20 Campaign Questions on Drakkenheim...
Like the other articles in this series (Twilight:2000 Polish Campaign and Iron Kingdoms: Requiem 5E), this article is based on the format of Jeff Rients' original 2011 post.
Image credit: Ghostfire gaming website
Note: this is not meant to be definitive - I'm only starting play in February 2025, so this is based on the sources I have available, mainly Sebastian Crowe's Guide to Drakkenheim (SCGtD), plus various PDFs and downloadable resources from the Ghostfire Gaming website.
Officially the setting uses the 2014 5E ruleset, not the current 2024 5E ruleset, although conversions are relatively straightforward. Notably, there is no distinction for non-human races in the way you might expect from a default 5E setting. The total number of elves in the setting numbers only a few thousand, although "half-elves" are significantly more common (although technically *not* a thing in 2024 5E rules anymore...). Both dragonborn and tieflings are much more common than most 5E settings - the legacy of the sorcerer-kings' blood pacts with dragons and fiends runs deep. Dwarves mostly worship Gaibhne the Smith, one of the gods of the Old Faith, but like most of the other non-humans except the elves, they are mostly assimilated into the predominant human culture of the continent.
1. What is the deal with my cleric's religion?
As a setting, Drakkenheim has two broad choices - the "new" anti-magic Faith of the Sacred Flame and a more relaxed preceding folk tradition collectively referred to as "the Old Faith", which is closely based on the Celtic pantheon but has numerous local interpretations. The section in SCGtD (pages 15 - 27) details both of these in some depth, including various ranks and tenets - it's worth checking out as the authoritarian aspect of the "state" religion is a significant component of the setting.
Gods are aloof in the setting; clerics, druids, and paladins cast their spells by "channelling the supernatural forces of light and shadow which underscore the cosmos" (SCGtD, page 10). Violating your religious tenets doesn't mechanically cost you your powers - but a genuine personal crisis of faith might, and the social consequences of straying from orthodoxy can be worse than losing a spell slot.
The Faith of the Sacred Flame is the dominant religion of the continent - think a medieval Catholic Church analogue with a strong anti-magic streak and a genuinely inspiring founding story. Saint Tarna, a reformed warlord-turned-paladin, is its central figure. The organized clergy is led by the Divine Matriarch (currently Mercy V, based in the Holy City of Lumen in Elyria), and is structured from acolytes up through Flamekeepers and High Flamekeepers to the Circle of Flame synod. Notably, Flamekeepers are predominantly women - males may join as "Pyre Priests" but can never be nominated to higher office. The Faith views arcane magic with deep suspicion, considers the Old Gods to be primeval demons, and has been known to sponsor brutal inquisitions in the past. That said, they also run the hospitals and feed the poor, so it's complicated.
The Old Faith is a decentralised polytheistic tradition dedicated to a dozen-odd primal deities: Arwyn the Moon Hunter, Danu Mother Earth, Gaibhne the Smith, Kromac the Ravager, Lugh the Sun, Morrigan the Witch, Nodens the Tempest, Nuada the Silver-Handed, Ogham the Sage, Phantasia the Dreamer, Dian Cheht the Healer, and Shegorach the Trickster. Unlike the mainstream religion, druids comprise the majority of the Old Faith clergy, although clerics, monks, and paladins are also part of the loose religious structure. There are occasional warlocks dedicated to the Old Gods as patrons. There is no central authority - conclaves and communes spring up around the worship of individual deities, and even two communities worshipping the same god might have wildly different rites.
Almost everything else is grouped under the umbrella term of "Shadow Cults". Not universally evil (some practitioners view shadow and light as part of a necessary balance), they are nonetheless relentlessly persecuted by the orthodox faithful.
A notable rising sect is the Followers of the Falling Fire, who consider delerium a sacred element and are somewhat of a doomsday cult made up mostly of disaffected commoners and the dispossessed. They are one of the major factions of Drakkenheim (SCGtD, page 9), and their leader, Lucretia Mathias, is considered a dangerous arch-heretic by the establishment. Despite the branding, her writing is a scathing internal critique of a church grown fat and corrupt - and her prophecy did come true, which is more than you can say for most heretics.
In Westemär, the Faith is more moderate than in Elyria - many nobles keep Old Faith shrines openly outside major cities, including a notable shrine to Morrigan outside Drakkenheim and shrines to Nodens near Drannsmund. The Followers of the Falling Fire have gained particular ground here, with several prominent High Flamekeepers publicly breaking with the Divine Matriarch to take up Lucretia Mathias's cause (SCGtD, page 43, Gazetteer). In Elyria, by contrast, the Faith is the state in all but name - temples to the Old Gods are banned within city limits, and offenders can be fined, flogged, or banished. Tolerance diminishes sharply on a north-to-south gradient, with the Southern Reaches being considerably more relaxed (and home to hybrid faiths that the orthodox clergy have branded heretical).
Caspia is largely irreverent by reputation - most cities have a chapel or cathedral but Caspian dedication to the Flame is notably cooler than their neighbours. The Old Gods are a particular cultural curiosity here: most Caspians think of them as ghost stories or outright demons, and there is a popular cycle of heroic legends claiming that founding scions of Houses Jackson, Joplin, and Jones personally slew Kromac, Nodens, and Morrigan and sent the Old Gods fleeing in terror. The historiography of these tales is a mess (the houses didn't exist yet when the stories are supposedly set), but bringing this up in the wrong company will start a fight. Devout Caspian noblewomen frequently travel to Elyria to train as Flamekeepers, which is considered another avenue to bring renown to their house rather than a purely spiritual calling (SCGtD, page 82, Gazetteer).
The Eastern Vales have the most heterogeneous religious landscape on the continent. Worship of the Old Gods is openly practised - a popular local sect regards Arwyn, Morrigan, and Phantasia as a trinity of three wise sisters, and halfling communities are among the few places on the continent where public shrines to Shegorach can be found without incident. The Vales are also home to several divergent denominations of the Faith, including unorthodox beliefs that attempt to reconcile the Sacred Flame with Old Faith myths - some conflate Saint Tarna with the goddess Nuada, and hold that the Sacred Flame was created by Ogham, Lugh, and Gaibhne as a beacon of knowledge. The orthodox clergy in Lumen officially find this alarming, but Flamekeepers in the Vales are so geographically isolated from the church hierarchy that many have never communicated with their peers in other lands, let alone made the journey to Elyria (SCGtD, page 94, Gazetteer).
The Isles of Skye are the heartland of the Old Faith. The people of Skye believe the Old Gods still roam the islands in physical form, and every deity in the pantheon receives active, literal worship - druids of Kromac perform blood rites openly, prominent menhirs to Nodens dot the coast, witches conduct rituals to Morrigan and Dian Cheht, warriors invoke Nuada before battle, farmers petition Danu and Lugh at harvest, and no hunter in Skye will slay or eat a rabbit for fear of Shegorach's reprisal. Ancient stone circles are arranged in celestial formations for Arwyn and Phantasia. The Faith of the Sacred Flame exists here as a handful of isolated chapels whose clergy keep a cautious distance from the heathens around them (SCGtD, page 102, Gazetteer).
Liberio is a moderate exception to most regional patterns. The city's long association with Elyrian trade and proximity has left the Faith well established there, and stories from the Sacred Flame are a popular subject for the city's celebrated artists. The Divine Matriarch has historically been Liberio's greatest art patron. But the city is genuinely pluralistic by temperament - it is too commercially minded to persecute religious minorities who might take their coin elsewhere (SCGtD, page 109, Gazetteer).
Terene is firmly Old Faith territory, with particular reverence for Danu, Kromac, and Nodens as creators and sustainers of life and nature. The jungle is filled with old statues and worship circles to ancient beings - some pre-human in origin. The local pantheon is also broader than the continental standard, featuring entities and figures not widely known elsewhere. The Faith of the Sacred Flame is spreading its influence into Terene, but slowly and against genuine resistance (SCGtD, page 114, Gazetteer). Orleone similarly holds the Old Gods in deep regard, including Phantasia - who is said to have favoured the catfolk people specifically (SCGtD, page 118, Gazetteer).
2. Where can we go to buy standard equipment?
As usual, the various towns and cities will have a general store, a blacksmith, and probably not only standard weapons and armour, but also an apothecary business or three. Magic item crafting and sales are strictly regulated by the Amethyst Academy's "Articles of Enterprise" (SCGtD, pages 32 - 33), which fixes prices and requires a guild tithe of the profits. The second-hand market, however, provides a loophole - a merchant who buys and resells magical items may do so without paying Academy dues, so long as they aren't crafting anything themselves.
NEW: TOOL FEATS
SCGtD introduces several new items of equipment, including 6 new tools such as the doctor's bag, occultist's kit, and cosmologist's tools (SCGtD, pages 178 - 182). Each new kit is associated with one of three new half-feats (cannot be taken at 1st level) that add +1 to an associated ability score and grant some extra abilities or enable crafting of themed basic items. For example:
Doctor's Bag: Proficiency with this kit lets you add your proficiency bonus to any ability checks you make to determine the symptoms of diseases, poisons, and debilitating conditions, as well as what is required to relieve them.
Medical Expert (Requires proficiency in occultist's tools, exorcist's kit, or doctor's bag): Increase your Intelligence or Wisdom score by 1, to a maximum of 20. During a short rest you can tend to the sick or wounded...
Existing SRD5.1 tools also have corresponding Tool Feats, balancing things out for classes that already have automatic tool proficiencies - particularly relevant to rogues and to the new apothecary class, which starts with proficiency in alchemist's tools, herbalism kit, and poisoner's kit.
Note: In the 2024 5E ruleset, tool proficiencies have changed significantly and are now more integrated into the crafting rules. Minor adjustments are needed.
3. Where can we go to get platemail custom-fitted for this monster I just befriended?
Well, that seems unlikely to occur - particularly with the delerium-mutated and contamination-warped beasties of the ruins... but bards (SCGtD, pages 152 - 153) do exist in Drakkenheim, and their seductive shenanigans are entirely possible. I guess. <winces>. Fade to black.
Bardic antics aside, anything of this sort of complexity is going to need dwarven expertise or be a commissioned job from the Amethyst Academy - which may be more interested in obtaining the creature for study purposes, particularly if it is delerium-tainted.
Although non-humans (somewhat surprisingly - particularly dragonborn, tieflings, and halflings) are well integrated into common society, tolerance for "monsters" and the warped creatures that have emerged following the meteor strike is low as the horrors spawned by delerium spread across the continent.
Just leave your pet at home base in the ruins. Better still, leave the damn bard there as well and don't think too hard about it if they survive.
4. Who is the mightiest wizard in the land?
The likeliest candidate would be one of the eight Directors of the Amethyst Academy.
Technically, there are currently only seven active archmages, as Adrianna Modera, the Archmage of Drakkenheim, is presumed dead or missing following the meteor impact on the city (SCGtD, page 30). Given their rivalry, you are unlikely to get a consensus answer other than that they all feel they deserve the title. They all live in secluded, secret strongholds - connected by a private network of teleportation circles - and are highly reclusive, quite possibly non-human, and in at least three cases have held their positions since the Academy's founding hundreds of years ago. Their plots and schemes are the major reason the institution rarely reaches consensus on anything, and even then it is invariably painfully slow.
Below them are fewer than two dozen Grandmasters capable of casting 9th-level spells. The most notable is Eldrick Runeweaver, foremost master of abjuration magic alive, one of the three contenders for the vacant Drakkenheim Directorate position, and currently leading the Academy's expedition into the ruins.
The Gazetteer fleshes out several more Directors with specifically alarming personal agendas. Zodiac Allsight (SCGtD, page 103, Gazetteer) is a hermetic storm giant - thirty feet tall, centuries-old, based at Starspire Observatory in the Isles of Skye - who has spent his residency cataloguing the cosmos and is now attempting to use delerium to create controlled doorways to other timelines. He wants to travel back in time to watch the elves arrive and learn how the Elfgates functioned. He did not see the Drakkenheim meteor coming, and the subject makes him furious.
Archmage Alabaster (SCGtD, page 110, Gazetteer) in Liberio created the formula for aqua delerium, has already successfully transmuted lead into gold using delerium, and is now using delerium crystals as the hearts of sentient golems - unique constructed beings with genuine personalities that he has quietly released into the world to see what happens.
Archmage Penumbra (SCGtD, page 116, Gazetteer) in Terene is studying delerium contamination's effects on the mind, currently using fish, rats, and birds as test subjects to develop psionic abilities, and hopes to move to human volunteers shortly - with the eventual goal of using delerium to grant magical powers to the non-mageborn.
Since the loss of the Inscrutable Tower, the Enigma Ziggurat floating over Liberio has become the true operational fulcrum of the Academy, and contains a massive pressurised delerium stockpile at its core that is already developing a localised Haze (SCGtD, page 110, Gazetteer).
Overall, despite the existence of a national wizard's guild of sorts, the Drakkenheim setting is comparatively low-magic when measured against the standard Forgotten Realms 5E setting. Barely one in a thousand people can cast spells, and the majority of those will never get beyond cantrips and 1st-level effects in their entire lifetimes.
It's worth noting that the new apothecary class (SCGtD, pages 132 - 148) is pitched as quite independent of the Academy and not necessarily "arcane" in the traditional sense. Although they still fall under the Edicts of Lumen, their powers and techniques are more "mad-scientist" and "occult" in style - something between alchemy and esoteric medicine rather than eldritch fire. The closest to a traditional alchemist is likely the chemist subclass (SCGtD, pages 141 - 142), but different enough to warrant its own exploration.
5. Who is the greatest warrior in the land?
There are a few credible candidates, depending on your metric.
For sheer institutional clout and documented track record, High Paladin Uriel Radley of the Silver Order probably takes the title. He commands the entire militant arm of the Faith of the Sacred Flame, carries a legendary warhammer called The Judge that has been passed down through the High Paladins for generations, and is described as "brutal in battle" by those who have seen him work. He lives for legacy - he genuinely wants to be remembered like Saint Tarna herself, which is either inspirational or alarming depending on your point of view about zealous paladins (SCGtD, page 69, Gazetteer).
For pure physical menace, Rickard Steelfang (SCGtD, page 49, Gazetteer) - leader of the Steelfang Mercenary Company - is a seven-foot lycanthrope with a curse that makes him "almost unkillable." He came to this arrangement entirely by accident and has made the best of a terrible situation. He is blunt, vulgar, and covered in axes. He has spent years growing weary of his curse and is starting to quietly consider looking for a cure, which makes him potentially interesting rather than simply dangerous.
For political soldiers, Lord Commander Elias Drexel of the Hooded Lanterns (SCGtD, page 45, Gazetteer) is the most decorated military commander currently active in Westemär and is the only surviving member of the old Royal Council. He is also, quietly, a regicide - having joined the plot to assassinate Mannfred von Kessel, which backfired spectacularly when Cecilia died anyway and left him with nobody to fight for. The Hooded Lanterns are his penance project.
Caspia, being a nation entirely organised around competitive violence and the acquisition of martial glory, adds some serious names to this conversation. High King Venus Joplin II has held the throne for thirty years, has never lost a Kingsmoot, and is spoken of in the same breath as Rex Caspian himself - which is, frankly, significant praise in a culture where a founding king was famously petrified while wrestling a gorgon with his bare hands (SCGtD, page 84, Gazetteer). She wears a breastplate with open arms specifically to display her musculature to political rivals. This is a considered choice. The other houses dislike her, which is probably correct.
Scalebreaker Commander Callisto (SCGtD, page 87, Gazetteer) heads the Caspian dragon-hunting lodge and has survived more encounters with major dragons than almost anyone alive - including losing an arm to a red dragon on the Drakeclaw Mountains, returning with the dragon's head anyway, and then going undefeated in all subsequent duels despite the missing limb. He is over seventy, retired from active field work, and has a long-standing personal rivalry with the ancient black dragon Amarodial. Anyone who makes a comment about his missing arm ends up in the training pit with him. The current record of such challengers is 0-and-however-many.
The Isles of Skye offer their own contender in Martyn Mac Lochlann (SCGtD, page 103, Gazetteer), chieftain of Darryl and the closest thing Skye has to a unifying warlord. He stands nearly eight feet tall, weighs approximately six hundred pounds of solid muscle, drinks mead from a goblet carved from his traitorous brother's skull, and charges into battle with woad and bear blood on his face. He is also deeply superstitious and will refuse to fight until the stars align and he can hunt a boar in Kromac's name, which is the one flaw in an otherwise comprehensive resumé of violence.
From Terene, Chief Ranger Tanesha Laurent (SCGtD, page 116, Gazetteer) leads the Clawstrider Rangers - the jungle nation's elite mounted warriors - from the back of a great red tyrannosaurus rex named Konak. The Clawstriders have repelled Caspian invasion forces repeatedly, which is genuinely impressive given that House Jagger sends wyvern-riders.
Lion Guard Commander Lava Straža of Orleone (SCGtD, page 119, Gazetteer) earned her command by personally fighting Amarodial the Bitterheart when the ancient black dragon crossed into Orleone looking for farmland to desolate. She carries the scars. The dragon did not get the farmland.
6. Who is the richest person in the land?
For liquid wealth and active political power, the most likely answer right now is Duke Valentin von Baden of Drannsmund (SCGtD, page 47, Gazetteer). He stayed strategically neutral throughout the Civil War - a rare achievement - and his city has been the primary beneficiary of the post-Drakkenheim economy. Delerium smuggled out of the ruins flows through Drannsmund's port en route to distant markets, and House von Baden taxes all of it. His daughter Verona (the more politically ambitious of the two) is very clearly positioning herself for a run at ruling Westemär outright should no heir to the throne emerge.
The Amethyst Academy collectively controls enormous wealth through its guild monopoly on magical goods and services, as well as its role as arcane counsel to the nobility - a relationship that has become deeply intertwined over the three centuries since the Edicts of Lumen. Whether any individual Director is richer than the institution as a whole is a matter of spirited debate amongst Academy mages who should probably be doing something more productive.
In Elyria, House Reed (SCGtD, page 71, Gazetteer) has quietly become one of the wealthiest noble families through generations of merchant shipping on the Middle Sea, and the current Lord Regent Polonius Reed is now actively directing Elyrian privateers to intercept delerium shipments - generating additional revenue while nominally serving a holy purpose. Very tidy.
In Caspia, House Jones has accumulated wealth through both domestic politics and strategic foreign marriage alliances across multiple generations. They are "extremely active in domestic and international politics" and entertain nobles from Westemär and Elyria continuously - notably, the late Queen Lenore of Drakkenheim herself was a member of House Jones, and they are currently eyeing the fractured political situation in Westemär as an opportunity to "vastly expand their holdings" (SCGtD, page 85, Gazetteer). A family that can describe a national catastrophe as a business opportunity is doing something right, financially.
7. Where can we go to get some magical healing?
Death is usually permanent. That sets the tone.
Canonically, the only characters capable of casting true resurrection are the current Divine Matriarch and the arch-heretic Lucretia Mathias (SCGtD, page 35) - which means raising the truly dead is an extraordinary political event, not a shopping trip.
For more routine healing, the Faith of the Sacred Flame is your best bet. Most towns of a thousand or more have a Chapel of the Sacred Flame staffed by a Flamekeeper and a handful of acolytes. Player characters can readily find someone capable of casting 3rd- or 4th-level spells in most large towns and cities. Establishing contact with someone capable of 5th- or 6th-level spells requires a major city and probably a significant reputation.
Apothecaries are also a potential source of (magical) healing - though it is implied that much of their "magic" is more science and/or alchemy themed, regardless of how the mechanics function. Several new delerium-themed spells can address the negative effects of contamination exposure (see Q9 below).
One important note: several apothecary abilities, new spells, and the Doctor's Bag tool feat can remove levels of exhaustion - which in most 5E settings is particularly difficult to recover from short of a long rest. In a setting where the Haze prevents long rests within the ruins, this is not a trivial capability.
8. Where can we go to get cures for the following conditions: poison, disease, curse, level drain, lycanthropy, polymorph, alignment change, death, undeath?
Poison and disease can be addressed through alchemical, clerical, or medical means, noting that in most cases this involves dealing with the official hierarchy of the Faith of the Sacred Flame - unless you can convince a druid or paladin of the Old Faith to assist you. Hopefully without needing a blood sacrifice.
Curses from bestow curse and similar spells or effects are handled as usual.
Level (or energy) drain isn't really a thing anymore in 5E.
Lycanthropy is hardly noted in Drakkenheim despite lycanthropes being the chosen children of the Old Faith god Kromac the Beastfather - the notable exception being Rickard Steelfang (SCGtD, page 49, Gazetteer section), leader of his own mercenary company and noted to be "a unique human lycanthrope whose curse renders him almost unkillable." In mechanical terms, there is no medicinal cure for lycanthropy per se - it's a curse and not a disease, so it needs remove curse as per usual 5E rules.
Polymorph and alignment change are less of an issue in 5E in general these days.
Death is usually permanent, as noted above.
Undead are common in Drakkenheim and notably include vampires - including a whole vampiric mageborn aristocracy in Westemär known as the Night Court (SCGtD, Gazetteer section) - as well as various lesser undead. A striga (SCGtD, page 205) is a true vampire or vampire spawn that has succumbed to contamination and, notably, these creatures are notimmune to the deleterious effects of delerium.
Contamination is unique to the setting - the potent side effect of exposure to delerium. Standard disease, magic, and poison protections do not work against it. It doesn't heal naturally and can't be removed with low-level spells like lesser restoration. There are spells that can remove or lessen contamination effects, but these are not accessible at the beginning of the campaign and must be learnt during play and/or awarded for achieving Personal Quests or story goals (SCGtD, Appendix C, page 230).
9. Is there a magic guild my wizard belongs to or that I can join to get more spells?
I'm glad you asked. But be careful what you wish for.
The Amethyst Academy (SCGtD, pages 28 - 31) is the premier - and only - "wizard's guild" in Drakkenheim, although it accepts members of other arcane spellcasting classes including bards, sorcerers, and warlocks. It's unclear whether eldritch knights, arcane tricksters, and other half-arcane subclasses fall under its jurisdiction, and it is implied that the new apothecary class sits somewhat apart.
As part of their stranglehold on arcane education and research, the Academy has created (and strictly enforces) the Edicts of Lumen (SCGtD, pages 32 - 33), a set of six articles governing how mageborn interact with non-magical society:
- Articles of Inheritance: Mageborn are stripped of noble titles and land ownership claims. This is the big one - it's designed specifically to prevent another sorcerer-king situation.
- Articles of Neutrality: Mages are granted legal protections and freedom to travel, in exchange for political non-intervention.
- Articles of Guardianship: The Academy gets legal guardianship of all mageborn children, regardless of station. No exceptions for royalty.
- Articles of Enterprise: The Academy has sole authority over all arcane guilds, magic schools, and manufacture/sale of arcane artifacts. Prices are fixed; a tithe is required. The second-hand market is a notable loophole.
- Articles of Malediction: Bans the teaching of necromancy and demonology. Mages who use magic to influence, control, or harm nobility or clergy are put to death. Note: the ban is on teaching, not using - the Academy argued that banning such magic entirely would impair their ability to understand and contain it. Enforcement is a vexing challenge.
- Articles of Umbrage: If a noble estate comes under the rule of a mageborn, all nations party to the agreement shall muster arms against them. Clause Five is the nuclear option.
There are hedge-mages that exist outside the Academy's influence, but as Drakkenheim is a low-magic setting, any arcane practitioners greater than 3rd - 5th level are very rare. The Academy is increasingly interested in obtaining and researching delerium, so having some for sale or offering it as a gift may well get you noticed - but perhaps not in the right ways.
Renegade spellcasters are labelled malfeasants and actively hunted down. Some are criminals in breach of the Edicts of Lumen, some corrupted by delerium, and others politically opposed to the greater agendas of the Academy or one of its various Directors.
10. Where can I find an alchemist, sage, or other expert NPC?
You're in luck - Drakkenheim has a whole new class (with multiple subclasses) called the apothecary (SCGtD, pages 132 - 148) that covers the alchemist, and to a lesser extent the sage and medical doctor, roles in the setting. They blend scientific and occult knowledge to create magical effects, and need not themselves be mageborn.
The six apothecary subclasses (called "Occult Practices") are: Alienist, Chemist, Exorcist, Mutagenist, Pathogenist, and Reanimator. The closest to a traditional alchemist is the Chemist (SCGtD, pages 141 - 142). The Reanimator is exactly what it sounds like and presumably makes for entertaining dinner party conversation in Westemär's Night Court circles.
Most arcane sages are either variant loremaster bards, divination wizards, or similar skill-based arcane subclasses and thus members of the Amethyst Academy by default.
Note: The artificer's alchemist subclass (originally from Eberron sourcebooks) doesn't appear to be playable RAW in the setting, as the additional class is proprietary WotC content. The apothecary covers the role better and more in character anyway.
11. Where can I hire mercenaries?
The Civil War produced an embarrassing surplus of veterans with no obvious employment, so there is no shortage of organised muscle for hire in Westemär.
The two most notable standing companies currently active are the Steelfang Company and the Achtungwald Irregulars (SCGtD, page 43, Gazetteer), both of which formed during the Civil War and are now kept on retainer by the various dukes and duchesses who are quietly preparing for the next conflict. The Steelfangs in particular are currently in the employ of Countess Constance Kleinkessel of Kesselholm, which tells you something about their ethics - or hers (see Q17).
For less formal arrangements, the Hooded Lanterns are actively recruiting in every tavern and market square in Westemär. They pay in purpose and patriotism rather than coin, which may or may not suit your party's motivations. They need warm bodies badly enough that their standards have become quite flexible.
If you're in Drannsmund, the harbor district is the obvious place to find hired swords of varying reliability. Expect to pay more and receive less loyalty than advertised.
12. Is there any place on the map where swords are illegal, magic is outlawed, or any other notable hassles from Johnny Law?
Not quite... but almost.
Magic is integral to the campaign, but its learning and practice is bound by the Edicts of Lumen (see Q9), enforced by the Amethyst Academy monopoly. The mainstream church, the Faith of the Sacred Flame, is not keen on magic as such - even if one of their early saints, Saint Tarna, the mystic theurge who wrote their holy text, was very likely an arcane spellcaster, and the current Divine Matriarch is advised by an archmage. This theological awkwardness is, in the book's own words, "greatly suppressed within the faith" (SCGtD, page 20).
The Edicts technically cover "mages" and "mageborn" and don't acknowledge apothecaries, bards, druids, or warlocks as distinct categories - this is noted as a significant flaw in the treaty's drafting. In practice, noble houses rarely test the letter of the law against its spirit. No ruler has dared bestow their estates upon an heir with any sort of magical ability since the Edicts were signed, and few are willing to stake their lives and lineages on a technicality.
Using magic to commit other crimes - robbery, theft, or murder - is a burning-at-the-stake or hanging offence, regardless of severity.
13. Which way to the nearest tavern?
Depends where you are.
If you're in Drannsmund - the largest surviving port city and the most likely starting location - the obvious upmarket option is the Kraken Manor Hotel (SCGtD, page 53, Gazetteer): prestigious, favoured by wealthy merchants, Academy mages, and visiting nobles, decorated floor-to-ceiling with enthusiastic kraken imagery including a marble kraken statue in the lobby. Probably the best place to overhear useful gossip and terrible ideas in equal measure.
For something less refined, the harbour district hosts the usual range of sailors' taverns, flophouses, and hostels. None named specifically in the current section, but the Queen's Men likely have a favourite dive and the smuggling trade means there is no shortage of drinking establishments catering to people who prefer not to be asked questions.
In Todesfeld, the Gavel and Gauntlet on Chisel Street (SCGtD, page 54, Gazetteer) is described as the better class of establishment - free of the general muck of Low Town. The Drowning Cat and the Smoke Street Flophouse are the workingman's options, sitting just above the flood water in a city that has been partially submerged since the dam was destroyed during the Civil War. Local colour abounds.
In Kesselholm - a quieter village you'd only visit if the adventure takes you there - the Moose and Squirrel Inn (SCGtD, page 56, Gazetteer) is the only lodging in town, converted from a few renovated cottages and run by Natasha Winkle and her ornery husband Boris. Rumours of wolf attacks, strange lights from the castle, and villagers not leaving their homes after dark have not been great for the tourist trade.
In Caspia, the obvious stop near the seat of power is the Troll's Head at the Tower of Swords (SCGtD, page 89, Gazetteer) - a tavern and inn run by Comet Smith out of his family's manor house, identified by the mummified troll head on a stake outside. It caters to gladiators and spectators of the Rex Colosseum in roughly equal measure. The proprietor's story about how he obtained the head grows noticeably more heroic with each telling.
The Eastern Vales don't have a tavern named by the setting specifically - but the town of Dregden's Ferry is a notable wedding destination, and the halfling village of Kinland Hillsproduces, per the Gazetteer, the best baked goods on the continent. The bakery TobTab Delectables, run by twins Tobin and Tabin Willow, is "famous across the continent" and makes celebrated cakes, pies, and pastries at prices steep enough to be a plot hook in their own right (SCGtD, page 99, Gazetteer). Not a tavern as such, but if you're in the area, priorities.
The Isles of Skye don't have individually named establishments, but the city of Darryl is famous across the continent for its meadhalls, which are described as "constantly bustling with revelry and tall tales of seafaring voyages, great travels, and adventures" (SCGtD, page 106, Gazetteer). The social infrastructure of a culture organised around raiding, storytelling, and competitive feasting means the drinking establishments in Darryl are institutions unto themselves. Arrive without a good story at your peril.
14. What monsters are terrorising the countryside sufficiently that if I kill them, I will become famous?
The Ruins of Drakkenheim are the focus of many of the malevolent creatures that have begun to plague the lands as the influence and taint of delerium spreads. The setting's bestiary (SCGtD, Appendix A, pages 202 - 211) includes several setting-specific creatures:
- Deep Dregs (page 202): The most common inhabitants of Drakkenheim's ruins - contaminated former humans and creatures warped by prolonged delerium exposure into monstrous forms. They come in several varieties of increasing nastiness.
- Striga (page 205): Vampires or vampire spawn that have succumbed to contamination. Notably, they are not immune to delerium's deleterious effects - which raises some interesting tactical possibilities.
- Entropic Watcher (page 206): One of several eldritch horrors from beyond that have been drawn to - or perhaps through - the meteor's impact site.
- Far Dweller (page 211): Further into "something has gone very wrong with reality" territory. Probably don't poke it.
Beyond the ruins, the Gazetteer introduces several named threats with regional notoriety:
Trethysia the Forest Serpent (SCGtD, page 50, Gazetteer) is an adult green dragon that has occupied the Achtungwald forest for hundreds of years. An accomplished illusionist who has survived both the wars of House von Drakken and generations of Caspian dragonslayers by being clever and elusive. Generally prefers solitude, though "from time to time the dragon is seen on raids, snatching livestock." Most locals still remember what it did to the walls of Altbruke. Killing it would make you famous; finding it first would be the achievement.
Vulmungoth, Doom of the Mountain (SCGtD, page 50, Gazetteer) is an ancient red dragon slumbering in the caldera of the Dragon's Maw volcano - a beast older than recorded history, last of the dragons who made the original Blood Pact with the sorcerer-kings. It wakes approximately once a century to feed and leaves towns destroyed in its wake. Currently dormant, but the locals have detailed evacuation plans for a reason.
The Duchess (SCGtD, page 51, Gazetteer) is a whale-sized contaminated sea monster that has taken up residence in Ash Bay, having migrated from the Drakkenheim sewers via the contaminated Drann River. It has psychic powers, speaks telepathically, and has already enslaved the entire fishing village of Ashshaffen. It is currently spreading its influence toward Drannsmund and trying to open a dimensional rift to summon more of its kind. The good news is it refuses to set fin on land. The bad news is everything else about the situation.
Amarodial the Bitterheart (see Q20) is not merely a local problem - the ancient black dragon has been documented raiding across the border from the Eastern Vales into Orleone, "looking for farmland to desolate," which is a very specific ambition for a dragon and suggests a degree of planning that should concern everyone in the region (SCGtD, page 119, Gazetteer). Lion Guard Commander Lava Straža has the scars to prove Amarodial is not simply a campfire story.
Lake Leo in Orleone has persistent legends of a large aquatic creature dwelling at its centre. The evidence is circumstantial - strange sightings, sailors' reports - and nothing reputable has been confirmed, but the locals find the legends convincing enough to keep talking about it (SCGtD, page 120, Gazetteer). Either there is a lake monster, or the fish in Lake Leo are much larger than anyone is comfortable discussing.
15. Are there any wars brewing I could go fight in?
Well, you've just missed the Civil War in Westemär that followed the meteor swarm that ruined the capital of Drakkenheim - but only by just under a decade, so the flow-on consequences are very much still unresolved. The war killed both of the surviving royal siblings and their heirs, leaving the throne of Westemär vacant and the duchies rapidly positioning themselves as petty kingdoms.
The political map of Westemär in the Gazetteer makes clear that actual war is not far off. Duke Ludwig von Fritz of Todesfeld is "eagerly purchasing weapons and armor from the Amethyst Academy" while eyeing the port of Drannsmund and the city of Leuchten (SCGtD, page 48, Gazetteer). Countess Constance Kleinkessel of Kesselholm has the Steelfang Company on retainer. Duke von Baden is increasingly convinced Drannsmund works better as an independent city-state. None of these people are in a particularly diplomatic mood.
Beyond Westemär, the continent sits on a powder keg.
The Edicts of Lumen are under unprecedented strain. Five factions are actively contesting control of the ruins and the delerium within them (SCGtD, pages 9 - 10):
- The Hooded Lanterns: Irregular military veterans waging a guerrilla war to reclaim the capital for Westemär.
- The Queen's Men: A criminal confederation smuggling delerium and generally making everyone's lives more complicated.
- The Silver Order: An Elyrian paladin order assembled in force to destroy the unholy magic in the ruins.
- The Followers of the Falling Fire: Religious pilgrims collecting delerium for what they insist is a holy purpose.
- The Amethyst Academy: Purple-robed mages who want the delerium for research and are willing to hire you to get it for them.
Each of these factions has interests well beyond the ruins, and their agents operate across the continent. The wider geopolitical situation - the Faith vs. the Academy, Caspia's Kingsmoot politics, Elyria's theocratic ambitions - means there are more flashpoints than you can shake a contaminated relic at.
Caspia is not at war - and by its own standards, this is remarkable.
The Kingsmoot system has kept the six Great Houses channelling their aggression into competitive monster-hunting and elaborate challenges rather than open warfare for some decades. However, the next Kingsmoot is imminent, and the other five houses are united by their desire to finally unseat House Joplin after thirty years of the same monarch. House Jones in particular has set its sights beyond Caspia's borders, viewing the collapse of Westemär as a territorial opportunity. High Flamekeeper Elara Jones has been the only thing preventing High King Venus Joplin from invading Westemär outright while it is weakened (SCGtD, page 85, Gazetteer). It is not clear this restraint will survive the next Kingsmoot if Venus is replaced by a less diplomatically managed incumbent.
The religious schism is arguably the biggest slow-burning fuse. The Followers of the Falling Fire are now holding demonstrations in city squares throughout Westemär and getting into open physical confrontations with Silver Order patrols. Several prominent High Flamekeepers in major Westemäri cities have publicly broken with the Divine Matriarch. If the Followers manage their Sacrament at scale, the Faith will fracture - and the Silver Order's response will not be gentle.
Beyond the continent's main powers, a chronic low-intensity conflict runs along the border between Caspia and Terene. House Jagger of Caspia regularly mounts wyvern-rider raids into the Terene Jungle, ostensibly seeking glorious battle - the unofficial Caspian rationale being that the jungles need "taming." The Clawstrider Rangers have repelled these invasions repeatedly, but Chief Ranger Tanesha Laurent has reportedly been contemplating striking back into Caspian territory in retaliation for the cumulative bloodshed. If she does, and House Jagger treats it as justification for a full military campaign, the resulting war would cut across the Torvista River and drag in the wider region (SCGtD, page 114, Gazetteer).
The Isles of Skye are technically always at war with themselves. The Northfolk clans rarely go more than a few years without a bloody battle between families, and the blood feuds span generations. Martyn Mac Lochlann currently commands the most loyalty, but no one has unified the islands, meaning any sufficiently charismatic outsider with military ambitions theoretically has scope to play kingmaker - or attempt to become the king (SCGtD, page 102, Gazetteer).
16. How about gladiatorial arenas complete with hard-won glory and fabulous cash prizes?
Hmmm, not so much within Westemär - though the culturally-inclined city of Geldstadt (SCGtD, page 55, Gazetteer) - described as having galleries, hotels, theaters, and an opera house - is the most likely location for organised spectacle of any kind, if you're willing to redefine "entertainment." Probably not blood sport, but possibly duelling culture tied to the city's affluent tastes.
However, if you are willing to travel to Caspia, the answer changes considerably.
The Rex Colosseum (SCGtD, page 89, Gazetteer) at the Tower of Swords is a ten-thousand-spectator oval arena with barred gates in each cardinal direction, a sandy fighting pit, and standing in the middle of it all - the petrified statue of Rex Caspian himself, still holding the gorgon that petrified him, which is still alive and still belches petrifying fumes. Combatants must fight around this hazard. The High King pays well for novel monsters to keep things interesting, and "some adventurers make their entire careers as monster-wranglers for the arena." The outer facade is carved with bas-reliefs of Caspian warriors slaying horrific monsters - the interior promises they aren't just decorative.
The arena complex beneath the pit includes ready-rooms, a forge and smithy, a hot spring bath, and "copious stores of meat and beer." This is a serious, well-funded, long-running institution with infrastructure. The Kingsmoot itself frequently involves gladiatorial elements, and High King Venus Joplin II is noted for her "amazing arena duels" as part of her public reputation.
If Caspia is too far, however, the ruins of Drakkenheim itself function as a comparable risk-to-reward scenario - just without the spectator seating, the prize money, or anyone to heroically cheer you on. The Caspian Duel tradition (SCGtD, page 37) remains the continent's most formally codified combat entertainment - structured monster hunts or timed combat contests, rather than fights to the death.
17. Are there any secret societies with sinister agendas I could join and/or fight?
Well yes. Several.
The five major factions (see Q15) are not exactly subtle, but each has layers of internal politics and hidden agendas beneath their public-facing goals.
The most fully-realised secret society is the Aristocracy of the Night - also called the Night Court (SCGtD, page 49, Gazetteer). When the Edicts of Lumen stripped mageborn nobles of their inheritances, several Westemäri noble houses chose to become vampires rather than lose their power. They've been running things from the shadows for generations, manipulating politics from lonely castles, and quietly dreaming of a day when mortals are divided into "cattle" and "corpses." Their connection to confirmed living power is Countess Constance Kleinkessel of Kesselholm - who is secretly a vampire, has been cycling through false identities for centuries (she is actually the sister of Helena I, who founded House von Kessel 150 years ago), and recently conspired with Lord Commander Drexel to assassinate Mannfred von Kessel. She is now actively researching delerium-augmented vampirism with a wizard named Deidrick Mors, which cannot possibly go well. The rumour that "Kesselholm is ruled by a vampire queen who is feasting on villagers' blood" (SCGtD, Gazetteer Rumors) is entirely accurate - including what's happening to the Burgomaster.
The possible mastermind of the Night Court is hinted to be Vladimir von Drakken himself - whose "broken and cursed body has lain buried in a secret tomb for centuries... waiting for the day his undead form is fully restored." Whether this is true or merely a convenient myth the vampire nobility have invented to give themselves collective purpose is left tantalisingly open.
The Amethyst Academy Directorate itself qualifies as a secret society by most definitions: eight archmages of uncertain mortality, communicating via dream and sending spells, gathering via project image at a stone circle on the moon, pursuing individual agendas that collectively paralyse the institution. Each knows that if any one of them were to wrest sole control of the Academy, they would possess power akin to the sorcerer-kings of old (SCGtD, page 31).
Two specific Directors have particularly alarming hidden projects.
Marigold Kettleborn (SCGtD, page 88, Gazetteer) - the small, cheerful gnome archmage who has operated as the Kingsmoot's Academy representative since its founding - presents as the most harmless and delightful person in any room. Her actual personality traits list reads "no one suspects a jovial gnome" and "my friendly facade is merely another illusion." She vanishes every night, goes weeks without contacting other Directors, mutters in unknown languages behind closed doors, and has a walking castle that no one has been able to locate. She is also secretly studying how delerium affects illusion magic, with the goal of making illusion spells function like summoning spells - conjuring illusions infused with delerium to give them physical reality. If she achieves this, she could create objects, reshape landscapes, and manifest riches from nothing. Nobody suspects her. This is deliberate.
Archmage Lasaia Nightbreeze (SCGtD, page 96, Gazetteer), Director of the Eastern Vales and headmistress-in-waiting of Paradox Castle, floats through the halls of the Academy's premier school like a wayward ghost, has writings attributed to her in thousand-year-old textbooks, and has inscribed explosive runes on the foreheads of her sequestered research team so they die if they breathe a word of their project outside her lab. That project is the disjunction bomb - a delerium-based weapon of mass destruction capable of annihilating an entire city district. They are now working on more powerful variants. The potential for delerium as a conventional power source to improve common lives has come up in her research and bores her completely.
The other Directors have their own projects of note.
Zodiac Allsight in the Isles of Skye has been using delerium to create controlled gateways to other timelines from his secret lab adjacent to Starspire Observatory - already opening relatively stable gates to the Shadowrealm, Faerie Otherworlds, Dreamland, and an unnamed distant planet with purple skies. The side effect is that Thin Places throughout Skye have become dangerously active, drawing more hostile fey and shadowy creatures to the islands. He is also attempting time travel specifically, wanting to go back and watch the elves arrive. He did not see the meteor coming and becomes furious when questioned about it (SCGtD, page 103, Gazetteer).
Archmage Alabaster in Liberio has created the formula for aqua delerium, transmuted lead into gold, and is now building sentient golems with delerium crystal hearts - unique constructs with genuine personalities that he has quietly released into the world to see what they get up to (SCGtD, page 110, Gazetteer).
Archmage Penumbra in Terene has been using fish, rats, and birds as test subjects to develop psionic abilities via controlled delerium contamination of the mind, and is preparing to move to human volunteers - with the long-term goal of using delerium to grant magical powers to non-mageborn people entirely (SCGtD, page 116, Gazetteer). She also wanders taverns across the continent extracting information from strangers with powerful enchantments that cause them to forget she was ever present. The other Directors know she does this and find it unsettling.
The Queen's Men are nominally a criminal confederation rather than a secret society, but their leader, the Queen of Thieves (SCGtD, page 46, Gazetteer), is operating at secret-society scale: unknown identity, shape-changing abilities, blackmail networks throughout Westemär, and a delerium smuggling operation running through Drannsmund. Rumours variously identify her as a mageborn heir to the Westemär throne, a planar entity toying with mortals for amusement, or a collective fiction invented by several canny outlaw bosses. All three explanations are equally plausible.
18. What is there to eat around here?
Most of the typical fare. The continent's agriculture is well-established, trade flows along the Middle Sea, and the guilds of every major city have bakers, butchers, brewers, and vintners doing steady business. Every village has a tavern or public house; larger towns have inns.
Westemär exports salt, honey, mead, and maple syrup alongside its industrial goods - so the local cuisine leans hearty and sweetened. Drannsmund is specifically noted for crabs and pearls (the latter presumably not in the soup). Elyria's principal exports lean toward wine, oil, and olives, making it notably better for dining than Westemär if you have the travel budget. The Witherbleach Desert supports nomadic communities on very little - devout pilgrims crossing it following Saint Tarna's footsteps "seldom return," which is perhaps the most pointed restaurant review in the book.
Caspia is the continental crossroads for trade - goods flow through it from Elyria and Westemär to Terene and Orleone - and Caspian spices (cloves, pepper, saffron) function almost as currency in regional trade negotiations. The country also exports tin and bronze, and imports iron, coal, and silk. Caspia's subtropical climate supports fruit orchards and vineyards in the north and spice-growing coastal regions in the south, and the northern city of Jackson's Keep is specifically noted for its fish (SCGtD, page 82, Gazetteer).
The Eastern Vales produce wine (Dregden's Ferry is noted for it), lumber, and the finest baked goods on the continent from the halfling village of Kinland Hills. The TobTab Delectables bakery specifically produces cakes, pies, and pastries famous enough that people travel from other nations to commission their wedding cakes there. The halfling community also produces notable ales, tobacco, and spices (SCGtD, page 99, Gazetteer). Port Brynor in the Vales is known for fish, coal, and iron, which completes the picture of the eastern coast as a grimmer, more industrial counterpart to Caspia's sunlit spice markets.
The main "dietary concern" for adventurers is the Haze.
Any area saturated by the Haze prevents long rests - which means that extended operations in and around the Drakkenheim ruins require careful logistical planning. Rations become tactically significant when you cannot sleep off your injuries safely. The Hooded Lanterns rely entirely on food and water stores shipped to their strongholds, as the contamination around Drakkenheim makes foraging a deeply inadvisable proposition (SCGtD, page 45, Gazetteer).
Terene is known for its seafood - lobster, crab, and shrimp from the southern coast, alongside rare and exotic fruit from the jungle. The city of Sandspire in particular is a bustling market city for these goods, and the Torvista River communities contribute river catches and agricultural produce from the jungle-adjacent settlements. The jungle itself yields unusual and largely unnamed edibles that outsiders are often reluctant to try without local guidance (SCGtD, page 117, Gazetteer).
Orleone exports pearls, clams, oysters, crab and lobster, exotic fish and animals, and spices through the port city of Esnier - a regional luxury trade that spans the Ender Ocean. The Auroral Reef off the coast makes Esnier's seafood market uniquely abundant. The city's market has been described as bustling even in the dry heat, which speaks well of the refrigeration arrangements or, alternatively, means the fish moves very fast (SCGtD, page 120, Gazetteer).
19. Any legendary lost treasures I could be looking for?
Not so much "legendary" in the classical sense - but consider it a legend in its own lifetime.
Delerium itself is the primary treasure of the setting and essentially functions as de facto currency within occult circles and underground markets. These iridescent crystals of vast magical potential are found throughout the ruins of Drakkenheim, ideally suited to crafting magic items and fuelling new spells. Highly sought after by the Amethyst Academy, the Followers of the Falling Fire, and pretty much everyone else - for very different reasons. The majority is found near the actual impact crater, but it has started to spread throughout the continent via smuggling, river transport, and the inadvertent carrying of fragments by escaped monsters.
Continental Regalia - the book includes two categories of powerful setting-specific artifacts (SCGtD, pages 199 - 201): the Six Swords of Caspia and the Seals of Elyria. These are the kind of items that anchor entire campaign arcs.
The Seals of Caspia merit elaboration. Each of the six Great Houses holds one of the six swords, which are unsheathed in the coronation ritual of the High King; the Crown of Caspia is worn by whoever wins the Kingsmoot. These are the physical anchors of Caspia's constitutional order - the swords are bespoke magical artifacts tied to each founding house, and the crown is the institutional legitimacy of the entire nation in a single wearable object. The Kingsmoot's founding was explicitly structured around who got to hold these things (SCGtD, page 81, Gazetteer).
The Crown of Westemär (SCGtD, page 57, Gazetteer) rests on the corrupted throne of Castle Drakken - a legendary artifact that was used by earlier kings to bind dragons to their service, now sitting in a monster-haunted ruin guarded by the now-mad bronze gargoyles that were once those very dragons. Whoever claims it has a legitimate (if contested) path to ruling Westemär. The remaining Seals of Westemär - powerful magical badges of office - are also lost somewhere in the ruins alongside it.
The Ruins of Glitter Peak (SCGtD, page 51, Gazetteer) hold the collapsed remains of the greatest dwarven city in history, and "who can say what untold treasures and wonders of dwarven engineering lie buried beneath the mountain?" - with the addendum that strange creatures have been emerging from the tunnels beneath it lately, which usually indicates something interesting (or terrible) is down there.
The secrets behind the origins of the meteor, the true nature of delerium, and the full text of Lucretia Mathias's prophecies are deliberately left unrevealed in SCGtD - those answers are in Dungeons of Drakkenheim. Which is to say: the biggest treasure in the setting is information.
In the Eastern Vales, the ruins of Tolan's Keep in the Shadowfens hold the entire wealth of a former king - including the Tolan family crown, which "was said to hold great magical properties," alongside other unique items mentioned in local tales. The problem is that the ruins are the current lair of the ancient black dragon Amarodial, who has been sitting on this hoard for centuries and is very much still alive, and the Shadowfens around the ruins are not a pleasant approach. The dragon has piled up thousands of bones from those who've tried previously (SCGtD, page 98, Gazetteer).
The ruins of Eladria in the Isles of Skye are the site of one of the ancient Elfgates - a vast circular pool of arcane water built within a great dome of green stone, originally lined with magical altars and archways holding ancient delerium crystals in glass orbs. Those crystals were plundered by Sorcerer-Queen Kaestelaria VIII; most are now lost, but the eight staves of the magi currently held by the Academy Directorate were constructed from delerium stolen from this chamber (SCGtD, page 107, Gazetteer). The gate itself still exists and still functions to some degree. The Directorate's staves are not technically recoverable, being very much in active use, but their origin makes them politically and historically significant in ways that could become relevant in a campaign involving Eladrian elves or Academy politics.
The Pyramids of Di'yone in southwestern Orleone are thousands of years old, built by the region's pre-human inhabitants, and house the remains of cat-lords from antiquity under the watch of a massive sphinx statue called the Great Grimalkin. The plot hook attached to them involves a recently interred king buried with a delerium-forged sword who has now risen as a mummy lord - which neatly underscores that the treasures of Di'yone are technically accessible and concretely dangerous (SCGtD, page 120, Gazetteer).
20. Where is the nearest dragon or other monster with Type H treasure?*
The legacy of the sorcerer-kings and their blood pacts with dragons lingers not only in the numerous dragonborn scions and sorcerers of the continent, but also as elder drakes deep within the wilderness.
Vulmungoth, Doom of the Mountain (SCGtD, page 50, Gazetteer) is the most straightforwardly terrifying option - an ancient red dragon in the caldera of the Dragon's Maw volcano in the Drakeclaw Mountains, older than recorded history, last survivor of the original Blood Pact. "Most would-be dragon slayers die scaling the volcano" is about as clear a warning label as you'll find. It wakes every century or so to devastate the surrounding countryside; its last notable act was nearly destroying Saint Tarna's Cathedral in Lumen. The hoard presumably reflects a few thousand years of accumulated looting.
Trethysia the Forest Serpent (SCGtD, page 50, Gazetteer) is an adult green dragon in the Achtungwald who has been there for hundreds of years and has successfully avoided every attempt to kill or bind it through a combination of illusion magic and primal forest powers. The campfire stories about "great elven treasures the dragon hoards inside ancient ruins" in the heart of the forest are the relevant motivation here - though finding Trethysia's home and surviving long enough to see the hoard are two separate challenges.
Beyond Westemär, Opularis the Wise (SCGtD, page 74, Gazetteer) is an ancient blue dragon in the Pale Tooth Mountains with a great library, occasional chess games with Academy grandmasters, and a selective apprenticeship programme for mages who can cast three 6th-level spells. The hoard is apparently worthy of the description "unique magic item" as payment for the dragon's teaching. The application process involves the possibility of being devoured.
As for the ruins of Drakkenheim itself - the formerly-bound bronze gargoyle-dragons of Castle Drakken guarding the Crown of Westemär are worth noting, as is Adrianna Modera's fate within the Inscrutable Tower.
Amarodial the Bitterheart is very much alive in the Eastern Vales - not Caspia - residing in the ruins of Tolan's Keep in the Shadowfens, upon a mountain of treasure accumulated over centuries. This ancient black dragon is "among the oldest living dragons in the known world" and has never been successfully driven from the Shadowfens despite multiple attempts by adventurers and assembled armies alike. It has a long-standing personal rivalry with Scalebreaker Commander Callisto across the Rust Edge Mountains, and the two have fought several major battles - neither definitively concluding the other. Notably, Amarodial does not stay home: it has been documented crossing into Orleone specifically looking for farmland to desolate, and Lion Guard Commander Lava Straža earned her command by leading the force that turned it back - at significant personal cost. Amarodial loves conflict, thrives on devouring those who believe they can defeat it, and will eventually run out of patience with Callisto or vice versa. When that happens, something large will explode (SCGtD, pages 95, 98, and 119, Gazetteer).
* For you youngsters out there, "Type H Treasure" is grognard-speak for "dragon's hoard" level loot - maximum wealth table in the old 1E Monster Manual. Follow the link for an explanation on the Dragonsfoot forum for ye olde 1E apocrypha nostalgia.ruleset, not the current 2024 5E ruleset, although conversions are relatively straightforward.
