The Drow War Book Two. The Dying Of - RoseRed

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Non-Player Character Group: The
Conclave
The Conclave is Nimian Archimandrus’ band of wizards,
working without the Council’s approval or knowledge.
Its objective is to oppose the drow, gather intelligence
on their actions and come up with ways to weaken and,
where possible, cripple their war effort.
The Conclave meets in a top-floor suite in the Black
Cygnet Hotel in the civic sector, where the members
can cast spells and perform divinations without being
disturbed. It has four members, all of them elven
wizards: Archimandrus, Azbeth, Cadrivaine (Wiz 12)
and Cadfannan (Wiz 9/Lor 3). Cadrivaine is intense
and studious, peering continually through half-moon
glasses at magical texts. Cadfannan is his opposite,
tousled and unshaven, resembling a pirate more than a
wizard.
Archimandrus tells the rest of the Conclave what has
happened, asks the Player Characters to fill in any
information he may have left out and then hands the
meeting over to Cadrivaine, who goes over what needs
to be done next. See ‘The Quest Continues’ below.
The Conclave asks the Player Characters to keep them
informed of what happens as regularly as possible so
that they can keep updating their strategy. In game
terms, the Conclave will be the plot device for pointing
the Player Characters to the next adventure. This
prompting can take place while the Player Characters
are also making their own arrangements in the Halls of
Concord, forming alliances and mustering armies.
Plot Event: The Quest Continues
Cadrivaine, speaking for the Conclave of mages led by
Archimandrus, sets several projects before the Player
Characters, all equally important:
• The darkness-emitting crystals in the drow spires
are critical parts of their battle plan. While the
cities of Jehannum remain bathed in continual
darkness, the drow have a massive advantage over
the humans and the elves, who are dependent on
light to see properly. The Conclave has heard of
such crystals before. They seem to be a substance
called tenebrium, a darkness-emitting substance
as hard as iron and with none of the brittleness
of crystal, which has only been heard of on a few
occasions. Its origin is undoubtedly off-plane.
In order to find out more about it, the Conclave
needs a sample of tenebrium. The wizard known
as Bastirak of the Cold Waste is rumoured to be
working with tenebrium; the only hope of finding
a sample is to venture north into the wastelands
and investigate Bastirak’s fortress. If the Player
Characters can find a suitably sized sample, the
Conclave may be able to engineer a magical weapon
to counter or destroy it. This adventure is covered
in Chapter 5, The Warriors of Winter.
• Following a private discussion with the Conclave,
the Sun King of the Topaz Dominions has pledged
complete support for Jehannum – the only
ruler to do so before the Player Characters even
become involved. He has amassed an army of
his Phoenix Legions on the border of the Desert
of Sharn. However, Ata Huara, the ambassador
of the Topaz Dominions, has a request to make.
Tales have reached his ruler’s ears of a demon of
the sands, who has created a monstrous citadel
in the desert’s heart. The oases are parched and
the life that was growing there has withered.
Without the oases, there will be no way for the
troops and their mounts to cross the desert and
reach Jehannum. Even if another way around
can be found, the drow may learn of this evil
and ally themselves with it. The risk is too
great; the demon needs to be found and slain.
Ata Huara’s men are not cowards but they know
that this is a task for heroes, not for soldiers. The
Topaz Dominions request the assistance of the
Starborn to investigate this threat and eliminate it,
so that the Phoenix Legions can cross the desert and
smite the walkers-in-darkness. If they do this, then
the Topaz Dominions will be their firm friends and
allies. This adventure is detailed in Chapter 6, The
Tyrant of Brass.
• Cadfannan has news that could change the whole
course of the war. Word has come in from agents in
deep cover that one of the drow generals is willing to
defect. He knows secrets that could win the war for the
allied forces and is prepared to hand them over. The
difficulty, of course, is that he is currently at his post,
surrounded by his own warriors and unable to leave.
The Player Characters will have to venture into
part of the cavern network below Svarth and get
the drow general out alive. This will mean evading
the most disciplined and lethal soldiers that the
drow can muster, confronting the full horror of the
drow treatment of prisoners and taking the massive
gamble of walking into what may well prove to be
a trap. This adventure can be found in Chapter 7,
Traitor’s Gambit.
Ibon Presno Gonzalez (order #73006) 8