The Story
Auralia “Rory” Emryvel is a half-elven woman in young adulthood who has prophetic dreams. She has no control over the dreams and tends to see disasters coming. Her last dream was of a terrible storm that destroyed a couple farms and killed one person by lightning strike. In the dream, she is surrounded by stone and stalactites drip from the ceiling while stalagmites surge upward to meet them. The air is thick and humid with the stink of vegetation. She feels lightheaded and then, suddenly, there is a spike of awareness and fury. There is a loud beating noise and then the cavern begins to collapse. Then she is soaring upwards and filled with the need to destroy the town below: Fletcher’s Perch.
What’s Going On?
When the Dewdrop Man first made the land around Fletcher’s Perch safe, he ensorcelled a sleeping green dragon, locking it into lasting slumber. The regional effects have faded as though the dragon were dead. It has been asleep over 120 years now, but if the Dewdrop Man does not renew his protections, it will awaken soon and burst forth from its lair. It will know that it was snared into sleep and it will take revenge against the town and farmlands that now exist over its cave.
Fletcher’s Perch is built over limestone caves. The dragon chose one for its hoard and to rest within. The entrance to the cave is possibly through a lake further away that lead to a long underground series of caverns, ending in the dragon’s. Not that that matters anymore; the Dewdrop Man filled in the entrance, trapping the sleeping dragon in a single chamber. The Dewdrop Man is well aware the dragon exists and has actually stolen its hoard in the interim. The missing hoard is another cause for the dragon’s fury.
The dragon can be either an Adult Green Dragon or an Ancient Green Dragon.
What Can the Players Do?
The players have a few options. They can do nothing. They can convince the Dewdrop Man to continue his protections or they can convince a family in town to give their child to the Dewdrop Man in exchange for protection. They can also delve underground and confront the dragon. The dragon is initially asleep, though it will awaken after sustaining ⅕ of its hit points in damage. The dragon takes its turn immediately after awakening and remains at that position in the turn order. The players can try to kill the dragon or reason with it. They can also try to transport the dragon to another place or plane before it awakens.
The ceiling of the cavern the dragon is in has 150 hit points (AC 17). Once it sustains that much damage, the dragon will burst through. The dragon’s thrashing will feel like an earthquake to those on the surface. Also, the cavern is not big enough for the dragon to fly in. Any critical misses hit the ceiling instead, inflicting damage and weakening the rock.