The Rising Dawn

The Rising Dawn is the continuation of Origin of the Dawnbringers featuring Vanden du Argentfort, Cassian Thiarin, Sariel of Sehanine, and Verdant Astra.

## Episode Summaries

### **The Lost City of Velathra Part One**

The four Dawnbringers set out on what they intend to be their last group adventure before parting ways for good. They head off from the city of Watcher's Respite in northern Caldera in search of a group of missing rangers called the Watchers and other adventurers they were looking for. Their journey takes them through the Watcher's Woods, a fey forest that is peaceful in the light but buzzing with fey activity at night. They find their way to an abandoned ranger watchtower and discover one of the Watchers has been looking into a lost city in the frozen north, finding a map with several locations where it could be.

Moving on, Astra feels the call from the goddess Melora, which leads the party further west until they encounter a badger stuck in an untended hunting trap. Freeing it, Astra and the party follow it until they discover an ancient Melora shrine with a twisted tree growing from it, which has a profound effect on Astra. He collects a small bronze brooch from the base of the shrine and leaves one of his beaded bracelets in its place for the next person.

Carrying on to the town of Glasshaven, the party gather information on the missing people, learning that a drow called Nalfein that noone knew in the town had called them north to help him find something. They also learn more on the legend of the lost city of Velathra. Riding on across the glacial plains, they discover traces of the missing parties and a trail of defeated undead, and then eventually a cave mouth that seems to lead in to some sort of shrine to Sehanine called the Echoing Halls. The cave mouth has collapsed and they fight off a yeti making its home there, before discovering beyond the hills what looks like a field of floating ice; the wind lifts snow from off it and the spires and domed rooves of the city is Velathra is revealed to them, dug deep into the ground.

### **The Lost City of Velathra Part Two**

Finding themselves suddenly in the flight path of dozens of pixies, sprites and faerie dragons at the edge of the crevasse that leads down into Velathra, the party are teased by a playful pixie and then left to find their own way down - 300 feet into the city. Vanden flies overhead and finds no staircase, but there are several giant steps that can be scaled. Through careful use of rope, their immovable rod and Sariel's wild shape, they make the climb to the bottom and discover Velathra: a beautiful, but desolate elven ruin. With footsteps in the snow and strange apparitions, it appears they are not alone, and something has turned all the water sources in the city to mucus.

The pixie returns to play pranks on them, and then they find their way to the centre of the city where a staircase circles a huge white tree. In the morning, explore another staircase down, finding another gate to the Echoing Halls, but it is magically sealed and there is indication left by a previous explorer that one of three magic staffs is needed to open it. They begin searching locations across the city, followed all the while by their pranking pixie friend. They find a clean and steaming hot natural pool and decide to take a bath, which causes them to have loose tongues and speak their minds.

Moving onwards, the party explore more of the city and are shown bizarre realistic visions of Astra and Cassian's deepest desires, whilst learning about what happened in Velathra with some sort of being the city calls the Sauralul. Tensions rise as the party learn of Cassian's forward plans, but they press on in searching for the staff... until Vanden angers the pixie and it steals his voice, seemingly permanently.

### **The Lost City of Velathra Part Three**

Continuing into the library, the party complete a puzzle prompted by the pixie in order to win Vanden's voice back and discover a secret room at the back, but no staff. They continue to their final destination, facing undead and more visions of Sariel and Vanden's desires along the way. Finally, they explore the Moonlit Citadel, the palace of Velathra. In a diary there they learn of the remaining secrets to the puzzle of why the city fell, and at last find an elven staff concealed in the floor. Taking it to the gate once more, Sariel is able to channel Sehanine's power and unlock it.

Beyond, they find themselves in the tunnels of the Echoing Halls, which are beautiful but degraded with mucus and stench. The four are plagued with more visions, growing stronger and in some cases more traumatic the deeper they go as they carefully pick through the underground cave system. Eventually, they make their way past a morbid gallery of Velathra's enemies entombed in the ice - the last of these is the Sauralul, an ancient aboleth, still awake and enslaving the missing rangers and adventurers with its powerful charm. After fighting off the very people they are trying to rescue and breaking the enchantment, they have no choice but to release the aboleth from its icy prison and fight it.

After the fight, they explore beyond through the tunnel in the ice it left behind and come into a cavern of the Underdark, lit by the twilight quartz. Inside, they find a desecrated altar to Lolth and the body of a member of the Covenant of the Twilight with some bizarre unidentifiable magical items on it. They return with the rescued parties to the surface and stay in the city another night so Sariel can perform her full moon ritual in the now clean waters of the pool outside the citadel. The northern aurora lights the sky as she does so. Afterwards, she opens up to the other three about her dark past and intentions for vengeance. Astra focuses his efforts on regrowing the local flora in what seems to be an offering to Melora, and the party talk about the fact they are planning to part ways soon, everyone saddened by the idea.

Returning to Watcher's Respite, they collect their reward and Vanden asks the city to arrange just one ship for the four of them to continue their adventures together, which he agrees to Captain, and so the Dawnbringers decide to stick together for the long term.

## Episode Information

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