The next D&D hardcover is Eberron: Rising from the Last War, and releases on November 19th, 2019 on D&D Beyond. This campaign setting describes the war-torn continent of Khorvaire, as well as other regions of the world of Eberron. Additionally, it contains monster statistics for dozens of new creatures unique to this world, as well as magic items, mystical Dragonmarks, and other supernatural elements that set Eberron apart from other D&D settings. Indeed, Eberron is a world where magic has been used to create technology somewhat analogous to the real-world era of the First World War—with some additional fantastical elements, like the living constructs known as warforged.

This encounter series, called Around Khorvaire in Fifty Days, is a whirlwind tour of Khorvaire, the thematic heart of the Eberron campaign setting. It’s a perfect place for new players to enter the campaign setting, as it introduces and highlights many of the elements that make Eberron stand apart from other campaign settings, like the Forgotten Realms. This series elaborates on all the immediate details you need to run this adventure.

The background of this encounter series is described in greater detail in the first encounter, Departure from Skydock Six. Captain Angelica Estrella d’Sivis, her dragonmark, and her purported mission are described there as well.

Progression

This is the second encounter along this journey, and a party of five characters should still be 1st level when they begin this encounter. The previous encounters are:

1. Departure from Skydock Six

Encounter Summary

The characters begin on the deck of the experimental airship Celeste Noir as they fly towards the Howling Peaks. A storm is whipped up around the mountain peaks as they fly over them, forcing the characters to secure themselves or aid the ship. After enduring a brief skill challenge to push through the storm, the characters are ambushed by flying raiders—and defeating them only reveals more mysteries.

Combat Encounter: Storm over the Howling Peaks

This combat encounter is suitable for 1st-level characters.

This encounter takes place within the Howling Peaks, a mountain range in the northwest of the nation of Zilargo. From atop the high-flying Celeste Noir, however, all the little tyrannies of Zilargo seem worlds away. All that matters are the skies, the mountains…and that storm looming over the peaks. Strap in, things are going to get bumpy.

Read or paraphrase the following:

The hum of the Celeste Noir’s elemental ring fills the air. On the horizon are a jagged row of snow mountains—and brewing around them are jet-black storm clouds. The eccentric gnome Angelica Estrella d’Sivis, your captain, swaggers onto the deck and bellows, “Storm ahead! We’re heading into those mountains, mates. Secure the ship, then yourselves. We don’t want anyone getting blown away.”

The crew of the ship leaps into action. Some tie ropes around their waists, tying the other end to the railing at the edge of the ship. Others begin securing the ship by performing tasks like rolling cargo below decks.

As the Celeste Noir soars into the storm, ask each of the players to describe what their characters are doing. A character that wants to help secure the ship can make a DC 10 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check, accomplishing the task on a success. On a failure, the task isn’t completed sufficiently. Ask the player how the character tries and either succeeds or fails at performing the task they were trying to do. Keep track of the number of successes the party makes in total.

Once everyone in the party has either tied themselves to the railing or performed a task, the Celeste Noir hits the storm. Every character must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw. A character takes 3d6 bludgeoning damage as they’re battered about on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful save. A character that’s tied to the railing takes half as much damage. Every successful action taken to secure the ship reduces the damage characters take by 1d6; e.g., if the party earns two successes, characters only take 1d6 bludgeoning damage when the storm hits.

Eye of the Storm

After the characters endure the storm, read or paraphrase the following:

The Celeste Noir bursts through the stormclouds and sails into perfectly calm skies. Your vessel hangs over a snowcapped mountain peak. The ship's helmsperson, a half-elf named Demitrius, pumps his fist and whoops. "Yes!" he shouts. "No Lyrandar bows before a storm!"

Angelica gives him a smile and unties herself from the ship's railing. "Everyone take a breather," she says. "We seem to have found the eye of the storm."

Allow the characters 10 minutes to catch their breath, cast healing spells or other spells to recover their strength. Then, read the following:

A screech pierces the silence of the eye of the storm. The screech is somehow familiar—you’ve heard it before. Then, a shout. “Incoming, from below!” The ship’s mate is speaking. “Little ones, on winged beasts, like before!”

No more than an instant after the words leave his mouth, a pteranodon whistles past the deck of the ship. It bears a tiny rider—a halfling, decorated with war paint. Both the beast and its rider are dressed in warm furs to ward away the cold. The winged dinosaur wheels around and dives towards the ship’s deck, ready to strike.

Did you know? You can play this encounter using the D&D Beyond Encounter Builder, now in Beta!

Roll initiative! Though the characters can see only a single halfling tribal warrior riding his pteranodon into battle on the first turn of combat, three more dinosaurs also roll initiative, and swoop up from below on their turns. These additional halflings are a scout, an acolyte, and one spy. The pteranodons serve as their mounts, and don’t attack unless separated from their rider.

These sky raiders use hit-and-run tactics. The thugs and spy swoop in and then fly out using the pteranodon’s Flyby trait to avoid opportunity attacks. The scout has a shortbow instead of a longbow, and uses that bow to attack from range, but always stays within 30 feet of the Celeste Noir.

The halflings’ leader is the spy, a chaotic neutral, silver-haired female halfling named Agetza Orr. She surrenders when reduced to one-quarter of her hit point maximum. The rest of the raiders break off the attack and fly away if their leader is defeated. Each of the halflings have 1d6 gp on their person, and the halfling spy Agetza Orr has 3d6 gp on her person. If the characters don’t search the bodies, then Angelica suggests they do so as she commences the salvage operation (see below).

Rules Tip: Opportunity Attacks While Mounted

When a creature riding a mount exits a hostile creature’s reach, the rider doesn’t provoke an opportunity attack, but the mount does. When a mount provokes an opportunity attack, the attacker can target the rider or the mount. However, the pteranodon’s Flyby trait allows it to move without provoking opportunity attacks. In short, the Disengage action and the Flyby trait protects both the rider and the mount.

Rules Tip: Attacking While Mounted

While using its walking speed, a creature can move, take an action, and then continue using any remaining movement. However, a rider and their mount don’t share a turn, even if they’re acting on the same initiative. Thus, a rider can’t command its mount to move part of its movement, attack, and then command the mount to move away. Instead, the rider can use the Ready action to prepare to attack a target, then command its mount to fly into melee range, triggering the readied Attack action, and then fly out after the readied attack.

If this bit of rules minutiae is excessively complex for your table, you can safely ignore it during this encounter.

Salvaging the Wreckage Below

Once the halflings are defeated, Angelica d’Sivis orders the helmsperson to lower the vessel to the mountaintop and another member of the crew to operate the Celeste Noir’s salvage arm. A crane emerges from a panel on the deck and drops a long cord with a hook. Characters looking over the edge can see the wreckage of another airship, a vessel with a hull covered in peeling crimson paint. Angelica knows it's another mysterious test ship created by House Cannith called the Ciel Rouge, but doesn’t divulge this information.

If the halfling leader Agetza Orr was captured, she calls the characters over at this point, as the crew of the Celeste Noir salvages a stone disc from the wrecked ship. This disc appears to be the top of a sundial, and is decorated with celestial objects in gold, silver, and precious gemstones. If asked about it, Angelica says that it’s a precious art object that she was asked to retrieve, in order to secure funding for her expedition. She keeps it in her cabin. This disc will be described in greater detail in later encounters.   

Graceful in Defeat

If the halfling spy Agetza Orr is captured, she commends the characters on their combat prowess. She freely admits the following information—if the characters promise to let her go safely (at their next port, if her pteranodon was killed).

• Agetza Orr and her raiders are mercenaries from the Talenta Plains.
• They were hired by a kalashtar who also purchased a handful of trained pteranodons.
• The kalashtar refused to reveal their identity to the halflings, but paid them well to camp out atop the Howling Peaks and await a sleek black airship. When it appeared, they were to kill its captain. If the helmsperson would cooperate, they would take over the ship. If not, they would scupper it on the mountaintop.
• The kalashtar would await them—and the ship, if possible—three weeks from today at the city of Gatherhold on the Talenta Plains.

Captain Angelica Estrella d’Sivis is present during Agetza’s questioning. A character that observes the captain and makes a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Insight) check recognizes that the captain is visibly uncomfortable listening to Agetza describe her mercenaries being hired by the kalashtar. If she’s asked about the kalashtar, she shakes her head and says nothing.

If pressed harder, she says, “I made a lot of enemies as a pirate. The kalashtar who hired these assassins might be anyone, but… I have a terrible feeling that I killed him, years ago. That man’s name was Nerokhad.” She looks aside, then mutters, “I need time to think. Our next stop is in Darguun. Prepare for a stealth operation.” Angelica walks across the deck to her cabin and locks the door behind her.

Treasure and Progression

In the week of travel between this encounter and next week’s encounter, the characters receive their weekly stipend of 2 gp each. A party of five characters that has played this encounter series since the beginning has likely gained enough experience to advance to 2nd level.

The characters’ next destination is the monstrous nation of Darguun. What locations in Khorvaire do you want the Celeste Noir to visit in this series?

Eberron: Rising from the Last War releases on November 19th, 2019. Preorder it now on the Marketplace!

Did you like this encounter? If you want to read more adventures, take a look at the other encounters in the Encounter of the Week series! If you're looking for full adventures instead of short encounters, you can pick up the adventures I've written on the DMs Guild, such as The Temple of Shattered Minds, a suspenseful eldritch mystery with a mind flayer villain. My most recent adventures are included in the Electrum Bestseller Encounters in Avernus, a collection of over 60 unique encounters created by the Guild Adepts, which can be used to enhance your campaign in Avernus or elsewhere in the Nine Hells.

James Haeck is the lead writer for D&D Beyond, the co-author of  Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and the Critical Role Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, a member of the Guild Adepts, and a freelance writer for Wizards of the Coast, the D&D Adventurers League, and other RPG companies. He lives in Seattle, Washington with his fiancée Hannah and their animal companions Mei and Marzipan. You can find him wasting time on Twitter at @jamesjhaeck.