"Where in the Nine Hells are we?" bellowed Neega.
"I don't know," said Talis miserably. "I've lived most of my life in Waterdeep and this doesn't look like any place I've ever seen before."
"I don't recognize it, either," Mara sighed. "After treating us horribly, they don't even send us back home."
"Well, let's go take a look outside and see if we can guess where we are," suggested Kellen.
They walked out of the farmhouse and looked around.
"Look! Over to the south!" Bree exclaimed.
Looking to the south, they could the skyline of Waterdeep. The outskirts of town seemed to be within an hour's walk from where they were.
"Why did they send us here?" Borovik puzzled. "Why didn't they teleport us to the center of town?"
"Probably some sadistic joke," growled Preston. "I don't see how they're any better than the Cult of the Dragon."
The rest of the party muttered their agreement to his comment, and they began trudging back to town. Those who had been interrogated during the night still felt weary, as if they had not slept at all. There was little conversation, as they were all so angry and tired. Shortly after entering the outskirts of town, they were greeted by a man carrying produce to market on a wagon.
"Hey! Aren't you the Phandalin Heroes?" he exclaimed.
"Yes," replied Borovik.
"Well, you folks look mighty tired. Where are you heading? I could give you a ride in my wagon."
"We need to report in at the Palace. And we would be grateful to you of you could give us a ride."
They all piled onto the wagon, next to the bags of potatoes and carrots. The wagon began to move, and the driver struck up a conversation with them about their latest mission. A grimace crossed his face as he heard of the treachery of the Thayan wizards. He dropped them off at the Palace and they gave him a few gold pieces for his help. Grinning, he thanked them and made his way toward the market.
At the Palace door, they explained to the guards that they had returned from their mission to Thay and were here to report to Lady Silverhand. One of the staff was sent off to inform her of their presence.
The staff member returned shortly and told them she would be ready in half an hour. They sat wearily on the couches in the lobby and waited. Presently, another staff member approached and said Lady Silverhand would see them now. They followed him back to her office.
She sat them down on comfortable chairs and couches and had the staff bring them snacks and drinks. She then settled down on a chair that she had moved out from behind her desk to be closer to them.
"How did it go?" she asked, "Did they agree to join the alliance?"
"They did not," Borovik sighed. "And they treated us very poorly while we were there."
Laeral raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Oh? What did they do?"
"The day we got there they treated us hospitably, feeding us fine food and giving us luxurious quarters. We had an audience with the leader of the province to which we were taken. She questioned us, and it seemed that the audience went well.
"However, that night, as we slept, the wizards entered the dreams of most of us. In the dreams each of us was magically restrained. They interrogated each of us, and cast painful spells to punish us if they deemed we were lying. We all gave truthful answers, but the wizards frequently judged us to be lying. As a consequence, we suffered a good deal of torment in the dreams. We barely slept and most of us awoke feeling as if we had received no benefit from the night's rest.
"To add insult to injury, in the morning, after feeding us, they informed us they would not be joining the alliance. Then they transported us to an abandoned farmhouse outside of town. We went through all that for nothing!"
Laeral's face fell. "Oh, no!" she exclaimed. "If we had known they would treat you so miserably, we would never have asked you to go to Thay! I'm so sorry!"
"Why would they have played this horrible trick on us?" cried Neega.
Laeral cradled her chin in her hand, thinking. "I don't know," she responded. "Maybe it was a ruse to find out if we know anything about the actions or whereabouts of the exiled Red Wizards."
"Well, I think we're better off without them in the alliance!" spat out Bree. "They're every bit as evil as we had been warned they'd be! I wouldn't trust them for a million gold pieces!"
Laeral reached out her hands to anyone who would take them. "I understand your anger, and I share it. But now, we have to put that aside and deal with the bigger threat. Harper agents have informed us that all preparations are ready for the summoning ritual, and it could begin any day. They expect that, once started, it will take many days to complete. But still, we don't have much time left. We are pulling together another session of the Council of Waterdeep to make final plans for our assault against the Well of Dragons. When the date has been set, I will send a courier with the summons to attend."
"Wait!" cried Mara. "Don't we currently have the Blue Dragon Mask? How can preparations for the ritual be complete without it?"
Laeral sighed. "The scholarly wizards examining the Blue Dragon Mask you brought back from Xonthal Tower have concluded it's a fake, probably given to the Cult of the Dragon traditionalists to distract them from causing any interruptions as the summoning ritual is carried out. This means that the real mask is at the Well of Dragons."
The heroes muttered among themselves, grumbling about how the Xonthal Tower mission had also been a waste of time.
Laeral continued, "One other thing, we are almost certain the Cult of the Dragon will try at least one more time to kill you. Be watchful."
"We understand, Lady Silverhand," Borovik resignedly nodded. "May we be excused now? We are very tired and wish to return to the Mistshore to rest on our ship."
"Of course," Laeral said. With tears in her eyes, she kissed each one and sent a servant along with them to tend to any of their needs for the rest of the day.
Back at the ship the exhausted heroes fell into bed and slept. Mara, Talis and Frostbite had avoided the terrible nightmares and therefore were awake. They kept watch over the ship while the others rested.
That afternoon, couriers sent by the weapons and armor dealers came to the ship with news that the +1 items they had ordered were ready. The suppliers knew that they would need them soon, so had worked overtime to shave time off the delivery date. Mara and Talis thanked them and said they would pick them up tomorrow.
As the sun went down, the sleeping party members roused from their rest and came up on deck for something to eat. The servant Laeral had sent with them had gone to the market and purchased some food, which he prepared for their evening meal. Kellen played music on his harp and sang to brighten their spirits.
The moon was visible a little above the horizon, so Mara and Talis went to the prow of the ship to sit and gaze at it. Mara prayed, thanking Mother Moon for keeping them safe in their journeys and battles. She prayed for strength in the upcoming battle at the Well of Dragons. After praying, she arose and danced before the moon, with Talis joining her. As frightened as she was, Mara felt Mother Moon's blessings wash over her and her courage rose.
Talis then asked if they could pray to Bahamut, and Mara said they should. Talis sang a chant that Otaaryliakarnos had taught her, praying until her pounding heart had quieted. Then, a golden dragon, a member of Bahamut's court, appeared to her.
"Take heart, my child. You have found favor with Bahamut, and he will guide you as you go into battle. His Paladins and Clerics will join you in battle, as well."
Both Mara and Talis felt renewed strength after their prayers.
The next day, the heroes went to the market and collected the magical battle gear they had ordered. They felt mixed emotions as they equipped it, knowing it made them more battle worthy, but also knowing they faced a more formidable foe than they had ever faced before. Shortly after they returned to the ship from the market. a courier arrived with a summons to attend the final Council of Waterdeep session in 1½ tendays.
Mara then said to the rest of the party, "I want to go home and visit my family. We may all die in this endeavor, and I want to see them one last time before we embark. Any of the rest of you who want may also come."
The rest of the group nodded, and Talis used the sending spell to contact Helena Evenwood to ask if they could come for a visit before the next session of the Council of Waterdeep. Helena was delighted at the prospect of them visiting, and plans were made for them to leave on the morrow and spend a couple of days in Helfton.
The next day, Talis and Mara went ahead to the family farm to help prepare, Talis riding Frostbite and Mara as a giant eagle. The rest of the party retrieved their horses and rode out to the farm.
When Mara arrived at the Evenwood farm, her mother, Helena, was gathering vegetables from the garden and was the first to spot her.
"Hey, everybody!" she shouted in a loud voice. "Mara, Talis and Frostbite are here!"
Riardon, her father, and Lia, the youngest daughter, ran out of the house. Harland, her brother, and Keyleth, the middle daughter, ran in from the fields.
They gathered around Mara and Talis, crying and hugging them and stroking Frostbite's nose.
"Oh, Mara! We missed you so much!" Helena cried. "You've been gone from Waterdeep so much in your attempts to stop the Cult of the Dragons from summoning Tiamat!"
"I know, Momma," Mara said soberly. "We're nearing the big confrontation with them, and I wanted to see you all once last time before we went off to the Well of Dragons."
Riardon looked Mara in the eye, "Do you think you'll survive the assault on the Well of Dragons?" he asked.
"I don't know," Mara replied, as both she and Talis hung their heads. "But we have to try. All of Faerûn is endangered if Tiamat comes to the material plane to rule. Everyone will be enslaved to the chromatic dragons."
The family nodded sadly and brought Mara and Talis into the house. The two of them began helping the family prepare for the arrival of the rest of the party later in the day.
Shortly after lunch the rest of the party arrived at the farm. Helena wanted to put out a nice dinner for them, so preparations were already in the making. Riardon and Harley were out in the vegetable garden gathering greens, potatoes, tomatoes and carrots. Lia and Keyleth had gone into town to pick up some spices. Helena, Mara and Talis were in the kitchen, cooking up a mutton stew.
When the rest of the party arrived, they put down their packs in the house, hugged Helena, then went out into the garden to say hello to Riardon and Harland. As they were greeting them, Bree looked off the east with a concerned expression.
"What's that, over there?" she asked, pointing. "Some large creatures are flying this direction."
The rest of the group peered at the sky. Neega gasped, "By the Sword of Tempus, I think it's dragons!"
"We better get our armor on and grab our weapons in a hurry!" Kellen urged.
They all ran into the house to tell Mara, Talis and Helena that dragons were approaching.
Mara yelled out, "Momma! Pappa! Harley! You all run into town and get some help!"
"But Mara, won't you need us to help fight them off?" asked Riardon.
"No! I don't want you to die on my account! We'll hold off the dragons. We need you to go into town and get some help."
As the party began donning their armor and grabbing their weapons, the 3 family members reluctantly left for town. By the time they got prepared and went back outside, the large flying creatures had gotten closer. The party could see that they were 3 young red dragons, and each appeared to be carrying a rider. Talis sent telepathic messages to Otaaryliakarnos and Ralazrad that the cult was attacking them.
"Looks like Laeral was right," remarked Borovik. "The cult is launching another attack on us."
They focused on the approaching dragons. As they neared, they could see that the riders consisted of a dragonwing, a dragonfang and a mage.
After getting nearly directly over the farm, the dragons began swooping down towards the party. At the same instant, 2 more creatures burst out of the woods near the NW corner of the house. One was a half-green dragon, dressed in studded leather armor and wielding a shortsword, with a light crossbow strapped to its back. The other was a half-red dragon, dressed in studded leather armor. It bore a shield and a spear. They both ran as fast as they could to get close to the party, but neither had time to do any attacks.
Bree fired an arrow at the half-green dragon, hitting and injuring it. She then ran closer to the back of the house, placing her around the corner and further away from the green half dragon. Borovik cast Chromatic Orb at the green-half dragon, hitting it and burning it with fire damage. He then joined Bree behind the house and out of sight of the 2 half-dragons.
Kellen cast Crown of Madness at the red-half dragon, hoping to charm it into attacking its allies. Unfortunately, the red-half dragon had the presence of mind not to be charmed, and the spell failed. He ran a little to the west, ending up in the vegetable garden and far enough away from Bree and Borovik to avoid having the party members clumped together. Mara threw a Blight spell at the red-half dragon. It took full damage from the necrotic energy and a nasty wound that smelled of rotten flesh appeared on its face. She joined Kellen in the vegetable garden.
Shouting, "Eat steel!" Neega approached and attacked the red-half dragon. Two successful blows from Hazirawn dealt a lot of slashing and necrotic damage to the enemy, and blood flowed freely from its severe wounds. Talis then took the opportunity to get herself equidistant from all the party members and cast Bless on everyone, increasing their chances of hitting during an attack and of throwing off the effects of magic cast against them.
Frostbite flew up onto the roof of the house and positioned himself so he could target both of the half-dragons with his breath weapon, but avoid hitting Neega. He fired off his cold breath, and both half-dragons fell unconscious, covered in frost. He then flew off the roof and returned to his previous spot. Preston didn't see any enemies within reach of his spells, so he moved next to Mara and prepared to cast Lightning Bolt if any of the dragons got within range.
The first young red dragon swooped down, landing about 30 ft from the party members and the dragonfang leapt off its back. As it approached, Preston targeted the dragon with the Lightning Bolt spell. It took full damage from the spell and shrieked as the electricity coursed through its body. It then flew back up into the air, 80 ft or so. The second red dragon swooped down close to the party and dropped off the dragonwing. It flew back into the air, 80 ft. or so above the ground. The third red dragon likewise landed and dropped off the mage, further away from the group but still within range of the mage's spells. It also returned to the air.
The dragonfang saw that Preston was the closest caster, so it went after him. It took 2 swipes with its shortsword at Preston, hitting with one. The dragonwing likewise attacked Preston. Now that one of its allies was also next to Preston, it got increased chance of hitting on its attacks. Both attacks hit. The wounds Preston suffered caused him to cry out and nearly stumble.
Borovik cast Scorching Ray at the dragonfang, using extra magical energy to do get an additional ray from the spell. Three of the fiery rays hit, but the dragonfang had fire resistance and the damage was not as much as hoped. Kellen fired his crossbow at the dragonfang, hit and added a little additional injury.
The mage decided to use the Fireball spell and centered it so as to get as many of the party as it could. It managed to target Frostbite, Mara, Kellen, Preston and Talis. Preston and Kellen dodged the worst of the spell's fire and took only half damage. Mara, Talis and Frostbite failed to dodge and took full damage. Unfortunately, Talis took enough damage to lose concentration on her Bless spell, and its effects ended for all the party members. Although Preston had only taken half of the Fireball effect, that added to the injuries he already had, and he was in serious danger.
Mara decided that the mage had to go, so she moved about 10 ft. closer to it and cast Blight at it. It was not tough enough to ward off the spell and took full damage from the necrotic energy. Vomiting, it collapsed unconscious as its life drained out. Meanwhile, Neega became infuriated when she saw that the cultists had hurt Preston. She went after the dragonwing.
Shouting "You die now!", she attacked with Hazirawn and slashed it across the back of the neck, nearly severing its head. It fell, senseless, to the ground. Neega used her second attack on the dragonfang. The combination of slashing and necrotic damage left it reeling.
Talis cast Heal on Preston and he was restored to health. Her Life Domain abilities also allowed her to heal herself a little as she healed him. Frostbite's breath weapon didn't recharge, so he did a melee attack on the dragonfang. He nailed it with a bite and a claw attack. Piercing, slashing and cold damage dropped it to the ground.
Preston realized that the red dragons would probably begin swooping down to use their breath weapons, so he got ready to use Shatter when the first one got close enough to him. Sure enough, the first red dragon came down low to get within 30 ft of the party so it could target Talis, Frostbite, Borovik and Preston. Preston cast his Shatter spell, using additional magical energy to do more damage. The dragon wasn't tough enough to completely avoid the effects of the spell, so it took the full sonic damage.
The first red dragon then released its fire breath. Talis dodged to the side a little, so took only half damage. Frostbite, Borovik and Preston didn't move quickly enough, so took full damage. The 3 of them now sported severe burns. The dragon flew up into the air to be out of melee range. The second red dragon flew down at a different angle to pick up some of the party members not hit by the first dragon. It targeted Bree, Borovik, and Neega. Borovik again failed to dodge the fire breath, so he took full damage and fell unconscious. Bree used her extra luck feat to successfully dodge the fire breath. Her evasion ability ensured that she took no damage at all. Neega got a boost to her ability to dodge dragon breath attacks through the Dragonguard breastplate. She dodged, and with her Barbarian resistance, she only took ¼ of the damage. She suffered only a little damage. Unfortunately, this second fire breath also set the back of the house on fire. The 3rd red dragon now flew low to try to get any remaining members who had not already been hit. It went after Kellen and Mara, but also caught Talis and Borovik. Talis and Mara dodged, and only took half damage. Kellen and Borovik did not dodge quickly enough and took full damage. Kellen, Mara and Talis were all hurting. The extra fire damage Borovik took while unconscious edged him closer to death.
The red dragons hadn't been able to get very high up into the sky after using their breath weapons, so Bree, Kellen and Neega fired their missiles at the first red dragon. Kellen hit and the crossbow bolt embedded itself into the dragon's neck. Neega hit with one of her arrows and the arrow cut a nasty slash across the dragon's left shoulder. Mara saw that the house was on fire, so she became a water elemental and slammed up against house, splashing water on the flames and partially dousing them.
Talis saw that several of the party members were seriously injured, and that Borovik was barely clinging to life. She cast Mass Cure Wounds on Borovik, Kellen, Neega, herself, Frostbite and Preston. All received substantial curing from their wounds and Neega was restored to full health. Borovik regained consciousness.
Frostbite's breath weapon did not recharge, and he didn't see any more enemies on the ground to attack, so he flew up to the first red dragon and did melee attacks against it. He hit with bite and both claw attacks. The dragon screamed in fury at the pain of its severe injuries. Preston cast another Lightning Bolt at the same dragon. The dragon failed to dodge the spell and electricity caused its entire body to spasm.
The first red dragon's breath weapon didn't recharge, so its only attack option was melee. Seeing its health was rapidly dwindling, the dragon didn't want to engage in a melee contest with Frostbite. It fled the battle. As it left, Frostbite got in a quick attack and viciously bit the red dragon, leaving it nearly dead. It sped off to the east and didn't return.
The second red dragon's breath weapon recharged, so it flew down for another fire breath attack. This time it targeted Neega, Preston, Talis and Mara. A fiery cone enveloped these party members. The air elemental hissed and steamed as the fire breath hit it. Although Mara was injured in the attack, she did manage to shield the house from further fire damage. Preston, Neega and Talis tried but failed to move out of the way of the fire breath. While Neega took only half damage because of her Barbarian resistance, Talis and Preston were badly burned and both fell unconscious. The dragon then flew back up into the air, around 60 ft or so. The third red dragon's breath weapon did not recharge, so it decided to attack Frostbite, who was still in the air. It hit with its bite and one claw attack. Blood flowed freely from Frostbite's wounds, and he panted heavily.
Bree fired her shortbow at the second dragon and lodged an arrow into its hindquarters. Borovik stood up and threw a Chromatic Orb spell at the same dragon, but the spell went wide. Kellen also tried to hit the second dragon with his crossbow, but the dragon's hide was tough enough to deflect the bolt. He then cast Heal Wounds on Talis, restoring her to consciousness. Talis immediately got up and cast Cure Wounds on Preston, restoring him to consciousness. Frostbite, facing the third dragon up in the air, responded to its melee attacks with his own set of attacks. He got the dragon with a nasty bite and delivered piercing, as well as cold, damage.
Mara was still preoccupied with the burning house, and didn't see Talis fall, nor did she see Kellen heal her. She slammed into the house once more and finally put out the fire. Neega fired twice with her longbow at the second red dragon, embedding both arrows in its chest. Preston then stood up and cast Lightning Bolt at that same dragon. It successfully dodged, so only took half damage.
The second dragon's breath weapon didn't recharge, so it flew over to help the third dragon in its battle with Frostbite. It hit with both claw attacks and its bite. Frostbite took enough damage to fall unconscious, and he crashed to the ground.
"Frostbite!" screamed Talis. She cast Cure Wounds on him, restoring him to consciousness.
The third red dragon's breath weapon didn't recharge, so it elected to keep flying above the party until it did.
Bree, Kellen and Neega once again fired their missiles at the second dragon and all hit. The dragon's injuries were beginning to accumulate. Borovik decided use Magic Missile against the second dragon, since the dragon wouldn't be able to dodge that spell. He cast it at the maximum amount of energy he could expend on a single spell, which gave him 8 darts to throw. By the time they all hit, the dragon was covered in wounds. Its wings drooped from exhaustion. By then, Neega had run out of arrows and went up to Bree to ask for a few more. Mara had now resolved the burning house issue, so she resumed half-elf form and cast Sunbeam at the second dragon. It was tough enough to avoid about half of the radiant damage and avoided being blinded.
Frostbite's breath weapon recharged, so he arose and flew to within 30 ft. of the second red dragon. He blew the cold breath at the dragon, who dodged and took only half damage. Nevertheless, it was now near death and suffered from frostbite, as well as bleeding profusely. Preston pulled out his Wand of Magic Missiles and sent 3 darts of force flying at the second dragon. This was enough to render it unconscious and it fell to the ground with a thud.
The final red dragon realized that Talis was the primary healer and decided to go after her. Its breath weapon didn't recharge, so it opted to land and do melee battle with her. It only hit with 1 claw attack, so did relatively little damage.
Bree now fired her shortbow at the final dragon. She hit and injured it, getting extra damage because Talis was within 5 ft. of the dragon. The arrow lodged deeply in the dragon's shoulder. Kellen hit with his crossbow and add to the dragon's injuries. Borovik used Magic Missiles again, employing extra magical energy to allow him to throw 7 darts of force. The final dragon roared as it realized the extent of the damage it had sustained. Mara cast Blight at the dragon but it was tough enough to only and take half damage. Neega pulled out Hazirawn and marched over to engage the dragon in melee battle. One blow felled it. The battle was ended. The party, though bruised, burned and bloody, was victorious
Mara and Talis hugged each other, with Frostbite nuzzling the both of them. Neega and Preston hugged each other. Bree, Kellen and Borovik had no lovers to hug, so they did a group hug among the three of them. Neega then wearily went over to each of the unconscious enemies and cut their heads off, ensuring they would never regain consciousness. They all slumped down next to the house and rested. Mara, Talis and Kellen set about healing the remaining wounds the party still had. After sitting for a short while, they gathered the coin purses from the dead bodies and put them in the Portable Hole, too tired to even check what was in them.
After a few minutes, a large group of people came running from town, led by Mara's family members. Seeing the party still alive and the dragons dead, Mara's entire family rushed to embrace her.
Mara, my child! Your still alive!" Helena sobbed.
The other family members also gathered around Mara, Talis and Frostbite. With tears streaming down their faces, they were eager to touch Mara and her lover. After a period of time, they finally turned their attention to the other party members, embracing them and asking them to come inside the house to rest.
Riardon said, "You all go lie down. The family will take care of finishing the evening meal."
He then went out and talked to the townsfolk about disposing of the dead bodies and doing a temporary patch on the damaged roof of the house.
At dinner, Harley insisted on sitting next to his big sister, whom he idolized. Although the meal was delicious, there was a pall over it. It was truly dawning on Mara's family that the heroes could die in their attempts to stop the ritual to summon Tiamat. Success was not guaranteed. Tiamat could return and become the tyrant ruler of all of Faerûn. Various family members reached across the table to stroke Mara's arm. Tears were frequently wiped from eyes. After the evening meal, the family and the heroes sat in front of the fireplace and talked about the future.
"Once you return to Waterdeep, how long will it be before you leave for the Well of Dragons?" asked Riardon.
"I don't expect it to be more than a couple of tendays," answered Borovik. "We have one more Council of Waterdeep session to finish the planning, then we will leave very shortly after that. Time is of the essence, since we have intelligence that preparations for the ritual are now complete."
Keyleth spoke, voicing the big concern in everyone's mind, "If things go badly, this could be the last time we see all of you."
"That's true," Mara said softly, hanging her head.
The assembled people nodded sadly and several of them began to cry.
"Sing for us, Kellen," Helena begged.
Kellen obliged, pulling out his harp and singing of family, of friends, of love. Many of the songs were well known to the assembled group, and they joined in, holding hands.
The next morning, the town priest of Chauntea came to the farm and gave them the Goddess' blessings. The townsfolk asked that the heroes come into town that afternoon for a festival in which they would receive the well wishes of the town.
At lunch, Harley turned to Mara and said, "Mara, as I was praying to Mother Moon a couple of nights ago, she told me it was time for me to begin learning the magic of the Druids. She said that Helfton would do well to have a magic wielding Druid to keep the livestock and the crops healthy."
Mara nodded, "Harley, that is great wisdom. Do as Mother Moon says."
On the following morning, the party prepared to return to Waterdeep. Mara's family gathered around and hugged each of the party members and told them to watch out for each other.
"We love you all," Helena told the group. "We will pray for you every day."
Mara and Talis flew off and the rest of the heroes rode off on their horses. Mara's family tearfully watched them until they were no longer visible.