My group just hit 9th after finishing Tomb of Annihilation, and I want to switch gears.
I'd like to settle the group in Phandalin, and one of them to start to serve as Townsmaster.
This would be post Lost Mines adventure (group didn't do it, assumed another pack of adventurers completed it). So Wave Echo Cave is back open, the mine is operating, the Red Brands are gone, etc.
The party is flush with loot, and they can start building up the town, renovating Tresendar Manor, and even Cragmaw Castle. Thundertree can expand, Wyvern Tor all on the table for expansion.
I'm not familiar enough with Realms lore (always used it as more or less generic setting). Who are the other big players in the area? If a party of adventurers settled in Phandalin and started settling and rebuilding who would be interested? Who would they 'report' to or owe 'fealty' to (aside from Dwarves and Gnomes - Phandelver Pact)?
I can of course make it all up, although if the work has been done already..? I don't own Sword Coast guide, not sure if any info there?
The LMoP module has some fairly good info about the general area in it.
Some stuff that might be worth continuing:
The Many Arrows tribe of orcs mentioned in the Wyvern Tor text. The orcs dealt with in the module are just a scout group - it's not hard to imagine a 2nd scout group found the remains of the first one and have reported back that Phandalin looks good for raiding (or are currently scouting it).
The Wyverns that Wyvern Tor is famous for could return and start hunting the nearby area.
Ruins of Thundertree - the most common outcomes for this encounter are for the dragon to leave/flee, or for it to be left alone. It may have gotten tougher and sneakier, or headed off and found assistance to get its lair back.
Thanks! I do have all that info. Primarily interested in what (if any) other bigger player NPC's in area would think if a group of higher level adventurers settled in Phandalin and started running things. Dwarves and Gnomes would want their cut, and I can make that up.
Waterdeep & Neverwinter are ways off, would any one else want a piece of the action or even care?
On an alternate idea maybe The Redbrands have just been repurposed by Halia Thornton to her own uses after Glasstaff was dealt with (perhaps not even dead, he may have escaped). The Zhentarim could be at work in the town, and trying to get access to the magic in the cave using the ruined manor as their outpost, and expanding the underground areas. What about the magical aura from the 'chasm' under the manor? Is it somehow connected to Wave Echo cave?
Maybe nobody ever went to Thundertree at all and the cult has grown in power and scope making a permanent alliance with the dragon, they could be making magical abominations to serve the dragon having cleared out the blights in town.
Wyvern Tor is now in full invasion mode with orcs crawling all over the countryside.
Wave Echo Cave is indeed being fully explored after the Blackspider was destroyed along with his minions, but maybe some of the more interesting creatures are still there (like the Spectator) and they are continuing to find more sections that were not previously accessible. Or if you would like to go the path that the 'heroes' did not succeed in their mission the Drow have come and made a claim to the caves. This could make Phandalin a major staging ground to deal with these now VERY problematic incursions.
I forgot about Old Owl Well, what has the necromancer found in the meantime? Maybe an entire underground area has been discovered, an ancient ruin of Netheril that the tower was built over much later? Have more Thayan mages flocked to the area to investigate these ruins. I would imagine they would be very protective of their finds in the area. Or was the ruined filled with more powerful undead that are either now in the control of the necromancer, or have added the Thayan mage (or mages) into their ranks. A demi lich or something similar could have been trapped in the underground ruins.
I see this more as a way to take the problems that were present during the adventure and extrapolate where they might go if they were not handled completely. I mean what happens when the adventurers ignore the sidequests? Maybe they went straight for the main quest exclusively and failed because they weren't powerful enough. I write maybe a LOT, sorry about that.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
The dragon at Thundertree offers up a plethora of options: Was the dragon killed? Cultists swear revenge? Dragon bargained with? Introduced to the cultists? Moved to Cragmaw cave/castle from which it now picks off the occasional traveler or supply wagon headed to Phandalin, making Halia's Zhentarim more powerful and the rebuilding Thundertree more attractive to settlers? Did the human folk hero and human noble from the pregen characters strike an uneasy alliance with each other over the dragon... over the Zhentarim... can they afford for the truth to come out? Was the Elven wizard angry that a dragon took up residence at the Shrine of Oghma they had recently consecrated?
Did the former Redbrand halfling take over in Phandalin? With or without the Zhentarim?
How many Cragmaw lieutenants were given a pass or a truce brokered with?
What are the other groups doing in town, I mean it kinda gives the roots for a number of factions that can interact, Harpers, Order of the Gauntlet, Lords Alliance, Zhentarim, and Emerald Enclave. Maybe a good way to come up with what happens in the future from what you want each of the groups doing this moment. Zhentarim could easily gain control of the townmaster, considering he was pretty well cowed by the redbrands that Halia wanted to take over leadership of them. With the townmaster conveniently now in Halia's pocket she can move to thwart which ever side seems to have the advantage in the fight between the Lords, and the enemy host.
The Order of the Gauntlet would likely be a strong part of a war effort against an orc host of some sort (Maybe hobgoblins who knows) using their resources to support the Lords Alliance in protecting the realm.
The Harpers would be looking for information about who is leading the enemy host, so they can make some sort of strike against them.
Emerald Enclave could either be acting as a scouting force for The Lords Alliance, or dealing with its own threats outside of the area near the town.
The Lords Alliance would be the main body of troops on the ground for most types of invasion or conflicts in the area.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
I think I will use the adventure and upgrade it for level 4-7 for some friends. Running the normal version with some coworkers and I think my other group would enjoy it. Although I will have to spend some time to figure out the finer details like gold and loot, but it makes for a fun thought experiment even if I don't end up using it. Kinda falls in line with some things I have been playing around with from old 1e/2e adventure modules.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
Thanks all, some great info there. Tons to use for hooks.
I'm still not really sure about other rulers in area, as I'm not that familiar with the Realms. I know Waterdeep is ruled by the masked lords, Neverwinter no clue.
Would any nearby ruler care that some adventurer types just moved in and started ruling the town? Not to turn it into Simcity or anything...!
The Lords Alliance would likely take an interest, at least to make sure you are not doing anything nefarious. The representatives in Neverwinter would probably be the most likely to become involved in some way. Nasher Alagondar would be a major representative from that city. Or one of his descendants depending on what time frame you are working with for your world, since he did eventually pass on.
I would probably only Bring the Emerald Enclave into things if you have a druid or something similar in your party that might make a good interaction with them. They seem more passive in regards to the goings on in a town/city.
The Zhentarim would definitely show interest especially if one of their members was already trying to subvert control on the town for themselves (access to the powerful magic in the Wave Echo Caves makes for a strong incentive).
The Harper's would see the group as a tool to root out the Zhentarim presence, since they are more a secrecy and information faction. They might not make overt contact but would likely be watching the newcomers to see if they are in league with the Zhentarim, or could be of use.
I don't think Waterdeep would get directly involved but I could see some merchants from that town trying to make trade negotiations for access to magical items from Wave Echo Cave. Maybe one of the Masked Lords would take interest but they would want to ensure safe trade with the area. Might see the adventurers as rivals depending on how you want to handle it.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
Lord Neverember of Waterdeep might see this as a way to finally clear and resettle Thundertree, particularly since Helm's Hold turned out to be a disaster. He reaches out with some of his Mintarn Mercenaries and the Lord's Alliance and wants to use Phandalin as a staging area to take back Thundertree. Make Thundertree into an agricultural or logging focal point for the growing and stabilizing Neverwinter. Or make the Dragon there so powerful that it now threatens the stability Neverember wants to bring to Neverwinter. Read the Neverwinter section in the Sword Coast's Adventuring Guide as a start. 4th E has a ton of lore on the region as well, if you have or can get any of the books.
Here's what I did after the Phandalin adventure (in fact, the campaign is still ongoing!):
Campaign: What Lies Beneath
Backstory – Thrym
Thrym was a titan, worshiped by the frost giants as the god of cold and ice. He was also the de facto leader of that giants race.
Thrym loved the goddess Diancastra, a trickster goddess who courted many suitors in the Ordning. She had so many courters, however, that she finally one day set forth a challenge, she set the moon as one would a gem in a necklace forged by hand. Well, though many of her suitors tried, none could so much as touch the moon, let alone set is as a stone in a piece of jewelry. By though the task seemed impossible, Thrym chased the moon across the land, traveling north beyond the Spine of the World into a wasteland where he was lost forever. Thrym wandered for years, never so much as touching the moon when he finally collapsed and was buried by snow and ice in the years to follow, never to move again.
Backstory – the Dracorage
(This customized Lore ignores the Dracorage of 1373 and the destruction of the Mythal) In the time after the giants, in the time before men, elves and giants fought for dominance, uncaring of the destruction they wrought around them. Knowing they were losing, the elves pooled their resources and first discovered ley lines that crisscrossed their world. They created the Mythals to tap into the energy of crossing ley lines. One on point of power, they created a Mythal whose purpose was to enslave all dragonkind, bending the mighty wyrms’ will to that of the elves. But something went wrong with the high elven magic and the magic twisted, became perverted. Though all dragonkind did indeed become enslaved, it was not to the elves. Rather, dragonkind became enslaved to the reoccurrence of a star in the heavens: the King-Killer Star. During the ten-day when the star was its brightest all dragons the world over would go mad and attack anything that lived, including each other, causing untold damage and havoc across the face of Toril.
Backstory – the Tarrasque
Unable to fix their mistake, the elves over time lost the knowledge of how to create and maintain the Mythals. After the most recent Dracorage, however, the fey took matters into their own hands and created a beast even more powerful than the dragons to take the wyrms down when the dracorage was in full sway. These fey behemoths are the Tarrasque and they slumber under the earth until the dracorage comes again.
Unfortunately, humans and dwarves discovered the skill of mining. While in slumber, the Tarrasque can only perceived as rich veins of magical ore – something unknown to man or dwarvenkind. Items created from this ore generally have very unique innate magical qualities, making them and the ore valuable, even moreso as the ore itself is rare. Over time, this mining of the ore eventually kills the dormant Tarrasque, but those who retain enough of their “bodies” arise from slumber during the dracorage insane, maddened through pain. The few try to protect the sites where the Tarrasque slumber, but aside from their great work of creating the beasts, they don’t work well together and so are not very proficient at dissuading the mining of these sites.
Current Events
The Wave Echo Cave near Phandalin is a Tarrasque site, one in which the Tarrasque is as good as dead. Still a dragon disguised as a powerful wizard comes to town wishing to invest in the mine, offering to teach the town how to work the ore. What better way to ensure the creature’s death than to accelerate the mining business!
The dracorage is coming… one of the adventuring party is sensitive to the few and can hear them (or perhaps are receiving visions) talking about the coming period of destruction and the earth rising up to slay the death gliders (dragons).
The adventures discover the truth of the Tarrasque in the mine, and set off to stop the dracorage as its is opined that the Tarrasque plus the dracorage would be a really bad thing.
The party of guided to a wizard who teaches them some elven history, specifically about the Mythals being created along dragon (ley) lines. “The elves were nothing special, just more knowledgeable than the rest of us. They cheated in their discovery of the dragon lines!” The fact that the ley lines constantly shift, slowly but still consistently, are the real reason the mythals around the world are dying – they are no longer centered on the ley lines.
Along the way the party discovers another newly opened mine that has the same qualities as the one in Phandalin. There they discover another Tarrasque, but also find out that these beasts are actually sentient and somewhat intelligent. They remember a time when they weren’t just violent beasts, but actual caretakers of the world. This Tarrasque, though not strong enough to truly awake, implies that there’s a rhyme it learned long ago that might hold the answer to the dracorage, something to do with a line about a girl named Diane. It cannot quite remember the rhyme itself, but can direct the party to who taught it to him: his mate. The last he knew of her, however, was that before the slumber took her she settled in (pick a major metropolis on the other side of the continent… perhaps in Zhentarim territory).
Eventually the party will discover that this female Tarrasque found a way to avoid the slumber. She’s a major crime lord (lots of fun here having the party evade assassins and cutthroats in their way to discovering the female Tarrasque), manipulating things behind the scenes. The rhyme she knows comes from her early years, and tells the story of Thrym and Diancastra, the rhyme ending in Thrym’s being lost forever in the wasteland.
Guide the party to the ice beyond the spine of the world where they discover the almost dead corpse of Thrym whom the elves of old built the dracorage Mythal atop of, siphoning off the god’s life to power the Mythal. Big fight ensues as perhaps the party has been being hunted by a dragon interested in their adventure, or perhaps even a lost sect of high elves who wish to regain the lost High elven Magic.
Question is, at the end, what do the players do: destroy the Mythal to avoid the dracorage, even though this might ensure the dragons win their millennia-long war with the elves? Do they keep the mythal intact and warn the world of the coming dracorage?
Throughout this epic-long story there should be sporadic encounters with random dragons feeling the beginnings of the dracorage – just to spice things up!
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C. Foster Payne
"If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around."
Another potential continuation of the story is that the Red Wizard at Owl Well is a necromancer and the crevasse in Tresendar Manor had a (anti?)necrotic quality. Both have subterranean elements and the Underdark us already introduced via Black Spider. Perhaps a vein of magic energy flowing from/to an ancient horror somewhere.
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My group just hit 9th after finishing Tomb of Annihilation, and I want to switch gears.
I'd like to settle the group in Phandalin, and one of them to start to serve as Townsmaster.
This would be post Lost Mines adventure (group didn't do it, assumed another pack of adventurers completed it). So Wave Echo Cave is back open, the mine is operating, the Red Brands are gone, etc.
The party is flush with loot, and they can start building up the town, renovating Tresendar Manor, and even Cragmaw Castle. Thundertree can expand, Wyvern Tor all on the table for expansion.
I'm not familiar enough with Realms lore (always used it as more or less generic setting). Who are the other big players in the area? If a party of adventurers settled in Phandalin and started settling and rebuilding who would be interested? Who would they 'report' to or owe 'fealty' to (aside from Dwarves and Gnomes - Phandelver Pact)?
I can of course make it all up, although if the work has been done already..? I don't own Sword Coast guide, not sure if any info there?
The LMoP module has some fairly good info about the general area in it.
Some stuff that might be worth continuing:
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Thanks! I do have all that info. Primarily interested in what (if any) other bigger player NPC's in area would think if a group of higher level adventurers settled in Phandalin and started running things. Dwarves and Gnomes would want their cut, and I can make that up.
Waterdeep & Neverwinter are ways off, would any one else want a piece of the action or even care?
You may try this
http://my-realms.blogspot.com/2014/07/starter-set-sandbox-0-introduction.html?m=0
It’s mostly From a 4e view point.
On an alternate idea maybe The Redbrands have just been repurposed by Halia Thornton to her own uses after Glasstaff was dealt with (perhaps not even dead, he may have escaped). The Zhentarim could be at work in the town, and trying to get access to the magic in the cave using the ruined manor as their outpost, and expanding the underground areas. What about the magical aura from the 'chasm' under the manor? Is it somehow connected to Wave Echo cave?
Maybe nobody ever went to Thundertree at all and the cult has grown in power and scope making a permanent alliance with the dragon, they could be making magical abominations to serve the dragon having cleared out the blights in town.
Wyvern Tor is now in full invasion mode with orcs crawling all over the countryside.
Wave Echo Cave is indeed being fully explored after the Blackspider was destroyed along with his minions, but maybe some of the more interesting creatures are still there (like the Spectator) and they are continuing to find more sections that were not previously accessible. Or if you would like to go the path that the 'heroes' did not succeed in their mission the Drow have come and made a claim to the caves. This could make Phandalin a major staging ground to deal with these now VERY problematic incursions.
I forgot about Old Owl Well, what has the necromancer found in the meantime? Maybe an entire underground area has been discovered, an ancient ruin of Netheril that the tower was built over much later? Have more Thayan mages flocked to the area to investigate these ruins. I would imagine they would be very protective of their finds in the area. Or was the ruined filled with more powerful undead that are either now in the control of the necromancer, or have added the Thayan mage (or mages) into their ranks. A demi lich or something similar could have been trapped in the underground ruins.
I see this more as a way to take the problems that were present during the adventure and extrapolate where they might go if they were not handled completely. I mean what happens when the adventurers ignore the sidequests? Maybe they went straight for the main quest exclusively and failed because they weren't powerful enough. I write maybe a LOT, sorry about that.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
The dragon at Thundertree offers up a plethora of options: Was the dragon killed? Cultists swear revenge? Dragon bargained with? Introduced to the cultists? Moved to Cragmaw cave/castle from which it now picks off the occasional traveler or supply wagon headed to Phandalin, making Halia's Zhentarim more powerful and the rebuilding Thundertree more attractive to settlers? Did the human folk hero and human noble from the pregen characters strike an uneasy alliance with each other over the dragon... over the Zhentarim... can they afford for the truth to come out? Was the Elven wizard angry that a dragon took up residence at the Shrine of Oghma they had recently consecrated?
Did the former Redbrand halfling take over in Phandalin? With or without the Zhentarim?
How many Cragmaw lieutenants were given a pass or a truce brokered with?
What are the other groups doing in town, I mean it kinda gives the roots for a number of factions that can interact, Harpers, Order of the Gauntlet, Lords Alliance, Zhentarim, and Emerald Enclave. Maybe a good way to come up with what happens in the future from what you want each of the groups doing this moment. Zhentarim could easily gain control of the townmaster, considering he was pretty well cowed by the redbrands that Halia wanted to take over leadership of them. With the townmaster conveniently now in Halia's pocket she can move to thwart which ever side seems to have the advantage in the fight between the Lords, and the enemy host.
The Order of the Gauntlet would likely be a strong part of a war effort against an orc host of some sort (Maybe hobgoblins who knows) using their resources to support the Lords Alliance in protecting the realm.
The Harpers would be looking for information about who is leading the enemy host, so they can make some sort of strike against them.
Emerald Enclave could either be acting as a scouting force for The Lords Alliance, or dealing with its own threats outside of the area near the town.
The Lords Alliance would be the main body of troops on the ground for most types of invasion or conflicts in the area.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
I think I will use the adventure and upgrade it for level 4-7 for some friends. Running the normal version with some coworkers and I think my other group would enjoy it. Although I will have to spend some time to figure out the finer details like gold and loot, but it makes for a fun thought experiment even if I don't end up using it. Kinda falls in line with some things I have been playing around with from old 1e/2e adventure modules.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
Thanks all, some great info there. Tons to use for hooks.
I'm still not really sure about other rulers in area, as I'm not that familiar with the Realms. I know Waterdeep is ruled by the masked lords, Neverwinter no clue.
Would any nearby ruler care that some adventurer types just moved in and started ruling the town? Not to turn it into Simcity or anything...!
The Lords Alliance would likely take an interest, at least to make sure you are not doing anything nefarious. The representatives in Neverwinter would probably be the most likely to become involved in some way. Nasher Alagondar would be a major representative from that city. Or one of his descendants depending on what time frame you are working with for your world, since he did eventually pass on.
I would probably only Bring the Emerald Enclave into things if you have a druid or something similar in your party that might make a good interaction with them. They seem more passive in regards to the goings on in a town/city.
The Zhentarim would definitely show interest especially if one of their members was already trying to subvert control on the town for themselves (access to the powerful magic in the Wave Echo Caves makes for a strong incentive).
The Harper's would see the group as a tool to root out the Zhentarim presence, since they are more a secrecy and information faction. They might not make overt contact but would likely be watching the newcomers to see if they are in league with the Zhentarim, or could be of use.
I don't think Waterdeep would get directly involved but I could see some merchants from that town trying to make trade negotiations for access to magical items from Wave Echo Cave. Maybe one of the Masked Lords would take interest but they would want to ensure safe trade with the area. Might see the adventurers as rivals depending on how you want to handle it.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
Lord Neverember of Waterdeep might see this as a way to finally clear and resettle Thundertree, particularly since Helm's Hold turned out to be a disaster. He reaches out with some of his Mintarn Mercenaries and the Lord's Alliance and wants to use Phandalin as a staging area to take back Thundertree. Make Thundertree into an agricultural or logging focal point for the growing and stabilizing Neverwinter. Or make the Dragon there so powerful that it now threatens the stability Neverember wants to bring to Neverwinter. Read the Neverwinter section in the Sword Coast's Adventuring Guide as a start. 4th E has a ton of lore on the region as well, if you have or can get any of the books.
Here's what I did after the Phandalin adventure (in fact, the campaign is still ongoing!):
Campaign: What Lies Beneath
Backstory – Thrym
Thrym was a titan, worshiped by the frost giants as the god of cold and ice. He was also the de facto leader of that giants race.
Thrym loved the goddess Diancastra, a trickster goddess who courted many suitors in the Ordning. She had so many courters, however, that she finally one day set forth a challenge, she set the moon as one would a gem in a necklace forged by hand. Well, though many of her suitors tried, none could so much as touch the moon, let alone set is as a stone in a piece of jewelry. By though the task seemed impossible, Thrym chased the moon across the land, traveling north beyond the Spine of the World into a wasteland where he was lost forever. Thrym wandered for years, never so much as touching the moon when he finally collapsed and was buried by snow and ice in the years to follow, never to move again.
Backstory – the Dracorage
(This customized Lore ignores the Dracorage of 1373 and the destruction of the Mythal) In the time after the giants, in the time before men, elves and giants fought for dominance, uncaring of the destruction they wrought around them. Knowing they were losing, the elves pooled their resources and first discovered ley lines that crisscrossed their world. They created the Mythals to tap into the energy of crossing ley lines. One on point of power, they created a Mythal whose purpose was to enslave all dragonkind, bending the mighty wyrms’ will to that of the elves. But something went wrong with the high elven magic and the magic twisted, became perverted. Though all dragonkind did indeed become enslaved, it was not to the elves. Rather, dragonkind became enslaved to the reoccurrence of a star in the heavens: the King-Killer Star. During the ten-day when the star was its brightest all dragons the world over would go mad and attack anything that lived, including each other, causing untold damage and havoc across the face of Toril.
Backstory – the Tarrasque
Unable to fix their mistake, the elves over time lost the knowledge of how to create and maintain the Mythals. After the most recent Dracorage, however, the fey took matters into their own hands and created a beast even more powerful than the dragons to take the wyrms down when the dracorage was in full sway. These fey behemoths are the Tarrasque and they slumber under the earth until the dracorage comes again.
Unfortunately, humans and dwarves discovered the skill of mining. While in slumber, the Tarrasque can only perceived as rich veins of magical ore – something unknown to man or dwarvenkind. Items created from this ore generally have very unique innate magical qualities, making them and the ore valuable, even moreso as the ore itself is rare. Over time, this mining of the ore eventually kills the dormant Tarrasque, but those who retain enough of their “bodies” arise from slumber during the dracorage insane, maddened through pain. The few try to protect the sites where the Tarrasque slumber, but aside from their great work of creating the beasts, they don’t work well together and so are not very proficient at dissuading the mining of these sites.
Current Events
The Wave Echo Cave near Phandalin is a Tarrasque site, one in which the Tarrasque is as good as dead. Still a dragon disguised as a powerful wizard comes to town wishing to invest in the mine, offering to teach the town how to work the ore. What better way to ensure the creature’s death than to accelerate the mining business!
The dracorage is coming… one of the adventuring party is sensitive to the few and can hear them (or perhaps are receiving visions) talking about the coming period of destruction and the earth rising up to slay the death gliders (dragons).
The adventures discover the truth of the Tarrasque in the mine, and set off to stop the dracorage as its is opined that the Tarrasque plus the dracorage would be a really bad thing.
The party of guided to a wizard who teaches them some elven history, specifically about the Mythals being created along dragon (ley) lines. “The elves were nothing special, just more knowledgeable than the rest of us. They cheated in their discovery of the dragon lines!” The fact that the ley lines constantly shift, slowly but still consistently, are the real reason the mythals around the world are dying – they are no longer centered on the ley lines.
Along the way the party discovers another newly opened mine that has the same qualities as the one in Phandalin. There they discover another Tarrasque, but also find out that these beasts are actually sentient and somewhat intelligent. They remember a time when they weren’t just violent beasts, but actual caretakers of the world. This Tarrasque, though not strong enough to truly awake, implies that there’s a rhyme it learned long ago that might hold the answer to the dracorage, something to do with a line about a girl named Diane. It cannot quite remember the rhyme itself, but can direct the party to who taught it to him: his mate. The last he knew of her, however, was that before the slumber took her she settled in (pick a major metropolis on the other side of the continent… perhaps in Zhentarim territory).
Eventually the party will discover that this female Tarrasque found a way to avoid the slumber. She’s a major crime lord (lots of fun here having the party evade assassins and cutthroats in their way to discovering the female Tarrasque), manipulating things behind the scenes. The rhyme she knows comes from her early years, and tells the story of Thrym and Diancastra, the rhyme ending in Thrym’s being lost forever in the wasteland.
Guide the party to the ice beyond the spine of the world where they discover the almost dead corpse of Thrym whom the elves of old built the dracorage Mythal atop of, siphoning off the god’s life to power the Mythal. Big fight ensues as perhaps the party has been being hunted by a dragon interested in their adventure, or perhaps even a lost sect of high elves who wish to regain the lost High elven Magic.
Question is, at the end, what do the players do: destroy the Mythal to avoid the dracorage, even though this might ensure the dragons win their millennia-long war with the elves? Do they keep the mythal intact and warn the world of the coming dracorage?
Throughout this epic-long story there should be sporadic encounters with random dragons feeling the beginnings of the dracorage – just to spice things up!
C. Foster Payne
"If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around."
Another potential continuation of the story is that the Red Wizard at Owl Well is a necromancer and the crevasse in Tresendar Manor had a (anti?)necrotic quality. Both have subterranean elements and the Underdark us already introduced via Black Spider. Perhaps a vein of magic energy flowing from/to an ancient horror somewhere.