Tyranny of Dragons was the first full D&D 5e campaign I ran, starting back in 2015. Here’s the write up from the third session.
Begin here with Session 1 – Greenest in Flames.
13th Mirtul, 1490 DR
Rosie wakes up in terrible pain after a night of disturbing dreams of torture. Someone – or something – peeled a section of skin from her back while she slept and used it to cover the sinister Book of Shadows she finds at the bottom of her bed.
When the adventurers meet for breakfast, Gwastdyn tells that Leosin Erlanthar has a mission for them, but he needs to stay in Greenest for a day or so and look after the monk. He gives the party a big bag of goodberries to take with them. Leosin arrives and asks the party to return to the cultist camp and discover what their plans are. In particular, they should find out what’s in the well-guarded cave. They are to meet Leosin in Elturel to report – if he’s not there, they should seek out the paladin Ontharr Frume of the Order of the Gauntlet at A Pair of Black Antlers, the city’s best-known tavern.
The characters travel back across the Greenfields to the raiders’ camp. As they approach, it’s clear that the majority of the cultists have left. Climbing one of the guard towers, Turin and Rosie spot a pair of hunters skinning an antelope. The party talk to them for a few minutes and learn that some of the cult leaders and kobolds are still in the cave. Rosie uses friends to persuade the woman to take them up to the cave, but the spell wears off before they can get inside, and the hunter stomps off angrily.
Rosie casts invisibility and goes ahead, followed by Turin. Unfortunately, the bard walks straight into an ambush by two dragonclaw cultists and goes unconscious in the first round of combat. After killing the dragonclaws, they head further into the complex.
In the fungus garden, Turin and Rosie are attacked by violet fungi – the warlock experiences hallucinations of a monkey stealing her Book of Shadows and running off with it. While she chases it up a large stalagmite, the others destroy the dangerous plant creatures with ranged attacks.
The cave beyond is full of hundreds of bats which Ug disturbs with his clanking and stomping. As the bats fly around, filling the cavern with their squeaking and flapping, a swarm of stirges take advantage of the confusion and attack the adventurers. Crake, Rosie and Turin all have a stirge latch on to them, but Ug ends up with three attached. The paladin loses a lot of blood before the party can help him dispose of the nasty little creatures.
With everyone low on hit points and most of the goodberries eaten, the characters decide they need a short rest. Returning to the entrance cave, they sit down in the “dead end” they found before and Turin gets out his lute to play a restful tune. Sadly, his strumming attracts a group of cultists who come through a hidden passage to attack the party. The party is able to defeat them, but decide not to push their luck, retreating to the empty huts outside to rest without being disturbed again.
When the adventurers return to the cave shortly afterwards, they find the entrance occupied by a vicious guard drake and two urds (winged kobolds) who annoy the party by dropping rocks on their heads from aloft. Once these foes have been dealt with, the adventurers push on to the barracks where run into yet more cultists. Three of them dash out of the exit to the east, while the others step up to attack. After these too have been vanquished, Turin checks out the almost empty treasure vault to the west, killing a snoring, drunken cultist in cold blood.
From here, the characters press on, advancing into Frulam Mondath’s quarters where the three cultists who ran off await with the Wearer of Purple herself. The evil cult leader surrounds herself with ghostly red demons and hangs back to cast spiritual weapon, leaving her lackeys to engage the party in melee. The characters battle past these minions – Crake perhaps wishes he hadn’t when he falls foul of the infernal spirit guardians protecting Mondath and drops unconscious. Fortunately Rosie has one last goodberry and is able to bring him round. Ug moves in to attack Mondath with his fearsome war cry “Feel my slash!” but the cultist has had enough, jumping through a hidden opening in the floor. The half-orc runs after her, but thinks better of it when he hears Cyanwrath’s voice and remembers he is very badly injured.
With their enemies on the run but still very much alive, and our heroes out of spells and low on hit points, they decide to withdraw to the nearest guard tower for a long rest.
Tiamat image by Michael Komarck
Richard Green | Game Designer 