Gold Dragon

What sets apart a dragon from any other big scary monster? Its ability to fly, or to breathe fire? These are no doubt attributes that come to mind when you think about them, but this is only half of the story. For what makes a dragon not just an oversized lizard is its intelligence, which in turn leads to other capacities stemming from that attribute - a fondness of, or at least the capability for, social discourse in addition to the ability to plan, scheme, and learn.

Gold Dragons are a fine example of this, as they are regarded to be the paragons of metallic dragons; they are respected by all of their cousins and are said to rival even the might of their chromatic counterparts. Despite their raw power, one of the Golds' greatest joys is that of conversation - a delight they are willing to partake in even with the most unlikely of interlocutors. This rises from their innate need to fully assess any situation they find themselves in.

Given their natural affinity for insight, a lot of other metallic dragons oftentimes turn to their golden brethren in times of need. Unfortunately, Gold Dragons' predilection toward dwelling on philosophical quandaries might make them somewhat unreliable in that department. Still, they are a great source of knowledge and wisdom, should one feel inclined to seek one out, which may prove no easy feat.

However gentle in character they may appear, a dragon remains a dragon. As such, you do not want to face them in battle. Most of their melee attacks have a reach of 10 ft., something to keep in mind when a character tries to get the hell out of dodge and forgets the dragon can make attacks of opportunity. Of course, this isn't where the real threat comes from, is it? A Gold Dragon's breath weapon is a nasty little thing, for even an adolescent beast has good reach and deals considerable damage, not to mention the ability to change its effect to enfeeble. Add to that its Draconic Frenzy, with high crit potential due to its capability to dish out many attacks, in addition to Draconic Momentum, you quickly realize that it can breathe fire more often than it would seem at first glance. The older a Gold gets, the harder it will prove to kill - Adults get the Golden Luck reaction, which can effectively ruin any caster's day, while Ancients get 2 reactions.

But that's just regular dragon stuff, isn't it? All Golds have some innate spells, detect alignment being a particularly interesting one. Let us suppose that your party is actually not that good, perhaps they are outwardly evil. The dragon will know. Add to that the fact that, as mentioned before, the big lizards live for a ridiculous amount of time, during which they can learn many things and an idea comes - why not give the thing some more fun and interesting magics? The Bestiary offers some good choices, but good is the keyword here. There is no reason why one of them couldn't research spells of a more nefarious nature, is there not? If you consider that technically **all** dragons can shapeshift, the possibilities suddenly become endless.

Hook 1 (Max) - The Golden Terror

"One hundred thousand crowns for the head of the Golden Terror," exclaims the herald standing in the center of a plaza. The surrounding edges seem to have been scorched by some recent fire.

One Eye, more commonly referred to as the Golden Terror, was driven mad millennia ago. Some theorize he was once a benevolent soul whose madness consumed him after some great betrayal, likely conducted by humans, given his hatred for them.

The dragon is enormous, his scales thicker and more resilient than any armor. His breath melts stone and his razor-sharp claws tear into anything they within reach. The right side of the beast's head is covered in an enormous scar, his eye socket emptied by the long-forgotten blow.

One Eye has made his lair in the bowels of the nearby mountain range, deep within a network of massive caverns connected by vast tunnels. He does not hoard treasure, as he does not care for it. When he lost his mind, he also lost his capacity for anything that isn't rage-fueled slaughter, though he has proven again and again that he can be disturbingly cunning as he dispatches hosts of soldiers and mercenaries sent his way with alarming ease. Allegedly, he enjoys ranting to his prey and teasing them from the hidden depths of his domain before emerging and devouring them.

Hook 2 (Max) - Pots o' Gold

When stepping into the city of Golden Grove, one might spot a suspicious and utter lack of gold. It's not even the ornaments of temples or other important buildings, but even coins and jewelry. Any traveler entering the area with any gold on their person whatsoever is promptly asked to exchange it for silver and gemstones. Resistance is ill-advised.

This is peculiar behavior, to say the least. What is driving the townsfolk to do this? The answer is quite simple.

And big.

Her name is Rahastra, the self-proclaimed Golden Queen. She believes that her scales are the most golden of golds and thus demands all valuable metals that might challenge her are to be given to her so that she can make sure nothing in the world is more vibrantly gilded than she. Of course, she provides ample compensation in the form of silver, gemstones, art pieces, weapons, magic, and even knowledge, depending on the size of the contribution.

If someone were to fail to deliver this gold to her, she may take it personally, believing that finally there was something that could outshine her majesty. That she cannot suffer, so much so that she will take any steps to hunt down any such treasures. Obviously, thanks to her immense and nearly unimaginable wealth and knowledge, she has a lot of nasty tricks up her sleeve beyond just breathing fire.

For what good is treasure if it lays about unused?

Hook 3 (TJ) - The Darkness of Dawn

Sun'zam'ei'thek, the Brightness of Ten Thousand Dawns, the Glint of the Grainlands, is unapproachable. This is not metaphorical in nature. While His High Brightness can often be seen circling above the Grainlands, imbuing a sense of safety and hope in those that farm there, attempting to get closer to him proves to be impossible. One can walk for miles and miles attempting to draw nearer to the majesty of this golden dragon's circling form only to turn and find you've gone no distance at all.

This does not mean that the gold dragon is not present in the lives of those around him, quite the contrary. He regularly intervenes and mediates in the squabbles of the farmers, whether they be land disputes or even disagreements over the validity of bits of trivia shared at the bars late at night. In between these appearances, Sun'zam'ei'thek drifts upon the winds, wheeling about seemingly random patches of farmland, lost in thought.

One morning, when the farmers of the Grainlands rise to tend the fields, His High Brightness is nowhere to be seen; the familiar and bright gleaming of his scales is not visible in the light of the dawn. A search party has gone out, scouring every farm and valley for head or scale of Sun'zam'ei'thek, but they've found nothing. All of them agree, though, that the winter's chill is already on the winds, months ahead of when it should be.

Hook 4 (Reece) - Sundrinker

When there was darkness, I was made Light. At the Dawn of time, I was given breath, born at the epicenter of a blazing sun, drinking of its nectar. Before the ages of Elf, Giant, or Man, I was given life. My charge to guard The Paths, a sacred oath ne'er broken.

From that blazing sun, I forged my kin, though they shant call me their god, as I am only the hand by which their forms were given life. When Giant, and Elf, and Man came, I welcomed them with knowledge and kindness, their squabbles far beneath my charge to guard The Paths.

When The One swore himself and his people to my cause, I saw then that my watch was did not have to be alone, as we all must guard that which binds everything to one.

I claim myself as Bek-Ra-Ai, The Sundrinker, named King of Dragons. To you, Toordan-Na-Sech, I charge thee guard me in my slumber so that when I am needed, I may be called upon for battle. I name you the First to sit at the Sunclaw Seat, a Watcher of The Paths. Rouse me when I am needed, and I will come.

Such is the duty of the Sunclaw until The Paths are sealed.

Quoted from the "Toordani speaking tablet". It appears a piece of stone with ancient glyphs or runes that approximate an ancient form of the dragon's language. Displaced Toordani soothsayers tell me that The Sunclaw is some kind of mortal king tasked with rousing the ancient dragon from his pyramid during a great time of need.

Hoping we don't need him considering the capital where his temple was located appears to have sunk into the sea over a thousand years ago.

Elemental, Water

 The water elementals in the bestiary include living waterfalls, quatoids, tidal masters, brine sharks, and elemental tsunamis. Most of them are either penalized for not standing in water, or have abilities that benefit from being in open water. While you *can* stick one of them in a pool and have your players surprised and scared, encountering these in the open sea (or, you know, on their home plane of water, that is... all water?) makes for so much more drama.

The Untari jungle is known for its many streams and waterfalls, but any attempt to map their locations is futile, as they appear to be changing places. Indeed, the jungle is a place of thinning, where the material plane meets the plane of water, and the many living waterfalls who keep crossing over find it very fun to move the streams and rivers around. However, they are very shy and secretive about it, and if mortal eyes see them in action, they might grow violent.

The Angulii pass, a stretch of sea between Northlandia and the polar ice caps, is known for its treacherous waters. Many terrible aquatic beasts lurk here, but among the most feared are entire schools of brine sharks. These elementals are said to jump dozens of feet up into the air, dragging sailors with them and plunging them into the cold depths of the ocean. Some of the more experienced sailors claim that offering them fresh water might keep them off - while others dismiss it as dangerous and wasteful superstition.

The Blue Brothers were the twin tidal master guardians of Akhtana Archipelago. One day, a group of small, octopus looking elementals appeared and whispered something into the brothers' ears. The brothers immediately nodded and then left into the deep, never to be seen again.
As the Calamity, an elemental tsunami that visits once every fifteen years, approaches, the islanders must choose: will their strongest and most capable try to stand against the Tsunami themselves, or shall they go on a quest to try and find their lost guardians?

Elemental, Fire

 The fire elementals are so inspiring, that this writeup is already longer then their description in the book. Still, the actual stat blocks actually give us some fun stuff to work with - those stat blocks including the cinder rat, elemental inferno, living wildfire and salamander.

Space pirates of the Nebulon Reach use conjured cinder rats to efficiently sabotage enemy ships. Cinder rats are conjured right into the ventilation systems of space-faring vessels, and their fetid fumes, while not overly toxic, replace fresh air overtime. Some spaceships have taken to hiring teams of halflings, gnome and other small races - these teams are trained to squeeze into the vents and fight the extraplanar vermin.

Unlike other creatures of elemental fire, salamanders can't actually see through thick smoke. This can be very useful to planar travelers, who can sometimes bribe elemental wildfires or other sentient denizens of the plane of fire to help them hide their locations as they traverse the evil salamanders' domain.

Universitas Arcanum, the premier mage school, has a long list of forbidden summons for its conjuration class. While most creatures on the list made it there for their corruptive influence, the elemental inferno is on the list for a simpler reason - it's only purpose to exist is to burn and destroy. However, some younger, more radical mages are looking to challenge several rules of the institution, among them the inclusion of elemental infernos on the forbidden list - but for all their academic pedigree, the mages also feel they aren't good at debates, having spent their lives as reclusive hermits. They are now looking for a lawyer, or really anyone good with words, to take up their case with the high council

Elemental, Earth

This group of golem-lites includes the living landslide, sod hound, stone mauler, xorn, and elemental avalanche. They also need almost no introduction, as "behemoth made of earth and rubble" is just such a common trope across all media.

The Transrealm Shadowbank Corp is the largest chain of banks in the world(s), ran by a shadowy cabal of seven primal dragons. The dragons' rival has recruited several teams to strike at several of those banks, breaking their reputations as impenetrable. The easiest of those includes jumping through an unstable portal to a demiplane strongly aspected to earth - where gems are kept, and sod hounds alert their living landslide handlers when any single one of the precious stones is moved but a millimeter. 

A group of daring thieves have pulled off the impossible - managing to steal a precious diamond from one of the vaults of the Transrealm Shadowbank Corp. Unfortunately, just as they return to the material plane, closing the portal behind them, a hungry xorn appears, and with him some stone mauler thugs. The three-legged gem eater proposes a trade for the diamond, but his companions disposition clearly states that no is not an answer.

Birkenbock mountain is home to a grumpy old elemental avalanche. Unknowingly, when old ladies living on its slopes talk about keeping quiet not to cause an avalanche, they aren't talking about natural avalanches - instead, Ol' Slide is particularly fond of his peace and quiet. Those in the know will sometimes leave offerings in the form of scrolls of silence or similar magical trinkets, and just sometimes, they might unexpectedly stumble upon a gem, or a hidden cave filled with treasures, when traversing the mount.

Elemental, Air

 And so, our week of elementals begins, with the air elementals - including the elemental hurricane, invisible stalker, living whirlwind, the mighty storm lord, and the zephyr hawk.

Griefholme, the city of light and magic, is a place where magic is so commonplace that day-to-day life of most citizens relies on it. One of the many unconventional uses of conjuration is a bounded elemental hurricane that is let out into the streets at night - doing a job of hundreds of servants with brooms within mere minutes. While the creature is under strict orders never to initiate a fight unprovoked, it has taken to its duty very seriously, and will aggressively defend the hygiene of the city.

Whisper is an invisible stalker with a vendetta. Having been called to perform terrible deeds by a rogue necromancer one too many times, he plans to execute the mage. To that end, he has given the necromancer the location of some ancient treasure, hidden on a solitary, faraway mountaintop - but also failed to mention that said mountaintop is an elemental vortex point, notable for being the spawning grounds of large numbers of aggressive young living whirlwinds. However, Ol' Joe the Necromancer wouldn't risk his own life - instead sending naive young adventurers after the treasure, with promises of rewards sure to be broken.

Hush Featherstep is an ancient storm lord noble. In his youth, hush was an avid falconer in his home plane of air - and even in his old days, his trustiest companion, a zephyr hawk named Swyft, had been at his side. Unfortunately, these days Hush's sight has grown weak - and when Swyft goes missing while on a hunt on the material plane, Hush must turn to some mortals for help. All of the signs point towards the bird-like elemental flying straight into a massive storm brewing on the horizon.

Cloud giant

There's just something so folktale-ish about cloud giants. These aren't creatures that just randomly exist in the world, these are creatures multiple surrounding villages have wildly differing local legends about. They aren't an "appropriately leveled challenge for the player characters to face", they are a story unfolding itself as you witness it. Their divergent alignments also hint at yet even greater mysteries in the background.

A standoff of (literally) gigantic proportions is taking place at the mouth of Durgil's deeps. Two delegations of previously unseen giants have set up camps, and appear to be constantly arguing and bickering. So far, no physical violence has erupted, but if it does, the nearby townships are sure to be the one to suffer. 

If the local mayor's emissaries manage to sneak past the giants and their random bursts of magic, and delve deep into the treacherous caves, what awaits them at the very bottom is another giant, chained to a monolith. The prisoner looks much like his arguing kin above, but appears ancient beyond measure. At his feet, a plaque stands, an engraving in ancient valhallan on it. "The last one who did not choose a side", the text says.

The old giant, if awakened, pleads his finders "not to let the childer find him, for it shall start the war anew".

In the lands of Ledenya, the brothers who dwell above are treated as deities. The two cloud giants - one kind, benevolent and gregarious, the other cruel, sadistic and petty, come and go with the seasons. As summer draws to a close, Dvoryak's castle, a thing of white and gold sitting on soft clouds, sails beyond the horizon, as Kuryak's castle, with its sharp edges and tall spires appears, riding on a storm.
One winter, though, Dvoryak's castle crashes from the skies. With the last remnants of life, the benevolent giant awakens the seed of greatness within four youths of the tribe, and urges them to find a new home for their people, beyond the Shardspire mountains - but time is short, and they must go before Kuryak comes for them.

For ages, it has been common belief that some cloud giants are good and some evil. The truth, however, is that they go through two psychological and physiological phases in their life. Juveniles tend to be more physically imposing, highly territorial and yearn for violence. As they mature, they settle down, become builders, develop the need for humanoid contact, and essentially reinvent their entire personalities.
A group of mercenaries is shocked when a giant, who nearly murdered them early in their careers by trying to feed them to his pet hydra, congratulates them on their latest escapade and calls them for a feast in their honour. While the patriarch himself is bound to be civil, some of his teenage sons might also be present...

Brass dragon

Every race with multiple variants comes with a "chaotic good trickster" archetype, and for the dragons, its the brass.

Gentle Genevieve is an an ancient brass dragon known for her skill at gardening. Such were here skill and indeed age, that the tree between worlds, Yggdrassil, was actually one of the very first plants she sowed. As she had multiple majestic plants, gardens, saplings and forests to tend to across the world, many of her favourites had guardians. For Ygdrassil, indeed, she had formed an entire order of knights, sworn to protect it. Alas, when the giants from beyond the stars invaded, Yggrdassil was felled. Genevieve grew violent and bitter, and went on a mad, bloodthirsty hunt to eradicate the Order of The Tree along with their entire bloodlines.

Whimsical Watcher of the Worlds is the title an outgoing, cosmopolitan young brass dragon claims. He trades in secrets with those he deems worthy, gathering info about any potential clients, before inviting them for a try at one of the many games he has collected over the years. In the last century, he most often faced opponents in three-dimensional chess, or tarot bridge. However, his latest fascination is a new game created by a mad minotaur wizard called J'ason. In the game, players create fake personas, and re-enact adventures from the epics, throwing weird, crystalline dice to determine whether they fail or triumph.

An oppressive order of knights known as the Brvtalmarines have conquered what were once halfling lands. As a cruel joke, the knights offer trial by combat as an option instead of judge and jury deciding the fate of the local populace. When the leader of a localized uprising is arrested, it is no surprise that he chooses to try and fight his way to freedom - what is a surprise, though, is him revealing his form as a mighty brass dragon. Opposing him, as a champion of the marines, is an ill-fated double agent who was only there to sabotage the trial in the first place, but convincing the dragon of that will be no easy task.

Black dragon

Like all dragons, the black comes to us in three size/age categories: young, adult, and ancient. Quick note, before i dive into the encounters - any crhomatic dragon can become a prepared spellcaster, by merely swapping out some of their physical abilities for an array of spells, which is highly versatile, giving you room to customize a dragon encounter even further.

Unlike most of his kin, Gargathas the black dragon isn't one to follow tradition. Whereas other black dragons claim swamps, marshes and rotten tundras as their homes, Gargathas makes his lair deep within the ancient and labyrinthine sewer system of the city of Kepesh. Since arriving there, he has enslaved five tribes of goblins, along with a rabid pack of goblin dogs, several enclaves of Ootyughs (who don't exactly serve him willingly), an order of mad monks who live in the sewers to punish themselves, and an entire department of college alchemists who happened to be doing research of the foul waters.
As nearly a quarter of the city's population (usually the escaped slaves, and the outright second class citizens) eventually make their way into the massive, unexplored sewers, the dragon is becoming essentially an authority parallel to that of the city's nobles, and dragonslayers are called forth.

Although black dragons don't particularly like any other races, they aren't above using them as a means to an end. An adventurous young black dragon named Nimandrith used to claim a patch of atolls known as Deadreef as his own, but due to their proximity to a volcanic archipelago, a red dragon has forced him out.
Nowdays, Nimandrith goes by the moniker Dread Captain Druzil, leading a small flotilla of pirate ships. The recent surge in recruitment is due to him finally deciding he stands a chance against his rival, but new pirates may not be let in on the secret until it's too late.

Glabadraxia, the ancient black wyrm used to rule empires and cults in times long since forgotten. Over the ages, her temperament has very much softened, and for the past milenium, she has been looking for someone worthy of inheriting the vast (mostly alchemical in nature) treasure she has collected over the years. Due to her newfound (she has been doing it for only a bit over a thousand years) hobby being brewing hot sauces, "worthy heir" means "someone able to swallow a spoonful of her super secret sauce without flinching". While her intentions are indeed well-meaning, as she'd hate for her vast legacy to rot, she cares not much for the occasional death she causes, as she only sees such occurrences as weeding out the weak.