This dungeon concept was wholeheartedly taken from Arnold K. over at Goblinpunch. In short: a dungeon is full of six dragon siblings, all with their own dragon cults and weird idiosyncrasies. (links here and here)
Featuring:
Xynyx, Gnome Wizard Inventor
Night, Tiefling Dreamwalker Warlock
Arinulf Ulfsson, Half-Elf Sand-Viking Paladin of Life
Raemus Astorio, Rogue Extraordinaire!
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A quest to prove their worth as hunters from the Queen of Kobara led the party to the Dragon Hole. The map is designed like a giant hollow tree, with a massive vertical shaft and each dragon's lair branching off.
Garnos's Lair is the first branch down. Xynyx scouts it out with an Arcane Eye and the entire party is weirded out by the Tree of Swords, the Pile of Charred Helmets, the Giant Statue of an Axe Made of Smaller Axes. Regardless, they press on.
There's a fight with Garnos's dragon cult berserkers. In the loud commotion Garnos is alerted. The party escapes into a tunnel headed downward too small for Garnos to fit in. Garnos breaths fire down the tunnel, killing the hirelings and seriously scorching the party.
Tunnel leads to Vulpernia's petting zoo. After making themselves known to the gentle but deadly dragoncult, they agree to meet Vulpernia, not realizing she is also a dragon.
Vulpernia interrogates these intruders. Her preconception that bad people are always ugly causes the liars in the party to become hideous. This dragon is essentially in her My Little Pony phase of girlhood, and kidnaps Xynyx because she thinks he's adorable.
After breaking Xynyx out of his bonds of preteen dragon affection, the party continues downwards through a secret hole in the floor, eventually leading to a secret door to Ashrendar's library.
A muscled librarian lookout spots the party walking atop the bookcases and sounds the alarm. Party heads in the other direction, escaping to the main vertical shaft. They continue heading down...
...Where they meet Scabbermouth, roiling in self loathing down in the mucky waters. They narrowly, narrowly avoid his hostility, realizing almost too late that the key to appeasing his madness is not to belittle him directly, but to say that his siblings belittled him.
He leaves them alone. They continue down, to Emerald Egg's time-themed funhouse lair.
Eggs all over the place. They pick up the dark angel egg (essentially a handheld mini-nuke). They release the Book Burning Demon held in a wooden box egg. It burns Xynyx's spellbook, then runs off to burn Ashrendar's library. This will come back to bite them in the ass far into the future.
Sneaking around, they spot Emerald Egg, in human form, working at her necromancy table. She is making undead from stone-to-flesh spells. Brashly, they decide to open negotiations. Emerald Egg does not tolerate trespassers. A battle ensues. Emerald Egg takes her dragon form.
In the ensuing melee, a significant feat of teamwork and strength results in Emerald Egg being forced onto her own Circle of Death. Unfortunately, the Rogue gets pulled on, too. Both of them bite it. A shame, since the Rogue was secretly carrying an artifact which he traded the secret of Teleportation for - a potion which grants its drinker safety from sudden death and double their lifespan.
After this the party leaves.
~~~~~
When they get to the surface the rumor has already gone around about red dragons in the area. Where the party has made camp there is now a host of dragon hunters, hungry for spoils. Negotiations ensue. It's made clear that it's first-come-first-serve when loot's on the line.
After a days rest the party prepares for a second venture.
Meanwhile, the delicate power balance in the Cistern has been tipped past the point of no return. Emerald Egg, while nobody's favorite sibling, did maintain the illusion that Mother was alive. With her dead it's now a free for all, with a massive dragon hoard on the line.
As the party descends once again, Garnos and his dragon hunter berserker cult launch an attack on Vulpernia and her shepherdess and cute animal cult. Normally, Vulpernia, being the biggest and strongest, would be able to rebuke Garnos. Not so when he has his dragon-killing helm, and when he's on the offensive. He kills Vulpernia, but gets wounded in the process.
As Garnos and his cult lick their wounds, the other dragons plot. Facilitated by the party (and the fact that Volectra likes elves), an alliance is struck up between the human Diviner King Suleyman, Ashrendar, and Volectra. Together they assault Garnos and his lair with a combination of screaming fanatic artists, muscled-librarians, and lightning dragoons.
However, unbeknownst to the party, a secret pact was struck between Ashrendar and Suleyman. They plot to have Volectra's forces take the brunt of the assault, then turn on her when her forces are weakened. This plan goes on without a hitch. Volectra is left vulnerable, and agrees to forsake her claim to the treasure and live in exile, instead of death.
For a sizable amount of treasure, Suleyman leaves Ashrendar to rule the entire Cistern by himself. Ashrendar is now Lord of the Dragon Hole. The party leaves having proved they killed a dragon.
Beloch's Questions
Who did the characters wrong during the session?
Every single dragon, somehow, except Scabbermouth.
Garnos, Vulpernia, and Emerald Egg are dead. Volectra is exiled. Ashrendar's library burnt down.
Did the characters do anything stealthily during the session?
Who released the book-burning demon was a secret, now that Emerald Egg was killed.
Is there anyone, aside from employers, who benefited from the character’s actions?
Ashrendar and The Diviner King Suleyman remain the two massive beneficiaries. They now control the entire Cistern and its wealth.
If anyone died in the course of the party’s adventure, what sort of hole did they leave behind in their community? What effect did they have on their environment which will be lost now that they’re dead?
The rogue died. This was big. He took the secret of his transactions with the Queen of Kobara to his grave, and his reward, now in custody of the party, remains a secret.
What information did the party spread around?
Dragons be in the Dragon Cistern. No doubt this will bring in more dragon hunters.
Did the characters do anything which the authorities, or the public at large, will have feelings about?
Cementing Ashrendar's rule and empowering the Diviner King sets a massive political shift in the area.
Did the players express any desires or interests you might use to engage / hook them in the future?
They love the dragons. The surviving ones will become major plot points in the future.
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