Veragon's Doom: A D&D Adventure Path in Eberron

A level 1-20 four-part D&D adventure path in Eberron

This article outlines a mini-campaign, called “Veragon’s Doom,” centered around the lair “Hell’s Heart” from Fantastic Lairs by Scott Fitzgerald Gray, James Introcaso, and Michael E. Shea.

This D&D “adventure path” presents a possible way to turn the fantastic lair into a four-session D&D experience. We take the demon-infested gold dragon Veragon and place him in Eberron. Three pre-cursor adventures take the characters across Eberron and from level one to twenty before facing Veragon.

The campaign takes characters across the world of Eberron. It consists of four adventures — one for each tier of play. Characters therefore level up a whole tier after each adventure. The first adventure can be played at 3rd level , the second at 7th-level, and the third with 14th-level characters. The finale, “Hell’s Heart” is designed for 20th-level characters.

Adventure Path Overview: Veragon’s Doom

Adventure Path “Veragon’s Doom” in One Sentence

The characters travel across Eberron in an effort to stop Mordakhesh, a Lord of Dust, from using the injured gold dragon Veragon to destroy not just the continent of Khorvaire but the entire cosmos of Eberron, in an apocalyptic fulfillment of the Draconic Prophecy.

The Patron: House Phiarlan

We use a group patron from Eberron: Rising from the Last War. The characters are agents of House Phiarlan. They work for the house as it tries to keep an eye on its rivals, House Thuranni. Secrets gathered by House Phiarlan serve as prompts to send the characters across Eberron in an attempt to stop Veragon.

The Villains of “Veragon’s Doom”: Dragon, Demon, Noble

The dragons of Argonessen and the Lords of Dust of the Demon Wastes clash over the interpretation of the mythical Draconic Prophecy. Demonic forces infiltrated House Thuranni. The assassins are now aiding Mordhakhesh.

Veragon the Shining Star. Veragon is an ancient gold dragon from the continent of Argonessen. He was a peaceful researcher of the Draconic Prophecy until servants of the Lord of Dust Mordakhesh wounded him. Now, a shard of Gloomtooth, a demonically infested spear is lodged in Veragon’s chest, bringing him eternal torment. Veragon rampages across Eberron in search for a cure. But ultimately, through the spear shard, Mordakhesh manipulates Veragon. The fiend forces the dragon towards an apocalyptic conclusion. Veragon believes the only way to end his suffering is to end the multiverse altogether.

Mordakhesh the Shadowsword. Mordakhesh is the speaker of the demonic Overlord Rak Tulkhesh. He lives to bring about his master’s destructive vision of the Draconic Prophecy. To this end, he hired assassins of House Thuranni to kill Veragon in Argonessen. The assassination attempt failed. But when Mordakhesh learns of the dragon’s plight, he recognizes a chance to fulfill the Prophecy. He can be the one to undo the creation of the three progenitor dragons.

House Thuranni. The house of assassins was first hired and then corrupted by Mordakhesh. Assassins of House Thuranni attempted to slay Veragon using Gloomtooth but failed. Now Mordakhesh has thoroughly infiltrated the ranks of the noble house. He uses them to bring about the execution of his master’s vision of the Draconic Prophecy.

Outline: Adventure Path “Veragon’s Doom”

Tier 1: A Fateful Meeting in Sharn

In the tier-one adventure the characters infiltrate a Thuranni safe house and learn about the demonic patron of the House. They also receive hints about Veragon’s plight after the failed attempt to kill the gold dragon. We use material from Eberron: Rising From the Last War to build a homebrew introductory adventure.

The Mission. The characters are sent by their patron, House Phiarlan to spy on a meeting between House Thuranni assassins, and Mordakhesh. The assassins have just returned to Sharn from their failed mission to Argonessen. They will report to Mordakhesh in Spellreach Tower, a safe house for House Thuranni. How are the characters getting into the safe house? Can they eavesdrop undetected? How do they get out of the safe house?

The Location. The Thuranni safe house is located in Sharn. We can pick a suitable map from dysonlogos and annotate it to run the adventure. Fill out the location with signs of Thuranni activity such as flags with the Thuranni emblem, hidden weapon compartments, and traps against intruders.

The Antagonists. There are a few Thuranni assassins in Spellreach Tower (use the spy stat block). Some have returned from Argonessen, some permanently protect the safe house. Mordakhesh will not meet them in person, instead he projects his image through a portal to the Demon Wastes. The Lord of Dust is furious when the assassins confess their failure. He shares his vision of using the tormented Veragon as a weapon. Mordhakhesh revels in the fantasy of bringing about the demonic interpretation of the Draconic Prophecy. Still, to punish the Thuranni assassins, he transforms them into dretches and sends them to attack the characters.

Tier 2: The Aetheneum of Dust

In tier two the characters venture to the Demon Wastes to find the Aetheneum of Dust. The Aetheneum is a legendary tome that contains vital information about the Draconic Prophecy, and the plans of Mordakhesh. When they arrive at the secret location of the Aetheneum, they enter into a demiplane within the tome. The “Aetheneum of Dust” is an excellent adventure from the book Adventures from the Potbellied Kobold by Jeff C. Stevens. The characters must try to find a way out of the Aetheneum or slowly turn to dust. We can keep most of the adventure as written, and wrap it in Eberron lore relevant to the adventure path Veragon’s Doom.

The Aetheneum. Instead of an ancient library, we can turn the demi-plane of the Aetheneum into a Hall of Prophecies (steal the aesthetics from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix). In the little glass baubles in the maze of shelves within the Aetheneum, characters can discover parts of the Draconic Prophecy, as the demonic Overlord Rak Tulkhesh recorded them millennia ago during the Age of Demons. Here is an example of a piece of the prophecy which can give players clues about the coming adventures:

A dragon’s heart, shall be pierced by the blade of a demon king. The wielder dies while the golden wyrm lives. His wound festers with madness and pain. Eternal doom and torment the blade begets. So end this suffering, Shining Star. The pillar of time and matter crumbles. All torture ends when He undoes the progenitors’ creation.

Amora. We can link the architect of the Aetheneum to the Overlord Rak Tulkhesh. Thousands of years ago, she was a follower of Rak Tulkhesh, tasked with constructing the Aetheneum as an archive for her master’s visions of the Draconic Prophecy. Amora died inside of the Aetheneum millennia ago but some of her belongings remain there. To leave the Aetheneum, the characters must find these relics.

The Inhabitants. The adventure revolves around a number of NPCs stuck within the Aetheneum. We can re-skin these central drivers of the adventure to fit our broader narrative. Veragon sent the drake Baleblaze here ages ago in an effort to learn more about the Draconic Prophecy. Similarly, Nogge the Pagemaster and his kobold troop came here from Argonessen but are trapped in the Aetheneum. Auntie Waxspinner, the sand hag, is a former spy of the Daughters of Sorah Kell who fled to the Aetheneum. The dwarf adventurer is an agent of House Thuranni, sent here on behalf of his house to kill any Phiarlan spies who might come to the Aetheneum.

Tier 3: The Horn of Eberron

In tier three, the character have learned of the only way to destroy Gloomtooth, the fiendish spear lodged inside of Veragon’s chest: the Horn of Eberron. By now, Veragon’s Doom is clearly apparent to the characters. The gold dragon is unleashing his tormented wrath upon Eberron. Attacking lightning rails, cities, and nations in search of a cure. After weeks and months of investigating, tracking, and spelunking on Argonessen, the characters have learned the location of the legendary Horn of Eberron. The horn from the skull of the progenitor dragon Eberron himself is protected by a raging dragonborn mummy in Argonessen. We use “Dragon Mummy’s Rage,” another Fantastic Lair, for this part of the adventure path. Once again, we re-skin much of the lair and its lore to fit our story line.

Ashtox the Howling Rage. The dragonborn warlord Ashtox ruled brutally over parts of Argonessen in ages past. He had found the Horn of Eberron and used its power to subdue much of the dragonborn population on Argonessen. Eventually, some of the true dragons of Argonessen, including Veragon, overwhelmed Ashtox and placed a curse on him. Ashtox was mummified and buried in his tomb, where he was to guard the Horn of Eberron so that none could ever again wield its power.

The opening of the tomb. Recently, Mordakhesh has been spotted in Argonessen, searching for the location of the horn — the only object which can foil the execution of the Draconic Prophecy and halt the destruction of the cosmos of Eberron. He found the tomb of Ashtox and broke the seal placed on it by the dragons of Argonessen. He then corrupted the mummified Ashtox, compelling him to kill the dragonborn of Argonessen and turn them into an army of mummies with which to protect the Horn of Eberron from falling into the hands of the characters.

The Horn of Eberron. Ashtox wields the Horn of Eberron and won’t hesitate to use it against the characters. We can use the stats of a horn of blasting for the artifact and have it deal radiant instead of thunder damage. Before the characters even reach the tomb, they have learned about the horn “off-screen.” We tell the players that House Phiarlan, their patron, told the characters about the horn. The artifact possesses enough radiant power to destroy Gloomtooth and put an end to the destruction Veragon is causing across Eberron. Now all that is left is to enter the tomb, make it past the defenses put in place by the dragons of Argonessen, overcome the mummies that are created with the help of demonic servants of Mordakhesh, and defeat Ashtox the Howling Rage.

Tier 4: Hell’s Heart and the Veragon’s Doom

In tier four, the characters finally confront both Mordakhesh, and Veragon. The centerpiece of this finale of the adventure path is “Hell’s Heart” from Fantastic Lairs. We once again wrap the lair in lore surrounding our broader fiction, and add a prologue in Sharn. This allows us to bring all three villains into the conclusion of the four-session campaign, while returning to its beginnings in Sharn.

Prologue in Sharn. After more time on the road, chasing Veragon and Mordakhesh without luck, the characters return to Sharn. There, they are approached by their patron, House Phiarlan, with urgent news: House Thuranni assassins have smuggled Veragon, shapeshifted into a humanoid form, into the ancient bowels of Sharn: Old Sharn. The characters track them there, and find an open inter-planar portal. The portal consists of an Eberron shard, a Siberys shard, and a Khyber shard and it is guarded by a few elite House Thuranni assassins, empowered with demonic gifts from Mordakhesh. After they defeat the assassins, the characters step through the portal and enter the Vault of Creation.

The Vault and the Pillar of Creation. We place the Vault of Creation, the stage of the final showdown, in the Astral Plane. This plane, as the connective tissue between all other planes, is where the progenitor dragons concentrated the energies of creation in a nexus: the Pillar of Creation. This pillar is a massive crystal, the amalgam of an Eberron shard, a Siberys shard, and a Khyber shard. Mordakhesh wants to see Veragon destroy the pillar and thus fulfill the apocalyptic interpretation of the Draconic Prophecy as recorded by the Overlord Rak Tulkhesh.

First Mordakhesh, then Veragon. The characters find the Vault in the aftermath of an assault. The celestial protectors have been slain by Mordakhesh and Veragon. We can re-skin the balors that attack the characters first in the Vault as Mordakhesh and his simulacrum who are trying to keep the party at bay while Veragon destroys the pillar. The characters must first overcome the dual Mordakhesh and then defeat Veragon before he can destroy everything. They already possess the Horn of Eberron and can use it instead of the luck blade that is in the Vault to destroy Gloomtooth.

Expanding Veragon’s Doom

We have enough here to inspire a whole level-one-to-twenty campaign if we wanted to. With excellent sources of inspiration such as Fantastic Lairs, Adventures from the Potbellied Kobold, and Eberron: Rising from the Last War we can expand this four-session outline into an epic long-term campaign. Simply build on the themes outlined in each of the four adventures here. Instead of one adventure per tier, we can aim for four to five adventures to get the players up to level 20.

Veragon’s Doom: a four-session adventure path set in Eberron

The original intent of the article however, was to outline a fun mini-campaign. We took “Hell’s Heart” from Fantastic Lairs, placed it in Eberron, and let ourselves be inspired by the lore of that world. We choose engaging villains, and fitting adventures to create this adventure path.

Characters begin in tier one in Sharn where they learn about the plight of Veragon, and the involvement of the other two villains, Mordakhesh, and House Thuranni. In tier two, they enter and must escape the Aetheneum of Dust where clues about the Draconic Prophecy are held. In tier three, they acquire the artifact necessary for defeating Veragon in Argonessen. Finally in tier four, they confront first House Thuranni, then Mordakhesh and finally Veragon in an epic showdown where nothing less than the existence of the cosmos is at stake.