The Wyrmsmoke cell was a cell of the Cult of the Dragon operating in the Moonsea in the mid-to-late 14th century DR.[2][1]
Membership[]
The rank-and-file members of the Wyrmsmoke cell were largely wealthy and influential merchants of the Moonsea. However, they had a number of allies from Thar, namely three dragonkin tribes; a tribe of draconic orcs, which raised fire drakes as guardians; and their commanders, mostly orcish or ogrish variants.[2]
Organization[]
They were controlled by a six-strong council of Wearers of Purple drawn from both sides: Kaela Ulsant of Mulmaster, a cleric of Bane; the warrior Crenshyl Khodoil of Thentia; Delphaeryn Leiyraghon of Melvaunt, a necromancer and member of House Leiyaghon; Theldar Hammerfist, a half-orc warrior; an ogre barbarian named Orinskar of Thar; and Dalgar, Blood of Iyrauroth, an orc assassin.[2]
Activities[]
The Wyrmsmoke cell married the riches of the cities of the Moonsea with the might of the tribes of Thar, in order to gain sway over the dragons of the land.[2]
For several decades, the merchants had worked to thwart the Zhentarim's schemes to control trade over the Moonsea, but lacked the power to openly oppose them and dared not enrage them so much as to provoke outright retaliation. Instead, the merchants bribed dragons dwelling in the Galena Mountains to attack select merchant vessels belonging to the Zhentarim and prepared to profit from the 'unexpected' shortages in the market that ensued.[2]
Base of Operations[]
They operated out of Wyrmsmoke Keep, an ancient cloud castle long abandoned by the cloud giants who built it. It floated high over the western slopes of the Galena Mountains, halfway between Hulburg and Glister. From here, they worked their schemes over the eastern Moonsea North lands and the Great Gray Land of Thar. However, whilst their Tharran allies garrisoned Wyrmsmoke Keep, many of the cell's merchant members were based in the Moonsea cities, primarily Melvaunt, Mulmaster, and Thentia,[2] as well as north of Glister.[1]
History[]
The Wyrmsmoke cell had long enjoyed influence over the dragons of the Moonsea and Thar.[2]
After centuries of sleep beneath the steppes of Thar, members of the Glister cell awoke the great wyrm black dragon Iyrauroth, the Wyrm of the Peaks, some time in the late 1360s DR.[1][2] They attempted to persuade him to undergo the transformation into a dracolich, and gave him offerings. Iyrauroth only found their efforts amusing. Stirred from his rest now, by 1369 DR Iyrauroth acted as he pleased, and took to raiding caravans crossing Thar between Glister, Melvaunt, and Phlan, including those run by the Wyrmsmoke Cult cell. When a whole caravan to Glister disappeared and agents reported on the previously unknown black dragon's raids, the Zhentarim feared that the Cult of the Dragon was responsible. To preserve trade, they marched Zhentilar troops into Thar, to which the Cult reacted by rallying local tribes to their cause, until a war loomed.[1][note 1]
Then, during the Dracorage in the Year of Rogue Dragons, 1373 DR, the silver dragon paladins of the Talons of Justice hunted down and slew those maddened evil dragons who'd allied with the Dragon Cult and followed its leader, Sammaster. This effort saw the Wyrmsmoke cell lose the majority its dragon allies and all of the dracoliches.[2]
Given these setbacks and the aftermath of the Rage of Dragons, the Wearers of Purple feared revenge from the Zhentarim all the more, and therefore refocused their efforts on recruiting dragons to become dracoliches. They spent much of their coin on negotiating with several prospective Sacred Ones amongst the remaining dragons in the mountains.[2]
Circa 1479 DR, rumors claimed the Cult of the Dragon had a foothold somewhere in the Moonsea region.[3] Indeed they had, with the Redhorn stronghold in the Dragonspine Mountains.[4][note 2]
Appendix[]
Notes[]
- ↑ The sourcebook Cult of the Dragon refers only to "The Cult cell located north of Glister". Although the Wyrmsmoke cell's cloud castle is later south of Glister, the close proximity and similar operations of the two cells implies they must be the same, while the cloud castle may have moved.
- ↑ Similarly, it is unknown if this late-1400s Moonsea cell is the same as the Wyrmsmoke cell, a successor, or a rival, but this is included here for the shared geographic connection.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Dale Donovan (January 1998). Cult of the Dragon. Edited by Julia Martin. (TSR, Inc.), p. 61. ISBN 0-7869-0709-6.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 Eric L. Boyd, Eytan Bernstein (August 2006). Dragons of Faerûn. Edited by Beth Griese, Cindi Rice, Kim Mohan. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 56. ISBN 0-7869-3923-0.
- ↑ Bruce R. Cordell, Ed Greenwood, Chris Sims (August 2008). Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide. Edited by Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 150. ISBN 978-0-7869-4924-3.
- ↑ Bruce R. Cordell, Ed Greenwood, Chris Sims (August 2008). Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide. Edited by Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 246. ISBN 978-0-7869-4924-3.