Verdant Dragon

The magic of verdant (green) dragons expresses as life, growth, and fertility, they favour living territories. They reshape their surroundings until everything aligns with their will. A settlement near a verdant dragon often gains fertile gardens and fewer predators, but sooner or later people discover that this benefit comes with conditions.

Common Appearance

A verdant dragon's scales range from moss-dark to bright leaf-green, with throat plates that flash like wet jade. Horns often resemble twisted roots or antlers. Older specimens show bark-like scarring along the ribs and shoulders, where injuries sealed into hardened plates. Their scent carries sap, crushed fern, and damp soil. When they are agitated, a bitter pollen taste can settle on one's tongue even at a distance.

Humanoid Form

Verdant dragons can assume humanoid form to walk among folk, sign bargains, and test a community's stewardship without the blunt force of wings and breath. Some transformations are complete, with no visible dragon features beyond an unsettling vitality: skin that looks too well-nourished or hair that carries the scent of crushed fern. Others remain partial, keeping a tail, horns, ridge-spines, or a faint scale-sheen along the throat and forearms. Partial forms often appear when the dragon is impatient, injured, or speaking from a position of dominance, because the remaining features serve as a reminder of what stands behind the smile. In either case, the disguise tends to carry other small tells, too, that betray the truth to careful observers: footprints that sprout tiny leaves for a minute, a breath that fogs into pale spore-mist in cold air, and a habit of touching wood and soil as if taking the pulse of a living thing.

Adult Verdant Dragon by Tillerz using MJ

Table of Contents

Disposition and Conduct

Verdant dragons act as wardens. They offer protection, cures, and safe harvests, but they demand maintenance duties and strict behaviour within their reach. A verdant dragon's anger rarely shows as sudden violence. It often begins as tightening of rules, closing of routes, and worsening of local growing conditions for those who defy it. They respect clear promises, visible work, and sacrifices that improve the land. They distrust quick profit and anyone who treats living things as disposable.

Signs of Proximity

A verdant dragon rarely arrives without warning. Leaves angle toward a single direction. Timber gains knots overnight. Vines appear where no vine should grow. Cut flowers stay fresh way longer than expected, then collapse into brown sludge within a day. Small animals gather at odd hours, as if waiting for permission to move. People start arguing about gardens and orchards, as though the place itself pushes people to take sides. That's the effect of the dragon's magic.

Breath and Presence

Most verdant dragons show two breath expressions. The first is a dense cloud of pollen and seed-chaff. It irritates eyes and lungs, clings to cloth and hair, and settles into wounds. Anything that falls within it may become the centre of sudden sprouting.

The second is a pressurized sap-mist that hardens on contact. It can seal doors, bind limbs, and glue weapons into place. The sap's sweetness draws insects and small beasts, which also might turn on intruders.

Their presence creates an affect called the Push. Wasteful people might feel unwelcome when entering the area, and local residents become protective of local green spaces and more hostile to outsiders who ignore boundaries.

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Signature Traits

Use these as the verdant dragon's defining rules hooks.

Bark-Willed

WFRP4e: The dragon gains +40 to Cool Tests to resist Intimidate, shame, threats, and panic, and +40 to Endurance Tests to resist coercion by discomfort or deprivation. Charm, Gossip, and Leadership Tests used to sway it are resolved as opposed Tests, but the influencer suffers -30 unless offering direct leverage such as land rights, a binding oath, or a concrete exchange.
Cypher: Tasks to persuade, deceive, or intimidate the dragon are hindered by two steps. If the negotiator presents concrete leverage that matters to the dragon, the task is hindered by only one step.

Canopy Sovereignty

WFRP4e: While the dragon has at least one foot on soil, wood, or living plant matter, the ground within 10 yards counts as Difficult Terrain for everyone but the dragon. In addition, the dragon may choose up to its Willpower Bonus targets at the start of its turn. Each chosen target must pass an Average (+20) Athletics Test to move at full rate this Round. On a failure, the target's Move is halved and it suffers a penalty of -10 to melee Tests made as part of movement that Round due to shifting footing and grasping growth.
Cypher: While the dragon stands on natural ground, the area within short range becomes difficult terrain for enemies. Speed tasks to move, balance, or charge through that area are hindered by one step, or by two steps if the dragon focuses on a single creature as part of its action.

Compost Patience

WFRP4e: When the dragon fights, it arrives with plans already rooted. In its claimed territory, the dragon begins each scene with 1 Advantage. In addition, once per session in that territory, it may declare a prepared growth shift as a free narrative action that has immediate rules weight: a route becomes blocked by living growth, a clear area becomes Difficult Terrain, or a concealed approach becomes exposed.
Cypher: In its claimed territory, the dragon acts as if one task per scene is eased by one step due to prior preparation, usually initiative, tracking, or positioning. Once per day in that territory, it may trigger a prepared growth shift that changes the battlefield: a passage seals, a safe path collapses into difficult terrain, or a hidden route becomes obvious. This does not require a roll, but it must be plausible given the terrain.

Graft-Claim

WFRP4e: As an Action, the dragon may smear sap onto a creature, object, or trackable surface. The mark lasts a number of days equal to the dragon's Willpower Bonus, longer if it is not washed. While the mark lasts, the dragon always knows the marked target's direction within 1 mile per Willpower Bonus. Once per hour, it may take a free, instinctive check to gauge whether the target is healthy, injured, or dying. Removing the mark requires a full Round of scrubbing with salt or strong spirits and a successful Endurance Test.
Cypher: The dragon can mark a creature or object within immediate range. For the next 10 days, the dragon always knows the general direction to the marked target within long range, and tracking tasks related to it are eased by two steps. Removing the mark takes ten minutes and a successful Intellect task against the dragon's level.

Green Mercy

WFRP4e: As an Action, the dragon may stabilize a creature within reach by sealing wounds with sap and driving breath with scented spores. The target immediately loses all Bleeding Conditions and stops dying from ongoing effects. If the target was at 0 Wounds, it remains unconscious but stable. The target also gains the Verdant Tether for a number of days equal to the dragon's Willpower Bonus. While tethered, the dragon gains +20 to Track Tests to follow the target, and each night the target must pass a Cool Test or wake with cravings and intrusive dreams, suffering 1 Fatigued Condition that day.
Cypher: As an action, the dragon stabilizes a dying creature within immediate range and restores it to 1 health. The creature gains a Verdant Tether for 10 days. During that time, the dragon can sense the creature's direction within long range, and the creature's tasks to ignore the pull of those dreams, resist returning to the dragon's territory, or act against the dragon's interests are hindered by one step.

Harvest of the Fallen

WFRP4e: The first time each Round that a creature drops to 0 Wounds or dies within 10 yards of the dragon on natural ground, the dragon gains +1 Advantage and the area within 5 yards of that creature becomes snarled growth until the end of the scene. Entering or moving within that patch requires an Athletics Test. On a failure, the mover gains the Entangled Condition.
Cypher: The first time each round a creature drops to 0 health within short range on natural ground, the dragon immediately heals 2 health and the ground in an immediate radius around the fallen creature becomes grasping growth for 1 minute. Movement and Speed defense tasks in that patch are hindered by one step.

Pollen Veil

WFRP4e: The dragon may, once per Round, shed a haze that fills a 20-yard radius centered on itself and lasts a number of Rounds equal to its Willpower Bonus, or until dispersed by strong wind. Ranged attacks through the haze suffer -20 to Ballistic Skill. Perception and Track Tests relying on sight or scent suffer -20. The dragon ignores these penalties.
Cypher: The dragon creates a drifting pollen haze in short range that lasts 1 minute. Attacks beyond immediate range that pass through the haze are hindered by one step, and perception tasks relying on sight or smell are hindered by one step. The dragon is not affected.

Root-Sense

WFRP4e: While the dragon is on soil or timber, it cannot be Surprised by creatures that are also in contact with that same ground unless they have a special means of silencing vibration. Stealth Tests made to approach it across such surfaces suffer -30, and the dragon gains +20 to opposed Perception Tests to detect movement.
Cypher: While grounded, the dragon detects movement through vibration within long range. Tasks to hide or sneak across natural ground within that range are hindered by two steps.

Sap-Blooded Renewal

WFRP4e: When the dragon loses Wounds while in contact with earth or wood, sap beads and hardens. At the start of its next turn, it gains Bark Plates that provide +2 Armour Points on all Hit Locations for 1 Round. Bark Plates can stack to a maximum of +6, but any hit that inflicts 5 or more Wounds after reduction shatters all Bark Plates at once.
Cypher: While the dragon remains in contact with earth or wood, it gains +2 Armor. At the end of each of its turns, it restores 2 health. If the dragon takes 8 or more damage from a single attack, the Armor bonus ends until the dragon spends one round grounded again.

Thorned Answer

WFRP4e: The first time in a Round that a creature hits the dragon with a melee attack, the attacker must immediately attempt an Endurance Test. On a failure, the attacker gains 1 Bleeding Condition. On a success, the attacker still suffers 2 Damage that ignores Armour Points as thorns and splinters bite through gaps.
Cypher: The first time each round a creature hits the dragon with a melee attack, the attacker takes 3 damage. If the attacker fails a Might defense roll against the dragon's level, its next Speed task before the end of its next turn is hindered by one step from embedded thorns.

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Skills and Masteries

Verdant dragons excel in a set of actions that shape scenes even when they do not fight. They track through scent, sap, and disturbed leaf-litter, then confirm through Root-Sense. They command beasts by offering shelter and food, and their calls travel far through birds and insects. They understand herbs, venoms, and antidotes with a predator's practicality. They also practice a form of "living appraisal". A verdant dragon can look at a person and read stress, hunger, and sickness by posture, breath, and scent, which makes lies harder to sell.

In social play, their true skill is conditional generosity. They offer cures, shelter, and fertile ground. But they bind the recipient into maintenance duties that feel reasonable, but rather sooner than later become permanent and often a burden.

Verdant Spellcraft

Verdant Dragon Whelp by Tillerz using MJ

Verdant dragons can raise thorn-crowns that tighten when a target violates a stated boundary. They can lend a creature a brief, steady breath that holds in smoke or underwater. While it lasts, each exhale though releases a faint spore-mist that betrays the creature's position. They can seal doors, containers, and wounds with sap-marks that resist force until cut or fed with salt. They can pull path memories from soil, making recent tracks rise as faint roots that show direction and weight.

They can sheath themselves or an ally in flexible bark that blunts blows and muffles sound, though heat makes it crack painfully. They can stitch wounds with fine vines that heal fast and leave green lines. Those lines may tighten if the healed later harms the dragon's protected plants. They can create drifting spore clouds that form convincing false silhouettes, complete with scent and sound, until broken by clean water. They also bind bargains through buried tokens: an oath-breaker's food spoils, their sleep fills with crawling roots, or they might trip unnaturally often over roots, until they amend and stick to their promises.

Verdant Dragon Runes

Verdant dragon runes are magical carvings cut into a scale taken from a verdant dragon. The scale is always green, thick, and faintly warm for years. When worn against the skin, it bonds to the bearer and leaves a pale leaf-shaped stain that does not wash away. Each rune grants a focused power tied to verdant magic. Each also carries a cost that shows as unwanted growth, cravings, or obligations that follow the bearer.

A rune-scale may be worn as a pendant, stitched inside armour, set into a shield boss, or embedded into a tool. Embedded scales resist removal and may tear skin on the way out.

Each rune-scale is a carved green dragon scale worn against the skin. In play, treat the rune as the power source and the scale as the focus. The scale keeps its magic while worn. If it is removed, its effects end at once.

Rune of Bloom-Flesh

WFRP4e: Once per day, as an Action, close your own wound or touch a willing creature and seal theirs. The target heals 1d10 + your Willpower Bonus Wounds and removes 1 Bleeding Condition. For the rest of the day, the sealed area becomes sensitive: fire attacks against the target gain +1 Damage, and contact with salt causes sharp pain, imposing -10 to the target's next Test. In rain or heavy damp, the itching distracts, giving -10 to Stealth and Sleight of Hand Tests.
Cypher: Once per day, you can instantly seal a wound and restore 6 health to yourself or a touched willing creature. For the next 24 hours, fire damage against that creature increases by 2, and tasks requiring fine hand control in heavy rain are hindered by one step due to itching and tight bark-skin.

Rune of Canopy-Step

WFRP4e: Once per scene, when you move, you may activate the rune. Until the end of your turn, you can treat living plants, branches, and thick growth as solid footing and ignore penalties from vegetation and undergrowth. If you sprint or fight while using it, pass an Average (+20) Athletics Test or suffer a Minor Fall (Prone) as branches shift under weight. After use, your tracks sprout tiny leaves for 1 day, granting +20 to Track Tests made to follow you on natural ground.
Cypher: Once per scene, you can move across living plants and branches as if they were stable ground for one minute. While it lasts, Speed tasks to move through vegetation are eased by one step. For the next day, trackers gain an asset when following you outdoors because your footprints briefly leaf over.

Rune of Compost-Turn

WFRP4e: As an Action, rot a small amount of organic material you can touch, up to the size of a satchel. Food spoils, rope frays, and wood softens enough to ruin a simple latch or hinge. Against a wooden barrier no thicker than a door plank, you may instead deal 10 Damage that ignores Armour Points, applied to that object only. After use, your own sense of taste dulls for the rest of the day. You suffer -10 to any Test where food, drink, or scent is part of the scene's leverage, including many Haggle and Charm attempts made over a meal.
Cypher: As an action, rot a small amount of organic material you touch, enough to spoil rations or weaken a wooden latch so it can be forced or broken with ease. For the rest of the day, your sense of taste dulls and you crave strong flavours, hindering tasks that require calm focus around kitchens, feasts, or strong smells by one step.

Rune of Graft-Claim

WFRP4e: As an Action, smear a green mark onto an object you can touch. For 7 days, you always know the object's general direction while it remains within 1 mile. If it is closer than 100 yards, you also sense whether it is moving or still. The mark attracts mold and gives the object a "living" scent. Attempts to conceal or pass it off cleanly suffer -10 to Haggle and Charm Tests where its smell matters.
Cypher: As an action, mark an object you touch. For the next week, you know the general direction to it within long range and whether it is moving. Tasks to track it are eased by one step. The object develops a damp, living smell that hinders attempts to conceal it by one step when scent matters.

Rune of Orchard-Lure

WFRP4e: As an Action, call insects and small animals to a point within 50 yards outdoors. The swarm arrives within 1d10 Rounds and lasts for a number of Rounds equal to your Fellowship Bonus. While it holds, the area counts as Distracting: Perception Tests relying on sight suffer -10, and anyone trying to move quietly through it suffers -10 to Stealth. You may instead use the lure to support scouting, granting +20 to a single Outdoor Survival or Track Test that follows within the next hour. The creatures arrive hungry. After use, you suffer -10 to any Animal Care or Ride Test for the rest of the day as animals treat you as a food source.
Cypher: As an action outdoors, you call insects and small animals to a point within short range for ten minutes. Tasks to distract guards, cover a retreat, or create noise are eased by one step. For the rest of the day, small animals treat you as food, hindering stealth tasks outdoors by one step when they are present.

Rune of Root-Listening

WFRP4e: Take an Action to kneel and press your palm to soil or timber. Make a Perception Test. On a success, you sense movement through the ground within 30 yards. Each SL answers one detail: direction, number of movers, or whether they move lightly or heavily. This does not function through dressed stone, thick paving, or suspended floors. After listening, the wind seems crowded with whispers for 1 hour, giving -10 to Perception Tests in busy areas and -10 to any Test to maintain focus in loud crowds.
Cypher: Spend one minute with your hand on soil or wood. For the next ten minutes, you sense movement through the ground within long range. This does not work through solid stone floors. For the next hour, the noise of wind and voices becomes distracting, hindering Intellect tasks made in crowds by one step.

Rune of Sap-Grip

WFRP4e: As an Action, coat one hand or one held weapon in quick sap. For a number of Rounds equal to your Toughness Bonus, gain +20 to Climb and Athletics Tests made to hold on, grapple, or keep footing. You also gain +20 to opposed Tests to resist being Disarmed. While the sap remains, any Pick Lock or Sleight of Hand Test you attempt suffers -10, and anything valuable you handle gains a sticky residue that can be identified with an Average (+20) Perception Test for the next day.
Cypher: As an action, coat one hand or a weapon in sap for ten minutes. Tasks to climb, hold, grapple, or resist disarm are eased by one step. Tasks requiring delicate handling are hindered by one step, and anything you touch tends to pick up sticky traces that make concealment harder for the rest of the day.

Rune of Thorn-Ward

WFRP4e: When you are hit by a melee attack, you may activate the rune as a Reaction once per Round. The attacker suffers 4 Damage that ignores Armour Points as thorns snap outward. The attacker must also pass an Average (+20) Endurance Test or gain 1 Bleeding Condition. Any ally within 1 yard of you when the rune triggers must pass an Average (+20) Athletics Test or suffer 1 Damage from snagging thorns and lose 1 Advantage if they have any.
Cypher: Once per round, when you are hit by a melee attack, you can flare a halo of thorns. The attacker takes 3 damage. Any creature in immediate range of you also takes 2 damage unless it succeeds on a Speed defense roll. This includes allies who crowd too close.

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Friends and Foes

Druids

Verdant dragons and druids form one of the cleanest alliances in Alana because they want the same outcome for different reasons. The dragon wants a living domain that endures and obeys. The druid wants a living balance that feeds, heals, and does not collapse under greed or fear. When they cooperate, the land gains a voice with two registers: consequence and counsel. Together, they turn wilderness into a governed, fertile place without stripping it to stumps (or burning it all down).

TODO

Hoard and Bargains

A verdant dragon's hoard usually consists of seed-caskets, living grafts, rare woods, apothecary stock, hardened resin nodules containing valuables, and records of land rights. Verdant dragons value stewardship as treasure. A deed to an orchard may be worth more to it than a wagon of coin. Note: people not always recognize they sold an orchard to a verdant dragon. The dragon may have "moved in" nearby and bought the orchard by written contract while in humanoid form.

Lairs

Verdant Dragon Humanoid by Tillerz using MJ

Verdant lairs feel like they have grown over years: their entrances hide behind creeper curtains and reed walls that look different on every visit. Floors flex like packed humus. Shelves of fungus and medicinal moss might be seen everywhere. Hazards often express as entangling vines, spore pockets, sap-traps, and sudden fruit-drop that turns stone slick or are of the spiky kind of fruit.

The hoard rests in living vaults, where valuables sit inside hardened resin and must be cut free. Force triggers an immune response.

The Verdant Lair Immune Response

A verdant lair behaves like a living body. When intruders force their way through it, damage it, steal from it, or use heat and poison, the territory answers with a coordinated surge of growth and pressure. This is the immune response: it is the lair's built-in defense pattern, shaped over years by the dragon's presence, markings, and maintenance rites. In practical terms, the immune response is a scene switch you can trigger when the party crosses a line the lair recognizes: breaking a sap-seal, spilling blood on root-floor, setting fire, hacking living walls, disturbing resin vaults, or violating a spoken boundary. Once it triggers, the lair stops being a backdrop and starts taking actions.

Trigger: The immune response activates when intruders inflict serious harm to the lair, breach a sealed vault, use open flame, spill blood on living ground, or break a declared boundary.

Duration: It persists for the rest of the scene, or until the dragon chooses to end it.

Lair Actions: At the end of each round, or once per meaningful "beat" outside combat, the lair performs one action from the list below. Do not repeat the same action twice in a row unless the party repeats the same provocation.

• Seal: One doorway, archway, or passage narrows or closes. Forcing it risks becoming stuck or separated.
• Divide: A wall of roots rises to split a group or block line of sight.
• Grasp: Vines seize ankles and wrists, slowing movement or pinning a creature briefly.
• Spore Pulse: A cloud bursts, dulling senses, making commands harder to hear, and ruining stealth.
• Resin Sweep: Sap floods a patch of floor, turning it adhesive or slick.
• Thorn Flare: A hedge of thorns erupts as a barrier or lashes outward to punish crowded melee.
• Redirect: A corridor subtly reshapes, turning a straight route into a loop or sending a runner into a dead end.

Escalation: Each time intruders repeat the same type of provocation, increase the severity. The first breach slows and divides. The second restrains and blinds. The third begins to harm. Once escalation reaches its peak, the lair starts targeting supplies, weapons, and light sources, too.

De-escalation: The response weakens when intruders stop harming the lair and take visible steps that show as repair or respect. Extinguishing flame, backing away from resin vaults, speaking an apology tied to action, or offering water and seed can reduce the lair's aggression. A verdant dragon may accept de-escalation as proof that the intruders understand the rules.

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Age Tiers

Verdant dragons change most in scale and reach. Their magic does not become new with age. It becomes harder to resist, easier to sustain, and more difficult to escape. The younger rely on sudden growth and ambush. The older turn whole stretches of land into a slow trap that closes over days.

Age Tier	Typical Age Range
Whelp	0–25 years
Young	26–120 years
Adult	121–600 years
Ancient	601+ years

Whelp

A verdant whelp is small enough to lair in root-hollows or thick reed beds. Its breath is short and irregular, more nuisance than devastation, but it clings to clothing and ruins stealth. Its presence affects a single clearing or a short stretch of path. It tends to mark rivals and returns later when they have relaxed and are unsuspicious. A whelp's spellcraft consists of small seals, minor sprouting, and simple sap-marks. Its rune-scales are rare and often unstable, prone to losing their effect after a few days.

Lair Reach: a few hundred paces around a den

Dragon Whelp

Size: Large
Move: 6 (Fly 10)
WS: 45 | BS: 25 | S: 45 | T: 45 | I: 35 | Ag: 35 | Dex: 25 | Int: 30 | WP: 40 | Fel: 25
Wounds: 32
Armour: 3 (Scales)
The whelp fights like a trap with teeth. It rushes from cover, marks a target, then retreats into growth it already prepared.

Skills: Athletics 55, Endurance 55, Perception 45, Intimidate 40, Outdoor Survival 40.
Minimal Traits: Fear 1, Flight, Canopy Sovereignty (5 yards), Root-Sense.
Attacks: Bite (SB+5), Claws (SB+4), Tail (SB+6, may knock Prone on a successful hit if the target fails an Average (+20) Athletics Test).
Breath: Pollen Sweep (cone 6 yards, Opposed Endurance; on a failure gain Fatigued 1 and suffer −10 to Tests relying on sight or breath for 1d10 Rounds). Sap Mist (single target within 8 yards; target must pass an Average (+20) Strength or Athletics Test or gain Entangled 1 for 1d10 Rounds).
Verdant Workings: Sap-Lock Sigil, Root-Recall.

Dragon Whelp

Level 4
Health 18
Armor 2
Damage 5 (bite or claws),
Movement short (fly short)
Minimal Abilities:

• Canopy Sovereignty (enemies in short range treat natural ground as difficult terrain)
• Root-Sense (sneak tasks on natural ground are hindered by two steps)
• Pollen Sweep (cone in short range, 5 damage, Speed defence for half)
• Sap Mist (one target in short range, Might defence or becomes stuck for one round).

Young

A young verdant dragon can hold more territory. It reshapes paths, blocks access where needed and can utilize the landscape for its advantage. Its pollen breath becomes dense enough to enforce limited choices in combat, and its sap-mist can immobilize a target long enough to announce its demands. Its presence begins to influence local habits, such as where people walk, what they plant, and how animals move at night. Its spellcraft can maintain bargains and bindings for weeks. Its rune-scales bond reliably and keep their stain for seasons, which makes them sought after and feared.

Lair Reach: a small valley or a ring of farmland

Young Dragon

Size: Enormous
Move: 7 (Fly 12)
WS: 55 | BS: 30 | S: 60 | T: 60 | I: 45 | Ag: 40 | Dex: 30 | Int: 35 | WP: 55 | Fel: 30
Wounds: 58
Armour: 4 (Scales)
A young dragon can hold territory and enforce terms. It blocks routes, pressures morale, and uses sap to remove weapons from the fight.

Skills: Athletics 65, Endurance 65, Perception 55, Intimidate 50, Outdoor Survival 50.
Minimal Traits: Fear 2, Flight, Canopy Sovereignty (10 yards), Root-Sense.
Attacks: Bite (SB+6), Claws (SB+5), Tail (SB+7, may knock Prone as above).
Breath: Pollen Veil (cone 8 yards; Opposed Endurance; on a failure gain Fatigued 1 and Blinded 1 for 1d10 Rounds). Sap Mist (single target within 12 yards; Opposed Strength; on a failure gain Entangled 2 for 1d10 Rounds).
Verdant Workings: Sap-Lock Sigil, Root-Recall, Green Thread Sutures.

Young Dragon

Level 6
Health 30
Armor 3
Damage 8 (bite or claws),
Movement short (fly long)
Minimal Abilities:

• Canopy Sovereignty (enemies in short range treat natural ground as difficult terrain)
• Root-Sense (sneak tasks on natural ground are hindered by two steps)
• Pollen Veil (cone short range, 7 damage, Speed defense for half and impaired breathing for one round on a failure)
• Sap Mist (one target, Might defense or immobilized for two rounds).

Adult

An adult verdant dragon rules a region through change of growth patterns that feel natural until someone compares old maps. Its breath carries real weight. The pollen cloud becomes a choking, seeding veil that turns fallen bodies and broken ground into thickets in an instant. The sap-mist thickens into hardening sheets that can seal doors, pin limbs, and foul weapons. Its presence extends beyond sight and sound. Trails knot, fences warp, and wooden structures gain new knots and splits as if the timber was back alive. An adult's spellcraft can bind oaths with lasting consequences, trace movement through soil days after the fact, and sheath allies in bark that endures a serious fight. Its rune-scales are stable artefacts.

Lair Reach: district of wilderness or a whole watershed

Adult Dragon

Size: Monstrous
Move: 7 (Fly 14)
WS: 65 | BS: 35 | S: 75 | T: 75 | I: 55 | Ag: 45 | Dex: 35 | Int: 40 | WP: 65 | Fel: 40
Wounds: 95
Armour: 5 (Scales)
An adult dragon rules a landscape through patterns. It turns open ground into a slow cage, then chooses the moment it closes.

Skills: Athletics 75, Endurance 75, Perception 65, Intimidate 60, Outdoor Survival 60.
Minimal Traits: Terror 1, Flight, Canopy Sovereignty (15 yards), Root-Sense.
Attacks: Bite (SB+7), Claws (SB+6), Tail (SB+8, may knock Prone as above).
Breath: Pollen Storm (cone 10 yards; Opposed Endurance; on a failure gain Fatigued 2 and Blinded 1 for 1d10 Rounds). Sap Mist (line 12 yards; each target tests Strength; on a failure gain Entangled 2 and suffer −10 Agility for 1d10 Rounds as lacquer stiffens clothing and joints).
Verdant Workings: Sap-Lock Sigil, Root-Recall, Green Thread Sutures, Briar Coronation, Compost Oath.

Adult Dragon

Level 8
Health 45
Armor 4
Damage 9
Movement long (fly long)
Minimal Abilities:

• Canopy Sovereignty (enemies in short range treat natural ground as difficult terrain, two steps hindered for one chosen enemy each round)
• Root-Sense (sneak tasks on natural ground are hindered by two steps)
• Pollen Storm (cone short range, 9 damage, Speed defense for half, failure leaves target hindered on its next action)
• Sap Lacquer (line short range, Might defense or stuck for two rounds).

Ancient

An ancient verdant dragon occupy land and then starts to rewrite it to its needs. Its territory develops a "memory" of its rule, and that memory persists even if the dragon sleeps. Breath becomes intense: single exhalation can seed an entire ravine with choking bloom, or lacquer a gate district in sweet, hardening resin. Its presence alters the local balance of life, drawing certain beasts, driving others away, and shifting the character of harvests. People near such a dragon tell the same stories without knowing where they got them. An ancient dragon's spellcraft can enforce bargains across great distances within its domain, mark foes so that the claim follows them through dreams, and trigger the lair's "immune response" as an answer to intrusion. Its rune-scales are prized for generations, and removing one from its hide will be a story for generations.

Lair Reach: a whole larger region or even a small kingdom, maps might become unreliable when off the roads

Ancient Dragon

Size: Monstrous
Move: 8 (Fly 16)
WS: 75 | BS: 40 | S: 90 | T: 90 | I: 65 | Ag: 50 | Dex: 40 | Int: 50 | WP: 80 | Fel: 50
Wounds: 140
Armour: 6 (Scales)
An ancient dragon turns territory into doctrine. It rarely needs to chase prey. Routes fail, supplies spoil, and allies lose nerve long before the dragon commits.

Skills: Athletics 85, Endurance 85, Perception 75, Intimidate 70, Outdoor Survival 70, Charm 55 (through bargains and terms, not warmth).
Minimal Traits: Terror 2, Flight, Canopy Sovereignty (20 yards), Root-Sense.
Attacks: Bite (SB+8), Claws (SB+7), Tail (SB+9, may knock Prone as above).
Breath: Verdant Cataclysm (cone 12 yards; Opposed Endurance; on a failure gain Fatigued 2 and Blinded 2 for 1d10 Rounds). Sap Flood (blast 8-yard radius within 16 yards; each target tests Strength; on a failure gain Entangled 2 and cannot take a Move Action next Round).
Verdant Workings: Sap-Lock Sigil, Root-Recall, Green Thread Sutures, Briar Coronation, Compost Oath, Heartwood Husk, Orchard Sentence.

Ancient Dragon

Level 10
Health 60
Armor 6
Damage 12
Movement long (fly long)
Minimal Abilities:

• Canopy Sovereignty (enemies in short range treat natural ground as difficult terrain, two steps hindered for one chosen enemy each round)
• Root-Sense (cannot be surprised by ground movement in long range)
• Verdant Cataclysm (cone short range, 12 damage, Speed defence for half, failure leaves target dazed for one round)
• Sap Flood (area short range, Might defence or immobilized for two rounds).

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Verdant Workings

Verdant workings are the signature acts of verdant dragons and those who carry their rune-scales. Each working leaves a trace: sap residue, spore-scent, sudden sprouting, or a bark-scar that stays visible. For the rules below, assume the user of the working can see the target unless the effect says otherwise. A verdant dragon never needs tools, but rune-scale bearers usually need a free hand to touch, mark, or gesture.

Briar Coronation

A thorn-crown forms around a target's head and shoulders. The crown does not pierce at first. It tightens when the target violates a stated boundary, speaks a direct lie, or crosses a forbidden line.

WFRP4e: Casting Test Language (Magick) (Int), CN 8, Range 24 yards, Duration WP Bonus Rounds. Choose one boundary condition when cast (a place, a named person, or a stated rule). While crowned, the target suffers -10 to Fellowship Tests. Each time the boundary condition is broken, the target must pass an Average (+20) Cool Test or gain 1 Bleeding and 1 Fatigued. If the Cool Test succeeds, it still suffers 2 Damage ignoring Armour Points.
Cypher: Cost 3 Intellect, Range short, Duration 10 minutes. The target is marked by visible thorn-vines and all deception tasks are hindered by one step while the crown remains. The first time each round the target breaks the chosen boundary condition, it takes 3 damage. A successful Intellect defense roll against the user's level reduces this to 1 damage.

Compost Oath

The dragon offers a bargain sealed by burying a token. An oathbreaker's food spoils, sleep fills with crawling roots, and comfort returns only after amends.

WFRP4e: Casting Test Language (Magick) (Int), CN 10, Range Touch (token), Duration 1 month. The oath must be spoken clearly by all parties and sealed by burying a token during the casting. If a bound creature breaks the oath, it gains the Compost Mark for 1 week: it suffers -10 to all Tests made after eating or drinking because food turns foul, and it must pass a Cool Test each night or gain 1 Fatigued from root-dreams. The mark ends early if the oathbreaker makes amends that satisfy the agreement or returns the token for re-burial under the dragon's terms.
Cypher: Cost 5 Intellect, Touch (token), Duration 30 days. If the oath is broken, the oathbreaker becomes marked. For 7 days, all tasks are hindered by one step after resting or eating because sleep and food turn unpleasant. The mark ends early if amends are made in a way that fits the original bargain.

Green Thread Sutures

Thin vine-fibres stitch flesh and close wounds fast. The vines remain as faint green lines. They tighten painfully if the healed later harms the dragon's protected plants or breaks a bound bargain.

WFRP4e: Casting Test Language (Magick) (Int), CN 7, Touch, Duration Instant plus tether. The target heals 1d10 + WP Bonus Wounds and removes 1 Bleeding. The target gains a Suture-Brand for 1 day per WP Bonus. If the target harms a protected plant site or breaks a verdant bargain during that time, it immediately suffers 1 Fatigued and takes 4 Damage ignoring Armour Points.
Cypher: Cost 3 Intellect, Touch. The target restores 6 health. For the next 24 hours, if the target violates a stated verdant condition, it takes 3 damage and its next action is hindered by one step from tightening pain.

Heartwood Husk

A sheath of flexible bark grows over the dragon or an ally. It blunts blows and muffles sound. Heat makes it crack, and the cracking hurts.

WFRP4e: Casting Test Language (Magick) (Int), CN 8, Touch, Duration WP Bonus Rounds. The target gains +2 Armour Points on all Hit Locations and +20 to Stealth Tests. If the target takes fire damage while husked, it must pass an Average (+20) Endurance Test or gain 1 Stunned and lose the husk at once.
Cypher: Cost 3 Intellect, Touch, Duration 10 minutes. The target gains +2 Armor and an asset on stealth tasks. Fire attacks against the target deal +2 damage and end the husk immediately.

Lungbloom

The dragon lends a creature a brief, steady breath that holds in smoke or underwater. While it lasts, each exhale releases a faint spore-mist that betrays the creature's position.

WFRP4e: Casting Test Language (Magick) (Int), CN 6, Touch, Duration 1d10 Rounds. The target ignores penalties from smoke inhalation and can hold breath in water without testing for the duration. While active, the target cannot benefit from being Hidden at more than 2 yards and suffers -20 to Stealth Tests due to visible spore-breath.
Cypher: Cost 2 Intellect, Touch, Duration 10 minutes. The target can breathe in smoke or underwater. Stealth tasks are hindered by one step while the effect lasts because exhalations show as pale mist.

Orchard Sentence

The dragon names a target and gestures. Fruit-bearing growth erupts from nearby branches, hurling heavy volleys. The fruit rots in minutes, leaving slick ground.

WFRP4e: Casting Test Language (Magick) (Int), CN 9, Range 24 yards, Duration Instant plus terrain effect. Make a ranged magical attack using Int vs the target. On a hit, deal 8 + SL Damage (counts as Impact). Whether it hits or not, the ground within 3 yards of the target becomes Slick until the end of the scene. Entering that area requires an Average (+20) Athletics Test or the mover becomes Prone.
Cypher: Cost 4 Intellect, Range short. One target takes 8 damage. The ground in immediate range around the target becomes slick for 1 minute. Speed tasks to move through it are hindered by one step.

Root-Recall

The dragon touches soil and calls back a recent passage. Footprints and pressure marks rise as faint pale roots for a moment, showing direction, speed, and weight like a memory made physical.

WFRP4e: Casting Test Language (Magick) (Int), CN 6, Touch, Duration Instant. You reveal the last 10 minutes of movement through the touched area within a 10-yard radius. Gain +30 to Track Tests made to follow that trail for the next hour. If the ground has been flooded, burned, or paved since, halve the bonus.
Cypher: Cost 2 Intellect, Touch, Duration Instant. You learn the direction and rough number of creatures that crossed the area within the last hour and gain an asset on the next tracking task related to them.

Sap-Lock Sigil

A sticky rune-mark seals a door, chest, pouch, or wound. The seal holds until it is fed with salt or cut with clean iron. Breaking it violently sprays adhesive sap.

WFRP4e: Casting Test Language (Magick) (Int), CN 6, Touch, Duration 1 hour per WP Bonus. A sealed object requires a Challenging (+0) Strength Test to force. On a failure, the opener gains Entangled 1. On a success, the seal bursts and everyone within 1 yard must pass an Average (+20) Athletics Test or gain Entangled 1. Feeding the sigil a handful of salt ends the effect without a burst. Cutting it with iron takes a full Action and an Average (+20) Melee Test.
Cypher: Cost 2 Intellect, Touch, Duration 1 hour. The sealed object cannot be opened without either salt (ends effect) or a Might task against the user's level. On a failed opening attempt, the opener becomes stuck for one round.

Spore-King's Mirage

A drifting spore cloud shapes a false silhouette of the dragon or a chosen beast. It carries scent and sound. Clean water collapses it.

WFRP4e: Casting Test Language (Magick) (Int), CN 8, Range 24 yards, Duration WP Bonus Rounds. Create one moving illusion up to Large size. The mirage can move up to your Movement each Round as a free direction change. Anyone who scrutinizes it may attempt an Opposed Perception vs your Language (Magick). If they win, they ignore it. If it is struck by water, it collapses at once. If it is struck by a weapon, it does not take damage but sprays spores. The attacker must pass an Average (+20) Endurance Test or suffer -10 to Tests for 1 Round from coughing and stinging eyes.
Cypher: Cost 3 Intellect, Range long, Duration 10 minutes. You create a convincing moving illusion with sound and scent. Tasks to see through it are hindered by one step. If doused with water, it ends immediately. If attacked, the attacker must make a Might defence roll or be hindered on its next action by one step from spore irritation.

Verdant Inquest

A small plant twists toward whoever last harmed a chosen protected subject, or last interfered with a marked object. The plant withers if forced to "answer" a false question, so the question must be framed cleanly.

WFRP4e: Casting Test Language (Magick) (Int), CN 7, Range 12 yards, Duration 1 minute. Choose either a creature you can see (the protected subject) or an object you can touch (the marked object). The plant points in the direction of the last aggressor or interferer within the last day. Each +2 SL also reveals whether the act was close, near, or far at the time it occurred. If you ask about an event older than a day, the plant withers and the casting fails.
Cypher: Cost 3 Intellect, Range short, Duration 1 minute. You learn the general direction of the last creature that harmed the chosen subject or handled the chosen object within the last 24 hours. If no such act occurred, you learn that fact.