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+# A Warning from Chronepsis
+
+
+The PCs have been tasked with finding Rennick, who is in Sigil. There is
+no portal to Sigil in St Parnas, so the PCs have to leave town -
+probably, they’ll walk toward Tradegate, which does have a portal to
+Sigil. There are other places in the Outlands that also have portals to
+Sigil: it doesn’t matter where the PCs decide to go, what matters is
+that they will be traveling through the Outlands.
+
+The Outlands are a strange place. The farther one gets from
+civilization, the more “unmoored” and “unrealistic” the landscape
+becomes. At one point, the PCs walk past a section of forest which is
+covered in cobblestone: not just the road, but also the forest floor,
+and some of the tree branches. If the PCs are traveling with somebody
+who is native to the Outlands, then this person remarks: “We’re standing
+in the middle of nowhere. But this land doesn’t want to be nowhere, it
+wants to be somewhere. The land is dreaming of all the different kinds
+of places it could be. Tomorrow, it will look different.”
+
+Eventually, the PCs will have to build a campsite and bed down for the
+night. During the night, the entire campsite moves. This sometimes
+happens in the Outlands: patches of land shift from one place to
+another, or even, to another plane of existence. Sometimes, it’s random,
+but in this case, it’s not: a god, Chronepsis, wants the PCs to pay a
+visit. So Chronepsis moved their campsite close to his realm.
+
+Chronepsis is the *Dragon God of Time and Fate*, and he is an enigmatic
+god. He literally *never* talks to anyone, mortal or god. He does
+occasionally leave his realm, but it’s rare. When he acts, it’s always
+subtly, and nobody is ever entirely sure whether or not he acted at all.
+This is the case here: Chronepsis did move the campsite, but he isn’t
+giving the PCs any clues that it was him, and he will never do anything
+to confirm or deny it. As a DM, you must treat Chronepsis as a permanent
+enigma. Divination spells that try to determine a being’s purpose or
+intent simply don’t work on Chronepsis. The PCs can make educated
+guesses: they can be 90% sure that Chronepsis did something, based on
+the evidence, but they should *never* receive any unambiguous
+confirmation.
+
+The PCs don’t notice the movement of the campsite until they wake up.
+The campsite and the immediate environment look completely unchanged,
+which is why nobody sounded the alarm during the night. But when the
+light comes up, it is possible to see that the spire used to be on
+*that* side of the campsite, but now it’s over *there*. Furthermore,
+Moradin’s Keep (a mountain range) looks a lot closer. A survival roll is
+enough for the PCs to figure out what happened: the campsite has moved
+across the outlands. They’re still on the “good” side of the great
+wheel, but they’re a lot closer to chaos now.
+
+The players discover that there’s still a road running past the
+campsite. The road used to connect St. Parnas to Tradegate, but now it
+probably goes somewhere else. The PCs aren’t entirely sure where it
+goes, but their best estimate is that if they travel rimward, they’ll
+end up near Sylvania or Faunel. Tell them that both of those cities
+probably contain gates to Sigil.
+
+Wherever the PCs decide to go, as they walk down the road, they pass
+beside a huge clearing in the woods, large enough to hold a city - but
+there’s no city inside, just some old ruins. If the PCs ignore it and
+keep walking, they eventually see it again, and again, and again.
+Meanwhile, they never actually *get* anywhere. No matter how long they
+walk, the spire seems just as far away, and the scenery starts to feel
+like it’s repeating, and they keep on seeing the clearing.
+
+### The Realm of Chronepsis
+
+The clearing is actually the realm of Chronepsis. His realm consists of
+a ruined city above ground, and an underground system of passages and
+chambers, known as the “Mausoleum.” Chronepsis himself is in his
+Mausoleum.
+
+If the PCs enter the realm and then try to leave, they end up back on
+the road, and they again find themselves walking past the clearing over
+and over. Again, they get nowhere. They cannot really leave yet.
+
+The ruined city contains only the foundations of buildings. The walls
+have all fallen. Almost all the buildings are made of white stone blocks
+that have been eroded by the millenia. The blocks used to be sharp and
+square, but rain, wind, and time have rounded the corners and
+sandblasted any surface details away. It is obvious to anyone that this
+city was abandoned millenia ago. The scale of the buildings is
+considerably larger than normal human buildings: the doorways are large
+enough for a creature of large size.
+
+Weather in the city is always cool and dry, and surprisingly, the PCs
+can see the Sun! This is unusual for the outlands, which doesn’t
+normally have a sun. This is because this city is an echo of a far away
+time, a far away place, a place that did have a sun. There is plant life
+here, mostly scrub vegetation and grasses. Small animals like birds,
+squirrels, and the like are plentiful. If you wish, you may place
+wildlife here, to give the PCs a random encounter.
+
+Throughout the realm of Chronepsis, there are tens of thousands of
+hourglasses. Most are down inside the Mausoleum, but the players will
+encounter a hundred or so while traveling the ruined city. The
+hourglasses appear to be made of glass, but with decorative trim made
+out of miniature dragon hide with little tiny scales. The miniature
+dragon hide trim comes in various colors - for every color of dragon,
+there are hourglasses of that color. Attempting to touch an hourglass
+reveals that they’re intangible illusions. The players probably don’t
+know this yet, but each hourglass represents the lifespan of an actual,
+living dragon.
+
+There are no hourglasses near the periphery of the ruined city. The PCs
+will have to walk inward into the city for a good 10-15 minutes before
+they see their first hourglass. It is hovering a few inches above the
+ruins of a stone wall, a few feet from the ground. Let the PCs examine
+it, but they can’t touch it. If they cast *identify*, they can learn
+what it is: the countdown of the life of a dragon. If the PCs get close
+to the center of the ruined city, they will start to see more
+hourglasses.
+
+Close to the center of the ruined city, the PCs encounter a dragonborn
+with golden skin, named Laeros. Laeros is actually an young adult gold
+dragon who travels in the form of a dragonborn. Laeros is a philosopher
+who is trying to understand how dragons are bound by fate. He isn’t a
+worshiper of Chronepsis, but he has found that he has more insights
+about fate when he’s in Chronepsis’ realm. He doesn’t know if this is a
+magical effect, or maybe it’s just an inspirational place. Either way,
+he’s happy sitting in the ruined city. He says the city is pretty, the
+weather is cool and pleasant; and it’s conducive to meditation.
+
+Laeros is quite surprised to see the PCs, the first thing he says is:
+“Are you dragons?” If the PCs say, “obviously, we’re not dragons,”
+Laeros laughs and says, “Most dragons take other forms when they
+travel.” If the PCs ask, “why do dragons take other forms,” Laeros holds
+up his hands and says, “Hands. Hands are very useful. Dragon claws just
+aren’t made for delicate work. Writing, for example: much easier with
+hands.”
+
+Laeros asks: “So, what are non-dragons doing *here,* in the realm of a
+dragon god?”
+
+Of course, the players only know that they were pressured into coming
+here by the clearing that kept chasing them. Laeros considers this to be
+an interesting mystery. He explains that the PCs are in the realm of
+Chronepsis. He says that hardly anyone ever comes to the realm, and that
+it’s particularly odd for a bunch of non-dragons to show up.
+
+He says: “I assume that if you’re here, it’s because Chronepsis probably
+wants you here. But why would he want you here? There’s not much to do
+here. He’s definitely not going to talk to you, he literally never talks
+to anyone. I really have no idea why he would bring you here. There’s…
+just nothing here, except old stone blocks, some old sculptures,
+hourglasses, and Chronepsis himself. And Chronepsis definitely won’t
+interact with you.”
+
+### Exploration of the Mausoleum
+
+The players may decide to explore the realm, to see if they can figure
+out what they’re supposed to do here. Laeros says, “Exploring seems like
+a good idea, you might figure something out. I must warn you though: if
+you see Chronepsis, don’t try to get his attention: if you bother him,
+he will cause you to cease to exist. However, you can look around
+safely, he does not object to people walking around the city and the
+mausoleum. He doesn’t even mind people walking around his chamber, as
+long as you’re quiet. Be respectful and silent, and you should be fine.”
+
+In the city, the PCs have pretty much already seen everything: ruined
+foundations, scrub vegetation, the occasional hourglass, and little
+else. In the very center, however, is the mausoleum.
+
+The mausoleum consists of a small above-ground building of white stone,
+containing a stairway down, and an underground complex. The small
+above-ground building is the only building that still stands in the
+entire city. The doors are wide open. The building is featureless white
+stone. There may have been decorations once, but they have been
+sandblasted away by the aeons.
+
+When the PCs descend into the mausoleum, they see corridors stretching
+in all directions. It looks like a museum: the floors and walls are done
+in marble, and there are magical lights at regular intervals. There are
+sculptures throughout the place - this artwork represents the lives of
+the dragons who used to live in the city. Many are in the form of
+dragonborn, but some are in full dragon form. They are doing all the
+things that people do: working, resting, eating, making art, and
+spending time together. The artwork is unmarred by erosion or time.
+Examining the art reveals little.
+
+The walls also contain niches that contain hundred of hourglasses each.
+These niches are in every room and passage. The passages go in many
+directions, and eventually one will find the chamber of Chronepsis. He
+is here, resting in his chamber. He is an absolutely ancient dragon,
+with ash-grey scales. He is bony and undernourished, so much so that he
+initially appears to be skeletal, but a closer inspection reveals he
+still has flesh, just not much of it. He is resting on a dais with a
+raised pedestal for his head. He does not bother to look at the PCs when
+they enter. His eyes stare into the distance.
+
+The chamber with Chronepsis contains an immense number of hourglasses,
+and more art. There is nothing else to discover here. In the long run,
+the exploration reveals little. There is nothing much to be done inside
+the mausoleum. Chronepsis will not react to the PCs unless a PC gets
+aggressive or destructive, in which case that PC stops existing: roll up
+a new character.
+
+### Talking to Laeros about the Deck
+
+A player might mention the Deck of Many Things to Laeros. When they do,
+Laeros perks up, and says, “Everyone’s been talking about the Deck. It’s
+big news all over the multiverse. People think it’s some kind of portent
+of big changes. There’s also a rumor that some adventurers who drew
+cards from the deck are working with Tymora to find the deck… and I see
+you have a priestess of Tymora with you. Are you the guys from the
+rumor?
+
+If they agree that they are, then Laeros says, “Well that’s exciting!
+You guys are famous, and I got to meet you! Good story for the kids.”
+
+Laeros is intellectually curious, and will ask a variety of questions
+about the Deck. But in the long run, he doesn’t have any immediate
+insight about things.
+
+### Asking Laeros about Hourglasses
+
+The players may ask Laeros about the hourglasses. Laeros explains: “Each
+hourglass represents the lifespan of an actual, living dragon. There’s
+an hourglass for every dragon in existence. The color of the hourglass
+matches the color of the dragon.”
+
+“By the way, the sand only tells you how much time remains in the
+dragon’s natural lifespan. But if a dragon gets killed before it has a
+chance to grow old, then it dies while a lot of sand still remains. So
+the sand isn’t a prediction of when the dragon will die. It only
+indicates how old the dragon is.”
+
+He says, “I tried to find my own hourglass, but in the end, I couldn’t
+figure out which one was mine. Obviously, I’m a gold dragon, so my
+hourglass is going to be gold. I’m a young adult, so I would expect the
+sand in my hourglass to be about one-third used up. So I can rule out
+99% of the hourglasses based on color and sand-quantity, but that still
+leaves dozens of hourglasses that could be mine. I just don’t know how
+to narrow it down further.”
+
+### Why are the PCs Really Here?
+
+Here is the real reason the PCs are here, in the realm of Chronepsis:
+
+Green is a dragon. He didn’t start out that way: he was originally
+human. He used wishes to transform himself, bit-by-bit, into a dragon.
+Of course, he still takes the form of a human most of the time. One wish
+wasn’t powerful enough to turn him all the way into a dragon, so he
+divided the process into multiple steps. Each wish made him a little
+more dragon-like, until finally, he used a wish that made him a true
+Dragon - a steel dragon. Once he became a dragon, his hourglass appeared
+in the realm of Chronepsis.\
+\
+Green was a 35-year old man, so when he became a dragon, he became a
+35-year old dragon. That’s a very young, small dragon. Green wasn’t
+satisfied with that, he wanted to be more powerful. So he used a wish to
+age himself. That wish added some years, but not as many as Green
+expected. He plans to use more wishes to add more years.
+
+If a dragon makes a wish to be older, that dragon is breaking a strict
+dragon code of conduct. Aging oneself artificially is not allowed. In
+fact, normally, it’s not even possible: the dragon gods have limited
+mortal magic so that it cannot be used to age a dragon. But the Deck
+isn’t mortal magic, the deck is a god in its own right. It has the power
+to make Green older, but the dragon gods resist, which is why the wish
+didn’t age Green by very much. Chronepsis, the dragon god of time, is
+particularly annoyed.
+
+So Chronepsis has a message for Green: Do not use any more wishes to age
+yourself! If you do, there will be consequences.
+
+However, Chronepsis cannot deliver this message. By his own rules, he
+cannot speak to anyone, and he cannot act in any overt way. He must be
+so subtle that nobody knows for sure if he acted at all. So here is his
+plan:
+
+First, Chronepsis arranged for Green’s hourglass to be directly in front
+of Laeros, and made sure Laeros was watching when Green aged himself.
+Laeros saw the sand in Green’s hourglass jump ahead. Laeros knows that
+this kind of sand movement represents artificial aging, and he knows
+that this should be impossible. He has been pondering it ever since.
+
+Second, Chronepsis brought the PCs into his realm, forcing them to meet
+Laeros. Now Chronepsis is just waiting for Laeros and the PCs to
+exchange information. He knows that eventually, if the two parties talk
+enough, they will figure out what they need to do.
+
+When the PCs understand their mission, then they will be released from
+the realm. But they’ll have to figure it out, with Laeros’s help.
+
+### Solving the Mystery
+
+When the PCs have finished exploring the realm, Laeros eventually brings
+the subject back to: “So why did Chronepsis bring you here? You’ve
+already explored everything. You’ve already looked at the hourglasses.
+You’ve already looked at the sculptures. There’s nothing left to do.”
+Then, in a joking tone, he says, “Well, other than talk to me.”
+
+Hopefully, one of the players will say, “hey, maybe we *are* supposed to
+talk to you about something.”
+
+Give the players a little time to suggest this. When they do, Laeros
+exclaims “Of course! We must have important information for each other!”
+If none of the players suggests this, Laeros suggests it.
+
+Laeros says, “OK. Let’s just tell each other what we’ve been doing. I’ll
+start. I’m supposed to be here writing a book, but honestly, I’ve mostly
+spent the last month pondering a mystery - a weird hourglass.”\
+\
+He goes on to tell about how he was just relaxing one day, and staring
+absent-mindedly at the hourglass which was in front of him, when all of
+a sudden, the sand in the hourglass jumped ahead. He says:
+
+> “If the sand jumps ahead, it means a dragon suddenly got older. Some
+> kind of premature aging. But that shouldn’t be possible.
+>
+> You see, when dragons age, they get more powerful. So if you’re a
+> dragon, magically aging yourself would be a cheap shortcut to power.
+> Because of that, the dragon gods have decreed that dragons aren’t
+> allowed to magically age themselves - dragons have to *earn* their
+> years.
+>
+> For example, there are undead who can cause premature aging. If an
+> undead like that attacks a dragon, the dragon might get sick, but it
+> won’t get older. Getting older isn’t allowed.
+>
+> So how is it possible that I saw an hourglass jump ahead? Doesn’t make
+> sense. But I’m sure I saw it. It would have to be some very powerful
+> magic. I’m pretty sure only a god could do it.
+>
+> So I’ve been wondering about that ever since. I just keep thinking
+> about it.
+
+If the PCs ask what color the hourglass was: Steel.
+
+> “Steel dragons? They fit in very well with human culture. They often
+> take the form of humans and live in human cities. It’s common for them
+> to form relationships with humans. They are often interested in art
+> and culture. Of course, they’re individuals - don’t assume they’re all
+> the same.”
+
+If the PCs ask how old the dragon was, based on the amount of sand:
+Before the aging, juvenile. After the aging, young adult.
+
+So after explaining all this, Laeros says: “OK, somehow, this must all
+fit in with what you’ve been doing. There must be some sort of
+connection.” Of course, the connection is this: the hourglass that
+Laeros saw was Green’s hourglass, and the magical aging was caused by
+the Deck.
+
+It is up to the PCs to figure out at least this much: the Deck has been
+used to magically age a dragon. Just let them sweat it out until they
+figure it out.
+
+When they say this to Laeros, Laeros says:
+
+> “Well, if somebody’s using the Deck to age a dragon, somebody needs to
+> tell them to stop. Otherwise, they’re going to really piss off the
+> dragon gods.”
+
+As soon as Laeros says this, the PCs feel a weight lift, and they
+instinctively understand that they’re free to leave the realm. They have
+the message they’re supposed to deliver.
+
+Of course, Green is in Beshaba’s realm at this point. The PCs can’t talk
+to him directly, but they could possibly use the *sending* spell. If
+they do, Green will respond “Understood. Thanks for the warning.”
+
+If the players don’t deliver the message right away, they will hopefully
+remember it later, when they see Green try to use the Deck to age
+himself again.
+
+### To Sylvania, and then Sigil
+
+After solving the mystery and leaving the realm of Chronepsis, the PCs
+have no trouble following the road, which eventually leads to Sylvania.
+We are providing a simplified version of Sylvania, mainly because the
+PCs won’t be here long. They’re really just entering the town to use the
+portal to Sigil. If you want to replace this version of Sylvania with a
+more complex version, you can. You can even set some of your own
+adventures here.\
+\
+As the PCs travel down the road toward Sylvania, the trees start getting
+bigger and bigger, until eventually around evening the road is snaking
+around the bases of absolutely *enormous* trees.
+
+The road leads underneath a living wood archway. At the top of the
+archway, a hand-carved sign says, “Welcome to Sylvania.” At the side of
+the arch, a bored attendant looks up from the book he’s reading and
+says, “Please state your business.” If the PCs say, “Here to find a
+portal to Sigil,” the attendant puts a tally mark on a notepad, and
+says, “OK, move along,” while pointing toward the city. Then he goes
+right back to his book.
+
+A few minutes later, the road becomes main street Sylvania. On both
+sides of the road are establishments built against or into the giant
+trees. The establishments are mainly restaurants, bars, music venues,
+dance clubs, theaters, and the like. Imagine bourbon street New Orleans
+on mardi gras, but wedged between giant trees.
+
+If the PCs stop for dinner at a restaurant, they have to make difficult
+WIS save DC18 (use the party average) or else they start having a great
+time talking and socializing. They stay at the restaurant way too long,
+eat way too much, drink a lot of wine, and don’t leave until midnight.
+They spend 5X as much money as they intended. They wake the next day
+with an exhaustion level. This is the mood-altering properties of
+Arborea leaching through into Sylvania.
+
+If they ask an innkeeper about a room, rooms are available. If they ask
+the innkeeper about a portal to Sigil, the innkeeper says: “To get to
+Sigil, you need to talk to the scrap metal dealer in the flea market.
+They open at 8 in the morning.”
+
+The next day, the PCs wake, and the character of the city has completely
+changed. People are working hard, it’s bustling. The people know that if
+they want to party at night, they have to get their work done during the
+day, and they’re pushing themselves so that they can celebrate again.
+This is life in Sylvania.
+
+The flea market contains some permanent buildings, some large tents,
+some people who just have tables by the side of the walkway. The scrap
+dealer has a big round tent. Inside, there are bins with metal
+classified by type: tin, copper, iron, steel, and alloys. The bins are
+full of all kinds of metal junk, bought and sold by the pound.
+
+If you ask the merchant about the portal to Sigil, he says, “OK, I’ll
+take you there. 10gp each.” He collects the money. Then, he says “First,
+I have to do this.” He reaches into the steel bin, and pulls out a roll
+of steel wire. He makes a loop out of wire - an impromptu bracelet. He
+says “This ring of steel has an affinity for the city of Sigil, because
+the city of Sigil is like a ring of steel. Here, put this on.” He hands
+the bracelet to a PC, and then makes one for each PC. When everyone has
+a bracelet (except him), he says, “OK, time to go.” He ushers everybody
+out of the tent. When the PCs step out of the tent, they’re back in the
+flea market. But then they realize: it’s not the same flea market. It’s
+bigger — much bigger! Looking behind them, they see there’s no tent.
+They just traveled through a one-way portal.
+
+Welcome to the Bazaar, in Sigil.
+