Dragons of the Flanaess: Margonauth. Sapphire Dragon

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​Name: Margonauth, Sapphire Dragon
Age: Very Old, 700+
Description: Margonauth is a majestic looking dragon with dark blue scales covering her back, neck, and tail with a lighter blue underside color. Her distinct coloring has helped those who are educated about dragons to differentiate her from chromatic blue dragons. Like all sapphire dragons, Margonauth sparkles when in direct light.
 
Personality: Margonauth, the mother of insects, as she is known, is more reclusive than most sapphire dragons. She enjoys interacting with other intelligent creatures, but she prefers her insect pets over them. Giant subterranean millipedes, glow bugs, and beetles make up most of her pets, but she also has clusters of giant spiders to feed on. Margonauth treats her insects like family and is very protective of them. Those who do speak with Margonauth soon realize that there is something a little off about her. One adventurer likened her to his crazy aunt, who lived with fifty cats, except Margonauth has thousands of giant insects. 
 
Location: Margonauth has lived under the Crystalmist Mountains in caverns adjoining the Passage of Selrotin since becoming an adult dragon. Her territory lies just south of the lost Suel tribe of the Lerara. Her domain was initially contested by the Lerara and, to a lesser degree, the Drow. But over the centuries since she moved into the neighborhood, the hostility between them has subsided.
 
Lair: Margonauth’s lair is a vast network of tunnels and caverns, many of which are far too small for her to navigate but are used by her pets. The tunnels and caverns of her lair are home to thousands of insects of all shapes and sizes. Over the centuries, she has even learned how to communicate with them through magical means and by imitating their clicking and hissing forms of communication. 
 
At the center of Margonauth’s lair is a vast cavern where her horde is stored along the shores of a small subterranean lake. This cavern is also home to colonies of her insect pets.

Art by Dao Le

​Relations: Besides the insects, Margonauth raises she also trades and deals with the Lerara and even the Drow. She provides them with precious gems and ore in exchange for trinkets and jewelry to add to her horde. She often dresses up her favorite insects with jewelry. It is not uncommon to find a giant beetle or millipede in the caverns with necklaces or rings adorning them. 
 
As long as visitors do not harm her pets and abide by her rules, Margonauth welcomes all into her domain. Besides the occasional Lerara and Drow that come to trade, the only visitors she has are the rare adventuring band. Margonauth is keen to seek out these adventurers on the rare occasions that they cross through her domain for news of the outside world. She will invite them to a meal of cavern fungi, choice insects eggs, and bug juice.
 
Margonauth herself doesn’t move about the passages and caverns of the Passage of Selrotin, but her pets do. These insects act as her eyes and ears, alerting her to any activity. They also spy on the Drow and Lerara for her.
 
History: Margonauth has become a mainstay in the region, much to the chagrin of the Drow and the Lerara. Both of whom would like to see the dragon gone as neither are comfortable with such a possible threat living so close. The Drow and the Lerara both lust for the wealth rumored to be stockpiled in the drake’s lair.
 
Initially, Margonauth moved into the area because she had found a fascinating colony of giant beetles there. She soon found unique Glow Bugs as well, which are a variation of wingless fireflies. Glow Bugs can grow up to a foot long and are prized among the Lerara for their abdomens' phosphorescent fluid. Margonauth's favorite insects are the giant armored millipedes, which she allows to crawl all over her like a house cat. In addition to her giant pets, Margonauth studies many other species of insects native to the passage.
 
However, the older Margonauth gets, the more her desire to change the Passage's chaos as she sees it into a more orderly environment that she can live in harmony with her pets. In her opinion, the insects are far more orderly and far less destructive than the Drow and the Lerara.
 
Adventure Hooks: Adventurers that use the Passage of Selrotin will come to Margonauth's attention through her spies. And unless she deems them as overly hostile, she will send them an invite to visit. Margonauth might also wish to hire the adventurers to perform a task her pets cannot, most likely concerning her neighbors, the Lerara or the Drow. The Lerara are frequently guilty of killing her pets to turn into armor and other tools, a transgression that they would need to be punished for.

Art by Bryan Syme