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From Cyan Depths
One power-hungry wizard's search for an arcane and dangerous artifact has finally come to an end. He has found his prize. And so new troubles begin. With his newfound power, this villainous wizard promises to conjure castles for cold-hearted mercenaries and wayward armies who pledge fealty to him. These are the early days of a plan to wage war on the Sword Coast, and it falls to the characters to fight the wizard behind it before he musters an army around the artifact he pulled from the cyan depths of Highstar Lake.
This short Dungeons & Dragons® adventure is written to suit four to six characters of 10th level. With this text and the core D&D manuals, you have everything you need to play. You may find the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide of additional use for its coverage of the High Moors of Faerûn—the chilly, grassy highlands where this adventure is set.
End of a Series
This adventure is written as the finale of a five-part series. If you have not made use of the prior adventures in this series, you'll find this scenario to be the start of something rather than the end. By the finale of this adventure, the characters may be in possession of a potent and dangerously tempting artifact. What will they do with it?
The villain of this adventure—a wizard called Tyreus, from the vast city-world of Ravnica—was the antagonist of previous adventures in this series. More about his history can be discovered in those adventures. If you prefer not to dwell on the past, or if you want to substitute another villain in for ours, you can adapt this adventure to refer to a power-hungry enemy of your own. The lure and power of the Stone of Creation could attract any number of villains.
This adventure might be the end of this series, but it needn't be the end of the tale. What happens next is in the hands of you and your players. Whether this is the end of Tyreus or the start of the characters' control of a powerful artifact, future adventures (and consequences from this series) await.
Adventure Synopsis
This adventure hinges on the players' choices and their characters' tactics. So much depends on the actions undertaken by the adventurers—they are the most crucial variable in this equation.
Once word reaches the adventurers that a nefarious, evil wizard is summoning callous and wicked mercenaries into the High Moors with a plan to build an army, their response dictates the flow of the adventure. Everything is underway at a conjured fortress on Highstar Lake, at the northern edge of the High Moors near Faerûn's Sword Coast. That location is the heart of this short adventure, for that is where the villain dwells. When the adventurers arrive at the peculiar fortress, they find the wizard making bargains with mercenary captains. These are the first days of a grand plan to lay claim to the High Moors and besiege the surrounding lands. If the adventurers want to quash these evil schemes now, they must deal with elementals, mercenaries, and the power-hungry wizard himself. And they must hurry.
Will the adventurers launch a direct assault on the magical castle or try something more subtle? Do they seek to slay the wizard or merely rob him of his powerful artifact? What fate awaits the Stone of Creation—and who, if anyone, ends up with it?
Whether this adventure feels like a climactic final confrontation with Tyreus or the start of a new challenge (or both) depends a great deal on what adventures the players and their characters have undertaken before this one. The outcome of this short adventure series, and the fate of Tyreus, is in their hands.
Adventure Hooks
The adventurers can become involved in this scenario in several ways, whether they're continuing along from previous scenarios or entering into the fray with this one.
The Moment to Strike
Adventurers already entwined in this adventure series might have ample reason to confront Tyreus by now. They can locate him either by searching the High Moors or by following leads in Secomber, as described in "The Lure of Power." Depending on what allies the adventurers have made in previous adventures, any number of NPCs could seek out the characters to let them know about a mysterious new castle on the shore of Highstar Lake and the blue-coated wizard some call the Cobalt Mage.
Otherwise, while passing through Secomber, the adventurers could encounter mercenaries headed for Highstar Lake. The mercenaries post bills looking for sword-arms to defend the Castle of the Cobalt Mage, whom they say can grow castles from the ground. Tyreus isn't afraid of drawing the adventurers to him—he wants to face them, defeat them, and move on with his plans for the Sword Coast.
The Lure of Power
If the players' characters have not played prior adventures in this series, they may hear rumors of mercenary companies sending warriors into the High Moors, drawn by stories of a wizard mustering an army "and paying in conjured castles." These mercenary platoons are stopping all along the route to gather resources and muster troublemakers on the way, giving the adventurers plenty of time to beat them to the fortress and learn more about Tyreus and the Stone of Creation there. The Cobalt Mage doesn't hide his ambitions for power anymore.