Waterdeep. The City of Splendour.
The adventurers had returned safely to the city, and delivered Varram the White to the interrogators of the Lords Alliance. They soon stood before the Council of Waterdeep to report on their progress. To their surprise, the council was now led by Lady Laeral Silverhand, who had replaced Lord Neverember as the Open Lord of Waterdeep and head of the council! Lord Neverember glowered sullenly nearby. The council was not pleased to discover that both the Draakhorn and Mask of Dragons had been taken to the Well of Dragons, with some of their members waxing most sarcastic as to the capabilities of the heroes, although some of the representatives were happy with the capture of Varram and the new alliance with the Arcane Brotherhood.
Lady Laerel soon turned the meeting to discussing future plans. Delaan Winterhound was very concerned with dragon attacks in the Misty Forest, although King Melendrach of the elves believed that the attacks were now subsiding, but – of most interest to Ice – the metallic dragons had sent a representative seeking a delegation from the council to discuss an alliance. Various members of the council would have liked to conduct the negotiations themselves, but the tensions in the council meant no-one was quite happy to see another councillor go. In the end, the adventurers were asked if they would go to the metallic dragons. They accepted eagerly, with none more eager than Ice.
The representative of the metallic dragons, Otaaryliakkarnos, flew the adventurers to the dragon council herself. From her back, the group witnessed the increased activity of the Cult of the Dragon, with bands of cultists now raiding many settlements and the majority of them in ruins, their treasures plundered. Otaaryliakkarnos was concerned that the flight would be interrupted by a chromatic dragon, but – thankfully – such did not occur. Soon, the adventurers stood before the Council of Dragons.
Five ancient dragons, one of each of the metallic bloodlines – gold, silver, brass, copper and bronze – contemplated the adventurers. Astonishingly, the adventurers were respectful, and did their best to impress the Dragon Council members and aid them in their desires. They promised to give them a share of the treasure; to gain apologies from the King of the Elves and the King of the Dwarves for slights against dragonkind, and returned a valuable magic item that had been looted from the lair of one of the dragons. Mordechai, Ice and Music were excellent in their diplomacy, and after much discussion, the five dragons agreed to help the humanoids in their fight against the Cult. Exactly what the Elvenking and Dwarvenking thought of the concessions the adventurers had given on their behalf would have to wait until the next council meeting in Waterdeep…
(This is in sharp contrast to reports from one of our other tables, where the Lord of the Gold Dragons got a big dressing-down from a member of the Zhentarim. “We’ve been out there fighting? What have you been doing? Get off your scaly behinds and help us!”)
And so, the adventurers’ attention now turned to the Misty Forest. In contrast to what King Melendrach had told them, the elven settlements had been beset by several raids by the Cult of the Dragon, and they hadn’t survived all that well, although the raids were now not so frequent. In the town of Altand, the damage had been less severe than elsewhere, something that Delaan Winterhound found suspicious. Thus forewarned, the adventurers began to question the villagers about the attack. The most interesting of the villagers was their new leader, Galin, who seemed particularly nervous when questioned by the adventurers. Pressing him as to the inconsistencies in his story, the elf revealed that he’d made a deal with the Dragonspeaker leading the attack; the cult had spared the village in exchange for information on which other villages to attack.
Galin had little useful information on the identity of the Dragonspeaker, but he was able to direct the adventurers in the direction that he believed the Dragonspeaker and his dragon laired: to the south-east. After resting, the adventurers headed deeper into the forest to see if they could find the Dragonspeaker and his dragon.
On the way, they rescued a disguised dryad, who blessed the group, and wandered into a mess of webbing, a trap set by giant spiders and ettercaps! The fight wasn’t all that difficult (although some healing magic had to be expended to rid them of all the effects of the poison), and eventually the group came in sight of the dragon’s lair… hidden behind a waterfall.
And, of course, that’s when we ended the session!