Chasm Linnorm
“Chinese Dragon” © Russell Dongjun Lu, accessed at his ArtStation here
[Commissioned by @glarnboudin, based on the What’s New Scooby-Doo episode “Block-Long Hong-Kong Terror” This was the first episode of What’s New Scooby-Doo I had seen; it came out right in that unsweet spot where I thought I was too old for cartoons. I was pleasantly surprised--the writers seemed to care more about the mystery than in any other Scooby-Doo series. There were five suspects, two red herrings, and at one point Daphne and Velma discuss possible motives. Also, all of the members of the Scooby Gang have personalities, which is more than can be said for some Scooby-Doo series.
The commissioner suggested that, since it’s referred to as “the bad luck dragon” in the text of the episode, I connect it to linnorms. So I went ahead and just made it a linnorm, which also fills in a CR gap in the linnorms in the Bestiaries. This did, however, add a level of difficulty to the art, because two-legged Chinese dragons are uncommon on the internet, and ones with the right color palette are even rarer.]
Chasm Linnorm CR 15 CE Dragon This immense dragon has a whiskered face and a great mane. Its scales are red and yellow-gold, and it only has two clawed legs.
Chasm linnorms are subterranean dragons that lash spitefully out at creatures they come across. They are sometimes called “bad luck dragons”, as their bite spreads a curse of misfortune, and they have an unnerving tendency to target the same individual or family for their depredations over the course of years or centuries. Although they are native to deep underground canyons, they are sometimes found in cities, dwelling in their sewers or dungeons and emerging to prey on the populace. Chasm dragons feel especially comfortable in large, well-developed cities, as tall buildings and cramped alleys remind them of their subterranean homes.
Unlike most linnorms, chasm linnorms have manes, whiskers and other hair that causes them to more closely resemble imperial dragons. Rumors abound that they are the result of crossbreeding between linnorms and underground imperial dragons, but the two species hate eat other and fight to the death when their paths cross. Like all linnorms, they are covetous, and will happily destroy entire city blocks to obtain a single bauble.
In combat, chasm linnorms act much like their cousins, using their breath weapons when able to blast multiple foes at once. Their fiery breath blows away smaller creatures, and they are fond of using this to push foes off of ledges or knock them from climbing rock walls. Unlike other linnorms, they are not poisonous, but their cursed bite is vile enough to make foes wish for poison. Anyone fortunate enough to slay a chasm linnorm is struck with its death curse, feeling as if a weight is always on their shoulders pushing them down.
A chasm linnorm is fifty feet long and weighs around 13,000 pounds.
