D&D 5E - The Rise of Tiamat

obvious hollow flattery, or outright hostility should
invoke a penalty.
Make note of which characters succeed at the saving
throw and which fail. The outcome determines what
happens to them that night.
At the end of the audience, the characters are
dismissed. Before being returned to their rooms and fed
a sumptuous evening meal, Nyh Ilmichh tells them they
w ill meet again in the morning.
D r e a m s a n d N i g h t m a r e s
That night, each of the adventurers are targeted by a
customized version of the dream spell, cast and crafted
by Red W izard illusionists. Each character is confronted
in a vision by a pale Red Wizard who says, “We have
further questions for you.” Elves and other creatures
that do not sleep are not subject to this effect.
Each character must make a DC 18 Wisdom saving
throw with disadvantage. On a successful save, a
character remembers vague, disturbing dreams in the
morning, but suffers no other effects.
Each character who fails the saving throw
experiences a sim ilar nightmare. He or she is paralyzed
and magically bound within a mystic cauldron among
animated chains and tentacles. A dozen Red Wizards
observe placidly while three more Red Wizards subject
the helpless character to agonizing tortures. The
character is questioned about why the party came to
Thay, about Severin’s plots, about Rath Modar, about his
or her own past and the lives of the other adventurers,
about the party’s attitude toward Szass Tam, and
anything else you care to ask.
Each answer the character gives must be
accompanied by a D C 15 Charisma (Persuasion)
check if the character answers truthfully, or a DC 15
Charisma (Deception) check if the response is even
partially false. A character who succeeded on the
Charisma (Persuasion) check made during the audience
has advantage on each of these checks. On each failed
check, a character suffers excruciating pain as a Red
W izard shouts out a tally of the character’s failed
answers. Refusing to answer is treated the same as
failing the check.
A character who struggles against the bonds or
who tries to cast a spell or use some other ability not
hindered by physical restraint is struck by pain so
severe that he or she is briefly incapacitated. That
character's next Charisma check made within the
dream takes a -2 penalty.
The nightmare ends when a character answers five
questions successfully or eight questions in total. If the
last question was answered successfully, the character
sleeps fitfully the rest of the night. If the last question
was answered unsuccessfully, the character wakes up
screaming and drenched in sweat. Blood stains the bed
sheets, though the character has no visible wounds. The
character also takes 10 (3d6) psychic damage and does
not gain the benefit of a long rest from the night’s sleep.
In the morning, any character who underwent this
questioning has a deathly pallor and dark, hollow-
looking eyes. The character’s appearance returns to
normal when he or she finishes a long rest.
O u t c o m e
In the morning, after another delicious meal, the
characters are ushered back to the audience chamber.
Eseldra Yeth is not there. Instead, they’re greeted by
Nyh Ilmichh and one of the Red Wizards present at the
audience the previous day. Only Nyh Ilmichh speaks.
What she says is determined by the number of
characters who answered five questions successfully
during the dream. If that number accounts for more
than half the non-elven party (that is, elves don’t count
toward the party total, because they cannot be affected
by the Red W izards dream spell), Nyh Ilmichh informs
the characters that the Red W izards have agreed to
aid the factions of the Sword Coast, and that she w ill
accompany them as Thay’s ambassador to the council.
When the characters have gathered their belongings,
the Red W izard teleports with them back to Waterdeep.
If the tally is half the number of non-elven characters
in the party or fewer, Nyh Ilmichh states that Tharchion
Yeth thanks them for their information, but that Thay’s
attention is commanded by matters within its own
borders and the Red Wizards cannot help. Before the
characters can react, the other Red W izard waves his
hand and a previously invisible magic circle on the floor
around the characters flares to life. A moment later, the
adventurers are standing in an abandoned and ruined
farmhouse a mile north of Waterdeep. The barely visible
outline of a Thayan teleportation circle fades around
them and their neatly packed belongings.
C o n c l u s i o n
If the mission to Thay was a success, it benefits
the factions during the “Tiamat’s Return” episode.
Additionally, hidden in a backpack or pocket,
each character finds a human finger bone tied to
a loop of dried gut. Each bone acts as a scroll of
protection (undead) that is activated and spent by
snapping it in half.
If you choose, the characters gain a level at the
end of this episode. See “Advancement” in the
introduction section.