Go to Part 1

We’ve looked at the common mistakes that are made when using plotted/railroaded approaches. Now let’s look at the flip-side of the coin and look at the low-value prep pitfalls people can fall into when attempting to be open and flexible in their design.

Here’s a common one: You’ve prepped a bunch of elements for your sandbox campaign and now you believe that you need to keep all of those elements active and moving around.

For example, when I ran my OD&D sandbox I prepped a hexcrawl with 256 keyed hexes. Imagine running that hexcrawl and, between every session, trying to touch every single one of those hexes and saying, “Okay, here’s what’s happening in this hex right now. Here’s how the situation in this hex has evolved since the last session.”

Not only does this sound exhausting, but basically all of that prep is wasted. The players haven’t seen the previous situation in the vast majority of those hexes, and they likely won’t see the new situation you’re creating, either. So the players aren’t actually seeing any of this activity. You’re creating a ton of content of which your players have no awareness; no experience.

I’ve spoken to a large number of GMs who are intimidated at the idea of running a sandbox campaign specifically because this kind of prep work – this monumental task of keeping an entire fictional world “in motion” – is incredibly daunting to them. The reality, of course, is that this isn’t necessary. This low-value prep can be avoided through status quo design.

The truth is that status quo is generally the way the real world works: Imagine going to a diner. If you go there today, what do you see? You see some waitresses. They take your order. They deliver the food. If you went tomorrow instead of today, what would be different? Probably not a lot. Probably nothing. If you went next month would it be different? Probably not. Maybe the waitresses would be different; or the owner might have tweaked the menu a bit. But if you’d never been to that diner before, these changes would not really affect your experience.

Now, let’s say that you went to the diner today and fired a rocket launcher through the window. Then you go back tomorrow. Would the diner be different?

Yes.

And that’s basically the secret of status quo prep: You prep a chunk of the game world in a given state and then you don’t bother touching it again until the players’ actions interact with that state. But as soon as the players do agitate or change that status quo, that chunk of the game world becomes active.

It’s kind of an inverted quantum state: Until you observe a subatomic particle it’s impossible to know its current state. With status quo prep, on the other hand, you know precisely what the state of something is until you look at it.

THE ACTIVE QUO: It should be noted that status quo doesn’t mean “static.” It also doesn’t mean “boring.” The status quo of a pirate cove, for example, isn’t, “The pirates are all sitting around doing nothing.” The status quo of a pirate cove is a bunch of pirate ships constantly sailing out to pillage the high seas.

In fact, I’d argue that the best status quo design is usually more like a coiled spring: The lightest interaction from the PCs will cause an explosion of activity.

NON-LOCAL EFFECTS: And the actions that force a location (or organization or NPC) into “motion” doesn’t necessarily have to be direct. For example, what if the PCs unleash a horrible plague that kills goblins? They don’t actually need to visit the dungeon full of goblins on the other side of the map in order for those goblins to be affected by the plague and the status quo of that dungeon to be changed.

These non-local effects don’t require cataclysmic scenarios, either. A single NPC being knocked loose from another location can act as a free radical, banging around the campaign world and putting any number of other elements into motion. For example, when the Necromancer escapes from the PCs’ raid of Bleached Bone Gulley, maybe they end up slaying the goblin chief and enslaving the tribe.

RETURN TO THE STATUS QUO: With that being said, in the absence of continued PC interaction, elements of the campaign world will generally trend back towards a status quo again. (Note that I said a status quo; it’s usually not likely that things will go back to the same status quo. PCs tend to be more disruptive than that.)

For example, the PCs raid a terrorist compound, wreak a lot of havoc, and kill a couple of the cult’s leaders before being forced to retreat. Over the next week the cult calls in reinforcements from some of their other cells to guard against further incursions until they can finish packing up and moving their operations to a new location.

If the PCs don’t re-engage with the terrorists within a couple weeks of the original raid, then the new status quo features cyborg guards (the other cells were up to some wacky stuff), an abandoned terrorist compound, and a new operational center set up in the sub-basement of a parking garage.

DANGERS OF THE STATUS QUO: One danger of status quo design is that you can end up inadvertently stumbling into a sandbox setting where you’re not actively tracking the activity of anything in the game world and, as a result, there’s no activity for the PCs to observe, which translates into a lack of scenario hooks.

This is a problem I discuss at length in Juggling Scenario Hooks in the Sandbox, but basically the solution is just, “Make sure you have scenario hooks. And lots of them.” (Once the PCs are in motion, of course, this will usually take care of itself.)

Robust, default structures for delivering scenario hooks – like random encounters, rumor tables, or the default action of the hexcrawl structure itself – are one way of doing this. Another is to look around your setting and remember that status quo doesn’t mean nothing is happening: The pirate cove is raiding local shipping. The terrorists are blowing things up. The goblins are fighting werewolves in the forest. Some jackass is shooting rockets into local diners.

Those are all obvious sources for endless scenario hooks. And in status quo design, you can really think of a scenario hook as being a hook: A thing which jerks the PCs into motion towards an object. And once the PCs collide with that object, the ripples they create will spread fast and far.

At that point, the challenge won’t be putting the campaign into motion. It will be keeping on top of it.

Go to Part 4: Campaign Status Documents

Go to Part 1

Our time with Dragon Heist is drawing to a close. I have a few more Addendums I want to explore, and there are a number of Running the Campaign columns based on my actual play that I think are likely to provide useful insight and cool ideas. But the core of the Alexandrian Remix is complete.

When I wrote my original review of Dragon Heist in November last year, I did not anticipate that the campaign would become the central focus point of the Alexandrian for the next several months.

Even when I started writing the Alexandrian Remix of the campaign a few weeks later, I wasn’t expecting to still be writing about it in February. My rough plan was that it would run through December and wrap up. What happened?

One of the major shifts was the decision to do full adversary roster breakdowns for each heist in the campaign. This was basically essential for me actually running the campaign, and it turned out to be a great opportunity to introduce a wide swath of new GMs to these really powerful techniques. But it was also the seed which saw my original intention of more-or-less briefly saying, “Use this lair to run a heist!” grow into a much more expansive concept of breaking down the entire heist structure and showing how each lair could be fully adapted to that structure.

The Faction Outposts also outgrew their original scope. My plan had been to highlight how material from the chase sequence in Chapter 3 of the book could be repurposed, and my expectation had been that I could basically say, “Use the Autumn Version of this location.” In order to balance the number of outposts between each faction, however, I ended up adding several all-original locations to the campaign. The process of making the clue-progression of the campaign more robust also meant including significantly more material with each outpost.

For something that stuck much closer to the original spec, look at the Faction Response Teams: The Faction Outposts were supposed to look more like that, with one post for the outposts and one post for the response teams. (Although the response teams actually expanded, too, as I realized that response teams should be included for factions beyond the four villains.)

In the end, a feature that I had originally thought would be perhaps 10,000 words ended up being more than 55,000 words. Seeing this, some have suggested that my early comments that the Remix primarily represents what the campaign could have been and arguably should have been was in error. (That clearly adding all of this new material would have considerably expanded the size of the book.) I don’t think this is accurate; reshaping material (and explaining the design choices I was making) is often more costly in terms of word count.

I primarily mention this length, however, to explain why this final installment of the Remix is necessary.

You see, when the original intention was a fairly short series of a little over half a dozen posts, I decided that the best structural organization was design-oriented:

• Discuss general principles (how the factions are organized and the new, heist-oriented structure of the campaign)
• Introduce adversary rosters and a proto-heist (Gralhund Villa)
• The path from Gralhund Villa to the Eye Heists (Faction Outposts & Response Teams)
• The Eye Heists (the heist structure and the four villain lairs)
• Making the Three Clue Rule and node-based scenario design of the campaign more robust (revised revelation lists tying all of the material together)

Most of these, with the exception of the Eye Heists themselves, were visualized as being one post. In actual practice, only one of them – Gralhund Villa – actually achieved that goal, and the tail end of the series also saw feature creep (adding full remixes of both Finding Floon and the Nimblewright Investigation, plus reference timelines and faction reports).

As the length increased, the original intention became obfuscated. The material had also become more specific than originally intended, encouraging GMs to simply pick up the Alexandrian Remix and run it… except the material wasn’t actually organized for doing that. It was organized as a design discussion.

All of this created a lot of confusion and frustration, particularly as the series began attracting new readers who weren’t necessarily familiar with the Alexandrian or the discussions out of which the Remix had arisen.

RUN-TIME ORGANIZATION

As I’ve discussed these issues with people, there has been some confusion about what the distinction is between a design-oriented structure of the material and a run-time organization of the material.

Here’s what the final organization of the Remix series here at the Alexandrian looked like:

Part 1: The Villains
Part 1B: Other Factions
Part 1C: Player Character Factions
Part 2: Gralhund Villa
Part 3: Faction Outposts
Part 3B: More Faction Outposts
Part 3C: Response Teams
Part 3D: Other Response Teams
Part 4: The Eyes of the Stone
Part 4B: Bregan D’Aerthe – Sea Maidens Faire
Part 4C: Cassalanter Villa
Part 4D: Xanathar’s Lair
Part 4E: Zhentarim – Kolat Towers
Part 5: Clues and Timelines
Part 5B: Finding Floon
Part 5C: The Nimblewright Investigation
Part 5D: Backtracking Dalakhar & Kalain
Part 5E: Outpost and Lair Revelation List
Part 6: Golorr Artifacts
Part 6B: The Brandath Crypts
Part 6C: The Vault
Part 6D: Faction Reports (Gralhund/Jarlaxle)
Part 6E: Faction Reports (Cassalanter)
Part 6F: Faction Reports (Xanathar/Zhentarim)
Part 7: How the Remix Works

(To aid with navigation, this table of contents has also been added to the first post of the series now that it’s wrapping up.)

As noted, this was a design-oriented structure: I was grouping the material, and discussing the material, by the method of design. For example, the revision of the Floon investigation came almost last because it was part of the discussion about how to structure revelation lists in investigations throughout the campaign.

From a run-time perspective, of course, this makes no sense: The Floon investigation should come first because it’s the first thing that happens in the campaign, and it shouldn’t be grouped with the Nimblewright Investigation because they have virtually nothing to do with each other. So when I actually sat down to run the campaign, this was how I organized the material:

0.0 Campaign Overview
1.0 Finding Floon
2.0 Trollskull
3.0 Nimblewright Investigation
3.1 Gralhund Villa
4.1 Faction Response Teams
4.2 Faction Outposts
5.0 Heist Overview
5.1 Bregan D’Aerthe – Sea Maidens Faire
5.2 Cassalanter Estate
5.3 Xanathar’s Lair
5.4 Zhentarim – Kolat Towers
6.0 Brandath Crypts
6.1 The Vault

The difference is stark, and I suspect abundantly clear to anyone who has been reading the Alexandrian Remix.

(Patrons of the Alexandrian can find my own run-time files on Patreon as a patron-exclusive example of this.)

It should be noted that I largely don’t regret presenting the Alexandrian Remix in the way that I did: A design-oriented approach was valuable and allowed the presentation of material that would not have been possible in a run-time presentation. A run-time presentation, by its very nature, is stripped down and utilitarian, and I believe there was value in actually discussing and exploring the design choices I was making in a step-by-step fashion.

But if you’re actually looking to run the Alexandrian Remix (which I heartily recommend), you’d probably benefit from ripping it apart and putting it back together in a run-time organization. In many ways, this was always my intention: That GMs would take the Remix and then put in the work to finalize it into their own campaign.

HOW THE REMIX WORKS

To that end, allow me to wrap things up with a concise summary of the structure of the Dragon Heist campaign.

If you’re running Dragon Heist as it was published, the structure of the campaign looks like this:

This structure is lightly accented with contrapuntal Faction Missions unrelated to the core structure of the campaign, although the application of these missions is limited because the Nimblewright Investigation, Gralhund Villa, and subsequent chase sequence are likely compressed into a very limited span of time (probably 24-72 hours at most), which means that faction missions will largely occur between Finding Floon and the fireball explosion. (And, of course, the lairs are completely absent.)

If you’re using the Alexandrian Remix, on the other hand, then the macro-structure looks like this:

(click for larger version)

This macro-structure is accompanied by two strong contrapuntal elements: The Faction Missions and the Faction Response Teams. What is essentially the expansion of Act III of the campaign (the investigations culminating in the Eye Heists) also allows these contrapuntal elements to be more thoroughly interwoven with the core structure of the campaign. In other words, the PCs will be called upon to complete faction missions while continuing their ongoing investigation into Neverember’s Enigma, thus complicating the action and possibly requiring them to make some tough choices.

(It can also be argued that the event timeline of the Fleetswake & Waukeentide festivals also constitutes a third weak contrapuntal element.)

It should be noted that the distribution of clues throughout the Alexandrian Remix will belie the straight, parallel lines of investigation implied by the diagram above. For example, here’s what a tiny selection of possible investigatory paths looks like in detail:

But in terms of actually running the campaign, it’s the macro-structure you need to pay attention to: The PCs investigate a villainous faction. You point them at an outpost. The outpost will contain clues that point them to a lair. Performing a heist at the lair will get them the Eye in the lair. Repeat to obtain the other Eyes.

If the players are struggling, use one of the proactive elements of the campaign (their faction allies or the faction response teams) to dump a lead in their lap.

Beyond that, just follow the players’ lead and everything else will take care of itself.

A SIMPLE CHECKLIST

A number of GMs — particularly new GMs — have told me that the ideas of the Remix excite them, but they feel overwhelmed by its complexity. In practice, however, the Remix can all be boiled down into a very simple structure:

1. Are the PCs looking for a lead to one of the Eyes? If yes, pick a Faction Outpost and point them at it.

2. Did the PCs just piss off one of the Factions? If yes, pick a Faction Response Team and have them target the PCs.

3. Are the PCs floundering and don’t know what to do next? If yes, pick a Faction Response Team and have them target the PCs. (If you’re not sure how they might target the PCs, just have them show up and try to kill them.)

Repeat until the campaign is done.

A GUIDED TOUR

With all of  that in mind, let me just briefly walk you through the design-oriented posts on the website from a run-oriented perspective:

FIRST: “Finding Floon” is the beginning of the campaign. The revised “Finding Floon” investigation is Part 5B. An enhanced opening scene for the campaign is presented in Addendum: First Impressions.

SECOND: The PCs are rewarded with Trollskull Manor and are recruited into one or more factions. Spend some time allowing them to fix up their new home/business and run perhaps 1-3 faction missions. This is discussed briefly in Part 1C .

THIRD: The explosion happens. The Nimblewright Investigation which follows is covered in Part 5C and Part 5D.

FOURTH: The investigation leads them to Gralhund Villa. This scenario is given an adversary roster and other tweaks in Part 2.

FIFTH: After Gralhund Villa the PCs will either have the Stone of Golorr and need to find the Eyes (leading to the Eye Heists), or one of the factions will have obtained the Stone of Golorr and the PCs will need to find that (as an “Eye” Heist) and find the Eyes.

This is the core investigation loop: Point them at Faction Outposts (Part 3 and Part 3B) which will lead them to the Faction Lairs (Part 4).

SIXTH: With the Stone reconstituted, the PCs will be able to go to the Brandath Crypts (Part 6B) and access the Vault (Part 6C).

PROACTIVE ELEMENTS: In addition to the faction missions from the Dragon Heist book, use the Faction Response Teams (Part 3C and Part 3D) to actively bring the Grand Game to the PCs.

REFERENCE:

• Part 1: The Villains and Part 1B: Other Factions provide a high-level overview of the major players in Dragon Heist.
• Part 5: Clues and Timelines has a reference timeline and revelations pertaining to the macro-mysteries of the campaign.
• Part 5E: Outpost and Lair Revelation List has revelation lists you can use to track the primary investigation paths in detail.
• Part 6: Golorr Artifacts provides an overview of how the Stone of Golorr operates and how it can be used / has been used.

LEVELING UP

This is alluded to in various places through the Remix, but I recommend leveling up:

• After Chapter 1 (when they rescue Floon).
• After the Gralhund raid.
• After each of the heists.

There are four available heists, although the PCs may only need to do two or three of them. So the PCs will either be somewhere between 5^th and 7^th level going into the Vault. (In the case of my campaign, the PCs did all four heists, but we were on a race to the end and I forgot to have them level up. So they were 6^th level heading into the Vault.)

This means that heists done later will be easier. This seems to either provide a satisfying experience (“we’re getting better at this!”) or allows players to kick a heist they find particularly daunting or difficult down the road until they’re more powerful.

Check out Addendum: The Dragon of Dragon Heist for a detailed look at how the Vault itself can be handled.

A FOND FAREWELL

And so we come to the end of the Alexandrian Remix of Dragon Heist.

If the Remix has brought you to the Alexandrian for the first time, I hope you’ll stick around. Not only for more Dragon Heist material (as I mentioned above, there are several addendums and Running the Campaign columns that are likely to still appear over the next few weeks), but for all the other cool stuff we do here. If you haven’t checked out Gamemastery 101, it’s a great place to take a deep dive into a lot of the material that underlies the work I’ve been doing on Dragon Heist.

If you liked what I did with this remix, you can check out a very different one with the Alexandrian Remix of Eternal Lies for the Trail of Cthulhu RPG. The Eternal Lies remix is much less about fixing the structrure of the campaign and much more about enhancing it – adding 300 + props, 150+ diorama elements, 450+ pages and 130,000+ words (including two completely new scenarios) to an already amazing campaign by Will Hindmarch, Jeff Tidball, and Jeremy Keller.

As you get your Dragon Heist remix campaigns to the table, I hope you’ll also come back here and share your own stories, tips, and modifications. Not only because I love hearing stories like that, but because I’m a big believer in GMs sharing their lore. It benefits the community and it encourages you to think deeply about your own campaigns, which is the first step towards improving your craft as a Game Master.

Good gaming, my friends!

Addendum: First Impressions
Addendum: The Twin Parades
Addendum: Fancy Props
Addendum: Other Collaborators
Addendum: A Night in Trollskull Manor
Addendum: The Dragon of Dragon Heist
Addendum: Timelines & Starting the Campaign
Addendum: The Blinded Stone

Forgotten Realms: A Textual History of the Yawning Portal

Running the Campaign: A Party at Shipwrights’ House
Running the Campaign: The Manshoon Heists
Running the Campaign: Creating the Characters
Dragon Heist: The Final Session

PDF – Go to Part 1

This PDF contains “fancy” versions of the props from the Alexandrian Remix of Dragon Heist. Some of these may be useful for Dragon Heist campaigns that aren’t using the Alexandrian Remix, but probably not many of them. (Most of the props take the form of clues added in the process of making the campaign more robust and interconnected.)

These props are all designed to be simply printed out on letter-sized white paper. Many of them, however, could benefit from being printed out on alternative/more evocative paper stocks with their headings removed.

HANDWRITING REFERENCE

Each NPC has a distinct “handwriting” used in their props. Writers do not always identify themselves in their writing. This reference can be used by the GM as needed.

SUGGESTED PROPS

In addition to the props found in the PDF,there are additional props which I prepared for my own campaign but which I can’t duplicate here without stepping over the bounds of fair use. These additional props, primarily featuring cool visual references, are listed here. In creating these props for your own table, you may find the Fantasy Grounds package for Dragon Heist useful. (It gives you raw image files that you can either use directly or modify using Photoshop/GIMP with greater ease than trying to scan material from the printed book.) In other cases, the images are not specific to the campaign and you may be able to find suitable images through a Google Image search.

In some cases, the PDF includes a link to an online piece of art that I used that you may find similarly useful.

Go to Part 1

A BRIEFING FOR XANATHAR CONCERNING THE GRAND GAME

I am very sorry that we have failed you lord Xanathar. You should not have been surprised by the revelations of the emissaries of the Zhentarim.

The litany of what we now know—

The Eye you hold is one of Three which belong to the Stone.

The Eye which should have been yours has been taken from Neverember’s get by Manshoon to Kolat Towers. We currently seek to capture a Zhentarim lieutenant and take possession of one of the pass-amulets which would allow us access to the Towers. Unfortunately, Manshoon’s agents are well-trained and have either evaded our attempts or destroyed their amulets before we could secure them. Through Nihiloor’s enhanced interrogations, however, we have ascertained blueprints for the Towers which will prove essential when it comes to time to take that which by right belongs to you.

The disposition of the Final Eye is uncertain to us at this time.

The gnome Dalakhar was an agent of Lord Neverember, seeking to reclaim Neverember’s Engima, which you had by rights taken from our former Open Lord.

The Enigma is, in fact, the Stone of Golorr. I have agents en route to Candlekeep to delve deeper into its secrets. The Stone once belonged to the Abolethic Sovereignty, and was reputedly stolen from the Vaults of the Floating City of Xxiphu by Mask, the Lord of Shadows. As a Xxiphuan Artifact, it is likely that the Stone predates the creation of Toril itself, granting it, within the circles of mysticism, a position of primacy. Its true powers, and thus the reason why Neverember sought to blind it, are unclear to us, but from a position of primacy it would be capable of feats impossible to duplicate even by Mystra herself in this Age.

(You will want to attach a set of blueprints for the Kolat Towers.)

MANSHOON’S REPORT ON THE GRAND GAME

Ritual of the Stone of Golorr

The use of the Stone to magically eliminate a memory or piece of knowledge from the realms of Abeir-Toril requires a special casting of the legend lore rite which requires twelve hours to perform. In addition, one must possess a second Abolethic artifact, a small tetrahedron of red jade which I am certain is still held by Lord Dagult in Neverwinter.

During the ritual, burn incenses infused with the blood of an aboleth. The sides of the tetrahedron will unfold, revealing slots into which four ivory strips may be inserted. The Stone is then placed within the tetrahedron and the sides will close upon it.

As the ritual is completed, the tetrahedron will open once more, revealing the Stone of Golorr as it releases a burst of psionic energy. This energy will refract through the person attuned to the Stone, translating the knowledge they focus upon and erasing it from the known world.

The Stone of Golorr has been blinded by Lord Dagult.

The Neverwinter Eye was obtained from the Protector’s Enclave in Neverwinter, but was taken by Xanathar’s treachery. It remains in the beholder’s possession.

The Waterdeep Eye has been taken from Renaer Neverember and secured within the library’s Astral Vault.

It is apparent, based on interrogations of their impish agents, that the Cassalanters possess the third eye, although it is uncertain where the Cassalanter Eye originated. Perhaps Lord Dagult entrusted it to them?

Go to Part 7: How the Remix Works

PDF – Go to Part 1

NOTES ON NEVEREMBER’S ENIGMA

By late 1487 DR, it had become clear to those with the right connections that the Open Lord had begun another of his secretive enterprises. A great dreal of quiet attention was turned upon this matter, not the least of which was our own.

Of course, when there are many searching for answers, it is prudent to keep as careful an eye upon the other searchers as upon that for which you search. It was from the Roaringhorns we learned that Neverember had sent agents to Candlekeep to make discreet inquiries regarding ‘an archmage named Golorr.’ The Roaringhorns mistook this intelligence, first believing that the Enigma ultimately concerned the dark elves by way of the Sorcere, Archmage of Menzoberranzan, and then expending great energy in pursuing rumors of Galari, an Archmage of Ancient Netheril.

Golorr was the true name of interest, however. The Stone of Golorr. According to some histories, it was brought to Abeir-Toril when the ancient floating city of Xxiphu, capital of the Abolethic Sovereignty, first plummeted to the world and settled deep below the Sea of Fallen Stars. According to others, an aboleth who came to Abeir-Toril before the arrival of Xxiphu created the Stone. Or perhaps he fled to Abeir-Toril carrying the Stone and Xxiphu came in pursuit of their prize. Some versions of the tale claim that the Stone was forged during the primeval battles between Shar and Selune, in the very moment that the world of Toril was formed.

Whatever the truth, the Stone of Golorr was held by the Abolethic Sovereignty within the vaults of Xxiphu on the world of Abeir, only to be lost during the Wailing Years

Of far more interest is what the Stone is capable of. Whether it predates or co-dates the creation of Toril, in arcane terms this gives the Stone a position of primacy, making it capable of effects which no magic item or artifact created in these younger days could possibly duplicate..

When the proper ritual is performed, the Stone can utterly eradicate a memory or piece of information, wiping it clean from scrolls and inscriptions while simultaneously stripping it from every living soul on Toril except for the person who is attuned to the Stone. The Stone itself also retains the knowledge, making it the ultimate repository of countless ages of knowledge deemed valuable enough to hide from the world. Exactly what piece of knowledge Neverember sought to claim from the Stone pales utterly in comparison to the totality of secrets which its owner can literally hold in the palm of their hands.

The ritual required for the Stone to destroy a piece of knowledge requires a second abolethic artifact, a small tetrahedron of red jade. We now believe that this artifact remains in Lord Neverember’s possession

It was those gossipmongers the Brossfeathers who first babbled out the revelation that Neverember had embezzled half a million gold dragons from the treasuries of Waterdeep. Half a million dragons which had seemingly vanished from the knowledge of man, woman, and fae.

It was then that we realized that, unlike ourselves, Neverember had not been captivated by the secrets held by the Stone. He wished to forge a new secret of his own. We are now certain that he used the Stone to hide the location in which he has secreted the embezzled Dragons. As such, it is virtually certain that the only path to this hoard lies through the Stone itself.

NOTES ON THE MELAIRKYN VAULT

In addition to the Stone of Golorr, our own researches indicated that Lord Neverember had been researching the religious mummery of the Melarikyn dwarves.

Clan Melairkyn were the first to begin excavating under what is now Waterdeep. The earlist portions of Undermountain were, in fact, the Underhalls in which they made their homes and wrought their mithral-craft. They were worshippers of Dumathoin, the Keeper of the Mountain’s Secrets.

When we learned of the Stone’s relationship to the keeping of secrets, it seemed clear to us that Neverember’s two esoteric pursuits must be linked. The nature of this link, however, eluded us until our attention turned to the ceremonial vaults which the Melairkyn once built. Their cult believed that Dumathoin encoded his secrets into the veins of ore and precious stones he placed in the mountains he raised from the earth for the dwarven people. In their mining, the dwarves supposedly released Dumathoin’s secrets into the world. This angered Dumathoin and created a period of discord between the dwarves and the Mordinsamman, the council of dwarven gods. In order to appease their petty gods, the Melairkyn would mystically bind the ‘secrets of the mountain’ into items of finely-wrought dwarfcraft and then make offering of it to Dumathoin by securing them within their ceremonial vaults.

One of these vaults had been built near the Underhalls, most likely somewhere beneath what is now Waterdeep. We quickly discovered, howver, that the knowledge of its location has been lost. Indeed, the more we delved into this matter, the clearer it became that there was a very specific pattern to the loss of this knowledge. Although a recherche topic, once we had found the proper sources from past ages it was fairly trivial to find any number of facts regarding the Vault. The only piece of information that was systemically missing from every account was its location.

It is difficult to say for certain, but it seems overwhelmingly likely that this loss is consistent with a Golorr-wipe. The knowledge lost in such a wipe is very specific, and if someone had sought to eliminate the knowledge of the Vault’s location, it would nevertheless leave other lore regarding the Vault intact, in just such a fashion as we discovered it.

The first suspicion was that Neverember had been seeking the location of the Melairkyn Vault and had similarly concluded that it was a secret which could now only be learned from the Stone.

When Neverember’s true interest in the Stone became clear to use, however, we quickly concluded that it was Neverember himself who had used the Stone to hide the Vault’s location. Furthermore, it is recorded that the Vault was looted during the dark elf invasion which ended the Melairkyn civilization and its secrets, wehatever they may have been, were scattered to the corners of the world. Whatever there may be of value within the Vault, therefore, must have been placed there by Neverember.

The doors of a Melairkyn Vault were ceremonially sealed. Opening the doors required a single a dragonscale to be laid upon the bas relief of the sun and then struck while lit by sunlight. If the doors should shut upon us while we stand within the Vault, they can reputedly be opened from within by simply laying a hand upon them.

NOTES ON THE DISPOSITION OF THE EYES

As one of numerous inquiries, we discovered a hiding place beneath the crypt of Lord Dagult’s late wife. Although we initially believed the powerful magical item we discovered there to be Neverember’s Enigma, its identity and purpose eluded us until we became aware of the Stone of Golorr.

It is now clear that Lord Dagult had the Stone of Golorr blinded by removing its Eyes, and that the artifact we recovered was Alethea’s Eye. Although it seems certain that Dagult’s intention was focused on increasing the difficulty of anyone uncovering his own secrets, one is nevertheless left with the impression of a small child defacing that which they cannot understand out of petty spite.

Nonetheless, the complexity of the game has multiplied and we seek now not one Golorr Artifact, but several.

Dagult’s Eye was kept close by the Lord Protector, who carried it with him to Neverwinter and most likely had it on his person when Laeral deposed him as Open Lord. Nevertheless, Dagult’s Eye was stolen from him by the Zhentarim and held for a time within the Kolat Towers. We attempted to seize the eye from Manshoon, but found our efforts repulsed by the energy field surrounding the Towers. Before we could obtain one of the pass-amulets which allow access, Dagult’s Eye was lost when Manshoon sent it as part of an embassy to Xanathar. Xanathar had Manshoon’s agents slain and took Dagult’s Eye for himself.

Renaer’s Eye was held by Lord Dagult’s son. This Eye appears to have been taken from Renaer during his kidnapping, although it is currently unclear to us whether its ultimate disposition lies with the agents of Xanathar or Manshoon.

Go to Part 6F: Faction Reports (Xanathar and Zhentarim)