23 KiB
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 (that the PCs know of), so the PCs have to leave town.
When they leave town, they may be accompanied by some of the people they have met. In particular, Pig wants to accompany the PCs. Pig likes being around people who don't laugh at him. The PCs may also have discussed the possibility of curing Pig, to do that, the PCs need "Greater Restoration," which they can definitely purchase in Sigil. Pig, in his weakened state, is not a great fighter, but he's strong enough that he's not a burden. Sam is another person who may want to accompany the PCs, but it is probably best if he doesn't, it might be better to arrange for him to be transported with Green as discussed in the previous chapter.
When the PCs leave town, they will probably 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 nothing here but 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 hundreds 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. Spoilers ahead!
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. Even though they live among humans, they're still dragons, and like all dragons, they like their hoards - they tend to be wealthy even when in human form. 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 the main street of 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 locals 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 the dealer), the dealer 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.