"The younger species will do great things---but will need some subtle support to survive."
Sro, also known as the Great Sro, is an adult silver dragon who took a particular interest to the events in Isonhound during 825 PR leading up to the The Battle of Five Lights.
Sro famously authored Lessons From Your Forefathers, a pamphlet handed out to heroes of the Greedy Green.
Ideals
Sro believed he owed the short-lived mortals the lesson of responsibility and preparedness. He wanted to prove who is ready for the new age and who is not.
About
He has generally been friendly toward adventurers and has a penchant for teaching lessons so they can better protect the realm from the coming of Tiamat. His lair is located high in the mountaintops of central Isonhound. His ward is a paladin of Bahamut named Belle.
Sro's hoard is Mayors. That's it. He goes to towns and collects their mayors. From there he takes them to his lair and has riveting conversations about running small towns across Quelmar. Typically he'll let them go home after that....typically.
Many cities were aware of Sro's hoard and his tendency to invade and take political officials, and as such, many established locations such as Synàra and Deeplake, had a plan to offer up a "Mayor Substitute", as Sro often times did not do enough research before invading, leading to him to kidnap mayor-adjacent officials, such as the Assistant to the Mayor, or the Arcscholar. Smaller towns were often underresearched, and had their real mayors taken, such as the mayors of Musso and Galloway.
History
Into the Greedy Green
Sro first appeared in Synara during the festival of Asar Ogalas in 825PR as one of the three titular dragons of the Three Dragons on Synàra incursion, where he stormed the capital building and used his breath weapon to put soldiers to sleep. He abducted a city official who came running out enthusiastically claiming to be the mayor and flew away (the real mayor having escaped out a window). The adventurers soon learned that mayors from many other towns across the region had been similarly abducted in the past.
Soon thereafter, a band of adventurers traveled to his lair to retrieve one of the stolen mayors. There, they encountered Belle and Sro, who warned of Tiamat’s return. He said he was stealing mayors as a test of the realm’s strength. To further test the adventurers in his lair, Sro polymorphed Belle into a silver dragon and a battle ensued.
After this battle, Sro provided several lessons for dragon fighting, as many unsavory dragons had returned to the region. Sro’s “Lessons from your Forefathers” read:
- Don’t Fight a Dragon in its own Lair.
- Work together with your allies.
- Elemental Arrows of Dragon Slaying are more useful than Guns and Explosions.
- Pin them down if you need to bring in a bruiser.
- Spiked Armor can prevent being eaten or squeezed to death.
- Above all else, weapons should never need to be drawn when a Dragon can always be stopped with Trickery.
After the challenge, Sro admitted that the world may indeed be ready to fight dragons once more. This is one of several documented cases of Sro transforming Belle into a dragon to “test” adventurers and teach them lessons.
Against the Stag
"Yes P’kinestra, the Law of Consequence is coming for you next." - Sro to the trapped Green Stag
Sro asked adventurers from Isonhound for help with several tasks, including with eliminating the Green Stag. However, his help was short lived, as he caused a cave-in, trapping the adventurers with the dragon in its lair. Fortunately, the Green Stag was defeated, but not without loss of life. On another occasion, Sro ordered a team of adventurers to free a “good” dragon who had been imprisoned by the Wold Order.
Later, Sro equipped several adventurers with the Tears of Sardior, gems capable of holding dragon boons. Sardior, he explained, is a deceased dragon god akin to Tiamat. Many centuries ago, he said, the gem dragon court went their separate ways in their own pursuits. But some have been seeking each other out, perhaps to rejoin and bring forth the return of Sardior. Sro’s efforts appear to support the return of Sardior.
Against the Order
At some point soon after, Sro discovered that another faction in Isonhound was performing similar training for heroes of the realm. However, he disproved of their methods. As it turned out, the Wold Order was setting up fake dragon lairs with mock hoards as "tutorial dungeons", used as proxy missions to send eager aspiring heroes of the realm.
However, rather than teach the heroes, this was a literal "Trial by Fire", even going so far as to internally call their dungeon The Firegates. He investigated and enlisted some of his own heroes to dismantle the dungeon.
Against the Shadows
Not being a gem dragon, Sro was mostly powerless against the psionic and shadow energies that devoured the land during The Umbral Flood, as a result, he enlisted the help of heroes (by taking the form of a field mouse and being carried surreptitiously across the shadows) to take him to the shelter set up by the gem dragon Bleucorundum. From there, he worked with other great dragons in the region (and the heroes of the Greedy Green) on a plan that would take down Feredemius, resulting in The Battle of Five Lights.
Powers
Sro could cast Beacon of Hope, Calm Emotions, Hold Person, Polymorph, Teleport, Zone of Truth
Hoard
Mayors, Silver Pieces and Silver Chalices and various Silverish jewelery. Also hoards old maps and knowledge of the realm, quickly learning over many years how the current realm is shaped in its politics.
Behind the Screen
- Sro is named and modeled after The Great Sro, the first named dragon to appear in Dragon Magazine (via an ad for a miniature in the 5th issue in 1975)
- Sro shares this trait with Flame who is likewise named for the first named dragon in Dungeon Magazine, and Velatheidros named for the first named dragon in the rebooted Dragon Magazine.
