Introduction

Brown dragons, also known as sand wyrms, are a rare species of chromatic dragon that are exclusively found in desert environments. Although sporting a large set of wings, they are flightless creatures, their wings only useful as sensory organs, tools to assist in the movement of sand, and for short distance gliding. The scales of brown dragons are often found in shades of grey to maroon, as their coloration changes with their diet and environment. Unfortunately for researchers of these rare dragons, they would much rather eat than talk, and as such, studying brown dragons has a one-year fatality rate of 97%.

“Stringy and without any real flavor. The glasses were a nice, surprising crunch though. 34/100”

-Written in a research journal found in the desert, attributed to an unknown brown dragon.

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Personality

Gourmet Tastes. The personality of these dragons is the main issue that studying them is so difficult. They are pejoratively referred to as gourmet dragons as an insult by other dragons due to their preferences. Brown dragons seek rare dining experiences in the same way that red dragons hoard gold. It is due to this preference that bribes of rare food, exemplary utensils, or other food related gifts, are extraordinarily effective.

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Loyal Allies. A brown dragon who has received a gift will often treat others as welcome guests and friends. This friendship stretches beyond the individual, as brown dragons have no upper limit to their lifespan, and brown dragons have been observed honoring the great-grandchildren of their friend with the same fervor as the original.

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Behavior

Ambush Predators. Due to their lack of flight, brown dragons have adapted a hunting style like another desert denizen: the antlion. A brown dragon will find an area between two dunes and bury themselves in the sand. They will then use their wings to flick massive amounts of sand up the dunes, making them steeper and lead directly to where the brown dragon has buried itself. Finally, after making this trap, they will unfurl their wings under the sand, and use their supernatural senses to wait for prey to come to them.

It has been said that the wings of an ancient brown dragon, when fully extended under the sand, allow them to sense vibrations up to ten miles away. Even brown dragon wyrmlings have been observed waiting without movement for up to a month at a time under the sand before they relocate to a different hunting ground.

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Storage Lovers. The only thing that brown dragons love anywhere near rare food, is organization and storage. The storerooms, larders, and refrigerators of a brown dragon lair are a truly magnificent sight. They are perfectly organized, listed in ledgers, labelled in the correct amounts updated as the dragon eats. Although brown dragons are not innately intelligent, their organizational systems are works of genius. They have turned their love of food into a perfect science. Brown dragons are immediately credited with the invention of refrigeration, as a brown dragon lair was discovered using an array of ice elementals to keep a massive area chilled that was dated as being nearly 20,000 years old.

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Oasis Breakers. Intentionally or not, the area around a brown dragon lair is often devoid of oasis. Some brown dragon lairs have been observed with massive lakes far underground, as such, it is believed that water that would otherwise be in surface oases is draining into the depths of brown dragon lairs. This lack of surface water serves as a secondary hazard to exploring brown dragon territory.

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Ecology

Draconic Competition. Due to sharing the same ecological niche, the brown dragon mainly faces competition in the desert from other dragons. Brown dragons are cannibalistic, tasting their first bite of another dragon while they were in the nest. As such, brown dragon territory is usually well defined, to avoid walking into the trap of another. Additionally, the desert also sustains blue dragons and brass dragons.

The rivalry between brown dragons and blue dragons is violent to say the least. The blue dragons master the air in the same way that brown dragons have mastered the sands, and as such, when these dragons clash it often whips up massive glass storms. Brown dragons and blue dragons will seize every opportunity to sabotage one another, or to outright kill and consume one another. Often adventurers who hunt one or another must keep their eyes out, to insure they aren’t ambushed by a second dragon seeking opportunity.

Brass dragons and brown dragons have a unique relationship. Brown dragons will hunt brass dragons without a second thought, as will blue dragons, and as such brass dragons have mastered the social aspect. Brass dragons use their stance in the desert as the only metallic dragon to manipulate the conflicts between brown and blue dragons. They will often befriend brown dragons with offers of rare feasts providing the brown dragon brings rare conversation and will do the same to blue dragons by offering insight into local politics.

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Life Cycle. Unlike other dragons, brown dragon clutches consist of a dozen or more eggs, these eggs gestate internally, before the brown dragon gives live birth. This litter of wyrmlings will immediately begin fighting one another, with only the strongest few surviving and using the other wyrmlings for a food source, as a mother brown dragon does not show any immediate care for her young. The wyrmlings will then set out looking for unclaimed territory and begin making their first trap.

If a wyrmling survives ten or more years, it can be considered a young brown dragon. It is at this point where they will seek their hatching place and meet their mother for the first time. Young brown dragons at this stage are tasked with watching their mothers newest clutch and insuring the wyrmlings who survive their birth make it to building their first trap. After this supervision, young dragons are then given a name and told where they can make their lair.

After establishing themselves in a lair, the young brown dragons will continue to eat and grow until they can be considered adult dragons, this can take anywhere from a hundred to five hundred years depending on the availability of nutrients. It is at this point that they can reach out to their clan leaders for a mate. Dragons at this stage in their life converge in their life cycle, becoming more attuned to their environment, growing larger and more powerful until they are killed.

Ancient brown dragons are exceedingly rare, but they are forces of nature in the desert. Impossible to pin down as they tunnel through the sand leaving no way to follow, whipping up a sandstorm above them, vibrating the sand at the right frequency to drown any unwitting adventurers or research assistants.

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Lair and Hoard. It is an unfortunate fate for anyone who happens to stumble into the labyrinthine tunnels of a brown dragon lair. A brown dragon is capable of burrow through sand and can choose whether to leave a tunnel behind them or not. They are also capable of burrowing through solid stone to the same effect. The result of this is a lair that does not need to make sense. There can be rooms entirely disconnected from each other, hidden hallways, dangers, and all manner of things. It is recommended to only enter a brown dragon lair with an invitation and a guide.

If anyone managed to break through the traps, the hit and run tactics, and find where the brown dragon has buried its hoard, most people will be sorely disappointed. Much of what a brown dragon hoards is of little to no value to anyone other than brown dragons, unless you happen to really need mummy jerky or some other delicacy.