Dragons of the Flanaess: Dorrannarryth, Copper Dragon

Art by Stanley Morrison

Name: Dorrannarryth
Age: Ancient / Venerable 800+
Description: Dorrannarryth is a fit and robust copper dragon with his glossy coppery scales tinged with a dark green around the edges. A hugely impressive beast physically, Dorrannarryth rarely uses it to awe or impress his prey or possible friends. Instead, the dragon prefers to rely on what he considers his best asset, his sparkling personality.
Personality: Dorrannarryth, like most copper dragons, is a bit of a braggart and cocky, but never rude. Not an intellectual by any means, Dorrannarryth thinks that he is exceptionally clever and quick-witted and has a slew of rude limericks, bawdy jokes, or impressive ballads and epic poems memorized impress those he meets. He enjoys a good conversation or even debate and will try to coax even those he might be intending to gobble up into one before eating them. 

While he has lived around the Rift canyon for most of his adult life, the sudden change in the region's fortunes has him considering his legacy and wants to start up a family and has been traveling from the Rift Canyon on trips looking for a mate.

Location: Dorrannarryth has lived in several different places around the Rift Canyon located in the Bandit Kingdoms. It has provided him with a never-ending supply of humanoids, monsters, and bandits to play jokes upon and feed on. Dorrannarryth rarely travels more than several leagues away from the Rift Cayon, except on his trips looking for a mate.

Lair: Dorrannarryth has had the same lair for the past three hundred years and has little desire to move again. The simple cave entrance on the southern side of the canyon’s cliff face hides a labyrinth of tunnels and passages at the center is a maze where Dorrannarryth has stockpiled hundreds of traps that he finds funny if not deadly. His trove has been gathered from centuries of robbing the local bandits that have been foolish enough to anger him, or not laugh at his jokes.

Relations: Dorrannarryth has poor relations with all of his neighbors. Even before the Iuzians showed up, the Rift Canyon was full of bandits and brigands and monsters. Some bandit lords tolerated him because they had to, but no one in the region liked Dorrannarryth. Durand Grossman, the self-proclaimed Plar of the Rift, has been trying to win over Dorrannarryth to help him and his resistance fighters. Dorrannarryth has no desire to, but he rewards Durand for visiting him by giving him trinkets from his horde sometimes.

With the arrival of the Iuzians Dorrannarryth has become slightly alarmed that they will drive away all his friends (Those who tolerated his stories and jokes) and leave him with just the dreadfully Iuzians as playthings. While Dorrannarryth does not respect Iuzians, he has not gone out of his way to target them specifically. They have, however, become his most frequent target for his hunger and his practical jokes.​

The Iuzians, Cranzer, despises Dorrannarryth and has hunted the drake on two occasions. During one hunt, he lost the dragons trail and was unable to locate him. During the second hunt, he was nearly turned into lunch along with the giant vulture he was riding. After this last altercation, Cranzer has left Dorrannarryth alone and shown no more hunt him down. The fact that the dragon has shown no desire to control the Rift Canyon or help the bandit resistance has helped the wizard come to this conclusion, along with narrowly escaping his maw of sharp teeth.

Art by Todd Lockwood

History: Dorrannarryth has been a centerpiece of the Rift Canyon for centuries, but all the dragon seems to care about is practical jokes, riddles, poems, and the like. A wizard and scholar named Morment Drarmer, from Rookroost, even came once to record the dragon's tales. After meeting the dragon, he quickly realized that he was the butt of a practical joke by his associates in Rookroost, who fooled him into undertaking the assignment.

Dorrannarryth's lack of threat has always been his best defense against the region's bandits and humanoids. As soon as they realized all they had to do was humor the drake, and he would leave them relatively unmolested, they did so. Because of this, Dorrannarryth mostly targets monsters and other nasties found in the rift to prey upon for food.
Despite this unspoken mutual agreement between Dorrannarryth and most of the region's inhabitants, there is usually a handful that finds the courage to try and take on Dorrannarryth for his horde or to be rid of the bothersome drake. These would be dragon slayers quickly learn despite his terrible jokes and singing. Dorrannarryth is a vicious opponent who has no problem with devouring anyone who seriously challenges him. These attempts have never brought Dorrannarryth's wrath upon the region's bandits as he realizes that not all of them are out to get him. In fact, Dorrannarryth believes most of them are fans of his. 

Adventure Hooks: It is not hard for characters in the region to meet Dorrannarryth as the dragon often swoops down out of the sky upon unsuspecting travelers to tell them a joke or two and to chat. Befriending the dragon is also easy as he loves an audience and anyone that likes his performances. The dragon might even help the adventures if they try to be friends with him.​

The bandits of the Rift Canyon are always on the lookout for dragon slayers that might be able to take care of Dorrannarryth. While they desire to be rid of the dragon, they will only hire the most competent adventurers to do the job because no one wants to anger Dorrannarryth. 

A young Dorrannarryth before moving to the Rift Canyon