The Throne Room • Odyssey of the Dragonlords

King Acastus (appendix A) can be found here during the day. The king is always protected by seven of his best centurions (LG Soldier Captains, appendix C) and is usually accompanied by his concubine Bella (CN
Noble). He frequently calls upon the services of Commander Gaius (appendix A), who represents the Order of Sydon within the city, and Chondrus (appendix A of Odyssey of the Dragonlords), who is an emissary of the Cult of Lutheria and his advisor.

Centurions escort you through marble colonnades of the palace and into the Royal Hall, where the king waits. Rain hammers loudly upon the palace roof and, as you enter the throne room, an ear-splitting crack of thunder rolls across the sky. A middle-aged man with a powerful build sits on a gilded throne opposite the entrance. On the steps below him are four others: a beautiful ageless woman of regal bearing, a soldier dressed in a cerulean cloak, a tiefling wearing a black robe, and a finely-dressed young woman. Centurions stand at attention along the walls of the room.

The King’s Dilemma#

The king beams on seeing you. “Here they are—the Heroes of the Heartlands. Welcome, honored guests! You have come not a moment too soon. I am in desperate need of your counsel. As you may have noticed, our beautiful city is besieged by evil weather. We have wasted several days discussing how best to placate the Lord of Storms, but my advisors cannot seem to agree upon anything. “The Oracle’s prophecy has angered Sydon. That much is clear. You are the ones who were foretold to confront the Titans and restore balance to Thylea. Therefore, I have decided that you must be the ones to decide how we resolve this crisis.”

King Acastus and Queen Vallus (appendix A) are accompanied by Gaius and Bella. The tiefling calls himself Chondrus. He is an emissary from the Cult of Lutheria and the king dislikes him. He cannot be ignored, however, because he represents powerful interests within the city.

King Acastus is charming but arrogant. He will introduce the other characters (including his wife, the queen) in the throne room with polite condescension. Each character present has a different opinion on how to handle the crisis, and each states their preferred course of action. The heroes are then expected to decide what should be done.

Five Possible Solutions#

Secretly, Acastus knows that every possible course of action will be considered controversial by the people of Mytros, and he does not want to be held responsible for any consequences. He wants the heroes to make the decision so that they will be blamed rather than him. In summary, here are the options that the heroes must choose from:

Cast the 8th level spell Control Weather.

Order the destruction of the Temple of the Five.

Purchase 10,000 GP worth of livestock to sacrifice.

Convince the gods to work a miracle.

Whichever solution the heroes choose, the king will order it done immediately. If the chosen action is successful, Sydon will be appeased or his magic will be countered. In either case, the storms will pass.

Option 1: King Acastus#

First, the king wonders whether the heroes can stop the storm with magic. He has heard that there are powerful spells that may be used to alter the weather. Surely if the rumors about the heroes are true, then they should be mighty enough to command such magic?

When it becomes clear that the heroes cannot cast the required spell, the king feigns disappointment. If the heroes chose not to sacrifice the great boar to Sydon earlier in the story, Acastus may also wonder aloud at their wisdom in making such a decision.

Controlling the Weather. Acastus refers to the 8th level spell Control Weather, which the heroes probably cannot cast. However, if the party has collected two sets of nymph-hair strings, then they can craft the Boreal Harp at the Mithral Forge (appendix C). In this case, a bard will be capable of casting the spell. However, Acastus is impatient, so the harp must have been created before they answer the summons to Mytros.

Option 2: Commander Gaius#

Gaius angrily demands that the king dismantle the Temple of the Five and smash every stone to dust. Sydon abhors the worship of other gods, especially worship of the Five. Gaius has argued for decades that the Temple of the Five should be destroyed, but the idea has recently gained some popular support. If Gaius is to be believed, smashing the temple is the only way to appease the Lord of Storms.

Gaius is also contemptuous of both the heroes and Queen Vallus. She is, after all, one of the Five Gods and the daughter of the patron deity of the city. As the commander of the Order of Sydon, Gaius believes that the city must abandon its false gods and stop putting any faith in these “puppets of the Oracle.”

Destroying the Temple. If the heroes choose to order the destruction of the Temple of the Five, then the gods will grudgingly accept this course of action. Vallus and Kyrah have long believed that it was inevitable that their power would wane and that the people of Mytros would

lose faith, but they had hoped that it would not happen in such a fashion. However, this loss of worship still causes pain to the Five. As a result of the temple’s destruction, Kyrah, Vallus, Pythor, and Volkan will become dispirited and suffer one permanent level of Exhaustion.

Option 3: Chondrus#

Chondrus argues that Sydon can only be placated by the intervention of Lutheria, his sister-wife. To gain her help the king should order seventy children of the city to “take the black robes” and dedicate themselves to the Cult of Lutheria. He promises that the Lady of Dreams will treat the children well—they will eat the finest of foods and drink the sweetest of wines. In fact, they will all be sacrificed in the cult’s perverse blood rituals. Everyone suspects this and hates the suggestion. Queen Vallus would have Chondrus killed before she would allow it to happen.

Keeper of the Great Library. If the heroes manage to turn the king against Chondrus, he will use the Dimension Door spell to escape back to his lair in the Island of Yonder (chapter 2 of Odyssey of the Dragonlords). He will appear in that section of the adventure, hoping to convince the party to bargain with Lutheria.

Option 4: Bella the Concubine#

In normal circumstances, Bella should have no voice in this matter, but the king indulges her. She innocently asks

why the usual solution has not been tried: Normally, the priests of Sydon sacrifice dozens of animals to placate the storm god. Acastus explains that for a storm like this one, they would need to perform a hecatomb, a sacrifice of 100 oxen. This would be a huge burden on the city, and it would cost about 10,000 GP. Perhaps the heroes might pay the cost? The royal coffers cannot afford such an expense …

Option 5: Queen Vallus#

Queen Vallus suddenly stands up from her seat and approaches you directly, ignoring the protests of the king. She radiates a sense of profound intellect and divine beauty. “Heroes of the Prophecy, I greet you. I am Vallus of the Five Gods. For centuries, the people of Mytros have revered me as the Goddess of Wisdom. Mortal kings once traveled from across the Cerulean Gulf seeking my counsel but, as you can see, my husband prefers to consult with fools and concubines. “We gods are capable of saving the city. Joined together, the four of us can weave a spell to counter Sydon’s magic. Such a miracle will require a sacrifice of our power. I will do what must be done to protect my city, but the others will need to be persuaded. “I have summoned Kyrah, Pythor, and Volkan to the palace so that you might speak with them and make them see reason. You are the Oracle’s chosen. They will heed your words.”

Vallus wants the heroes to convince Pythor, Kyrah, and Volkan to help her work a miracle. This depends on the heroes’ ability to convince the other three gods to surrender a portion of their power to protect the city from Sydon’s magic. Working the miracle will cause the gods to suffer one permanent level of Exhaustion, but it will bolster the city’s faith in the Five Gods.

Performing a Miracle. If the heroes choose this course of action, then Vallus calls Kyrah, Pythor, and Volkan into the throne room. The heroes must succeed on a DC 16 Charisma (Persuasion) check to convince them, or you can simply roleplay this encounter by having each hero make a separate plea to the gods.

If the gods are convinced, then they will vow to protect the city. They thank the heroes for their wisdom and go to the Temple of the Five to seek the guidance of Mytros.