As is typical of the Hin outside Luiren, my relatives are a fairly prosperous and hard-working
lot, I made my way out of the bustling streets of Athkatla past two towering shield golems which
were quite heavily modified to be cargo loaders but still very intimidating until I flashed an
amulet at them to let them know I was allowed on the property uninvited, then I walked into what
appeared to be a rich lumber yard, with wagons of woven rugs, pallets of slate for roofing tiles,
cut flagstones, metal bars and rods in oiled crates, this was goods enough to fill three
caravels at least, all ready to set off on their various ways across the Sea of Swords now that
winter was over. Beyond the sheds and between two large warehouse buildings no doubt packed
with more perishable goods and with many more protections, I followed a well-lit path until it
all opened up into a riot of herbs and flowers, little fruit trees and fragrant shrubs with one
great plum tree, dappling a sprawling, well made but kind of ramshackle mansion with a roof painted
grass green and walls of vibrant red. This was the barrow of my cousins, the Bartermews, and
as I fully expected, I was not greeted by anyone other than a wry, wheezing voice from the bows
of the old plum tree. Looking over at the sound, I spotted Daznowaggit lazing on a patch of mossy
bark, looking down at me. Typical of his breed, he was a rather chunky, short-limbed, long-tailed and
fang-toothed Drake, which, aside from the delicate wings gently fanning in and out of the sunlight,
made him look more like a very well fed marine iguana than a member of the drake family, he was
a little puffed up as he took in deep breaths to speak to me, but I could tell he was very alert,
wide awake, which meant, in his own way, that he was either happy to see me, or about to attack me.
"You're late for lunch, and don't go asking for free rides on trade ships to the south,
you know they are going to the shaes" "I didn't know, but thanks for that Daznowaggit,
I hope the family has been treating you well?" "On your travels, have you learned a spell to
make plums grow faster?" "Sadly I have not,
otherwise I would be a very rich sage and you would have all the best barrels of my plum liquor"
"A drake can dream, a drake can dream... go on in sage, I've always liked you"
"Same my friend, can I bring you anything?" "Nothing I can't take without your help"
"True, true, I'll never know all your secrets" "You don't know even one!"
I shrugged, the little drake laughed and burped, and I went inside for
a nice friendly visit with the family. Alehouse drakes don't get much attention in
the history books, though perhaps they should. Hello, I am AJ Pickett and I make videos on
monster ecologies, locations and history of the many worlds of Dungeons & Dragons.
I'm not entirely sure how old Daznowaggit is, but he knew my great grandfather and halflings
often live to be two centuries old, though he must have known him in his later years because
I am fairly sure Alehouse drakes don't live much past three to four hundred years. Old as he was,
like all the draconic creatures, he was not feeble, he just looked tougher,
slept longer and tended to complain more, he was also one of the largest I had ever seen,
fully three feet long, a foot larger than any others I had encountered in all the inns and
taverns south of the sea of fallen stars. I once asked him why none of them live futher north,
he just said none of them were fond of roasting on sticks over giants fire pits,
which is fair enough, I don't want to get eaten by giants either. He is heavy, the average adult
alehouse drake can weigh around eighteen pounds or eight kilograms, Daznowaggit is 10 kilos at least,
but he can still fly fast enough to catch up with a rider on a horse quite easily, I have also seen
him outrace a Pseudodragon, so that would put his speed at about 80 feet per round, flying,
on the ground, his short legs are very strong, and he rears up at full speed to sprint on just
his hind legs, reaching 40 feet per round, so, do not be fooled by their laziness, they may not be
very good at lifting things or jumping without use of their wings with a strength of seven,
but they are very agile and inexhaustible, with a dexterity of 16 and constitution of 19. Their
rich amber, green and copper scales are wide, but smooth and supple with white scales on their
underside and quite expressive mouth, they have a frill of little horns at the back of their skull
and running down their spine to about one third the length of their tail, they have a natural
armor class of 13 and 10d4+40 or between 50 and 80 with an average of 65 hit points,
still they do count as tiny creatures usually, I think Daznowaggit is technically small though.
All alehouse drakes have 60 ft darkvision, +3 to insight checks, +5 to persuasion checks and +5 to
deception checks, so watch yourself, they love to play pranks, and don't be fooled, they are
completely immune to paralysis and being knocked unconscious, no matter how much they drink. They
are clever creatures, with an intelligence of 11, wisdom of 12 and charisma of 16, they
speak draconic eloquently and speak the common tongue of whatever lands they dwell in very well.
Now, I just want to set the record straight, that alehouse drakes don't eat cats, not all the time,
not very often, they eat rats and other vermin and they will eat cats only if they see them
as competition, so you will not often see cats and alehouse drakes living under the same roof.
They don't hunt cats and don't go out of their way to kill tresyms, that is just a nasty rumour that
they are largely responsible for. Alehouse drakes are tough,
agile and formidable fighters that can make short work of aggressive dogs, there are always
quite a lot of dogs at Bartermew Barrow, used for riding and carting parcels around, they
never bother Daznowaggit and tend not to bark a lot lest they get a threatening hiss from him. One
alehouse drake can take out a whole pack of dogs, thanks to their weaponized burps and their long
fangs and claws, they are also more agile than a dog, with +5 to any dexterity saving throws.
Their breath weapon is their burp, recharging at the start of the round on a roll of 5 and 6 on a
six-sided die, An alehouse drake can burp a cloud of intoxicating gas in a 15-foot cone. A creature
caught in the cloud becomes poisoned for 1 minute and must make a successful DC 14 Constitution
saving throw or become stunned for 1d6 rounds. This cloud is actually invisible, despite what
you may have seen in tapestry art, its not a glowing green cloud. They bite or claw at +5
to hit targets within 5ft, the bite inflicts 1d6+3 piercing damage and though its not mentioned,
they can lock their jaws onto a victim, wrap that tail around the body and just hang on while
getting advantage on subsequent claw attacks, the claws inflict 2d4+3 slashing damage and they make
use of them the most in a fight, including leaping past and slashing using their flight ability and
their familiarity with the building they dwell in, and their small size, darting past, slashing and
evading retaliation. However, they are very much draconic creatures, and they are magical, which
gives them a very unfair advantage, particularly in their ability to cause utter confusion.
An alehouse drake can make a touch attack that induces confusion as per the spell, but also
grants its target +3 to all Dexterity-based skill checks and melee attacks. This effect lasts for
1d4 rounds. A successful DC 13 Charisma saving throw negates this effect but doesn't confer
any special immunity to subsequent touch attacks. Also, alehouse drakes are highly sneaky spell
casters, its draconic magic though, so I have never been able to figure out how daznowaggit does
it, he doesn't require any material components, has no spell books, doesn't even study magic
and scoffs at my feeble attempts at the art, saying what I do is bumbling and crude. Alehouse
drakes have a remarkable talent called Forgetful Spellcasting, When an alehouse drake targets a
creature with a mind-affecting spell, the creature must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom save or immediately
forget the source of the spell. You would not believe how long it took me to figure this out,
and I think, the fact that I did is the reason why Daznowaggit considers me worthy of being a friend.
From what I can tell, Alehouse drakes innate casting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 13, +5
to hit with spell attacks), they can cast friends and vicious mockery at will, five times per day
they can cast calm emotions, dissonant whispers, ray of sickness and hideous laughter, three times
per day they can cast confusion and invisibility. The Tome of Beasts has this to say about the
behaviour of Alehouse drakes in general. "Alehouse drakes squat in busy bars,
rowdy taverns, and bustling inns. A bane or saviour to every bartender and innkeeper, they
enjoy pushing patrons’ emotions, driving crowds to ecstatic cheers or bloody bar fights. These drakes
prefer the company of civilisation, making their homes in cities and towns, though older drakes
settle down in roadside coaching inns. In the former situations, they are often troublemakers
or pranksters, but in the latter circumstances, they usually befriend the proprietor and help
manage flared tempers and weepy drinkers in return for living space and a generous tab.
There are far more advantages to having a drake befriend you than mere tooth, claw and spells.
Alehouse drakes gossip endlessly. Perched in hiding places throughout busy taverns,
they overhear many stories, and often trade in information, making them good sources for
news about town and older drakes keep a fairly good watch over a whole region.
More devious and ill-mannered alehouse drakes resort to blackmail, but usually only to secure
a comfortable spot in their chosen tavern, while the friendlier types are invaluable
guests at establishments which cater to visiting nobles and others whose reputation precedes them.
Alehouse drakes will also warn each other and their patrons of suddenly spreading raids by
orcs, gnolls and goblinoids, giving vital time to pack up the essentials and flee for safety.
As you may have guessed, my great grandfather on my mother's side was once the owner of a large
and famous tavern in Luiren before the floods and it seems even though the bartermews no longer run
such a business, Daznowaggit still gets plenty of cases of fine Thayan red wine to keep him happy.
Please hit that like button to join daznowaggit in a tasty beverage,
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