Oriental Dragon

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Oriental Dragons, as their name suggests, are what happens when Dungeons & Dragons tries to recast dragons to better fit an Oriental Adventures mold. There are two known examples of these; the Lung Dragons of Dungeons & Dragons and the Imperial Dragons of Pathfinder.

Lung Dragons

Lung Dragons first appeared in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1e supplement "Fiend Folio"; here, rules were presented for 6 different types of Oriental Dragon; Li Lung (Earth Dragon), Lung Wang (Sea Dragon), Pan Lung (Coiled Dragon), Shen Lung (Spirit Dragon), T'ien Lung (Celestial Dragon) and Yu Lung (Carp Dragon).

Lung Dragons were subsequently updated to AD&D 2e in the Kara-tur Monstrous Compendium Appendix. Here, they gained two new members; the Chiang Lung (River Dragon) and the Tun Mi Lung (Typhoon Dragon).

All eight species made their final appearance to date in the Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition Oriental Adventures sourcebook. Lung-blooded Half-Dragons were subsequently statted in the 3e Draconomicon; it was noted in the Kara-tur and OA sourcebooks that their children were actually Spirit Folk. One way to resolve the discrepancy is that the direct descendants of lung dragons are Spirit Folk with the Half-Lung Dragon template, and subsequent generations become simply spirit folk.

Information about what the Lung Dragons actually do has grown over time. When they first appeared in the Fiend Folio, absolutely nothing was stated about who they are or what they actually do. In Kara-tur, they were stated to be agents of the Celestial Bureacracy, with each subspecies having its own particular function in ensuring the smooth governance of the world. It was further noted that, every year, the oriental dragon officers journey to the Celestial Palace to file their reports of the previous year's activities and events. Rewards and punishments are distributed based on the evaluation of the repords. A corrupt or inefficient dragon may be removed and replaced by a new appointee; an industrious dragon may be promoted to a position of higher responsibility. This was later re-used for the OA material.

Yu Lung (Carp Dragon)

The Carp Dragon is the infantile form of the lung dragon species as a whole. All lung dragons lay their eggs in or close to fresh water, because regardless of the mother's species, her offspring will hatch as this strange tadpole-like dragon. A carp dragon almost resembles a draconic version of a merfolk, with the tail of a giant carp connecting to the forequarters of a small dragon with prodigiously webbed foreclaws. Their scales are blue-gray with variously colored markings, and their eyes are bright yellow and rather cat-like.

Shy and reclusive, they are the smallest and most docile of their kin, building crude (by draconic standards) lairs of mud and stone in the murkiest parts of their lakes, where they scavenge the bottom for food and generally just wait until they reach their final maturity. On the midnight of a yu lung's 101st birthday, it will spontaneously transform into an adult lung dragon of a random species; the 2e version possesses a table to determine which one it evolves into, but this lore isn't present in 3rd edition. Upon evolving, a Yu Lung reports to the Celestial Bureaucracy and is assigned appropriate duties for its new species. For this reason, they have little interest in collecting treasure, and don't assemble the traditional hoard.

Yu lung are known to be quite friendly towards humans who approach them in the right manner, and their bonds are lifelong; even after a yu lung evolves into its adult form, it never forgets its human friends.

In 2nd edition, yu lung of the YOung Adult stage possessed a Swallow Whole attack, but they lost this in 3rd edition.

Roll Result 01-30 Shen lung 31-50 Pan lung 51-65 Chiang lung 66-80 Li lung 81-90 Lung wang 91-95 Tun mi lung 96-00 T’ien lung

Li Lung (Earth Dragon)

Easily confused for sphinxes by the unwitting, li lung are the only winged species of lung dragon, and resemble giant lions with human faces and mighty eagle-like wings. A li lung hatchling is covered in light green scales, but as it ages, these darken and are covered by a layer of dense, wiry fur that sprouts from between the scales; a great wyrm earth dragon is nearly black in color and looks completely fur-covered. Their wings are adorned with colorful quills, resembling the tail-feathers of a peacock, and their eyes are a molten gold in color.

Reclusive by nature, these lung dragons are spirits of the deep earth; masters of the earthquake and punishers of the wicked, they are most commonly sent to punish communities that have angered the Celestial Bureaucracy by levelling them with earthquakes. On rare occasions, a community in good standing and great need may be visited by a li lung, who uses its powers to reveal veins of precious metals or to open underground springs.

These dragons are lithovores, feeding primarily on earth and stone - precious metals such as gold and silver are a favorite snack, however.

Lung Wang (Sea Dragon)

The oriental sea dragon shares the same body-plan as the far more malevolent Dragon Turtle, consisting of a giant sea turtle with the head of a shen lung. Rulers of the sea and protectors of its denizens, lung wang are among the most materialistic of the lung dragons, regularly demanding tribute from passing ships. For this reason, regular travelers in the area learn to form arrangement with the local lung wang, dumping a pre-determined amount of treasure overboard at a specific spot to be granted the right to use the lung wang's territory.

Despite being herbivores who prefer algae and seaweed as their primary foodstuff, lung wang are merciless in defending their territories, and will slaughter and/or consume entire ships that they feel have failed to honor them or who have committed "unforgivable" trespasses.

Whilst they maintain cordial relationships with most other lung dragons, lung wang do not get along with tun mi lung. They are often served by communities of intelligent aquatic humanoids, such as merfolk.

Shen Lung (Spirit Dragon)

The shen lung are the most common of the oriental dragons, and the most humble looking. Long and slender, they resemble lizards more than anything, using levitation to fly.

Imperial Dragons

Imperial Dragons, sometimes termed Dragons of the Celestial Host, are a type of dragon that are serpentine agents of cosmic balance native to Tian Xia. Like other true dragons, they grow in power as they age. Although they are true dragons, imperial dragons differ in appearance from other true dragons, possessing a long serpentine body. They lack wings, but can fly gracefully through supernatural means. All imperial dragons have large horns with which they can make deadly gore attacks. Like all dragons, imperial dragons can breathe potent torrents of elemental force, cast spells, and perform other supernatural feats. Additionally, all can magically transform themselves into a humanoid shape.

Imperial Dragons consist of five breeds; Forest, Sea, Sky, Underworld, and Sovereign. These are known in Tian Xia as Dilung, Jiaolung, Tienlung, Futsanglung and Lungwang respectively, making their origins in AD&D quite clear.