"Hatred drives them like a barbed whip, pushing them ever forward
to wallow in the toils of sadism and evil." Thus draconic scholar Atarvex
described the race of black dragons nearly nineteen millennia ago. His account
seems apt, all these centuries later. Sadists even beyond the cruelties
attributed to the frightening reds, black dragons seem to gain greater
sustenance from the sufferings of others than the food consumed by other
creatures. They perform their evil acts for no greater reason, it seems, than
merely to cause hurt.
-Drakanav Codex, Chapter 11
Sociopaths and murderers of the worst sort, black dragons
terrorize their territories with a fury few other dragons bother to muster. The
dragon kind most likely to rampage, black dragons combine the short tempers of
their white dragon cousins with a superior intellect and greater physical
prowess. Cruel in ways their less-intelligent kin cannot contemplate and far
less sophisticated than the greater chromatics, black dragons delight in causing
physical and mental pain. These horrible sadists use their frightful presence
and acidic breaths to crack minds and burn bodies, all the while cackling gaily
and reveling in the despair and torment they create.
Black dragons are the epitome of villainy, committing evil
for evil's sake, and they require no greater motivation to pillage and plunder
than simply because they can. Where white dragons lash out from a sense of
frustration and red dragons launch into their murderous rampages in order to
exert their dominance, black dragons kill because they want to. Some black
dragons find offense in the most innocent comments and consider every real or
imagined slight (and black dragons possess inventive minds) justification
enough to cause localized genocide. Attempts to communicate with black dragons
require continuous and unending supplication and groveling, and even then most
creatures that try end up as captives, subjects of bizarre but unmistakably
creative tortures, or food.
Possessing distinctively large curving horns growing out the
sides of their skulls just behind their jaws, black dragons strike impressive
and easily recognized silhouettes. Aside from their iconic horns, black dragon
faces possess as much individualism as those of any other dragon kinds. Most
black dragons grow many smaller horns and hornlets all around their heads and
faces, while a small number only gain their two major horns and no others. A
few black dragons deliberately crack or break their horns (causing themselves
considerable pain) and then let the sharp protrusions heal at jagged and
unnatural angles. Black dragons tend to have relatively short necks and tails
and thick, muscular bodies. Most black dragons' toes are connected by thick
membranes of webbed skin that help them glide through the brackish waters of
their homes.
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