can fly and survey his territory unobstructed. Caves with high ceiling and filled with stalactite and stalagmites are perfect for the dragon, creating hazards that hinder intruders.

 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:

• Stalagtites fall from the ceiling into a point the dragon can see within 120 feet of it. Each creature in the area must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 20 (8d4) piercing damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
• The dragon animates 1d6+1 petrified humanoids in his lair to fight for him. They have the statistics of an Animated Armor are resistant to Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks and last for an hour, after that they return to be normal statues.
• The dragon roar spreads thought the echoing cave seemingly coming from everywhere, creatures that hear it must pass a Wisdom saving throw of 15 or become Frightened of the dragon for one round.

Regional Effects

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

• The area within 6 miles of the dragon’s lair is abnormally arid, most natural sources of water dry up and creatures that expend more than an hour within the lair of the dragon become extremely thirsty. A creature must consume double the normal amount of water while it stays in the dragon region or must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or suffer one level of exhaustion at the end of the day as described in the PHB p.185.
• The wind is always calm, the sky tends to be covered in dark grey clouds but it rarely rains.
• Dust storms within 1 mile of the dragon’s lair form portals to the Elemental Plane of Earth, allowing Earth Elemental into the world to dwell nearby.

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