Play without Ego

Recorded sessions & Recaps

Episode 79 Recap

The heroes continue their battle agains the simulacrums that house the spirit of Sammaster the Mad. Jinken snaps out of being stunned and brings the entire group back from the brink of death with his 9th level spell, Mass Heal. The group was then able to destroy the two simulacrums and Jinx immediately threw up a Forcecage around the glowing orb pulsing in the center of the cavern. As he did, four smaller globes separated from it and floated outward. But they ran into the magic of the Forcecage and were slowed greatly. Alimir then cast his 9th level Wish spell and asked that the energy of the modules completely be gone from the world. It worked, but he forever lost his ability to cast Wish. 

The heroes then considered the situation and believed that the energy was Pure Magic connected to both the Weave and the Dracorage Mythal, and thus also Sammaster’s simulacrum. So Luna cast Dispel Magic at 8th level and was able to dissipate the connection completely. With the energy gone the heroes destroyed the remaining 3 inert simulacrums and found their way out of the dungeon. They reunited with their grifons and teleported back to Hill’s Edge.

With the greater threat of Sammaster burried in the annals of history, the primary story of the Heroes of Greenest came to a close. They would forever be known as the Killers of Tiamat and Sammaster the Mad in 1503 DR, the Year of the Haunted Inn. Their stories continued, of course, as individuals and as friends, and what they accomplished can be listened to in the final minutes of the recorded session.

Episode 78 Recap

The heroes methodically make their way through the rest of the dungeon until all that is left is the large room covered in white sand, white granite stones, and dry dirt. After intense testing of the ground they made their way through the room without incident, and found themselves in a tight, spiraling staircase that descended almost 100 feet into the mountain’s core. 

A rough-hewn tunnel snaked northward, and as it became 20 feet wide it opened into a large chamber made of pale granite. In the center of the floor was a disk of smooth gray metal with two humanoid creatures, simulacrums crafted from white and pink muscles, floating above the disk and tending to a pulsing white light—a luminescent orb pulsing like a heartbeat. 

Spot rushed forth to speak with the humanoids and the left one welcomed them all as the Heroes of Hill’s Edge, and a great battle ensued with what turned out to be the current physical forms of Sammaster the Mad. At the end of several rounds, the simulacrums proved themselves to be very resilient and mobile, able to cast powerful magic, and able to stop magic from being cast within 60’ of them. One of Sammaster’s bodies was severely hurt but still functional as it hovers near the ceiling at the back of the cavern, and the other was still unbloodied as it hovers at the top of the tunnel entrance into the cavern. Two Sword Wraith Commanders are also in the cavern after being summoned by the Sammasters.

Spot is lying on the ground unconscious under the hurt simulacrum. Jinx is bloodied and still stunned after 3 full rounds from a psychic scream spell. Luna and Allimir are both bloodied and vulnerable to being dropped unconscious in the next round. Only Hef, who has spent the fight completely hidden in the entrance tunnel except for when he pops out to shoot arrows, is still relatively healthy—having only been caught in the initial Circle of Death spell cast by one of the simulacrums.

As Luna and Allimir prepare their next actions, a crackling cord of black and green energy shoots forth from the closest simulacrum and attaches itself to Allimir’s body—tethering him to the lich.

Episode 77 Recap

With Allimir’s arrival in Messemprar, the heroes finish their conversation with Ladria Eginga and then used her teleportation system to travel to Westgate. There they used the northern teleportation system to travel to The Dalelands, and flew west on their griffons to the Desertsmouth Mountains. They camped for the night a couple of hours from the mountains, and Luna cast Heroe’s Feast–protecting the entire group for the next 24 hours.

The next morning, as they came upon the complete ruins of the stronghold where Sammaster was destroyed in 1373 DR, they spotted a small cave entrance at the base of the mountain. Landing near it Allimir cast Truesight on Jinken and he and Spot let the way into the cave. They followed humanoid tracks winding carefully through the first cavern, destroyed an Unseen Servant in the second cavern, and then entered a finished dungeon room with an illusion of Sammaster’s lich form welcoming them. 

Allimir dispelled the illusion and they continued on into a corridor where the north wall was covered in a Prismatic Wall. The group worked together to take the wall down layer by layer until it was gone, and then entered the hall and opened the first door on the right. Inside was a room filled with webs made from humanoid hair. Spot set it on fire and from beyond the flames skittered four feindish spiders. The heroes dispatched the spiders with only Spot taking a little bit of damage from them.

Episode 76 Recap

Allimir teleported to Candlekeep to research the information the group had learned about the new dracolich ritual and the use of Raw Magic by Ashavaa Shadewalker. The rest of the heroes travel to Messemprar to see what they could learn from the cell there, who they had been told had also been meeting with Ashavaa. When they arrived they found a fairly new town built on the southeastern outskirts of the old city’s ruins. As they flew over the old southern wall they watched a large force of sea spawn rise from the waves along the shore and begin to chase and kill the villagers and militia who tried to protect them. While Spot ran onto the northern pier to attack the sea creatures,  Jinken cast a Prismatic wall along the center of the beach, and Luna cast a Wall of Fire just south of it. Hef provided a barrage of arrows from the rooftops in the center of town, and within moments most of the attacking force were killed and the rest fled back into the sea. But not before a scaled priest threatened the town with their impending enslavement to one “Rhethgarel”.

Towards the end of the battle a dark-haired woman had ran up to the beach with some more guards, and after being addressed by the townsfolk Jinken recognized her as Ladria Eginga, the leader of the Cult force that had been recruiting in Hill’s Edge 20 years past. She was now the head of the cell in Messemprar that was known as the Abeir Academy. After learning what the heroes were looking for she invited them back to the Academy for dinner and drinks. During the meal she told them that she and the leader of Westgate had been suspicious of Ashavaa who had appeared out of nowhere with extensive knowledge about the Cult. She had also contacted The Great Bone Wyrm in Threskel and he was outraged at the idea of this new ritual, and contacted Elminster of Shadowdale to discuss it. Elminster’s final and disturbing thought on the matter was that it could only be Sammaster the Mad, the creator of the Cult of the Dragon, who had somehow returned and improved upon his original ritual. 

As the meal came to a close, the heroes told Ladria that she would likely be contacted by Allimir with further questions, and at that moment his voice could be heard from the entranceway as he yelled out “There you all are. Did you leave some food for me?”

Episode 75 Recap

The heroes landed in the forest two miles from Aglaraerose’s lair, and upon noticing a simian watching them from high in a tree, Luna informed the creature that they were looking to talk with the dragon. The simian sent a message out through the forest and said that they would be expected. The group continued on and made it to the dragon’s lair without incident, and were met by two immense giant apes at the mouth of the cave. Then Aglaraerose appeared in the cave and conversed with the Slayers of Tiamat, who convinced her that they were there to try and warn her about the real danger Ashavaa Shadewalker and the new ritual were to her. The ancient green dragon was wary, but listened and seemed to carefully consider the warning. 

That is when another group was heard approaching the cave, and from the woods on the other side of the river appeared four wearers of purple, two dragonsouls, and four dragonwings carrying two large chests between them. The leader, Trodalf, called out to Aglaraerose and asked who she was talking to. As they conversed, Hef spotted a humanoid crouching in the shadow of the mountainside. Luna’s eyes were able to pierce the heavy shadows and saw a woman that matched the description they had been given of Ashavaa Shadewalker.

The heroes alerted the dragon to Ashavaa’s presence, and she walked out confidently as if to talk, but then flew forward and into the air. From her hands bright arcs of spellfire encircled Aglaraerose, and the Cult of the Dragon envoy began attacking the giant apes and heroes while Trodalf prepared to cast the ritual. But the fight didn’t last long as Allimir cast Meteor swarm and killed the entire Cult envoy in seconds. Ashavaa flew forward in a rage and almost dropped Allimir in a single blow, but was then finished off by Aglaraerose and Hef.

The ancient green dragon questioned how a creature who wasn’t a Chosen of Mystra could channel spellfire, and the heroes had no answer. So she thanked them and said she owed them a favor, and asked that if they ever found the answer to how the woman could channel pure magic, to let her know. The heroes asked for the same in return, and she agreed to send any information she learned through the local contacts in the Emerald Enclave. Saying their goodbyes, the heroes left and after a brief discussion decided to head southeast to Unther, and the Cult cell in the city of Messamprar.

Episode 74 Recap

The heroes make their way to Wyrmsmoke Keep, landing on the quiet side of the grounds and exploring. As they were spotted by a guard drake, Jinken cast a spell that caused the drake to attack the guards. Before it could do more than injure the first guard, a man in purple robes appeared and turned the creature into a newt. 

The heroes waited in ambush as the guards began to search the grounds from intruders, and easily killed the guard captain and two guards. The Wearer of Purple, Orinskar of Thar, poked his head around the corner and recognized Spot as one of the Heroes of Hill’s Edge and slayers of Tiamat, and immediately began to parlay. The group responded by agreeing to meet and talk with him, and they all went into the keep to sit and hold a civilized conversation.

Orinskar told them that this cell, like many others east of the Well of Dragons, operated in greater secrecy and without open defiance of local laws. They still sought to bring about the day when dead dragons would rule the world, but held themselves closer to the teachings of Algashon Nathaire as opposed to Sammaster. Or, at least, that was Orinskar’s way. Which was why he was against the use of the rash spell that turned Larvestarrik into a dracolich without his consent.

He also shared that a Shadar Kai named Ashavaa Shadewalker had brought the spell to this region, and was also known to have been visiting the cells of Westgate and Messemprar to the south and southeast. She was present and took part in the ritual magic, and to Orinskar’s trained eye was able to channel Raw Magic that bound the dragon and helped perform the transformation. But he didn’t think that she herself was a trained arcanist, and thought the ritual must have been created by another—a wizard of great ability.

When asked, he mentioned other dragons that had been approached, and thought that the ancient green dragon, Aglaraerose, was the most likely next target for the spell. He gave directions to her lair, and shared the activation magic and network locations for their teleportation glade.

With this information, the heroes went back to Hulburg to spend the night, and in the morning teleported to the Forest of Lethyr in Thesk. Luna cast Wind Walk and the group flew east towards Impiltur, to the northern edge of the Gray Forest as it melted into the hills of the Earthfast Mountains. There they had been told they would find the lair of Aglaraerose, The Dragon That Never Died.

Episode 73 Recap

The heroes continued on deeper into the swamp until they came upon Larvestarrik’s lair. The dracolich burst forth from black waters covered in glowing green mist, and was joined by another Nightwalker and four swarms of Harrow Hawks. A few hectic rounds of combat later, the heroes ended the dragon’s unlife and watched as the Nightwalker sank back down into the swamp. But during the battle they had gained valuable information. They learned that Larvestarrik had been forced into the transformation, and became a dracolich completely against his will—something never before seen or thought possible.

Allimir and Luna also recognized that magic beyond necromancy had been at work, and the dracolich had used lair magic normally unknown to such creatures. It was also recognized that Larvestarrik had been far more powerful and difficult to take down than would was expected for an adult black dragon newly made into a dracolich.

With this information they flew back towards the Galena Mountains, and found the path leading up to Wyrmskoke Keep. Further up the path they found the teleportation glade that Sessi had learned about, and there they investigated four different teleportation focuses. Three of them had traces of Raw Magic—energies associated with the Weave that weren’t tied to any specific school of magic. And the westernmost focus, carved into a large tree, was particularly strong with Raw Magic. 

Allimir studied the runes and energies while Luna used Oakheart, her legendary armor, to talk with the tree and find out how the focus was triggered. She also learned that the last person to come through the portal and leave was a woman with long dark, curly hair, and skin the color of charcoal. And the timing of the woman’s arrival and departure would have coincided with when Lavestarrik was turned into a dracolich.

Noting how to use the portal, the heroes camped and rested for the night in the glade—keeping watch for Cult members. But the night was quiet and in the morning they mounted their griffons and flew further up the mountain. Perhaps some answers would be waiting for them at Wyrmsoke Keep.

Episode 72 Recap

The heroes met up in Hill’s Edge for the 20-year anniversary of their first encounter with the Cult of the Dragon. Their celebrity status had quieted down a bit in the 10 years since the battle at the Well of Dragons, and their lives were now focused on helping the people of the realm in ways unique to each of them. Part of that work was the research that Allimir had continued on the Cult of the Dragon–looking to expand knowledge about them, how they worked, the expanded network of cell locations, and the key leaders of the cells. As the new leading researcher on the Cult at Candlekeep, he is kept apprised of any new developments believed to be related to them. That is what brought a bedraggled elf, a scout for the Emerald Enclave, from the wilds of the Moonsea to seek and find him as he sat with the rest of the group eating and drinking at The Stone Saddle Inn.

Karvo, the elf, told the tale of Larvestarrik, an otherwise reclusive adult Black Dragon who lived near the city of Hulburg on the northern shore of the Moonsea. The dragon was known to have turned down all overtures from the Cult of the Dragon, but now has turned up as a dracolich ravaging the lands and killing villagers. The fear was that the Cult had found something new that could convert even reticent dragons to their cause.

So the heroes teleported to Zhentil Keep, accepted a young woman named Sessi to be their guide to the region, and set off on their griffons for Hulburg. There they learned that it had been an extra hard winter, and that the Cultists from nearby Wurmsmoke Keep hadn’t been seen in the city since before the dracolich appeared. They learned of a teleportation grove on the way to the keep, and the exact location of Larvestarrik’s lair. They decided that the threat of the dragon had to be dealt with first, and headed norwest into the swamp to find him.

They camped that night and had an encounter with a Nightwalker, an incredibly tall creature made of darkness and necromantic energy. But the rest of the night went smoothly, and in the morning they were met by sunny skies, a crisp, cold breeze, and the promise of reaching the dragon’s lair by midday.

Episode 71 Recap

As Tiamat stepped through the portal into her temple, the magic of the Blessing of Bahamut bestowed by Valmercylith activated and offered the heroes a choice between the benefits of a long rest or a shared Time Stop spell to help them prepare for the combat. They chose the long rest, the magic faded, and they faced off with the Queen of Evil Dragons and her champion, Lamarr the Red–the long-lost twin brother of Zemsta.

As they emerged, Tiamat showed them a vision of what they had chosen to bypass on the way to the caldera. They saw the Pit Fiend and Juenlok talking while devils and Red Dragonspawn defiled the remains of Ontharr Frume and his knights, Captain Rani and his watchmen, and other defenders from Hill’s Edge. Only Shua An and Jeffa could not be seen within the carnage.

Then Tiamat’s powerful breath weapons and bite attacks dropped hero after hero as Hef ran from Lamarr and shot arrows at Tiamat. Spells were cast that were completely ineffective against her as the group also worked to keep everyone in the fight. Then Zemsta ran up to her and took several strong blows, smiting with the power of Bahamut, but the damage being done seemed minor compared to the devastation she kept dealing out all around her. The outcome looked grim as Allimir cast Telekinesis on an object laying on the floor beneath the dragon. Dropped from Dumadreth Oldrissa’s dead hands, the Staff of the Magi splintered under the immense pressure of the magic, and an explosion burst apart the body of Tiamat the Many-Mawed. As she dissipated back to Avernus, the blast also reached Zemsta and tore his body assunder, as well.

The remaining heroes focused on Lamarr and quickly killed him. Spot ran out to check on the battle outside, and hrried to the spot where the vision had showed the carnage. Allimir teleported the rest of the group back to General Toth and found the battle at an end. The devils had all teleported back to hell, the cultists were retreating into the tunnels under the Well of Dragons, and the mercenaries under General “Mad Dog” Malkoric were organizing retreating groups and moving away from the caldera. The Allies had taken huge losses and were just letting them go. The only fighting left was taking out the remaining dragonspawn and younger chromatic dragons, who had all gone mad under the appearance of the King Killer Star. It has revealed itself soon after the battle commenced, and after the Draakhorn had begun a continuous blast that was still going as the heroes talked with General Toth. 

The entire group met up with Spot who was working to gather the bodies for burial, and Shua An and Jeffa arrived to help. When they were done they took the body of Joymaiden Khassel back to the Temple of Joy in Hill’s Edge, and spent some time visiting friends and family. Then they reported in to their contacts in Waterdeep, and began to enjoy a much needed time of rest. The threat of Tiamat’s summoning ended, and the Cult of the Dragon dispersed and heavily weakened within this part of the world.

Episode 70 Recap

Allimir and Hef went down to a single, immense blast from the Mythal Guardian, and were healed by Luna as Spot pushed the artifact, along with the pedestal it was attached to, into his portable hole. The heroes focused on interrupting as many ritual locations as they could. They killed several of the flying wizards and destroyed all five of the summoning circles inscribed into the temple’s floor. Rath Modar went down to several arrows from Hef and Zem’s halberd of Bahamut’s endless mercy, and then Jinken reduced Dumadreth Oldrissa’s intelligence to 1. 

As his body fell into the swirling maelstrom, through the temple door a mass of devils flew and ran. The erinyes who led them yelled out for the Mythal Guardian to be handed over, and promised they would then leave the battlefield. But then a howl of pain and desperation filled the air from high in the central aspe, and Severin, the Mask of Tiamat still on his head, twirled slowly around as the magic of the ritual reached out to all of its participants. Blood and lifeforce was ripped from the remaining wizards, Dragonsouls, and the two burly knights who had been controlling the Mythal Guardian.

The energy, along with the black soul of Severin himself, and his falling body soon after, fed the bloody maelstrom. Tt split appart with a thunderous crackling as the ground shook violently. A portal opened from within the split, and as it quickly widened a colossal clawed hand emerged, its scaled gleaming with hues of black, red, and purple. An instant later it pulled a lunging gargantuan body with five serpentine necks crowned with dragon heads, wickedly sharp horns, and eyes glowing with hatred, contempt, and disdain. Tiamat the Many-Mawed, Queen of Evil Dragonkind, had arrived.

Episode 69 Recap

As General Toth coordinated the attack with the rest of the army, the heroes rode on the back of the ancient gold dragon, Valmercylith, and boosted the morale of the troops. Luna read the scroll of Heroes’ Feast and they ate while they flew and prepared for the assault. Then, with a cacophony of war cries the two armies clashed. 

The heroes watched Ontharr Frume and the Order of the Gauntlet, and Shua An and the faction leaders and city watch from Hill’s Edge, rush forward to engage the Pit Fiend and his devils. They saw a second group of devils led by flying Erinyes rush from the south to flank them just as a portal opened from behind the Alied forces, and Juenlok and his red dragonspawn appeared through it to attack from the rear.

Keeping to their main mission, Spot closed the portable hole that held everyone else in it, and with invisibility and haste ran past the desperate battle towards the caldera. With one brief stop along the way where a second Haste spell was cast on him, he ran the rest of the way to the door of Tiamat’s Temple. 

They entered to find the summoning ritual in progress, with each of the 5 aspes holding a red wizard within a conjuration circle, surrounded by bound bodies both live and dead, and Dragonsoul cultists waiting to make the sacrificial cuts. In the center of the temple was a huge swirling vortex of red and black energy, with Rath Modar standing next to it reciting magic words, and three large warriors and a woman in purple robes on the other side—two of the warriors on either side of the Mythal Guardian as it pulsed wildly with powerful magic. 

The battle commenced and the heroes disrupted the ritual circle directly in front of them, releasing their old acquaintance Jamna Gleamsilver from her bondings. Spot ran forward to try and gain control of the Mythal Guardian and set off a huge explosion that damaged the warriors far more than it did him. The woman in purples robes, who was the third Mondath sister, died before she could reach any of the heroes. And Jamna grabbed a short sword from one of the Dragonsouls and ran forward while sharing some of the information she knew about the ritual. Specifically, that the Mythal Guardian could blast powerful magic that even a giant couldn’t survive, and that the ritual magic was also being conducted higher up in each of the aspes, and Dumadreth Oldrissa and Severin conducting the ritual from high within the temple’s center.

And as Zemsta ran forward to try and stop the ritual within a second aspe, and Spot prepared to try again to gain control of the Mythal Guardian, energies from the remaining ritual locations streamed into the swirling vortex, and it grew outward and upward by another 10 feet.

Episode 68 Recap

The battle with the Thayan Resurrection ambushers was resolved without any of the heroes being taken down—although Allimir was severely hurt. The ambush leader got away, but one wizard was captured and turned in to Remallia Haventree for questioning.

As soon as they arrived in Waterdeep, Allimir received a Sending message from Azbara Jos telling him that the first ritual was “almost complete”, and that they should be at the Well of Dragons stopping the summoning of Tiamat. Thinking there was still at least two days left, they told Remalia that they would go and recruit The Runewatchers in Narfell the next day, and then head to the Well of Dragons from there. But first thing the next morning Jinken received a Sending message from Shua An saying that Tiamat’s Temple had just appeared within the caldera, and they should come immediately. 

Right from the breakfast table, Allimir teleported the group directly there, and they met with General Toth and his advisors. He pointed out four different avenues of approach and asked that the heroes consider taking out some of the leaders of the Cult forces on their way in. After some deliberation, they decided to employ their past tactic of letting a hasted and invisible Spot run them through the battle lines, over the caldera walls, and directly to the Temple doors. 

As those plans were being finalized, Shua An showed up to speak with them.

Episode 67 Recap

The heroes rested up after Zemsta was successfully resurrected, and met with Remallia Haventree at breakfast the next morning. They were reminded of the current offer from the Red Wizards to discuss their joining the Alliance, and also learned of two other groups that could help fight the Cult of the Dragon: the Stormswords and the Runewatchers. They agreed to act as envoys to Thay while contact details were coordinated with the other two groups, and met with Leosin Erlanthar to learn more about Thay and the Red Wizards. 

Then Leosin introduced the group to the Red Wizard who delivered the invitation: Nyh Ilmichh. Nyh teleported the entire group to an outpost 6 miles from Nethwatch Keep, and they walked to the keep to meet with Tharchion Eseldra Yeth. She questioned each member of the group individually and then offered her hospitality overnight while she conferred with her superiors. After an exceptionally nice meal the heroes went to sleep in Allimir’s Tiny Hut.

During the night, only Allimir’s rest was undisturbed, as most had unpleasant dreams. Jinken and Zemsta experienced severe nightmares where they were held and threatened with torture—Zemsta undergoing some actual light torture—and questioned further by a red wizard. Both of them awoke tired but not exhausted, and the group had another fantastic meal for breakfast before being led back to the audience chamber. The Tharchion wasn’t there but they were told that Thay would indeed help fight at the Well of Dragons, and as they walked out of the keep they saw several thousand orcs, orogs, and neo-orogs being led by red wizards–entering portals to the Well of Dragons encampment. 

Luna recognized one of the wizards as her brother, Solis, but he was gone before she could react. Then the group were led back through the pass to the outpost, but on the way there rounded a corner to see a mass of undead and wizards waiting to ambush them. After being hit by simultaneous Circle of Death spells that instantly dropped the orogs in their honor guard, and javelins hitting both Allimir and Jinx from the side ledges, the heroes—with the help of Nyh Ilmichh—retaliated and threw devastating magic at their enemies. 

As the glowing remnants of Allimir’s level 8 Sunburst spell faded, 4 Dread Warriors and 3 badly wounded red wizards were all that was visibly left out of a force easily 5 times that size. The lead red wizard who had disappeared was likely still somewhere in the ravine, and there was always the possibility of more hidden enemies who hadn’t shown themselves yet.

Episode 66 Recap

The heroes spent a little time talking with the Effreeti and decided that he was completely untrustworthy. So they left him there and went into a room with two huge hourglasses, and examined the dead body of Iskander. They took the Blue Dragon Mask from him and placed his body into one of the Portable Holes. Then they explored the remaining two rooms of the dungeon, and after releasing one of dozens of elementals, made a hasty retreat and teleported out of Xonthal’s Tower.

They found the path out through the maze to be exceedingly short and simple, and soon found themselves back in the village where a scene of complete devastation awaited them. Lennithon, the adult blue dragon that they had helped the town of Greenest drive off on the 10th of Myrtul (exactly 1 day shy of 4 months previous) was holding a young girl and boy hostage within his tail while taunting their trapped parents. His father, Lyshyvinth, an ancient blue of great legend, could be seen in the distance destroying the western side of the village with his lightning breath.

The scene with the family enraged Hef, and within moments the group decided that the dragons had to be stopped. It only took a few rounds to take down Lennithon, but within that time Spot was severely injured and repositioned to help keep the villagers safe. And as his son was hurt, damaged more, and then killed in front of him, Lyshyvinth went mad with fury and lashed out with all of his might. Lightning struck Zem and Luna, and as they both flew up to flank the dragon 40 feet in the air, Luna in the shape of an Air Elemental, the ancient blue dragon struck Zemsta again and again with his tail, claws, and hungry maw. And with a final strike of razor sharp claws the mighty paladin of Bahamut fell to the earth… and a moment later breathed his last breath.

But the rounds of combat had also taken a toll on the dragon, and the mighty beast tried to escape—flying top speed over the body of his son. He made it several hundred feet before Hef, using his second Arrow of Dragon Slaying in the fight, felled Lyshyvinth. The great wyrm landed heavily and lay still, his near millenia of life finally ended. 

With the fight over, several members of the group rushed to see if they could save Zemsta, but it was too late. A brief discussion followed and it was decided that Luna would take the Zem’s body and the Blue Dragon Mask back to Waterdeep, and he would find someone who could resurrect their fallen comrade. Two hours later, after Mellanor Fellbrach and Remallia Haventree were contacted, after Allimir teleported the rest of the group to the Safehaven Inn and met up with Luna, and after Zemsta’s body was transported to the Tower of Luck, the temple to Tymora, the Godess of Luck, a ritual of resurrection was in progress.

High Priestess of Tymora, Laildra Havenblood, conducted the ritual as Allimir, Jinken, and Hef gave speeches reaching out to Zemsta’s spirit—speaking to the good he stood for and did in the world, and how he was still needed to help stop the Cult of the Dragon. It took a long while, but eventually life returned to Zem’s body and his eyes opened.

Episode 65 Recap

The heroes continued to work their way through the maze, and eventually found themselves at Xonthal’s Tower–just in time to see Iskander on the balcony yelling down to them that he was leaving the key there for them to use to teleport into the dungeon where he would wait for them. Then he was attacked, killed the cultists and threw him off the balcony, and then ran off.

Allimir sent his familiar up to retrieve the key, and the group stepped onto a teleportation circle and found themselves in the tower where more teleportation circles seemed to be the method of getting between floors. They figured out part of the code and captured a cultist who explained the rest, and then used the key to teleport into the dungeon. 

There they found the bodies of 3 dead cultists and encountered three elementals guarding the path in. After destroying them in a brief fight, they followed bloody footprints onto a walkway open to celestial stars. As they were walking along it a swarm of meteors passed through them and Luna was knocked out into space. But he was able to unfold his celestial wings and fly back onto the platform. 

As the party reached the end of the walkway there was a room to the right with no door and  a red-skinned Efreeti sitting cross-legged studying a chess board in the center of the room, and then two more doors center and to the left. Luna flew up to look over the walls and saw a small storage room and a much larger room with two massive hourglasses and the bloody body of Iskander slumped against the back wall.

Episode 64 Recap

Allimir and Jinx figured out how to work the portal while Luna summoned a horde of berserker spirits to attack Juenlok. They opened the portal to take them to the Mere of Dead Men, and after watching Juenlok disappear from amidst the mass of spirits, they all went through the portal. Then Luna cast Transport via Plants and brought them all safely back to Waterdeep.

They made their reports to Mellanor Fellbranch and Remallia Haventree, and she ran off to ensure the safety of the Harpers’ teleportation circle and give her report to the Council. As the heroes walked to the Safehaven Inn, Jinx recognized a much bedraggled Gypsy Phoenix singing for money on a side street. He secretly harassed the man with magic and walked away.

Remallia showed up after dinner with Leosin Erlanthar and they shared a letter they had received from a high ranking member of the Cult of the Dragon, Iskander of the Xonthal’s Keep. Leosin knew enough to know that much of what the letter said was true, and the rest he simply hoped was true, such as the possibility of gaining possession of the Blue Dragon Mask. The heroes agreed that it was work the risk of walking into a trap, and they set off with their griffons for Parnast and flew from there to Xonthal’s Keep village.

After talking with the local priest and not learning much about the maze that guarded the entrance to the tower, they entered it and found a magic sundial. Spot walked out of sight and was separated from the rest of the party, and found himself in a pagoda with a strange man who boiled some tea, threw up walls of stone around the pagoda, and sank out of sight into the stone. The steam from the tea was poisonous but didn’t effect Spot, so the wall dropped and he was able to leave. He found himself back at the sundial where his companions were resting in Leomund’s Tiny Hut.

Episode 63 Recap

The Council of Metallic Dragons agreed to join the Alliance and help fight their evil brethren, and with only one simple request that would greatly help the attacking forces. They also gave the heroes several special gifts to help them in the coming battles, including an ancient book to help with the research on the summoning ritual.

Then Allimir opened a Teleportation Circle, and the party traveled back to Waterdeep… and found themselves trapped in a Wall of Force with Juenlok taunting them about getting past him to a portal home, and a Red Wizard finishing a ritual on the other side. Allimir hit the Wall of Force with Disintegrate and dropped it, but no one else had time to act before the ritual completed and they were gated away to a hot, desolate, and barren wasteland. Avernus, the first level of Hell!

Tiamat forced her way into their shielded minds and told them she would see them soon—promising death. Allimir could see her temple off to the north and they knew she was coming for them. They spent a little time talking to a Horned Devil who sat waiting for them, and rejected on all counts the contract he offered in the name of his master, Asmodeus. The offer was to get them home safely but demanded an unnamed item from Tiamat’s horde.

To travel quickly and safely through the dangers of the land, Allimir cast haste on Spot, and he carried the rest of the group within the Portable Hole, opening it twice to let them breath. A mile away from Juenlok and a portal home, Allimir cast invisibility on spot, who traveled and then opened the portable hole on the plateau next to the portal, and behind two groups of red dragonspawn. Juenlok was on a separate plateau and Spot appeared next to him, but Juenlok could see him and began a terrible assault, dropping Spot completely within 2 rounds of longsword attacks. He then thrust one final time into Spot’s unconscious body before moving away. And as that fierce combat played out, Jinken mesmerized the 3 red dragonspawn spellcasters, and Luna cast Sleet Storm to severely slow the remaining 6 Dragonspawn.

Episode 62 Recap

The heroes spend the evening researching what they can about the Draconic Council of Metalic Dragons, talking with Ramallia Haventree, and having Jinx cast Legend Lore to find out all they could about the five dragons on the council, especially their leader, Protanther. Then they met with King Connerad Brawnanvil and asked about having the armor made from Otaaryliakkarnos’s niece’s scales returned to her with an apology, and he very, very, very reluctantly agreed to that possibility. But did promise that the armor would not appear on the battlefield at the Well of Dragons. 

Then, with a good night’s sleep under their belts, Allimir took a gemstone from Otaaryliakkarnos and used it to teleport all of them to her lair. They waited while she contacted the other council members, and then the entire group rode on her back to the mountain summit where they met the other four ancient metallic dragons. Over the next several hours they learned about the dragons’ attitudes towards humanoids and the heroes, their desires in relation to the war against the Cult of the Dragon, and some specific concessions they wanted in order to better trust the humanoid Alliance and the groups involved.

On their side, longer speeches were made by Zemsta, with Hef backing him up, attempting to show strong ties to Bahamut and goodly draconic values. But the majority of the talking was done by the silver-tongued bard, Jinken, and at the end of his final speech he flipped Tymora’s Coin and walked away with the rest of the group to await the decision of the council.

Episode 61 Recap

The battle with Chuth, the Emerald Assassin, and his few remaining minions concluded with the explosion of the dragon’s head underwater. Neronvain the Green was captured along with two of the elves who had been serving him. His treasure trove, along with Neronvain’s personal journal and a letter from two dead young Cultists to their father in Baldur’s Gate are found and removed from the lair. Then the group teleported back to Waterdeep where they were met by a Tortle dressed in the purple robes of the cult. He introduced himself as Juenlok the Black and said he was the new Wyrmspeaker after his friend, Rezmir, had been killed by the heroes. He was looking for revenge and to carry out the Great Queen’s request to destroy the heroes, but saw that they were still injured from their recent battle. He offered to postpone the battle, to which the heroes agreed, and Juenlok disappeared as two red dragonspawn dropped from nearby rooftops to attack them. The battle was very quick and the heroes made their way to Ulbrinter Villa to turn in their prisoners and report to Remallia Haventree.

In making their report they learned that the forces at the Well of Dragons continued to grow, research on the Draakhorn sounds was making progress, and the council had decided that the Heroes were the only group who could meet with the Draconic Council of Metalic Dragons and negotiate for their help in fighting the Cult. The silver-haired woman, Elia, was there and said she would meet with them in the morning. When she left, Remallia told the heroes that Elia was actually an ancient Silver dragon and member of the council, and the metallic dragons’ help in assaulting the Well would be a tremendously valuable asset. She warned that they would likely be asking for many concessions that some of the members of the Alliance would not be happy with—in particular, any requirements for apologies for past transgressions, or unreasonable amounts of treasure.

With that information the heroes left to make their rounds, provide additional reports, and meet back at the Safehaven Inn for another evening of good food, drink, and much needed rest.

Episode 60 Recap

The battle with Chuth and his minions continued, with hordes of dragonspawn emerging from the western side of the lake. Spot was surrounded, taking hits from dragonspawn Zealots, and disengaged to run towards Allimir. The rest of the party took out the 4 Ettins and all except for Hef, who couldn’t shake the dragon’s Frightful Presence, made their way into the main cavern.

Spells exploded everywhere, including a fireball from Allimir and Reverse Gravity from Luna that took out most of the cultists and dragonspawn. But a mage on the other side of the cavern cast his own fireballs into the midst of the heroes, one blast after another, focused primarily on Allimir.

As the number of enemies continued to dwindle, Chuth used his lair actions to slowly heal himself, and then he once again turned invisible. And as Spot engaged with the last two cultists (with the green Wyrmspeaker, Neronvain, hanging from a stalactite high above) the sound of great leathery wings flapping could be heard as the dragon flew somewhere in the far end of the cavern–getting closer–seemingly ready to rejoin the battle.

Episode 59 Recap

The heroes engaged the Displacer Beast and discovered it to be part of much larger scouting force of 3 Venom Trolls and 4 Displacer Beasts. A couple of spells from Luna and Jinx, along with Spot’s ability to stun, quickly subdued and dispatched all of the creatures. The group continued forward and soon ran into a Razorvine Thicket that was almost 100 feet thick. After some discussion the portable hole by Luna and everyone else jumped into it. Then she wild shaped into an Owl and flow across the thicket, landed, and opened the hole for everyone to emerge from.

They then found themselves reaching the end of the forest and saw cliffs ahead, a huge waterfall crashing down from the plateau above, and an emerald green pool at its base. The acrid smell of the thickened mists, plush beds of moss, and huge gouges in the earth and stones around the pool let them know that they had found the dragon’s lair. And as Allimir’s owl scouted the cliffs, pond, and waterfall, something large and invisible burst through the water and into the air. The dragon’s roar was deafening, and only Luna was able to discern the direction of water spray and see where the creature was headed. She cast Dispel Magic over the area and the invisibility faded to reveal the green scales and spiny ridges of Chuth, the Emerald Assassin, gliding over the top of a large tree to the left of the waterfall.

Spot ran over the pool and through the waterfall into the chamber beyond and yelled out that he was going for the treasure, and at the end of a long downward sloping tunnel saw an ettin looking up at him. Chuth ignored Spot and arrows from Hef as he flew to the edge of the pool and breathed poisonous gas into the trees and over Zem, Allimir, and Jinx. Then he flew back to the waterfall as more arrows and magic hit him from the forest. But they couldn’t deter him from going back through and gliding down the tunnel towards Spot.

Allimir teleported through the waterfall and was shunted to the side of the ettin, rand down the tunnel and into 3 more ettins who had appeared from somewhere, and misty-stepped forward to find himself directly under the Chuth’s armored belly. 

The rest of the group wild-shaped, polymorphed, and flew towards the waterfall to try and catch up with their friends, while Spot ran up and flew onto Chuth’s neck as the dragon flew further into the caverns and above a small lake with an island in the middle. As he watched it fly away with Spot, Allimir cast Disintegrate on the beast’s hind end.

Episode 58 Recap

The heroes updated Allimir and Ner on what had happened since their abduction, and Spot ran out to find the City Watch. Zemsta threw up a Zone of Truth and the group questioned the Warlock leading the assassins. They learned that the substance used in the abduction and attack was a very rare and expensive drug called Tansabra, and that the Blackcoat organization were likely on the run after this second, high profile failure. Then Spot returned with 5 of the watch and two mages, and he and Hef helped escort the Blackcoats to jail.

Quick exploration of the rest of the warehouse revealed a secret tunnel into the underground, and after some discussion the information was passed through Hef to the City Watch, who notified Blackstaff Tower. Within minutes, three members of the tower arrived and entered the tunnel to see what they could learn about this section of the city’s underworld. Allimir, Luna, and Zem escorted Ner back to the palace, and then the entire group reunited at the Safehaven Inn.

They had Remalia Haventree teleport them and the griffons to The Way Inn just 15 miles south of the edge of the forest, flew to the forested edge, and said goodbye to the griffons. They walked the rest of the way to the village of Altand, and arrived just before dinner time. There they found Prince Alagarthas who was there to ensure that the surviving villagers would help the heroes in their investigation. It was revealed that Altand was unique in having survivors of the raid when no major military force had shown up, and that their warden, Galen, had led a successful counterattack after which the dragon and raiders had simply left. None of which made sense.

A lengthy and empathetic discussion with Galen revealed that he had watched his wife and many friends die, and when confronted with the elf in purple leading the attack, he agreed to supply information about the forest villages and defenses in exchange for the lives of the remaining villagers. He pointed the heroes in the direction that the dragon and leader came from, and the group headed out to try and find the dragon’s lair.

After a brief encounter with an elderly woman, a druid protector of the forest, and her treant companions, they received more detailed information on where to find the dragon’s lair. They also received a blessing from her that would protect them from the prying eyes of the dragon Chuth’s animal spies. An hour after dark they camped and rested for the night, and then continued through the forest the next day. In the late afternoon they found themselves on ground getting soggier by the mile, the mists of the forest getting thicker, and Luna and Hef determining that they were within 3 miles of the lair. That is when Spot, travelling 50 feet ahead of the rest of the group, spotted a sleek black appendage filled with spikes poking out of the top of a large bush ahead of him, and recognized it as part of a living displacer beast.

Episode 57 Recap

The heroes continued running their errands after returning to Waterdeep. Zemsta visited Rian Nightshade and found out that his twin brother was believed to be the brainwashed Captain of Severin’s personal guard, and a Champion of Tiamat. Luna reported in to Melanor Fellbranch and found King Melandrach waiting for her. He believed that the Wyrmspeaker seen working with the green dragon in the Misty Forest attacks was his exiled son, Neronvain, and requested that he be captured alive and brought back to Waterdeep. 

Allimir messaged the group to say that he was having dinner with his friend Ner, and so the rest of the group convened at the Safehaven Inn for dinner. They were approached by a young Harper named Elkoric and given 120pp each for their service over the past 4 weeks—an oversight being corrected by Remalia Haventree. As he left Luna spotted a young boy looking in through the door of the inn, and Spot recognized the young urchin Olo from Luna’s description. He went outside to talk to him (or “her”, as he and Luna knew the boy was really a disguised girl) and she revealed that the Blackcoats had been on to her from the start, and had tasked her with delivering a note to the group. Spot took the note and told her to go hide.

The note said that Allimir had been abducted, and a quick message to him received no answer, and taken to the Dhaermos Storage warehouse in Dock ward. The heroes had until dawn to show up alone and try and save him. So they set out with Luna scouting ahead as an owl, and found the warehouse and surrounding area to be extremely quiet and the front gates open. They entered to find Allimir’s battered body laying on the floor in the warehouse, and were immediately engaged by wizards throwing lightning bolts, hellfire, and bursts of arcane energy, and thieves and assassins attacking with envenomed missiles and swords. 

One of the thieves was invisible and did something to Hef and Jinken, who both dropped unconscious after just 1 round. Zemsta took out the thief and healed Hef to brought him back to consciousness, but Jinken was still out in the street. Spot attempted to drag Allimir’s body to safety, but found it to just be an illusion. So the battle continued, with Spot being hit over and over again, but able to ignore the poison and most of the area-effect magic, and Luna casting and being hit by magic, and going down under a barrage of arcane bolts. Zem ran in and healed Luna, who stood and successfully held three of the enemies in place. The remaining enemies ran and Spot caught up with them, including their leader, and accepted their surrender. So 6 of the Blackcoats were captured, and in another room they found both Allimir and Ner.

Episode 56 Recap

The heroes continued further into the lair of the Yuan-Ti and immediately ran into a group of retreating lizardfolk and scaled-ones. They rushed the group and quickly slew the lizardfolk, two Yuan-Ti Malisons, and a huge Abomination that tried to prevent their entrance into the Temple of Merrshaulk. When the magic of the Purebloods failed to take hold on Allimir and Zemsta, the head priest offered to hand over the unconscious body of Varrum the White. The heroes agreed and carried the dwarf back to the divination room. There Zem healed the dwarf enough to question him and learned that while he didn’t know much about the summoning ritual, he did know more about the defenses of the Well of Dragon–such as a Pit Fiend named “Malvorzabob” who was growing the army of devils daily. 

The group then left the Tomb of Diderius to find an Erinyes devil leading the 8 bearded devils encountered earlier, and she asked that Varrum be handed over. A few rounds later, after Jinx incapacitated the Erinyes and Spot’s fists and feet sent her back to the 9 Hells, and the rest of the party and the griffons finished off the bearded devils, Allimir teleported the entire group back to Waterdeep.

There they received updates about the Allied research into the summoning ritual, the growing forces at the Well of Dragons, and that relatively small groups of Harpers, Flaming Fist mercenaries from Baldur’s Gate, and knights and wizards from Cormyr, were being deployed to the Well to try and save some of the prisoners being taken there to be sacrificed. Delaan Winterhound gave an update on the Misty Forest attacks, and asked the heroes if they could go and deal with the green dragon and try to capture what was believed to be a wyrmspeaker controlling it, to which the heroes agreed and said they would head out the next morning for the village of Altand. 

Then the group split up before it got dark to run their array of errands. Jinx visited the Tower of Luck and received a surprise teaching from the high priestess, Laildra Havenblood, who also gave him a special token of the Lady’s affection. Allimir went to visit his friend Ner, listened to her most recent research findings, and shared her how her knowledge had helped them in the Temple of Diderius. Spot was met in the street on the way to the inn by Olo, a quiet boy who ran with one of the groups that Spot had helped in the past. The young boy (who Spot recognized was secretly a girl) had been spying on the Blackcoats and learned that they were gathering information about the heroes, had been paid an even larger sum of money by their employer, and had a new assassination team put together to try and finish the job.

Episode 55 Recap

Spot’s experiences in Hill’s Edge let him identify the cistern connection to the Pool of Divination, but Luna decided not to wild shape and explore where it led. The Luna spotted a trap of some kind in the floor of the mosaic room, and as Spot and Zem entered the eastern corridor a mass of skeletons with protruding arms and legs rose from the floor and hurled itself at them. Spot pulled Zem further down the corridor as Jinx teleported in front of them and placed the Immovable Rod in the center of the passage. It briefly slowed the ball of bones and allowed Jinx to get out of the way, but Spot wasn’t quite able to throw Zem free of its path and he was clawed and bashed as he was dragged into the center of the mass. Through brute strength he was able to break free just before the ball crashed into the wall on the other side of the next room.

The room was filled with sarcophogi and the disembodied voice gave another hint related to the old god Mystril. Allimir recalled some esoteric genuflection that his friend Ner had shown him related to that initial incarnation of Mystra, and he was able to safely open the doors to the other rooms. The first was an empty library with an angry ghost, which the party decided to leave alone, and the second was a throne room with a huge man sitting atop a throne asking for tribute. Allimir left two +1 daggers at the man’s feet and Luna deposited something temporarily glowing, and they followed the man’s pointing finger through the western door and down the stairs where 8 bearded devils sat around a table. The devils shared that Varram the White had ordered them to sit there and guard against anything coming out of the southern passage. So the group headed through the northern door.

That passage led them west to the divination pool room where a dead cultist, likely sacrificed to use the pool’s power, lay almost 2 day’s dead–per Jinx’s evaluation. So the party headed through the double doors to the north and found themselves in the resting place of Diderius, and as Zem approached his sarcophogus, with 3 mummies watching from the wings, Diderius spoke from within the sarcophogus revealing his knowledge of why they were there. He said that the Yuan-ti had taken Varrus through the northern door, and opened that secret door revealing several surprised lizardfolk. The running battle that followed was a complete route for the lizardfolk and the 4 Yuan-ti Malisons on the other side of a slanted stone bridge, and after Spot’s acid breath, Luna’s Spike Growth, and Allimir’s Fireball, they all lay dead. 

The group investigated to the east and Allimir watched as snakes filled the cavities of 3 suits of plate mail, picked up shields and swords, and advanced. After a short battle the remaining snakes tried to escape back into the walls but Allimir cast Fire Bolts into the crevices and ensured their demise. Then they went through the southeastern door and rushed through the door at the end of the short corridor to find the sleeping quarters of the lizardfolk and a Yuan-ti Pureblood. Another Fireball and Acid Breath cleared the rooom.

Episode 54 Recap

The heroes learned that Varram the White had been to Bolo’s tentside Inn a few days past, had killed a “scaled one”, a Yuan-Ti spy, and left immediately with an entourage of 10 humanoids–heading north to discover the location of the Tomb if Diderious. They also discovered two Yuan-Ti scouts within the inn, and from them discovered the location of the tomb. The let the Yuan-Ti go, got a good night’s rest, and set out on their griffons the next morning. 

By mid-afternoon they had found the entrance to the tomb, landed, and listened as two stone statues welcomed them and asked them their purpose–to which they replied “knowledge”. They searched the outer ruins and found  a troll in a well, and signs that trolls had taken some humanoids from a nearby campsite. Seeing nothing else around, they entered the tomb to find it lightly imbued with illusions of opulence attempting to cover up the dry, musty environment that Allimir and Jinx recognized as the abode of a Mummy Lord. But Zem found the environs to be consecrated ground, and not desecrated like mummy lord tombs usually are.

Their explorations included Allimir and Zem being driven mad for a time by visions of great truths within the dark cowls of statues, destroying a chimera made of animated mozaic tiles, finding double doors being bowed outward by tons of rock on the other side, and entering a well room with a cistern and lever against the far wall. They quickly dispatched a troll as it emerged from the well, and watched as a second troll–enveloped in Luna’s faerie fire–swam away far below.

Episode 53 Recap

The heroes rested the night at the Safehaven Inn and awoke to no new news from Remallia Haventree, so Jinx set off for the Tower of Luck and to see who he could help within the city. Allimir, accompanied by Luna, visited his old friend Ner as he delivered the scroll of notes about the Drakenhorn to the gathered researchers at the palace. His Tortle friend was estrememely happy to see him and they made plans for dinner that night. Then Allimir and Luna headed to catch up with Zem and Spot who had gone to see how Hef was doing with his training. 

Spot had found some city youths to help and advise as they headed north, and he and Zem found Hef finishing a flight routine where he led 5 other griffons through precise manouvers. They learned from Captain Kailyn Belabranta that Hef was on his final day of training and had set a record for the speed and level of mastery he had acquired with the griffons. Hef introduced them, and Allimir and Luna when they arrived soon after, to their griffons–each one specially chosen to match the personalities and temperament of their riders. Then the group set a time for the following day to train, deepen the bonds with the griffons, and learn how to ride them.

That evening, Allimir had a wonderful dinner and caught up with Ner, and after another night’s rest the group spent the next day training with their griffons. By the end of the day everyone had formed a high level of competency and comfortability with their mounts, and Luna, Spot, and Jinx had formed deep bonds with theirs.

The next morning, while they were finishing breakfast, Leosin Erlanthar walked in to tell them that his spy network had just reported a sighting of Varram the White, the wyrmspeaker who had disappeared after the white dragon mask had been stolen from him. He had been seen at Boreskyr Bridge to the southeast, and if the heroes moved quickly they could find out where he went and track him down. Capturing a wyrmspeaker could provide immensely valuable information to the Alliance. 

So the heroes set off immediately and teleported to Baldur’s Gate with their griffons, and then flew from there to Boreskyr Bridge. Three uneventful days later they arrived around dusk and landed within the tent community on the south side of the bridge. They entered Bolo’s Tentside Inn after Allimir talked with his mother and learned that the proprietor, Bolo, was a friend and former business partner of his family’s close friend, Mojari Ahuja. As they entered they were greeted by a bartender asking “Gentlemen. Welcome to Bolo’s. What can I get you to quench your thirst?”

Episode 52 Recap

The heroes dropped Maccath the Crimson off in Luskan and then continued south to Waterdeep. Upon landing they made their way to Ulbrinter Villa to report to Remallia Haventree, but were ambushed by assassins in the street. They killed three, captured 2, and let one of the assassins escape. They were Blackcoats, a sinister crime syndicate within the city, who had been hired by Rath Modar to kill the heroes. They delivered the captured men to the villa for questioning, and reported to Remallia on their mission to the north. There they met Elia, a silver-haired woman who immediately knew they had killed Arauthator, and who said they would meet again for a meeting with more potential allies.

Then Zemsta reported in to Savra Belabranta at the Halls of Justice, and was told to keep a watchful eye on any members of the Host Tower of the Arcane who were sent to help against the Cult. Savra also confirmed that dragon activity was increasing, and was awaiting further reports from the Misty Forest where a green dragon was raiding the settlements. 

Finally, the group found their way to the Safehaven Inn and Luna made her report to Mellanor Fellbranch at Faulkonmere Compound across the street. There she learned that watchers had reported a growing number of devils amassing at the Well of Dragons–far more than could be summoned by the red wizards, which Fellbranch believed was a sign that a fiendish power was sending forces to help the Cult of the Dragon. He warned Luna that it could mean she and her friends might encounter fiends during future interactions with the Cult.

She shared the information with the rest of the group as they gathered at the inn for a good nights rest, but just before they said their goodnights, Allimir felt a knock on his mind. He accepted the message and heard a terse, unfamiliar voice say “Killing Arauthator crossed a line. Now you have my attention. Now you will die. I, Severin, swear it!”

Episode 51 Recap

Arauthator flew back into the air and four Ice Trolls showed up from the eastern entrance, while a fifth appeared on the western ledge to join the battle. Spot went down several times from another spray of the dragon’s breath and many attacks, and all of the heroes except for Allimir were heavily battered and hurt. The great white dragon saw the end of the battle and flew down to finish off Spot, Zem, and Luna, and just as he was about to begin rending them all to pieces, Spot used his Dragonhide Belt to regain ki energy, and used it to effectively stun Arauthator and force him to use his last legendary resistance. Then Jinx appeared from around the southwest pillar and hit Arauthator and two of the remaining trolls with Hypnotic Pattern—catching them all within its twisting pattern of mesmerizing hues. As the great dragon stood there, slowly swaying within the magical lights, the heroes quickly dispatched the remaining trolls and dragonspawn, and faced off with the dragon.

It was during the cleanup that Maccath the Crimson appeared on the northwestern ledge, and the Tiefling wizard from the Host Tower of the Arcane offered to help ensure Arauthator’s demise. And so the six of them prepared to hit the dragon simultaneously. Alliimir and Maccath cast fireballs at the creature’s mightly head, Luna called lightning down upon it, Jinx struck Arauthator’s mind and unleashed nightmares from within, and Zem and Spot unleashed mighty attacks upon the creature’s flesh. Within seconds, the Great White Death, Arauthator, terror of the north for centuries, was dead, and the great beast slumped onto the icy floor of the cavern.

Luna began harveting blood and the few pieces of the dragon that she could, and then the party began digging out the great treasures from the ice. Then they headed up to retrieve the treasure from the rebuilt ship, and all of Maccath’s books, scrolls, and research. Jinx helped Maccath convince Marfulb, the leader of the Ice Toads, to allow the great mass of her 40 years of research to be taken back to Luskan as well, which she only agreed to if she could go along, as well. 

Then the heroes made their way back up into the Ice Hunter village where they showed proof of the dragon’s demise, and were hailed as heroes of legend and offered places within the tribe. The Ice Hunters helped them load up all of the treasure and research onto Iceskimmr, and they set off to the south, back through the Sea of Moving Ice to Luskan.

Episode 50 Recap

The kobolds yelled for someone in the back of the cave to run and tell the “Master” about the intruders, and then they rushed forward to swarm the entrance. Jinx put six of them to sleep, Spot breathed acid that instantly killed nine more, and the rest of the camp was quickly cleaned up. The last 2 kobolds were left alive and immediately agreed to take the heroes to the dragon, who they said lived in the caves one level lower.

They led the group to the winding ice tunnel in the center of the caves, and Spot jumped down with them as the rest of the group followed. Both kobolds fell off the platform below and died on an ice shelf. As the heroes looked out upon the immense mist-shrouded cavern before them and began to explore it, they heard the roaring voice of Arauthator asking his minions to find and kill the intruders.

Then they heard his mighty wings to the north of them, just as Spot saw Ice Trolls walking from the northeast towards their postion. He lept forward and flew towards the dragon’s sounds until he saw him, and then landed on an ice shelf below the white dragon and yelled out a taunt. But the dragon ignored Spot and flow south to breath cold, drop ice stalactites, and cast an ice storm upon the rest of the group. While Spot was rushed by a small  horde of white dragonspawn coming from the east.

Jinx cast Hypnotic Pattern and caught two of the four Ice Trolls within the sparkling lights, and Zem rushed forward to kill one troll after another. But the fourth troll was in the back stalking Allimir and Jinx, and they had to Misty Step away from the creature and some of the dragonspawn who had run south to engage them. Luna focused her attention on the dragon, and cast Tidal Wave on him—forcing the use of a legendary resistance. Spot, bloodied but alive, had escaped the horde and ran over the breath acid upon the three trolls who were regenerating after Zemsta’s strikes. Allimir threw a fireball up onto the ledge where the horde was still at, and killed many of them while Zemsta turned his attention to the dragon and sank two arrows into the creature’s hide..

Then, finally seeing a chance to get to the dragon, Spot flew up and punched the creature—attempting to stun him. The stun didn’t work and Spot dropped onto the high ledge below the dragon, who finally dropped down next to the badly damaged monk to attack him. Jinx Misty Stepped away again, and gave out his 4th bardic inspiration to Spot. Luna cast another Tidal Wave at Arauthator who once again used a legendary resistance to keep from being pushed down, and Allimir cast a second fireball at the remaining troll and dragonspawn that had been threatening him and Jinx.

Episode 49 Recap

Aboard the Frostkimmr, the heroes continued their search for the iceberg known as Oyaviggaton, but as they entered the region of the Seam of Moving Ice where it was believed to be, they encountered a pair of Frost Giants of Evil Water. Three of the ship’s sailors went down under the vicious axes and harpoons of the giants as Spot and Zemsta engaged them up close. Magic and mighty blows took the creatures down and they toppled over the sides of the boat and sank into the icy water. 

Captain Lerustah then commented on how none of the large icebergs that should be in the region could be seen, and thought that maybe the ocean’s currents had shifted. So Luna wild-shaped into a giant octopus and floated with the currents—discovering that the primary current was moving westward and slightly north. With this information, the ship was turned and the search continued until the next morning, when a wounded Ice Hunter was spotted limping across an ice flow and trying to escape from a polar bear. The bear was scared off and the hunter rescued. When asked about Oyaviggaton, he pointed northward to the second of four large icebergs. He was dropped off at his boat and the short distance to the party’s destination was covered. The heroes went ashore with the first mate as an interpreter, and at the far end of an icy plateau, entered a village of Ice Hunters.

They were not welcomed by the village, and when Arauthator was mentioned they were told that the dragon had been killed by frost giants a year ago and all of his treasure taken away. Persistent that they must enter the lair, they agreed to a duel with the village champion, and staying the night in a small storage hut. The evening’s meal was poisoned, but didn’t kill them, and after Spot defeated the champion they received a secret invite from the old shaman woman, Bonecarver. She revealed that the village was enslaved by Arauthator, and they were afraid of being killed by the dragon if they tried to resist or flee. But she also knew that it was only a matter of time before the dragon killed them all anyway, and she hoped that the heroes were strong enough to kill or at least drive the beast off long enough for her people to escape. She showed them a secret entrance into the ice caves at the back of her hut, and said she could cover their absence until the next morning. 

So they entered the caves and began exploring, finding stores of supplies, giants frozen in the ice walls with kobolds cleaning and carving draconic images into the ice, a tunnel winding down further into the iceberg, a ship built within a large room with an open treasure chest on the deck and surrounded by frozen creatures, and the sleeping quarters of a large room of kobolds. When questioned by the kobolds about serving the great white dragon, Zemsta denied such servitude, and the kobolds immediately shouted an alarm.

Episode 48 Recap

The heroes sailed north aboard the Frostkimmr, stopped in Luskan to purchase cold weather gear, and then headed west and north into the Sea of Moving Ice. There they immediately came upon a group of Ice Hunters chasing seals across a large ice flow. The first mate, Goro Halbin, attempted to talk to them but they were very unfriendly and sailed off to the northeast. Captain Lerustah said such behavior was uncharacteristic of the Ice Hunters, and since they weren’t headed in the direction where Oyaviggaton was believed to be, the heroes let them go and headed further into the ice flows to the northwest.

That night two giant octopuses attacked and tried to pull a sailor overboard, but Allimir disintegrated the first one, and Spot killed the second. No other creatures could be seen so the night crew took over again along with Allimir on watch, and the rest went back to sleep. 

The next day, as the ship was trying to squeeze between two large icebergs, a Wall of Ice formed blocking the ship from moving forward, and an Ice Devil was spotted on a nearby iceberg. The battle that ensued was fierce as a total of 4 ice devils appeared–one of them a summoner of some type. Eventually, three of them were killed and sent back to the 9 hells, while the 4th was turned by Zemsta, swam away, and didn’t return.

As the search for Oyaviggaton continued, the question was asked more than once: “What are devils doing in the Sea of Moving Ice?”

Episode 47 Recap

The heroes hung out in Waterdeep for another day of relaxation, shopping, and gathering information as they decided where they should go next. They learned: 

A) that the Draakhorn was continuing to draw more dragons and other forces to the Well of Dragons, and the forces there were large enough now that the Alliance didn’t currently have the power to face them; 

B) one of the lairs of the great white dragon, Arauthator, an iceberg known as Oyaviggaton—floating somewhere in the Sea of Moving Ice, was both believed to be where the Draakhorn had previously resided, and could possibly still have some ancient writings on the artifact that could help the Alliance the break the code of the horns messages, 

C) that same lair was believed to be where Maccath the Crimson, a member of the Arcane Brotherhood in Luskan, had gone many months previous to look try and recover some of the books and scrolls that Arauthator had stolen from the Host Tower of the Arcane. If she is still alive and can be found and brought back along with the stolen goods, the Arcane Brotherhood has promised to join the Alliance in the fight against the Cult. Also, Maccath’s knowledge of dragons and arcane artifacts could help greatly in breaking the Draakhorn’s code as well as fighting out more about the ritual being prepared to summon Tiamat from the 9 Hells. 

D) that their old acquaintance from the caravan trip from Daggerford to Waterdeep, Jamna Gleamsliver, had supposedly stolen the White Dragon Mask from Varram the White while he was in Parnast visiting Talis the White. But now both Jamna and Varram have disappeared.

After debating their options, the group decided that heading north had the greatest potential to help at this time, and so they gathered their things, some cold weather gear, and found passage aboard Frostkimmr, a light longship whos captain and crew were well acquainted with the Sea of Moving Ice.

But they left without their young companion from Greenest, Hef, who stayed behind to train with the city’s Griffon Cavalry, and learn how to care for the animals so that the group could use them in the future to quickly travel where they needed to go.

Episode 46 Recap

The heroes made their way through the next 3 levels of The Black Tower, and they were all very hurt by the time they made it to the ground level. There they encountered a monk dressed in a black gi climbing out of a well. He was trapped with Smok and Hef between him and the stairs, and so he pretended to surrender. But then he threw out a portable hole and it hit the ground fully open. 

As Allimir ran forward to grab the edge of the hole, inside he saw 2 rogue-like men, the Vortice Stone, and 3 wizard types, and the latter were all casting spells. The middle one, a women with black hair dressed in the purple robes of the Cult of the Dragon, was casting a lightning bolt and he counterspelled it, the second mage tried to hold him in place but he shook it off, and then the third cast fireball and engulfed all of the heroes and the 3 non-mages of the enemy group within the flames. But as the fire dissipated everyone was still standing and Allimir finished grabbing the edge of the cloth and closed up the portable hole—trapping the 5 enemies inside.

The monk then surrendered for real, and the group headed back out of the tower. They made it out without taking further damage and was well within the 1 hour time limit—avoiding permanent side effects from the Shadowfell. They quickly traveled to the crossing point and made it back to the material plane, where they immediately teleported back to Waterdeep. They went straight to Haventree villa and gave their report to Remalia while handing over Vuu the monk, and the portable hole with the Vortice Stone and 5 corpses—all having died from suffocation. Then they headed for their usual place of the Safehaven Inn.

But halfway there they encountered a group of young nobles pretending to be the “Heroes of Greenest” to impress some young ladies. So after some debate Jinx cast Sleep on the entire group, woke the ladies and told them the how the lads were telling falsehoods, and gave all of the money the lads had to a nearby candle merchant and asked her to call the city watch to deal with the miscreants. Then they finally made it to the inn for a well-deserved, and very well-needed, evening of baths, food, drink, and rest.

Episode 45 Recap

The heroes quickly made their way through the ravines towards the mountains, following the trail of footprints that they believed were the Cult group sent to retrieve the Mythal artifact known as The Vortice Stone. As they rounded a corner and entered a fresh cutback, the Black Tower appeared as if by magic above the rocks to their right, and then a piercing shreak broke the silence. 

They were set upon by creatures of shadow and energy, with long tendrils for arms, and sharp claws and teeth that ebbed necromaantic energy. They seemed to teleport into the shadows next to Allimir, Spot, and Smok, and Allimir and Spot were heavily damaged before Smok, with the divine power of his holy weapon, tore through the creatures with unearthly ease. Two were killed and the third fled into the shadows and were seen no more. 

Then Spot ran up the side of the tower after Allimir’s owl scouted it out, and with rope they all reached the top. And so the trial of the Black Tower began, and they quiickly learned that the tower’s reputation as a focal point for the The Despair, the negative energy of the Shadowfell, and it being filled with puzzles and traps, were both true. They made it the stairs down on the 5th floor, and began to descend further, having had spent 24 minutes in the tower so far.

Episode 44 Recap

The heroes began walking back to Hill’s Edge while discussing their possible options for getting to the shadowfell crossing quickly, when Allimir spotted some horned shapes up ahead on the forest trail. Just as he recognized them as similar to the dragonspawn they had fought in Waterdeep a month past, the ground began to rumble and shake. As the four shapes stepped from the shadows, Allimir threw a fireball in the middle of the group and singed all of them. Then, from the earth on either side of the path in front of them burst forth two large blue-scaled shapes with riders on their backs. On the right was the deadly scaled assassin that had dealt severe damage during that previous fight, and on the left was the quickly recognized visage of Galvan the blue.

He saw and smoking scales of his companions and sadly shook his head, and asked if they could have a conversation instead of fighting. When questioned he explained that he had only been attacking the heroes as part of a show to his superiors, and in truth wanted them to succeed. He verified that he was part of the group of Cultists that are working to stop the summoning of Tiamat and return the Cult of the Dragon to its former mission. And now that all of the group were protected from the direct eyes of the Queen of Dragons (alluding to knowledge of the new greater faction pins), he felt more free to hold a direct conversation. He offered to call a powerful wizard, the Zhentarim, Ashemmi, to get them quickly to the desert crossing. They agreed, and within moments Ashemmi was there and teleported the heroes unerringly to the crossing. 

They walked through the portal and into the dismal, disheartening world of the Shadowfell, and were immediately set upon by a shadow dragon and several groups of darklings. Spot focused on the dragon as three areas of magical darkness covered the battlefield. But he prevailed as the darklings were also quickly dispatched. Then Hef found a trail of footprints heading southwest into the ravines leading to a mountain range, and group quickly headed to follow them.

Episode 43 Recap

The heroes searched around the crossing point and found tracks from a group of humanoids heading north in the direction of the Court of Stars. So, they headed that way, following Allimir’s knowledge about the path. They encountered several changes along the trail, much more than Allimir and his parents had ever encountered during previous visits. But they were able to circumvent any of the dangers, until they found themselves at a river crossing, about two-thirds of the way to their destination. As they approached, Allimir scouted with his owl familiar and spotted a beautiful young woman standing on some stairs within the trees on the othe side. There was polite conversation as her two sisters, triplets of remarking similarity, all came out to greet the heroes as they approached.

When Allimir got within 25’ of the closest sister, standing on a rock inviting the group to cross the river, his training broke through their illusions and he recognized them as wicked and ancient fae creatures known as hags. What followed was a one-sided battle as the heroes shot ranged weapons and magic, and Spot ran over the stream and up to one of the hags and attacked. One by one, the hags invoked their invisibility and were not seen again. Then Allimir and Jinken began searching their lair, and pulled from it four unique magic items and a handful of gold. 

While they were searching, Smok heard something strange to the south as the rest of the party was on the lookout for the hags. He walked a ways and then saw a helmet in the bushes next to the stream. The humanoid, wearing full plate mail, turned and ran. Spot was on the creature quickly, pummeling them until they were stunned. They bound the unconscious creature, stripped them of their armor, and dragged them away from the stream.

It was a half-white-dragon, and from his insignia was also a member of an ancient order that worshipped Tiamat, called the Knights of the Five-Thorned Rose. The antithesis of Smok and the worshipers of Bahamut. Through intense interrogation that included Smok cutting the captive’s left hand off and casting Zone of Truth, they learned that he was one part of the group of five that had been sent to retrieve the Mythal Guardian for the Cult of the Dragon. They were being led by a wizard who is a wearer of purple, and the rest of the group was by now probably within an hour of the crossing.

The heroes then kept their word, and didn’t kill him, but left him tied up in the hag’s hut and continued on to the Court of Stars. Within the hour they were there, and made their way through the tree village and into the Court of Stars, only to find that the Mythal Guardian had been taken, and an illusion left in its place. That is when they realized that the knight had actually been telling them that the rest of his group had been on their way to the crossing point where they entered the Feywild, as they had already retrieved their prize. So they rushed as quickly as they could to the crossing. 

They arrived just as the last wisps of magical energy were swirling over the portal, and jumped through within moments of it closing shut completely. They found themselves back in The Reaching Woods three miles southeast of Hill’s Edge, and Luna’s quickly found the Cult group’s tracks—noting their complete disappearance a small distance from the crossing point. It was deduced that they had teleported away with the artifact.

Episode 42 Recap

The party left Remalia Haventree’s villa to find the city abuzz with rumors about the strange disturbances, as the resonances continued every 20 minutes like clockwork. The animals and people around them now went silent each time, and then the sounds of the city would start up again. Allimir and Smok went to visit the wizard Pannyth Grimborn to retrieve the finished Cloak of Displacement. Then they joined the rest of the group at the Safehaven Inn in the South Ward.

At dinner, they were joined by Spot, who had spent the past 3 days straight training with Master Wong at the temple in Elturel. Lady Cylith had brought him back and she gave a blessing to Hef and told Luna when questioned, that she knew what the resonance was but that it wasn’t her place to talk about it, and she left.

In the morning they sat down for breakfast and were joined by Rian Nightshade, the council representative for the Zhentarim. She offered the heroes positions within her organization, as it seemed to her from what had happened during their report to the council, that they were more aligned to how the Zhentarim did things, as opposed to their current factions. The group responded politely and thanked her for the offer, and she left. 

As Nightshade walked out the door of the Inn, Shua An walked in past her and joined the heroes for breakfast. She apologized for their treatment during the council meeting, assured them that it had been for crucial political maneuvering and that all future reports would be taken in person. She also gave assurances that the handling of the treasure for reparations was in very trustworthy hands.

Then she gave them all upgrades to their faction pendants, corresponding to increases in their ranking within each of the three factions. She apologized for the lack of formal ceremony for the promotions, but times dictated expediency over formalities. Then she shared a few more items from the council and told them that Obslin would arrive the next morning with some magic items he was gathering for them. When Luna asked her if she knew what the resonances were about, she insisted on going upstairs and talking within one of Allimir’s Tiny Huts. 

She told them that the resonances had been identified as coming from an ancient artifact called the Draakhorn. An item made from the horn of an ancient red dragon, a former consort of Tiamat, during the time of war between the giants and the dragons. Its last known location was the far north in the Sea of Moving Ice, and it was sending signals of unknown purpose specifically to chromatic dragons. Although, all dragons and those with strong ties to the primal world could also feel it. The factions were desperately working to figure out more, including where it was being sounded from, and hopefully, more would be known by the morrow.

So a day was spent resting, with Luna doing some shopping, Allimir shipping rare books to his friend Mojari, Jinken sharing Cult ale with drunks in the streets, and Smok paying a visit to Rian Nightshade to ask her about his twin brother. She didn’t know anything but promised to make inquiries on his behalf. 

The next morning, Obslin showed up as promised, and the heroes switched out or added new magic items, and then headed to Haventree Villa for another meeting. Remalia was there with Melannor Fellbranch and Savra Belabranta, and they explained that not only were young and adult dragons seen flying toward the Well of Dragons, but they had also figured out some things about the ritual to bring Tiamat into the world. The two Mythal artifacts are key pieces that could help sever her connection with the 1st level of Hell, and Cult groups had been seen traveling to the two main crossing points into the Feywild and Shadowfell—probably to retrieve them. 

The heroes were asked to try and stop them, and they agreed, and chose to start with the crossing into the Feywild near Hill’s Edge. They teleported there, spend a couple of hours visiting friends and family who they hadn’t seen in several months, and then set out for the crossing. With Allimir’s intimate knowledge of the path, they found it easily, crossed through, and were immediately set upon by a Green Razorfiend and Zealot, who they took down quickly.

Episode 41 Recap

The flying sky castle continued its descent—picking up speed and hurtling ever faster towards the mountain. Luna shapechanged into a Quetzalquatlus and flew towards Hef. Jinx tried to free Penelope the Wyvern but found her overtaken by fear and she bit and clawed at him viciously as she scrambled for the doorway. Allimir dimension doored himself to Hef and Smok, and as Hef climbed onto Luna’s bird form, Smok cast Fly on himself and Luna flew off with Hef on his back. Allimir dimensioned doored himself behind Hef on Luna’s back, and Jinx polymorphed into a hawk and flew out of the stables towards Luna.

As the castle smashed into the mountain, rock and ice exploded outward and barely missed Luna and Jinx. But a piece struck Smok and then he was caught as the floor and walls of the castle buffeted him into the side of the mountain. His armor and training saved him from being crushed to death, but as the castle and the mountain it was built on rolled away and down the mountain, the remains of dead ogres, kobolds, and a griffon could be seen within the rubble. A handful of the ogres were still alive, although badly battered and bruised, and Blogothkus and the two stone giants also survived. Blogothkus told the heroes that he had found some foul magic interfering with the castle controls. He blamed Rath Modar for both the crash and the resulting death of his wife’s spirit, and vowed to gather his kin from the northern lands and help the small folk in their fight against the Cult of the Dragon. He asked that his offer of help be relayed to the leaders gathering in Waterdeep. Then the giant forces walked north down the mountain.

As the heroes searched through the wreckage, they saw Talis the White and her guards flying on wyverns, and searching the rubble at the base of the mountain. She screamed in anger at what they found, what the heroes assumed was the dead body of Glazhael, the white dragon. So they hid until she left, and then Allimir set up the Tiny Hut for them to rest in until the following morning, at which point he prepared a spell to teleport them to Waterdeep. 

Soon afer their arrival, they received a summons to the Lord’s Palace, and were met at the gate by an old friend from Hill’s Edge—the Harper, Shua An. She led them inside where they found representatives of all the major factions gathering, including one from the Zhentarim, and a large handful of leaders for the Lord’s Alliance. Many of the people in the room were legends, such as Laurel Silverhand, Chosen of Mystra, King Melandach of the Misty Forest, and Connorad Brawnanvil, the 12th King of Mythril Hall, and several more. They all sat down and the heroes were asked to report what they had learned since leaving Waterdeep. So they did, and shared all that they had learned of how the loot was transported, and what was believed to be the final destination, The Well of Dragons. 

And all was going well until they were asked about the treasure after Glaazhael’s death. Allimir and Jinx tried to hide the truth about the treasure they had gathered, and the deception was immediately caught by Lady Silverhand and several others in the room. There was an intense discussion about using the treasure to help the people hurt by the raids, and concerns that the heroes had that the treasure would only serve to grow the personal coffers of individual council members. In the end, Smok gave an impassioned speech about losing sight of what was important in the current fight against the Cult, and stormed out of the room. Then  Jinx and Allimir emptied their Bags of Holding of all coins, gems, and the books and notes they had gathered, and also walked out. Then Luna gave her own speech and expressed extreme anger and disappointment, and then followed her companions outside.

Remalia Haventree had followed the heroes outside, and the six of them, without Smok, walked to her manor house to talk. During the conversation she shared that the Harpers had uncovered the source of the assassination of her husband, Arthagast, the former Open Lord of Waterdeep. It was the Cult of the Dragon, and Galvan the Blue who orchestrated the attack. Then she offered to help the group acquire whatever equipment and magic they felt they needed to continue their work against the Cult, and as she finished her offer there was a moment of strange silence. She looked disturbed by something, but not nearly as shaken as Luna, who felt more than heard the vibrations of a horn being sounded far off in the distance. And then the entire city of Waterdeep was assaulted with the sounds of dogs, birds, and other animals howling and screeching in agitation.

Episode 40 Recap

The battle with Glazhael, the Cloudchaser, a bestial white dragon from the Spine of the World, continued as she drew back to survey the cavern and recharge her breath weapon. But only the ogres were within striking distance and while she was busy taking them down, Allimir brought Smok through a Dimension Door to stand next to Glazhael on her treasure mound, and then Luna turned Smok into a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Bloodied by earlier attacks, she tried to get away but was grabbed and mauled by Smoks huge maw. Then Hef shot her and used Commander’s Strike to open her up for a killing blow from Smok. He grabbed her neck and shook it violently, and then let go as her lifeless body flopped on the icy pile of treasure. 

The PCs paid the ogres their promised silver, and spend a day going through the hoard, resting, and harvesting organs and blood from Glazhael’s corpse. Jinx remembered what Cylith had told him about the Dagger of Allaras, and so he dipped the blade into the blood and spoke the ritual words. A red mist floated out of the ruby in the hilt and within it formed Endel, Jinx’s brother. It was a heartwarming reunion that only lasted 12 minutes, and Jinx learned that Endel was living a full life within a strange world called Allaras. He missed his brother and parents, but didn’t want to return to Faerun unless he could bring his wife and daughter with him. He faded back into the dagger as Jinx promised to bring him back for another visit.

With the treasure gathered and magic items divided up, the heroes went upstairs and Blogothkus came out of his tower to talk to them. He thanked them for killing Glazhael and mentioned that he had landed during the night and let the vampire leave the castle with her minions. He asked where the group wanted to be taken, but as they began to discuss the options, Jinx and Luna noticed that the skyline had begun tilting. They pointed it out to Blogothkus who yelled out “That’s not good! What is going on?” and ran to the control tower as the ogres stood confused or ran in apparent confusion.

The heroes decided to run for the stables and the wyverns, and made it downstairs just as the castle began to tilt towards the western edge and start a slight freefall. Allimir used Dimension Door to bring Jinx with him into the stables as the castle gained momentum and fell a bit faster—the side of a snow-covered mountain looming large over the castle walls and quickly getting larger.

Episode 39 Recap

The heroes investigated Rath Modar’s room and found an ancient text of devil summoning titled Beyond the Iron Gates, along with some personal notes in the sections mentioning Mythal artifacts called The Mythal Guardian, and The Vortice Stone. Allimir recognizes them as the mythal keys to holding the Prime Material Plane, the Feywild, and the Shadowfell in close proximity to each other. They also found notes from other members of the Thayan Resurrection that showed fears of betrayal from the Cult of the Dragon and Tiamat once she is summoned. 

Then they had the stone giants force open Rezmir’s door and after killing a Rug of Smothering they searched the room and found a locked and trapped chest. Jinx couldn’t open it and put it away for safekeeping.

The hero’s told Pralmok that he could work to convince the kobolds to keep working for Blogothkus and the ogres, and after just two deaths they agreed. Then Allimir had one ogre open the east door to the Cult barracks and crack, and threw in a fireball that decimated the entire group of Dragonwings.

With the smaller threats eliminated, they set their minds to a plan of attack against the dragon, Glazhael, and while planning learned about another threat, a cult resource in the form of a vampire who was living in the large, dilapidated tower on top of the mountain. They decided to leave her alone for the time being, and instead focused on recruiting as many ogres as they could to help them fight the dragon. Smok gave an impassioned speech in Giant, and promised 1,000 silver each for those that would help. In the end a total of six ogres in addition to their captain, Pralmok, agreed to help. So the group headed down into the lower tunnels to find and kill the white dragon.

What they found was the beginning of a dragon lair, with treacherously slick ice-covered floors, lightly obscuring fog, and a biting cold that was forming icicles throughout the vast cavern. As they approached down four different tunnels, Smok saw a single, icy-blue eye staring at him from the upper edge of the tunnel. He rushed forward and struck the head twice, and from a further tunnel Luna hit the dragon from behind with lightning. Then Glazhael drew in a deep breath and let loose a torrent of freezing cold at Smok and into the tunnel beyond, and also hit Allimir, Jinx, and Hef with his magic breath. As the cold air settled, Glazhael flew up to the center of the cavern, eighty feet in the air, and laughed.

Episode 38 Recap

The heroes emerged from the Tiny Hut and told Talis the White that they were ready to head to the castle. So she instructed the old veteran, Wessic the Wizened, to take them there. Given the option of walking or flying, they chose the later and so Wessic helped them saddle up three wyverns. He took a fourth and together they flew over the village of Parnast until they came to the end of the valley where the castle had been docked. They arrived just in time to see it flying away about a half mile from the landing point.

They easily caught up to the castle riding the wyverns and decided to land in the lower courtyard. They stabled their mounts and met the first challenge from the orge guards with a raised clawed hand and the saying “All hail Tiamat!” The password was accepted and they began exploring the castle–immediately coming across a stone giant couple. With a shared mistrust of the Cult, the heroes were told that the cloud giant owner of the castle, Blagothkus, was hoping to use the dragon uprising to force all giants to band together to fight like in the days of old. They asked the heroes to try to convince Blagothkus that his plan was destined to fail, and they agreed to try.

So they went upstairs and convinced an ogre to get the cloud giant out of his tower, and in moments Blagothkus was sitting in a room talking with the group. 

They shared their knowledge and experience of the Cult with him, and Smok and Jinx were able to convince him to give up his alliance with them. He agreed to take the heroes back to Parnast, along with up to three days time to rid the castle of the cultists, the kobolds, and the white dragon, Glazhael, who was guarding the Cult’s treasure in the center of the castle’s mountain. Blagothkus gave them 6 ogres to help with all but the dragon. 

They went back downstairs and shared the good news with the stone giants, and after convincing them to help as well, headed into the guest chambers to first take out the red wizard, Rath Modar. They found the wizard very well prepared, and he used a Globe of Invulnerability and several illusions to escape the room–seemingly jumping off of a ledge into the blue void of sky above Graypeak Mountains.

Episode 37 Recap

As the rest of the party teleported to join Allimir in a forested glade near Parnast, they noticed that Spot wasn’t with them. Jinx then received a message from Cyllith, the priestess of the Temple of Bahamut, who said that Spot had been recalled to the monastery and would rejoin them soon.

They saw three other pairs of portal stones near them, and investigated enough to realize that each one was connected to a very different part of the world, with one going to a desert region. But that was all they could find out and so went up to the nearest building, which turned out to be the kennels holding ambush drakes. A 4-armed troll was tending to them and Smok led the party in a rushed attack. The troll smacked Smok hard before being taken down, but then it stood up and hit him again. Down it went a second time, and then it again stood up and almost dropped Hef with a bite and four slashes of its claws. Down it went a third time and Smok breathed fire across its body to ensure that it would stay down. The ambush drakes fell very quickly after that, and the party headed to the main lodge.

At the back door Jinx and Luna used magic to cause havoc with the kitchen staff, and when the staff ran up the stairs they entered and looked around. In the cellar they found three chained prisoners and freed them. And then went to meet whoever was now coming down the stairs. Smok saw a half-elf, a wearer of purple named Talis the White, and she invited the group upstairs for food, drink, and conversation. So they all sat down as she told them that she was part of a faction within the Cult that didn’t agree with Severin and the current direction of his leadership. They didn’t want Tiamat to be freed into the world, and offered information and guidance that would help the heroes make it to the flying cloud giant’s castle–where all of the treasure was being taken, of course–before it took off later in the day. But she would need assurances of safety before she gave that assistance.

The group asked for a quiet place to discuss what they wanted to do, and was directed down the hall to a guest room. Allimir created a tiny hut and they all entered to discuss their options.

Episode 36 Recap

The heroes heard more talking behind the door to the staircase and ran into cultists as they opened the door. They convinced the cultists that Rezmir was still alive and needed their help, and watched as they ran out. Then they ran to the barbican to help Snapjaw and his tribesmen fight their way into the castle.

The lizardfolk followed the heroes into the dungeon where they found Pharblex Spattergoo commanding a small force of bullywugs and trying to block entrance into the caverns. Jinx cast Enemies Abound on the shaman and had him cast Spike Growth on his own people. The battle ended quickly as Snapjaw threw 2 javelins from the stairs to finish off Spattergoo and throw his lifeless body into the water. 

The heroes then headed further in and found a group of kobolds with guard drakes blocking an intersection. Luna cast Tidal Wave and took most of them out, and when Jinx followed up with Vicious Mockery and a well-placed taunt, the leader ran away. The group followed but only found a central cavern where the giant frogs were raised. 

They continued on and found Azbara Jos trying to figure out how to open the teleportation circle, but to no avail. An activation trigger of some kind was missing. So they explored the rest of the caverns and found Spattergoo’s private sanctum, replete with a confusing array of religious items and two spellbooks containing a good number of low and mid-level spells.

Then they went back up to find the lizardfolk were the only ones left in the castle, and took a full day to rest, explore Borngray and Rezmir’s private chambers, and have Allimir transcribe the Sending spell into his spellbook. They found rare books of knowledge, gold, and gems, and a black dragon statuette made from black dragon scales and gems. They also found an ornate box with a lock that foiled pick-locking attempts from both Jinx and Spot.

Then, after breakfast on the morning of the 7th of Highsun, Allimir activated the portal and found himself in a small glade on the edge of a pinewood forest, with snow-covered mountains close by, the air significantly colder, and in the distance stood an old hunting lodge. He messaged Smok and said it was safe to come through, and the rest of the group used the portal to join him.

Episode 35 Recap

Spot and Smok engaged Rezmir while four gargoyles flew down from hatches in the roof of the observatory to harass them from the sides. Allimir dispelled the magic on Rezmir’s greatsword from further down the steps, but that didn’t stop the half-black dragon from dropping Spot unconscious with one great cleave of the mightly weapon. Then she was bloodied by Smok and breathed acid breath in retaliation, which gave 2 failed death saves to Spot. He would have failed his third save if not for the bolstering power of Bahamut emanating from Smok.

With Rezmir dead they used the Farseer of Illusk and saw the great black dragon Voaraghamanthar within his cave, and also saw his twin sister. Then Luna heard the movement of many feet shuffling in the courtyard, and the speech of bullywugs. They looked out the window to see Pharblex Spattergoo giving orders to scores of bullywugs, and a dozen of them were lighting torches, tossing them in, and blocking the doors to the tables. 

Allimir threw a fireball and killed the bullywugs around Spattergoo, but he was only scorched and kept going. So Jinx cast Hypnotic pattern to stop him, but a second large group of his followers grabbed him up and carried him to the entrance to the causeway. It took a Spike Growth from Luna and a second hypnotic pattern to keep them from making it out, but then two bullywugs risked their lives in the spikes to grab Spattergoo and drag him to safety. They made it up to the door to the southwest tower before Luna hit them with lightning. Only Spattergoo survived and was joined inside the tower by a handful of his followers. 

Then Smok and Spot ran outside and attacked the bullywugs burning the stables, and with the help of Hef and Jinx took them all out, but not before all but two of the giant lizards were killed. Four lizardmen had made it outside to the river, and they waved and swam away as the room continued to burn.

With all of the bullywugs killed or out of sight, the heroes ran to the southwest tower and all met inside, and there they heard talking in common behind the door to the tower stairs. They paused to consider their next actions, as many of them were still very wounded and magic resources low.

Episode 34 Recap

The heroes followed Snapjaw and listened to the details he shared about the castle. They decided to pretend to be Cult reinforcements, and were shown by the Bullywug, Guuko, to a wet and moldy room with dirty cots in it. They were attacked by giant centipedes that had to be killed, and then went upstairs to find the other floors of the southwest tower empty and only used as barracks and for studying magic. 

So they walked into the larger Cult barracks and talked to an off-duty cultists named Orcrist, and found out that Dralmorrer Borngray, the person giving orders to cultists in the castle, was upstairs in the central tower. They headed there and on the first level found their old acquaintance, Azbara Jos. He told them all that he knew about Borngray and Rezmir, who were above in the tower, and his suppositions about a teleportation circle in the dungeons that he believed was taking the treasure somewhere far to the east. Given this information, the heroes told Azbara to “take a walk” while they took care of the Cult leaders. So he left to find a snack as the group planned their assault on Borngray.

Jinx, Spot, and Allimir entered first and pretended to be newly arrived reinforcements for the Cult, and while Spot walked up to Borngray with his hand outstretched, Allimir cast Haste on him and Jinx cast Silence over the entire section of room where Borngray stood. Then Spot stunned the one-eyed elf and beat him to a bloody pulp in one round of attacks. But the attack wasn’t entirely silent, as Rezmir heard Luna and Hef rushing up the stairs and called out to see what was going on. And when Smok pointed upwards to signal trouble, Spot rushed from within the silence and reached the top of the stairs just in time to see Rezmir standing there with her finely crafted greatsword raised in the air, glinting darkly, with black tendrils of magic snaking along its edges.

Episode 33 Recap

As the last creature fell outside the east entrance to the chapel ruins, an eerie silence fell as strange runic symbols on the giant tortoise shell began to glow with an unearthly purple hue. Smok sensed an evil darker and more vile than anything he had ever felt before, and the voice that had spoken to Spot reached out to Allimir, Jinx, and Luna and tried to seduce them into servitude with promises of great power and knowledge. 

When it was rebuked by all of them, and Smok stepped up to the shell, it emitted a pulse of energy and black haze out 120 feet that caused everyone except for Spot to run in fear—unable to return for 10 minutes. When they did, they inspected the shell and deduced that not only was it causing the Mere of Dead Men to spread outward, but it was also simply magical runes carved into the shell, and with concentrated attacks on all sides, they could possibly destroy it. But first they needed to rest, and so they found the entrance to the Harper cache in the back of the chapel. They chose their magic items and Allimir created his hut for an evening’s rest.

In the morning they all gathered around the shell and simultaneously attacked it, and it cracked and split apart in an implosion of shards and dust. Its magic dissipated, although the presence of great evil could still be slightly felt. Their side quests accomplished, the heroes headed north towards Castle Naerytar.

After a couple of miles the green mist began to glow an increasingly bright shade of blue, and up ahead the party saw part of the trees and vines pull away from the foliage around them and step forward. It moved into a deep pool and disappeared. The heroes waited for it to get closer, and from both sides rushed 3 blue dragonspawn with large horns and bodies that crackled with electricity. They ran 20 feet and then dived into the muddy earth and disappeared. So the heroes waited, and when the creatures engaged them they quickly felled the beasts and Shambling Mound, and continued on their way. 

A half hour after stopping for lunch they came upon an empty encampment with 4 huts and 3 canoes. They pushed the canoes out into the water and began walking towards the castle—the ground rising slightly and getting drier. That is when they spotted a group of 6 lizardfolk walking towards them. They decided to wait to see what they did, and when the lizardfolk did see them they continued to walk forward casually. The groups met and the leader of the lizardfolk introduced himself as Snapjaw, told them that the castle was indeed up ahead, and asked them what their business was at the castle? He had to calm his companions down since it seemed they had orders to capture or kill anyone found in the Mere, and as they lowered their hands away from their weapons Allimir cast a Fireball into their group.

The leader was badly burned and bleeding, while his companions were charred husks, unmoving as they lay scattered about the now dry, cracked ground. Snapjaw looked in horror and anger at their bodies, and in a controlled voice said that he had hoped they could help each other, that the heroes could help him free his enslaved people, but if not then he was ready for death.

Then Smok stepped forward and healed the lizardman as Allimir said that he thought it best if Snapjaw’s companions were out of the picture and couldn’t be tempted to attack. While still angered over the deaths, Snapjaw agreed to lead the heroes to the castle, and tell them on the way there what to expect and the options they had for infiltrating or assaulting it. He turned and walked back towards the castle, and the party followed him.

Episode 32 Recap

As the Mere of Dead Men swallowed the heroes up within its foul folds of cold, mist-shrouded, blackened waters and vine-choked paths, Luna was able to discern a fairly safe path running along an old, overgrown road to Castle Naerytar. After one mishap with quicksand, the group made it safely to a camping spot halfway to the castle. On the way there they encountered an awakened raven named Mauxiliator who only spoke Orcish and Draconic, and they warily accepted its offer to help them traverse the marsh. 

After a night’s rest in Allimir’s magical hut, they continued their journey and cut southwest towards the center of the mere to where the great evil Luna had been told about, and the stash of magical items Obslin had mentioned, might be found. On the way they were attacked by two huge black tentacles that were easily destroyed, and so they kept walking.

A couple of hours before sunset they found the ruins of an old church or temple–with a huge tortoise shell sitting atop the muddy ground near the southeast corner… and a crazy old druid shouting in a language unheard for thousands of years, who attacked the raven and sent his beast minions to stop the party from approaching. As constrictor snakes, toads, and spiders of giant size attacked from all sides, the druid cast a circular thorn wall that caught both Luna and Smok within it.

Hasted by Allimir, Spot ran up through two of the creatures as Jinx cast a silence spell over the druid. Spot then reached the druid and stunned him, and the thorn wall disappeared. With the entire party now engaged and Spot able to freely attack the stunned evil druid, the fight was quickly over. But not before Spot heard a cold, dark voice speaking in the back of his mind, “I can help.” and later, just as he was about to give the killing blow to the druid, “Yes, kill him. Put him out of his misery. Serve me.” “This is not for you!” cried Spot as he felled the druid, and then ran to help Smok finish off the final two giant creatures.

Episode 31 Recap

Having arrived at the Carnath Roadhouse, some of the heroes got situated in their rooms while others helped unload the first two wagons. They learned that the more valuable items were kept locked within a strong room, and only Bog Luck had the key. So at dinner they developed a plan to sneak Luna into the room to check it out. They put a tinder box that was supposedly an heirloom for Smok into a bag with some gems and money. They cut a slit in the bag and then Luna crawled inside the box as a spider. Then they gave it to Bog Luck for safekeeping in the strong room. That night, Luna crawled out and searched the room–finding a section of loot from the Cult raids. Then she heard voices speaking in Draconic, and as she watched from the corner of the room as a spider, lizardfolk pushed aside a crate from below and entered the room. They grabbed the boxes and passed them down into a passage to more lizardfolk, and then they all left with the boxes of treasure. 

While that was happening, Azbara Jos visited the heroes in their room and told them that he was there on the behest of Rath Modar, the leader of the Thayan Resurrection, to help Severin the Red (the leader of the Cult of the Dragon) with the ritual magic needed to free Tiamat from the 1st level of Hell and bring her into this world. All because Rath believes that it will give them the power they need to overthrow Szass Tamm. But, in fact, Azbara is secretly a member of the Red Wizards, under the direction of Szass Tamm, and  not an outcast. He wants to see the ritual fail, and told the heroes that they should find ways to work together to put a stop to it. He said he was leaving for Castle Naerytar in the morning and would see them there. 

The next morning, Luna made it out of the strong room and relayed what he had seen to the group. Then Spot overheard the cook, Gristle Pete, complaining about rats making scratching noises and waking him up again. Upon further questioning, Pete realized that the rats only made noise on the evenings when carts were being unloaded. Jinx used this information to gain access to the strong room alongside Bog Luck, and through magic convinced him that there were, indeed, rats making it into the strong room. Bog Luck stopped Jinx from moving the crate covering the tunnel, and called Ardred in to discuss something as he closed the door. So the group backed off and decided it was time to chase after the treasure–heading into the swamp first thing the next day.

That evening, they met with Fidherla outside the roadhouse overlooking the mere. They found out that she and Nheran were leaving the next morning as well, and heading back to Waterdeep. She shared her belief that they would see each other again, and wished them all luck and success until then. She also reminded them that Allimir’s necklace was an important protection against magically being spied upon.

Then they got a good night’s sleep, and after asking Bog Luck to look after the horses, they set off on foot into the danger-filled putrescence that is the Mere of Dead Men.

Episode 30 Recap

The heroes ate an early breakfast and met the caravan at the North Gate, and continued their travels along the Trade Road north to the Mere of Dead Men. Along the way they spent time gathering more information. Allimir distracted Azbara Jos while Spot stole a note from within a robe pocket. It was from someone named Rath Modar, and it asked Azbara to help someone called Severin, and the Cult of the Dragon, with their ritual magic to ensure that the Queen of Dragons  is successfully brought into the world–which the note says will give them the power they need to overthrow Szass Tam and restore Thay to its former glory.

With Luna’s help, Jinx found Ardred Briferhew’s ledger, which detailed recent supply caravans heading north from Waterdeep to the Mere of Dead Men. There was also a loose page of notes in the back that listed five dates, and a number of wagons for each date. It was assumed that each entry lists the number of wagons supplying raid loot from the Cult, and counting this caravan there have been 28 wagons delivered in the past month.

Smok spent time evaluating the level of evil emanating from people in the caravan, and was alarmed to sense deep, abiding evil from the caravan master, Ardred Briferhew. He confronted him during the day of rest, and intimidated him into revealing that the raid loot is unloaded and dealt with at the Roadhouse, and only the Roadhouse’s master, Bog Luck, knows what happens to it.

Then the caravan entered the Mere of Dead Men, and on the eighth day it was ambushed by four Spectral Trolls. Luna helped the guards at the rear of the caravan deal with the two at that end, while the rest of the heroes fought the two at the front. The creatures savagely attacked Smok and Spot, but once again Jinx’s Hypnotic Pattern helped turn the tide of battle, and one by one the trolls were destroyed. Then they helped kill the ones in the back, but not before a cultist and three of the new guards were killed by the spectral trolls. 

Finally, as the sun was setting on the tenth day, now the 1st day of Highsun, the caravan rolled up to the Carnath Roadhouse, and the grizzled half-orc, Bog Luck, opened the gate and beckoned them all to enter.

Episode 29 Recap

The fight against the black dragonspawn continued, and from the south, where he had heard rumors about the creatures from street urchins, ran Spot to join the battle. He spread spectral, draconic wings and flew up onto the roof where he noticed more creatures on the rooftops to the east and west. He throws a dart near the one to the west to let it know that it was seen, and in response it stood up and shot a poisoned arrow into Spot that took out most of his health. Then it tried to shoot Hef and missed, and then faded from view.

The two street level dragonspawn became the focus of attacks that quickly felled them, and as they were killed Smok and Jinx saw a light glow on the eastern rooftop, and saw what appeared to be Galvan the Blue with two more dragonspawn. He motioned them to retreat off the back side of the roof as he opened a Dimension Door and stepped through. As the light faded from view there was a glint of light from something falling to the roof where Galvan had been standing.

Then the invisible dragonspawn reappeared and attacked Jinx who retaliated by casting Heat Metal on its sword, and after several of the heroes ran up to attack it–causing it to bleed from several wounds–it disappeared again. They searched but it didn’t return, and Spot flew up onto the eastern rooftop and found a piece of parchment. It read “The lizardmen can help. Make allies of them before reaching the castle.”, and then it burst into flames that turned it into ash. 

The heroes continued on to the Red Gauntlet for some drinks, where the city watch found them and asked questions about the attack. They shared most of the information they knew and then headed back to their inn to sleep.

The next day Jinx delivered a note to the Harpers with the details of the previous evening’s attack, while Allimir visited Pannythg Grimborn in Sea Ward to put in his order for a Cloak of Displacement. Then they all met at the Upper Downs and got the chance to ride the griffons. Hef, in particular, made a strong connection with the creatures and agreed with Smok that there was potential for this to be a path that he could walk in the future, but for now he felt that stopping the Cult was far too important, and he wanted to see it through.

Then they found Ardred Briferhew and signed up to travel north with the supply wagons. Most of the Cult were there, too, and Allimir talked with Fidherla. He mentioned that they had seen Galvan and that he particularly didn’t like Allimir, and her response was “Are you certain about that? Are you certain that he… perhaps not a friend… but is someone who could help you?” Allimir’s response was “He could never be helpful to me.” and walked away. 

Jinx, in talking with Ardred, saw that two Cult guards were missing from the roster, and one of them was Iverius, the man who killed Hef’s father. They also overheard some guards talking about a sighting of a black half-dragon riding north with a small group of men about a full tenday past. They assumed it was Rezmir heading north to the final destination ahead of the caravan. Then they headed back to get a good evening and night’s rest before heading out with the caravan first thing the next morning.

Episode 28 Recap

The heroes looted most of the dead orcs and questioned the one they captured. They discover that the raid was coordinated by two of the older orcs who wanted to prove themselves by going against the wisdom of the elders, and the main tribe encampment is both huge and several days travel to the east. Feeling safe from further attack, and at the urging of Kahshara, they let the captured orc go free.  

Travel continued to Waterdeep, and when they arrived the heroes got rooms at Safehaven Inn in Kerrigan’s Court, in the South Ward. Before eating dinner, several of the party went to report in with the local faction leaders. Jinx reported to Remallia Haventree of The Harpers at Ulbrinter Villa in the North Ward, and in addition to sharing information asked her about the Dagger of Allaras and if she knew anything more about it. She had never heard of the artifact before, and said it was beyond her ability to research. She offered to take it to her daughter, the Blackstaff, but Jinx would not part with the dagger. 

Smok reported to Savra Belabranta of the Order of the Gauntlet at the Halls of Justice in Castle Ward, and learned about additional cult raids to the northeast. She also mentioned that soon there would be council meetings in the city to gather faction leaders and related resources together to discuss how to further address the threat that the Cult posed, and any additional information that could be delivered to her would be very valuable, as she would be the primary representative at the meetings for the Order. He also set up a special meeting the next day–an opportunity for Hef to see a Griffon up close.

Allimir had been contacting various resources in Hill’s Edge, Candlekeep, and, finally, Obslin Minstrelwish at Twilight Hall, who is able to give him the name of a local resource who may be able to transform the junior displacer beast pelt into a working Cloak of Displacement. His name is Pannyth Grimborn, who lives on northern Diamond Street in Sea Ward, and a favor can be called in instead of having to pay for the work to be done.

Luna reported to Malannor Fellbranch at Phaulkonmere in South Ward, but said nothing of his visit and was unusually quiet and reserved when he returned. Spot spent the time looking to help local street urchins, as he likes to do when spending time in a city.

After dinner, Smok asked if people were interested in a good drink, as he had also gotten the name of a local tavern from Savra. So they all headed out to find the Red Gauntlet. On the way there, they rounded a corner and noticed dark forms on a rooftop ahead. There were 2 humanoid forms with black scales that Jinx identified as a form of Black Dragonspawn, and they ran forward and dropped off the roof to engage the heroes.

Episode 27 Recap

After spending  a full day in Daggerford, the caravan headed north on the last leg of the journey to Waterdeep. They had several interactions with Jamna Gleamsilver that made them wary, and Jinx even took steps to warn the cultists about her. But the situation remained unsolved as halfway through the trip the caravan was ambushed by a raiding party of 40 young orcs. It was the first solid test of Smok’s new defensive rotation utilizing all of the caravan’s guards–with the exception of the gargoyle. Aside from a few good hits from orcish greatswords, the heroes and rest of the caravan quickly killed most of the attacking force. Only one of the orcs escaped, and Spot captured one to interrogate.

Episode 26 Recap

The caravan continued its travel northward, and it seemed like it would reach Daggerford without further incident. But one evening as people sat around the campfires eating dinner, clouds of roiling fog approached from 4 directions. Within each of them was a cloud giant, and 2 attacked the main camp where the heroes were, while the other 2 attacked the rest of the camp on the other side.

Conjuring fog that effectively split the heroes up, the giants emerged wielding rocks and giant-sized greatswords. The second giant threw a perfectly aimed rock that struck Jinx from his horse and lay him unconscious. But neither giant was able to connect consistently with their following attacks, and the first giant was killed while retreating back into the fog. The second giant was more successful and able to get far enough away to rise into the sky hidden from view by the clouds. 

The other 2 giants were killed by the rest of the camp, but not before 5 guards were killed, 2 of them cultists. But the caravan was safe once again and at the end of the tenday rolled into the town of Daggerford.

Episode 25 Recap

The caravan continued on its journey after the peryton attack, and in a show of greater camaraderie the teamsters and guards for the cult wagons began tentatively joining in on the evening activities run by Allimir and Spot.

After a few days it began to rain, and quickly escalated to heavy and occasionally torrential downfall. The relentless barrage continued well into a second day, and then it finally stopped. But celebrating the rain’s cessation was short lived as the caravan approached a copse of trees where the ground was covered in bright, fluorescent green fungus with small mushrooms growing out of it. Luna identified the fungus as a type that typically grew in subterranean caverns, and the mushrooms were actually some form of shriekers that also weren’t usually found above ground. Smok poked one of the creatures and it let out a long, high-pitched wail. He and Hef began clearing a path for the wagons since there was no other way forward, and the air began to fill with both spores and a cacophony of shrill screams.

After a quarter mile, Spot was the first to notice a lanky green and black form emerging from the trees to the south. It was a troll, and before he could sound the alarm four of the creatures were loping steadily towards the caravan. And as they approached it could be seen that there were large, insectoid creatures nested within their arms and legs. They approached the front and sides of the caravan, and Smok and the two cult leaders took the brunt of the initial assault. The insectoids were assassin bugs, and they began to launch themselves at people as the trolls attacked, and their bites and paralytic saliva made the assault all the more dangerous.

In the end, the trolls and all but two of the bugs were brought down, but not before one of the cult guards and Smok’s warhorse were killed, and both Smok and Luna were brought close to death themselves. Once the attack was over, the screaming of the shriekers overwhelmed many in the caravan, including Spot and Jinx. But the caravan continued on and eventually cleared the copse of trees.

The next evening, the cult leader, Nheren, approached Jinx and asked why the “Heroes of Greenest” were in the caravan. Jinx answered that it was simply to make some coin, and got from Nheren that the cult wagons were going to be unloaded at a roadhouse at the edge of the Mere of Dead Men. They parted cordially, and Nheren walked back to the cult campfires.

Episode 24 Recap

As the heroes spent their final night in Baldur’s Gatte, Shafiri, the tiefling Harper agent, gave them a message from Obslin Minstrelwish, the seneshal of Twilight Hall. She handed them a hand-drawn map to a secret Harper cache of magic items south of Castle Naerytar in the Mere of Dead Men, and told them that if they cleared it of an unknown invading force that had kept it from being used for several years, they could take some of the items from it.

The next morning, the caravan took off and the PCs began to get to know their traveling companions. Allimir and Smok worked to create a sense of camaraderie among the teamsters, and aside from the Cultists were very successful. Spot and Jinx worked to do the same with the guards, and were exceptionally successful. And Luna discovered a mentor for his herbalism studies in one of the other guards, a half-elven archer from somewhere in the far north by the name of Kahshara.

In the middle of the first tenday, the caravan was dive bombed by a dozen perytons, but Jinx caught three of them within his Hypnotic Pattern spell, and the battle was soon over with only the two guards protecting Nyerhite Verther’s wagon being killed. During the battle, the heroes drew some attention to themselves. Spot yelled “Breath of the Dragon” very loudly as he hit two of the creatures with a cone of channeled draconic energy. And Luna wild-shaped into his giant hyena form.

That evening, Fidherla, the second in command for the Cult, sat with Spot and offered her condolences for the loss of the two guards. Then in response to Spot’s question she shared that the contents of the wagons were headed for Castle Naerytar, and possibly somewhere else afterwards, but she didn’t know exactly where.

Episode 23 Recap

The heroes fought valiantly against the wyrmspeakers Rezmir and Galvan, but both Allimir and Luna went down before Jinx was able to catch Rezmir within the thrall of a Hypnotic Pattern spell. With his companion incapacitated, Galvan opened a Dimension Door and pulled Rezmir through it, and they were gone.

Smok healed both Allimir and Luna as the city watch reinforcements arrived with two mages. The party answered questions and were taken into the Temples district to meet with Grand Duke Ulder Ravengard. Ulder and the group shared information about the Cult, and the Grand Duke promised to have copies of reports for the past six months sent to them in the morning. He also agreed to let the Cult wagons leave with the caravan so that the heroes could travel with them and try to learn more about the organization’s current operations.

The next morning they received the report copies and Allimir was able to discern a clear change in focus for the Cult—halting most of their other operations while conducting more raids as they headed further west towards the coast.

Then they met with Ackyn Selebon in Blackgate and found 5 Cult wagons joining with nine merchants and 10 wagons to form an unusually large caravan. Allimir was hired as a teamster and the rest were all hired as guards, and so the group is set to leave with the caravan the next morning.

Episode 22 Recap

The heroes learned of the arrival of the Cult caravan from Ackyn Selebon.

The Harper, Shifiri, showed up at the Elfsong Tavern and led them to a spot where they could spy on a palanquin traveling through the lower city. In it they glimpsed Rezmir the Black, the black dragon Wyrmspeaker of the Cult of the Dragon, and a bald Thayan man. Both were dressed in purple robes.

They decided to follow them to Baldur’s Gate. As the palanquin approached the gate and its guards, Spot set the top of it on fire from a nearby rooftop while Luna and Allimir pretended to be a dog with her master chasing after her. As the fire spread, the pallbearers set the palanquin down and ran off towards the docks.

Then Allimir heard an invisibility spell being cast from within and counterspelled it, and in response the Thayan, Galvan, jumped out and hit Allimir with a powerful bolt of fire. Then Rezmir emerged from the other side and dropped Allimir with a single blow from his greatsword, and then struck Luna—breaking her Wild Shape.

From the gate beyond the fight the guards began shouting, “Half dragon, there is a half dragon in the city! Summon the mages and reinforcements!”

Episode 21 Recap

The heroes found their way to the Elfsong tavern and checked into some rooms on the 3rd floor. Then they had a good dinner before heading north into the Heapside district to seek out Smok’s contact at the Splurging Sturgeon.

They found Gerena Alendel , a local member of the Order of the Gauntlet, having dinner and talking with a blond-haired elf. He agreed to help Allimir travel to Candlekeep to conduct some research, and offered resources to help Smok with Hef’s training.

While at the tavern, they overheard locals talking about some trouble at the Temple of the Suffering, and Gerena confirmed that Brother Hodges had been asking for help with creatures in the shrine’s crypts. So the next morning, as Allimir left for Candlekeep, the rest of the group met with the priest of Ilmater and descended down into the crypts.

There they encountered 6 Carrion Crawlers who had been feasting on the bones of the dead, and after an intense battle killed 5 of them and drove the sixth one off. They sealed the hole where the creatures had entered, and returned the shrine to its ability to provide interment services for the poorer families of the city. Then they focused on various personal endeavors over the tenday that it would take for the Cult caravan to arrive.

Episode 20 Recap

The heroes awoke the morning after the attack and headed down to breakfast.

Ontharr Frume and Lady Cylith joined them and revealed that the Dragonspawn had entered the city through the sewers, and those routes had been effectively closed off. The mystery solved, the group gathered their horses and boarded the Jenny, a riverboat captained by Axathina, a member of the Order of the Gauntlet.

The first day and night of river travel were smooth and uneventful, but on the second night they found another boat run aground on the north shore of the river. Three survivors called out for help, but as the Jenny approached the survivors revealed themselves to be powerful undead—a Deathlock and 2 Spawn of Kyuss. The short, intense battle saw the end of the foul creatures, but the true horror was found in the ship’s hold where six people were being consumed by worms and turned into more Spawn.

So the heroes burned the ship and the Jenny continued downriver. They arrived in Baldur’s Gate just before sunset. The party disembarked and paid the city’s entrance fee, and captain Axathina promised she would have their horses delivered the next morning to Old Grey’s Stables in Blackgate. Then the group decided they would get rooms at the Elfsong tavern in north Eastway, and headed north to find it.

Episode 19 Recap

The heroes continued their dinner conversation with faction leaders at the Pair of Black Antlers tavern in Elturel.

• After further discussing the options, it was decided that the group would travel to Baldur’s Gate to await and prepare for the Cult caravan. A plan was made to leave the next morning.
• During the evening, Lady Cylith magically investigated Jinx’s dagger, and shared with him the news that his brother was alive and well, and gave him the details of a ritual that could bring him back to this world for a short time. Then Obslin Winstrelwish arrived from Berdust with a bag of magic items for the heroes—both as reward for their recent work and to help them in their upcoming endeavors against the Cult. Lady Cylith also placed an amulet around Allimir’s neck to protect him from Tiamat’s scrying gaze. Then she gave each of them a blessing of Bahamut that would mask the dragon stench within them for a month.
• But their current location was already known, and  during the night 18 green dragonspawn, Leapers & Sneaks, swarmed the tavern and surrounding streets. Hef’s early warning and the vigilance of the Order of the Guantlet helped limit the threat, and the force was quickly defeated.  Then with additional guards watching the inn and investigating how the dragonspawn entered the city, the heroes went back to sleep.

Episode 18 Recap

The heroes met Mayor Nighthill and Leosin for breakfast at the Green Goddess Inn in Greenest, and shared the details of what happened during their return to the raiding camp.

• Leosin added that he had seen both the leader of the camp, Rezmir, a half black dragon, within the tent. He had noticed a black mask hanging from Rezmir’s belt that could be an ancient relic known as a Dragon Mask, one of five created centuries ago by Sammaster the Mad. He had also seen a Theyan by the name of Azbara Jos, who he believed was a red wizard, talking to Rezmir.
• They talked about going after the caravan heading west and then north to Baldur’s Gate, but that trip would take 20 days, and with a high ranking faction leader awaiting them in Elturel that could provide further guidance, they chose to head there first. They set out immediately—traveling straight there through the rolling grasslands.
• On the first night Allimir had his trance interrupted with a flashback to his time at Candlekeep, and before it ended he saw the great heads of Tiamat herself looking down at him. Then while traveling the next day they encountered a pack of Bluespawn Stonegliders, dragonspawn sent by Tiamat, who before they were killed primarily focused on trying to bring down Smok.
• Then they continued on and arrived at Elturel to find Lady Cylith waiting for them at the gate. She led them to the Pair of Black Antlers tavern where the local head of the Order of the Gauntlet, Ontharr Frume, was waiting to talk to them.
• Frume had little to add to what the heroes already knew, other than the fact that the Cult raids were even more widespread—happening as far north as the Spine of the World. The goodly factions were organizing against it, but resources were still slow in being marshaled, and no one had done more to-date in stopping the raids and uncovering the Cult’s movements than this group of heroes.
• Lady Cylith looked at one of the heads of the Bluespawn Stonegliders, and was able to provide detailed information about them. When told about the focused attacks on Smok, she explained that when dragons are killed, there is a magical essence, called Dragon Stench, that permeates the bodies of those in the vicinity when they die. And a greater amount is absorbed when the killing blow is dealt. So Smok destroying the three black dragon eggs drew in a large amount of the energy. She also confirmed that Allimir was definitely the one being tracked by Tiamat, and said she would work on providing some protection against it.

Episode 17 Recap

After resting for a while and recovering from the battle with Frulam Mondath and her guards, the heroes headed down the secret tunnel in the floor of her chambers and made their way through the Temple of Tiamat. 

• As they looked down the stairs into the hatchery, Allimir created the illusion of a junior Displacer Beast on the edge of the pit. In response, a huge piece of the  rock wall separated and revealed itself to be a Roper. Its long tendrils waving in the air signaled the start of the battle.
• The Roper moved forward with berserkers, guard drakes, kobolds, and a half-ogre rushing in from the depths of the cavern. The Roper grappled Luna, Jinx, Smok, and Spot as the illusion distracted all but the half-ogre for a round or two. Jinx teleported to safety as the Roper tore through Luna’s hyena form.
• The Roper was killed and the berserkers and guard drakes took its place and dropped both Smok and Spot to the ground. Jinx healed Spot and Hef gave Smok a healing potion. With a full crew and magic and fists flying, they finally finished off the rest of the creatures and found themselves on the edge of the hatchery pit watching two kobolds try to crack open two of the black dragon eggs.
• Leosin and Smok rushed forward and dropped each of the kobolds, and then Smok broke each of the three eggs and killed the wyrmlings. Then Luna cut off their heads and feet, and the group made their way back out of the cave. They found the hunters packing up and taking off to find new jobs, and their horses waiting for them at the camp. So they mounted up and headed back to Greenest with Leosin—arriving a few hours after dinner. Mayor Nighthill welcomed them back, told them to get a good night’s sleep, and said he would meet with them for breakfast in the morning.

Episode 16 Recap

The heroes approached the valley and saw a head peak over the railing of the entrance watchtower. It was Leosin, who had been hiding and resting up before traveling back to Greenest.

• He was impressed with the information the heroes learned about the cult and where the raid loot is headed for, and since there wasn’t much else he could add to the report they gave Mayor Nighthill, he agreed to join them and help destroy the black dragon eggs. He told them that Frulam Mondath stayed behind when the rest of the camp left, with the caravan of loot heading west, and the rest of the raiders heading east. Mondath and a small contingent of cultists and kobolds were still in the cave.
• The group approached the one remaining campsite at the far end of the valley and talked with the four hunters who were resting there. They didn’t know anything more than Leosin did, and so the heroes left them and headed into the cave.
• There were two Dragonclaws on watch in the shadows and the leader challenged Luna as she approached. She kept walking closer and ignoring his commands, so he shouted “Attack them!” and battle ensued. With Leosin’s help they quickly killed the guards and tied up the one that Jinx had put to sleep, and then they continued on into the disguised portion of the cave that Luna had found as a spider.
• At a junction to the guard rooms they ran into a guard and Luna killed her and ran up into the northern guard room. The heroes moved in and were doing well fighting at the junction, and then Frulam Mondath stepped up with spectral dragons swirling about her. They struck through the walls and severely wounded Smok, Leosin, Spot, and Jinx. Smok ran south and was surrounded by guards and Dragonclaws, and fell to their onslaught. The others ran back out of range of Frulam’s magic, to which she responded by stepping into the Juncture. Leosin then fell to the spirits and Mondath’s halberd attacks, and it was looking very grim for our heroes. But Allimir survived the first onslaught of the spirits and misty-stepped out of range, and then hit Mondath with a barrage of Magic Missiles that broke her concentration. The spirits dissipated and with them gone Mondath and her guards quickly fell to a barrage of attacks.
• Smok and Leosin were healed and gained consciousness, but the party as a whole was too hurt to continue on. So they stacked the dead bodies up in the juncture and rested for an hour. During that time they heard the sound of many footsteps walking towards the entrance to the cavern and leaving.

Episode 15 Recap

As the group rolled back into Greenest with Hef and the rescued townsfolk, they were greeted by Spot—recently returned as well from his training session with Master Wu and Lady Valmer from the Temple of the Ascendant Dragon.

• They spent some time catching up, and then reported their findings about the raiders, the camp, and the captured monk, Leosin, to Mayor Nighthill and Nesim Waladra. Nesim was happy to hear that Leosin was alive, and felt confident that his master would escape and make it back to Greenest.
• Mayor Nighthill was more than happy with the rescue of the townsfolk and information about the raiders—especially the fact that it looked like the raids were finished. His only concern was with the discovery of the three black dragon eggs that were close to hatching so close to Greenest. And when the heroes offered to go back and destroy the eggs, he was all for it and appreciative. So they made plans to head back to the cave the next morning, and Nighthill promised to share what had been learned with Twilight Hall in Berdusk.
• Then the group spent the rest of the day resting, receiving the thanks of townsfolk for saving more of their family and friends, and visiting the local smithy. Smok received his fitted suit of splint mail, and Luna had a new suit of hide armor made.
• During dinner, they were visited by Hef’s mother, Yia, and she thanked them, Smok in particular, for looking after her son and keeping him safe. They talked about Hef’s desire to become an adventurer, and when asked what she wanted for her son, Yia admitted that while she wanted him to stay in Greenest and be safe, she also knew it was only a matter of time before he ran away to pursue his dream. And if he was going to be adventuring out in the world, she would greatly prefer it if it was with people like them. So when the party gathered the next morning to head south again, Hef was waiting for them in the street.
• Now a party of six, they headed southwest of town back to the valley where the camp was. But they had only traveled for a while before they were set upon by two Dragonwing cultists and two Black Guard Drakes. Smok and Spot’s horse were both hit hard before the final enemy fell, but otherwise it was a quick battle. After some healing they continued on, and by midday they could see the camp entrance in the distance. It looked completely deserted, so the party took time to rest and eat lunch before heading in.

Episode 14 Recap

Smok, Luna, Jinx, and Allimir walked around the camp south of Leosin’s unconscious, strung up body, and talked with some of the prisoners and mercenaries at one of the fires.

• They found out that the prisoners were shackled outside of the main tent at night, the three raids previous to Greenest had been on The Snakewood, Hearthhaven, and Smallhollow, and that the raiding force was planning to break camp leave the next day.
• They also learned that the tents on the south edge of the camp to the east were vacant, so the four of them walked over, entered the first tent they found empty, and went to sleep. They awoke well after dark and exited the tent to find the rest of the camp asleep.
• They checked the northeast cave and found it still guarded by four well-armed veterans. The main tent also had the same level of protection that had been there during the day. But the heroes really wanted to know what was in the cave, so Luna wild shaped into a small spider and crept along the cliff face and past the guards. Then she crawled onto the entrance cavern’s ceiling and made her way further inside.
• She emerged 50 minutes later having found many interesting creatures and some information, including: 1) the training grounds for the Guard Drakes, 2) a hatchery with 3 black dragon eggs, a half-ogre, a shrine to Tiamat that primarily represented black dragons, Frulam Mondath’s sleeping chambers, and a note that said “Everything must be freighted north to Naerytar. Rezmir allowed us to keep some pearls, a ring, and a handful of small stones.”
• Having safely gathered that information, the heroes checked on the prisoners and found them asleep and unguarded outside of the main southern tent. Jinx snuck into the tent and stole the keys, and they quietly released everyone. Then they all walked out of camp and told the kobold guards at the valley’s entrance that they had been sent out to do last-minute harvesting before the breaking of camp the next day.
• Then they tracked down Hef and the horses, and, with Luna wild-shaped into a warhorse, got everyone safely away from the raider camp. By the time the sun rose above the rolling grasslands, they were approaching Greenest and seeing the first signs of life in the town.

Episode 13 Recap

The battle with the ambushers concluded with the death of every single cultist, including the arrogant leader. 

• After taking more Cult regalia, the heroes continued south and soon found themselves watching a couple of stragglers walk slowly into the main encampment. It was nestled in the hollow of a rocky plateau, with two watchtowers and an upper and lower level. The upper level held three groupings of tents for around 100 kobolds, and the lower held another three groupings of tents for almost as many cultists and mercenaries.
• Sending the young man Hef off with the horses, they walked slowly into camp—several of them pretending to be wounded. And passed through the kobold camps into the lower level. They saw several camps to the north full of cultists and mercenaries, and two more to the south. But in the first of those southern camps they also saw a handful of prisoners working under the supervision of Dragonclaws.
• In the northeastern corner of the hollow was an enormous tent for the Cult leaders—surrounded by veteran cultists and guard drakes. And at the bottom of the main central path, 60 feet in front of the tent, was the missing monk from the Temple of Enlightenment at Candlekeep, Leosin.
• As the heroes walked towards him, Frulam Mondath, the Wearer of Purple who had led the raid against Greenest, stepped out of the main tent. She asked the guards if Leosin was awake yet and they replied “no”. She ordered them to revive him and retreated back into the tent.
• Resuming their approach, the heroes convinced the guards that they could revive Leosin, and through healing and some water they got a response. But Leosin didn’t want to be rescued. He insisted that he was there to gather information about the Cult, had already learned a lot, and would escape on his own after learning some more.
• Frulam Mondath reappeared and began questioning Leosin. The heroes stood close behind a growing crowd of cultists, with Smok hiding even further back to ensure that Mondath wouldn’t see and recognize him. As they watched, they heard Leosin playing Mondath and answering questions in a way that evoked slight reactions, and provided further insights into the Cult’s activities.
• Mondath began bleeding Leosin, and he appeared to pass out again. In frustration, the purple clad woman walked back into the large tent, and the crowd dispersed. Jinx quietly cast healing magic over Leosin, and the heroes gathered once again and walked towards the southern camps.

Episode 12 Recap

Spot left for the city of Elturel to visit the Monastery of the Ascendant Dragon per the call of Master Wong. The rest of the heroes headed south to follow the retreating raiding force and find their encampment.

• They soon realized that they were being followed. It turned out to be a young man from Greenest by the name of Hef. His father had been killed by the raiders, and he was very insistent about tagging along and helping out. Smok offered to let him ride behind him on his horse, and so Hef joined the party.
• They soon found a small camp of stragglers—a group of 4 cultists and 6 kobolds who were cooking a meal. The heroes attacked with surprise and quickly killed all but one of the kobolds, who they then interrogated. The creature revealed the location and general numbers of cultists and kobolds in the main encampment, and the existence of a rear guard waiting to ambush anyone approaching through the hills.
• The kobold was allowed to escape and ran off through the hills to the west. Then the group continued south until they were within sight of the hills where they had been told an ambush awaited them. They rested and ate lunch, and then headed in.
• Allimir snuck up onto some rocks and heard soft talking on the other side. As he peeked over he was almost hit by a Sacred Flame spell, and so he created an illusion of a rock extension and tried to take a more serious look. He saw the imposing figure of a cult leader, several cultists, and an acolyte before he had to duck back as a heavy bolt and another Sacred Flame spell hit his hiding place.
• Smok peeked around the corner to see the Cult forces gathering to block the pass, and ducked back as Luma wild shaped into a giant hyena and ran around the rocks to engage the enemy—severely wounding one of the cultists.

Episode 11 Recap

Our heroes watched the blue dragon lazily weave its way towards the keep.

• When it got close they tried to hinder it from outside of the keep. But it ignored them and killed a row of defenders on its first pass. So they ran inside and began organizing the guards on the wall to better prepare them, and the four ballistae, for the dragon’s next attack. Allimir also began attacking the kobolds within range of his magic, but they retaliated and hit him hard with sling stones.

• Then the dragon returned for another pass over the keep walls, but the organizing efforts were rewarded as three bolts hit the dragon solidly—driving it off to lick its wounds. A cheer went up for Lenzu, the guard who shot the most devastating bolt directly into the creature’s chest, and then the defenders turned their attention back to the raiders. 

• That was when they saw her, a woman with short black hair wearing high ranking cult regalia. Most of it was a rich purple in color, showing that the leader of the raid was one of the Wearer’s of Purple.

• With the dragon’s departure, the raiding force began driving the carts loaded with loot south and then southeast out of the city. Jinx directed Lenzu to fire one of the remaining bolts at one of the carts, and its front corner was blasted apart. There was only a short delay as the contents were moved to other carts and then the caravan continued.

• A large group of kobolds stepped forward with some prisoners, a woman and three children. At their head was a huge half-blue dragon, Langdedrosa Cyanwrath, who shouted a challenge at the keep. If someone fought him in single combat, win or lose, the prisoners would go free. Sergeant Markguth recognized the woman as his sister, Sillsa, and her children. He had to be restrained while Governor Nighthill asked the heroes if one of them would take on the challenge. 

• Spot was preparing to do it when a new voice pierced the night air, and a blond-haired paladin of Bahamut rode out from between the northern houses to accept Cyanwrath’s challenge. It was a short fight, with the newcomer cutting the Cult champion down with his glaive and holy smites. There was a cheer from the keep, followed by a brief moment of tense silence as people watched to see what would happen to the prisoners. Then the Wearer of Purple’s voice yelled out to release them, and the raiders retreated further west. By 3:00am the Cult’s raiding force had completely vacated the town.

• The heroes learned that the paladin was Smot, a member of the Order of the Guantlet who had come from Elturel to help them. The new group of five heroes rested the night and then set out at daybreak at the behest of Governor Nighthill. They are looking to find the Cult’s main camp and see what they are up to next, and save any prisoners who might have been taken during the raid.

Episode 10 Recap

Our heroes go back outside of the keep and try to rescue more townsfolk—beginning with the Temple of Chauntea.

• They stopped a group of cultists and kobolds from capturing three kids, and escorted the two boys and young girl to the entrance of the secret tunnel into the keep.
• Then they found a large force surrounding the temple of Chauntea—trying to get in, and the heroes launched a surprise attack against the southern group. It was a close battle, but with the help of Mother Elyanna’s magic they were able to eliminate a good portion of the attacking force, including their leader. The remaining raiders ran, and Spot followed one group of kobolds to make sure that they didn’t find the secret tunnel on their way to the west side of the keep via the stream.
• With the east section of the town cleared, the heroes escorted Mother Elyanna, her acolytes, and dozens of townsfolk to the tunnel where they could enter the safety of the keep. They were spotted by two kobolds and an ambush drake, and Spot and Luna rushed up the hill to take them out before they could sound an alarm or harm the townsfolk. 
• As Mother Elyanna helped the last of the townsfolk into the tunnel, the heroes looked around to see if the other cultists surrounding the keep had noticed the fight. They saw the cultists, and the guards on the keep walls, looking and pointing to the eastern sky. The heroes looked as well, and saw the shadowed form of a dragon fast approaching the keep.

Episode 9 Recap

The friends are deeply embroiled in the Cult of the Dragon raid on Greenest.

• They finish off the second group of cultists and kobolds they ran into, and continue moving towards the keep with the family of townsfolk riding their horses. But between them and the keep are groups of kobolds, cultists, mercenaries, and dragon lizard creatures. They also see a guard captain trying to help a group of townsfolk running to the keep from the north.
• Spot and Luna, in the form of a giant hyena, rush forward and each of them take on a group of the raiding force. Jynx taunts the cultists while Allimir, in the illusory disguise of a black kobold, creates an illusion of a small displacer beast to draw the attention of some of the raiders.
• In the ensuing battle, Spot falls to the second rock dropped on him by a winged kobold,  and Luna’s giant hyena form is severely bloodied by a dragonclaw and some mercenaries. But Allimir’s illusion draws the attention of more enemies as Jynx then rushes forward to assist the family as they attempt to dash around the groups and reach the entrance to the keep. At this time archers on the walls begin to assist and take out some of the raiders, including the winged kobold.
• With the battle going badly for them, Luna drops his wild shape and reforms into an unwounded giant hyena, then rushes forward and grabs Spot’s unconscious body and drags it towards the keep. Jynx sees the family make their way on horseback around a group of kobolds, and misty steps onto the wall of the keep. Allimir sees his friends making their way to safety, and begins moving away from the keep as he looks for a better way to make it there himself.
• Spot and Luna make it to the keep with the help of an acolyte of Chauntea who heals them. Then Allimir runs by a group of raiders to the north and dashes to the keep—dropping his illusory form just as the defenders were about to attack him. He makes it inside to join his friends.
• Inside the keep, Castellan Escobert escorts them to meet with Mayor Nighthill where they are hailed as heroes. But what they experienced in the village does not allay the mayor’s fears about the main buildings to the southeast and southwest, the Temple of Chauntea and the mill. He offers them some of the remaining healing services if they agree to go back out and try to save the rest of the townsfolk from the raiders. They agree, but take an hour to properly rest up first.
• Then they meet with Escobert to be taken into the cellar where there is a secret tunnel that leads to the stream southeast of the keep, and outside of the lines of raiders who surround it.

Episode 8 Recap

The friends went to the Temple of Deneir and were led to a teleportation circle, Shua An appeared within the circle and led them further underground to Twilight Hall’s inner sanctum.

• There the Master of the Hall, Belhuar Thantarth, initiated them into the Harpers, and they received their membership pins.
• Then they returned to the Running Stag Inn and retired for the night, and as they slept Luna had an intense dream about his initiation into the Emerald Enclave—reliving the event as it had occurred on the Isle of Llighon three months past. He awoke with an increased connection to nature and the ability to Wild Shape.
• At the same time, during the last half of the night, Allimir met with Obe, Candlekeep’s Master of Illusion, for specialized training. Training which opened his eyes to new ways of weaving illusion magic.
• As the friends awoke and made their way downstairs, they found Belhuar at a table and breakfast waiting for them. He reminded them of the importance of their mission to scout Greenest, and had arranged a means for them to travel the 120 miles there by the end of the day.
• After breakfast they retrieved their horses, which had been reshoed with magical horseshoes, and exited the city by Bellowbar’s Gate. Belhuar imbued the horseshoes and off they went. The magic took them 100 miles by lunch time, and after fully resting the horses they continued on at a normal pace.
• As the sun began to set, they crested a ridge and saw the town of Greenest in the distance—burning, under attack by the Cult of the Dragon, and the screams of the townsfolk drew them quickly to the northeastern edge of town.
• They saved a family from a band of kobolds, and as they led the family towards the safety of the keep in the center of town, they were engaged by two cultists and another band of kobolds.

Episode 7 Recap

The friends all met up for breakfast at the Stone Saddle Inn, and Allimir shared the details of his family emergency:

• An ancient artifact called The Mythal Guardian, held in the Court of Stars within the Feywild, had begun a process of charging itself. No one knows why or how, but it is feared that it could change or break the connection between the Feywiild and the Prime Material Plane. Allimir and his parents aren’t overly concerned about that happening, so they have chosen to remain here and wait for updates on the situation.
• As Allimir finished his story, Shuan An walked into the inn, and after some fussing from Hagrid, she sat down with the friends and updated them on the events following their information gathering and stopping the heist at Lionstar Services.
• She then shared what she knew of the Cult of the Dragon–history about Sammaster the Mad and the creation of the Cult, and specifics about how the Cult operates as it works to turn chromatic dragons into dracoliches, and create a world ruled by them.
• And reports had been circulating within the Harpers of increased Cult activity all over western Faerun, and sages had read portents that could also tie the Cult to the nine hells. A great darkness was rising in the form of the Cult of the Dragon, and Shua An believed that the friends were destined to help stop that darkness from growing too powerful and hurting the good people of the realm. Towards that end she suggested that they travel to the city of Berdusk and talk to High Lady Cylyria Dragonbreast. Then she gave them 100 gold each as payment for their services, and took Jinx aside to give him the dagger that had killed his brother. She said his brother was thought to be alive, and gave him a note on the research that sages had done on the dagger.
• So the friends bought horses and set out east and then south along the main roads. They were ambushed in the middle of the night by a juvenile displacer beast, killed the creature, and Allimir successfully skinned a perfect pelt from it. Allimir then delivered a sword to a minor noble in Asbrasvn for his friend Mojari, and then the friends headed west and arrived in Berdusk.
• They got rooms at the Running Stag Inn, and Allimir ran into his mentor from Candlekeep, Obe, the Master of Illusions. Obe had been sent to the inn by the Master of Divination, and he agreed to spend some time training Allimir. Then High Lady Cylyria walked in and sat down at the table. She shared local information about the Cult, which included reports of reading parties, and a large dragon flying westward to the south. She said that Greenest could be a raiding target, and asked the friends to head out first thing the next morning to check it out. And then she invited Jynx, Allimir, and Spot to join the Harpers. They all agreed, and she told them to meet her at the Temple of Deneir in an hour, and then got up and left.

Episode 6 Recap

The friends all met up in the street outside of the food distribution center, and shared the results of their investigations:

• Allimir, Luna, and Jinx shared what they had seen and heard—the shady figure of Nheisid talking about a dead body with Sister Rinna; the equally shady figure of Aenren talking with Mother Shasmi and the both of them pretending he was there for healing; and the letter that Jinx had lifted from Nheisid’s pocket that mentioned spying and related work he has doing, and the personal thanks for his efforts from Dragonsoul Ladria Eginga. 
• Spot shared how he had found a tie between a missing homeless man named Ven and the food distribution center, and seen Nheisid scouting the alleys just west of the Lionstar Services warehouses.
• Allistar received an important message from his family and had to leave, so without him the remaining three friends went and found Shua An at Six Soft Furs. They shared the information with her and she agreed that the Order of Angels was definitely the Cult of the Dragon returned, and also believed that they were looking to pull off heists at the Mayor’s Tower, Six Soft Furs, and Lionstar Services. She asked the friends to help keep an eye on Lionstar Services while she and city watch protected the other two establishments. They agreed and headed out after dinner to the alleys where Nheisid had been seen.
• While hiding, they saw a green half-dragon meet with Nheisid and Aenren, and the three of them broke into the large, central warehouse for Lionstar Services. As they entered, a black half-dragon arrived and introduced himself as Zoddrasdoi, and said he had been following Nheisid and Aenren hoping they would lead him to a hideout where he could find a man named Sodarken. He wasn’t keen on letting larceny happen in front of him, though, and when the friends agreed to help him, they all entered the warehouse to stop the heist. 
• Inside, they quickly found the three cultists working to get further into the warehouse, and engaged them in combat, with the two half-dragons facing off. The friends killed Nheisid, captured Aenren, and helped finish off the green half-dragon. Then the warehouse guards arrived and Shua An was sent for. She arrived and vouched for the friends, and they were released and sent home.

Episode 5 Recap

The friends met for breakfast at the Stone Saddle inn, and then headed out to meet with Shua An:

• She told them about all of the good work that the new organization, the Order of Angels, had been doing in the city for the past 2 months, such as free healing services, distributing food to the hungry, educating children—including the street urchins, cleaning up old parts of the city, and providing free counseling services. It all seemed to be on the up-and-up, but in her experience such philanthropic generosity simply never happened on this scale.
• She had learned that the money behind the organization was supposedly from an anonymous donor, and that they planned on opening up in other cities after refining their methods, but that is all she and her network had been able to learn so far. So she asked the friends if they would look into it. Their faces weren’t as known to the Order of Angels, and they might be able to uncover more about them. They agreed, and Allimir, Luna, and Jinx headed off to check out the three locations where services were offered, and Spot stayed with Shua An to go on a separate mission for her. 
• They started with the organization’s headquarters, and watched Mother Shasmi give healing to a man’s arm, and then saw Brother Brach leading a young lady out the front door. She was crying a little, and as she left and headed north the friends decided to follow her. She led them to a house in a lower middle-class section of the city, and Jinx knocked on the door and talked to her. She didn’t seem to know anything new about the Order of Angels, so they headed to the food distribution building. 
• There Allimir watched a cart of food and drink being unloaded in the back alley, and Jinx and Luna talked to two homeless guys who ate every meal there. Then Luna noticed a shady character duck into the alley after the empty cart had left, and the three friends followed him. They heard him talking to Brother Sunar about a body that had been found, but that hadn’t been connected to the Angels yet. Brother Sunar told him not to worry and just keep watching. As the shady man walked back into the alley, Jinx intentionally ran into him and lifted a note from one of his pockets. Then the friends made up a story about looking for food that was believed by both of the men, and walked away. 
• Allimir and Luna went back to the headquarters to ask Mother Shasmi about volunteering with the Angels, and saw her talking to another shady man. As Allimir opened the door, he saw her and the man immediately pretending that he was there for healing, and Mother Shasmi used simple cantrip magic to make it look like she was healing him. Then the man left quickly, trying to hide his face as he walked out, and Mother Shasmi politely told Allimir that his offer to volunteer was much appreciated, but that it would take some time to work out the logistics. She would contact him as soon as they were ready.
• As Allimir and Luna walked back to the food distribution building they ran into Jinx. He had stayed to grab some bread and complete their cover, and had scanned the pilfered note. He huddled them up on the side of the road out of sight of passerby, and showed it to them. He pointed to the signature at the bottom which read: Ladria Eginga. The leader of the Cult of the Dragon who had escaped the city with the pseudodragon Poopsy ten years ago.

Episode 4 Recap

Ten years after the events that introduced the group of young friends to the Cult of the Dragon, they return to Hill’s Edge to celebrate the anniversary of the experience:

• As each of them arrive in town on the 30th of Tarsakh, they visit family and friends and then meet up at the Stone Saddle Inn, catching up on recent events in their lives, and agree to meet the next morning and head out to enjoy Greengrass, the Celebration of the Beginning of Spring.
• Outside of Vale Gate, southeast of the city walls, the Greengrass festival is a spectacle of vibrant colors and activity. As the friends walk down the main lane they see musicians, performers, and walking vendors. They pass by a row of booths for the local temples and various city organizations. They say hello to Joymaiden Cassi, and spend a little time seeing what the other booths are about—such as the new-to-the-city Order of Angels and the politically powerful Trader’s Council.
• Then they passed into the row of carnival games. They were highly overpriced and mainly the wealthy and more adventurous youth of the city were playing, but a few of the games interested the friends enough to spend some coins on the chance to win tickets for a spin of the prize wheel. They played Guess the Feathers on the Peacock, Catch the Dragon by the Tail, and Outstare the Cyclops. The Rope Ladder was conquered, and they participated in the Gnome Poetry and Currant Pie Eating contests. In the end they had enough tickets for each of them to spin the prize wheel once, and they each won a minor magic item.
• Then they sat at one of the garden tents for dinner, but were interrupted by a scene of Jeffa and his gang of ruffians accosting a young couple. They intervened, and without a single violent blow—just some words and a little magic, scared Jeffa and the other bullies away. Then they sat back down and finished a plate of bread and cheese and a bottle of wine that had been sent to them by Shua An, and at the bottom of the cheese was a small note. It asked that they meet her behind the Kiss of the Lady, the shrine to Tymora, immediately after breakfast the next day. 
• They talked and agreed that they would do that, and headed to their homes for the night.

Episode 3 Recap

The 6th day of Mirtul continues for our group of young friends, and the danger around them grows as they meet Shua An, the local, and not so secret, head of the Harpers in Hill’s Edge:

• Hagrid had updated her on what Spot, Jinx, and Luna had seen and heard at the old hideout, and about the abduction of Allimir’s father. She had a group of people gathered and ready to help, and asked the kids to help them identify the victims, and anyone else who might need to be protected as the hideout was investigated.
• On the way there they met Captain Ordon Rani and four of the city watch, Maeralya Urisandora, one of the local representatives of the Lords Alliance, and Yokkulda Onyxbasher the local representative of the Order of the Gauntlet. With these formidable adults to protect them, they approached and entered the hideout.
• While Shua An and Maeralya went upstairs to deal with the leaders in the office, Captain Rani led the rest of the group into the basement and through the secret door into a dungeon lair. There they eventually discovered a room where cult members were sacrificing prisoners to a chained up green dragon wyrmling. They arrive just in time to see the one prisoner they know, the young Bullywug from the dock community, Grubblup, as he is tossed to the wyrmling and torn apart.
• As battle ensued, Jinx’s brother was seen and was the only cultist who didn’t follow the attack order from the red dragonborn, Zolduth Eaglehide. The missing member of Spot’s gang, Jeffa, was also in the room, and as the rest of the cultist’s attacked, he freed the wyrmling from his chains. It flew across the room to try and escape, but Spot and Luna held the door shut… just barely… and kept the dragon from getting through. As Jinx and Allimir ran to get help, they listened through the door as the fight continued on the other side.
• When Shua An and Maeralya got there, the group opened the door to find the four members of the city watch, most of the cultists, and the dragon all laying dead on the floor. Zolduth stood by the far wall holding a blade to the remaining 2 prisoners’ throats. Jinx’s brother stood frozen—almost in the exact spot where he was when the battle started, and Jeffa was crouched low and trying to stay unnoticed in the northeast corner. After a brief discussion between Captain Rani and Spot, Jinx’s brother said he didn’t want to hurt anyone, and in response Zolduth drew and threw a dagger into his chest. He fell to the ground and Luna ran over to try and help. Captain Rani used the distraction to rush forward and cut down Zolduth before he could attack anyone else, but the damage had been done, and as Luna watched, a black discoloration quickly spread across Jinx’s brother’s body. Within moments the entire body was covered, and then it turned to ash—the dagger laying in the center of the ash and cloth.
• With the battle concluded, Jeffa was arrested and Shua An took the dagger from Luna, and then she took the kids upstairs to help her look through Oth’s office, who she and Maeralya had killed. They found evidence of an apartment being rented by Ladria, and they sped over to find it abandoned except for a badly beaten, but alive, Althidon Erraa, Allimir’s father. They also found a perch where Poopsy the pseudodragon must have been held. But of Ladria and the dragon no sign was found. They had already left the city.
• In the days that followed it was discovered that The Dragon Riders was actually a group of recruiters for the Cult of the Dragon, an evil organization created over 500 years ago by Sammaster the Mad. They were recruiting new members, trying to recover treasure taken from a dragon’s hoard, and keeping the offspring of a green dragon safe until it was ready to be released into the wild. But with the courageous help of a group of young friends, they were stopped and unsuccessful in accomplishing any of their goals.

Episode 2 Recap

The first half tenday of Mirtul has been a rough one for our group of young friends, and the 6th day, in particular, has been extremely eventful:

• Spot, Jinx, and Luna visit the old hideout, explore the first floor and see Jinx’s brother and a stranger head into the basement, then they head to the roof and see two prisoners brought in through a side door, and overhear a conversation between Ladria Eginga and Oth Razuuhk—something about not liking the way recruitment was being handled and fearing that the truth of their organization might be discovered. They also talked about giving a pseudodragon as a present to higher-ups they called the Wearers of Purple, and mentioned feeding a wyrmling until it was old enough to be taken out of the city.
• Then Allimir shows up and asks for his friends’ help in finding the scroll case required by the ransom note to exchange for the return of his father. They agree to help, but first go to the Stone Saddle tavern to tell Hagrid what they found out, and their belief that the people at the hideout have Poopsy the pseudodragon. 
• They also tell Hagrid about Allimir’s kidnapped father, and he suggests that they go and see the merchant Mojari who usually knows a lot about dealings within the city. Hagrid heads out to find and recruit help to check out the hideout while the friends go talk to Mojari.
• Not only does Mojari know all about the scroll case, but happens to be in possession of it while helping Allimir’s father find a buyer. Allimir takes the scroll case, but instead of using it for the exchange, the friends come up with a different plan. They believe that Allimir’s father is being held at the hideout, and decide to try and save him first. 
• They go in search of Hagrid, and after some time find a guard who had just seen him a couple of blocks away. When the group gets there a half-elven woman with long, dark hair and violet eyes steps out from the shadows of a narrow alley. It seems that she was waiting for them and is the “help” that Hagrid found.

Episode 1 Recap

As the bitter cold of winter says its lingering farewells to the western Heartlands, a small group of friends find themselves at the center of strange events within the city:

• Spot, an orphaned 10 year-old half-orc, finds his street gang of teenage orphans kicked out of their old hideout within the northern warehouse district. They learn that a powerful mage and gruff red dragonborn have bought the old building, but they really don’t seem like the business or merchant types who would normally be making such purchases.
• There’s also something going on with the next-oldest member of the gang, Jeffa, who has been going off on his own a lot lately. No one knows what he’s up to and he certainly isn’t talking about it.
• And there’s Jinx, an 8 year-old half-elf, who finds his favorite street musician trading in his usual grand tales of epic heroism for somber songs of Sammaster the Mad and catchy tunes about chromatic dragons flying majestically across the lands. He’s also handing out pamphlets for The Dragon Riders, an organization that recently popped up out of nowhere and is recruiting new members with promises of dragon titles and getting to actually meet real dragons.
• Jinx also has an older brother who is acting even more aloof and mysterious than usual, and is uncharacteristically getting up extra early to attend secret meetings, and then staying out very late. Maybe he got a new job, or perhaps he is being recruited by the Harpers? It’s not yet known what he’s up to. 
• Then there’s Luna, a 12 year-old aasimar being raised by druids in the grove outside the city, who helps his friends Spot and Jinx investigate the disappearance of Poopsy, the pseudo dragon at the Stone Saddle Inn. The shop’s owner, Hagrid, is offering a reward of 50 gold for information leading to the dragon’s safe return. Careful investigation of the tavern reveals the likely means of Poopsy’s capture, and points to a group of recent customers that included Ladria Eginga, who happens to be the same powerful mage who just bought Spot’s gang’s old hideout.
  • Looking to acquire proof of their hunch and ensure they get the 50 gold reward, Spot, Jinx, and Luna head off to the old hideout—hoping to use their intimate knowledge of the old warehouse to safely sneak in and spy out if Poopsy is being kept there.
• And, finally, we have Allimir, an 11 year-old eladrin who’s father is a successful merchant dealing in artifacts. He awoke a few days ago to find his mother frantically searching through his father’s office and storage rooms. She showed him a ransom note that said his father would never be seen again unless one of the artifacts he recently acquired was delivered in exchange for his life. After spending a couple of days searching and talking to all of his father’s business contacts, Allimir and his mother are at a loss, and he decides that it’s time to involve his very streetwise friends. So he heads off to the hideout, not knowing that it’s been recently bought and abandoned.