[u][b]Name[/b][/u] - Scolopendra
[u][b]Appearance[/b][/u] - 

[img]http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/034/4/1/hydra__dipsy_demo__by_sandara-d74271p.jpg[/img]

Appears like in the picture, as a six-headed snake-like dragon. Not seen in the picture is the long 'tail' of the creature and the two leg-like appendages protruding at roughly one third of its length. They are used as feet when moving across terrain, but can be utilized like hands when needed.

[u][b]Skills[/b][/u] - Can breathe infinitely in water. Produces large amounts of brightly purple glowing bile that reacts like acid and eats through all sorts of organic tissue and anorganic materials in a matter of seconds, but has no effect on bones. Scales of other dragons are able to withstand the liquid decently, though if applied to gaping, open bite wounds it can have poison-like effects. Scolopendra has no wings and is thus unable to fly, but can move at an unexpectedly high speed over terrain and water through a combination of snake-like movements and short lunges using its two 'feet'. It can not speak to humans directly.
[u][b]Magical abilities[/b][/u] - Is dabbling into sub-branches of necromancy, but only has very limited power over the dead. Scolopendra is ironically unable to uphold more than one undead existance at once, making this ability virtually useless outside of communication with humans.

[hider=Backstory]
Scolopendra was part of Rylarths crusade through the landscape of darkness and undeath. It followed him to the top of Kothrath and saw the terrifying effect of the black rose. After Rylarths forces retreated from the devastated fields, Scol remained, intrigued by the magic that kept the undead fighting long after their bodies became useless. It stayed just long enough to observe Slonith fall victim to the roses corruption and fled into the Middle Sea on a self-imposed quest of quarantine, fearing both infection and infecting others. 
It took decades for Scol to be sighted again, its body changed by the fleeting influence of the black rose, but its mind had resisted the seeds of corruption. The once majestic dragon lost its wings during the long period of watery isolation, its scales blackened, devolved into a poison spewing monstrosity. Seeking contact to a human settlement at the cliffs near Witchlight Jungle, Scol found itself unable to communicate with the mortals, its frightening appearance causing panic and chaos. After remembering part of its studies on undead bodies back in the lands of shadow, it began to interact through the use of simple, undead emmissaries. While those too were met with suspicion and distrust at first, the dragons claims to protect their settlements if payed adequate respect soon led to a cult emerging from the locals. Time passed and the humans began to trust Scolopendra, began to worship it and built a temple at the cliffs in its name. While the 'Serpent's Temple' served as a home only to the cult directly worshipping the dragon, people in settlements all over the jungle enjoyed its protection and patronage. While it occasionally supplies its people with food and riches, neighbouring villages and settlements distrust those in favor of the sea beast, causing the population of the Witchlight Jungles to seclude themselves from political interaction and commerce with other cultures. 

The only thing Scolopendra demanded from its followers was one thing: bones. The bones of their dead, the bones of their livestock, the bones of their quarry. It remains a mystery what the creature needs bones for, and even the cult only knows that they are hoarded in large underground caves below the Serpent's Temple. Dishonoring their dead was a low price for the alliance with such a mighty being. After Scol established its reign over these jungles, it employed a human cult leader with the authority to enforce its will. It frequently shows itself to the cult, but only directly communicates with a chosen circle of cultist leaders. Only the inner circle is aware that the beast raids commerce shipments all over the Middle Sea to collect the treasure and goods it provides its country with, leaving no survivors to tell about it. Officially, ships simply...disappear. Nobody knows that Scolopendra is in fact using the people under its command only to hoard more bones, and that it would abandon them in an instant if it would lead to a favorable position.
[/hider]

[u][b]Holdings[/b][/u] - Witchlight Jungle, northeastern parts of the Middle Sea

[hider=Social structure and culture]

The people in the Witchlight Jungles essentially hold no military strength, as they're living like an assortment of tribes, rather than a unified nation. Their housings often don't surpass clay or wood huts, as the terrain is mostly comprised of swampland and bogs. Their occasional temples are built from stone, and while they use metal tools and weapons the dragon supplies them with, the extend of actual metalworking is limited to small objects like earrings and accessories. There are four seperate tribes in the Witchlight Jungles, and while they keep seperated from one another most of the time, they have no tension or conflicts between one another. They are all more or less religiously bound to the dragon, which ties them together and isolates them from others. All four tribes can join the cult equally and are treated the same. The cult resides around the temple built in Scolopendra's honor, though there are few other temples scattered across the jungle. Members of the cult are generally respected by the entire population and retain certain privileges, like shelter or food no matter where they go, all tribes abide to this law. However, it is generally not regarded as a law, rather a matter of courtesy - there usually is no need to enforce it. While the dragon has never encouraged - nor disapproved of - the application of superstition and primitive magic, the people of the Witchlight Jungles are known for their unsettling practices and rites that gave the area its name to begin with.

The cult is comprised of the inner circle, the official cult, voluntary cult workers, the dragons emissary and one, in very rare cases two oracles.
The inner circle is a number of trusted members of the cult who are handpicked by the dragon itself. Age is not as much of a matter for this choice as is devotion and loyality. One of the inner circle is proclaimed the cult leader, and though the leader must come from this chosen group, the circle may vote for or decide on a leader independently, unless the dragon enforces the title upon someone specific. Members of the inner circle are not secret to the rest of the cult, but other members usually do not inquire, so the precise number is not known. The inner circle has no higher privilege than any other cult member, and their special tasks are unofficial in order to avoid jealousy, competitive ambition or treason.
The cult as a whole represents the dragon and acts as its eyes. They act as a reminder that Scolopendra has many heads and countless pairs of eyes, and spend most of their time worshipping the beast, maintaining the temple and overlooking the settlements of all four tribes. Typically, cult members are seen in black cloaks and wearing masks depicting dragon heads similar to those of Scolopendra. As an initiation ritual, all cult members have to touch an artefact given to them by the dragon, one of its corrosive scales. This process burns the palm of one - typically the left one - of their hands, visually scarring it and rendering it numb and unable to feel pain. In rare cases, if the tissue regenerates enough to restore the sense of touch to that hand, it is seen as an omen and the person is often introduced to the inner circle as a result. Those gifted humans then go through aptitude tests to see if they are fit to act as oracles, which may communicate with the emissary - and thus the dragon - directly. Oracles attempt to foresee the future of the land, and to a lesser degree travel routes of merchant ships so that the dragon may intercept them at sea. The emissary is the dragon itself, manually controlling a single undead construct to communicate with the cult. Often it uses dead seafarers for this ordeal, but if none are available it may use newly deceased cult members. The emissary is not openly identifying itself outside of formal occasions and frequently 'infiltrates' the cult or regular villages to secretly check on its subordinates. There are rumors about this process but no official confirmation, not even in the inner circle.

The people of the Witchlight Jungles have numerous cultural festivities at which they gather around one of their temples and feast, dance or chant accordingly. Not all of these events are in honor of the dragon, and not all of them include all four tribes.

[/hider]

[u][b]Current location[/b][/u] - Middle Sea, Southwest of the Witchlight Jungle
[u][b]Allegiance[/b][/u] - Independent.  

[u][b]Personality[/b][/u] - Scolopendra is a wrathful being, who violently defends its territory as long as it seems the favorable option. Trespassers should either beware, or approach the land of the serpent with formidable military prowess. It generally avoids contact to other dragons if possible. It assumes others, dragons and lesser races alike, to mistrust its tainted appearance, and thus welcomes them with an equal amount of suspicion if contact happens to occur. Any kind of creature that dares to enter its cave system without being summoned is met with uncontained hostility. While Scolopendra does not seem to be subject to a split personality disorder, like many other multi-headed dragons are, it has a rather bipolar personality. When speaking with other dragons, the six heads speak in a canonical manner, sometimes several of them at the same time, sometimes switching from head to head with every word.

[b]in honor of Rylarth[/b]