Khalvoreth [Supreme Ferrous Dragon]

Khalvoreth rules all ferrous dragons and is reputedly the very first of them, the architect of the clan hierarchy. He is not a god, but every sovereign iron dragon since the dawn of time lives on in him. He looks like a great wyrm iron dragon of staggering size, speaks the iron and common ferrous tongues, and shares the iron dragons' gift for speaking with any thinking being.

Long ago a great swarm of reds tore him down. With his last breath he swore their destruction even if death itself had to be undone, and so it was. The reds endure, but beneath a mighty mountain the hatred of a thousand reigns smolders, waiting to ignite.

Whenever he falls, an iron dragon selected as heir hibernates for a year, transforms, and emerges as Khalvoreth. Nobody can explain how; iron dragons only say it has always worked that way.

Khalvoreth tolerates no intruders, whatever their errand. He fights with his vast magic and innate powers, using tooth and claw only if pressed.

Each of his three breaths can be used twice daily: a sleep gas cloud 60 feet long, 50 wide and 40 high that puts to sleep anyone failing a save vs. breath weapon, whatever their Hit Dice; a cone of superheated sparks 100 feet long, 5 feet wide at the jaws and 40 at the end; or a stone bolt 30 feet long and 5 wide, shot out to 120 feet. Sparks and stone each deal 24d12+24 damage, halved by a successful save vs. breath weapon.

He has all of an iron dragon's powers and immunities, each with one more daily use (heat metal four times, stone shape three, and so on), plus passwall up to three times daily. He casts as a 22nd-level wizard with five spells each of levels 1-4, three of 5th, two of 6th and one of 7th.

He lairs in a cavern deep below one of the highest mountains anywhere, governing all ferrous dragons, settling disputes other leaders cannot, punishing breakers of clan law and mating with his concubines to sire his eventual successor.

Iron ore sustains him, but red dragon flesh is his favorite delicacy and he sometimes hunts it. Otherwise he prefers solitude, spending endless days scheming to wipe out the reds, and given how much he knows and how wisely he applies it, he may yet succeed.