Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="smbakeresq" data-source="post: 7007501" data-attributes="member: 28301">Of course its a turn key.  The Doppelganger that wasrunning it for the dragon overlord was pretty efficient at making it work.  From the old book Draconomicon, which everyone should get as its what dragons should be:Lothaenorixius Great Wyrm Blue Dragon Lothaenorixius is a dragon possessed. For decades, he preyed on salt caravans crossing his desert territory. The people who operated the caravans and the mines that supplied them constantly sought to eliminate the dragon. One day, a group of adventurers hired by a mine owner located Lothaenorixius’s lair and nearly succeeded in slaying him. Enraged, the dragon assaulted the mine itself, destroying the owners and taking over the entire mine. Lothaenorixius was quick to realize that the mine was a source of wealth. Rather than destroy it, he kept it in operation. The dragon now spends his days and nights trying to extract the maximum profit from his mine. Lothaenorixius knows he must spend something on food and lodgings for his workers and draft animals, but in his greed he begrudges every copper spent. He constantly tries to produce the maximum profit for the minimum investment. He makes extensive use of undead labor, but undead creatures do not work quickly enough to satisfy him. As a result, he finds some living workers a necessity, especially for transporting salt to market. Every three months, Lothaenorixius reviews production and income, then makes adjustments to his workforce. This usually entails killing and eating some workers (though he always saves some bodies for later animation as undead). If he’s particularly displeased with the results, even his followers and cohorts feel his wrath. In spite of his management methods, Lothaenorixius tries to keep a low profile. He has circulated a tale of his defeat at the hands of the party who unsuccessfully assaulted him in his lair. He runs the mine through his special cohort Lilanab (currently his 8th, the previous seven having been slain as examples to the rest of the workforce). Lilanab is an erinyes devil who masquerades as a human and poses as the leader of the group that “killed” Lothaenorixius. Parties are more likely to encounter Lothaenorixius’s servants that the dragon himself, unless they attack and loot the mine. Lothaenorixius comes forth to defend his holding if he perceives any threat. He also occasionally takes wing just to feel and breathe the hot desert air, or to disrupt a competitor’s trade. Lothaenorixius spends most of each day keeping tabs on business at the mine. He uses prying eyes spells and a crystal ballto monitor activities throughout the place. This surveillance usually gives him ample warning of any attempts to invade his lair. Lothaenorixius usually tries to disguise himself before entering combat. He uses his veil ability to appear as some other big, flying creature. A gynosphinx or a brass dragon are two of his favorite guises. Lothaenorixius stays hidden in a vast, secret chamber in the salt mine he has taken over. The mine and the complex of buildings that support it are home to more than 300 beings. These include Lilanab and more than 50 clerics with access to the Evil and Earth domains, dozens of mummies, and about 100 zombies. The remainder (around 150 individuals) consists of overworked slaves of various kinds (mostly humans). Every resident with an Intelligence score is aware that an unseen master controls the mine, but only Lilanab and the clerics know their overlord is the great blue wyrm Lothaenorixius.This creature would have multiple mines, and the PC's get to one of them while away.  The Dragon doesn't notice until the payments stop (allowing the PC to advance in level to be competitive) then he comes to investigate.  Of course the original owners of the mine, who the dragon in polymorphed form swindled out of the mine, want their mine back also after the PC's cleared it out.  The dragon would not just come in a kill everyone, it would be polymorphed into an acceptable race.  The key behind these things is having the mine owners be good aligned, so they want the mine back but are not evil, so the PCs cant kill them.</blockquote>

Verification