Session 27

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Heroes: Olo, Tarkin, Ruthinn, Arrakas

The Heroes travel to Waterdeep, following the Trade Way to the North. When they arrive in the City of Splendors, they contact Ontharr Frume of the Order of the Gauntlet, to deliver Varram to him.

Ontharr informs them that soon a Council of several powerful parties interested in the fate of the Sword Coast will take place, and he invites them to participate.

While they await his call, they have the opportunity to visit the city. During their stay, Arrakas hears the sound of an hominous horn. He seems to be the only one to have heard it, but everyone feels a sense of unease taking hold of them.

Not long after, Lady Dala Silmerhelve approaches the Dragonborn, to tell him that what he heard was the Drakkhorn, a powerful artifact that can be heard by all dragons in a radius of hundreds of miles, to warn them of an impending event (like a gathering) or danger. When he asks her why she doesn't tell this to the Council herself, she makes it clear that she prefers for her sources to remain secret.

When the Council begins, the Heroes tell their tale, and Arrakas informs them about the Drakkhorn. It is clear to all at the Council that the horn must be found and studied. Mundane and magical researches reveal that one of the greatest experts on all matter related to draconic artefacts, Maccath the Crimson, has last been seen travelling to the Sea of Moving Ice. Unfortunately, her last report from the North came more than half a year back. The Council charges the Heroes with finding Maccath, and bring her back to Waterdeep.

The Heroes leave Waterdeep on the Frostskimmr, a longship used to sail among the ice floes of the Sea of Moving Ice. When they reach their destination, it takes them alsmost a week to find the iceberg where Maccath is supposed to be: Oyaviggaton, the lair of "Old White Death", one of the many names of the dragon Arauthator.

After dealing with the savage Ice Hunters that the dragon has enslaved, the Heroes enter the dragon's lair, where they must outsmart cunning Ice Toads and fight ravenous Ice Trolls before they find Maccath the Crimson. The tiefling has been "working" for the dragon for several months, trying to decipher ancient scrolls that Arauthator had stolen from the Arcane Brotherhood. She also explains that it will be impossible to leave, if they don't first kill the dragon. To this end, she gives them a magic ring of resistance to cold, and two arrows of dragon slaying. And so the Heroes descend into the lower caves of the iceberg, where they face Arauthator himself!

The battle strains the Heroes resources to the limit, and more than once Ruthinn's magic brings them back from the edge of death. Olo pellets the dragon with both mundane and magical arrows, while Arrakas summons the divine power of his draconic patrons to smite the wyrm. Tarkin, taunting the flying dragon to come to the ground and fight him honorably, eventually loses his patience, and chucks his handaxes at the beast. When one of them finds the inside of the dragon's throath, the mighty Arauthator falls, defeated and dead.