# Rage of Dragons *49 Sessions · The Dragon Conspiracy* --- *The rage of dragons is not a metaphor. It is a magical catastrophe baked into the fabric of the Realms, a dormant curse that the Dominion — an empire of ancient dragons — designed as a failsafe against mortals who might dare rise against them. Six heroes recruited by the Harpers have spent forty-nine sessions learning exactly how deep the rot goes. They have descended into criminal sanctums, defended farms against hill giant hordes, and found their way to the edges of the Dire Wood, where an Archfey queen dreams of nightmares and calls them hers.* [[Rage 1 - The Dragon's Rest|Start Reading →]] --- ## The Story So Far ### Arc One: Stormwreck Isle & the Conspiracy's Shape *Sessions 1–10* The campaign began with a Harper summons: five recruits brought together by the legendary Eather Heilean, directed by cryptic visions of dead dragons to the monastery island of Dragon's Rest. What they found there was more than they bargained for. Runara, the island's cleric-scholar, was a Bronze Dragon in disguise — the same dragon who had long ago battled the blue dragon Maelthas and destroyed the Astral Conclave's observatory in the winning. The threat that had followed her into the present: a young Blue Dragon Wyrmling named Sparkrender, attempting to raise dead dragons from the island's bones to finish Maelthas's work. The Anchors were the first piece. Ancient artifacts scattered across the Forgotten Realms, each one capable of stabilizing or unleashing the Dracorage Mythal — the great magical curse woven into the world's ley lines. The Cult of the Dragon had been studying them for years. The heroes had just become part of their equation. ### Arc Two: The Gilded Gallows & Urban Shadows *Sessions 10–14* Following the trail of the Cult's funding and intelligence networks brought the party into conflict with the Gilded Gallows — a criminal organization operating beneath the Sword Coast's polished surface. Their Serpent's Sanctum, a hidden base, held records and contacts that pointed toward a larger conspiracy. The heroes navigated it with blade and cunning, and walked away with intelligence that would prove essential. The Gloomcellar entered their awareness: a secretive prison, a place where things — and people — were kept away from the light. ### Arc Three: The Horde of Bad Fruul *Sessions 15–30* The Sword Coast's immediate crisis arrived in the form of a hill giant chieftain and a horde large enough to threaten entire towns. Bad Fruul had an obsidian obelisk — an Astral Anchor stolen from Nightstone — and ambitions that exceeded his station. The party spent fifteen sessions defending Goldenfields, navigating hag conspiracies, pursuing a purple worm, and ultimately bringing Bad Fruul to his knees in Grudd Haug. The ending was messy. Norren betrayed a negotiated truce to ensure Bad Fruul's death. People died. People were resurrected. The party walked out intact, but carrying the moral weight of what they'd chosen. The Dracorage threat hadn't waited for them. ### Arc Four: The High Forest & Vulkazar's Rising *Sessions 31–43* The Cult of the Dragon's true plan came into focus in the High Forest. Their leader, Evendor Starbane — a corrupted sun elf exiled from Evermeet — had succeeded in doing what no one believed possible: creating a dracolich from the ancient red dragon Hoondarrh. The result was Vulkazar, an undead engine of destruction, and he had a target. The Shadowtop Cathedral — an ancient Harper stronghold with centuries of elven historical records preserved in its living trees — burned. Vulkazar brought it down in a session of devastating loss. Survivors scattered into the Dire Wood. Norren, in grief, swore a blood oath to the Furies — archfey goddesses of vengeance — and became their mortal champion. The weight of that oath sits on his shoulders still. Meanwhile, Ophelia Lathalas discovered something about Evendor Starbane that changed everything: he carries the soul of Elthorin Starweaver, the ancient elf who had loved her — and betrayed and killed her — in a previous life. The Cult's leader is not merely an enemy. He is a wound that has never closed. ### Arc Five: The Dire Wood & Nymara's Realm *Sessions 44–49* The Dire Wood is not a forest. It is a dream. Or rather: it is the nightmare of a forest, infected by the power of a corrupted Netherese Mythallar wielded by Nymara, an Archfey queen of the Unseelie Court. The survivors of the Shadowtop fled into her domain. The party followed. Nymara is a different kind of enemy. She does not meet you in battle. She meets you in your sleep, and in your sleep she shows you the things you most fear — and she makes them real enough to kill. She has enslaved the Maiden of the Moon, an ancient archfey hunter of terrible power. She has imprisoned Norren's mother Elowen in her fortress of Faenarath. She stole Kan'Rahd's body and replaced him, briefly, with Volothamp Geddarm (who was mostly confused but also rather pleased to be involved). The party has fought through patrol after patrol, freed captives, and convinced the Maiden of the Moon — through careful argument and the invocation of the Furies — to spare Gunther Boomfizzle rather than take his soul. That is no small thing. Even enslaved, the Maiden made a choice. *Faenarath awaits.* --- ## Key Developments 1. **The Dracorage Mythal** — An ancient magical curse woven across the Forgotten Realms, designed by the Dominion as a failsafe against mortal uprising. The Cult of the Dragon seeks to weaponise it by corrupting Astral Anchors and resurrecting dracoliches to serve as vessels. 2. **Runara's True Nature** — The gentle cleric of Dragon's Rest was revealed as a Bronze Dragon, survivor of the Astral Conclave, and the party's first and most important window into the Cult's true history. 3. **Bad Fruul's Defeat** — The hill giant horde's collapse ended the immediate threat to the Sword Coast, but the moral compromise of Norren's betrayal marked the party's first serious reckoning with the cost of winning. 4. **Vulkazar and the Fall of Shadowtop Cathedral** — The Cult's creation of a dracolich from Hoondarrh's corpse and its subsequent destruction of the Harpers' ancient stronghold represents the campaign's first catastrophic defeat and the loss of irreplaceable history. 5. **Norren's Oath to the Furies** — Swearing a blood oath of vengeance to three archfey goddesses, Norren became a champion bound to hunt Malachi and Nymara. The Furies do not grant gifts lightly. 6. **Ophelia and Evendor Starbane** — The revelation that Starbane carries the soul of Elthorin Starweaver — who loved and then killed Ophelia in a past life — transforms the final confrontation from a battle into a reckoning. 7. **The Maiden of the Moon's Choice** — Enslaved by Nymara but not entirely gone, the legendary archfey hunter chose mercy over execution when the party found the right words. A crack in the Archfey's power. 8. **Kan'Rahd and Volothamp Geddarm** — Nymara demonstrated her reach by swapping Kan'Rahd into a pendant and replacing him with the Realms' most celebrated (if occasionally self-serving) chronicler. Kan'Rahd has since been restored. --- ## Dramatis Personae ### The Heroes | Hero | Description | |------|-------------| | [[Astra]] | Half-Orc rogue; former Gilded Gallows operative turned Harper recruit. Carries guilt about leaving friends behind in Neverwinter — friends who are now Red Daggers, now under Nymara's influence, now traveling with the party | | [[Barlen]] | Half-Orc cleric of Moradin; from the Dragon's Bane mercenary company. Her nightmare revealed that her mentor Drogan Steelheart was murdered by traitors within their own ranks — and that the Cult plans something monstrous for Myth Adofhaer | | [[Kan'Rahd]] | Firbolg druid of the Feywild; ally of the awakened tree Lifferlas; deep ties to fey magic. Recently restored from Nymara's pendant. His home realm of Santrien Forest has been corrupted by the Unseelie Court | | [[Norren]] | Bugbear barbarian from a druidic family connected to the Shadowtop Cathedral. Champion of the Furies. Has made morally questionable choices in the name of necessary victories. His mother Elowen is imprisoned in Faenarath | | [[Ophelia]] | Half-Elf ranger; reincarnation of Aerilyn Featherstrike from the Dominion age. Carries memory of a past-life love that ended in betrayal and death — and knows that the man who did it still walks the world | | [[Valkalyn]] | Elf wizard; scholar of the Starwarden Academy. Her best friend Aria was murdered by Kaela Voortham (now undead, still tormenting Valkalyn through dreams). Stole crucial Dracorage research from Shilrua. Maintains the demiplane that keeps the party alive | ### Allies | Name | Role | |------|------| | [[Eather Heilean]] | The legendary Harper who recruited the party; directs the Harper effort against the Cult of the Dragon | | Runara | Bronze Dragon; cleric of Bahamut; the party's earliest and most important ally. Bound to her island; cannot join the war directly | | The Red Daggers | Nira Mistwood, Valtair, and Kethra Nightshade — Astra's former gang, now riding with the party. Valtair's slow romance with Ophelia is the campaign's most earnest love story | | The Furies | Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone — three archfey goddesses of vengeance who chose Norren as their mortal champion. They judge. They do not forgive | | The Maiden of the Moon | A legendary archfey hunter enslaved by Nymara, who made a choice the enslavement was not supposed to allow. Her allegiance is uncertain; her power is not | ### Enemies | Name | Role | |------|------| | [[Evendor Starbane]] | Corrupted sun elf; leader of the Cult of the Dragon; carries the soul of Elthorin Starweaver, the ancient elf who betrayed Ophelia in her past life. This war is personal | | Vulkazar | Dracolich fashioned from the ancient red dragon Hoondarrh; the Cult's most devastating weapon; destroyed Shadowtop Cathedral; still at large | | Nymara | Archfey queen of the Unseelie Court; corrupted a Netherese Mythallar; traps heroes in personalized nightmares capable of killing them; holds Elowen Thiltosh in Faenarath. Her fortress is the party's next destination | | Kaela Voortham | Undead former student of the Starwarden Academy; murdered Valkalyn's best friend; still reaching through dreams |