waterdeep dragon heist

AHCHAIRON^1 S DRACONWARD

Waterdeep is blanketed by an undispellable magical effect

called Ahghoiron's drogonword. The effect originates from

somewhere under Ahghairon's Tower in the Castle Ward

and is permanent. Dragons and all other creatures of the

dragon type are physically unable to enter the city (or its

sewers) as long as the dragonward persists. The effect

doesn't extend to the harbor or into Undermountain.

A creature of the dragon type that is touched by the

dragonstoff of Ahghoiron (see appendix A) can ignore Ah-

ghairon's drogonward and move through the city freely. The

effect lasts until the creature is touched again by the staff,

or until the passage of a period of time specified by one

who is attuned to the staff.

The dragonstaffis currently in the possession of an adult

gold dragon named Aurinax (see appendix B), who guards

a hidden vault under the city.

Renaer Neverember. Agents of the Zhentarim waylaid

him because they want to know everything that Renaer

knows about the cache of dragons. (Unfortunately for

them, Rcnaer is ignorant of lhe cache and its where-

abouts.) If the characters rescue him, Renaer proves to

be a worthy ally to adventurers hoping to make a name

for themselves in Waterdeep.

As a reward for rescuing Floon, Volo gives adventur-

ers the deed to a building in the North Ward that looks

out onto a wide cul-de-sac hemmed in by old residences

and shops. The property used to be a tavern with a res-

idence on the upper Doors. The tavern has been closed

for years, and the residence is haunted by a poltergeist

that the characters can lay to rest.

FIREBALL!

As time goes on, the characters attract the attention of
local factions hoping to recruit them while they settle
into the city. Eventually, these relatively peaceful times
are shattered when a fireball detonates near their new
residence. The characters are swept up in the aftermath
of this horrific event and can try to get to the bottom of
it. Who cast the fireball spell and why? Who was the
intended target? They can investigate the incident on be-
half of a guild or a faction, or they can become involved
for reasons of their own.
One casualty of the fireball is in fact its intended tar-
get: Lord Neverember's spy, Dalakhar. Whoever killed
the gnome now has the Stone ofGolorr, the key to find-
ing the lost cache of dragons. One way or another, de-
pending on the alliances- and the enemies-they have
made in the city. the characters become embroiled in
the chase for the stone and the hoard it protects.

Choose Your Villain

When you run this adventure, you choose its main vil-

lain at the outset. Your choice determines the season of

the year in which the story takes place, as well as the an-

tagonists in several of the encounters in chapter 4. The

villain you choose opposes the player characters, while

the villains you don't choose become part of the back-

drop and could help the characters or hinder them.

As another unusual feature of this adventure, the

villains aren't meant to be killed, nor are they out to kill

the player characters. The villains are after a treasure

INTRODUCTION

hoard, and the adventurers' ultimate goal is to keep the

treasure out of their clutches.

You can swap out one villain for another at any time.

For example, if you decide halfway through the ad-

venture that because of how the story has progressed

Jarlaxle Baenre would make a better antagonist than

Xanathar, you can make that change on the fly and run

subsequent encounters accordingly.

Each villain is fully described in appendix Band sum-

marized below.

XANATHAR

Xanathar is a paranoid, megalomaniacal beholder crime

lord whose goal is to wipe out anyone it perceives as a

Zhentarim operative or sympathizer, retrieve the Stone

ofGolorr, and secure the cache of dragons. Its base is a

dungeon under Skullport, a subterranean settlement be-

neath Waterdeep. This lair is described in chapter 5.

Xanathar has a healthy fear ofLaeral Silverhand and

is inclined to spare those in her employ, to avoid provok-

ing a conflict with Waterdeep's Open Lord. Adventurers

who incur the wrath of the beholder can use its fear of

Laeral to escape certain death.

If you choose Xanathar as the villain, the adventure

takes place in the spring.

THE CASSALANTERS

Victoro and Ammalia Cassalanter are Waterdavian no-

bles and secret devil worshipers. The Cassalanters plan

to use the cache of dragons to buy back the souls of their

children, which they traded to Asmodeus for power.

Their estate, Cassalanter Villa, has a temple of Asmo-

deus hidden underneath it, as described in chapter 6.

The Cassalanters try to misdirect and discredit the

characters rather than murder them. Victoro and Am-

malia rely on their noble status to protect them, and the

last thing they want is the City Watch on their doorstep.

If you choose the Cassalanters as the villains, the ad-

venture takes place in U1e summer.

~RLAXLE BAENRE

Jarlaxle Baenre is a drow swashbuckler and the secret

lord of Luskan, the City of Sails.jarlaxle plans to use

the cache of dragons to buy his way into the Lords'

Alliance, a confederation of cities and towns that band

together against common threats.Jarlaxle also wants

the dragonstaff of Ahghairon for leverage in his nego-

tiations. In the magical guise of a human sea captain

named Zardoz Zord,Jarlaxle runs a traveling carnival

called the Sea Maidens Faire and lairs aboard a ship in

Waterdeep's harbor that has a submarine (the Scarlet

Marpenoth) underneath it, as described in chapter 7.

jarlaxle delights in thwarting his enemies, enjoys the

complications that arise when adventurers try to meddle

in his affairs, and loves to see the looks on their faces

when he finally gets the better of them. He doesn't suffer

fools who threaten him, however. If forced into a violent

confrontation, he swiftly and brutally kills someone to

make an example of them and then walks off.

If you choose Jarlaxle as the villain, the adventure

takes place in the autumn.