As a Gnome, Delf has good movement (4 Movement by Level 3), and as a Mystic Delf can manipulate card hands.
Delf's **Foresee** ability allows you to spend 1 Movement and up to 3 Glory to see an equal number of cards from another player's hand.
You can then pay Glory points to move one of the cards you see to your hand.
### Mal Fisent, Drakan Defiler
A powerful magic user (5 Magic at level 4), Mal is dismal at Melee (0 until he gains 1 for level 3 and 4.)
His **Defile Land** ability lets you add the Desert trait to your current location.
You also gain 2 Peril, but unsurprisingly several monsters in this set benefit from the Desert trait.
### Groluk, Ogre Barbarian
Groluk is the only playable ogre of any **Dungeoneer** set, and he's either from the forsaken desert or he's been there long enough to know it well.
His special ability is **Desert Knowledge**, which permits you to draw and keep 1 additional card when Groluk ends on a location with the Desert trait.
Groluk has the highest potential stat out of any character in the set.
At level 4, he reaches 6 Melee.
Interestingly, he starts out weak (1 Melee) but increments quickly to 3, 5, and finally 6.
Artwork for both **Dragon Foe** and **Dragon Cleaver** feature Groluk, suggesting that his primary probable strategy is, unsurprisingly, to find a good weapon and then attack dragons with brute force.
### Sharna, Human Dragon Slayer
Sharna is a dragon slayer and presumably has the credentials to go along with the title.
She has +1 to all attacks against Dragons, but Melee is her strongest attribute (1 to 3 to 4, and finally 5 at level 4).
She possesses some magic, but not until level 3.
### Faerona, Elf Priestess of Nakari
A priestess of the infamous Queen of Darkness and titular character of **Wrath of the Serpent Goddess** set, Faerona is a worshipper of Nakari.
Unsurprisingly, her strongest attribute is Magic, which increases to 2 at level 2 but jumps to 4 at level 3 and then 5 at level 4.
Her special ability is **Nakari's Dark Prayer**, which lets you pay 1 Glory to impose -1 Magic to all monsters in your current location.
I've always associated dragons with snakes, so the biggest surprise about Faerona for me is that Nakari is working against the dragons of Forlornia.
Even if the bonds of lineage don't forge an alliance, I would have thought that the mutual goal of destruction would have done.
Nakari works in mysterious ways, apparently, and dragons (or at least the goals of the Overlord) don't fit into her plans.
### Redark Noman, Human Arcanist
A magic user, Redark has the ability to use Glory to increase the Peril cost of Dragons.
The mechanical efficacy of this obviously depends on how much Glory and Peril are available, but in terms of narrative it reveals much about his character.
While he may be opposed to dragons, he obviously holds some power over them.
Presumably that power is magical, given his stats, but possibly he also has a certain affinity for his enemy.
## Dragons and monsters
Most or all **Dungeoneer** sets have at least one dragon or wyrm in its cards.
As you might hope, there are many dragons in the **Dragons of the Forsaken Desert** set.
Of course, there are several other creature types, too.
* **Ant Lion, Giant**: A giant ant, a little larger than a standard human. Giant Ant Lions burrow beneath the sand, and then emerge when it senses a creature over its skyward-facing pincers. The **Giant Ant Lion** card warns, "Watch for the shifting sands where giant ant lions lurk," and the **Giant Ant Lion Pit** says "Beware of the sinking sands that are armed with fangs."
* **Demon, Rock**: "When Gwildor banished all the demons, a few escaped."
* **Reptile Man**: A humanoid lizard that runs rampant in the desert.
* **Throg**: An ogre-like humanoid monster possibly native to Forlornia. The flavour text of the card suggests low intelligence: "Throg smash!"
* **Throg Mage**: A primitive (but effective) magic user. The art on the card shows a lizard-like creature, remarkably different from the human-like creature on the **Throg** card. This suggests that "Throg" is not the name of the species, but of a culture (or maybe a god, because the **Throg** card bears the quote "Throg smash!" and it's uncommon to refer to just your species as the initiator of a combat action.)
* **Throg Mutant**: Further confusing what exactly a _throg_ is, the art on this card shows a creature possibly somewhere between a lizard and a human. This suggests that possibly throgs are the product of a magical combination of a human and a reptile man, with some mutating into especially unintelligent mutants that are "highly susceptible to arcane manipulation."
* **Dragon, Dust Storm**: This is probably not a species of dragons, but a descriptor of one causing environmental mayhem: "The mightiest dust storms are stirred by dragon's wings."
* **Dragon, Rock**: "Rock dragons are deadlier when challenged."
* **Dragon, Sand**: A magical dragon made of sand and magical essence. It has either no wings or very small wings.
* **Dragon, Vortex**: A flying dragon known for its powerful wings and fangs.
## Dragons and deserts
The setting itself tells the story of a magical wasteland, but there are some cards specific to dragon lore that reveal what dragons are in the **Dungeoneer** universe.
The cards **Dragon Hide Cloak**, **Dragon Helm**, and **Recover the Dragon Bones** suggest that the body of a dragon is infused with magical power.
Its bones are coveted by Drakan mages, a dragon skull used as a helm grants a bonus to Melee, and a dragon's hide nullifies incoming draconic attacks.
The **Potion of Dragon Bane** reveals that "Dragon liver can be distilled into the powerful potion called Dragon Bane," which boosts your Magic stat against dragons.
Even a dragon's breath contains powerful magic.
The **Potion of Dragon Fumes** card says that "Dragon breath can be distilled into the powerful potion called Dragon Fumes," and confers a Melee bonus against dragons.
This seems to confirm that not all dragons breathe fire in the **Dungeoneer** universe, because obtaining dragon fire for distillation seems like a trial not even a **Dungeoneer** hero would survive.
We don't know whether dragons are inherently evil, or whether they're controlled by the Overlord during the events of this set, or whether some have allied with the Overlord while others have not.
Dragons in other **Dungeoneer** sets cost Peril, so many if not most are clearly enemies of the heroes.
In most **Dungeoneer** sets, the heroes are pursuing an objectively _good_ cause (destroying demons and fiends, putting a stop to an evil wizard, and so on,) but there's no evidence that the dragons that oppose them are aware of that.
Dragons could just be territorial, which is more or less an inherent trait of most living creatures, at least to some degree.
Speaking of territorial species, there are 2 items in **Dragons of the Forsaken Desert** that were specifically made to help humanoids slay dragons:
* **Dragon Cleaver**: Forged by Kith-Kanon to slay dragons.
* **Spear of Dragonslaying**: "The spear that slew Vexar'Kivius is the bane of all dragons."
However, the **Spirit of the Dragon** card has evidence of draconic benevolence:
> The spirit of the dragon is bestowed on the blessed few.
If the old adage "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" holds true, then Nakari's opposition to dragons suggests that the dragons of Tarnys could be a relatively neutral force.
There's a contingency serving the Overlord, but there are at least some (or one?) that can be swayed to boost a hero's Melee and Magic.
If you like post-apocalyptic wastelands, **Dragons of the Forsaken Desert** is a fascinating combination of dragon-based fantasy and environmental dystopia.
Header and card image copyright by Thomas Denmark and Atlas Games, and used exclusively as reference.