Kharvesk the Dragon

Kharvesk is a minor power among the dragons of the desert world, yet he shares their dream of vast power and of seizing a city-state for himself. He usually appears as a towering black-haired man about 6 1/2 feet tall, a guise produced by an amulet he crafted. Only a mightier dragon is likely to pierce it, but it does not disguise his enormous weight, which anyone trying to shove or lift him soon learns.

He avoids melee when he can; forced into it, he draws a dragonblade forged for his strength and bulk: it looks like a short sword, deals 1d12 points of damage, and is useless to normal beings.

He much prefers to kill with magic and the mind. His wizard spells run from 1st to 10th level and include, among others, magic missile, charm person, fireball, wraithform, lightning bolt, wall of fire, black tentacles, cone of cold, animate dead, wall of iron, feeblemind, chain lightning, death fog, freezing sphere, doom legion, finger of death, clenched fist, mind blank, incendiary cloud, polymorph other, time stop, power word kill, energy drain and abrasion, plus six scrolls. A number of these became available only after his battle with a rival sorcerer-queen, so the GM should match his list to the point in his story.

His psionic devotions number in the dozens, including mind thrust, ego whip, id insinuation, displacement, inertial barrier, danger sense, molecular agitation, psychic drain, time shift and dimension door. His sciences: domination, ultrablast, psychic crush, life draining, death field, detonate, project force, clairvoyance, precognition, banishment, teleport other and split personality.

Learn these powers before play and run him ruthlessly: he ranks among the deadliest foes a party may face, and killing him should be a landmark victory.

Few rival his cruelty. To fuel his metamorphosis he rounded up a whole halfling tribe and burned every one of them alive. Local halflings are savage cannibals, yet the act was atrocious, and his sadism only deepens with power. Anyone who crosses him should expect a lifetime of looking over their shoulder.

He runs every scheme like a military campaign. His current goal is recovering the dark-water scroll, and he means to control every detail so nothing goes wrong.