Home

Current Clack

• This wiki has gone to hell! From our shiny new Twitter account, we lore-tweeted during the D&D Live 2019 event for the upcoming Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus adventure. There were devils and dogs, space hamsters and squirrels, and much frantic editing, writing, and tweeting.

• Descending from Icespire Peak with arms full of Kara-Turan spells such as false tracks and Adventurers League modules from "Foulness Beneath Mulmaster" onward, Regis87, Mistress of Twitter, led an adventuring party including BadCatMan, Daranios, Moviesign, Possessed Priest, and Sir Whiteout on a descent into Avernus, first layer of the Nine Hells, to report back on what dark things they saw. What they saw was one front of the Blood War and a legion of devils—barbed devils; spined devils; black, blue, green, and white abishai; and the wasp-like advespa—as well as a night hag, some misplaced redcaps, and a wereboar. Escaping a hellfire engine, they sailed down the River Styx and from the boatman heard the story of the archdevil Zariel, arch-duchess of Avernus. They ended up at Jangling Hiter, city of chain devils, with no memory of how they got there or why…
• We also say well met to Yucateco, who told us about Zhara, a suspiciously similar priestess of Tymora; AkamirNN, who visited the Lady Luck Tavern, also dedicated to Tymora, coincidentally; MisterNiuf, who was lucky to meet Sildar Hallwinter; and IAmSithisPlays who was unlucky enough to run into a krenshar...

Featured Article

Eilistraee was the chaotic good drow goddess of song, dance, swordwork, hunting, moonlight, goodness, and beauty, within the drow pantheon known as the Dark Seldarine. She was the patroness and protectress of the few dark elves who longed to return to the surface and live there, at peace with other races, and to abandon the endless conflicts and intrigues that dominated the lives of most drow.

She was often referred to as the The Dark Maiden, the Lady of the Dance, or Lady Silverhair, and sometimes The Dark Dancer, among other titles. After 1375 DR, for a brief time and while her faith subsumed that of her brother, the Masked Lord Vhaeraun, she became known as The Masked Lady.

Eilistraee was the daughter of Araushnee and Corellon Larethian, a free-spirited and kind-hearted goddess, with a fiery streak in her personality. After Araushnee's treachery almost made her slay her own father when a host of evil deities assaulted Arvandor, even as she was cleared from any guilt, Eilistraee chose to share her mother's exile. She made that choice because she knew that the drow would need her light in the times to come. After the descent of the drow, Eilistraee tried her best to be a mother goddess to her people and bring them the hope of a new life: she fought to lead them back to the lands of light, helping them to flourish and prosper in harmony with all other races, free from Lolth's tyranny. Hers was an uphill battle, however, as her power was little and she was opposed by all the gods of the Dark Seldarine. But, despite having to overcome many hardships and setbacks, Eilistraee never gave up fighting for her people.

In the 1370s DR, her conflict with her mother over the souls of the drow race ultimately led to Eilistraee's defeat and temporary disappearance. It lasted for about a century, until the Second Sundering, when Eilistraee returned to life and to her followers.

New & Upcoming Releases

Dragon+ 26 was released on June 18, 2019.

This issue has previews of many upcoming products including the Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus book, the Dungeons & Dragons Essentials Kit boxed set, the Dungeon Mayhem: Battle for Baldur’s Gate card game, the Warriors of Waterdeep mobile game, the Infernal Tides comic series debut, and the pièce de résistance: Baldur's Gate III !

Also, a celebration of the recent D&D Live 2019 event with video of all five live games.

Ghosts of Saltmarsh by Mike Mearls and Kate Welch is a 5^th-edition Dungeons & Dragons sourcebook that updates and adapts seven sea-themed adventures from earlier editions of Dungeons & Dragons. It was released on May 21^st, 2019.

“

This supplement introduces the port town of Saltmarsh, the perfect starting point for a nautical campaign. Seven sea-based adventures, including the classic The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh and its sequels, take characters from 1st to 12th level. Also inside are rules and DM advice for ships and sea travel, as well as deck plans for various vessels. An appendix provides rules for the new and classic monster in the adventures. Hoist your sails, pull up anchor, and set a course for adventure!

”

Featured Source

City of the Spider Queen is an adventure module set in the Forgotten Realms using the Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition ruleset, and was designed by James Wyatt. It focuses on drow, the Silence of Lolth, and the cult of Kiaransalee, taking the PCs from the Dordrien crypts of Daggerdale through the Underdark to the drow outpost of Szith Morcane and finally the city of Maerimydra, to defeat the schemes of Irae T'sarran.

“

The Fate of Faerûn Lies in Shadowy Darkness! Daggerdale is reeling from a sudden series of murderous drow raids. As a grave threat to the entire surface world develops in the war-torn dark elf city of Maerimydra, intrepid heroes must discover its source and destroy it, if they can. Designed to take 10th level characters as far as 18th level, City of the Spider Queen draws the heroes into the deepest reaches of the Underdark and plunges them into an epic adventure with dire consequences. 13 new monsters 13 new magic items 16-page full-color map booklet

”

Today in the Realms...

...it is 25 Kythorn, or the 25th of the Time of Flowers. Selûne is a waxing gibbous moon . On this day:

• In 714 DR, Josidiah Starym was killed defending the Speculum in Myth Drannor.
• In 1373 DR, the soul of Gareth Dragonsbane was released from the Plane of Shadow by a group of paladins and dragon-slayers, accompanied by the vampiric smoke drake Brimstone.
• In 1374 DR, in Arabel, Dabron Sashenstar publicly repudiated Fzoul Chembryl's claim that the arms trade was the sole purview of the Church of Bane. Furthermore, he declared the Iron Throne was broken and began negotiating bids for his weapons from representatives of Hillsfar, Sembia, Seiveril's Crusade, and even Zhentil Keep.

Realmslore

• Vortex spiders were poisonous arachnids from the Demiplane of Time. They wove their webs over temporal vortices in an effort to trap travelers to and from the demiplane.
• Khurgorbaeyag was the goblin deity of slavery and oppression. He taught his followers that only by wielding a whip could they escape its lash.
• The demiplane Wenimats held the deities of the Azuposi people of Maztica. It was connected to The Beastlands and the Prime Material plane by way of a mystical road.
• Jim's magic missile was a spell developed by the wizard Jim Darkmagic. It differed from the regular magic missile by requiring careful aim, and potentially causing more damage.
• Bleveth Carduth was a member of the Great Goblet crime syndicate in Scornubel. Carduth was a purveyor of mercenaries by trade, but also branched out into moneylending.
• Reverse flow, a spell primarily used by the wu jen of Kara-Tur, allowed a caster to change the direction of flow of a given river or stream, and could even alter ocean currents.
• The Undervaults of Ilsensine was a grand library in the mind flayer city of Oryndoll. Rather than books, knowledge was stored in thought basins that only psionic creatures could use.

And, from the archives:

• Petals of the Feather Skin flower from Chult, when dissolved on the tongue, cured a patient of any diseases they had.
• Gladehap Rock was a small plateau in Cormyr where duels were fought. Two paladins of Tyr once fought to the death here.
• The Three Plagues were a trio of notorious pestilences that had a history of outbreaks in Faerûn. One of these was featherlung.
• Joseph stowed away aboard a ship to Maztica. Thrown overboard there, he adventured with Swendi and they fought a pteranodon.
• The hishna darkness spell of Maztica produced only a stationary orb of gloom, and required the scales of a nightsnake.
• Amaeraszantha, an amethyst dragon lairing in Tempus's Tears, sought to learn from and be amused by lesser beings.
• Princess Roxanna of Edenvale fought many battles against suitors to keep her independence, from duels to bloodforge warfare.
• Quace was a fruit-bearing vine found in the South. It was a staple of Delzimmer, where many families had their own quace recipes.
• The bronze dragon Umsheryoth of the Dessarin Valley watched over and protected the Silmerhelve family of Waterdeep.

Featured Image