D&D 5E D&D Encounters: The Rise of Tiamat play reports (sessions 1-12, complete)

[MerricB]

Waterdeep, City of Splendours.

The city’s citizens had been worried by the appearance of a flying castle in the sky nearby, but the castle had moved off northwards, ignoring the city. The five travellers who came into the city’s gates, accompanying a wagon full of goods, were unaware of the panic their transport had sent the city into, but were glad to be getting back to civilisation after so long. Their new ally, the cloud giant Blagothkus, had promised to raise his people against the Cult of the Dragon and, for now, they needed a rest. The guards at the gate were curious as to the contents of the sacks, but the travellers had used the proper passcodes and were allowed in unsearched. You do not interfere with agents of the Lords’ Alliance, certainly not if you want to keep your job!

As the travellers made their way through Waterdeep’s streets, discussing where they wanted to go, everyone in the city became aware of a low throbbing sound, just on the edge of what they could hear. The city went silent for a few moments, before the normal sounds of life resumed. The travellers looked at each other and subtly changed their course. Soon they reached their new destination, the mansion of Lord Neverember, the Open Lord of Waterdeep.

None of the travellers had met him before, but he was the one to whom they now turned. His steward met them in the foyer: three members of the Lords Alliance, one member of the Order of the Gauntlet, and one of the Zhentarim. An ill-matched group, but one that had seen many dangers. Soon enough, Lord Neverember hurried to meet the travellers. Soon enough they’d described their recent journeys: from the ill-fated town of Greenest to the sky-castle of Blagothkus, and Lord Neverember was not pleased by the news. His steward ushered out the travellers, allowing the Open Lord to consider what he had just learnt.

The travellers found themselves at the Raging Lion, on the recommendation of Lord Neverember’s steward. Soon after, they received a message from Leosin Erlanther, a half-elven monk they’d met and rescued during the Burning of Greenest. He asked to meet them at the House of Good Spirits, which they did. The half-elf was very glad to see the travellers well, and was very interested in their adventures. His main news was that a member of the Harpers, Remi Haventree, was gathering together a council to deal with the threat of the Cult; in the next few days the secret council would meet, and the council wanted the travellers to be in attendance.

The council had only a few people in attendance, primarily representatives of the various factions working against the cult. Lord Neverember was the representative of the Lords’ Alliance, and he was most receptive to the travellers, although Remi Haventree was also well-disposed to the group, as was Onthar Frume of the Order of the Gauntlet, who had worked with the travellers before.

In the council, the travellers learnt that the strange sound they’d almost heard a few days ago was due to the sounding of the Draakhorn, an ancient artefact that could be used to send messages to all dragonkind. The Draakhorn was still sounding, although most could not hear it. The information about the Draakhorn had come from Dala Silmerhelve, a Waterdhavian noble. What the sounding of the Draakhorn meant, no-one knew, and it was last known of somewhere on the Sea of Moving Ice.

The other news was that one of the leaders of the Cult of the Dragon had lost his Mask of the Dragon, one of the artefacts that Tiamat had granted the Cult to aid their plans of freeing her from the Nine Hells. The council were also considering sending representatives to seek it. The travellers were asked their opinion of these matters, and – although there were some that wanted to go after the Mask of the Dragon, most were in favour of find the Draakhorn.

Their research found that the last to know of the Draakhorn was a member of the Arcane Brotherhood, who disappeared on a journey to find it. All reports led to it being last seen on an iceberg fortress, reputedly the home of a great ice wyrm. The travellers, adventurers once more, found a ship that was willing to take them north and headed out in search of the horn.

It was a cold, miserable voyage. A couple of encounters with Ice Hunters, a nomadic people who live in the frozen north, left the party little wiser; the Ice Hunters were antagonistic and unfriendly, and couldn’t care less about the party’s mission. A nightly encounter with four scrags went badly for the party, although they were victorious in the end. It was with a great sense of relief that the adventurers finally, after over a tenday of searching, caught sight of Oyaviggaton, the great lair of Arauthator.

The crew of their vessel stayed behind to guard it as the group discovered a great ice shelf covered with bones: whale bones, seal bones and human bones, all bearing the mark of some gigantic predator. A narrow staircase to the plateau above was traversed, and the group finally came to the last redoubt of civilisation – an Ice Hunter village.

Again, the Ice Hunters were uncooperative, but the persistence of the adventurers finally paid off: the Ice Hunter leader offered a deal. If one of the adventurers could defeat the Ice Hunter champion in a duel, the Ice Hunters would allow them to stay the night and would answer their questions.

The battle was hard, and it really looked like the adventurers would lose it, but in the end they were victorious. They were given shelter, although poor, and offered food – slightly spoilt fish, the way the Ice Hunters preferred it. Unfortunately, it was poisoned, the Ice Hunters remaining duplicitous. Two of the adventurers fell unconscious after eating the food, and the rest were faced with the tribe creeping closer to them…

 

[MerricB]

Oyaviggaton, the great iceberg lair of Arauthator.

The adventurers had spent several days getting here, and their greeting by the Ice Hunters who lived on the iceberg hadn’t been the kindest. Two of them had slumped unconscious to the ground after eating poisoned food given to them by the duplicitous Hunters, and now the group discovered the rest of the Hunters approaching them, ready for battle. For less experienced adventurers, this might have gone badly.

However, the group had powerful spell-casters amongst them, and Ice demonstrated to the Hunters exactly how bad an idea it was to betray them to the dragon. A great storm of ice slew many of the potential attackers, and the rest quickly fled. The leader of the Ice Hunters was dead from the storm, their shaman, Bonecarver, captured.

It must be said that the adventurers then acted with uncommon generosity, upon discovering how badly the remaining tribesmen would fare when the dragon learnt of their failure, they healed and released Bonecarver, and vowed to slay the dragon. In exchange, Bonecarver showed them the passage down into the depths of Oyaviggaton, where the great white dragon had his lair.

The group rested so that Mordekai could throw off the effects of the poison, then made their way down an icy staircase. It was very slippery, and they did not take proper precautions; thus, when two of the adventurers slipped and fell 60 feet to the bottom, it provided me with much amusement. Luckily for them, no monsters awaited them at the bottom; only a room where supplies had been stored by the Ice Hunters.

The group then came to a chamber where a number of kobolds were resting from their chores. The kobolds were not happy to see intruders, and pulled out slings with which to attack the characters. Unfortunately, kobolds aren’t really a threat for seasoned adventurers, and the kobolds were soon surprised to find themselves dead.

Three kobolds who were sleeping survived. Upon being awakened, and seeing the fate of their companions, they quickly pledged their allegiance to the adventurers, and were drafted into holding lanterns and carrying supplies.

The adventurers carried on through the tunnels and discovered a great trophy room, the centrepiece of which was a great frozen ship. Upon seeing the treasure on the chest, they were immediately wary, and inquired of the kobolds about the ship. The kobolds chattered on about how they’d taken many nights to bring the ship down, piece by piece, from the surface of the iceberg where the dragon had deposited it. The group briefly considered getting the kobolds to return it to the surface, before abandoning that as the impractical plan it was. More importantly, the kobolds confirmed that Arauthator was aware of every piece of his treasure, and he would instantly know if one piece of it were taken. The group, wisely, abandoned the boat.

As they began to leave the room, a group of ice toads confronted them. Negotiations were short and unfruitful, with the party now feeling quite aggressive. In no time, the toads were dead, with Ice muttering under her breath at the number of creatures that were resistant to her preferred elemental spells.

The group finally asked the kobolds where the tiefling they were looking for was, and the kobolds gleefully led them to her chamber. They found her in a strange edifice – a replica of a Calimsham tent made of carpets. It was an odd thing to see here in this icy cavern rather than the sands of its native land. The tiefling was within, and suspicious of the strangers that had arrived at her doorstep.

Her name was Maccath the Crimson, and she was a member of the Arcane Brotherhood who had come to the isle in search of knowledge, only to discover that speaking to a dragon often means one might be eaten or captured by the dragon. She despaired of her situation, and did not expect the adventurers to help. However, Music was extremely persuasive, and she began to hope that perhaps, just perhaps, she would be able to return home – but such would be impossible without first slaying Arauthator.

She showed the characters the back way in, but even that was treacherous. Pass without trace was used again to aid the adventurer’s way in, and the group were able to enter the lair unobserved. They stood on a huge ice shelf, with Arauthator’s treasure frozen within, while below on a lower level the white dragon slept… with one eye open.

The group moved into position around Arauthator, only to find that, even with their magic, they were not as stealthy as they hoped. With a roar, he leapt at the adventurers, and ice fell from the ceiling onto their hiding places. It was a difficult battle. Darius, the monk, tried to leap onto Arathator’s back as he had in his battle with Glazael, but with no more luck: a great burst of his wings knocked Darius off, and he was knocked unconscious at the dragon followed it up with his breath weapon, a great blast of ice.

However, Ice was throwing some of her much-hated fire spells at the great dragon, and Arauthator was not willing to die in defence of his home, for it was but one of many. After the party has inflicted over 100 hit points of damage (in three rounds of combat) on the dragon, he broke through the ice covering one of his underwater escape routes, and was gone.

Maccath supervised the kobolds digging out the books and tomes that were so precious to her, as the party gathered what treasure they could. Finally, all of the party returned to their ship, where Captain Lerustah Half-face waited with his crew. They all clambered aboard, including the kobolds, and set sail towards Waterdeep and safety. There was no telling when Arauthator would return.

As they left, they could see the ships of the Ice Hunters also fleeing the isle, fearing the dragon’s retribution.

 

[MerricB]

Waterdeep. The City of Splendours. Again.

The adventurers had returned from Oviggaton with one thing missing: no Draakhorn. Where was it? Unfortunately, it seemed that it was already in the hands of the Cult of the Dragon. Maccath the Crimson had described how men dressed in ornate robes had taken the horn from Arauthator, and the descriptions of the men sounded very much like those of the many cultists the adventurers had faced. This wasn’t good. They’d retrieved the knowledge of the Arcane Brotherhood along with Maccath, but without the Draakhorn, the trip could not be counted as a success.

As the adventurers moved towards the city from the docks, they were approached by a patrol of the city watch. The patrol greeted the adventurers, and said they’d been sent by Leosin; there had been trouble at the palace, and Leosin needed to see them urgently – the patrol would take them to the Harper by a secret route. The group, realising the urgency of the request, complied and were swiftly escorted to the Noble Quarter. Maccath stayed behind, planning to catch up with her contacts in the Arcane Brotherhood, but promising to stay in touch and give aid where she could. The group were joined by two new adventurers as they made their way through the streets – Flint, a paladin, and Enialias, a ranger/rogue – who had also been summoned by Leosin, having been fighting against the cult as well.

The watch led the group to a deserted villa near the palace, explaining that there was a tunnel in the cellar to the palace. The group was suspicious too late, and walked right into the trap – the cellar instead held a number of cultists, and the watch were revealed as cultists in disguise. Flint and Mordakai took the brunt of the initial attack, and soon the group found themselves in a very dangerous battle against a group of ten cultists – six Dragonwings, three Dragonfangs and a half-blue dragon Gladiator. The battle took five rounds to end, and the adventurers were very glad when the last of the cultists were defeated.

They were also very disappointed to find there was no secret passage in the cellar!

The adventurers were then able to meet up with Leosin – for real, this time – where he expressed his concern at the subterfuge and the Cult’s possession of the Draakhorn. News came of a watch patrol having been slain and stripped of their uniforms, and life in the great city became just a little more dangerous. The adventurers decided to go after Varram and the lost Dragonmask and left for Boareskyr Bridge on the morrow.

The trip there was uneventful, and asking around the group discovered that Varram and his henchmen had been in the area, pausing only to slay a serpent-man that had been causing trouble, which had quite impressed the locals.

From there, there was nothing to it but to track Varram by the trail he had left as he and his retainers had moved into the Serpent Hills. Enialias was able to guide them along the path without trouble, but he couldn’t do much to avoid a pair of hill giants who were eating a goat and were not pleased to find their meal disturbed.

This combat took three rounds, with the giants throwing quite a number of rocks at Music, who had been foolish enough to advance past the rest of the group. (Ow, ow, ow!) However, the ranged attacks and spells of the party were equally potent, especially once Ice got involved, and soon the giants were defeated. Enialias tracked them back to their lair, and the group managed to get a fair amount of money, as well as a few consumable magic items.

The group felt they were getting close to Varram. Perhaps they would find him on the morrow?

As normal, this was about a 2-hour session, as we continue in the Encounters-inspired format. Our two new players have been playing on another table, but absolutely everyone turned up for that table this week, which put them at the not-quite-easy-to-run total of nine players! So, I took them instead.

The current roster of regular characters is:

Kai – Warlock 8; Darius – Monk 8; Music – Bard 7; Flint – Paladin 4; Enialias – Ranger 4/Rogue 1; Mordakai – Fighter 8; Ice – Sorcerer 8.

 

[MerricB]

The Tomb of Diderius. The Serpent Hills.

The adventurers had come to the hills in pursuit of Varram, a disgraced Wyrmspeaker who had lost his Mask of Dragons. As the session began, the adventurers came in sight of Varram’s objective: an ancient tomb carved into the wall of a cliff. Ruined buildings, remnants of a long-forgotten settlement, lay scattered about the plain before the cliff. Investigation of these buildings yielded the information that Varram’s party had reached the tomb, but no-one of the party was here; only a few freshly dug graves and a lit campfire indicated that some dire fate must have befallen them… and quite recently, at that!

Two great statues stood before the entrance to the tomb, now damaged and time-worn. As the party advanced, the statues animated and addressed them: “Halt! You come before Diderius, ether walker and conduit of clairvoyance. Behold ye now his wondrous triumphs! Diderius extends wisdom, and Diderius offers knowledge. Which do you seek?”

“Knowledge,” was the reply, and the adventurers were permitted to proceed.

The tomb below was filled with shadows of its past glory, but that was all they were: shadows. Illusions of what once were. Moving quickly through the ante-chamber, the adventurers found themselves in a long corridor, where six statues stood – cowled wizards where the details of their faces were obscured by an unnatural darkness. Into the adventurers’ minds came the warning, “Some secrets are not meant for mortal minds to know. Look away from the darkness in which such knowledge hides.”

This did not stop Ice; the halfling climbing up and peering into the darkness beneath the cowl. Shadows formed in her mind, and she found herself understanding more than she did before… perhaps, a bit too much!

The next chamber encountered by the group had a mosaic, which formed itself into a chimera made of tiles as the party approached, heedless of the danger within. The chimera attacked with its fiery breath, and its sharp claws of ceramic, but it proved itself quite resistant to the arrows the archers of the group were shooting at it. Mordechai, the eldritch warrior, put himself in harm’s way, using his normal tactic of sacrificing his extra attacks for the combination of casting blade ward while hitting it with his sword, and although he took some damage, he was able to protect most of the others from its attacks.

Further exploration discovered a divining pool, but not the way to activate it.

Rock falls blocked some of the way forward, so the adventurers were forced to take an alternative route, which led them to a chamber where a great representation of the wizard Diderius required offerings for the group to pass. Most were willing, but Ice was not. She really wasn’t – wanting to take the offerings herself and completely oblivious to the threat of the great statue above her which was beginning to move…

Eventually, Mordechai was forced to subdue her, tie her up and leave her in the chamber. (Yes, this really happened in the session, and was not one of the best instances of group play I’ve seen. Tip for players: when the rest of the group vote to do something, don’t try and disrupt the result. It isn’t fun – and the player in question very easily could have had their character killed as a result).

Down one sorcerer, the group proceeded to a dining chamber where a group of devils, summoned by Varram, were guarding the chamber – but not against the adventurers. Instead they proved to be quite chatty, as they didn’t like the dwarven dragonspeaker that much. One of the doors from the chamber was boarded up; investigating, they discovered it led to a treasure chamber that was inhabited by wraiths! The group quickly retreated, only to find that investigating the chamber was the trigger for the devils to attack. Thankfully, the wraiths didn’t pursue them out of the treasure chamber, and the adventurers were able to defeat the devils. It was a nasty moment, however.

Finally, the group reached the true tomb of Diderius. His spirit addressed them, and the group were respectful. He revealed that Varram had been captured by yuan-ti, that lived in caves further into the mountain. The group chose to rest (and recover their sorcerer) before proceeding into the caves of the Yuan-Ti…

 

[MerricB]

The Tomb of Diderius. The Serpent Hills.

The adventurers had rested following their discovery of the secret entrance leading to the yuan-ti tunnels, and they were now ready to proceed. As the secret door opened, it revealed six lizardfolk guarding the door, who sprang to attack the adventurers. They were not the greatest threat, and soon dispatched. One was taken captive, and left behind, tied up, after revealing only a little about the passages ahead.

A more dangerous situation presented itself as a slender bridge, slippery due to its dampness and large patches of moss, was the only way to reach a group of lizardfolk supported by yuan-ti archers. Unfortunately for the snake-people, Ice was getting more comfortable using fire magic, and fireball spells inflicted more damage than their arrows did in return. Danger might have waited below the bridge, but no-one slipped off, even as they walked across without roping each other together! (Seriously, it’s astonishing to see the incredibly high rolls this group can make at times when it would be quite bad for them to roll low… although, they’re very good at rolling low in combat. And especially at rolling high for initiative and then low for attack rolls!)

The group continued straight ahead when they came to a side passage, and so came to a large meditation chamber, with twin statues of two yuan-ti gods, as well as two suits of armour. Gems glittered in the eyes of the statues, attracting the attention of the adventurers, especially Ice, who was very eager to pry them from their sockets. When that was attempted, however, a multitude of snakes slithered from the walls into the suits of armour, animating them and causing the adventures some discomfit at, not only would they be struck, they would be poisoned as well! A little curative magic was needed afterwards, but the snakes were destroyed and the gems gained, so the adventurers were happy.

Another group of yuan-ti and lizardfolk confronted the adventurers as they came across some living quarters, but they hardly proved a threat, as they were surprised by the adventurers and soon subdued.

Pressing onwards, the adventurers avoided a trap, then proceeded through a secret door into the yuan-ti’s prison complex, which was quite empty of prisoners. Where was the Wyrmspeaker?

In fact, he was in the very next chamber! However, he was not alone: several yuan-ti, including their priestess, were awaiting the arrival of the adventurers. The adventurers chose not to immediately attack, instead listening to the demands of the priestess. The demands were slight: she only wanted for them to leave the lair without killing any other yuan-ti, in exchange, they’d let them have Varram – although he would be under an enchantment that would kill him if the adventurers broke their word. The group considered the situation, and agreed, taking Varram… and with Mordechai picking up their lizardfolk prisoner on the way back. The enchantment was lifted in a little while, and they bundled Varram up for delivery back to the Council of Waterdeep… and his interrogation. His Mask of Dragons was nowhere in sight, and he revealed that it had been retrieved by the Cult and taken to the Well of Dragons.

Just before the group left, Mordechai returned back to the Tomb, filled the pool of prophecy, and sacrificed the lizardfolk captive to learn the location of the Draakhorn. (Lawful Evil characters apparently have little respect for intelligent life!) He was disappointed by the result, however: it, too, had been taken to the Well of Dragons, the stronghold of the Cult of the Dragon. The adventurers were not prepared to go there just yet, but it is likely that the day is coming…

 

[Rhenny]

Thanks for the recaps Merric. Sounds fun. I'm glad the Halfling didn't get killed.

 

[KingsRule77]

These are great. I'm running hoard of the dragon queen right now. My players are loving it, wish we could play more often. Did you do recaps of HotDQ?

 

[MerricB]

I did - http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...Dragon-Queen-(spoilers-complete!-18-sessions)

Also possibly of interest: http://merricb.com/2014/10/09/running-hoard-of-the-dragon-queen-episode-1/

Cheers!

 

[MerricB]

Waterdeep. The City of Splendour.

The adventurers had returned safely to the city, and delivered Varram the White to the interrogators of the Lords Alliance. They soon stood before the Council of Waterdeep to report on their progress. To their surprise, the council was now led by Lady Laeral Silverhand, who had replaced Lord Neverember as the Open Lord of Waterdeep and head of the council! Lord Neverember glowered sullenly nearby. The council was not pleased to discover that both the Draakhorn and Mask of Dragons had been taken to the Well of Dragons, with some of their members waxing most sarcastic as to the capabilities of the heroes, although some of the representatives were happy with the capture of Varram and the new alliance with the Arcane Brotherhood.

Lady Laerel soon turned the meeting to discussing future plans. Delaan Winterhound was very concerned with dragon attacks in the Misty Forest, although King Melendrach of the elves believed that the attacks were now subsiding, but – of most interest to Ice – the metallic dragons had sent a representative seeking a delegation from the council to discuss an alliance. Various members of the council would have liked to conduct the negotiations themselves, but the tensions in the council meant no-one was quite happy to see another councillor go. In the end, the adventurers were asked if they would go to the metallic dragons. They accepted eagerly, with none more eager than Ice.

The representative of the metallic dragons, Otaaryliakkarnos, flew the adventurers to the dragon council herself. From her back, the group witnessed the increased activity of the Cult of the Dragon, with bands of cultists now raiding many settlements and the majority of them in ruins, their treasures plundered. Otaaryliakkarnos was concerned that the flight would be interrupted by a chromatic dragon, but – thankfully – such did not occur. Soon, the adventurers stood before the Council of Dragons.

Five ancient dragons, one of each of the metallic bloodlines – gold, silver, brass, copper and bronze – contemplated the adventurers. Astonishingly, the adventurers were respectful, and did their best to impress the Dragon Council members and aid them in their desires. They promised to give them a share of the treasure; to gain apologies from the King of the Elves and the King of the Dwarves for slights against dragonkind, and returned a valuable magic item that had been looted from the lair of one of the dragons. Mordechai, Ice and Music were excellent in their diplomacy, and after much discussion, the five dragons agreed to help the humanoids in their fight against the Cult. Exactly what the Elvenking and Dwarvenking thought of the concessions the adventurers had given on their behalf would have to wait until the next council meeting in Waterdeep…

(This is in sharp contrast to reports from one of our other tables, where the Lord of the Gold Dragons got a big dressing-down from a member of the Zhentarim. “We’ve been out there fighting? What have you been doing? Get off your scaly behinds and help us!”)

And so, the adventurers’ attention now turned to the Misty Forest. In contrast to what King Melendrach had told them, the elven settlements had been beset by several raids by the Cult of the Dragon, and they hadn’t survived all that well, although the raids were now not so frequent. In the town of Altand, the damage had been less severe than elsewhere, something that Delaan Winterhound found suspicious. Thus forewarned, the adventurers began to question the villagers about the attack. The most interesting of the villagers was their new leader, Galin, who seemed particularly nervous when questioned by the adventurers. Pressing him as to the inconsistencies in his story, the elf revealed that he’d made a deal with the Dragonspeaker leading the attack; the cult had spared the village in exchange for information on which other villages to attack.

Galin had little useful information on the identity of the Dragonspeaker, but he was able to direct the adventurers in the direction that he believed the Dragonspeaker and his dragon laired: to the south-east. After resting, the adventurers headed deeper into the forest to see if they could find the Dragonspeaker and his dragon.

On the way, they rescued a disguised dryad, who blessed the group, and wandered into a mess of webbing, a trap set by giant spiders and ettercaps! The fight wasn’t all that difficult (although some healing magic had to be expended to rid them of all the effects of the poison), and eventually the group came in sight of the dragon’s lair… hidden behind a waterfall.

And, of course, that’s when we ended the session!

 

[KingsRule77]

So it seems like your group is having a good time. Have you run into any real issues with the adventure?