Snakes on the Brain

## About

Players

* Fluke
* Moss
* Reva Arya d'Cannith
* Ryder Wyatt d'Orien

## Introduction

*The job board has a new posting, with House Tharashk's seal prominently displayed at the top*

> Wanted: Four Wayfinders to go to Q'barra retrieve a stolen Dragonshard cache. The culprits have shielded themselves from divination magic, but we have tracked their location to a temple in scale territory. The first retrieval team did not return, so we are turning to the Wayfinder Foundation.
>
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> -Sul'aashta d'Tharashk
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>

## Summary

The Wayfinders made their way to Newthrone, sailing around the southern coast of Khorvaire. While waiting for the Orien Caravan they feast at Tina's palace, a dockside restaurant known for its Gumbo. As they leave the city, they passed by the Riedran ward with its freshly constructed monolith. Calumn d'Orien guided them to Deepwater, a small frontier town west of Newthrone.

In the town, the party was briefed by Sul'aashta, who outlined the situation. While the local scales are suspected in the theft, the thieves had been shielded against divination magic. The initial team had been confirmed to still be alive and at the temple. However, getting to the temple was a challenge - House Tharashk is deeply wary of aggravating the scales. After a brief chance to gear up, the Wayfinders chose a slow and careful approach - arriving at night then resting until daylight.

Moss' navigation avoided the local scales for the most part, the Wayfinders avoiding detection from patrols. The Wayfinders found a long-abandoned watch tower that surveyed the prison of Zehir, detailing demonic sightings long past. On high alert, the Wayfinders prepared for the worst come morning.

The prison was clearly aged and poorly maintained, the stone structures sinking into the bog. A patient watch from the Wayfinders spied scaled guards on the outside. A closer look, however, showed that these scaled guards are not fully scaled, instead sporting a mix of human and snake qualities.

The Wayfinders came up with a plan - send Ryder in with Reva's familiar to talk through and scout out the captives, then run away. The plan surprisingly worked, with Ryder successfully escaping with a sole gnomish captive named Lassius. Retreating into the forest, the Wayfinders medically examined the visibly sick gnome and determine a *Lesser Restoration* is necessary to cure whatever strange poison he's ingested. After a successful spell-storing infusion from Reva, Lassius vomited up a strange stone, but is feeling much better. Ryder takes the gnome and runs a marathon to get him to town and then rejoin the Wayfinders, who camp down for the night at the watchtower from before.

At night, Moss spotted approaching enemies - large, tailless, and black-scaled. With a bit of luck Reva persuades Kava and her dragonborn warriors that they are free of corruption, and they should join forces to strike at the temple.

Come morning, the party arrives at the temple only to find that the cultists had left into the jungle. Moss' tracking skills pointed to them heading to Deepwater, forcing a choice - explore the temple, or track down the cultists. The party chose the latter, and by pushing themselves (and Reva's good girl Patience), they managed to catch the cultists unaware at night.

Reva's silence spell successfully prevented the guards from raising the alarm in a surprise ambush, and the Wayfinders murdered the more transformed cultists in their sleep, then tying up the rest for interrogations later.

The interrogations revealed that the cultists were actually residents of Deepwater who had joined a mysterious "book club". Several more "experienced" members, who were now more transformed, had been plundering secrets from this snake-leather bound tome written in Draconic. When Ryder used *Comprehend Languages* to read the book he became suspicious of Reva's intentions, exacerbating tensions within the party. One good night's rest later he realized the book had been twisting his thoughts and feelings - clearly, some form of cursed item. The Wayfinders stashed the book in the bag of holding, planning to turn it over to the Argentum later.

Arriving back in town with prisoners in tow, the Wayfinders discover the town gathered with a scaled warrior. Apparently, the past two nights the Wayfinders were gone featured murders most foul, with Sul'aashta and Lassius murdered in the night. The Wayfinders investigated, asking witnesses and uncovering clues that point them to a Syrkan immigrant named Ardashir, who as it turns out was actually a demon in disguise - the freed Zehir, who transforms into an enormous cobra! The Wayfinders struggle, but managed to overcome the snake demon in a pitched battle. The defeated demon left only empty snakeskin, leading the Wayfinders to suspect he may have returned to the temple.

The Wayfinders made one last trek to the temple, finding that Kava's team had begun to reinforce the wards and consecrate it. Reva and Fluke worked together to fix up the wards for a more permanent solution, then delve into the temple. Passing by defeated guardians and disabled traps, the Wayfinders found Kava surrounded by the corpses of the other warriors, an inky dragonshard embedded in her forehead. Realizing that she cannot hold the demon bound for long, Reva, Fluke, and Moss work together to assemble a device capable of containing the fiend for the long-term. Right as the device completes, the temple began to shake - threatening to bury the Wayfinders alive! The Wayfinders escape in the nick of time, returning to town as heroes.

## Epilogue

***Two weeks after the Wayfinders leave.***

*Foot Captain Armstrong and Kava are going for a walk - she seems to have recovered in body, but the spirit is another matter. A young, dark and curly haired gnome accompanies them, acting as a translator.*

"Your people are truly remarkable. A whole new demonic presence, out here, bound by the silver flame" *The blonde, mustached templar comments.*

"You do not understand. The binding is weak and demands vigilance. The ruins of our civilization are proof enough" *Kava replies, dismissively. Her black-scaled forehead is scarred from where she had attempted to bury the demonic dragonshard.*

"Yes, we must all be vigilant. But there is so much to learn - you people call yourselves dragonborn?" *Alex Louis Armstrong inquires.*

"That is not enough. You are not enough. I have failed my duty by letting things escalate" *The blackscale dragonborn replies.*

"Yes, but that does not mean you should despair - we are mortal, and that means failing. But the Flame is what helps us rise from our knees and stand tall" *Armstrong replies, moving to wrap his arm around the large dragonborn woman.*

"Your optimism is unearned. We do not know enough. Your approach will only lead to the same mistakes. I must forge a new path. Do not follow me." *The imperious dragonborn declares, pushing away Alex's arm, then takes a turn and heads off into the swampland.*

"Wait! What are you doing?" *Alex calls out. The gnome translates the shout. Kava does not turn back.*