D&D 5E - The Rise of Tiamat

leader sought powerful magic to locate the scattered
dragon masks and to perform the ritual that would
summon Tiamat from the Nine Hells. Rath Modar
dreamed of an army that could confront and defeat
Szass Tam. Out of mutual need, their alliance was born.
The secret cornerstone of this union is Rath Modar’s
belief that once Tiamat returns, she w ill see that the
Red W izards are more useful allies than the devoted but
magically weak cultists. Rath Modar hopes that Tiamat
w ill show her gratitude for the pivotal role he and his
fellow Red W izards played in her return, granting them
an army of dragons with which to assault Thay. After
unseating Szass Tam, Rath Modar plans to take his
place at the head of all Red Wizards. Whether Tiamat
w ill grant such a reward—or have any further use for the
Red W izards at all—remains unknown.
Not all members of the Cult of the Dragon are happy
about the Red W izards’ involvement in the cult’s plans.
Wyrmspeaker Varram foresees trouble in the cult
joining forces with Rath Modar’s splinter sect. He has
warned Severin about the potential danger, to no avail.
U s i n g t h e R e d W i z a r d s
Red W izards can be encountered anywhere on the
Sword Coast (use mage stats if necessary), whether
operating alongside cultists or on their own. They
most often work alone, but two or three Red W izards
might join forces for an important assignment. In a
public area where their appearance could put them
at risk, Red W izards favor deep hoods and scarves to
hide their faces. Their undead wight bodyguards are
usually nearby—and often invisible. Each Red Wizard
specializes in a single school of magic, but all learn
spells outside their specialty schools.
Red W izards don’t share the cultists’ fanaticism for
Tiamat. For them, bringing the Dragon Queen into the
world is just one stage of what they call the Thayan
Resurrection—the larger plan to destroy Szass Tam and
reclaim Thay. They tolerate the dragon cultists but do
not acknowledge them as equals.
Not every Red W izard on the Sword Coast is working
for Rath Modar or the Cult of the Dragon. Some pursue
their own interests, while others are spies for Szass
Tam. The adventurers might thus find themselves
making uneasy alliances with characters they would
normally never trust, since the easiest and surest way
to eliminate a Red W izard in service to the cult is to
betray that w izard’s location to an agent of Szass Tam.
However, characters who get too close to Szass Tam’s
servants and his paranoid vendetta against the Red
W izard exiles might find themselves at the mercy of
the Thayans. This possibility is explored more fully
in episode 8.
H osts o f t h e N in e H e l l s
Tiamat has long threatened Faerun, often appearing in
lands such as Chessenta and Unther to drive mortals
to worship her awesome power. Although mortals
don’t know it, the end of the Sundering and the Era of
Upheaval also put an end to such direct meddling by the
gods. Without powerful magic and mortal aid, Tiamat
cannot travel from her home in Avernus into the world.
Avernus is a boulder-strewn desolation where fiery
comets streak across the sky and devil aristocrats rule
from dismal iron fortresses. The River Styx saws a
jagged course through Avernus’s basalt cliffs, winds
its way across ashen plains, and eventually plunges
through a yawning pit into the eight levels of the Hells
below. A ll the rivers of Avernus feed into the Styx,
each one flowing red with blood beneath a roiling
cloud of flies.
Asmodeus recently reinstated the fallen angel Zariel
as the Archduchess of Avernus, reversing an earlier
decision that allowed a pit fiend named Bel to take the
throne. W hile in exile from her seat of power, Zariel
was at the mercy of Tiamat—a fate that rankles her still.
Despite her power as ruler of the first layer of the Nine
Hells, Zariel cannot kill the dragon goddess, and she
sees the summoning of Tiamat to the world as a way to
be rid of her.
Zariel has directed her mortal agents to assist those
who seek to free Tiamat, and her power has made it
easier for the Red W izards to summon devils and for the
Cult of the Dragon to find more adherents. However, just
as Zariel wants Tiamat out, other devils would be happy
to see the Dragon Queen stay in Avernus. Foremost
among them is the deposed pit fiend Bel and the devils
still loyal to him.
Ordinarily, the Cult of the Dragon has nothing to do
with devils. However, releasing Tiamat into the world
is a massive undertaking, and Severin has called on
every resource he can. Though many of his allies among
the Red W izards are well schooled in summoning and
commanding devils, doing so is never a straightforward
process. Devils cannot leave the Nine Hells of their
own accord, and though Asmodeus can bend these
laws, he seldom does. Most devils in the Material Plane
were summoned there by mortal mages who expended
tremendous amounts of magical power to breach the
barriers that separate the Nine Hells from other planes.
U s i n g D e v i l s
Devils aren’t numerous in The Rise o f Tiamat until
the final showdown at the Well of Dragons, but their
presence elsewhere in the adventure (including the
additional encounter “Devilish Demands”) should make
attentive players wonder at the connection between
devils and dragons. Devils are supreme manipulators,
and if the characters have the opportunity to speak with
devils that aren’t working for the cult, don’t be afraid to
offer them diabolical assistance. Such an offer should
put all characters—not just those of good alignment—in
a bind. Bargaining with devils is a fool’s game, but if
the alternative is the end of the world, it might be the
adventurers’ only option.
Devils in the adventure should always be one step
ahead of the adventurers. Characters who like to
charge in and decide on strategy later w ill find that
their diabolical foes have well-executed plans. If the
characters plan two steps ahead, the devils are one
step beyond that. Nothing mortals do should ever
surprise them.