Gray Linnorm

A newly hatched gray has glossy black scales so fine they pass for bare skin. They thicken and grow until the juvenile stage, when the black begins to fade, and by mature adulthood they are the dull hue of lead, though the dragon can make them gleam or go flat by concentrating. Its body is the smallest of any Norse dragon, but its tail is long and whiplike.

Besides their own language they share speech with fellow Norse dragons, and there is a 40% chance a hatchling can also address any thinking creature, plus 15% for every age category after.

Grays are merciless and love to hurt thinking creatures. They spend little effort on planning and have no wish to kill from afar; the joy is in using two foreclaws, jaws and lashing tail. The cruelest take victims alive to toy with before finishing them. From adulthood on they often shape change into other kinds of linnorm so that someone else gets blamed for the slaughter.

The breath is a spray of inky slime, 60 feet long and 3 feet wide. Unless washed away, the caustic goo eats through metal in 3d4 rounds; the metal saves vs. acid, adding any magical bonus. The tail drips type B poison, and a hit deals 2d6 damage plus 20 points of venom damage unless the victim saves vs. poison.

Their innate powers grow with age. A very young gray is permanently protected from normal missiles. Three times daily, juveniles can cast contagion, old grays wraithform and venerable ones distance distortion, while adults gain shape change, usable at will up to three times a day. Great wyrms can sink twice per day. Their priest spells come from the Charm, Elemental, Protection, Weather and All spheres, and their magic works at level 7 plus combat modifier.

Grays roost on high ground and consider everything in sight their land. They lair in hillside tunnels with well-hidden, trapped entrances. Pairs mate every 20-30 years and raise the young together until the young stage, then separate until the next mating. Though solitary, they will team up with other grays for raids. Any intelligent intruder is attacked at once on the assumption it wants the hoard, and frost linnorms are especially hated. A gray will collect nearly anything, from cloth and furniture to ship's tackle, but coins of every sort are its favorite.

Grays can digest almost anything but have a fondness for sheep and cattle that makes them the terror of farmers. Nothing preys on them, though adventurers hunt them for scales to make armor and for venom and other parts used in potions and spell components.