Chapter 4: Destruction's Light

Xardorok Sunblight’s merciless construct slices through Ten-Towns with its radiant beam.

Ten-Towns won’t survive the attack of Xardorok’s dragon without the characters' intervention. This chapter describes the dragon’s attacks on Ten-Towns and what the characters can do to minimize the destruction and save as many Ten-Towners as possible. The extent to which they can help depends on their actions in the previous chapter:

• If the characters delayed their return to Ten-Towns to confront Xardorok in his lair, the amount of time they spent in Xardorok’s fortress determines how many Ten-Towns settlements are victimized before the characters can intervene, based on the dragon’s timeline.
• If the characters forgo the attack on Xardorok’s fortress and waste no time chasing after the dragon, they have a good chance of catching up to it before too many Ten-Towns settlements are lost.

The point of this chapter, beyond pitting the characters against a formidable draconic foe, is to make the players aware that their characters' choices have consequences. If the characters do nothing to stop the dragon, Ten-Towns will be destroyed. Many lives hang in the balance.

Running This Chapter

Review the Chardalyn Dragon stat block and description in appendix C before running this chapter of the adventure. Stopping the dragon will be a daunting task for the characters. Fortunately, they won’t have to fight it alone.

From the moment it leaves the fortress, the chardalyn dragon begins to carry out Xardorok’s plan to level Ten-Towns one settlement after another. The characters can intervene by successfully predicting where the dragon will strike next and confronting it. The “area Return to Ten-Towns” section provides characters with a much-needed ally and a swift dogsled ride back to Ten-Towns. The “area Dragon Scourge” section describes how long it takes for the dragon to reach each town, the defenses each settlement musters against it, and the likely outcome if no help from the characters is forthcoming. The “area Showdown!” section helps you run an encounter involving the characters and the dragon. Regardless of what happens to Ten-Towns, the “area Vellynne’s Quest” section sets up the final three chapters of the adventure.

Character Advancement

The characters gain a level if they contribute to the dragon’s destruction. If they’re not 7th level by the end of this chapter, lure them to some of the locations in chapter 2 so that they can gain enough levels before continuing with the later chapters.

Return to Ten-Towns

As the characters start to make their way back to Ten-Towns, read:

Over the sound of the wind, you can hear the barking of dogs getting louder. Through the blowing snow come three wooden sleds pulled by canines as big as wolves. The closest driver calls out, “Can we be of service?”

The figure calling to the party is Vellynne Harpell (see area appendix C), a wizard of the Arcane Brotherhood. She is cocooned in cold weather clothing, her face all but hidden behind a wool muffler. Her snowy owl familiar is perched on her shoulder. Her sled has two Icewind Kobold Zombie riding on it, their acid-eaten forms visible through gashes in their hide armor. Steering the other two sleds are four Icewind Kobold, two per sled. (See area appendix C for the kobolds' stat blocks.) Each sled is pulled by six strong dogs (use the wolf stat block).

Vellynne was searching in Ten-Towns for a group of adventurers to help her complete a personal mission when she learned about the characters' earlier acts of bravery (as displayed in chapters 1 and 2). She decided to try to catch up to them and earn their friendship. Although the fate of Ten-Towns doesn’t concern her, Vellynne hopes the characters will help her obtain The Codicil of White once they learn to trust her. With this ulterior motive in mind, Vellynne offers the characters her sleds for traveling back to Ten-Towns and can easily be persuaded to help fight the dragon. (“A wizard worth her weight never passes up a chance to test her magic against the mightiest foes,” she says brazenly.)

There’s room in the kobolds' sleds to transport the characters and their gear. If the characters insist on steering these sleds, the kobolds fuss about handing over the reins but do so, piling into the cargo beds. If the characters refuse to travel with the kobolds, Vellynne jettisons her little sidekicks without a second thought—the characters are much more valuable to her than the kobolds.

If the characters aren’t sure where to go next, Vellynne suggests that they travel to the place where Ten-Towners are most likely to make their final stand against the dragon: the town of Bryn Shander. (Characters who found and studied Xardorok’s attack plan in chapter 3 might have a different idea.) If the characters take Vellynne’s advice and head to Bryn Shander, they will be playing into Xardorok’s hands. The dragon is saving Bryn Shander for last, because Xardorok knows that refugees from the smaller towns have nowhere else to go but there. Bryn Shander’s walls provide no defense against the dragon’s attacks from the sky, and the closer Ten-Towners huddle together, the easier it becomes for the dragon to annihilate them.

Roleplaying Vellynne

Vellynne is a pragmatist who tries to stay one step ahead of her competition, in particular her rivals in the Arcane Brotherhood (of whom she rarely speaks). To continue her mission in Icewind Dale, she needs the aid of stalwart adventurers, and she knows that helping them battle the dragon is a golden opportunity to earn the characters' respect if not their trust.

Vellynne is open about her intentions if the characters are suspicious and confront her. She is willing to postpone her mission until the threat of the dragon is no more, and tells the characters as much.

For more information on Vellynne Harpell and her motivations, see the “area Arcane Brotherhood” section in appendix C.

Dragon Scourge

This section describes the dragon’s flight path and the events it sets in motion. The section assumes no interference on the part of the characters; when they and the dragon finally meet, skip ahead to the “area Showdown!” section.

The dragon can regain hit points only if Xardorok repairs it in his forge (see “area Fortress Fallout").

Dragon’s Flight Path

Map 4.1 shows the dragon’s flight path, which should not be shared with your players unless the characters studied Xardorok’s attack plan in the previous chapter. The dragon is following the instructions of its creator precisely and will not deviate from this course under any circumstances.

Each section describes the damage caused to each town, what (if any) damage the town deals to the dragon in return, and how much time the dragon spent at that town. Adjust the dragon’s timeline and the extent of the damage as you see fit.

The Dragon Flight Times table shows how long it takes for the dragon to get from one location the next one.

Dragon Flight Times

Target 1: Dougan’s Hole

The dragon destroys every structure in town, including the docks, in 30 minutes. It leaves the Twenty Stones of Thruun untouched. (It was always Xardorok’s intention to study this ancient site to see what power could be drawn from it.)

Casualties

Twenty-five people (half of the population) are killed. The survivors, including Speaker Durmoot, flee to Bryn Shander with their most cherished possessions and some of their livestock.

Dragon Damage

The dragon takes no damage.

Target 2: Good Mead

The dragon spares the Mead Hall, but it destroys every other structure in town in 1 hour.

Casualties

Twenty-five people (one-quarter of the population) are killed. The survivors flee into the woods before veering toward the Eastway and following the road to Bryn Shander, taking most of their livestock with them.

Dragon Damage

The dragon takes no damage.

Target 3: Easthaven

Here, the dragon faces its first real challenge. Although it catches the town by surprise, the militia reacts quickly and succeeds in wounding the creature.

The dragon uses its radiant breath weapon to strafe the town from the air, never landing. It starts at the east end and slowly works its way westward, clearing streets and obliterating homes. It takes 8 hours, but the dragon destroys half the town’s structures, including most of its docks. The White Lady Inn partially collapses when the dragon flies through it, and the Wet Trout is razed. The Town Hall and the Easthaven ferry are spared.

Casualties

Two hundred fifty people (one-third of the population), including most of the town’s militia, are killed. Captain Arlaggath is slain by two invisible duergar who have been waiting impatiently for the dragon to strike. The five hundred survivors flee on foot to Bryn Shander, taking their most cherished possessions and livestock with them.

If he’s alive and present when the dragon attacks, Speaker Waylen is killed when six duergar storm the Town Hall and confiscate any chardalyn they find there.

Dragon Damage

The attack on Easthaven reduces the dragon’s hit points by 10.

Target 4: Caer-Dineval

The dragon lands between the castle and the rest of the town. It then moves through town, leveling one structure after another. All buildings aside from the castle, including the Uphill Climb and Dinev’s Rest, are destroyed in 1 hour. The castle and its inhabitants are spared, for it was Xardorok’s intention to trap the Knights of the Black Sword in their self-made prison (not unlike the fate of their dark master, Levistus).

Casualties

If he’s still alive and confined to his castle, Speaker Siever survives. Everyone living outside the castle is killed, either by the dragon or by the six duergar lurking in Dinev’s Rest. When the dragon attacks, the duergar emerge from the dilapidated inn, enlarge themselves to ogre size, and join the battle.

Dragon Damage

The dragon takes no damage.

Target 5: Caer-Konig

The dragon destroys every structure in town in 1½ hours. Speaker Trovus, the town’s dragonborn defender, is passed out drunk in a snowbank throughout the entire ordeal and wakes to find his settlement wiped out.

Casualties

Fifty people (one-third of the population) are killed, a few at the hands of an invisible duergar lurking about town. Among the dead are the Shorard sisters, whose inn collapses on top of them, and Atenas Swift, who dies helping several citizens escape on dogsleds. Speaker Trovus survives but never conquers his guilt; he does, however, give up the bottle. Jarthra Farzassh survives and leads most of the town’s evacuees to the ruins of Caer-Dineval, only to be denied entry into the castle. Before they can leave Caer-Dineval, Jarthra and several others are murdered by the duergar lurking in town (see “area Target 4: Caer-Dineval” above). Only fifty refugees from Caer-Konig make it all the way to Bryn Shander.

Dragon Damage

Trovus was the town’s best hope for defense. Because he was unconscious during the attack, no organized resistance was mounted. Consequently, the dragon takes no damage.

Target 6: Termalaine

Termalaine’s residents take refuge in the nearby mines while the militia defends the town.

The dragon takes 6 hours to destroy the town, leaving no building unharmed. The Eastside is only partially damaged and remains open for business after the dragon’s attack. The Blue Clam is destroyed, as are most of Termalaine’s docks and boats.

Casualties

The town militia is wiped out, and twenty of the town’s residents perish in their homes. Another thirty residents are killed in a mine collapse triggered by duergar saboteurs. Half of the remaining five hundred people flee to Targos and continue to Bryn Shander, while the rest (including Speaker Masthew) remain holed up in the mines.

Dragon Damage

The attack on Termalaine reduces the dragon’s hit points by 5.

Target 7: Lonelywood

Local fishers witness the dragon’s attack on Termalaine and rush home to alert their families and neighbors.

When the dragon reaches Lonelywood, the town is empty, its residents having retreated to the woods or sailed to Targos. The dragon takes 2 hours to lay waste to the empty town, leveling every building and destroying every dock.

Casualties

None as a direct result of the dragon’s attack.

Dragon Damage

The dragon takes no damage.

Target 8: Bremen

As the dragon flies over Maer Dualdon, it spots many of Bremen’s residents crossing the lake in boats and sinks them. When it reaches the town, the dragon takes 2 hours to lay waste to the docks and flatten every building.

Casualties

One hundred people (two-thirds of the population) are killed, either in boats or in the town proper, including Speaker Shalescar, Cora Mulphoon, and the entire militia. The remaining fifty residents flee to Bryn Shander, leaving everything behind.

Dragon Damage

Bremen’s militia puts up a good fight, reducing the dragon’s hit points by 5.

Target 9: Targos

Speaker Maxildanarr’s network of spies throughout Ten-Towns alerted him to the dragon shortly after its attacks began, allowing Targos time to prepare. The local militia swells with furious residents eager to defend their town, and siege weapons are brought to bear. Unfortunately, many of the town’s prepared defenses are undermined by duergar saboteurs.

It takes the dragon 8 hours to reduce Targos to a smoldering ruin. The dragon ignores the town’s walls for the most part and focuses on the buildings, leveling one after another.

Casualties

Five hundred people (half the population) are killed by the dragon or by duergar moving invisible through town and indiscriminately murdering people. The survivors flee to Bryn Shander, taking their most prized possessions and livestock with them.

The militia makes its final stand outside the Luskan Arms, by which time Speaker Maxildanarr has fled to a Zhentarim safe house in Bryn Shander. Skath, his faithful tiefling militia captain, is one of many sacrificial pawns left behind to cover his escape.

Dragon Damage

The Targos militia, the toughest opposition the dragon has faced, reduces the dragon’s hit points by 15.

Target 10: Bryn Shander

By the time the dragon shows up, Bryn Shander is bursting at the seams with refugees from other settlements. This is where Ten-Towns makes its final stand. Although the outer walls offer no defense against the flying dragon, people can hide in the town’s root cellars.

The dragon strafes the town for 6 hours, remaining airborne the whole time and eliminating anyone who tries to get away. It then lands inside the walls and spends another 6 hours going from one smoldering ruin to the next, hunting down survivors. After 12 hours of attacks on Bryn Shander, the dragon returns to area Xardorok’s fortress for repairs. (If Xardorok is dead, no repairs are forthcoming, and the dragon remains at the duergar fortress.)

The Northlook is damaged but not destroyed. Both Blackiron Blades and the House of the Morninglord are lost, along with almost every other establishment.

While the dragon does its work, duergar prowl through town, murdering leaders, spellcasters, and other key figures.

Casualties

Bryn Shander’s population balloons from 1,200 to 2,700 when the refugees from other settlements are accounted for. The dragon and the duergar claim 200 lives each hour, leaving the devastated town with a population of 300 when all is said and done. Roughly half of these survivors are Bryn Shander natives; the rest are refugees from other settlements.

Scramsax, the proprietor of the Northlook, falls to the dragon. Mishann, the priest of Amaunator, administers healing as best she can and survives without injury. Sheriff Markham Southwell personally thwarts a duergar assassination attempt against Speaker Duvessa Shane; both leaders are scarred but survive.

Speaker Durmoot of Dougan’s Hole is killed by duergar, but Speaker Maxildanarr of Targos survives.

Dragon Damage

Bryn Shander benefits from strong leadership, a tested militia, and helpful spellcasters. In the first 6 hours, the dragon’s hit points decrease by 10. Once the dragon lands and begins searching through wreckage, its hit points decrease at a rate of 5 per hour.

Showdown!

The dragon’s flying speed is greater than the characters' overland movement speed or the flying speed available to characters who can cast fly spells, so the party has little hope of catching up to the dragon before it reaches Ten-Towns. The characters' best chance of destroying the dragon is to pick a settlement and wait for the dragon there. If the characters saw Xardorok’s battle plan in the previous chapter, they know the order in which the settlements of Ten-Towns will be attacked.

The dragon’s preferred tactic is to strafe each settlement from the air, using its breath weapon to incinerate people and structures alike. It then soars out of missile range until its breath weapon recharges. After dealing as much damage as it can from the air, the dragon lands and begins searching through the smoldering ruins to eliminate any survivors.

Whenever the characters engage the dragon, they buy time for Ten-Towners to flee. Reduce a town’s losses as you see fit to account for the characters' interference.

When the Dragon Takes Damage

If the characters deal 30 damage or more to the dragon and it’s not destroyed, it flies to the next town. If this happens in Bryn Shander, the dragon flies back to area Xardorok’s fortress and remains there, in the forge. If Xardorok is still alive in this fortress, he makes the necessary repairs. The dragon regains 1d6 hit points at the end of every hour of repair work.

Destroying the Dragon

When the dragon drops to 0 hit points, read:

The dragon makes a horrific grinding noise as it begins to shudder and crumble to pieces. As its great bulk crashes into the snow, jagged shards of black crystal fly off in all directions.

The dragon leaves behind hundreds of chardalyn fragments, some as big as a wagon wheel and others as small as a coffin nail. If the characters know the effects of chardalyn tainted by evil magic, they’ll want to warn Ten-Towners to avoid the fragments.

Weather Conditions

The dragon begins its attacks under dark, clear skies. That changes shortly after it leaves Termalaine, its sixth target, for that’s when a winter storm sweeps down from the Reghed Glacier and engulfs Ten-Towns. The storm hangs over Ten-Towns for 24 hours before petering out.

If the characters confront the dragon in Lonelywood, Bremen, Targos, or Bryn Shander, they must also contend with strong wind and heavy snowfall (for rules, see “Strong Wind” and “Heavy Precipitation” in the Dungeon Master’s Guide). The dragon ignores these effects, having been built by Xardorok to overcome such debilitating weather.

NPC Support

Ten-Towners are happy to let adventurers fight the dragon while they flee for their lives. If the characters are the ones who need saving, you can have one or more courageous NPCs help them.

Helpful Ten-Towners

If a character ends up in a tight spot, you can have a friendly NPC act immediately before the character in the initiative order. This NPC can help the imperiled character in one of the following ways:

• The NPC uses the Help action to assist the character.
• If the character is dying, the NPC stabilizes them or carries them to a safer location.
• The NPC moves close enough to the dragon to provide a distraction, allowing the character to move to a safer location or use a class feature that relies on an ally being near the dragon (such as Sneak Attack).

What Can Vellynne Do?

Vellynne Harpell survival is important for the story to continue forward. She fights alongside the party but does not participate in any foolhardy acts of heroism.

During encounters with the dragon, Vellynne can’t drop below 1 hit point. If she is reduced to 1 hit point, she either retreats to somewhere safe or uses her next action to cast vampiric touch, draining the life force of her nearest kobold minion (or some other poor fool) to ensure her own survival.

Vellynne’s most potent spells are useless against the dragon construct, so she relies on her wand of magic missiles, using its charges sparingly. She can also focus her efforts on clearing the streets of innocent bystanders and coordinating the party’s actions with those of the local militia. (As she likes to say, “It’s a weak wizard who relies on spells alone.")

After the dragon returns to Xardorok’s fortress or is destroyed, Vellynne asks the characters to forget about Ten-Towns for a while and help her find a lost city buried under the Reghed Glacier (see “area Vellynne’s Quest” at the end of the chapter).

If you’re unable to save Vellynne for whatever reason, have the characters discover a journal in her belongings that contains all the information she knows, or have one of her kobold minions communicate the information necessary to keep the adventure on track.

Other Things Characters Can Do

Characters who can’t harm the dragon (or choose not to) can find plenty of other things to distract them during the dragon’s attack. If a player is having trouble figuring out what their character can or should do, you can use the Town in Chaos table to introduce an urgent development for the character to deal with. Before the character moves or acts on its turn, roll on the table or choose a development you think might spur the character into action.

Town in Chaos

Building Collapse

A damaged building collapses twenty feet away from you. The noise of crashing walls and shattered timbers fades, replaced by the screams of people trapped in the wreckage.

There are 1d4 + 1 people trapped in the collapsed building. All of them are Commoner suffering from broken bones, lacerations, and concussions, and half of them (rounded down) are at 0 hit points and dying; the rest have 1 hit point each.

A character can rush to the building and use an action to try to pull a Ten-Towner out of the wreckage, doing so with a successful DC 14 Strength (Athletics) check, whereupon the character can try to stabilize a dying commoner or use healing magic to restore their hit points and remove their injuries.

Enlarged Duergar

Panicked Ten-Towners rush past you—not to escape the dragon but to get away from a heavily armored, gray-skinned dwarf as big as an ogre. It yells in Dwarvish as it stomps through the snow toward you.

This enlarged duergar fights to the death, shouting, “No more winters for Ten-Towns!” in Dwarvish as it does so. The duergar has already used its Invisibility trait and can’t use it again until it finishes a short or long rest.

Invisible Duergar

Something unseen is making footprints in the snow, and those footprints are getting closer!

A duergar is using its Invisibility trait to get close enough to the character to make an attack, but the snow betrays its presence, giving the character the chance to act first.

When the duergar gets within striking distance, it attacks and becomes visible. Following its initial attack, it uses an action to increase its size, then presses its attack.

Malevolent Townsfolk

Unrecognizable figures in cold weather clothing advance until they form a line twenty feet away from you. Each one clutches a handaxe threateningly. One of them points a gloved finger at you and shouts, “Kill that one first!”

The character is singled out by 1d4 + 2 Commoner who have become corrupted by the chardalyn dragon’s Malevolent Presence. Each one wields a handaxe that deals 3 (1d6) slashing damage on a hit. These townsfolk act on the same initiative count.

Rather than make saving throws for the commoners to end the effect of the dragon’s Malevolent Presence on them, roll a d6 at the end of each of their turns. On a 6, the townsfolk regain their senses and cease to be hostile as the dragon’s hold over them ends.

Thieves

The chaos has brought out the worst in some Ten-Towners. About twenty feet away, you see two thugs in cold weather clothing beating up an old woman and stealing her food.

The two Thug are neutral evil humans, and the old woman is a commoner with 1 hit point remaining. A character can use an action to try to make the thugs drop the woman’s food and run away, doing so with a successful DC 12 Charisma (Intimidation) check. A thug that takes any damage also runs away.

Trapped Beast

A strange noise draws your attention to an axe beak loaded down with sacks and tied to a wooden post. The beast lets out a panicked cry as it struggles to free itself. Its owner is nowhere to be seen.

You can replace the axe beak with a mule, a sled dog, or any other domesticated beast. A character can use an action to try to calm the beast until the end of its next turn, doing so with a successful DC 11 Wisdom (Animal Handling) check. While the beast is calm, the character can use an action to untie or cut the rope that tethers it to the wooden post. A character can also try to cut the rope with an edged weapon without first calming the beast, doing so with a successful attack against AC 15, enabling the panicked beast to bolt away on its next turn.

Walking Wounded

A Ten-Towner in torn cold weather clothing stumbles into view, falls in the snow, and gets back up. From twenty feet away, you can see that the person is leaving a trail of blood in the snow.

On a roll of 19, the figure is a badly wounded member of the local militia (an unarmed tribal warrior with 1 hit point remaining). On a roll of 20, the figure is an uninjured, opportunistic doppelganger posing as a wounded Ten-Towner.

Militia Member

Having lost their spear fighting the dragon, this member of the town militia is searching for a replacement weapon. If given a weapon, the militia member heads back into battle.

Doppelganger

The doppelganger (which has smeared itself with someone else’s blood) asks to be taken to a safe location out of the dragon’s sight. If a character obliges, the doppelganger tries to slay, rob, and replace its “savior” in a location where its treachery can’t be observed by anyone else.

Vellynne’s Quest

Vellynne Harpell needs help reaching Ythryn, a quest that propels the characters through the final chapters of this adventure. However, she is reluctant to share details of her mission until the following conditions are met:

• The chardalyn dragon is no longer an immediate concern.
• The characters have the experience needed to survive the perils that await them in the first stage of the quest. (In other words, the characters are at least 7th level.)

These conditions don’t account for any unfinished business that the characters are determined to resolve. For example, if Xardorok Sunblight is still alive, the characters might want to finish him off before turning their attention elsewhere.

Once she’s confident that the characters are ready for the challenges that lie ahead, Vellynne makes her bold proposition:

“I need your help to find an ancient city buried under the ice. This city, Ythryn, is a lost fragment of the Empire of Netheril, whose wizards created many of the magic items we find scattered across the world today. It holds magic beyond our wildest dreams. We might even find something there to end this hateful winter. Intrigued?”

If characters want to hear more or leave an opening for Vellynne to keep talking, she adds:

“Using divination magic, the Arcane Brotherhood has learned that the city is buried deep inside the Reghed Glacier. But the glacier can be cracked open at a place where a waterfall once flowed down its side but has since frozen. We have already found the waterfall. All we need now is the magic to break open the glacier.”

Vellynne learned a few things from her professor orb) before it was stolen from her. She shares the following information with characters who want to know more about Netheril:

• Netheril was a vast human empire ruled by wizards, whose mastery of the Weave remains unsurpassed to this day.
• Some of what the Netherese wizards learned came from the elves. The rest came from the study of artifacts called the Nethe__r Scrolls.
• The Netherese created magic that was more powerful than a wish spell and used it to accomplish the impossible. Their magic could shear the tops of mountains and lift entire cities into the sky.
• To hold Ythryn aloft, the Netherese wizards would have needed a powerful magic item called a Ythryn Mythallar. It likely survived the crash and might have other properties as well, including the ability to change the weather. (“Think of what that could mean for Icewind Dale!” Vellynne adds excitedly.)

The Codicil and the Orb

Before beginning their search for Ythryn, Vellynne and the characters need two objects: The Codicil of White and Vellynne’s professor orb, which she calls Professor Skant. Vellynne has every reason to believe that both items are currently on an island in the Sea of Moving Ice.

The Codicil

Vellynne describes this book as follows:

“Written and guarded by Auril’s followers, The Codicil of White is rumored to contain a spell or ritual that can carve a passage through the Reghed Glacier, under which the lost city Ythryn is buried. Divination magic has revealed that the book is being held in a frost giant fortress on a mist-shrouded island in the Sea of Moving Ice.”

Vellynne knows that any quest to retrieve The Codicil of White is likely to attract Auril’s attention. Members of the Arcane Brotherhood are notoriously brazen, which is why Vellynne does not balk at the thought of a confrontation with the Frostmaiden. If Auril’s name comes up, Vellynne tries to allay concerns by pointing out the obvious: “Any god who chooses to live among mortals is hiding from something, and anyone who needs to hide can’t be all-powerful.”

Professor Skant

Vellynne’s family has a private collection of magic items. The professor orb known as Professor Skant was part of that collection, and Vellynne wants it back for both practical and sentimental reasons:

“The orb is a family heirloom that was stolen from me by a former colleague named Nass Lantomir. The orb has the personality of a scholar and is named Professor Skant. Its knowledge will help us once we descend into Ythryn. Nass is after The Codicil of White. Find Nass, and we find Professor Skant.”

Vellynne describes the professor orb}’s properties (see appendix D) if the characters want to know more about it.

Next Steps

The rest of the adventure depends on the characters agreeing to help Vellynne. She has a couple of cards that she plays to convince the characters to do so. She hopes they’re motivated by the hope of finding something in Ythryn that can end Auril’s everlasting winter. Failing that, there’s the promise of finding long-lost spells and magic items.

Assuming the characters agree to undertake Vellynne’s quest, their first challenge is getting to the island. Proceed with chapter 5, which begins with how the characters solve their transportation problem.