Yrrghvillid (Snow Blood) - Ancient White Dragon
by John CalvinWith nearly translucent scales, Yrrghvillid appears bedecked in scaled armor of blue tinged glass. Hoary and frosted with icicle like horns protruding from her spine, the scales become more translucent as they run toward her sides. Yrrghvillid’s belly is stained a crimson red, the color of fresh blood, with pulsating veins spreading out to her extremities. Caused by the Red Gold that Yrrghvillid sleeps upon, this stain is steadily progressing to the rest of her body.
The ancient white dragon, alive during the height of Blackmoor, saw the sun tilt and weathered the firestorm of that nation’s death throes. In the centuries since then, she has been living in the heart of a great glacier that has been moving slowly but steadily toward the Frosthaven Sea. A maze of tunnels twist and turn throughout her lair, but her most prized possession, a pile of blood red coins, lies in the deepest chamber. Yrrghvillid spends her days collecting this treasure, mined and minted mostly by Yardrak dwarves of the Shimmering Lands. Unlike most dragons, Yrrghvillid is just as happy to spend her fortune as she is to collect it, especially with regard to the Red Gold. Using it to bribe and buy favors, she has been able to corrupt several prominent figures in the area with the same fiendish taint that she herself suffers from.
Tribes of beastmen mercenaries provide the dragon with a steady tribute filled with the Red Gold coins that she so desires. In return Yrrghvillid protects those tribes from other beastmen hordes in the area. Several nearby frost giant clans have also fallen under her sway, with more than a few of them corrupted by the Red Gold. The voices that whisper to her in the darkness are Yrrghvillid’s greatest allies. They have been prompting her to build an army strong enough to take Urzud.
Although she sometimes does business with Yrrghvillid, the Troll Queen of Grondheim grows more wary of the dragon with each passing day. She has plans to deal with her well before the demonic influence inside of Yrrghvillid takes full hold. The beastmen of Urzud hate and fear the dragon, while the technoliches that live deep within the city suspect her designs are on some prize secreted away within their walls. So far the Antillians have been able to stave off Yrrghvillid’s depredations, but the dragon and her minions become bolder with each passing day.