Moonstone Dragon [Neutral]

The largest of the neutral dragons, a moonstone dragon has scales of pale silver that take on a faint blue sheen under the moon. It is rarely glimpsed anywhere but faerie realms or dreams.

It seldom fights, and when it must it relies on magic: charms and enchantments, illusions, alterations involving shadow and dim light, and magic that shapes dreams. Its priest spheres are All, Healing, Necromantic (beneficial spells only) and Divination.

Its breath is a 30 x 30 x 20-foot cloud of glittering light motes. Every spell and potion effect inside the cloud ends, except those keeping creatures alive (an air-breather's water breathing underwater survives, for example). Anyone failing a save vs. breath weapon falls into a 2d4-turn slumber that ignores any normal immunity to sleep, and later recalls the dragon only in fragments.

In place of a fear aura it radiates awe; a creature failing its save vs. spell (made at +4) waits quietly, doing nothing, until the dragon leaves, and afterward cannot clearly remember the meeting. The dragon can turn ethereal whenever it likes unless bound with golden chains. Its blows harm creatures whether in phase or not, and ignore any damage immunity short of artifact strength.

It has weaknesses. Elemental attacks of air, earth, fire or water impose -1 on its saves and deal 1 extra point per die. Bright light hurts: full daylight inflicts 1d6 per round, and intense flashes deal 2d6 per spell level, so a wand of illumination's sunburst does 6d6. Brought to 0 hit points by light, it fades into the Ethereal Plane and stays there until fully healed, recovering light damage at only 1 hit point per day.

Moonstone dragons care little about human concerns, and sages know little about them. They may spend most of their lives on the Ethereal Plane, or possibly on the moon, and they are bound up with faerie lands in some way, a few acting as guardians. Revelers at a full-moon faerie court in the deepest woods sometimes wake the next morning with a hazy memory of meeting one. The dragons avoid the material world but may nudge it through agents.

They also enter dreams at will, speaking the dreamer's language and offering counsel on faeries, shadow, the moon, healing and similar subjects. Otherwise they speak their own tongue and those of sylvan fey such as sprites, pixies and petty faeries. Rumor places their hoards inside faerie mounds or concealed woodland caverns, holding silver and platinum in place of copper and gold, and tiny beads of pure mithral in place of gems.

Faerie nectar and moonlight are thought to be their only food; they eat no meat and rarely kill. Legends claim their tears fall as mithral drops that elves forge into chain mail, that a dying moonstone dragon dissolves into falling moonlight, that one who dies nobly leaves behind a heart of purest adamantite, and that one who kills unjustly crumbles into a pillar of sand, its spirit destroyed forever.