D&D 5E - The Rise of Tiamat

other residents of the village from the time they’re
old enough to appreciate its dangers, and they shun
it diligently.
Seen from above—either by a flying character or from
nearby rooftops—the maze appears to be an overgrown,
tangled mess with no discernible paths longer than
a dozen yards. It looks exactly like what it is: a hedge
maze left untended for more than a century, grown into
a nearly solid mass of hedge and thorn.
Seen from ground level, however, the maze appears to
be a pleasant, hedge-ringed garden with no resemblance
to a maze at all. Villagers are quick to point out this
anomaly, to prove to the characters that the maze is
nothing to take lightly. The view from above reveals the
maze as it exists in the real world. The view up the path
from ground level looks into the extradimensional space
that Xonthal crafted as a barrier around his home.
The tower’s entrance exists only within this
extradimensional space. Entering the maze any other
way than walking up the main path quickly leads
characters into densely tangled brush that is all but
impassable, and that doesn’t physically connect to any
tower entrance. Characters who cut their way through
to the tower, fly across to it, or tunnel beneath the maze
to the outside wall find only smooth, unbroken stone
that cannot be breached or bypassed by any means.
A balcony juts out from the top level of the tower, but
it is surrounded by an invisible, impenetrable barrier
that deflects all objects and effects. The only way
to reach the tower’s entrance is through Xonthal’s
extradimensional maze.
G e n e r a l F e a t u r e s
Because the maze doesn’t exist in normal space, it
cannot be traditionally mapped. Instead, it is shown
here as a set of seven nodes where encounters
occur. Moving between two nodes takes 2d6 rounds
regardless of whether characters walk or run.
Characters experience such movement as if walking
down a well-groomed path in a hedge garden. The path
curves so that characters can’t see more than 15 feet
ahead, exactly as if they were in a circular garden with
concentric paths. Cutting through hedges has no effect
on how long it takes characters to get from one node
to the next. Characters who return to look for a spot
previously cut through w ill never find it.
The hedge walls are 8 feet tall, allowing the
adventurers to see the tower above them from many
locations. This view provides no clue to direction,
however. Characters who see the tower to the left one
moment might spot it to the right, or behind, or closer
or farther away a moment later. When trying to focus on
the tower’s new location, characters suddenly find that
they can’t remember its old location clearly, or begin to
wonder if it was in its current spot all along.
If a character who entered the extradimensional maze
along the path tries to fly above it once inside, the tower
immediately fades from view, and the view becomes
endless hedge-lined paths stretching to the horizon in
every direction. Alternatively, characters who fly above
the maze are shunted back into the real world, emerging
above the hedge tangle with their companions nowhere
in sight. The only way for them to rejoin the party is to
enter the maze again and retrace their steps, dealing
with all encounters along the way. (Use this option
carefully if you’re not a fan of splitting the party.)
If the characters enter the maze at night, starlight
from a clear sky is bright enough for them to find their
way through—and even bright enough for the sundial in
area 1 to cast a shadow. However, anyone with a passing
familiarity of the sky notices that the constellations are
completely unfamiliar.
Area 1 is the heart of the maze, and characters w ill
return there many times as they seek the entrance to the
tower. If they do things correctly, they won’t need to face
any of the maze’s dangers. That’s unlikely, though.
Although the maze is devilishly hard to get through,
it's easy to leave. A ll the characters need to do is express
a desire to leave the maze while they’re in area 1, and
whatever route they take next leads them back to the
entrance and the path at the edge of the village. They
can turn around and come back in again, and they’ll
wind up in area 1, at the start of the maze.
R e s c u e M ission
Unless the characters took extreme measures to hide
their approach to the maze, they are spotted by the
cultists in the tower. (The cultists watch the village
closely, and immediately recognize any stir caused by
the adventurers’ arrival.) The cultists don’t know the
adventurers’ plans, but with the Blue Dragon Mask
on hand, they don’t intend to take chances. Their
preparations alarm Iskander, who sees his chance for
escape dwindling. In a panic, he grabs the Blue Dragon
Mask and dashes to the tower balcony.
As the characters prepare to enter the maze for the
first time, or if they are spending too long in the village,
read or paraphrase the following.
As you prepare to step onto the garden path, you notice
movement high up on the tower. A human male dressed in
black robes stands on the balcony, waving something over
his head. It’s hard to make out details from this distance,
but it might be a blue mask.
“ Heroes,” the figure screams, "they saw you in the
village! I’ve taken the mask, but they’ll realize it’s missing
within minutes! Look for me beneath the tower, for it's
the only place I have a chance to hide. This is the key that
will let you teleport into the dungeon." As he speaks, the
figure holds aloft a second item— some sort o f white,
glimmering hourglass. “ I will leave it behind after I use it,
but others may find it before you do.”
The speaker looks over his shoulder as another figure
suddenly dashes out onto the balcony. A flash o f blades
and spell-fire erupts. Then the figure who spoke pitches
his attacker over the railing before dashing back inside.