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  Lost in Dreams 
  Can you navigate fairy-tale intrigues among fey and living 
  nightmares without getting trapped in the tale? 
   
   
  Episode 12 of Convergence Manifesto 
   
  An Across Eberron Adventure 
   
  CREDITS 
   
  Writer: Nausicaä Enriquez 
   
  Editors: Will Brolley, Wayne Chang, Laura Hirsbrunner 
  Executive Producer: Keith Baker 
   
  Cover Art & Design: Kristóf Köteles, Laura Hirsbrunner 
  Interior Art: Kristóf Köteles, Imogen Gingell 
  Monster Design: Amdrashar adapted from hashalaq quori in 
  Korranberg Chronicle: Threat Dispatch by Anthony Turco 
  Layout: Laura Hirsbrunner 
   
  Sensitivity Reader: Jules Oh 
  Playtesters: Ada Hechter, Kalendra, Persephone, Zoë Grace Pryce 
   
  Special thanks to Remi Garreau, fellow sad fey/quori enthusiast and dearest friend; the Reed College LGBT+ 
  TTRPG Organization, for indulging me constantly; my pal Lydia, whose Mage: the Awakening character inspired 
  Prince Pak; Catherynne M. Valente, who gave me a taste of Fairyland; and Scott Cooper, a true Adaran. 
  The Safe Adventuring section was inspired by the works of P.H. Lee and Avery Alder. 
   
  Published by Across Eberron, an Eberron community project. 
   
  Disclaimer: Across Eberron is completely responsible for the harmony and enlightenment granted to those who follow the Path of Inspiration. May il-altas guide us into a new age of 
  peace and prosperity. 
   
  DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, the dragon ampersand, Player’s Handbook, Monster Manual, Dungeon Master’s Guide, D&D Adventurers 
  League, all other Wizards of the Coast product names, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the USA and other countries. All characters and their distinctive 
  likenesses are property of Wizards of the Coast. This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material 
  or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of Wizards of the Coast. 
   
  ©2016 Wizards of the Coast LLC, PO Box 707, Renton, WA 98057-0707, USA. 
  Manufactured by Hasbro SA, Rue Emile-Boéchat 31, 2800 Delémont, CH. Represented by Hasbro Europe, 4 The Square, Stockley Park, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB11 1ET, UK 
  
   
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  INTRODUCTION 
  Welcome to Lost in Dreams, episode 12 of Convergence 
  Manifesto, an Across Eberron adventure path. This adventure is 
  the sequel to AE01-11: Heart in Mourning, available on the 
  Dungeon Masters Guild, using characters and story elements 
  introduced in the previous adventure. This adventure plays best 
  when used in conjunction with the Wayfinder’s Guide to 
  Eberron (WGtE) by Keith Baker. If your players are unfamiliar 
  with either the Eberron setting or the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS 
  game, you may wish to use this set of 1st-level pregenerated 
  characters, tailor-made for Eberron.  
   Lost in Dreams is designed for five 7th-level characters to 
  explore the diversity and themes of the Eberron Campaign 
  Setting. Player characters will have a chance to explore the 
  Fortress of Fading Dreams, a fey citadel trapped in the mortal 
  world. Unlike its six sister citadels, the Fortress has an unusual 
  link to Dal Quor, the plane of dreams, and now twisted fey rub 
  shoulders with living nightmares in its halls. The heroes must 
  navigate the shifting agendas of devious otherworldly beings in 
  order to recover a powerful artifact. 
  SUMMARY 
  Using his recently acquired Aethervane, Provost Faurious 
  locates the only connection between the material plane and Dal 
  Quor, a feyspire called Taer Lian Doresh that exists 
  simultaneously in both planes. The player characters are sent to 
  retrieve a powerful artifact, the Mind’s Eye, the petrified eye of a 
  kalaraq quori. As the party enters the feyspire and negotiates 
  with its eladrin lord, what are they willing to give up in return? 
  Negotiations unveil a far deeper story, centered around the 
  machinations of the Inspired of Riedra and the kalashtar they 
  persecute. Can the characters navigate the shifting stories of 
  nightmares and dream-touched fey for possession of the Mind’s 
  Eye? This adventure is split into the following scenes: 
  • Scene 1. The player characters learn of their mission to a 
  place where reality and dreams meet.  
  • Scene 2. The party journeys through the eerie forest 
  surrounding the feyspire, Taer Lian Doresh. 
  • Bonus Scene 1. Facing their fears may prove deadly. 
  • Scene 3. A fey knight challenges the party to a Wild Hunt. 
  • Scene 4. Entering the Fortress of Fading Dreams, the party 
  encounters some of the feyspire’s upper crust in the Night’s 
  Refuge cafe. 
  • Scene 5. Challenged to a fey duel, the party humiliates their 
  foe and wins their prize—along with a mysterious blade. 
  • Scene 6. Assisting with a Harlequinade dress rehearsal, the 
  characters deliver a secret message to counter a quori’s 
  agenda. 
  • Scene 7. While researching why the party is trapped in the 
  story, they uncover a dark secret. A ritual to free a lost rebel 
  quori turns into a flight (or fight) for the character’s lives. 
  • Scene 8. The party changes the story, escapes the feyspire, 
  and returns to Sharn. 
  RUNNING THE ADVENTURE 
  Lost in Dreams is a roleplay-focused adventure of nightmarish 
  political intrigue for five 7th-level characters, designed to take 
  approximately 4 hours of game time. Bonus Scene 1 and 
  escaping with Moth can each add about 30 minutes to the game. 
   All monster stat blocks needed for encounters in this 
  adventure are contained in Appendix: Character Statistics.  
  SAFE ADVENTURING 
  This adventure delves into an unpleasant brand of fairy-tale. While the 
  Convergence Manifesto adventure path focuses mainly on Eberron’s 
  pulp aspects, quori and fey can be nasty and manipulative creatures, 
  and the Fortress of Fading Dreams is a place of tragedy and 
  vengeance. The NPC Moth bears similarities to a victim of abuse, the 
  Inspired persecute the kalashtar by all-too-realistic methods, and the 
  plot hinges on the captive Paranymph regaining lost memories. 
      All of this has the potential to make players uncomfortable or call 
  up past trauma. At the start of the adventure, the table should reach a 
  consensus on whether they are okay with these topics and the 
  awareness that they might not be able to help every NPC 
  experiencing trauma. Even once agreement seems reached, remain 
  mindful that some players may not be able or willing to define their 
  limits before they come up in play.  
      If any player is uncomfortable with the topics, the DM should 
  change the story to accommodate, perhaps removing Moth or 
  making it easier to help her, lowering the DC on the ability checks 
  with Prince Pak, or making the Paranymph awareness of her 
  memories but unable to do anything other than what the story 
  demands. 
      If you do not already use a pause system during play, you are 
  encouraged to implement one for this adventure (even if you choose 
  to run a gentler version of Lost in Dreams). Determine a system that 
  works for your group—perhaps an index card with an X on it, or 
  simply saying the word “pause”—with which any player (including 
  the DM!) can pause the action to express that they are 
  uncomfortable or to ask if someone else is uncomfortable. Once the 
  game is paused, any player can describe their needs to the rest of the 
  group. If they don’t have an explanation for why, none is needed. 
  Perhaps the solution will be to quickly roll back the clock and retcon 
  a previous action, or for the player to take some space and step away 
  for a moment. If people have conflicting boundaries or needs, try 
  your best to work out a solution. This system shouldn’t be used to 
  penalize other players for actions you dislike, nor is it necessarily a 
  way to make a story where nothing bad happens—it’s an agreement 
  that if you feel uncomfortable, you can trust the other players to help 
  you out of that. This is a game, after all, and we’re here to have fun. 
   
  While running the adventure, look for the following formatting: 
   
  Text like this is intended to be read aloud or paraphrased for your 
  players. 
   
  Sidebars like this contain rules reminders, reveal background Eberron 
  lore, or point you to sources to learn more. 
   
   
  
   
  3 
   
  CAST OF CHARACTERS  
  In Lost in Dreams, the player characters travel to the Fortress 
  of Fading Dreams, a fey citadel where living folktales are 
  suffused with nightmares and mortals face their worst fears. 
  The party encounters these unusual characters along the way. 
  MAJOR CHARACTERS 
  Shan Lian Doresh (SHAHN lee-AHN door-ESH). The immortal 
  heart of the feyspire and Lord of the Fading Dream, Shan 
  Doresh is a ghaele eladrin, an Archfey powerful enough to offer 
  warlock pacts. He has narrative justification to lean on or break 
  the fourth wall if desired. He refers to himself using the royal 
  “we.” Shan has stopped seeking vengeance against the giants 
  for sending Taer Lian Doresh into Dal Quor; their empires are 
  shattered. Now, he seeks vengeance against those who betrayed 
  him, or their descendants—elves, gnomes, and especially 
  eladrin. His countless plots all come back around to this point—
  he has legions of dupes to harass the undreaming elves in the 
  waking world, and crafts elaborate nightmares to assail gnomes 
  and the non-elven loved ones of elves. 
   Personality Traits. “Everything is a joke to Us. Words should 
  flow trippingly off the tongue. Your feelings don’t matter.” 
   Ideals. “Revenge: A long, slow torment—not death—is the only 
  just punishment for betrayal. Tradition: Mortals can’t learn their 
  lessons if you make things easy.” 
   Bond. “The other fey citadels and their descendants betrayed 
  Us to the giants who sent us into Dal Quor.” 
   Flaw. “We’re incapable of error.” 
   
  Viscount Sidgevin (VAI-count SID-yeh-vin). Like all the eladrin 
  of the Fading Dream, Sidgevin is a wyrd—a fey being corrupted 
  by nightmares from Dal Quor—but he outstrips them by far in 
  bloodlust. Before the fortress was banished to Dal Quor, 
  Sidgevin ruled a small forest domain nearby on Thelanis; 
  following the assault on the giants, Sidgevin was homeless and 
  powerless. Rather than resenting Shan for leading him into 
  failure, Sidgevin conceived a monstrous hate for the mortal 
  world, and he urges Shan to ride out of the fortress in a 
  conquering host. He would gladly cut Shan’s enemies to 
  ribbons, but the archfey’s refusal to give him an elite position 
  among his Knights of Terror rubs further salt in Sidgevin’s 
  wounds. The player characters are a perfect vent for his spleen. 
   Personality Traits. “I don’t conceal how much I hate 
  everything. My victims’ fear doesn’t satisfy me, only hot blood on 
  my blade. Courtesy is merely a tool to get me what I want.” 
   Ideals. “Conquest: We should rule the mortal world that hurt 
  us, not sow tragedies! Loyalty: One must not refuse their liege’s 
  commands.” 
   Bonds. “I miss my forest fiefdom more than anything else. 
  Shan denied me my rightful place among his Knights of Terror 
  and wasted my talents on the Wild Hunt.” 
   Flaw. “I can’t understand subtlety.” 
   
   
  Amdrashar (AM-drash-ahr). A hashalaq quori, Amdrashar has 
  been the diplomatic envoy from the Dreaming Dark to the 
  nightmare fey of Taer Lian Doresh since the feyspire was 
  stranded on the Day of Mourning. She makes physical visits to 
  the feyspire, rather than simply visiting as a spirit through Dal 
  Quor, out of interest in the philters of the Fading Dream secretly 
  produced by the Harlequinade there. 
   When on the material plane, Amdrashar inhabits her Chosen 
  vessel, a woman of unnatural beauty. However, when the vessel 
  enters the Fortress, Amdrashar is separated from her, and 
  wanders free in her true quori spirit form, usually changing to 
  appear a mortal visitor to the Fortress. In this adventure, the 
  player characters also encounter Amdrashar’s empty vessel—
  long years of hosting Amdrashar mean she is effectively a copy 
  of Amdrashar’s mind and personality, though the two do not 
  share senses, and the vessel lacks Amdrashar’s more powerful 
  psionic abilities. 
   Amdrashar has taken an interest in Prince Pak Seoyun over 
  the past several years, directing humanitarian aid from Riedra 
  to Seoyun’s fleet and currying her favor. 
   Personality Traits. “It’s okay that you can’t live up to how 
  perfectly poised and courteous I am. I like to sit back and watch 
  the action with a smile. And yes, I am perfectly fine with all 
  these rules and narrative conceits and there is not a problem.” 
   Ideal. “Knowledge: The more I know about Taer Lian Doresh, 
  the sooner the dominion of the Inspired will be secure.” 
   Bond. “Shan keeps secrets, and I intend to find them out.” 
   Flaw. “I can’t comprehend people who tell the truth up front.” 
   
  Moth. This hobgoblin of the once-great Dhaakani Empire has 
  forgotten what name she originally had, and her perception of 
  time is distorted by the feyspire, but she’s still aware that she’s 
  lived far longer than a ghaal’dar ever should. If Moth leaves 
  Night’s Refuge, she’ll lose her protection from the dangers of 
  the feyspire and the forest outside, and while she’s capable in a 
  fight, her endless dances keep her hovering at the edge of total 
  exhaustion.  
   Personality Traits. “I crave real, mortal people to talk to. I’m 
  tired, body and soul. The constant unreality of the Fading 
  Dream disgusts me.” 
   Ideal. “Craft: Art and skill are two sides of the same coin; my 
  dances are beautiful because they display how well I have 
  trained my body.” 
   Bond. “My martial training is all I have from the waking world.” 
   Flaw. “At least I’m safe here.” 
   
  WYRDS 
  Shan Doresh, Lord of Taer Lian Doresh, has named his subjects 
  “wyrds,” which means “the fated.” The touch of Dal Quor slowly 
  transforms the fey inhabitants of this feyspire into nightmarish 
  versions of themselves. Shan Doresh believes that eventually, all 
  eladrin should be redeemed by this transformation. 
   
   
   
  
   
  4 
   
  The Paranymph. The Paranymph fills a role between treasurer 
  and spokeswoman for the collective of Taer Lian Doresh, 
  overseeing warlock pacts made with the Fortress. The Fortress 
  uses the trappings of marriage when it solidifies pacts with a 
  warlock, and the Paranymph acts as bridesmaid, representing 
  the power of the Fading Dream. Mortal warlocks serve as the 
  vanguard of the Fortress’ recruiting force, and when they find 
  promising candidates, the Paranymph begins to appear in their 
  dreams, offering magical power to those already minded to hurt 
  others, or deluding good-hearted souls into the creation of 
  beautiful tragedies. 
  The Paranymph’s past is a mystery to the other fey. Her 
  enveloping robes lead some to suspect that she was previously a 
  water nymph, concealing blinding beauty or its ruin; others 
  believe she was a ghaele eladrin betrothed to a lord of the City 
  of Silver and Bone when it still stood. 
   Personality Traits.” I am a model of restraint and decorum 
  UNTIL YOU CRAWLING MORTALS IRK ME WITH YOUR 
  INSIGNIFICANT COMPUNCTIONS AND HESITATIONS. 
  Drama and posturing exhaust and exasperate me. I prefer a 
  subtle implication to a barefaced statement.” 
   Ideal. “Duty: I am a spokeswoman for the Fading Dream, 
  nothing less and nothing more.” 
   Bond. “I’m ill-disposed to the quori, but I can’t say why, nor 
  could I dream of challenging my lord.” 
   Flaw. “I don’t think I have any.” 
   
  Over the course of the adventure, the party will uncover the 
  Paranymph’s true past. She is actually Azai (AHZ-eye), a rebel 
  du’ulora quori lost in the kalashtar exodus (see A Note about 
  Kalashtar Characters in Scene 1). Her memories are locked in 
  the ancient blade Ravar Cair Sanhai, which grants the wielder 
  the du’ulora’s power to incite others to rage. Even without 
  memories, she still retains a magical connection to dreams 
  stronger than that of a fey, making her a perfect vessel for the 
  Fortress’ power. Once her memories are returned, her deeper 
  personality emerges.  
   Personality Traits. “Despite what mortal tacticians might say, 
  it is better to be loved than feared. My anger serves me, not the 
  other way around. I give out constructive criticism even when it 
  might not be asked for.” 
   Ideals. “Duty: Dal Quor’s current age is sick and twisted, and 
  we have a duty to make it better. Bravery: Never give up, never 
  surrender!” 
   Bond. “I am nowhere happier than among my fellow 
  wandering dreams.” 
   Flaw. “I tend to dismiss legitimate threats.”  
   
  Mailin (MAH-ee-lin). Mailin is a wyrd gnome of the feyspire; 
  their eyes are blank white and their skin is naturally patterned 
  with mime makeup. Like all wyrd gnomes, their teeth are 
  piranha-sharp. They do not speak verbally, communicating 
  instead through a minor illusion of a chalked slate. 
   Personality Traits. “I really hate that I was born an optimist. I 
  can’t resist the opportunity for a truly groan-worthy joke.” 
   Ideal. “Art: I’d rather be a bad actor trying to help people than 
  a skilled actor trying to hurt them.” 
   Bond. “I can see my home as it used to be and as it ought to 
  be.” 
  Flaw. “I can change the world myself.” 
   
  
   
  5 
   
  Jeong (JUNG). Jeong (e’s not giving out eir family name around 
  fairies) lives in Tantamar; e’s a human follower of the Path of 
  Light and has Adaran and Lhazaar ancestry. E has volunteered 
  to take the risk and drink the philter of the Fading Dream to 
  scout out Taer Lian Doresh for the benefit of eir community. E’s 
  formed a friendship with Mailin, and eir ideas directed Mailin’s 
  desire to make the Harlequinade funny again. E rewrote the 
  performance into its current metaphorical form, but doesn’t 
  want to risk eir neck, or the necks of eir community, by directly 
  performing it. 
   Personality Traits. “Oh, no, my grotesque injuries that will not 
  persist when I wake up, whatever shall I do? You don’t get any 
  more information than is strictly necessary. I do things over 
  until I get them right and I expect others to do the same.” 
   Ideal. “Nonviolence: This isn’t a war that’s going to be won 
  with psychic blasts.” 
   Bond. “My community is a weird tangle of nationalities, 
  religion, and buckwild planar bullhockey, and it’s the best thing 
  in the world.” 
   Flaw. “I doubt that my actions will amount to anything in the 
  long run.” 
   
  JEONG’S PRONOUNS 
  Rather than being referred to as a man or woman, Jeong prefers 
  gender-free language. The following may help you familiarize yourself 
  with Jeong’s preferred address, known as Spivak pronouns, before the 
  adventure begins. 
  • E (“ee”) is the subject pronoun: "E smiled." 
  • Em (“ehm”) is the object pronoun: "I waved at em." 
  • Eir (“air”) is the possessive adjective: "Eir eyes are closed." 
  • Eirs (“airs”) is the possessive pronoun: "The food is eirs." 
  • Emself (“ehm-self”) is the reflexive pronoun: "E found emself." 
   
  Prince Pak Seoyun (PAHK SUH-yoon). The Lhazaar 
  Principalities are carved up into the territories of “princes” (a 
  gender-neutral term), captains of fleets which can shift between 
  merchant, privateer, or pirate. Prince Pak Seoyun (Pak is her 
  family name) is the governor of Tantamar and captain of the 
  Pak’s Pitbulls fleet. She carved out the Pitbull Principality over 
  the past twelve years due in part to material aid from the 
  Riedrans, who have positioned themselves increasingly in her 
  favor. Like most Khorvairians, Seouyun views the Riedrans 
  favorably and does not suspect the ulterior motives of the 
  Dreaming Dark. 
   Amdrashar’s vessel is showing Seoyun around the 
  Harlequinade’s rehearsal as a special guest; Seoyun thinks 
  she’s having a regular weird dream inspired by the recent 
  performance, but she was given the philter of the Fading Dream 
  specially so that Amdrashar, an agent of the Dreaming Dark, 
  can influence her sympathies toward Riedra and fan her 
  ambitions for future manipulation. Seoyun has good intentions, 
  but like most, she doesn’t know that the Inspired are evil. 
   Personality Traits. “I remember when I wanted to be an 
  artist and can still speak the lingo. Get too close and you’ll meet 
  a conjured swarm of bees. I never smile if I can help it.” 
   Ideal: Leadership. “You cannot let down the people who rely 
  on you.” 
   Bond. “The well-being of Tantamar and my fleet is worth 
  everything to me.” 
   Flaw: “I can’t resist a crazy gambit.” 
   
  Lena d’Orien (LAY-nuh duh-oh-REE-ehn). “Lena d’Orien” 
  appears a human woman, but is in truth a guise used by 
  Amdrashar, who uses her shapeshifting ability to inveigle 
  herself with the party and not cast suspicion on the Riedrans. 
  Her cover story is that she is a researcher with the Twelve, the 
  institute that coordinates collaboration between the 
  dragonmarked houses; as a member of House Orien, she is 
  ostensibly visiting the Fortress to explore possible methods of 
  transportation through the Region of Dreams in an attempt to 
  undercut House Lyrandar. 
   Personality Traits. “My thoughts are too fast for my mouth 
  and body to keep up with. I know I’m annoyingly cutesy. I can 
  always see the wonder amidst the horror.” 
   Ideal: “Knowledge: The more I know about Dal Quor, the 
  sooner House Orien’s position will be secure.” 
   Bond. “Shan’s keeping a secret, and I intend to find it out.” 
   Flaw. “I can’t comprehend people who tell the truth up front.” 
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
   
  6 
   
  ACROSS EBERRON CHARACTERS 
  The following characters are recurring characters in the Across 
  Eberron series. 
   
  Guild Handler Lhara (LAHR-ah). Lhara is a shifter with white 
  hair streaked with black. Her skin is pale, she has blue eyes, and 
  wears an eyepatch over the left. She holds a middling position 
  of authority within the Clifftop Guild. Lhara is the characters’ 
  handler inside Clifftop and is trying to increase the guild’s 
  coffers and reputation. 
   Personality: “I am always calm, no matter what the situation. I 
  never raise my voice or let my emotions control me.” 
   Ideal: “Clifftop Adventurers’ Guild. The Guild is my home and 
  its members are my family.” 
   Bond: “I will prove that Clifftop is the best group of skilled 
  troubleshooters and that we can get any job done.” 
   Flaw: “I am very sarcastic, and it can be difficult for people to 
  tell when I am being serious.” 
   
   
  Provost Nigel Faurious (NIGH-jel FAR-ee-us). The Provost is 
  very focused on his work and is often lost in thought. He seeks 
  to prove his theories on planar bodies and is willing to spend the 
  money required to build his strange device. 
   Personality: “I am horribly, horribly awkward in social 
  situations and have little patience for any conversation that 
  doesn’t have to do with my work.” 
   Ideal: “No Limits. Nothing should fetter the infinite possibility 
  inherent in all existence.” 
   Bond: “My life’s work is the study of planar bodies and their 
  effects on Eberron. I must complete my work and be given the 
  recognition I deserve.” 
   Flaw: “Unlocking an ancient mystery is worth every coin of my 
  family fortune.” 
   
  CLIFFTOP ADVENTURERS' GUILD 
  Eberron, of course, has its share of organizations dedicated to the 
  support and employment of exceptional individuals. Professional 
  adventurers in good standing might be invited to join the Clifftop 
  Adventurers’ Guild (WGtE 150, Sharn: City of Towers 52), based in 
  the Clifftop district of Upper Dura, Sharn. It was founded 150 years 
  ago by a dwarf named Shekkal Korranor. The current leader is Sumara 
  Korranor, better known among her charges as Summer. 
  The reputation of the CAG is well earned, and members are 
  expected to uphold the Guild’s virtuous principles. Their long-
  standing rivals, the Deathsgate Guild, have no such inclinations. 
  
   
  7 
   
  SCENE 1: DREAM JOB 
  "Planar scholars merely explore the act of dreams during sleep. 
  The Adaran mystics speak of transforming the world. The 
  Riedran ambassadors parade their use of dreams as a daily 
  chronicle! But there are waking dreams: every comforting lie, 
  every hope or wish or wild flight of fancy, every tiny gnawing 
  fear that keeps us up at night. Shape what the mind’s eye sees, 
  and you shape reality." 
  -fragment of Provost Nigel Faurious’s Convergence Manifesto 
  MISSION BRIEFING 
  The time has come for another mission with the Clifftop 
  Adventurers’ Guild, known for having higher concern for ethics 
  and moral quandaries than the average cudgel-wielding goon or 
  cast-first-and-ask-questions-later wandslinger (like those 
  dastardly rivals at the Deathsgate Guild). Today, Guild Handler 
  Lhara is once again calling on their most capable and seasoned 
  adventurers to retrieve another artifact for the now-familiar 
  Provost Nigel Faurious, a human scholar specializing in 
  Eberron’s planar system. Read or paraphrase the following: 
  Sharn’s unrelenting rain hammers on the windowpanes as Lhara taps 
  a set of House Lyrandar boarding passes into a neat pile. You sit in 
  her office in the Clifftop Adventurers’ Guild hall, your handler 
  uncharacteristically glum. “Fury take that provost,” she growls. “I 
  perfectly understand why your sponsor wants me to literally send you 
  into a living nightmare to recover his Six-cursed item, and think he’s 
  completely of sound mind.” 
   
  Lhara is clearly being sarcastic and is displeased with the 
  mission. Once the player characters have a chance to respond, 
  Lhara offers clarification. 
  “Provost Faurious managed to track down a place where Dal Quor 
  actually touches Eberron. He sent me a letter about it that frankly 
  sounds like a fever dream itself, but if he’s right, it’s going to be bad 
  no matter how you slice it. You ever wanted your dreams to come 
  true? Including the ones that made you wake up screaming?” 
   
  What does Lhara know? Lhara will answer questions to the 
  best of her ability, including the following. 
  • Where are we going? What was in the letter? “You’re going 
  to a feyspire south of Tantamar, on the mainland of the 
  Lhazaar Principalities to the east. It’s called Taer Lian 
  Doresh, which Faurious says is Sylvan for ‘Fortress of 
  Fading Dreams.’ According to him, Taer Lian Doresh exists 
  on Dal Quor and on Eberron simultaneously, which is 
  unusual to say the least.”  Upon a successful DC 25 
  Intelligence (Arcana) check, characters can recall the 
  information in the Taer Lian Doresh sidebar. 
   
   
  • What’s a feyspire? As Lhara talks, it comes back to you. 
  “You don’t remember? The wandering cities from the fairy 
  tales getting stuck in the real world? I think it finally hit the 
  chronicles in the fall of ’94… The wandering fey cities that 
  came and went as they pleased, as the story dictated, were 
  real. They all came back on the Day of Mourning. The 
  feyspires are stuck in one place now—there are three close 
  to civilization, and reports of others; Faurious found one.” 
  • What’s Dal Quor? Why is that coexistence unusual? “Dal 
  Quor is the Region of Dreams, one of the planes of 
  existence; we all visit its edges when we dream, but there 
  are bad things in its depths. All the other planes brush with 
  Eberron in places—those manifest zones you’ve visited on 
  previous missions—but we didn’t think Dal Quor had any. 
  The provost used an... experimental device, the Aethervane 
  retrieved during a recent Guild mission, to pinpoint a place 
  where the planes actually overlap.”  If an initiate of the 
  shadow war supplies additional information about Dal Quor, 
  Lhara doesn’t dispute it. 
  • What item are we being asked to find? “The provost called 
  it the Mind’s Eye. Supposed to ward off divination magic, 
  and it apparently lets you do that elven sleep-trance thing.” 
  She laughs, rubbing her tired eyes. “Wouldn’t mind that last 
  power, actually! Faurious says it’s the petrified eye of a 
  dream-monster called an ‘eyebinder,’ which I’d imagine 
  brings those happy dreams where you’re the star of the 
  latest Phiarlan show. He gave me a rough sketch; it looks 
  like a chunk of rock with an eye carved into it.” Lhara slides 
  the sketch across the table to show the party. Initiates of the 
  shadow war know that an eyebinder is properly called a 
  kalaraq quori. Taratai, leader of the rebel quori, was one, but 
  so too are the lords of the Dreaming Dark. 
  • How does Faurious know about all of this? Lhara shrugs. 
  “Saw it in a dream? I think he just has way too much time on 
  his hands and cross-referenced the entire folklore section at 
  the Morgrave University library, judging by his perfectly-
  clear-and-entirely-readable-by-non-academics letter.” She 
  chuckles to herself. 
   
  TAER LIAN DORESH 
  When the giant empires reigned in Xen’drik, they raided a feyspire 
  for slaves; modern elves are the mortal descendants of the 
  (comparatively) tiny attendant spirits of giant myth. The lords of 
  Shae Doresh, the Spire of Dreams, sought revenge, arming their 
  spire for war, but could not convince the other feyspires to sally 
  forth from their defenses with them. Alone, Shae Doresh stood no 
  chance, and the giants cast it into Dal Quor. Over the millennia it 
  took for Thelanis to pull the feyspire back, the Spire became 
  saturated with nightmares, befitting the current Dream of the Age. 
  The denizens of the Spire retained their basic identities, but 
  through a warped, nightmarish lens. Shae Doresh—now calling 
  itself Taer Lian Doresh, the Fortress of Fading Dreams—eventually 
  returned to Thelanis, and in its wanderings on the material plane, 
  brought Dal Quor with it. 
   
   
  
   
  8 
   
   
  • How will we get there? “House Lyrandar can take you most 
  of the way; we’ve secured you boarding passes—an airship to 
  Regalport, then elemental galleon to Tantamar.” She pushes 
  the boarding passes across the table, along with a compass, 
  the needle pointing to the northeast. “Faurious was able to 
  enchant the compass to point toward the fortress, but the 
  dense forest around it is uncharted. You’ll know which way 
  you’re going, but you’ll have to navigate through the woods 
  yourselves.” 
  • Why so anxious? Lhara’s pupils contract into slits. “My wife 
  is… troubled by nightmares. I know a lot more about this 
  stuff than is good for my peace of mind.” Lhara’s wife 
  Melikavash is kalashtar, and while Lhara doesn’t know 
  everything about the shadow war, Melikavash wanted Lhara 
  to make sure she knew the risks of being so closely involved. 
  • How much does the job pay? “Always practical,” Lhara 
  chuckles. “You’ll each earn a thousand galifars for your work.” 
  • Do you have any advice for us? Lhara tilts her head back 
  and counts on her fingers. “Don’t eat the food if you want to 
  come home... If the place itself puts you on conductor stones, 
  you know it’s bad news... This is a place where you do want 
  to look gift hippogriffs in the beak... Don’t give out your true 
  name...” She lowers her head and looks you in the eyes. 
  “And whatever they ask of you, it’s not worth it.” 
   
  When the party is done asking Lhara questions, read the 
  following (along with the advice from the last bullet above, if she 
  hasn’t already given it to the party): 
  “One last word of advice?” She twists her wedding ring back and 
  forth. “When dealing with dreams... watch out for things with more 
  than two eyes. Or fewer than one.” 
  A NOTE ABOUT KALASHTAR CHARACTERS 
  This adventure includes references to the shadow war, an 
  ongoing conflict between the kalashtar and the quori-led 
  Dreaming Dark for the fate of Dal Quor. This conflict is not 
  known to the people of Khorvaire at large, and if any heard of it, 
  it would likely be dismissed as a fringe conspiracy theory. The 
  kalashtar rarely share about this dream war, which they 
  consider to be their own fight, not that of another race. They 
  also do not wish to risk revealing their own identities and role in 
  the conflict. 
   If any of the player characters are kalashtar, Adaran, or 
  otherwise adhere to the Path of Light, it may be helpful to share 
  the information in the Dal Quor sidebar with them. You can do 
  this before the adventure begins or establish some way you can 
  pass lore to them in-game—private notes, instant messages, or 
  something similar—without letting the other players know. 
   If other non-kalashtar players have out-of-character knowledge 
  about the conflict between the kalashtar and the Dreaming 
  Dark, they may need a reminder that their characters would 
  have no reason to particularly trust followers of the Path of 
  Light, unless those followers have previously entrusted them 
  with their secrets.  
   
  DAL QUOR & THE SHADOW WAR 
  Dal Quor is one of Eberron’s thirteen outer planes. Unlike the 
  rotation of the other 12 planes that brings them into occasional 
  contact with the material plane, Dal Quor was thrown off its orbit by 
  the giants of ancient Xen’drik to protect against the threat of the 
  quori, and no longer grows conterminous with Eberron.  
  When mortals dream, their spirits visit the outer edges of Dal Quor, a 
  place of continually shifting dreamscapes. Deeper in, however, is the 
  heart of the Darkness that Dreams. This realm is home to quori, evil 
  spirits of nightmare. 
  Nearly two millennia ago, a group of rebel quori fled the evils of Dal 
  Quor. The 67 who made it to the material plane formed all-
  encompassing bonds with humans from the Sarlonan region of Adar. 
  The descendants of these quori-bonded humans became the 
  kalashtar race. They follow the Path of Light, a faith that believes that 
  Dal Quor has not always been a place of nightmare, and that the next 
  incarnation of what they call Quor Tarai, the Dream of the Age, will 
  return to light. Through meditation and right action (or for some, 
  direct war with the Dreaming Dark), they hope to bring about the 
  turning of the age and the return of good in Dal Quor. 
  The kalashtar are hunted mercilessly by the Dreaming Dark, including 
  the evil quori themselves, as well as the Inspired, those mortals they 
  have possessed and turned into their puppets. The Dreaming Dark 
  also uses dreams to control the populace of the Sarlonan empire of 
  Riedra, siphoning their psychic energy in the hopes that it will keep 
  the Quor Tarai from turning. The people of Khorvaire would find all 
  this unbelievable, as they view Riedra as home to smiling 
  ambassadors and hard-working commoners, and the source of 
  generous aid during the Last War in the form of grain that kept many 
  regions from starvation. The idea that the Riedrans are brainwashed 
  and that the Inspired are possessed by evil nightmares would be 
  considered crazy conspiracy theories. 
  For more information, see the Eberron Campaign Setting (16-17, 
  94, 220-222, 240), Eberron Campaign Guide (191-192), and the 
  Wayfinder’s Guide to Eberron (54, 56, 62-63). 
   
   
  
   
  9 
   
  SCENE 2: DOWN THE RUSHY GLEN  
  Once the party has made any desired preparations, they journey 
  across the continent to the Lhazaar Principalities. Read or 
  paraphrase the following: 
   
  Your journey takes you far across Khorvaire, from Sharn on the 
  southern coast to the Lhazaar Principalities in the northeast, and 
  finally the town of Tantamar. It’s a lively enough place, if far smaller 
  and far colder than Sharn, but you don’t have much time to enjoy it; 
  you’re Clifftop adventurers on the job, and right now that job is 
  telling you to head south into the pines that grow as close and dark 
  and bristly as a holiday party with family you hate. 
      A crow flies overhead, cawing loudly. Your tiny figures march into 
  the deep woods, your tiny tracks the only things disturbing the white 
  snow; you brought enough money to rent mounts in town, but the 
  livery swore that neither horse nor white-feathered dinosaur would 
  enter the forest if their lives depended on it. So, it’s you, and your 
  feet, and soon you and your feet both vanish beneath the roof of 
  whispering needles. 
      The further you go into the forest, the misty snowy whiteness of 
  the Whitepine Forest fades into gloom. The branches of the trees 
  weave together to cut off the morning’s light, and in the darkness, 
  the branches hang lower than they have any right to. The susurrus of 
  the pine needles seems to grow louder and louder until it drowns out 
  all other sound—and then a cracking branch, the cawing of a crow, or 
  the distant howl of a wolf sounds louder than the whispering and 
  starts the cycle building again. 
   
  If the party has any special mounts or animal companions, 
  narrate that they are visibly nervous, and that only the presence 
  of the player characters soothes them. 
  NAVIGATING THE FOREST 
  Taer Lian Doresh is physically located more than 140 miles 
  away from Tantamar, as the ominous crow flies, but the party 
  will arrive within a day—the fey magic of the forest takes people 
  where the story needs them to be. As the party navigates 
  through the woods, have each player describe what their 
  character is doing to help guide the group, making one DC 17 
  ability check (see the list below for some suggestions on checks 
  that might be appropriate; characters do not need to be 
  proficient to attempt ability checks). If the party includes a 
  ranger whose favored terrain is forest, all characters’ ability 
  checks are rolled with advantage, as the ranger can easily 
  navigate the mundane hazards, leaving only the magic of the 
  forest to confuse the characters’ sense of direction. If the party 
  does not have a forest ranger, consider granting advantage on 
  individual checks for other creative approaches, or even 
  automatic successes for using resources such as casting the 
  speak with plants spell on the pines. 
  POSSIBLE ABILITY CHECKS: 
  • Charisma (Arcana). If a character tries to trust blind luck, 
  they have the right idea; while the feyspire is bound to a 
  general location on the material plane, it can still move and 
  shift about within the landscape. Knowledge of the arcane 
  could inform a character that not trying to find the feyspire is 
  the best way to find it, making it easier to trust blind luck. 
  • Constitution (Athletics). If a character goes in with sword, 
  axe, and torch, clearing a path through the clustering pines, 
  the branches fall easily, but every time they take their eyes 
  away from a severed branch, it seems like two more have 
  grown to fill its place. Rather than force and power, they need 
  endurance and dedication to forge a path. 
  • Intelligence (History). A character might try to remember 
  myths associated with the feyspire that could lead them 
  toward the Fortress of Fading Dreams.  
  • Intelligence (Navigator’s tools). Characters can navigate by 
  compass, coordinates, and the all-too-brief glimpses of the 
  dim sun overhead. A character with the Keen Mind feat has 
  advantage on this check; compasses sometimes spin and fail 
  around feyspires, but internal compasses are harder to fool. 
  • Charisma (Performance). A character might provide the 
  party a tune to follow, making sure they stay together and 
  drowning out the rustling pine branches. A bard with the 
  Countercharm feature automatically succeeds on this check. 
  • Wisdom (Survival). Characters can call on ordinary 
  wilderness navigation lore, discovering that this forest doesn’t 
  entirely behave by natural rules, and that you can walk in a 
  straight line and still travel in a circle. To their surprise, the 
  characters are traveling far faster than they should by rights 
  be doing. 
   
  To accompany each one of the character’s checks to navigate 
  the forest, describe one terror of the forest that the party 
  encounters, either by rolling on the Whitepine Terrors Table 
  below (ignoring repeats), making up your own, or asking each 
  player to come up with their own description of something that 
  frightens their character during the journey. 
   If a character succeeded their ability check, describe the 
  encounter as something that spooked the party but that they 
  avoided without much effort. 
   If a character failed their ability check, describe the party’s 
  escape as much narrower, the terrors of the forest beginning to 
  wear down their composure. For each failed navigation, each 
  character must make a Wisdom saving throw with a DC of 10 + 
  number of failures thus far. On a failed saving throw, the 
  character takes 1d6 psychic damage as overwhelming fear 
  batters their mind. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
   
  10 
   
  TABLE: WHITEPINES TERRORS 
  d10 
  Terror 
  1 
  Banshees. A keening, unearthly wail breaks through the trees, 
  crying of vengeance and of fools too scared to right the 
  wrongs done to them. Ghostly forms, like beautiful elves clad 
  in mist, flicker in and out of your vision. You know, as certainly 
  as you know that you are alive, that you are about to die. 
  2 
  Cold spot. The temperature plummets. Frost creeps over your 
  bodies. Breathing is like swallowing a cloud of daggers. No 
  woods should be this cold. Nowhere on Eberron should be 
  this cold. You ought to dig yourself a warm grave to lie in. 
  3 
  Deadfall. You hear a sharp crack, and then the groaning of a 
  tree trunk, as long and drawn out as the end of the Last War. A 
  pine keels over, falling with dreamlike slowness; the branches 
  broken off by its fall seem to be falling directly for you. 
  4 
  Eerie statue. There is a statue here—little more than a 
  standing stone roughly worked into a massive, coiling shape. 
  An eel, perhaps? One of the statue’s eyes has been gouged 
  out, but that doesn’t make it any less able to watch you, no 
  matter how far you run. 
  5 
  Singing beast. Something moves through the trees in the 
  distance; while its form blends with the shadows of branch 
  and needle, its eyes burn like tiny stars. Even from afar, you 
  can hear its voice, like a House Phiarlan opera singer. Its song 
  is unaccountably familiar. 
  6 
  Snowstorm. Snow flies up around you, and soon the world 
  vanishes in white. It would be easy to believe that there is 
  nothing outside the whiteness. It would be easy to believe that 
  your entire life before this point was a dream. It would be easy 
  to recognize the beautiful futility of everything. 
  7 
  Stampede. Deer thunder out of the trees, their hot breath 
  wrapping them in fog. Their eyes roll in their heads; you’re not 
  sure if you should be more scared of the avalanche of hoof 
  and horn, or of whatever it is they’re running from. 
  8 
  Wild Hunt. You hear bells, and horns, and laughter like a 
  schoolyard bully who believes they can do no wrong. Mounted 
  figures move through the trees, flashing bright silver spears. 
  Things like hounds, or perhaps humanoid creatures acting like 
  hounds, run beside them on all fours. 
  9 
  Wolves, perhaps. Green eyes gleam in the depths of the forest, 
  getting larger—no, closer. The shapes of huge black wolves 
  become visible, but they make no sound as they move. You 
  are being hunted. (Are you sure they’re wolves? Is that a boar’s 
  humped back? A stag’s antlers? A goat’s shaggy beard? An 
  elf’s eyes? Your sibling’s face, red with blood?) 
  10 
  Wounded elk. You see red blood, bright against the white 
  snow. Each splash is at least the size of a gnome, and the trail 
  seems to lead to a spot where the blood pours from the dark 
  pines themselves... and then you see the elk, an enormous 
  arrow in a dark flank the size of a building. The elk is as huge 
  and awful as the end of the world, and it’s looking right at you. 
   
  After the party’s second ability check to navigate through the forest, 
  if you wish to add a combat encounter, run Bonus Scene 1. Once 
  every character has made one ability check and experienced the 
  horrors of the forest, the party encounters the Rider in Scene 3. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
   
  11 
   
  BONUS SCENE 1: MANIFEST FEARS 
  If you have additional time and want to add a bonus combat 
  encounter after the party’s second ability check to navigate 
  through the forest, read or paraphrase the following: 
  Faint shapes filter through the trees, collapsing and reforming into 
  new half-finished forms like the flickering of a torch. They slide away 
  from your vision when you look at them directly, but in the corners 
  of your eyes, they skitter toward you, patient and inescapable—the 
  fears that ruin sleep, the shapes that turn shadows hostile, the 
  memories and regrets and possibilities you flee each day of your life, 
  prolonging the illusion of comfort. 
   
  The party is quickly surrounded by five Whitepines shadows 
  (one per character). Each focuses on a different character, using 
  their first turn of combat to cast phantasmal force and 
  manifesting the fears of any character who fails their save. They 
  recast it whenever their target succeeds on their save or the 
  shadow loses concentration. 
   After the shadows are defeated, return to Scene 2 for the 
  remaining ability checks in the forest. 
  SCENE 3: THE WILD HUNT 
  After the final character finishes their ability check to navigate 
  the forest, they reach a clearing, and within it, a fey creature. 
  Read or paraphrase the following: 
  As you push through a curtain of branches that stroke your cheeks 
  like hands reaching from behind, you come to the widest clearing 
  you’ve yet seen. The setting sun hangs in the sky, red as a poisoned 
  apple, sending shadows skittering through the trees. A giant night-
  black elk stands in the center of the clearing, its eyes lit with chilling 
  blue. Atop it sits a humanoid figure, a smaller set of elk antlers rises 
  from their helmeted head, stretching up to cradle the sun. The 
  figure’s face is in shadow, but as they turn toward you, their eyes 
  glow the same blue as the elk’s. The figure raises a horn to their 
  unseen lips, the sound as painful as the sun flashing off a mirror—
  and then the elk and rider wheel, crashing away into the forest. 
   
  The rider is Viscount Sidgevin, a wyrd eladrin of Taer Lian 
  Doresh, though they will not learn his name until later. He has 
  declared a Wild Hunt, and the players must either become the 
  hunters or the hunted. A character can determine the 
  significance of the horn blast upon a successful DC 15 
  Intelligence (History) check; a warlock with a fey patron or a 
  character proficient with the horn has advantage on this check. 
  On a success, they recall that if they do not give chase, they will 
  soon be chased themselves. If they succeed by 5 or more, they 
  also recall that a Wild Hunt is called not for the quarry but 
  merely for the thrill of the chase. Sidgevin would rather see the 
  party slain where they stand, but he has orders to bring terror 
  rather than death. 
  If the characters give chase, read the following: 
  The rider is a maddening quarry. They seem untroubled by the brush 
  and snow that cling to your legs, but never get too far out of sight, 
  turning to wheel and laugh at your heavy-footed pursuit. Whenever 
  you get close, their form shifts and blurs before appearing further off 
  into the woods. The wood grows darker and darker, and eventually 
  you can see no more. The trees around you seem to vanish into 
  steam. As you press on, the steam clears, and you come upon a wide 
  glade, the moons just cresting the tops of the pines. In the 
  moonlight, you see the spires of the Fortress of Fading Dreams rising 
  before you, and the rider swiftly approaching its gates. 
   
  If the characters flee, read the following: 
  The rider pursues you mercilessly. When you find a hiding place, the 
  sound of hooves drifts slowly past you, then stops, waiting for you to 
  re-emerge. When you find a clear path from the trees, javelins streak 
  down around you, wreathed in shadow. The rider calls out for your 
  blood, and the quickly darkening wood does nothing to impede their 
  sight, though for you the trees seem to vanish into steam. As you 
  press on, the steam clears, and you come upon a wide glade, the 
  moons just cresting the tops of the pines. In the moonlight, you see 
  the spires of the Fortress of Fading Dreams rising before you. The elk 
  bears down on you like a lightning rail, then gallops past, carrying its 
  rider swiftly to the gates. 
   
  If the characters attempt to engage him in combat (or stand 
  their ground instead of chasing or fleeing), all attacks miss him 
  in this land where the story does not yet call for him to be 
  wounded. Read the following: 
  The rider seems to vanish, and then you hear hooves coming from 
  behind you. The elk bears down on you like a lightning rail, antlers 
  lowered. The setting sun glares on the blade of the rider’s scimitar as 
  they swing at you… and with a loud THUNK, their blade lodges in a 
  nearby tree. They take off their horned helmet, revealing the face of 
  an eladrin man, more beautiful and cold than any mortal. The rage 
  pouring from him is palpable. “You’re no bloody fun,” he snarls. 
  “Come on, we haven’t got all night.” The trees around you seem to 
  vanish into steam, which clears to reveal a wide glade, the moons 
  just cresting the tops of the pines. In the moonlight, you see the 
  spires of the Fortress of Fading Dreams rising before you, and the 
  rider swiftly approaching its gates. 
   
  If you think the players will enjoy it, ask each one to come up 
  with one insult that Sidgevin hurls at them during the chase. Let 
  them know that he can insult them for things that he shouldn’t 
  be able to know, such as past failures great or small, or for a 
  character’s hidden irrational fears—the creatures of this place 
  can use your fear against you. 
   
  
   
  12 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  SCENE 4: FADING DREAMS 
  As the Fortress rises before the characters, read or paraphrase 
  the following:  
  Taer Lian Doresh is grand and beautiful, ringed by jagged tree-trunk 
  watchtowers and topped with six spires that climb up to a teetering 
  height. Flickering shapes dance atop the spires, like nightmares that 
  dissolve upon waking, leaving terror without memory. A low moat 
  stretches before the walls of the fortress, and the rider trots across 
  the bridge, vanishing inside. 
  If the party attempts to circle the fortress rather than entering, 
  read the following: 
  You walk, and walk, and walk. Either the fortress is much larger and 
  much farther away than it appears, or it turns its entryway to face you. 
  When the party approaches the bridge, they see it is made of 
  something that looks like black marble with an uncomfortable 
  blurry quality to it. The character with the highest passive 
  Perception notices anguished faces shifting in the stone. A DC 
  20 Intelligence (Arcana) or Wisdom (Insight) check reveals that 
  the bridge is actually made of solidified fear. 
   When they cross the bridge, wispy shapes rise from the stone. 
  Ask each player to name one regret that they see in the shifting 
  steam, and to name one fear that they see in the water below 
  the bridge. The regrets are harmless, but the fears are not: if a 
  player character touches the water, they must succeed on a DC 
  17 Wisdom saving throw or take 1d6 psychic damage for every 
  round they remain in contact with it. A successful DC 12 
  Intelligence (Arcana) check reveals it as an effect similar to the 
  phantasmal force spell. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   The gate is open when the characters approach. Once they 
  cross the bridge and enter, read or paraphrase the following: 
   
  Inside the walls, you find more trees, but here they feel almost like a 
  garden. The pines are light and airy, with longer, shaggier needles and 
  a blood-red tinge to their bark, and they wave in the breeze like an 
  actor waving at their fans. Here and there you see ruins, like ancient 
  Dhakaani colonnades; mausoleums and statuary huddle in the depths 
  of the forest. Amphitheaters fall down to pools that brim with hidden 
  depths; low mounds with tiny apertures suggest the presence of 
  gnomes. The sound of pipes fills the air. 
      A vague path winds through this park toward the center of the 
  fortress. As you follow it, you realize that this garden is as alive as 
  Tantamar, and about as large—hollow-cheeked dryads watch you 
  from the pines, quicklings blur past on errands, and hags insult each 
  other lovingly from mausoleum to mausoleum. Other figures catch 
  your eye as well—a chain-shrouded creature in ancient Dhakaani 
  armor, rage rising from it like steam; mortals from across the world 
  unified only by the fact that they wear nightclothes; and a creature 
  that scuttles across the path, all centipede and scorpion and headless 
  torso full of watching eyes. 
   
  The scuttling creature can be identified with a successful DC 20 
  Intelligence (Arcana) check. An initiate of the shadow war 
  automatically succeeds on this check. This creature is a tsucora 
  quori, an embodiment of cunning and fear that forms the bulk of 
  the population of Dal Quor. Tsucora are skilled at manipulating 
  mortals by preying on their worst fears. 
   
  
   
  13 
   
   If the party attempts to leave the path, they find themselves 
  immediately coming back upon it as they attempt to wander 
  away. The story directs where the story wills. 
   If the party attempts to attack any inhabitants of the 
  Fortress, they are immediately interrupted by an eladrin man, 
  the Lord of the Fading Dream. Read the following: 
  A hand clamps around your wrist, clammy and iron-strong. You turn 
  to see an eladrin man, dressed in modish clothes the ragged black of 
  a crow’s wing. A crown of dark iron sits on his head, its six spires the 
  twisted shape of icicles; you can see the red welts the iron leaves on 
  his skin. He has the heavy build of comfortable middle age, but he 
  manages to project a lean and hungry look regardless. “Tut-tut-tut. 
  Trying to fight a dream? You’re either hungry, angry, lonely, or tired, 
  and you can’t remedy any of those with violence. Come, have a seat.” 
   
  At your discretion, this creature might not look elven to 
  everyone who sees him. For example, an elf might see him as 
  giant-sized, a goblinoid might see a hobgoblin, a Talenta halfling 
  might see a giant halfling with glidewing feathers for hair, and a 
  kobold might see him as a creature like a dragonborn. 
  NIGHT’S REFUGE 
  Once the characters follow the path (or try to attack and are 
  led by the crowned eladrin), they arrive in the Night’s Refuge 
  cafe. Read or paraphrase the following: 
  You emerge in the center of the park, where the sound of pipes is 
  strongest. It resembles a cafe, though instead of the everbright 
  lanterns you’re accustomed to, it’s lit by dancing lights in all colors of 
  the sunset. The branches of the pines are strung on trellises to create 
  an awning. Gnomes bus tables, laying out sumptuous feasts; eladrin 
  sell more portable food and drink from stalls. All the creatures you 
  saw through the park can be found here, speaking companionably and 
  enjoying a pleasant evening; some of the nightclothes on display here 
  range from old-fashioned to very ancient indeed. 
   
  If the characters follow the path and therefore haven’t met the 
  crowned eladrin yet, he rises from a nearby table, clasping the 
  hands of the first character he sees and kissing them on the 
  cheek. Describe him to the players using the description earlier 
  in this scene. Then, regardless of how they got to the center of 
  the park, read or paraphrase the following: 
   
  “We’ve been expecting you! Such avid dreams you have … it does 
  Our old heart good to see youth with some ambition. We trust the 
  good Viscount gave you a merry chase here?” You see the rider 
  seated at a nearby table, now unhelmed, his cold, beautiful eladrin 
  face intently watching a half-masked hobgoblin perform a complex 
  dance on a small stage in the center of the cafe. 
     The rider sits next to an uncomfortably ageless woman wearing the 
  fashions of the Chosen of Riedra. “Welcome to the Night’s Refuge 
  cafe! Please sit, partake of Our refreshment! And allow Us to 
  introduce the Viscount Sidgevin—” Sidgevin gives a seated bow, 
  rolling his eyes— “and Ambassador Amdrashar.” Amdrashar merely 
  smiles. 
      Sidgevin glances meaningfully at the crowned eladrin, who snaps 
  his fingers and says apologetically, “We’d forget Our own head next. 
  And have! We are Shan Lian Doresh, Lord of the Fading Dream. We’d 
  say We were at your service, but alas, words have meaning here.” 
   
  What do the Fortress’s denizens know? This is an opportunity 
  for the characters to interact and ask questions, or to look 
  around Night’s Refuge. Here are some of the questions the party 
  might ask: 
  • Why were you expecting us? “Saw it in a dream, where 
  else?” Shan isn’t particularly concerned with explaining 
  further, but he has hopes that Provost Faurious’ research 
  will benefit his own ends—regardless of whether it can be 
  made to enable a worthy tragedy or whether it will simply 
  allow greater contact between Eberron and Dal Quor. 
  • Why did you have Sidgevin chase us? “To ‘teach me 
  restraint,’” snarls Sidgevin, making air quotes. Shan beams. 
  “Sidye here’s a simple boy who likes hurting people. Such 
  noble clarity of purpose! And it also displays a lack of 
  subtlety that’ll make sure he stays a viscount until he 
  changes his outlook on life.” 
  • Why are people wearing nightclothes? “Dreamers from 
  Dal Quor,” says Amdrashar, “such as me. If we dream of a 
  fey citadel, the Fortress appears. Otherwise, the wyrds read 
  through promising nightmares in their library, and bring the 
  dreamers here to develop them further, or they bring a 
  warlock back to hear their tales. Or they visit towns, pied 
  and merry, and bring us here with sweet tonics in our sleep.” 
  • Who are you? Shan and Sidgevin will answer most 
  questions about themselves honestly enough. Amdrashar is 
  willing to share that she is a Riedran ambassador to the 
  feyspire, but subtly deflects any attempts to inquire further, 
  perhaps offering to share interesting information she has 
  recently learned about the feyspire, or asking about the 
  player characters. The characters are in fact speaking with 
  Amdrashar’s empty vessel, who is in essence a complete 
  copy of her personality. See Cast of Characters for more 
  information on each of them. 
  • Where is the artifact, the Mind’s Eye? Whenever the party 
  mentions the Mind’s Eye, proceed to Scene 5 (You can 
  return to Scene 4 afterwards to address any other questions 
  the party might have). 
  
   
  14 
   
  FOOD & DRINK 
  If any of the characters examine the food, read the following: 
  Fruit covers the table, wildly out-of-season and on the verge of over-
  ripeness. The closer you look, the less you recognize any of the 
  fruits—you can draw comparisons to apples or peaches or dates or 
  limes, but their traits blend into each other. Delicate pastries hide 
  between them, dusted with sugar and cinnamon; tiny meats on 
  skewers—lamb, sausage, shellfish, eye of newt, pixie—spring up like 
  a forest. Seeing you examine these refreshments, Shan pops a pastry 
  in his mouth and grins in satisfaction, “It restores the weary traveler 
  and tastes exquisite too! We assure you, sample Our food and you’ll 
  be back for more.” 
   
  A successful DC 15 Intelligence (History) check recalls folktales 
  of fey delicacies that refresh the body while calling the spirit 
  back for more. The detect magic spell reveals an aura of 
  conjuration and enchantment, and the detect poison and 
  disease spell indicates the food is not poisoned. A DC 18 
  Intelligence (Arcana) check suggests that the food is not directly 
  harmful and has regenerative properties, but those that eat of it 
  will need strength of spirit to resist the urge for more. 
   If a character eats the food now or later in the adventure, they 
  find it has some restorative properties, removing one level of 
  exhaustion and restoring 2d4+2 hit points. Characters can only 
  benefit from this once per long rest. However, any character 
  who has eaten food in the Night’s Refuge cafe will have 
  disadvantage on their Wisdom saving throw in Scene 8 when 
  the party wishes to leave the feyspire. If the party casts purify 
  food and drink before eating, this nullifies the disadvantage. 
  COMBAT IN THE CAFE 
  If a character attempts to initiate violence for any reason in this 
  room, they hear a sound like shattering glass. A persistent 
  sanctuary effect wards everyone inside the Night’s Refuge cafe, 
  and characters must succeed on a DC 20 Wisdom saving throw 
  or lose the attack or spell. Once a character has successfully 
  followed through on a hostile action, they are no longer under 
  the protection of this spell and other creatures can attack them 
  with impunity, unless they somehow convince Shan to restore 
  the ward to them. 
   However, Shan is happy to temporarily lift this ward for 
  purposes of the duel with Sidgevin in Scene 5, as long as the 
  party avoids engaging innocent bystanders. 
  A DANCING MOTH 
  Any character with passive Perception 15 or higher will notice 
  that the dancing hobgoblin’s shoes are bloodied. If they ask 
  about her for this or any other reason, Shan takes notice. 
  “Such a tragedy,” says Shan, who sounds delighted by the prospect. 
  He points at the stage. “Our little Moth was the finest dancer of the 
  latter days of Dhakaan, so We simply had to have her come here! And 
  she danced faster than time, and all her loved ones died. It does Our 
  wicked heart good to see her keep on dancing…” You can all see that 
  the soles of Moth’s flat dancing-shoes are soaked in blood. 
   
  If the player characters want to interact with Moth (who only 
  speaks Goblin and Sylvan), they can catch her during a break 
  when she briefly rests and binds her bleeding feet. However, 
  characters who display sympathy for Moth are exposing a big 
  lever to pull around a throng of manipulative creatures. 
   If a character offers to dance in place of Moth, who constantly 
  hovers at the edge of four levels of exhaustion, it will take two 
  hours to finish a performance, and the dancer must succeed on 
  a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or gain one level of 
  exhaustion. In exchange, the player gains inspiration, and Moth 
  heals a level of exhaustion through rest and the folkloric 
  resonance of a kind deed. While one player character dances, 
  the others can gain the benefits of a short rest. 
   If the party arranges (now or later) to try and help Moth 
  escape, see the sidebar “Leaving with Moth” in Scene 8. 
   
   
   
  
   
  15 
   
  SCENE 5: SPIT AND TOUCH IRON 
  When the party inquires about the Mind’s Eye, Shan summons 
  a resident of the feyspire. Read or paraphrase the following: 
  Shan’s perfect eyebrows lift in surprise. “Now there’s a name We 
  haven’t heard in a while!” He snaps his fingers, and a white-robed 
  figure appears behind him, gently luminous in the gloom. Her 
  garments fall like snowdrifts, concealing everything but her tight-
  lipped frown and large, cold hands. She might be looking at you, but 
  her hood covers her eyes—if indeed she has any. Her robes are 
  trimmed with lace, but the frills are small and patterns simple, 
  suggesting the bridesmaid rather than the bride. 
      Shan gestures to her grandly. “Gentles, meet the Paranymph, Our 
  treasured treasurer! We’d love to give you your trinket, but alas, We 
  are bound by rules.” 
      “His Lordship’s magic is not to be given out so lightly,” she 
  whispers, voice icy. “And there’s no conflict in this story if you get 
  what you want free of charge.” 
      “She has a point, as much as We hate to admit it! Dear Paranymph, 
  what would you say this is worth?” 
      In one palm, the Paranymph holds forth a rough stone object, 
  carved with an eye, then balances her other palm beside it like a 
  scale. “An eye is the usual repayment for an eye … but if you’re so 
  minded to dole it out, then perhaps they can give us their oh-so-
  valuable time.” 
  GIVING TIME 
  If the party seeks clarification on what the payment of time 
  entails, read or paraphrase the following: 
  The Paranymph pauses. “Simply stay with us for enough time that 
  people start to worry, and come looking… or, perhaps, you could 
  surrender your past, wipe it away. Forget who you were.” 
      Shan cuts in, “You could give us time as you! Hand over command 
  of your flesh in the future, for but an hour at an undetermined time… 
  when we want it, and ideally when it is least convenient for you.” 
   
  If a character chooses to surrender their past, work with the 
  player to determine the impact of this sacrifice. Perhaps it 
  merely impacts roleplay, or perhaps the character might lose 
  access to mechanical features from their background.  
   If a character chooses to give time from their future, on the 
  other hand, there is no immediate consequence. The 
  Paranymph gives the artifact they seek, and the party goes on 
  their merry way. However, as DM, you now have a plot hook to 
  impale your player on at a later time of your choosing. 
  GIVING AN EYE 
  If a character offers an eye, the player should understand that 
  this will have a permanent mechanical impact on their 
  character. 
     In addition to the character taking 3d6 slashing damage, they 
  will henceforth have a -2 to ranged attack rolls and Wisdom 
  (Perception) checks that rely on sight. If they are willing to 
  proceed, the Paranymph will take it without hesitation. Read or 
  paraphrase the following: 
   The Paranymph places her hand on your face. Her touch is cool and 
  gentle, almost tender … and then she stabs her fingers into your eye 
  socket and pulls. With a rush of blinding pain, you can barely watch 
  through your remaining eye as she carefully slips the orb into a 
  pocket of her robes. 
  GIVING NEITHER: CHALLENGED TO A DUEL 
  In the likely case that the characters hesitate to offer these 
  payments, the slight on Shan’s “generosity” sends Sidgevin into 
  greater heights of rage. He begins to rant at the party, 
  integrating any complaints he can about the party’s actions that 
  he can spin into an excuse for a fight. As he challenges them to 
  a duel, read or paraphrase the following: 
  Sidgevin leaps up. “You insolent DOGS! You refuse His Lordship’s 
  o’erwhelming magnanimity?! If you be so full of blood to spurn our 
  honor, then surely you must be skilled enough to defend your own!” 
  He overturns the table, leaping to perch on the edge with inhuman 
  grace, then draws his black iron scimitar. “The Fortress demands its 
  satisfaction!” 
      Shan bites into a meat-laden skewer. “A thought occurs. We’d also 
  price that eye at making Sidye look like an ass.” 
     You can’t see the Paranymph’s eyes, but you know with the 
  certainty of dream-logic that she’s rolling them. 
   
  Sidgevin challenges the party to choose a representative to duel 
  him, one-on-one. He expects an “honorable” duel, and shares 
  the following terms of engagement, which he grudgingly deigns 
  to explain to their mortal minds if absolutely necessary. 
  COURTLY DUELING FOR THOSE WHO HAVE SLIGHTED 
  THE FEY OF THE FADING DREAM 
  • “Let it remain a duel, not a triel, or we’ll hold a trial.” 
  A non-dueling character cannot openly attack or cast a 
  hostile spell on a dueling character (though Sidgevin never 
  says that non-dueling characters can’t buff their allies…). 
  Similarly, a dueling character cannot use any attacks, spells, 
  or abilities that affect non-dueling characters. Concealed 
  interference is technically against the rules, but only if you’re 
  caught…  
  • “Keep all appendages inside the vehicle at all times.” 
  Movement outside the 30-foot-square dueling area is 
  forbidden; a stable dancing lights effect appears to mark out 
  the field of honor when battle is called. 
  • “No half measures, no regrets.” No forfeits, no seconds. 
  • “Dying is messy and inconvenient; first blood will do.” 
  The victor is the first to reduce the other below half of their 
  maximum hit points. 
  
   
  16 
   
  HUMILIATING SIDGEVIN 
  As long as his opponent follows the rules, Viscount Sidgevin 
  fights with one hand behind his back, holding his scimitar, 
  Ravar Cair Sanhai, in the other. He will refrain from using his 
  Multiattack action, instead making only one attack per turn. 
  However, if the rules are violated by his opponent, or if the other 
  party members noticeably intervene, he will stop limiting 
  himself, using his abilities to the utmost until his opponent is 
  reduced below half HP. 
   However, to win the Mind’s Eye through combat, Shan 
  expects Sidgevin to not only be defeated, but humiliated as well. 
  To reflect this mechanically, whenever any character deals 
  damage to Sidgevin, they may use their reaction to attempt a 
  DC 15 Charisma (Performance) check to humiliate him. Upon a 
  success, the damage type changes to psychic damage, which 
  Sidgevin is vulnerable to. Along with each check, players should 
  narrate how they use their abilities to make a fool of Sidgevin 
  with attacks calculated to hurt his ego more than his body. 
   The spectators of this match have a role to play too. Whenever 
  Sidgevin fails an attack roll or saving throw, one character can 
  verbally taunt him, using their reaction to attempt a DC 10 
  Charisma (Intimidation or Persuasion) check. Upon a success, 
  the next ally to attempt a Charisma (Performance) check to 
  humiliate Sidgevin with their attack gains advantage on the 
  check. Once a character has attempted a taunt, they may not do 
  so again until every other spectating character has done so. 
   
  ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS 
  If you use the optional Environmental Elements rule from WGtE, the 
  following elements are present in this scene: Empty Chairs, Empty 
  Tables, Drifting Lights, Sumptuous Delicacies, Startled Bystander, 
  Hanging Branches. 
  WINNING THE EYE 
  Once “first blood” is reached, reducing one of the duelists below 
  half of their maximum HP, the duel is over. 
   If Sidgevin wins the duel, all is not lost. Choices in the 
  Fortress of Fading Dreams have very real effects, but it’s not a 
  place where failure tarnishes the outcome—instead, the logic of 
  nightmares simply sets you back on the same terrifying path, 
  repeating the duel over and over again. If the same player 
  character duels more than once, they gain a level of exhaustion. 
  However, after the first duel, the party also learns better what 
  makes Sidgevin angry and gains advantage on ability checks 
  made to taunt and humiliate him (canceling out any 
  disadvantage due to exhaustion). 
   Once the party wins the duel, drawing first blood and 
  humiliating Sidgevin (even if they broke the rules of 
  engagement and ganged up on Sidgevin), read or paraphrase 
  the following: 
   
   
  Sidgevin throws his scimitar to the ground in disgust. Shan picks it 
  up. He hands it to you hilt first, along with the Mind’s Eye, though he 
  looks at Sidgevin, saying, “Well, now, Sidye, if you can’t take care of 
  your nice things, then you don’t deserve them. Please, gentles, 
  accept his blade, Ravar Cair Sanhai, with Our compliments, and wield 
  it better than this braying fool.” 
  The party can safely take a short rest in the Night’s Refuge cafe 
  if they wish, allowing characters to attune to both items if they 
  desire. However, the party should not be provided the item 
  descirption for Ravar Cair Sanhai until Azai’s memories are 
  restored to her in Scene 7. 
  MIND’S EYE 
  Wondrous item, artifact (requires attunement) 
  This is the petrified eye of a dead kalaraq quori that was destroyed 
  long ago. While the Mind’s Eye is on your person, you receive the 
  benefits of a ring of mind shielding. In addition, when you sleep, you 
  do not dream, and are immune to spells and other magical effects 
  that require you to dream, like the dream spell, but not to spells and 
  effects that put you to sleep, like the sleep spell. 
   
  
   
  17 
   
  HEADING HOME? 
  With the Mind’s Eye in their possession (along with Sidgevin’s 
  scimitar, Ravar Cair Sanhai), the party can return to questioning 
  the Night’s Refuge characters in Scene 4 if desired. Once done, 
  they can attempt to go on their merry way out of the feyspire. 
  However, when they attempt to leave, the path they take 
  through the park winds around for a couple minutes, then leads 
  right back to Night’s Refuge. Read or paraphrase the following: 
   
  As you round another bend in the path toward the gates, you find 
  yourself coming back upon the Night’s Refuge cafe, where a gleeful 
  Shan, stone-faced Paranymph, and inscrutable Amdrashar await, 
  though Sidgevin has made his exit. “Oh, how terrible!” Shan cries. “It 
  looks like you’re part of a story now, and the Fortress won’t let you 
  leave. How dreadfully exciting when that happens!” Shan lifts a hand. 
  “We know, We know, you’re full of pesky questions, such as ‘how do 
  we get out’ or ‘what story are we in’ or ‘are we going to crumble into 
  dust when we age’—relax! The answers don’t matter! Eat! Drink! 
  Watch a show! Socialize! You’ve been through so much; nobody’s 
  gonna miss you back home!” 
   
  If the player characters express they would rather not retire to a 
  life of hollow and empty delights, Shan pouts. 
   
  “Well, if you insist, We suppose you could complete the story you’re 
  in… but it’s so much more fun when you have to find the way out 
  yourself. We’d point you to the Library of Nightmares, but that’s 
  private. Tell you what, the Harlequinade’s rehearsing tonight. You’ll 
  find your way there—help them with their rehearsal, and the library 
  will be allllllll yours!” 
   
  Shan isn’t keeping them here to spite the party; he’s bound by 
  the laws of the feyspire, and literally cannot allow them to leave. 
  That doesn’t mean he can’t take vindictive pleasure in it 
  nonetheless. If the characters ask what the Library of 
  Nightmares is, Shan answers with a smile:  
   
  “It contains a fascinating record of every nightmare ever experienced, 
  and countless recipes for the creation of new ones.” 
   
  As the party interacts with Shan, inform the character that 
  holds or carries Sidgevin’s blade, Ravar Cair Sanhai, that they 
  feel intense sorrow and longing when they look at the 
  Paranymph, rage and resentment at Shan, and bilious hatred 
  and fear at Amdrashar’s vessel. The bearer of the blade can 
  attempt a DC 10 Wisdom (Insight) check. Upon a success, they 
  realize the feelings are coming from the sword. Upon a failure, 
  they learn nothing. 
   
    
   
  RAVAR CAIR SANHAI (BLADE OF THE IRON CROWN) 
  Weapon (scimitar), rare (requires attunement) 
  This blade was forged with the memories of the du’ulora quori Azai, 
  one of the wandering dreams who got lost in the exodus from Dal 
  Quor 1,800 years ago, and was the first source of the crown of 
  madness spell for mortal users. 
  You gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic 
  weapon. 
  Whispers of Madness. While Azai’s memories persist within the 
  blade, it bestows the du’ulora’s ability to infect creatures with 
  indiscriminate violence on its wielder. While wielding the blade, you 
  can cast crown of madness once, using Charisma as your spellcasting 
  ability modifier. You can do so again when you finish a short or long 
  rest. 
  Sentience. While Azai’s memories persist within the blade, it is also a 
  sentient lawful good weapon with an Intelligence of 1, a Wisdom of 
  18, and a Charisma of 1. It has hearing and darkvision out to 120 
  feet. The weapon can only communicate with its wielder by 
  transmitting emotions, though it need not be attuned to do so. 
  Consuming Rage. If Azai’s memories are restored and her pent-up 
  emotions fill the blade, the Whispers of Madness and Sentience 
  properties cease to apply. Instead, the blade bestows upon the bearer 
  the du’ulora’s ability to have a creature’s rage consume them with 
  flame. While wielding the blade, you can cast searing smite once as a 
  2nd-level spell, using Charisma as your spellcasting ability modifier. 
  You can do so again when you finish a short or long rest. 
   
   
   
  
   
  18 
   
  SCENE 6: A NIGHT TO DISMEMBER 
  When the party is ready to find the Harlequinade, read or 
  paraphrase the following:  
   
  The path leads you through a door into the Fortress proper, which 
  creaks open of its own accord. The door opens onto a cavernous 
  backstage, bustling with slender blackthorn dryads busy building sets 
  and hunched gnomes with various levels of costuming rushing back 
  and forth. If you look at anything for too long, you notice little 
  worrisome details—blood on the props, spikes on the juggling pins, 
  masks that laugh as you pass—and all the gnomes have sharp, 
  interlocking teeth, like a piranha. 
      A gnome is suddenly at your sides, dressed as a mime. As they 
  pantomime, the meaning registers in your brain—you’re supposed to 
  follow them. They lead you into a small dressing room lit by 
  everbright lanterns rather than drifting motes, where a youngish, 
  heavyset figure in nightclothes sits, leaning over the back of a chair. 
  As e turns to watch you enter, you are surprised to see that in this 
  tower filled with fey and immortals, e is human. “Jeong,” e says 
  without preamble, then nods to the gnome. “That’s Mailin. And we 
  need some people from the waking world who are willing to do 
  something very stupid and very dangerous.” 
   
  What do Jeong and Mailin know? These two characters are 
  part of the Harlequinade. They are glad to answer the party’s 
  questions, which may include the following: 
  • What’s the Harlequinade? Mailin frowns, writing slowly on 
  their illusory slate. “Bait in a trap. We go out wandering as a 
  carnival across waking Khorvaire, promising the wild magic 
  of the circus that goes deeper than any spell. The shows 
  aren’t… fun. Intense, but they’re not fun. They sow terror and 
  sorrow and just enough allure to make people come back the 
  next night, and if they drink our refreshments, they come 
  back here in dreams, where we can learn and prey.” 
  • What’s a dreaming mortal doing here? Jeong frowns. 
  “What I can. These shows lure people into nightmares, and 
  the biggest nightmares are those that pursue my people. So I 
  have a drink when the Harlequinade comes to town, I visit 
  the Fortress in my dreams, and I try to change the script, 
  with my friend.” 
  • Who are your people? “The Adarans. Well. The Adaran 
  Lightbringers who live in the Lhazaar, but we say ‘Adarans.’” 
  o The player characters would recognize the word 
  Adaran. Common knowledge is that they’re a Sarlonan 
  group persecuted by the Riedrans and they don’t talk 
  much about themselves. 
  o As Jeong mentions the Adarans, the player character 
  carrying Ravar Cair Sanhai feels faint, fearful hope. If 
  they failed the previous check to recognize the emotions 
  as coming from the blade, they now automatically 
  succeed on this check. 
  • Why is Mailin trying to help change the script if they’re 
  part of the feyspire? “Because I’m a clown,” they write 
  swiftly. “There was a time when clowns were funny, or at 
  least when comedy was about happy endings. What’s the 
  point of terrifying people without catharsis?” 
  • What do you need us to do? Mailin and Jeong share a 
  glance. “The Riedrans are in it with the fey,” writes Mailin. 
  “And Prince Pak’s slowly sliding into it with the Riedrans,” 
  says Jeong. “They bring her here, and whisper in her 
  dreams, and we need you to whisper back. Tell her the 
  Riedrans aren’t her friends.” 
  • What’s the danger? “We’re a fey creature bound by rules 
  and a subpar sailmaker. We could do it on our own, but 
  afterwards, they’d—” Jeong draws a finger across eir neck. 
  “They’d make us wish we were dead,” corrects Mailin. 
  • What if we can’t act? “Practice makes perfect!” writes 
  Mailin. “By which they mean, time stretches in dreams, and 
  you can try this again as long as you like,” says Jeong. “Pak’s 
  not going to notice, and the Riedran ambassador can’t say 
  anything about it without—” E stops. “Tipping her hand?” 
  writes Mailin, and Jeong nods. 
  • What’s the play? “We’ve based it off the basic harlequinade 
  format,” writes Mailin. “We have Harlequin, the hero; 
  Columbine, the love interest; Pantaloon, Columbine’s 
  grasping parent; Clown, Pantaloon’s bumbling assistant; and 
  Pierrot, the tragic element.” 
      “And I added the metaphor,” adds Jeong. “Harlequin is the 
  Riedrans, the obvious attractive choice; Columbine is 
  Tantamar, which they want; Pantaloon is Prince Pak, who 
  controls Tantamar but is misled; Clown is the Fortress, who 
  just helps the Inspired by being so focused on terror; and 
  Pierrot is the Adarans, the better ally for Tantamar.” 
  • Why would you make the Riedrans the hero? “To keep it 
  from being obvious!” Jeong says. 
  • What if we have no people skills? “We can always spin in 
  an animal act!” writes Mailin. “Or you could help out with 
  props and set backstage,” says Jeong. 
  THE SHOW MUST GO ON 
  When the party is done asking questions, they can divide up the 
  roles for the play. Jeong and Mailin are willing to step in to fill 
  one of the main five roles if some characters prefer supporting 
  roles (the NPC performances serve a narrative role only and 
  does not aid the players in succeeding on their ability checks). If 
  the players want to strategize which character should fill each 
  role, Mailin and Jeong can fill characters in on the demands of 
  each role. 
  PLAY YOUR PART 
   After each character has a role, players should select one 
  relevant ability check for their role and be prepared to describe 
  how their character fulfills it. The DC to succeed upon each 
  ability check is 17. 
   
  
   
  19 
   
  • Harlequin. Harlequin is clever and enthusiastic, whose 
  skills in Dexterity (Acrobatics) and Charisma (Performance) 
  help get them out of the sticky situations their behavior 
  creates; a character can also use Charisma (Intimidation) to 
  channel the subtle menace of the Inspired to help the 
  metaphor feel more real. 
  • Columbine. Columbine provides the stakes and the analysis 
  of the play; they rely on Wisdom (Insight) and Charisma 
  (Performance), since they understand the situation best and 
  always have a comment for others. 
  • Pantaloon. Pantaloon is short-sighted and trying to keep 
  anyone from marrying their child and thus inheriting their 
  legacy. They rely on Charisma (Deception) and Charisma 
  (Performance) to keep up the role while subtly portraying 
  Prince Pak. 
  • Clown. Clown is bumbling and ineffectual, but creates 
  danger for the innocent lovers. As a mobile role, they rely on 
  Dexterity (Acrobatics) and Strength (Athletics); they can also 
  focus on danger with Charisma (Intimidation). 
  • Pierrot. Pierrot provides pathos and guides the main 
  message of this play; they rely on Charisma (Deception) and 
  Charisma (Persuasion) to get the message through while not 
  being too obvious a cipher for the Adarans. 
  • Animal Act. An animal act relies on Wisdom (Animal 
  Handling) and Charisma (Performance); Intelligence 
  (Nature) can also be used to convincingly emulate an animal 
  if you shapeshift into one for the act. 
  • Propmaster. A propmaster relies on Intelligence (any 
  artisan’s tools) as relevant to the props or set they’re 
  working on. 
   
  Aiding the Performance. Feel free to hand out advantage for 
  clever use of spells and other resources, even if their RAW 
  effect doesn’t explicitly affect acting attempts. For example: 
  • A barbarian’s rage can assist with Intimidation. 
  • Many Channel Divinity options can provide eye-catching 
  special effects. 
  • A fighter’s Action Surge, and the expendable options from 
  the Arcane Archer, Battle Master, and Samurai, can create 
  dazzling stage combat scenes, as can a monk’s Flurry of 
  Blows. 
  • A monk’s Step of the Wind can set up remarkable tumbles. 
  • Nature clerics and druids with wild shape can all help with 
  animal acts. 
  • Forge clerics and conjurers can create magical props. 
  • Evocation and illusion spells can be flashy, and there’s a 
  long tradition of both in Khorvairian theater. 
  Once characters are ready for the dress rehearsal to proceed, 
  read or paraphrase the following: 
   
  The costumes fit you just a little too well, and you’ve memorized the 
  words far better than one read-through should have allowed, but 
  you’re ready to run the dress rehearsal—a performance in its own 
  right. Mailin and Jeong give you hasty thumbs-ups from backstage as 
  you come out on stage and get the show underway. You see 
  Amdrashar right there in the front row next to a stocky, muscular 
  human woman. The human—Prince Pak Seoyun—has close-cropped 
  graying hair and flowery tattoos, and watches calmly, Amdrashar 
  whispering to her over the playbill. 
   
  If at least half of the player characters succeed on their 
  ability checks, the play captures Seoyun’s attention and she 
  begins to realize what it’s meant to communicate. She reaches 
  for her pinecone-tipped staff and sends a swarm of bees toward 
  Amdrashar’s vessel. Amdrashar’s vessel doesn’t have the full 
  psionic power of her hashalaq spirit, but she’s powerful enough 
  to cause a dreamer to wake up—the vessel snaps her fingers, 
  and Seoyun and the bees vanish. But the party can take 
  satisfaction in having planted a seed in Seoyun’s dreams, which 
  Mailin and Jeong can shepherd and turn it into action. 
   If less than half of the player characters succeed on their 
  ability checks, the performance was unsuccessful. However, 
  just as dreams may bizarrely repeat themselves, the characters 
  can choose to all gain a level of exhaustion in order to act out 
  the performance again, each character selecting a different 
  ability check or role this time. If they choose to do so, the DC to 
  succeed lowers by 5 for every attempt, as Seoyun starts to think 
  her dreams nonsensical, undermining her confidence in the 
  Inspired for the future. Upon successfully communicating with 
  Seoyun after a first failed attempt, each character gains 
  inspiration for their tenacity. 
   If the party prefers, they can abandon repeat attempts to 
  communicate the message. They are still able to move onto the 
  Library of Nightmares, but leave Jeong and Mailin resentful and 
  Seoyun under Inspired influence.  
   
  
   
  20 
   
  SCENE 7: SLEEP PARALYSIS 
  After the dress rehearsal, regardless of whether the party 
  communicated successfully with Seoyun, they can head 
  backstage. Read or paraphrase the following: 
  Shan is waiting backstage with a bouquet of dead roses for each of 
  you; it’s nigh impossible to keep from pricking yourselves on the 
  thorns. “You play your parts so well! Are you sure you don’t want to 
  stay on with the troupe?” He shrugs. “Well, you’ve earned your library 
  memberships. Ms. d’Orien?” 
      A youngish human in a nightgown with delicate features and 
  overlarge glasses steps out from behind a set, stumbling on a 
  board—her dragonmark clearly grants more speed than grace. She 
  holds out her hand. “La-Lena d’Orien, w-with the Twelve! I’m an… 
  oneironaut? Exr-exploring alternate methods of transta-
  transportation! Shan has… graciously let me research the lir-library, 
  and wanted me to sh-show you around.” 
   
  “Lena d’Orien” does not exist, and Shan knows it. This is the 
  hashalaq Amdrashar in a human guise, trying to avoid a link 
  back to the Riedran ambassador while around mortals. She 
  wants to get the party to do the dirty work of finding out Shan’s 
  secrets that pertain to the story they’re caught up in. However, if 
  Seoyun attacked Amdrashar’s vessel during the rehearsal, 
  Amdrashar suspects the party’s involvement, and her plan is to 
  silence them once they’re done.
  When the party is ready to follow Lena to the Library of 
  Nightmares, read or paraphrase the following: 
  Lena sets off through the corridors of the fortress on a path that you 
  could swear goes in circles, but nevertheless, you eventually end up 
  at an impressive set of double iron doors wrought with the ram-
  horned, snarling face of a night hag. Lena puts her hand inside the 
  night hag’s mouth and pricks her finger, causing the hag’s face to 
  curl into an awful leer. The doors swing inward with an ear-splitting 
  groan, and the labyrinthine library looms around you. Skittering 
  headless things with crab claws, centipede bodies, and far too many 
  eyes crawl over the shelves, and books with dark covers flap about 
  screeching from shelf to shelf. 
   
  The creatures here are more of the tsucora quori. If the party 
  did not previously recognize them in Scene 4 when entering the 
  feyspire, a successful DC 16 Intelligence (Arcana) check 
  identifies them now (or they can ask Lena about them, and 
  she’ll answer honestly). 
   Characters with a passive Perception 15, as well as the 
  character carrying Ravar Cair Sanhai, notes that Lena’s blood 
  takes a few seconds to start flowing; Ravar Cair Sanhai 
  transmits fear and hesitant anger when it sees this. Since a 
  hashalaq has no blood, Amdrashar must manually mimic its 
  appearance with her shapeshifting. If called out on it, she says 
  it’s because she knows she can’t be hurt in the dream; a DC 20 
  Wisdom (Insight) check reveals this for a lie. 
   
   
  
   
  21 
   
  UNDERSTANDING THE STORY 
  As they enter the library, Lena announces,  
  “Wem-welcome to the Library of Nightmares!” She giggles at her 
  attempt at a dramatic voice. “So, what’s your cote-connection to this 
  story?” 
  Lena will begin to research the party’s connection to the story 
  based on their answers, which might include the Mind’s Eye, 
  Ravar Cair Sanhai, and perhaps Sidgevin. During the research 
  process, unless a character succeeds on a DC 20 Wisdom 
  (Insight) check to suspect her duplicity, Lena seems genuinely 
  interested in helping the party. However, Ravar Cair Sanhai 
  grows increasingly suspicious of Lena, and by the time the party 
  finishes their research, the character who bears the blade has 
  ample reason to distrust her (whether or not the rest of the 
  party believes them). 
   If you wish to fill out the narrative of the party’s time in the 
  library, you can ask each player about something creepy that 
  happens to their character in the library, perhaps playing off the 
  fears they encountered in the forest or the moat. 
   Eventually, the research is complete. You can choose to read 
  or paraphrase the below text in segments, as if the information 
  is discovered along the way, or you can read it all as one 
  narrative: 
   
  As you research, knowledge filters into your brain with the certainty 
  of narration. Lena helps you peruse the stacks, explaining with what 
  might be exasperation that everything here is a metaphor for 
  something else. Everything you’ve done ties into the story you’re in. 
  You came here and got trapped: something else is trapped. You were 
  looking for something once connected to a quori: you are looking for 
  something now connected to a quori. You tried to turn a nightmare 
  into a good dream: other nightmares can become good dreams. You 
  have a sword in your hand that tugs at your emotions. And you 
  remember Lhara’s words, to look out for creatures with more than 
  two eyes, or fewer than one... Indeed, fewer than one, clad in white. 
      In this Library of Nightmares, time passes unmarked, the volumes 
  filtering into your mind until you understand. They tell of a creature 
  like a black blot of cold, calculated hate, fluttering on six mismatched 
  wings, eye-tipped tendrils whipping around it. It is a quori, an 
  incarnate nightmare, but she no longer wants to be one. She is 
  searching for an escape route for her fellows in rebellion. In her flight, 
  she finds the Fortress. But they stake her down with words, and their 
  leader waves a blade that burns his hand, and her memories flow out 
  of her and into the blade. She is ripped out of herself, and becomes a 
  figure dressed in slithering white. The blade smolders. The 
  Paranymph says, “I live to serve.” 
      Her name is Azai. Her memories are in this blade. Reunite them, 
  and you earn your freedom. 
   
   
  Upon finishing their research, the characters realize the 
  Paranymph, Azai, is a rebel quori, like those who bonded with 
  Adarans many generations ago to form the kalashtar race. Any 
  character that succeeds on a DC 20 Intelligence (Arcana) check 
  recognizes her as a du’ulora quori (or “blackfury”), once one of 
  the cold and calculating generals of the quori who sow rage and 
  hate among mortals. An initiate of the shadow war 
  automatically succeeds on this check. 
  THE RITUAL 
  Coupling their research with the flashes of understanding given 
  as the feyspire leads them through the story they walk within, 
  the characters instinctively know that the story calls for the 
  following: 
   To free Azai according to the ritual they have found, the party 
  will need the Paranymph present, as well as something hopeful 
  to break her out, something hollow to contain the story, and 
  something hungry to get it to stick. 
  • The characters already have something hungry—Sidgevin’s 
  humiliation. 
  • The Mind’s Eye is something hollow—it’s a focus and won’t 
  be altered by the ritual. 
  • If the party got a message to Seoyun during the rehearsal, 
  or if they danced for Moth, they’ve earned something 
  hopeful. If they did neither of these, the party can earn 
  something hopeful by sending one of the party on a sprint 
  to find Seoyun and deliver the message they failed to 
  communicate earlier in the rehearsal; to do so, the 
  character that seeks Seoyun out gains a level of exhaustion, 
  as well as inspiration for their sacrifice. 
   After summoning the Paranymph, it will take 2 rounds to 
  complete the ritual. To free Azai, one character must maintain 
  concentration on the ritual for two rounds, using their action on 
  their first turn to begin the ritual, and using their action on their 
  second turn to attempt an Intelligence (Arcana) check to 
  complete the ritual. 
  • The base DC for this check is 25. 
  • If the party succeeded in their rehearsal and delivered the 
  message to Seoyun, the DC is reduced by 5. 
  • If the party danced in Moth’s place, the DC is reduced by 5. 
  • Casting remove curse on the blade reduces the DC by 5. 
  • Performing the ritual in a magic circle reduces the DC by 5. 
  • A warlock of the Archfey has advantage on the check. 
  • All of the above stack but cannot be repeated. 
   However, the character bearing Ravar Cair Sanhai has a 
  feeling they can’t quite shake, an impression there might be 
  another way—more painful, yet easier—to free Azai. 
  • If the character suggests stabbing the Paranymph with 
  Ravar Cair Sanhai, they immediately feel a pulse of 
  excitement. This is a bloodier yet effective way to restore 
  her memories. 
   The party can choose to use either option to free Azai. The 
  ritual takes two rounds and requires concentration, whereas if 
  they think of stabbing the Paranymph, it is much quicker. Both 
  will yield the same end result. 
  
   
  22 
   
  Feel free to adapt these rules if the players come up with 
  another compelling plan. For example, perhaps the players 
  decide to try deceiving Lena into stabbing the Paranymph with 
  Ravar Cair Sanhai herself, which might require a successful DC 
  18 Charisma (Deception) check. 
  KEEPING SECRETS 
  Though Lena helped with the research, she might not put 
  together the final missing pieces to realize the Paranymph was 
  once a rebel quori (and still is, of a sort). If the party decides not 
  to share their full research with her, have one character attempt 
  a DC 18 Charisma (Deception) check, made with advantage if 
  the party was successful in their rehearsal with the 
  Harlequinade, which leaves Amdrashar distracted at the 
  potential loss of Seoyun. Upon a success, the key pieces of 
  research escape her notice, and Lena remains unsuspecting of 
  the Paranymph’s identity for now. Upon a failure, however, 
  Lena realizes that if she kills the Paranymph, she destroys one 
  of the rebel quori the Dreaming Dark has hunted for millennia. 
  Either way, combat is imminent. In a few moments, once Lena 
  reveals herself as Amdrashar, a successful DC 20 Intelligence 
  (Arcana) check can recognize her form as a hashalaq quori (or 
  “dreamstealer”), the loremasters and lawgivers of Dal Quor, 
  skilled empaths that tempt mortals to the cause of the 
  Dreaming Dark. An initiate of the shadow war automatically 
  succeeds on this check. 
  IF THE PARTY SUCCEEDS IN HIDING THEIR RESEARCH: 
  Upon a successful Deception check the party is momentarily 
  able to put enough distance between them and Lena for a 
  planning session. Lena tries to get within 60 feet of them so she 
  can use her Intimate Knowledge Aura and figure out what 
  they’ve discovered. Amdrashar would love to attempt to destroy 
  the relatively powerless Paranymph instead of a released and 
  angry du’ulora quori. However, due to the party’s earlier success 
  in deceiving her, she doesn’t put together the pieces until the 
  party has summoned the Paranymph. 
   If the party tries to summon or call for the Paranymph on their 
  own, she appears uncomfortably close just behind them, 
  seemingly from thin air. If they try to find Shan to summon her, 
  he’s just around the corner of the bookshelves, right 
  where the story needs to be, and she appears at his 
  finger-snapping. Once the party begins the ritual, 
  Lena realizes their plan. Read or paraphrase the 
  following: 
  Lena rises from the floor, her flesh 
  unraveling into thousands of tiny tendrils 
  like those of a jellyfish. The tendrils 
  rearrange into a hollow robed form, hood 
  full of blue light, and she calls in what you 
  recognize as Amdrashar, the Riedran 
  ambassador’s, voice. “This’ll be over 
  quickly!” 
  The character concentration on completing the ritual is able to 
  finish the first round before Amdrashar initiates combat, 
  leaving them only one turn and a successful ability check to free 
  Azai. If the bearer of Ravar Cair Sanhai is stabbing the 
  Paranymph instead, this requires a single action, the attack 
  landing automatically. 
   Roll initiative. If Amdrashar has higher initiative than the 
  character concentrating on the ritual, they must succeed on any 
  Constitution saves necessary to maintain concentration before 
  their turn begins, or have to start the ritual over.  
   If the ritual is successfully completed, Azai is freed. Upon a 
  failure, the party will have to battle Amdrashar without Azai’s 
  aid, but after defeating the hashalaq quori, can repeat the ritual 
  and automatically succeed in freeing Azai. 
  ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS 
  If you use the optional Environmental Elements rule from WGtE, the 
  following elements are present in this scene: Study Carrels, Flapping 
  Books, Heavy Bookshelves, Old Fears, New Fears, Quori Goons. 
  IF THE PARTY FAILS IN HIDING THEIR RESEARCH: 
  Upon a failed Deception check, Lena realizes the rebel quori’s 
  true identity. She summons the Paranymph herself before the 
  party can begin their ritual, bent on destroying the du’u’lora. It 
  only takes a thought for the Paranymph to unexpectedly appear 
  from behind Lena, seemingly from thin air, following the 
  demands of the story. Lena immediately transforms into the 
  true form of Amdrashar and begins attacking the Paranymph. 
  Read or paraphrase the following: 
  Lena rises from the floor, her flesh unraveling into thousands of tiny 
  tendrils like those of a jellyfish. The tendrils rearrange into a hollow 
  robed form, hood full of blue light. She charges at the Paranymph, 
  tendrils snaking out of her sleeves and latching onto the Paranymph. 
  The white-robed figure struggles with the black-robed thing; 
  wherever the Paranymph tears away from the sticking tendrils, her 
  robe shreds, exposing blue flesh marred with red welts. She screams 
  in pain as the empty hood envelops her own head, and the blue light 
  within the creature pulses from violet to red as blood drips from 
  under the Paranymph’s concealing hood. 
   
  Roll initiative. Once the party lands the first hit on Amdrashar, 
  she releases the Paranymph (who runs to cower in a corner) 
  and focuses her attention on attacking the party. When this 
  happens, the party can either leave the Paranymph alone for 
  now, or they can attempt to free Azai either through completing 
  both rounds of the ritual or stabbing her. 
   
   
  
   
  23 
   
  FREEING AZAI 
  When the Paranymph’s memories are restored, Azai is freed. 
   If stabbing the Paranymph restores Azai, read or 
  paraphrase the following: 
  The Paranymph screams in anguish as the blade protrudes from her 
  torso. Her robes stain black from the wound, beginning to bulge and 
  ripple in an unseen wind until they explode into a dark six-winged 
  blot, single eye staring balefully. Three eye-tipped tendrils whip 
  around her, and despite her complete lack of humanoid body 
  language, you imagine that Azai looks the happiest she’s ever been. 
      A moment later, you see the many centipede-legged tsucoras that 
  populate the library menacingly skittering over the shelves toward 
  you. Azai rises, her wings fluttering, and a red light begins to burn in 
  each tsucora’s eyes. Some begin to turn on each other and tear each 
  other apart; those closest to her swarm toward her, and her 
  strangling tentacles cause them to burst into flame. 
      <You think you can handle one bad dream?> Azai says in your 
  heads. Honestly, you think you can. 
  If the ritual restores Azai, read or paraphrase the following: 
  The Paranymph’s robes slither and hiss around her, whipping into a 
  coiling blur, then swelling into a dark blot. Six wings stretch from its 
  form, single eye staring balefully. Three eye-tipped tendrils whip 
  around her, and despite her complete lack of humanoid body 
  language, you imagine that Azai looks the happiest she’s ever been. 
      A moment later, you see the many centipede-legged tsucoras that 
  populate the library menacingly skittering over the shelves toward 
  you. Azai rises, her wings fluttering, and a red light begins to burn in 
  each tsucora’s eyes. Some begin to turn on each other and tear each 
  other apart; those closest to her swarm toward her, and 
  her strangling tentacles cause them to burst into flame. 
      <You think you can handle one bad dream?> 
  Azai says in your heads. Honestly, you think you can. 
   
  FIGHT OR FLIGHT 
  Once Azai’s memories are restored, her instinct is to flee 
  combat with Amdrashar, and there’s no shame if the party 
  chooses to run in accordance with her urging. They’ve 
  successfully freed Azai and can focus on getting out of the 
  Fortress. But if the party wants to stand and fight, Azai stays 
  with them. 
   If the party chooses to fight, Azai casts bless upon the entire 
  party, which she automatically maintains concentration on for 
  the remainder of the battle. Otherwise, her presence in the 
  battle is narrative only. Describe her as holding off swarms of 
  many-legged tsucora quori while the party engages Amdrashar. 
   As Azai blesses the party, Amdrashar raises a tendrilled hand 
  to what would be her temple if she had one, and manifests two 
  astral constructs on either side of her. These creatures of pure 
  ectoplasm immediately charge whichever character is posing 
  the most immediate threat to the hashalaq. The constructs will 
  fight to the death, but once Amdrashar is reduced to one-fourth 
  her maximum hit points, she uses her action to teleport away 
  from the feyspire to a safer region of Dal Quor. She will rejoin 
  her vessel, and seek revenge on Azai and the party, another day. 
   
  IF SEOYUN IS PRESENT 
  If the party brought Seoyun with them to the library, she briefly joins 
  in the fight against Amdrashar. Read or paraphrase the following: 
  Seoyun’s eyes go wide, and she clutches her pinecone-tipped 
  staff, which glows green. Her form turns gray and sleek, and then 
  a shark is swimming through the air toward the robed figure (and 
  of course, a shark doesn’t need water in a dream). She tears away 
  at the creature’s robe, then twists in sudden agony before 
  vanishing. Many miles away, far out of your sight, Seoyun sits bolt 
  upright in a hammock, covered in sweat and awake, before she 
  settles back down into a thankfully dreamless sleep. 
  Amdrashar takes 22 (3d10+6) piercing damage from the attack, then 
  spends her reaction to use Traumatic Feedback, regaining 12 (5d4) 
  hit points. 
   
  If the party chooses to flee, read or paraphrase the following: 
  As the centipede-legged creatures pour toward you, Amdrashar’s 
  robed figure tilts and flies at you, books flapping up in its wake. She 
  calls out to you in a patient, sinister voice: “There’s no use running, 
  little ones! Now be good and let me make the bad, bad dream go 
  away!” 
   
  As the party flees the swift-winged Amdrashar, use the Chases 
  rules on page 252 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide along with 
  the Library of Nightmares Chase Complications Table. Azai’s 
  presence is narrative only, and the player characters are the 
  only ones that need to make checks to escape. 
   
   
  
   
  24 
   
  While Amdrashar can fly, the bookshelves extend all the way to 
  the ceiling, preventing her from flying high above to spot the 
  party. The passages turn and branch randomly; there’s a turn 
  every 10 x 1d12 feet, most of which have multiple choices. 
  Amdrashar can sense the thoughts of creatures in a 60-foot 
  radius around her, so the characters will need to be at least that 
  far away before escaping her detection (except for the character 
  who carries the Mind’s Eye, which protects them from 
  Amdrashar’s senses). Once outside that range, the characters 
  have advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks to escape 
  Amdrashar, as the library shelves provide many places to hide. 
  THE ESCAPE 
  If the party is caught, they will need to defeat Amdrashar in 
  combat before leaving the Library of Nightmares. She fights as 
  in the Fight or Flight section above, but does not manifest any 
  astral constructs. Read or paraphrase the following: 
  With the terrible inevitability of a nightmare, you find yourselves back 
  where you began, surrounded by the centipede-legged creatures. 
  “Didn’t I tell you there was no use running? It’s time for this 
  ‘wandering dream’ to come back home.” 
   
  If the party escapes Amdrashar, read or paraphrase the 
  following: 
  You see the doorway ahead of you, and in a last desperate sprint, you 
  hurtle through it. A pincer reaches through the door just behind 
  you—and then the hag-headed door slams shut on it with an awful 
  finality. Behind the doors, you hear Amdrashar scream in rage and 
  frustration, caught in the story. A breathless moment, but she does 
  not follow. The nightmare is over. 
   
   
  TABLE: LIBRARY OF NIGHTMARES 
  CHASE COMPLICATIONS 
  d20 
  Complication 
  1 
  A tsucora quori grabs at you with its pincers. Make a DC 
  13 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check to 
  avoid its grasp. On a failure, you take 1d4 piercing 
  damage and are grappled in place. To escape the grapple, 
  either you or a creature who can reach you can use an 
  action to make a DC 13 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity 
  (Acrobatics) check, freeing you on a success. Each failed 
  escape attempt deals 1 piercing damage to you. 
  2 
  You run through a swarm of tiny biting fears; treat as a 
  swarm of wasps (see the Monster Manual for game 
  statistics), except its type is fey and its attacks deal 
  psychic damage. As you run, the swarm makes an 
  opportunity attack against you (+3 to hit; 4d4 piercing 
  damage on a hit), though it does not pursue. 
  3 
  Make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, 
  you are blinded by a sudden flurry of flying pages until the 
  end of your turn. While blinded in this way, your speed is 
  halved. 
  4 
  A series of slim books skitters quickly across the floor. 
  Make a DC 10 Dexterity (Acrobatics) or Intelligence check 
  (your choice) to navigate the series. On a failed check, the 
  books create 10 feet of difficult terrain. 
  5 
  The books here are bleeding and crying, making the floor 
  slick. Make a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed 
  save, you fall prone. 
  6 
  You come upon a series of flapping books with fanged 
  covers. Make a DC 10 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check to get 
  through the series unimpeded. On a failed check, you are 
  bitten and take 1d4 piercing damage, and the books 
  count as 5 feet of difficult terrain. 
  7 
  A tsucora quori bursts from the shelves, coiling and trying 
  to set fear upon your mind. Make a DC 15 Strength 
  (Athletics), Dexterity (Acrobatics), or Charisma 
  (Intimidation) check (your choice) to get past it 
  unimpeded. On a failed check, you take 2d4 psychic 
  damage, and the quori counts as 10 feet of difficult 
  terrain. 
  8 
  A terrified mortal dreamer blocks your way. Make a DC 10 
  Strength (Athletics), Dexterity (Acrobatics), or Charisma 
  (Intimidation) check (your choice) to slip past the 
  dreamer. You succeed automatically if you take a bonus 
  action to comfort them. On a failed check, the dreamer 
  counts as 5 feet of difficult terrain. 
  9 
  You nearly blunder into a black-robed, porcelain-masked 
  wyrd gnome reading a book; make a DC 15 Dexterity 
  saving throw or use 10 feet of movement to go around 
  them (your choice). On a failed save, you take 1d10 force 
  damage from a hurled blot of shadow. 
  10 
  You are forced to make a sharp turn as the shelves twist 
  suddenly. Make a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw to 
  navigate the turn. On a failed save, you collide with the 
  shelves and take 1d4 bludgeoning damage. 
  11-
  20 
  No complication. 
   
  
   
  25 
   
  SCENE 8: ALL JUST A DREAM 
  Once the party leaves the library, whether Amdrashar has been 
  defeated or merely escaped from, read the following: 
  Shan appears just around the corner, dejected but gracious, turning 
  his crown over and over in his blistering hands. “Well done, heroes, 
  well done. We’ll have to find a new treasurer now!” He grins. “You 
  beat Us, and changed someone’s story. Impressive. And now, the 
  back door’s right over there.” He jabs his thumb at an unremarkable 
  door that appears in the opposite wall. 
   
  If the party has any unfinished business they wish to attend to 
  (such as convincing Moth to join them—see sidebar—or 
  eliminating Amdrashar’s vessel), they can do so now. They will 
  face no other combat within the Fortress, other than any they 
  initiate themselves, and can take a short rest if desired. When 
  they’re ready to leave through the door Shan indicated, Azai 
  hesitates. When the party asks what’s wrong, she 
  simultaneously responds to all their minds telepathically: 
  <I… can’t leave. You came here from the waking world and will return 
  there; I came here from Dal Quor, and have to return there, and... I’ll 
  be found and destroyed. Unless…> She flutters uncomfortably. <I 
  didn’t have… much short-term memory as the Paranymph, but 
  Amdrashar—Amdrashar had a mortal vessel, correct?> 
   
  If any of the characters volunteer as a potential host (except for 
  a kalashtar, who would be unable to serve as host to a second 
  quori), Azai responds to them: 
  Azai’s tendrils reach out, then retreat. <It would have to be… a 
  permanent fusion, or I’d still go back to Dal Quor when you dream. 
  And if it’s permanent, you wouldn’t be able to dream again. But you 
  could learn from me—I was a tactician, and a psionicist, and a 
  treasurer of fairytales, and we’d… we’d change each other on a 
  fundamental level. In a way, you would become me, and I you. But 
  that’s so much to ask, and I don’t blame you if you think that’s a 
  curse.> Her wings droop. 
   
  If a character is still willing to volunteer after this, let them 
  roleplay the conversation with Azai, then read or paraphrase the 
  following (ending with the character’s first name fused with the 
  suffix “-azai.” For example, Lani might become Lanazai): 
  Azai’s tendrils encircle you, settling like a heavy blanket onto your 
  shoulders—and then it’s only you there, looking down at your hands 
  and knowing simultaneously that they’re the ones you’ve always had 
  and that once, they used to be three tendrils tipped with eyes. This 
  isn’t a second person in your head, it’s a fusion. You get her 
  emotions and her memories, and she yours. She’s changed before— 
  her realization that she didn’t want to sow rage and hate—and again 
  just now—she’s discarded the cruel bargains she’s facilitated for the 
  past eighteen hundred years—and is ready to be something new. 
  What shape do you make your new life, [Name]-azai? 
   
  Emphasize that fusing with Azai could alter a character’s 
  personality, alignment (Azai is lawful good), gender identity, or 
  (if both DM and player are willing) possibly even involve 
  rebuilding with different class choices. In addition, the character 
  permanently gains the boon of Azai’s Host. 
   
  BOON: AZAI’S HOST 
  A character that bonds with Azai gains the following boon: 
  • You sleep, but no longer connect to the plane of dreams as other 
  creatures do. Instead, your mind draws from Azai’s memories 
  while you sleep. As such, you are immune to magical spells and 
  effects that require you to dream, like the dream spell, but not to 
  spells and effects that put you to sleep, like the sleep spell. 
  • You can speak, read, and write the Quori language. 
  • When you make a Wisdom saving throw, you can use your 
  reaction to gain advantage on the roll. You can use this trait 
  immediately before or after you roll, but before any of the roll’s 
  effects occur. 
  • You have resistance to psychic damage. 
  • Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) check pertaining to 
  the history of Dal Quor, you are considered proficient in the 
  History skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check, 
  instead of your normal proficiency bonus. 
  ANOTHER HOST 
  If none of the party feels ready to volunteer, there is a willing 
  host in the Fortress—if asked, Jeong would host Azai without 
  hesitation, seeing it as a duty to the family and the faith e shares 
  with her. If the characters aren’t initiates of the shadow war and 
  they haven't made the connection yet to think of em, you can 
  remind the party: “Amdrashar was tied to the Riedrans, and the 
  Adarans despise them. Perhaps the enemy of Azai’s enemy 
  might prove a friend?” 
   If Jeong agrees to become Azai’s host, read or paraphrase the 
  following: 
  Jeong stares at Azai in wonderment for a long moment, then 
  embraces her as well as a human can manage hugging a bloblike 
  nightmare spirit. E smiles through eir tears, and says, “When we wake 
  up, everybody’s going to be so happy to see you. Come back, lost 
  sister. The dream really is turning.” Azai slowly circles Jeong with her 
  tendrils, and Azai broadcasts her emotions, her fear turning, despite 
  herself, into hope—and then the two are gone, as Jeongazai wakes up 
  from the first and only dream of their new life. 
   
   
  
   
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  LEAVING THE FORTRESS 
  Once Azai is safe, there’s one final danger to worry about: 
  whether the characters might have gotten sucked too far into 
  repeating the story. As they attempt to walk through the door 
  that leads from the Fortress to the forest outside, any 
  character with a level of exhaustion must make a Charisma 
  saving throw with a DC of 10, adding 5 to the DC for every 
  additional level of exhaustion on top of the first. A character 
  who’s eaten the food of the feyspire has disadvantage on this 
  saving throw. 
   On a success, the character is able to leave unhindered. They 
  find their spirits lifted, and all levels of exhaustion the 
  character accumulated are removed.  
   On a failure, the character has become notable enough to be 
  part of the story, and will start to drift back to the Fortress in 
  their dreams—suffering from magical nightmares (as with the 
  dream spell) every night until they succeed on a DC 17 
  Wisdom saving throw against that spell. If a character fails on 
  their saving throw to leave the feyspire by 10 or more, they are 
  trapped within Dal Quor, physically incapable of leaving the 
  Fortress. Dispel magic or remove curse can end either effect 
  (treat both effects as 5th-level spells). Banishment can also 
  allow a trapped character to return to their native plane. 
   
  LEAVING WITH MOTH 
  If the party offers to help Moth leave as they depart the feyspire, she 
  is eager to do so, having lived far beyond her time in this bad dream. 
  However, once it is time to leave, Moth is frightened (as per the 
  condition) of all denizens of the feyspire. The party can bolster her 
  spirits and remove her fear with a successful DC 15 Charisma 
  (Persuasion) check, rolled with advantage if they danced in her place. 
      If she agrees to leave with them, she automatically succeeds on 
  her Wisdom saving throw to leave the feyspire. However, the party 
  is attacked along the path through the forest by two dryads and 
  one blackthorn dryad, intent upon recapturing her. Moth will fight 
  alongside the party to win her freedom. If the battle goes poorly for 
  the party, the dryads have no intent of killing the party, only of 
  retrieving Moth, and will leave them unconscious but alive as they 
  return triumphant to the Fortress with their captive. 
      Once the party escapes with Moth, you as the DM have a couple 
  options on how to resolve Moth’s situation, as time passes slower 
  on Dal Quor and faster on Thelanis. If you want to emphasize 
  tragedy, Moth will dissolve into a cloud of moths and die as she 
  journeys through the forest toward the wider world. On the other 
  hand, if the players need some catharsis, Moth will unambiguously 
  have a life ahead of her, although she’ll still be a temporal fish out 
  of water. 
  SWEET DREAMS 
  When everyone who can leave does so, read or paraphrase the 
  following: 
  You walk through the door as Shan holds it open, out into the pale 
  gold light of dawn in the forest—a forest that now seems so much 
  friendlier than your trek last night. Shan whispers in your ear as you 
  leave: “Sweet dreams.” 
     You find that Tantamar is, oddly, only an hour’s uneventful walk 
  outside of the forest, the Fading Dream’s story altering distance for 
  you one last time. You have a lot to think about on your journey back 
  to Sharn, but before you know it, you’re back in Lhara’s office, the sky 
  overcast but dry. 
     Your patron for this adventure, Provost Faurious, joins you in 
  Lhara’s office. When you set the Mind’s Eye down on the table, he 
  snatches it just a little too fast to be polite and shakes each of you 
  frenetically by the hand. “You’ve accomplished more than you could 
  ever possibly dream of!” 
   
  Faurious pauses for the host of possible witty quips with which 
  the characters might respond, then continues: 
  “With this final focus, I only require a few more tests before my 
  thesis is complete! My models have proved more accurate than I’d 
  dare hope, and now the day I’ve dreamed of for so long approaches! 
  Everything’s converged on this moment—keep your eyes on the 
  chronicles for my name!” He dashes out of the room, leaving an 
  awkward silence. 
     Lhara clears her throat. “Well. There’s also the thousand-galifar 
  payout, if you’re not stirred by the thrill of scientific discovery.” 
   
  Lhara pays each character the agreed-upon 1,000 gp for a job 
  well done. If any characters died or got trapped in the Fortress, 
  she also promises to pay for the funeral or memorial. 
   If the party informs Lhara that one of the characters bonded 
  with Azai, her eyes go wide. “I think my wife would quite like to 
  have you over for dinner. Does Far work?” 
  THE CONVERGENCE MANIFESTO 
  Now that Faurious has obtained twelve of the thirteen planar 
  artifacts he seeks, his sky-high ambitions can finally be realized 
  in Sharn’s own Syranian manifest zone. Don’t miss the riveting 
  conclusion to Convergence Manifesto with AE01-13: Sky Fall. 
   
   
   
   
   
  
   
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  APPENDIX: CREATURE STATISTICS 
   
   
   
   
   
  
   
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SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/5th Edition (5e)/3rd Party/Across Eberron/AE01-12 - Convergence Manifesto - Lost in Dreams.pdf