Forest Linnorm

Less dragon than gigantic, ugly snake, a forest linnorm wears a blotchy hide of greens and browns that melts into the undergrowth. The newly hatched look like big green lizards, with four legs and a skinny lash of a tail. The legs wither as it grows, vanishing by young adulthood, while brown patches spread, the scales thicken and enlarge, and the head grows broad.

Every animal's language is open to it, along with its own, but it has no way to talk with humans. Arrogant, cunning and limitlessly cruel, it admits no superior and loathes any creature cleverer than a beast, above all those it considers beautiful.

Its favorite lure is the imitated cry of an injured animal, which grants it a +2 bonus on surprise rolls, and older ones layer illusions on top. Humans are the prize: it finds them beautiful, and so they must be hurt, punished and killed. It weakens prey with its breath before closing in, and since it believes no foe too strong, it nearly always fights until it dies.

The breath is a stream of heavy acid, 1 foot wide, shooting straight out 6 feet per age category. Besides its damage it withers one randomly chosen limb exactly like the wither spell, with no saving throw.

Its spells and powers work at level 5 plus combat modifier, and it can learn only illusion/phantasm spells. It hatches permanently invisible to animals and later adds, at three uses per day each: warp wood (young), plant growth (young adult), spike growth (mature adult), sticks to snakes (very old) and pass plant (wyrm).

Each claims and fiercely defends 100 square miles, accepting company only to mate. After the birth the male goes back to his own range, and the mother drives the young away once they outgrow the hatchling stage. Lairs lie in the most overgrown woods, where the linnorm coils among trunks and bushes until it can hardly be told from the roots. Temperate weather suits it best, though it tolerates harsh extremes.

Hollow trees serve as treasure vaults. It loves gems and jewelry, but only for the pleasure of smashing them, so whole pieces are rare in its caches even though gold and silver are usually plentiful.

It will eat anything, but the meat it truly wants comes from creatures it deems attractive: swans, stags, eagles, humans and demihumans. Giants hunt it for its flesh and hide, and human heroes are its other great bane.