THE OF

THE RISE OF T1AMAT

B y St e v e W i n t e r a n d A l e x a n d e r W i n t e r

JY K ANNYof TfRAqONS,.

C red its

Ko b o l d P ress Designers: Steve W inter, Alexander W inter Developer and Producer: W olfg ang Baur Editor: Scott Fitzgerald Cray Interior Illustrators: John-Paul Balmet, N ic o le Cardiff,

G uido Kuip, M arcel M ercado, Bryan Syme Cartographer: Jared Blando Art Director: M a rc Radle

W izards o f th e C oast D & D Lead Designers: M ike M earls, Jeremy Craw ford Producer: G reg Bilsland Adventure Contributors: M ike M earls, C h risto p h e r Perkins,

M att Sernett, Chris Sims, Rodney Thom pson, Jeremy Crawford Art Directors: Kate Irwin, Shauna N arciso Cover Illustrator: M ich a e l Komarck Graphic Designers: Bree H eiss, Emi Tanji Project Management: N eil Shinkle, John Hay Production Services: Cynda Callaway, Jefferson Dunlap, David Gershm an, Anita W illiam s Brand and Marketing: Nathan Stewart, Liz Schuh, Chris Lindsay, Shelly M azzanoble, Hilary Ross, Laura Tom m ervik, Kim Lundstrom , Trevor Kidd

Playtesters: M elissa Bassett, A nd re Begin, M ik Calow, M elan ie Cote, M a n o n Crevier, Ben D anderson, Dave Eadie, Frank Foulis, Rodrigo Gorgulho, Pete Griffith, Liam Gulliver, Jon Harvill, Joseph Kauffmann, Yan Lacharite, Renata Landim , Rodrigo Landim , Eric Leroux, Carlos Eduardo Lopes, Julia Lopes, David Muller, Claudio Pozas, Paula Pozas, C o u n t Response, Sara Servin, Robin Stacey, Jaim e Thayer, Keoki Young

Disclaimer: Tiam at does not apologize f o r TPKs.

Forew ord

W ith this adventure, you are ready to begin the final assault against Tiamat, wrapping up the first great campaign for the fifth edition of D u n g e o n s & D r a g o n s . Whether or not you played through the first installment of this series--H oard o f the Dragon Queen--you need only the basic rules and the Tyranny o f Dragons online appendix to play through this adventure.

T h is campaign takes the game to ever-greater heights of power, both for the heroes and for the foes they face. The challenges of this adventure are greater than anything the characters have faced before--and of course the thrill of presenting those bigger challenges in an epic light is more satisfying for the Dungeon Master as well. Go big in these episodes!

The adventurers might be blasted and destroyed by dragon fire, ensnared by sorcery, or cut down by vengeful cultists. But the options and allies available to the heroes as they fight against the Cult of the Dragon are equally great.

Defeating Tiamat won't be easy, but I am certain you and your players w ill make it both exciting and memorable. Good luck, and good gaming!

Wolfgang Baur Founder, Kobold Press

July 2014

ON THE COVER

N o longer im prisoned in the N in e Hells, Tiam at makes her trium phant ascent and claim s the W ell o f D ragons as her lair. H er arrival, as illustrated by M ichae l Komarck, portends the dawn o f a grim new age.

620A9607000001 EN ISBN: 978-0-7869-6565-6 First Printing October 2014

98765432

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D U N G E O N S & D RAG O N S, D&D, W izards o f the Coast, Forgotten Realms, th e dragon am persand, Tyranny o f Dragons, H oard o f the D ragon Q ueen, The Rise o f Tiam at, Player's H an dbook, M o n s te r M anual, Dungeon M a s te r's G uide, all other W izard s o f the C oa st p ro d u c t nam es, and their respective logo s are tradem arks o f W izard s o f the C oast in the U S A and other countries. A ll characters and th e ir distinctive likenesses are property o f W izards o f the Coast. This material is protected under the copyright laws o f the United States o f Am erica. Any reproduction or unauthorized use o f the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited w ithout the express w ritten perm ission o f W izards o f the Coast.

Th e Kob old Press logo is a tradem ark o f O pe n D esign and is used by perm ission.

Printed in the USA. ?2014 W izard s o f the C oa st LLC, P O Box 707, Renton, W A 98057-0707, USA. M anu fa ctu re d by H a sb ro SA, Rue Emile-Bo^chat 31, 2800 Del^m ont, C H . Represented by H asbro Europe. 4 The Square. S tockley Park. Uxbridge. M iddlesex. UB11 1ET. UK.

Table of C ontents

Introduction.........................................4 Background.........................................4 Overview............................................ 5 Outline of Episodes.............................. 5 Adventure Hooks.................................. 6 Additional Encounters...........................6 Running the Adventure.......................... 7 Groups............................................... 8 Villains............................................... 8 Allies................................................ 11 Episode 1: Council ofWaterdeep.......... 18

Starting the Adventure.................... 18 Back in Waterdeep......................... 19 Gathering Allies............................. 19 Sessions of the Council .................. 19 Scoring the Sessions......................23 Episode 2: The Sea of Moving Ice......... 24 The Sea of Moving Ice..................... 25 Oyaviggaton.................................. 27 Ice Caves......................................29 Map: Arauthator's Lair.................... 31 Arauthator's Lair............................36 Developments............................... 37 Leaving Oyaviggaton...................... 37 Arauthator's Treasure......................37 Conclusion....................................37 Episodes 3 and 4: Death to the Wyrmspeakers............................. 38 Varram the White...........................38 Tomb of Diderius...........................40 Map: Tomb of Diderius................... 40 Ss'tck'a l....................................... 45 Conclusion....................................47 Neronvain..................................... 48 The Misty Forest............................ 48 Neronvain's Stronghold................... 50 Map: Neronvain's Stronghold........... 51 Conclusion....................................53 Episode 5: The Cult Strikes Back......... 54 First Attack...................................54 Second Attack............................... 55 Third Attack.................................. 56 Sequence of Events........................ 57 Episode 6: Metallic Dragons, Arise....... 58 Unlikely Ambassadors.................... 58 Council of Dragons.........................59 Conclusion....................................61

Episode 7: Xonthal's Tower................. 62 The Maze..................................... 63 Map: Xonthal's Tower......................65 The Tower.................................... 69 Dungeon...................................... 71 Exiting Xonthal's Tower................... 74 Conclusion....................................74

Episode 8: Mission to Thay................. 75 The Enemy of My Enemy................. 75 Conclusion....................................77

Episode 9: Tiamat's Return................. 78 The Well of Dragons....................... 79 Map: The Well of Dragons................ 80 Map: Tiamat's Temple..................... 84 Tiamat's Temple............................. 85 Enemies and Allies.........................86 Victory or Defeat............................88 Appendix A: Monsters..................... 89 Appendix B: Magic Items.................93

Appendix C: Council Scorecard.........94

Ty r a n n y of D ragons

T yranny o f Dragons: The R ise o f Tiamat is a Dungeons & D ra g o n s adventure for characters beginning at 8th level, and the continuation of the first volume, H oard o f the Dragon Queen. By the time the adventure runs its course, the characters should reach 15th level (or be close to it).

Four characters is the ideal party size. If your group is smaller than that, consider removing a few opponents from combat encounters. If the group is bigger, consider adding opponents to the fights. Consider altering encounters for smaller groups to avoid overly tough battles.

In t r o d u c t i o n

Tyranny o f Dragons is set in the Sword Coast region of the Forgotten Realm s--a thin strip of civilization stretching down Faerun's western shore. The widely spaced cities of the Sword Coast are arranged on a single great road like beads on a string. The road goes by several names as it winds over two thousand miles from Luskan in the north to Calim port in the south, passing through Neverwinter, Waterdeep, Baldur's Gate, and other great ports along the way. The first volume of Tyranny o fDragons took place largely on the stretch between Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter. T h is second volume takes the adventurers farther afield across the Sword Coast, preparing them for the final showdown against the servants of Tiamat.

A dventure Supplem ents. You can play this adventure with just the Dungeons & D rag o n s basic rules and the Tyranny o f Dragons online supplement, which contains all the monsters and magic items not described in this book. Both of these supplements are available as free downloads on .

C haracter Advancem ent. T h is adventure uses the milestone experience rule. Under this rule, completing certain events in the campaign causes the characters to level up. See "Advancement," below.

Ba ckg r o u n d

The Cult of the Dragon has been active in Faerun for centuries. For most of that time, its focus has been on undead dragons, but that's changed. Now the cult seeks to act more directly and more boldly--by summoning Tiamat out of the Nine H ells and bringing her bodily into the world. So far, cultists and their leaders have gathered great stores of treasure, forged an alliance with Thay to assist with learning and performing the required summoning ritual, gathered up the five dragon masks central to the ritual (see "Dragon Masks," below), and persuaded or cajoled many of the oldest and strongest evil dragons of Faerun into supporting them.

However, not everything has gone according to the cult's plans. The discovery of an alliance between the Cult of the Dragon and the Red W izards of Thay has shaken the various factions aligned against both organizations. The Harpers view any such alliance as an abomination, as does the Order of the Gauntlet. The

Lo rds' A lliance recognizes the obvious threat to the lands and rulers of the Sword Coast and the North, while the Em erald Enclave suspects that anything Thay promotes is likely against the natural order. Even the Zhentarim fear the union of two such powerful forces.

News of the alliance has thus brought the various factions of the Sword Coast together. The leaders of those factions understand that they must gather and rally forces to fight the cult, even as the situation in Faerun grows more dire. Abductions and raids undertaken by the Cult of the Dragon increase daily, and refugees are fleeing from burned-out regions under cult attack to major cities and fortresses. Villagers have abandoned their crops and herds, fleeing the constant predation of dragons.

In many cities, all-out panic has created a growing movement in favor of agreeing to the cult's demands in the hope of w inning concessions in return. It is difficult to muster troops when people are afraid they w ill be burned by dragonfire. T h is is a time for heroes to inspire the people of the Sword Coast with a great victory or two. Fortunately, the Forgotten Realm s has just such a group of heroes.

D rag o n M asks The new leader of the cult is a Calishite named Severin Silrajin, who believes that real draconic knowledge and power belongs to living dragons, not undead ones. Severin's ambition amused Tiamat, so she revealed the existence of five dragon masks to him--one for each chromatic dragon color. Individually, these ancient masks allow wearers to communicate with dragons. More importantly, a character who is erudite in draconic lore becomes a wyrmspeaker w hile wearing the mask, which allows the wearer to think like a dragon, gain favor among dragons, and subtly influence their behavior. W hen all five are brought together, they magically merge into a single M ask of the Dragon Queen. W ith the assembled mask, the cult can release Tiamat from her prison in the Nine Hells.

After Severin (subtly guided by Tiamat) discovered that secret, he bent all the cult's resources to finding the long-lost dragon masks in their secret hiding places. W hen he recovered the red mask, Severin became the first of the wyrmspeakers, but others soon followed.

Se c r e t s In the first volume of Tyranny o f Dragons, the Cult of the Dragon gathered up a hoard for Tiamat--then lost a portion of that hoard when Skyreach Castle fell. A ll the while, the cult kept secret its goal of bringing back Tiamat and its alliance with an exiled group of Red W izards of Thay. The cult now needs only to gather enough sacrifices to power the ritual by which the dragon masks w ill open a portal to the Nine Hells, allowing Tiamat to travel to the Material Plane.

These plans continue to move ahead as the Thayan exile Rath M odar and his Red W izards bring expertise in summoning magic to the cult, preparing a tremendous blood sacrifice to empower the ritual.

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