=Dragons=

The dragon belongs with the basilisk, the hydra, and the leviathan as the serpentine element of this bestiary. Written of since antiquity, the dragon has proved time and again to be constantly misrepresented and reinvented so as to fit an author's pen.

With a wing-span of 20 to 30 feet, the dragon does indeed breath fire (but only with every odd breath), possess reptilian characteristics, and guard a hoard of ancient treasure. Cave or mountain dwellers, dragons are not sentient by any means. Reasons as to why they guard their treasure run from the suggestion that dragons simply admire the luster of the objects to the idea that dragons are ancient, bred guards of a race waiting to return and enjoy its wealth.

The dragon can be slain using a blessed blade of silver, unfortunately the last known of these (Terminus Est) was demolished in an Allied bombing raid in 1943. More recent developments in science, though, have rendered the sword irrelevant.

The dragon must breath in huge amounts of oxygen in order to keep its lungs producing the flame which animates it. A gas such as hydrogen cyanide, released in large quantities, can kill a dragon while it is asleep or awake. Unfortunately this will render the body unable for study, but no researcher has survived a fight with a dragon excepting the use of the above two methods.

Its treasure is littered with the skulls of those it slew. Bury them properly, or the treasure's owner (eventual as he may be) will always bear the curse of long dead knights and soldiers, unburied and unmourned.

-HTK