Our ninth session of Shadow of the Dragon Queen was played on Monday, July 31, 2023. In this session, we began Chapter 6: The City of Lost Names,

The backstory for the city involves the killing of a good dragon during the Age of Might. Which really makes no sense because during the Age of Might the good dragons were all sleeping and/or absent. Whenever I get the “Oh, but it’s cool to make this exception” excuse, I shudder. And especially in an adventure that is reintroducing people to Dragonlance after many years. Establish the existing themes and history of the world that people love. Don’t try changing them.

Anyway, things got bad between the dragons and the Knights of Solamnia, people and dragons got killed, the Kingpriest got angry, and the once-flying city crashed into what would later become the wastes.

The party didn’t know this, though. All they knew is that they had to crawl through a tunnel complex leading to the city.

This is a small nine-area dungeon, very linear in design, a couple of side rooms.

The designers did one thing very, very right: There’s this line in the beginning of the chapter, “A character with the Stonecunning trait determines the passage ahead formed naturally, but the surrounding rock doesn’t originate in the Northern Wastes.” The player of the dwarf was very impressed by this text.

It meant that, when the revelation came in a later session that the city flew, the dwarf player really loved it!

Tunnels and Spirits

The tunnels the party delved into appeared natural at first, but as they delved deeper, suddenly flaming, draconic spirits appeared and rushed the party, temporarily causing Hrothkar and Tordek to draw their weapons and attack each other – making them both look sheepish after the spirits disappeared. This was not a place they felt welcome.

They were now on the outskirts of the city, as they discovered in the next chamber, where a building from the street above had plummeted into the cavern below, although there was no exit above anymore. As they picked through the rubble it shuddered and moved to reveal a stone golem, a fearsome foe for this party.

Parren moved to cast magic weapon to allow Hrothkar the Barbarian to strike at full effectiveness, and then moved back with Vermin to cast toll the dead at the Golem – strangely, the most effective spell they had. Hrothkar and Tordek engaged the Golem in melee. Four rounds later, it was dead – and the party took a short rest, with Hrothkar spending several hit dice. He’d taken a pounding! (22 minutes of real time).

A side chamber proved to be an old wine cellar, with ancient bottles of wine (probably now spoiled), but that didn’t stop most of the party loading up. Players will be players!

The next challenge to face them was great half-formed dragon skeletons emerging from the rock of the next passage to grasp at the characters, while snarling at the group in Draconic. Our group is lore-accurate, and no-one spoke Draconic. (It is over 1300 years since there were active dragons in Krynn).

Two rounds (10 minutes) later, they were no longer a threat.

Oil and Salad. Slaad.

The dangers didn’t stop there: a flooded tavern with spilt oil everywhere held a green slaad. This gave the opportunity for some interesting terrain to enhance the battle – and a Tordek who couldn’t climb out of the water!

Which proved a problem with the slaad ignited it! The combat didn’t take that long (about 3 rounds, or 15 minutes), but the rather burnt and blackened party needed another short rest afterwards – and for Vermin to use some of her limited healing magic.

The next area contained a bas relief depicting dragons honouring a dragon corpse – something that had been looted from a dragon graveyard. There’s some nice environmental storytelling here, even though I think the basis for the story is flawed.

And the latest threat appeared as the heroes took this in – another dragon spirit addressing them in draconic. As no-one responded (or understood), it manifested itself as a lesser death dragon and attacked.

Vermin used her crossbow. Parren recognised that this wasn’t the time to hold back and cast fireball. Hrothkar raged and inflicted a critical hit. And then the dragon breathed on the party (except for Parren, who had been smart enough to stay away).

With Tordek and Hrothkar in melee, Parren continued to use fireball, with the dragon saving a second time. It then bit down on Tordek, attempting to grab him with a claw, but failing.

It didn’t get another chance, Hrothkar downing it with a pair of axe swings.

The (undead) inhabitants of this area really didn’t like the party, did they? (3 rounds, 12 minutes).

The Ancient Elf

The group finally emerged into a better-appointed area, that of a wizard’s workshop – of some interest to Parren – and with a live (if ancient) elven wizard! But instead of greeting the party, the wizard just threw a gem down, which summoned an air elemental that attacked the party.

After a lesser death dragon, it couldn’t be that dangerous, could it? Parren used magic weapon again to aid the party, and they made short work of the elemental, before turning to the red-robed wizard.

Incredibly, the wizard didn’t turn them to dust. It was all a test to see how competent they were (this is despite the wizard having used a scrying spell to monitor the characters and would have seen their competence several times in the last few hours). She introduced herself as Demelin – an old elf from before the Cataclysm – and she wanted them to get rid of the Dragon Army from her home – the City of Lost Names. Or Onyari since she actually knew the name.

Apart from telling them about the Dragon Army in the city, she also advised them to take the cursed Dragonlance they’d recovered from the tomb of Sarlamir to the Temple of Paladine in the city. (Surely, Paladine had caused them to find the Dragonlance for a reason, right?)

This is also the section where the wizard in the party can take the Test of High Sorcery, administered by Demelin. As Parren was working mostly as an NPC, it didn’t seem necessary to this group. It’s fairly short, but could be run well.

Tordek was all in favour of going to the Temple of Paladine, and the party stepped out onto the overlook above the City of Lost Names.

The City of Lost Names

It’s a great sight, one that comes close to Xak Tsaroth in Dragons of Despair. The great, broken city lies in a crater, at its centre a floating tower – once the central “engine” of the flying city it once was.

And to top that off, the party saw Lord Soth in the distance mounting an undead dragon and flying out of the city.

This is great material.

Unfortunately, at this point the party are contacted by the friendly army that has been following them around. That’s not the unfortunate part. It’s that they’re told that Soth and the dragon – along with the Red Dragonarmy – are now pursuing their friends. But, it’s okay, you can take all the time you need to explore the city.

Look – the very reason you have a scene like that is to enhance time pressure. To show the players that yes, they are on a ticking clock, and they need to do what they have to do as quickly as possible so they can save their friends. Not, “Oh, it’s okay, the most powerful beings in the world are chasing us but we’ll be okay!”

Sigh.

The Temple of Paladine

There were Dragon Army patrols in the streets, but enough confusion and ruins for the party to basically get where they wanted to go – which, first of all, was the Temple of Paladine. Which was now flooded.

The kender and dwarf were not impressed.

They were even less impressed with the marid that decided to stop them. (2 rounds, 7 minutes). It didn’t enjoy being critted by Hrothkar’s axe, but as that destroyed it (and possibly banished it back to its home plane), it wasn’t a long feeling of disappointment.

Wading into the temple, they discovered pits in the floor with bonus mummies trying to defend the holy site. Lawful neutral mummies, don’t you know. Not that the party did. Mummy rot is quite a problem in a low-healing game like this, so it’s just as well that everyone saved.

The mummies didn’t save against Parren’s fireball spell, though.

That let the party reach the altar, upon which they placed the broken Dragonlance. The light of Paladine bathed it and restored it to its full glory!

Now, it counted as a +3 dragonlance pike. The party determined that Hrothkar should bear it.

And with that, it was 10 pm, and time for the three-hour session to end. (Most of our sessions run for three hours or a little less). Rather an action-packed session, and we’d managed to hit some key story points. Next session, it was time to go to the centre of the city, and find out what the Dragon Army were doing with that floating tower.