🎭 Council Three: Lines Drawn in Smoke
Location: The Grand Hall of the Lords’ Palace, Waterdeep
Date: Mid Ches, 1490 DR (Year of the Star Walker’s Return)
The hall feels used now.
Chairs have been moved, banners adjusted, scorch marks scrubbed from marble that will never quite forget. This council is not ceremonial. It is procedural. The victories are real. So are the consequences.
You all enter to muted acknowledgment. No applause. No suspicion. Just the understanding that things have changed because of you.
🧙♀️ DM-Controlled NPCs (Key Voices)
These voices establish facts and frame debate. They do not argue they define the ground.
- Laeral Silverhand – Open Lord of Waterdeep
➤ Opens the council with measured gratitude. Varram is captured. Arauthator is dead. These are achievements, but not victories. She keeps the room from celebrating too early. - King Melandrach – King of the Elves of the Misty Forest
➤ Confirms that the dragon attacks in the forest have ceased. When Neronvain’s betrayal is addressed, his response is controlled, precise, and unmistakably furious. - Connerad Brawnanvil – Ambassador of Mithral Hall
➤ Acknowledges the party’s success, but notes pointedly that concessions to dragons are not without cultural cost. - Sir Isteval – Order of the Gauntlet
➤ Offers formal praise for Arauthator’s death. Privately worried about the precedent being set.
🎭 Player-Controlled Faction Leaders
These characters argue the future. Let them clash.
1. Dagult Neverember – Lords’ Alliance
Player: Luke
A man who has lost patience for ambiguity.
- Thanks the party curtly for uncovering the truth behind the deaths of his aides.
- The succubus Maelthra is referred to only as “the infiltrator”.
- Accepts the dragon concessions as necessary, but insists they be treated as temporary debts, not precedent.
- Argues for dragons to be placed over major cities and political centres.
2. Althaea Moonshadow – High Harper
Player: Nat
Relief tempered by foresight.
- Varram’s capture validates Harper intelligence.
- Warns the council that fractured cult leadership is often more dangerous than unified fanaticism.
- Supports the promised festival honouring the dragons public gratitude matters.
- Strongly favours using dragons for reconnaissance and rapid response.
3. Ontharr Frume – Order of the Gauntlet
Player: Jack
A voice of principle under strain.
- Publicly commends the slaying of Arauthator as just.
- Privately worries the council is becoming comfortable with moral shortcuts.
- Pushes for dragons to defend Elturel and other bastions of faith.
- Cautions against alliances that cannot be undone.
4. Delaan Winterhound – Emerald Enclave
Player: Aaron
Balance reclaimed temporarily.
- Confirms the forests are quiet again.
- Deep concern that Neronvain still lives, his corruption unresolved.
- Supports pragmatic alliances only while the existential threat remains.
- Advocates assigning dragons to ancient natural sites, especially the Grandfather Tree.
5. Rian Nightshade – Zhentarim Liaison
Player: Gemma
A constant presence carefully limited.
- Has been present at every council to date.
- Rarely speaks unless prompted.
- When she does, she frames arguments in terms of outcomes, not ethics.
- Calmly notes that the Zhentarim have already adapted to the new reality of dragon warfare.
🎭 Council Agenda
Keep the discussion tight and purposeful.
- Confirmation of Events
- Varram captured.
- Arauthator slain.
- Elven forest secured.
- The Matter of Neronvain
- Melandrach acknowledges his son’s betrayal without forgiveness.
- Elves will not lead assaults but will no longer obstruct negotiations.
- Metallic Dragons & Concessions
- Gold returned to the people acknowledged.
- The promised post-war festival is formally recorded.
- Discomfort from dwarves and elves remains unresolved.
- Deployment of the Dragons
The party is asked to advise on placement:- Capitals (Lords’ Alliance)
- Intelligence operations (Harpers)
- Holy strongholds (Order of the Gauntlet)
- Natural sanctuaries (Emerald Enclave)
- Or regional defence zones
- A Known Name Resurfaces
Intelligence confirms Rey Stormsoar is alive and seeking contact.
The offer includes leverage possibly a dragon mask. - The Need for Discretion
A small team is required.
Once again, the council turns to the party.
🕵️ Undercurrents & Leverage
- Neverember is quietly consolidating influence within the Alliance.
- The Harpers are preparing for cult infighting.
- Rian knows which concessions will never be forgotten.
- Melandrach will comply but he will remember every slight.
🪶 DM Notes
This council should feel inevitable, not dramatic.
Everyone understands the stakes now.
The war is no longer a looming threat.
It is a series of decisions and the party is making them.