After the characters have dealt with the threat of the Cult of Talos on the Thunder Cliffs, they can return to Leilon with the information they obtained. If they have not yet completed one or more of the other quests in this adventure, they can undertake those after resting from the assault on the caves.
Some plot threads from this adventure could also be expanded upon if the adventurers are not quite ready to move to 9th level and start the next adventure in the series, Sleeping Dragon’s Wake. This is a good opportunity to create your own encounters or short adventures to tell other pieces of your own story. Below are just a few examples of what you could do:
- After the cleansing of the influence of the Cult of Talos from the Wayside Inn, Martisha needs to reassess her situation, repair the damage, and find new staff. She might hire the party to travel to one of the larger cities to recruit talent. This could be an interesting side quest with lots of roleplaying potential.
- If the party made peace with the lizardfolk tribe during the “area Missing Patrol” quest, the leaders of the tribe may ask the characters to join them to celebrate a holy night in the lizardfolk culture, the blessing of the eggs. This occasion could be meaningful to a character attuned to nature, who could even become the “godparent” to a brood of lizardfolk hatchlings. Of course, a threat from the swamp might threaten to interrupt the blessing ceremony.
- Further odd happenings might resume at the Thalivar’s Tower, forcing the characters to investigate again. More supernatural hauntings may occur, or a conniving illusionist might be hiding there, hoping to scare the settlers away so that he can claim the area as his own.
Duties in Leilon
While some adventurers may be enticed by further adventures that take them up and down the Sword Coast, others may be more focused on the rebuilding of town, and the well-being of the settlers who they have come to know. For those characters, the tasks of the town may draw more attention.
Below are some longer-term tasks that the characters might perform before moving on to the next part of the story:
- Build a home. With the characters (hopefully) proving themselves to be the heroes that Leilon needs, the town council might offer one or more of them a parcel of land. They can spend money and resources, as well as time, building their home. Of course, such a place would also need to serve a purpose to the town, like having an extra root cellar to store food, or a secret room to keep extra weapons for the soldiery.
- Build other structures. It is still early in the process of rebuilding Leilon, and there is much to do. The construction of the palisade has barely begun. Most of the people are still living in tents outside of town. The fishing industry, which will sustain Leilon in the future, needs piers and docks and breakwaters and other structures.
- Making items. With the warning that too many magic items can inadvertently ruin a campaign by making characters too powerful to be truly challenged, characters could spend time creating magical or mundane items for themselves, others, or the town. For some items, of course, the certain components must be collected, and that could be an adventure of its own.
Continuing the Story
The threats to Leilon were merely introduced in Storm Lord’s Wrath. While the work on the building of the town continues, so too do the plans of Fheralai Stormsworn and Ularan Mortus unfold and blossom.
When the characters are prepared to face off against these growing threats, they should become 9th level, sharpen their weapons, gather their spell components, and prepare for an even greater challenge.