Oddities for a Dragon's Lair
Dragons! They're hot right now! Everybody and their aunt has one! And if you're going to have a dungeon, you might as well have a dragon. In this companion of Skirmisher Publishing'sOddities for a Treasure Hoard,and future entry in the popular "100 Oddities" series, we present unusual objects, encounters, and oddities to populate a dragon's lair, from the warrens of immature drakes to the temples of mad dracoliches carved from living rock!
A faberge egg made from the dragon's own iron-hard eggshell and decorated with jewels from the beasts own hoard.
The skull of an ancient dragon, the original inhabitant of the lair. The beast's spirit lingers within the skull and still desires vengence against the dragon who usurped it as master of the lair.
A heavy folio bound on shed dragon scale. Each page features a unique color illustration of a creature, from various humanoids to common animals to a handfull of mythical beasts. The illustrations are incredibly detailed and feature unique identifying marks. The book is an aid to dragons who have the abiloty to polymorph, but lack the imagination, attention to detail, or patience to concoct convincing alternate forms.
Pits of fire dot the lair, the gouting flames filling the lair with unbearible heat that a dragon might find quite comfortable. There is an equal chance the fire pits are natural geothermal fire vents, magical rifts connected to the elemental plane of fire, or complex illusions concealing pits filled with treasure.
A modern vault door, complete with security key pad and retinal scanner, fills a wall to the east. As it turns out, the dragon has made many trips through time and to other dimensions, aquiring the vault and a hoard of modern technological wonders locked within, from MP3 players to food processors to comic books and VHS tapes.
A 30' cloud hovers just an inch off the floor of the chamber. The cloud is a litteral air cusion, a solid mass of air the dragon uses as a bed. If is increadibly comfortable, but it the cloud is agitated it grows stormy and discharges lightning bolts throughout the chamber.
The floor, walls, and cealing of the chamber are mirror-smooth, fused into obsidian by focused dragon fire. The surface is highly reflective even in dom light. The dragon uses this room to preen an admire itself. There is a 30% chance the dragon approaches, looking forward to admiring its scales.
A 10' hatch in the floor opens into a cavern the dragon uses as a pantry. The heavy iron hatch does not lock, but is heavy enough to require the superhuman strength of a dragon to open. Within the cavern are 1d4–1 adventurers and 1d4–1 monsters who violated the sanctity of the dragon's lair.
The walls of the dragon's lair are crosscrossed with ilaborate claw marks. The marks are an elaborate chronicle of the lair's master written in draconic. Those who take the time to study this chronicle gain grait insight into the personality of the dragon and may even learn the beast's weakness and how to circumvent the lair's many hazards.
An old, mangy, one-eyed cant slinks through the lair, occsionaly stopping to groom itself or take a quick nap. The cat is the dragon's cherished pet, and the beast would do anything to protect it. Should the cat be abducted or brought to harm, the dragon's vengence will be the stuff of legends.
And that's only the begining! Check back as your favorite d-Infinity contributors add their own oddities to this list, and you can add your own in the comments below!
