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CHAPTER 1:
ALL ABOUT DRAGONS
Guillaume and Cirjon established that the shortest-lived true dragon, the white, can live as long as 2,100 years. The true dragon species that lives the longest is the gold; Guillaume and Cirjon put the gold’s maximum age at 4,400 years. In addition, the sages discovered that dragons can extend their life spans to some extent by entering a state called “the twilight.” That term, coined by Guillaume and Cirjon, refers to the closing phase of a dragon’s life. The cessation of growth at the great wyrm stage heralds the onset of death (as it does for most creatures that grow throughout their lives). A dragon can survive for centuries after reaching the great wyrm stage, but a dragon is mortal and cannot stave off death forever. The twilight occurs when the weight of a dragon’s years finally comes crashing down, forcing the dragon’s physiology into a downward spiral. A dragon’s twilight period can last for a
number of years, but often the dragon succumbs when the twilight first sets in.
AVOIDING THE TWILIGHT Many dragons prefer to avoid a slow descent into death and leave the mortal coil with their dignity intact. Many great wyrms seem to just disappear at the ends of their lives. No one knows exactly where they go, but scholars have identified at least three possibilities: departure, guardianship, and dracolichdom. Departure A dragon can simply will its spirit to depart. Upon doing so, the dragon dies, and its spirit is released into the hereafter. A dragon prepares for its departure by consuming its entire
pqqqqrs RULES: AVOIDING TWILIGHT Any dragon that has reached the old age category or higher can depart, become a guardian, or become a dracolich. (Details of dracolichdom can be found on page 146.) To depart or become a guardian, a dragon must consume at least 135,000 gp worth of treasure—or at least 90% of its hoard, if the dragon possesses treasure worth more than 150,000 gp. All the treasure must be consumed in the same day, and at least 120,000 gp of this treasure must have been part of the dragon’s hoard for at least 200 years.
After consuming the required amount of treasure, the dragon must find a dragon graveyard or suitable site to guard. Once it is at the graveyard or site, the dragon completes the process instantly simply by willing it to happen. When a dragon departs, its body dies. When a dragon becomes a guardian, its body melds into the landscape. Once it has consumed the treasure, a dragon can delay departing or becoming a guardian for no more than 1 day per point of Charisma it has. If the dragon exceeds this time limit, the opportunity is lost, and the dragon cannot make another attempt to depart until it again consumes the required amount of treasure.
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