Scientific Name:Regis Draconius Umbrae
Common name: Shadow Dragon
Appearance:
Shadow Dragons are an interesting breed of monster, as their bodies are completely composed of a mist-like form of Shadow magic. Rarely seen by people due to their usually shy dispositions and natural elusiveness, these creatures travel in the shadowy depths of large population centers in order to feed of the negative emotions and nightmares of those who live here. If you have ever felt yourself suddenly cool off from after getting really angry, or remember a nightmare that suddenly stopped for no apparent reason, then it's likely that you were visited by one of these creatures.
Biology:Not much is really known about the make-up of these mysterious creatures, as they tend to avoid interacting with humans as much as possible, and when it comes to attempts to capture them on film, most have nothing happen and others have the camera become disabled without the creature ever being seen. Such ocurances, however, do let biologists know that the creatures are extremely intelligent, perhaps even fully sentient, as they're able to recognize the attempts to record them.
Of the few encounters that have been recorded, oft by adventurers traveling to face dangerous monsters that have killed many, many people, shadow dragons tend to be no bigger than a large dog at most, a form of roiling shadow in the shape of a dragon with piercing red eyes watching from the distance. Attempts to capture one shadow dragon has lead to rather precarious situations, as the creature has a rather interesting defense mechanism. Like most dragons, it's able to let out a breath attack of sorts, but instead of fire, ice or energy, the shadow dragon instead unleashes a thick cloud of mind-altering magic gas upon it's foes, causing them to suffer from vivid hallucinations, though the duration of them is actually rather short. However, the dragons then seem to follow-up this attack by using their shadow magic and another form of illusion magic to trap their prey in their hallucination. The trap lasts anywhere from 3-5 minutes if the subject is left unattended, though this can be negated easily enough by shaking the individual in question.
However, one encounter with a shadow dragon proved that the creatures are not always so anti-confrontational and can actually be a rather dangerous threat. A group of adventurers, investigating a missing person's case with the local law enforcement in Erridun, found a unusually large specimen, this one the size of a lion, if not bigger, that had seemed to have collected a number of children and young adults, trapping them in a magically-induced slumber for what can only be the purpose of feeding on their dreams. After a brief, but harrowing battle, the adventurers where able to overcome and slay the beast, freeing it's hostages from their slumber. The creatures from quickly faded into nothingness, though from this nothingness coalesced a single egg, it's shell black as pitch and seeming to abosrb all light that came into contact with it. This egg was taken for further study, but so far, nothing has come from it as the egg has yet to hatch, though scans of it have shown that each day, it seems to be forming a core of Shadow Magic at it's center that grows more and more potent everyday.
Diurnal or Nocturnal:Nocturnal
Habitat:As stated above, they are thought to live most densely in cities, where the heavy population density(as well as the stresses of everyday urban life) provide a bountiful feast of negative energy for them to feed on, though adventurers have noted that they also seem to hang around the nests of particularly dangerous or angry monsters that they go to put down. The lack of sightings have lead their to be thoughts that Shadow Dragon's tend to have a low population, and reproduce in a Phoenix-like cycle of death and rebirth.
Strengths:-Incorporeal form:They cannot be harmed by normal physical attacks
-Mist-like body: The creature's formless body makes it incredibly agile and capable of slipping through even the tiniest of cracks.
-Illusion magic: It's quite adept at casting spells that can alter the senses of those it deems a threat, often making them see things that aren't there or messing with their sense of balance and equilibirum. More malevolent uses of this magic come in the form of radical nightmares and making the affected individuals attack their allies in fear. A noticed trait of this magic is that is seems to have less of an effect on Familiars than it does mages, possibly due to the large amounts of magical energy in their bodies providing some sort of interference with the form of illusion magic they cast.
-Hallucinagetic breath: A gaseous stream of magic that is blasted out of the dragon's mouth, it often causes the target to momentarily use all concept of reality for 5-10 seconds, making the world a whole mess of images and senses that vary from person to person, but almost always leave them temporarily paralyzed as they struggle to make sense of what's happening. Often used as either an opening attack so to keep the target disoriented and more susceptible to the illusions cast immedieately after, it's believe that they can only use this ability every so often, as adventurer's who've encountered them only ever noted the breath being used once, even for extended chases. It's also been noted that again Familaiar's are less effected by this ability then mages, often coming out of the haze after about 1-2 seconds.
Light Magic absorption: Contrary to what most beleive, Shadow magic doesn't exactly harm these creatures, but instead strengthens them greatly, giving their form a solid weight and causing them to grow in size, both increases dependant on the brightness of the light present. The caveat to this increase, however, is that thier has to be a shadow cast for it to happen. If no shadow is being cast by the attack(the creature's own shadow doesn't count) then it will be completely destroyed by the burst of light as their bodies grow to big for them to sustain.
Weaknesses:Magical attacks: Most forms of combat spells do some damage to them, some more than others, as the magical presence in the spell matter often interferes with the magic that holds their body together. The same holds true for physical attacks that have been enhanced with magic, or enchanted weaponry, though to a somewhat lesser degree.
Weak bodied: Most shadow dragons don't have very strong bodies, and as such, they don't take many hits to take down, even the bigger, more aggressive ones. They rely heavily on their agile nature and powerful illusion spells, to take care of any that get in their way.
Mist-like body: While not successful done, it has been observed that the mist-like magic that forms a Shadow dragon's body is an adherent of some laws of physics, and thus, can be manipulated and disrupted by harsh winds, making wind magic one of the better kinds to use when going up against one. This also means their bodies can be vacuumed into and sealed away within an air-tight compartment for easy containment, though such a thing is easy said then done.
Darkness-infused: Shadow Dragons are very much victims to the whims of a shadow magic user, as they can easily manipulate the body of a shadow dragon to a great deal, making it difficult for the creature to fight back properly as it fights it's own form in order to do anything.
Misc:There have been rumors among certain websites that Shadow Dragons some Shadow Dragon's are able to either take on human form or take over a human body in order to infiltrate human society, though the reasons for such actions are all over the place. This theory is discredited by most biologists and considered as completely ludicrous when factoring the behavior and attributes of Shadow Dragons as a whole.
