# Mercury Dragon >[!infobox]+ >![[BestiaryIndex.base#Mercury Dragon]] > >| Formal Name Link | >| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | >| [[07 Monsters of Temnia/Monsters/D/Dragon (Metallic, Mercury) Wyrmling Mercury Dragon.md\|Wyrmling Mercury Dragon]] | >| [[07 Monsters of Temnia/Monsters/D/Dragon (Metallic, Mercury) Very Young Mercury Dragon.md\|Very Young Mercury Dragon]] | >| [[07 Monsters of Temnia/Monsters/D/Dragon (Metallic, Mercury) Young Adult Mercury Dragon.md\|Young Adult Mercury Dragon]] | >| [[07 Monsters of Temnia/Monsters/D/Dragon (Metallic, Mercury) Juvenile Mercury Dragon.md\|Juvenile Mercury Dragon]] | >| [[07 Monsters of Temnia/Monsters/D/Dragon (Metallic, Mercury) Young Mercury Dragon.md\|Young Mercury Dragon]] | >| [[07 Monsters of Temnia/Monsters/D/Dragon (Metallic, Mercury) Adult Mercury Dragon.md\|Adult Mercury Dragon]] | >| [[07 Monsters of Temnia/Monsters/D/Dragon (Metallic, Mercury) Mature Adult Mercury Dragon.md\|Mature Adult Mercury Dragon]] | >| [[07 Monsters of Temnia/Monsters/D/Dragon (Metallic, Mercury) Old Mercury Dragon.md\|Old Mercury Dragon]] | >| [[07 Monsters of Temnia/Monsters/D/Dragon (Metallic, Mercury) Very Old Mercury Dragon.md\|Very Old Mercury Dragon]] | >| [[07 Monsters of Temnia/Monsters/D/Dragon (Metallic, Mercury) Ancient Mercury Dragon.md\|Ancient Mercury Dragon]] | >| [[07 Monsters of Temnia/Monsters/D/Dragon (Metallic, Mercury) Wyrm Mercury Dragon.md\|Wyrm Mercury Dragon]] | >| [[07 Monsters of Temnia/Monsters/D/Dragon (Metallic, Mercury) Great Wyrm Mercury Dragon.md\|Great Wyrm Mercury Dragon]] | *A dragon stretches before you, long and slim, with a narrow body and a whiplike tail. Its sleek head has a long, pointed snout, with short horns curving forward from behind the lower jaw and larger horns curving backward from behind the upper jaw and eyes. Its mirrorlike wings reflect brightly. The air around it has a crisp scent, like a spring morning.* CG Tiny Dragon #### Base statistics **CR** 3; **Size** Tiny; **Hit Dice** 3d12 **Speed** 60 ft., fly 100 ft. (average) **Natural Armor** +2; **Breath Weapon** line, 1d6 fire **Str** 11, **Dex** 14, **Con** 13, **Int** 10, **Wis** 11, **Cha** 10 #### Ecology **Environment:** Temperate Mountains **Organization** Solitary (1 dragon, any age), clutch (1d4+1 wyrmlings, very young, young, or juveniles or young adults), family (pair of mature adults and 1d4+1 offspring) **Treasure** Triple **Advancement** By age category Mercury dragons are creatures of impulse, given to whimsy and rapid changes of direction, both mental and physical. They delight in being unpredictable and rarely even finish a thought before moving on to the next thing that comes to mind. At birth, a mercury dragon’s scales are dull silver in hue. As the dragon gets older, the scales become brighter and brighter until they reach a brilliant mirror finish. Quick and agile flyers, mercury dragons have smooth, flat, barely discernible scales that seem to flow together as one. The dragon’s eyes start out a deep blue or violet with a dark pupil and a pale yellow-white iris. As the dragon grows older, its pupils become paler and brighter, until the eyes resemble silver orbs. Mercury dragons prefer to lair in warm, volcanic regions, making their lairs in lava tubes and other narrow, winding tunnels or high caves that face east to catch the morning sun. They love clear air and bright sunlight and dwell near snowfields, glaciers, mountain lakes, and sun-dappled alpine meadows that sparkle with light on clear days. Mercury dragons eat anything, but they prefer to feed on metal ores. Although they have no venomous attacks, the flesh of mercury dragons is highly poisonous (treat as an ingested form of **insanity mist**). ### Combat Mercury dragons are as unpredictable when it comes to combat as they are in any other situation. They would usually rather flee than fight, using their spell-like abilities to delay their foes while making good their escape. If their opponents pursue, mercury dragons prefer to use their superior maneuverability and speed to outmaneuver their foes, launching a series of hit-and-run attacks from the direction of the sun. #### Special Abilities ## Mercury Dragon Abilities by Age | Age | Special Abilities | CL | | ------------ | ------------------------------------------------- | ---- | | Wyrmling | Fire subtype, fascinating breath, protected sight | — | | Very young | Pattern mastery, _color spray_ | — | | Young | Glare | 1st | | Juvenile | Frightful presence, _mirror image_ | 3rd | | Young adult | DR 5/magic | 5th | | Adult | Change shape, _rainbow pattern_ | 7th | | Mature adult | DR 10/magic | 9th | | Old | Reflective scales, _silent image_ | 11th | | Very old | DR 15/magic | 13th | | Ancient | Mercurial, _wall of nausea_ | 15th | | Wyrm | DR 20/magic | 17th | | Great wyrm | Unrestrained, _scintillating wall_ | 19th | #### Special Abilities ### Fascinating Breath (Su) Instead of a line of brilliant white light, a mercury dragon can breathe a cone of psychotropic gas. Creatures in the area must succeed at a Will save or be fascinated for 1d6 + 1 round per age category of the dragon. ### Glare (Ex) A young or older mercury dragon's scales glimmer so brightly that reflected light dazzles the eye. Creatures within 60 feet of a mercury dragon that is in an area of normal or brighter light is dazzled. ### Mercurial (Ex) An ancient or older mercury dragon's temperament changes with such fluidity that even magic cannot constrain their emotions for long. A mercury dragon has a 50% chance to ignore any emotion effects that are affecting it. This suppresses the effect until the start of the mercury dragon's next turn. ### Pattern Mastery (Su) A very young mercury dragon adds its age category to the any hit die limit of its spell-like abilities from the illusion (pattern) subschool. This applies to both the total number of hit die of creatures that can be affected (such as _rainbow pattern_), as well as effects based on the targets hit die (such as from _color spray_) ### Protected Sight (Ex) A mercury dragon is immune to any effect that would blind or dazzle it. It also gains +3 racial bonus on saving throws against any light or pattern effect. ### Reflective Scales (Su) The scales of an old or older mercury dragon are so reflective that they can deflect magical rays. Any ray targeted at a mercury dragon has a 20% miss chance. ### Spell-Like Abilities (Sp) **At will**— _color spray_, _mirror image_ , _rainbow pattern_, _scintillating wall_ , _silent image_, _wall of nausea_ ### Spells A young or older mercury dragon casts spells as a sorcerer, and can cast spells from the cleric list and from the luck and sun domain as well as those normally available to a sorcerer. Cleric spells are considered arcane spells for a mercury dragon. ### Unrestrained (Su) One per week, a great wyrm mercury dragon can end any ongoing spell, curse or other effect that is debilitating or constraining it in some fashion. This ability can end any effect that can be remedied by a _limited wish_. The mercury dragon does not need to take any action to do this, and can even free itself of effects that would render it incapable of taking actions (such as being slain or turned to stone).