Dragon Queen Conspiracy

The Dragon Queen Conspiracy was a plot in the Emeron Campaign.

## Summary

The Dragon Queen Conspiracy was a plot to bring the Dragon Queen, a powerful god from another plane, to Goric in exchange for power and glory. It was originated by the red dragon Starr, and was ultimately thwarted by the Heroes of Prophecy.

## The Beginnings

Starr became aware of a specific Yotorian Prophecy, the Prophecy of the Invader God, at some point in the 1120's. Using what he had learned and a series of magical spells he made contact with the Dragon Queen, the Invader God mentioned. She resided in another dimension, but was more than willing to expand her domain to Goric and challenge the gods for a place among the pantheon. There would be catastrophic damage to the world, of course, but that would heal and be able to be reshaped to Her liking over time. Of course, once she ruled dragons, such as Starr, would be her voice and claw upon Goric.

Starr learned that Jaymes Chickwood had unearthed the most details of it of the prophecy. He arranged for a means to contain Chickwood for transport so he could interrogate him and had several minions hired to move him, as the containment method could not be flown.

On the 16th of Griffon, 1129, Starr traveled to Emeron City and assumed the form of a human to enter the Emeron Wizard's College. There he was able to ambush and subdue Chickwood, secreting him to a trio of wagons with his hired minions to ferry the professor to Starr's lair in the Dwarven Mountains.

Chickwood, however, had been able to leave a sign of his attacker before being subdued. Lylena of the Heroes of Prophecy discovered Chickwood was missing and brought the matter to Chickwood's companion Jon Sumnim, who recognized they symbol and quickly deduced what had occurred. Rallying the rest of the Heroes of Prophecy they gave chase.

After a three day chase through the countryside they came upon the caravan that was carrying Chickwood and attacked it to retrieve him. Starr ordered his minions to attack, and took his true form, but was held at bay by Sumnim. The Heroes of Prophecy were able to fight their way to the wagon that held Chickwood, freeing him to join the fight and help fight Starr.

As much as Starr would have liked to interrogate Chickwood for full information, he had what he needed from the professor's notes and left rather than continue fighting. Returning to his lair he proceeded to reach out to his agents and spies and begin them on the hunt for the necessary Artifacts. He now knew he needed only one to summon her, but that the more he had the more powerful she would be upon arrival.

## Gathering the Artifacts

The Heroes of Prophecy proved to be a thorn in the side of Starr's efforts to gather the artifacts. Given that they had rescued Chickwood from his clutches and were clearly working with Sumnim, Starr was forced to assume that they knew everything he knew of the matter at hand and would be an issue. An early idea had arise to use them to gather the artifacts for Starr without knowing it.

Via one of Starr's agents, a spider person named Dexxkuvtarr (who was impersonating the hero Eddie Drezzen) had Sir Zadric Trield hire the Heroes of Prophecy to begin searching for the artifacts and handing them over to Sir Zadric "to keep them out of the wrong hands."

Starr was not content to rely solely on Zadric, however, nor was the Dragon Queen. The Goddess had sent one of her disciples from her own world, a wizard named Salvok, to aid the effort. Starr meanwhile ordered his minions to launch quests of their own. This resulted in the death of one of his lesser agents, Darsalgen, as both he and the Heroes of Prophecy sought the Club of Galmar and clashed. Still, Starr considered the effort a success, as the heroes turned the club over to Sir Zadric, who had it sent to him.

Through other machinations Starr was able to acquire the *Warsword of Farmesk*, *Akana's Gavel of Judgement* and the *Kanar's Hammer of Pestilence*. Still, the Heroes were rapidly following, and slaying, Starr's chain of spies. By the 16th of Yeti, 1130, they had slain Darsalgen, Sir Zadric, Sedrina the Souless and her minion Esther, and both Dexxkuvtarr and  Veskolexx, who had been impersonating Brollo Goldpipe (freeing the real Eddie Drezzen and Brollo Goldpipe in the process) as well as a slew of lesser minions. Worse, they had managed to secure several of the artifacts themselves, keeping them from Starr's hands.

Nevertheless, the proper time to summon the Dragon Queen was drawing close and Salvok assured Starr that their odds of success were best under a specific configuration of the stars that was fast approaching.

Starr made a final push to attempt to capture a few more of the artifacts that he'd discovered the location of in the Dwarven Mountains. He sent Ruby to Gnomedon to secure the *Eyeglass of Garl Glittergold*. The effort proved to be a colossal failure and not only were the eyeglass not secured, but the Heroes of Prophecy were somehow able to slay Ruby. Starr was enraged and was prepared to go and slay them all immediately, but was only dissuaded by Salvok and their ally Emerald. They argued that they needed to stay the course to bring the Dragon Queen to Goric and that once they did, they would rule and Starr would be able to torture the Heroes of Prophecy to death at his leisure for as long as he desired. Reluctantly the red dragon agreed.

Emerald, meanwhile, made a final effort to gain the *Hammer of Moradin* in Thorgain City but also met with failure, ultimately fleeing before the Heroes of Prophecy lest he meet the same fate as Ruby so close to victory.

## The Battle at Thorgain Peak

Finally, on the 15th of Unicorn, 1130, Salvok advised the stars were right and he began the ritual to summon the Dragon Queen. They would have to make due with using the three artifacts they had secured. Unfortunately the Heroes of Prophecy were well aware of the plan by now and had marshaled two small armies, one of dwarves and one of humans, to try to stop them.

Salvok had erected a magical shield around himself and conducted the ritual and Starr and Emerald took flight to attack the armies to keep them away from Sarvok until he'd succeeded. The dragons caused numerous casualties by flying over the troops and blasting them with their breath weapons, largely impervious to the attacks of the soldiers. However the Heroes of Prophecy were an issue and at one point were able to injure Emerald enough that he'd been forced to land and was slain.

Still, while the forces battled the dragons Salvok was able to conclude his ritual and an immense portal opened allowing a five headed dragon to emerge and immediately begin laying waste to the gathered troops, slaughtering scores of soldiers as all five heads breathed death incarnate upon them.

However the conclusion of the spell also lowered the shield. Ferris Gerabaldi was able to slay Salvok and the Heroes of Prophecy stormed the portal and were able to force the Dragon Queen back to her own realm. As the portal closed and the Dragon Queen was banished from Goric forever more. Starr, by now injured by the Heroes of Prophecy and seeing that the battle was lost, fled. Bitterness and rage burning his throat more than his own fiery breath.