Carcaraxass, The Swamp Queen

Extremely strong, as a dragon she is physically fit. She has few scars from encounters with monsters and adventurers including ones across her jaw, underbelly, and a large tear in her right wing. Besides this she looks typical of most black dragons

She has a bony skull, front facing horns on the head, large wings, a long tail, strong arms, and black scales.

Her face looks as though it is a skull with the skin hanging off. There is barely any flesh on it making it so you can make out nearly her entire skull.

There is long and deep scar across her throat, where a blade cut her throat and nearly took her life for good. She also has a handful of scars around her underbelly, jaw, and a tear in her left wing but none of this is as noticable

Using a green dragon bone amulet inlaid with gold carvings made by Mama Yakoba   she wears she can turn in a dark skinned, beautiful human woman with long black hair. She can remain in this form as long as she likes so long as she is wearing the amulet. In addition she can innately cast blindness/deafness, create or destroy water, and plant growth. In addition she has the grasping muck lair action instead of the normal one that cause pools of water to surge forth and grasp creatures (see Fizbans Page 82) and Ennui affect (from the same page of the same book) is also in affect near her lair in addition to other regional affects.

She has a golden and emerald amulet embedded in her chest. This turns into a normal amulet in her human form.

Carcaraxass grew up alone in the swamp after being abandoned by her parents until she was found by Mama Yakoba . She took care of her until she reached 10 years of age at which point she was already the most fearsome creature in the swamp. However she and Mama Yakoba still kept in touch as she made her lair and settled in. Only a few years after she had made a lair she became aware of a small village called Sallow Fields that had settled nearby. As soon as she found out she became indignant with rage at the thoughts that people dared to settle in her territory. That very day she descended upon Sallow Fields and destroyed every building made of more than stone, killing the majority of those who lived there.
Initially she was prideful and relished in her victory, turning the few desecrated town into her new lair, however soon after warriors who had been told of the massacre found her. They fought valiantly but in the end Carcaraxass was much too powerful for them. However Carcaraxass who enjoyed too much the struggling in vein of other creatures, had left one of the warriors alive too long, and he ended up smiting her with a great slash across her throat with a magical sword. She immediately slashed his legs off and killed him but she was mortally wounded. She went to Mama Yakoba, the only person she could think that could stem the bleeding and heal her. Luckily she was nearby, being attracted by the sounds of battle, and was able to quickly mend the wound. After talking with Mama Yakoba she had decided that it was not enough to torture and destroy, she must subjugate and conquer. She realized she needed minions to serve and protect her, and that it was better for their to be the slow death, subtle and unrelenting, that there might be no chance such great threats as adventurers would come to her door. She began to intentionally persuade creatures to serve her, and, over time, she gained the loyalty of a tribe of kobolds that found her and gave her the title of Queen as well as a tribe of "Rot-Claw" lizardfolk. Although certainly not loyal other creatures in the swamp such as the "Black-Foot" bullywug tribe could be subjected to coercion by her if necessary, although she had no fondness of them and would rather see them dead if they were not mildly useful.
When the first settlers of Mirik Grove first moved in her first instinct was to destroy them, but Mama Yakoba quickly reminded her of the disaster that had followed previous hasty action, so instead Carcaraxass decided to demand tribute from them. In earlier years she had only demanded that twice a year they bring her 5 bushels of apples, 2 chickens, and 50gp or precious items worth similar value. This was quite reasonable in the minds of the settlers, after all she did keep out more aggressive threats such as goblins and gnolls, and besides they had no means by which to deal with her themselves, so they paid the tribute. However after a time Carcaraxass grew in strength and influence. The kobolds had begun to commit petty robbery in the growing town, bringing what they find back to their dragon queen in an attempt to impress her, and the lizardfolk acted as enforcers of Carcaraxass' will, being a constant reminder of who owns the town, and this was only the beginning of the hardest times for the town. Governor Kireth would like nothing more than to stop Carcaraxass' tyranny but lacks the means to do so, and she often takes the time to threaten him directly.
In addition to the boons from her allies Carcaraxass' age and the magic of her growing hoard has begun to produce the telltale signs that she has come into adulthood as a dragon. The swamp she lairs in has become more fetid than usual around her lair and a thick fog enshrouds her realm which never recedes, and even the townsfolk have felt the oppressing weight of her power in their hearts. Mama Yakoba suggested increasing her demands and Carcaraxass agreed that it was time to take full advantage of the now disheartened village. The previous tributes would be replaced, instead twice a year a feast in her honor would be held in the village-square of Mirik Grove. During the first feast which takes place in the fall, known as the "Harvest Festival", Mirik Grove must provide food for Carcaraxass and her minions until they are all satiated, which often results in much of the villagers not only going hungry during the feast but for many days afterwards. Entertainment is expected in the form of ballads written in the dragons honor and anything beyond this provided to please the swamp-queen is often reciprocated with a single copper coin which the kobolds will given by a kobold. During the second feast in the spring, known as "The New-Birth Festival" much is the same except that Carcaraxass does not need to be fed nor does she expect ballads for entertainment. The first time this feast was held the villagers were thankful that although they still had to feed her many minions, the dragons insatiable appetite did not have to be considered, until the kobolds began constructing the ring. Carcaraxass demands that each year during this "Festival" celebrate the renewal of life in nature and the village that spring has brought there must also be a reminder that not all life flourishes to its full extent. 5 people from among the village must be chosen to enter the roped off ring in the village-square. Once within they will each be provided with lizardfolk crafted weapons (Carcaraxass prefers their brutal design) and must fight to the death until only one remains. Although completely arbitrary Carcaraxass will not accept the incredibly young, old, feeble, or mentally impaired to participate for unknown reasons. During the bout nearly all but the most depraved villagers look away but do not leave lest they anger the Swamp-Queen and Carcaraxass watch the bout in excitement and shouting, should someone attempt to escape the ring they are torn to shreds by the onlookers. Once only one remains Carcaraxass devours those that died and congratulates the victor. She usually then gives some kind of speech celebrating the battle and then a kobold jabs the victor with a soporific poison, they are then carried back to the swamp alongside the dragon and her minions. No one knows what happens to the victor nor has one ever returned. Carcaraxass takes these victims and performs an "Ascension" Ritual on them, the true purpose of the New-Birth Festival being to hopefully yield someone that is a viable subject for the ritual.

Mama Yakoba has taught her a little about magic but she has learned little outside of that, besides what she has learned from experience.

With help from Mama-Yakoba she figured out how to magically animate the tree that she resides beneath as her lair and even grant it sentience. In addition she has an amulet embedded in her scales that allows her to appear as a young, beautiful, dark skinned, woman with long black hair. Once she even fought back 4 hill giants at once to protect her lands and succeeded feasting on them and allowing her subjects to do the same in a grand feast back in the days when giants still roamed the material plane.

She was badly wounded by several adventurers before she had enchanted her current lair with the help of Mama Yakoba. They nearly killed her before she finally bathed them in acid and killed them. But this led to her current paranoia and safety precautions of her lair. This is also part of why she has taken more precautions with dealing with the town. Initially she had destroyed the entirety of the village that predated Mirik-Grove, the ruins of which are now lost in her swamp. However even though she had killed many of them stragglers survived and hid in her lands, they trained and acquired treasures with which to defeat her, and that is how she nearly lost her life.

Cunning and smart but arrogant and certainly not wise enough to believe that any she has seen creature could defeat her.

Believes that she is the strongest creature in her domain and that all others in her domain exist to serve her. She desires to watch civilization flicker and eventually dive in and extinguish it herself.

Giving anything to someone who is not her subject.

She believes that no civilization should be allowed to grow powerful, only stagnant and easy to play with, or small and devout enough to easily manipulate and spends much of her time ensuring this happens, and if she cannot accomplish that she decides it is better to destroy them swiftly. Besides this she enjoys gathering lackeys and gathering treasure, although treasure taken from the ruins of other civilizations or extorted out of them is preferable.
Going with this she believe that all sentient creatures should either come to worship her or die, which has mostly developed out of the kobolds and lizard folk that serve under her. She does not believe that those under her should not be allowed to worship actual gods, nor is she convinced she is one, and she does not believe Mama Yakoba  should have to submit to her, however when it comes to all other beings besides the divine, they must either worship her or slowly die, which she views as an opportunity for repentance. Hence when it comes to Mirik-Grove, she desires that one day they build a shrine to her and worship her.

She is proficient with magic and raw power and emotional manipulation however she lacks knowledge of most other basic concepts such as how governments work outside of dictatorships and everything that humanoids are capable of, however even there she is well aware of how dangerous they can be.

She enjoys when a creature says that it is weaker than she is. She hates when a creature matches her arrogance.

Can easily intimidate nearly anyone. She is strong and powerful and knows how to manipulate people into serving her. She also knows how to manipulate humanoids emotions and how easy they are to control with things like fear or love, hence why she prefers cold blooded lizard folk as servants.

Arrogant yet paranoid Carcaraxass can be seen bossing around most creatures while still hiding in her lair most of the time. True adventurers terrify her and her mind is consumed with a thought that she pushes back every time it comes up, "I will surely be slain by wretched monster hunters".

A foul, acrid air permeates from her at all times. Her maw smells of rot and death. It is not uncommon to see rotting vegetation sticking to her hide or caught between her teeth along with a chunk of meat.

She rules over all of her swamp. The lizardfolk answer to her as does Mama Yakoba, the kobolds, and even the bullywugs. Even the beasts of the marsh rarely interfere with her and if they could understand her they would obey.

Carcaraxass reveres no god however she believes in them. Occasionally she will make an offering to Tiamat more out of respect than anything.

Although Carcaraxass lacks the charisma to properly sway others or persuade them she is plenty capable of intimidating people and those she can't she simply kills, hence why so many follow her.

She enjoys getting in the face of whoever she is talking to  to show her teeth and corrosive saliva, which often drips out of her mouth, sizzling on the ground.

Her "pets" consist of those that serve under her and she enjoys toying with them. Her hobbies mostly include disguising herself as a human and meddling in the affairs of humanoids, especially those in Mirik Grove. Sometimes she will spend some time with Mama Yakoba to learn some magic however her hobbies mostly consist of plotting schemes and acting on them. Sometimes she can be seen patrolling her swamp from the air to make sure that no threatening force is drawing near.

When hearing her voice there are only two reactions among humanoids, fear, or hatred. Acrid is the best way to describe her voice. She subtlety belittles those she talks to and constantly has a tone of general unconcern. Whether she takes someone seriously or whether she is simply toying with them is often hard to determine.

Deep within her lair, in the central chamber where she lairs, hidden away within the rotting roots of the great tree under which she lairs, Carcaraxass has hollowed out the roots of this tree and hidden away the great wealth she has obtained over the course of her immensely long lifetime. No one but her knows where her treasure is, and it is well hidden within the roots of the tree, with the only openings into them being carved open flaps of the outer root, which fold down to disguise the opening. Within the roots are:

• 4,200 copper pieces, 7,000 silver pieces, 16,500 gold pieces, and 1,800 platinum pieces. All of these coins are, strange. Most characters cannot recognize the origins of even a single coin, whereas those whom succeed on a DC 16 wisdom (history) check recognize the faces on some of the coins as leaders of Silvaria, long dead, and others of civilizations they have never even heard of, with many of them possessing script on them that is completely foreign.
• 2 pieces of hematite (each worth 10gp), 2 of black jasper and 2 pieces of black onyx (each worth 50gp), 2 pieces of jade, 1 piece of tourmaline, 1 piece of brown-green garnet, and 1 piece of jet (each worth 100gp), 4 black pearls and 1 piece of alexandrite (each worth 500gp), 2 black opals, 1 fire opal, and 2 emeralds (each worth 1000gp).
• 300lbs of silver, 100lbs of gold, and 40lbs of platinum, mostly in the form of unmarked bars while some are large chunks, appearing to have been broken off of something.
• A set of +2 Splint armor, an Ioun Stone (protection), a lumberjack axe (AA&CC), and a potion of truth (AA&CC).
She also has a small collection of items she either cannot fit in the roots or would rather have them displayed throughout her lair:

• A scroll containing a long epic poem in praise of the dragon
• A stuffed catoblepas
• A small shrine with a statuette, a brazier, and an altar dedicated to Sess'inek (A reptilian demon lord that corrupts lizard-folk and gave rise to Myra)
• A set of irregular polyhedral dice (with 9, 13, 25, and 34 sides) made of bone from an unknown creature
• 4 carved bone statuettes, making up a collection of figures that represent all the rulers of Carcaraxass, The Swamp Queen swamp, including one of Carcaraxass herself, one of Myra, the Lizardfolk Queen , Mama Yakoba , and one of Markova , a beautifully enameled urn containing the desiccated heart of her former red dragon rival(Meregolos), 1 gold bird cage with electrum filigree within which she keeps and weak and ill finch, and 1 bronze crown (each worth 250gp) 3 silver chalices set with moonstones, a ceremonial electrum dagger with a black pearl in the pommel, An opal and gold necklace which once belonged to the leader of the town now in ruins that she lairs in, a gold dragon comb set with red garnets as eyes, and a silver-plated steel longsword with jet set in hilt (each worth 750gp).
• 20lbs. of salt, 50lbs. of iron, 30 lbs of copper