Taiga Linnorm

Linnorms love out-of-the-way places, and the boreal forests near the crown of the world are more out of the way than most. 

I especially like taiga linnorms for their sheer spikiness, which seems to both reflect their pine forest habitats and be a throwback to dragonkind’s wilder, less regimented days.  Of course some dragons should be so riddled with spines that it’s dangerous to even thrust a sword at one. Why not have a breath weapon of electrified vapor?  In the heart of the endless northern forests, who’s going to hear your PCs if they complain?

The Mammoth Hearts, a clan of taiga giants, have been enslaved by a taiga dragon.  Already their elephantine steeds have been devoured, and they fear worse fates for themselves.  Spurred on by a skull-faced alchemist whispering tales of glory in his earholes, the linnorm has used his electric breath to spark the machinery of an ancient city to life—machinery that could be used to turn the taiga giants into rune giants.

When meteors fall in the taiga, no man sees…but a dragon does.  The taiga linnorm Nebuchar has a passion for skymetal.  He gathers fallen meteorite fragments to ornament his lair and supplement his diet (making his spiny hide even harder in the process).  He also consumes or enslaves any creatures that might have ridden the falling stars to earth.  In particular, his lair (a nest of shattered pine trunks as large as a village) is riddled with akata cocoons that hatch when disturbed by treasure hunters.  He also has far more powerful beasts penned up near his hoard, including several mind-stealing yithians.

The bogatyr Pyter Ironhand scoffed at a taiga linnorm’s death curse—until the moment an upstart lightning-spewing sorcerer nearly laid him low in the market square.  Now feeling his mortality and his manhood is at stake, Ironhand demands to slay another such linnorm. His liege, less sanguine about his chances, strong-arms a party of adventurers to aid the knight-errant.

—Pathfinder Bestiary 3 184

Paizo has been running sneak peeks of the Bestiary 4 over on their blog, and these guys look like they’ll be fun.  Speaking of which, my copy is ordered and should be in my hands soon.  I’ll begin adding Bestiary 4 monsters into the roster starting with the letter U.  And yes, don’t worry, I do plan to circle back and cover the missing monsters from Bestiary 3 (letters A–D), 4 (A–T) and the Inner Sea Bestiary (A–M) once we’ve made it once through the alphabet the first time.