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We finish the series on the magical Summerland Dragons with the mightiest of their number – the mysterious Rosy Dragon.

See the first post in this series to learn more about these unique creatures.

The Rosy Dragon

Number Appearing: 1 (and 2 Quercic Dragon Consorts)
Size: Large (40’ long)
Alignment: Neutral
Morale: Maximum
Intelligence: 25
Move: Walk 2 x human speed.
Fly 4 x human speed.
Armor Class: 15 better than unarmored.
Hit Dice: 20 (160hp)
Attacks & Damage (front):
Bite 3d12, or Transporting Breath
Claw 1d12
Claw 1d12
Attacks & Damage (sides and back):
Wing Buffet (right) 1d6
Wing Buffet (left) 1d6
Tail Lash 1d10
Special:
* Transporting Breath (3 x per day): All within a 30’ x 30’ cloud in front of the Dragon are transported to an environment of symbolic challenges (No Save, but a target can only be affected once per day). See below.
* Polymorph Self at will.
* Regenerates 1 hp per Round when in contact with soil or water.
* Immune to Dragon Breath of all kinds.
* Can travel to and from the Summerland in 10 minutes.
* Speaks and reads all languages.
* Casts Spells as a 20th Level Magic User, with access to every spell on all spell lists (including Cleric and Druid).
Saves: As Cleric 20
Treasure: A hoard of art objects, gems, crystals, coins, and jewelry worth 1,000,000 gp, plus 10 Magic Items.
Challenge: Four 20th Level Characters

There is only one Rosy Dragon, and all the Dragons of Summerland pay homage to it. It appearance it vaguely resembles a Red Dragon of Panzoasia, its body being covered with scales that resemble the petals of deep-red roses. A closer look reveals a number of differences, however. The tail of the Rosy Dragon shades into green, and is covered with thorn-like spines. Its horns are like thorny spikes, glittering gold in color. Its large eyes are like pools of molten gold, and its claws are also golden. Its ears are long and pointed. Long, thin frills of red frame its face, and similar filaments form a beard-like growth under its chin. A green ridge with a saw-tooth edge runs along the Dragon’s back, from nose to tail. The Rosy Dragon appears in many other forms, however, as it can Polymorph itself at will. Among its favored alternate forms is that of a red-haired Human or Elf woman with brilliant green eyes, clad in golden robes, and crowned with roses. It also enjoys appearing as a golden swan or lioness. While it usually prefers to assume a female body, it will become male if it feels the situation warrants it.

The Rosy Dragon embodies the philosophy of “there is a time for all things”. It treats every situation individually – sometimes striving for peace, sometimes promoting war. It motivations can thus seem completely inscrutable to most other beings. It is never without its two Consorts – a (currently) male and female pair of Quercic Dragons with maximum Hit Points. It is also known to associate with the the similarly mysterious Wizard-Druid known as The Traveler, and the equally strange Green One, both of whom are similarly committed to maintaining the balance of Nature throughout time and space.

The Rosy Dragon only keeps its treasure on the Isle of Dragons in the Summerland. There it dwells in a palace made of colored glass as strong as granite, amid a field of ever-blooming roses. It rarely chooses to visit Panzoasaia, and then only for brief periods.

Fighting the Rosy Dragon
The Breath Weapon of the Rosy Dragon is unique, even among the Summerland Dragons. Rather than inflict damage, or even immobilize victims, its targets are enveloped in a red mist that physically transports them to a Realm of Testing. There they will be faced with a series of challenges that symbolize their various prejudices and shortcomings.

Before introducing the Rosy Dragon the DM should prepare a short dungeon adventure (or small island hex-crawl) tailored to the PCs, where they must solve problems in ways completely contrary to their usual methods. For example, a party used to hacking their way through adventures will be faced with continually regenerating creatures who can only be defeated through lateral thinking. Or, a party completely reliant on magic items will be transported to a place that temporarily disenchants their equipment. Members of the same adventuring party will be transported to the same Realm of Testing to join their compatriots, even if they had been affected by separate blasts of the Dragon’s breath.

Once all affected PCs arrive in the Realm of Testing, they will see an image of the Rosy Dragon standing before them in Human or Elven form. It will tell them the place they must reach, and give them a clue (in the form of a riddle) as to what action they must perform once they get there. The image of the Dragon is only a phantom, of course, and cannot be attacked. If the PCs survive the challenges of the place, and perform the correct action in the right place (which will always in some way symbolize the harmonious union of opposites), they will find themselves back in front of the Rosy Dragon, 10 minutes after being first transported. Regardless of how much time seemed to pass in the Realm of Testing, exactly 10 minutes (1 Turn) will have passed in the “real world”. The bodies of those who die in the Realm of Testing will remain there.

Upon the return of transported PCs, the Rosy Dragon (who will be have been waiting for them) will ask them if they are still committed to their murderous intentions. If so, the Dragon will attack them with its most powerful magic – and it can cast all known Magic User, Cleric, and Druid spells, as a 20th Level Magic User. Creeping Doom is a favorite effect. If forced into hand-hand-combat the Dragon will furiously bite, claw, buffet with its wings, and lash with its thorny tail. Meanwhile, combatants will also have to deal with the Rosy Dragon’s two consorts – unless they have already been neutralized by other means.