D&D 5E - The Rise of Tiamat

caves. The coughing villager is named Mend-nets
(tribal warrior).
Mend-nets is naturally suspicious of strangers, but
if any character can use lesser restoration to cure his
disease, he becomes a trustworthy ally. He won’t do
anything to hurt the village or the tribe, but he hates the
kobolds who live in the caves. The ice toads likewise
repulse him, though they also ignore him. The ice trolls
terrify him, and he has awoken several times to find a
troll hungrily peering at him from the tunnel leading
to the trolls’ lair (area 12). He tells the characters that
the creatures of the caves have been warned of their
presence, but the only chambers he knows anything
about besides this one are areas 1, 3, and 7.
3. L a r d e r
The supplies that the villagers provide for Arauthator
and his minions are stored here—mostly dried and
frozen fish, whale, seal, walrus, and giant squid, plus
furs that the kobolds fashion into protective clothing.
Fish organs, shells, bones, soft stone, and other
sundries are stored in smaller quantities, and are used
by the ice toads to make ink, brushes, parchment, and
other items for their work. A few seemingly inexplicable
items are stored away from the other supplies, including
a single steel gauntlet, a silver brooch containing a
cameo, the brass hilt of a dueling knife, and a decorative
belt buckle—bits and pieces that the villagers have
pulled from the stomachs of sharks or giant octopi that
have fed on explorers lost to the Sea of Moving Ice.
Also stockpiled in this chamber are coils of rope,
spikes, and a few pulleys. It’s clear at a glance that this
gear has come from the south and was not made by
the Ice Hunters. The kobolds use this equipment when
something—or someone—needs to be lowered down
into Arauthator’s lair through area 6. The pulley is
attached to the iron hook in the ceiling of that chamber.
4 . K o b o ld s ’ D e n
Arauthator’s kobold servants live in this chamber.
A dozen kobolds occupy this disheveled and filthy
chamber. Half-eaten fish heads and gnawed seal flippers
are tossed into corners or carelessly strewn around
matted heaps o f furs, which would undoubtedly smell as
bad as they look if not for the cold.
The chamber holds 12 kobolds when the characters
enter. A few are sleeping but most are tossing
knucklebones, sharpening blades, sewing clothing,
carving whalebone, or picking on each other. See
“Random Encounters” (above) for guidelines on how the
kobolds respond to intruders.
If the characters spend a few minutes searching the
area, a successful D C 12 Intelligence (Investigation)
check suggests that approximately two dozen kobolds
live in this chamber. Their only possessions of value are
a number of walrus tusks carved with draconic imagery,
six of which are of sufficient artistry to fetch 200 gp each
from a suitable collector.
5 J u n k R o o m
The kobolds throw their litter, food scraps, waste, wornout
boots, and other useless junk into this cavernous
chamber. Its pit-like floor is filled to a depth of several
feet, courtesy of minions that have been serving
Arauthator in this iceberg for centuries. The trash floor
of the chamber can be safely traversed, but there is
nothing of value here.
6. T h e C h u t e
This narrow cavern is the access point to the lair of
Arauthator below.
This chamber feels far colder than any area o f the ice
caves you’ve explored so far. The cold issues from a
yawning pit in the floor that twists down into darkness,
and above which a heavy iron hook is anchored in the ice
o f the ceiling. A five-foot-wide walkway extends around
both sides o f the pit, connecting this entrance to an exit
across the room. Carved into the ice o f the walls are
images o f white dragons in flight.
A visual inspection from either doorway indicates that
the walkway looks safe enough—aside from being icy,
narrow, and adjacent to an apparently bottomless pit.
The walkway that crosses the east and north sides of
the chamber is, in fact, safe, and characters can walk
along it without difficulty. The walkway that crosses
the west and south walls is weakened and dangerous.
When a character reaches the bend in the walkway,
have the player roll any die. If an odd number is rolled,
a portion of the wall crumbles, and any creature on the
walkway must attempt a D C 17 Dexterity saving throw.
On a failed save, the creature is pushed off the walkway
into the chute.
The chute drops 60 feet to the top of the ice platform
in area 16 in Arauthator’s lair. A creature tipped into
the chute slides as much as falls, taking only 10 (3d6)
bludgeoning damage when hitting bottom. The creature
must then attempt a Dexterity saving throw or fall off
the ice platform; see area 16 for more information. A
creature that jumps into the chute on purpose takes
half damage from the descent and has advantage on the
saving throw to stay on the ice platform.
7. H a l l o f G i a n t s
The bodies of some of the frost giants Arauthator has
fought and killed over the centuries are on display
in this chamber, frozen into crystal-clear ice walls.
Visibility at this level is only 45 feet, so characters
won’t be able to see much from the doorway. As they
move into the chamber, the shape of the first frost giant
becomes dimly visible at a distance of 60 feet. At 45
feet, the figure is easily mistakable for a living frost
giant standing perfectly still. At 30 feet, the characters
recognize that the giant is dead and frozen, seeing its
torn armor and the awful claw wounds in its pale blue
flesh. The hall displays the bodies of eight frost giants,
one fire giant, and one cloud giant.