Spirit Dragon [Shen Lung]

Shen lung are slim and bright-eyed, with ridged backs, spiked tails, two sharp horns on top of the head and golden whiskers on the snout. Hatchlings come in dull shades of red, orange, green, blue or blends of them, brightening to vivid colors by young adulthood. Though wingless, they fly by the power of a yellow pearl in the brain, like that of the celestial dragon.

Unless faced with open hostility, a spirit dragon talks first. If the strangers prove stubborn or give poor answers, it attacks viciously, backing its blows with water fire, the creatures under its scaly command and, once it has the power, ice storm. Alone among its kin, it can add a tail strike to its claws and bite, and the spiked tail easily reaches foes beside and in front of it.

From adulthood its tail slap sweeps a number of foes equal to its age category, each needing a save vs. petrification to avoid being stunned for 1d4+1 rounds. It kicks enemies behind it for claw damage; a victim failing to roll Dexterity or less on 1d20 is thrown back 1d6 feet plus 1 foot per age category and must also pass a save vs. petrification (penalized by the dragon's combat modifier) to stay on its feet.

A shen lung breathes air and water from birth. Its scaly command covers 2d10 creatures times its age level (6d10 for a young dragon), and its water fire deals 2d6 from hatchling to young adult, 3d6 from adult to very old, and 4d6 from venerable to great wyrm. It is immune to lightning and all poisons but takes double damage from fire of every kind. No insect, spider or other arthropod can come within 60 feet of it. Later gains: bless and curse, each 1/day (young); ice storm 3/day (young adult); control weather 3/day (adult).

The celestial court of heaven assigns spirit dragons to aid and guard river dragons, so they are usually found in groups of 1d6 attending a single chiang lung. They live in plain but tidy stone mansions on river and lake beds, generally close to their master's palace. They speak their own tongue (shared with coiled dragons), those of river dragons, fish, reptiles and the celestial court, plus every human tongue.

Gems of any kind sustain a shen lung, though it also likes fish and rodents. Fiercely loyal to its chiang lung, it is also close with nature spirits. People intrigue most shen lung and often take human shape to walk in villages, and humans in turn honor them as divine messengers who bring good luck, building ornate shrines and holding elaborate rites to win their favor.