Introduction The following adventure is a foray into the Plane of Air with themes of family, loss, and deception for player characters of 8th to 10th level (access to plane shift might dramatically change the stakes of the adventure). The player characters are pulled into a generational confict started by a character who, although not human, feels that very human fear of mortality. The sense that someone is always hanging over your head calling the shots is what drives the story for both the Player Characters (henceforth PCs) in the present and for the Non-Player Character (henceforth NPCs) in the past. It’s also something that hopefully your players will feel as they go through the adventure, with the full picture of what’s happening always just out of reach. You can run this adventure as a mystery or like a fantasy action movie, or a bit of both!

Importantly, this adventure needs pace to be efective. While the players can stop to think about what’s going on and piece it together from the perspectives of the NPCs they meet, they are on the clock once they enter the Plane of Air.

Some notes on formatting: ● Italicised text in a text box is meant to be read aloud by the DM at the appropriate moment - it’s never mandatory but it can be helpful. ● Bold text on a creature’s name or description indicates its stat block, which can be found in the appendix or the 5e SRD. The latter is available for free online.

Adventure Background

High above the mortal world, there are godlike beings who live in splendour in the clouds. In the Plane of Air there are many djinni nobles who gather every century to hear the prophecies of their Archduchess Sophia, as delivered by her few chosen prophets at the appropriately named “Crystal Ball”. The djinni Lord Arion inherited his title from his late mother (suddenly killed along with her trusted knights in a freak wyvern accident that he orchestrated) and was excited to attend his frst Crystal Ball, until the moment he heard his personal prophecy:

His name would be forgotten by history, and his inheritance would be thrown to the wind. SampleFor 12 years since that day, Arion has been concocting a scheme to gufilearantee his immortality, using knowledge gleaned from his mother’s books and records: he has

4 created a magnetic spire on the top of his palace and used it to guide his hometown (the Obelisk Township, the seat of his barony) and the earth mote it sits on into a lightning storm. There, he made contact with a primordial being who is now guiding him to developing great power. His frst act was to release a swarm of lightning elementals on his people to allow them to bond to their nervous systems. These people were granted the power of fight and enhanced mental fortitude, and hailed the baron as a hero for fnally granting the wingless members of the baron the ability to fy. The baron was excited at these developments. Surely soon his legacy as a master storm sorcerer would be assured!

Little does he know that his plan will horribly backfre and lead to him releasing a being of terrible elemental power upon the Plane of Air and mortal world both. This event has already been foreseen, and will soon be brought to the attention of a handful of intrepid adventurers...

Adventure Overview

The adventure begins with Myethalil, a high elf prophet, giving the PCs a prophecy that a great elemental beast will descend from the Plane of Air to ravage the world. After a battle with a lesser elemental beast that opens a portal to the creature’s home plane, they learn of an infestation of lightning elementals in Arion’s demesne and rumours of a great power the baron is to receive upon the night of a ball. PCs will be motivated by the desire to help the air genasi peasants survive the coming thunderstorm, to depose the corrupt baron, or to gain the power he is striving for themselves.

The adventure concludes with the PCs witnessing the fruits of the baron’s eforts, as a lightning storm engulfs his barony. The PCs can stop him by force atop a spire of his palace or sabotage the plan ahead of time and watch it fall apart.

It is impossible to totally save the duchy from destruction, but it is possible to save some of the people living there or the treasures contained within.

Cast List

The following are all the NPCs included in the adventure. Their stat blocks and personality traits are written into the text where they frst appear.

Major Characters: SampleArchduchess Sophia, Mastermind Goddess of Prophets and Magi c (shefile/her). Sophia will probably never be met during this adventure, but her infuence is what set the events into motion. At the once-a-century Crystal Ball, a party where djinni nobles

5 gather to hear their futures, she has her clerics gather to deliver the news (both weal and woe). However, she has full control to have these prophecies delivered in such a way to afect the outcome to her liking. Recently when the talented and intelligent Baroness Aria was suddenly killed and replaced by her loudmouth son Arion, Sophia suspected the boy of foul play immediately. She decided to trick the new baron into falling to his own demise. Simply by delivering a particularly scary prophecy to him via a prophet, she hopes to ensure his demise - even if hundreds of innocent lives are lost in the process.

Baroness Aria, Deceased Noble (she/her). The baroness has been dead over a decade and no one knows the truth of what happened to her. She was beloved by all for her fairness and her beautiful singing voice, but both were destroyed the day her own son ordered his harpy knights to kill her so he might take her throne.

Lord Arion, Baron of the Obelisk (he/him). An arrogant djinni who grew bored of being the second-most important person in the Obelisk Barony. His mother was famous for her wisdom, devotion to ritual, and her singing voice. Her blue knights, the wyvern-riders, were the envy of all the sky’s nobility. Arion was left a unit of harpies, whose songs were sickly sweet with lies, and no real power of his own. Over the years he grew more and more impatient, as his mother attended the once-a-century Crystal Ball to have her future read. It seemed each time she was destined for an ever more glorious century of rule while Arion constantly fretted over his future. To gain peace of mind, he murdered his mother in order to take her place at the Crystal Ball, only for the prophecy he heard to send him even further spiralling into anxiety.

Kel, Roiling Storm of Chaos (she/her, it/its). A being that was sealed away by Baroness Aria centuries ago. She was a lightning elemental of unprecedented power in those days, one who threatened to throw of the balance of the elemental planes entirely. In the intervening time, her power has difused and given rise to a small army of lightning elementals who share in her powers, but that are nowhere near as dangerous as the original. Still, if she were released, it would mean disaster for those who call the skies their home...

Minor Characters:

Myethalil, Travelling Prophet (she/her, they/them). A high elf prophet in her 6th century of life. Her girlish exterior belies a cynical and uncaring personality. She is a devoted servant of Archduchess Sophia and travels the world delivering her prophecies. What the recipients of these prophecies do with the information is none Sampleof her business nor her interest. An equal number of souls have been filesaved by her soothsaying as have been doomed; such is Sophia’s design.

6 Tofska, Blue Knight (she/her). An earth genasi knight of advanced years, so named for the vibrant blue wyvern she rides. It is the last of its kind and her only family. She was the only blue knight not present when Arion murdered the rest of the knights, and has so far avoided the same fate by playing dumb to protect herself and her pet.

Illia, Illuminator Knight (she/her, they/them). The late baroness’ most trusted knight and previous lover. She was banished a hundred years ago when the baroness received a prophecy that her son would kill her and all her knights. She simply accepted this fate as the will of the gods, but sent Illia away to spare her. After the baroness’ death, however, Arion called her back and had her help him concoct his scheme. Ironically, Arion would have been unable to complete his plan had Illia been there when he had the rest of the knights murdered.

Sample file

7 Adventure Hooks

Here are some diferent ways the player characters can get involved, engaged, and invested in the adventure. While each character only needs one hook, it is recommended that your players choose more than one between them, as the entire party going of of just one hook might lead to a party with limited ambitions and therefore to a truncated adventure.

1. Of course I know the prophet. They’re me. You have been called upon by the people of the coastal village Dunkarth to perform a prophetic ritual to determine the future of their home. Along with a somewhat famous travelling soothsayer, an elf named Myethalil who was once a mentor of yours, you will elucidate the future. 2. I just want to see the place she called home. 12 years ago someone you knew disappeared. Your memory of her has faded and muddied over time, but you remember her being an angelic being. She might have been your mentor, your lover, or even your mother, but regardless of your relationship she always wanted to return home more than she wanted to be with you. Her name was Illia, and she claimed to be from a world of elemental air. Now that she’s gone, you want to follow. 3. I’ve got beef with the gods. In a world where the gods are real and their power is seen every day by the faithful, you are a committed atheist. You want to learn the secrets of planar travel, create a base beyond the material plane, and see the gods in person so you can take their measure. Surely they’re not as great as everyone says they are? Any evidence that you can fnd that the gods are liars or not what they say they are has to be brought to light. 4. Dunkarth is a second home to me! Dunkarth, tiny village hamlet it might be, is dear to you. It might be the home to your less adventurous family and friends or you might have been part of the movement to depose the Vasquez family from the area. You’re anxious to see the place grow and fourish, so naturally you take an interest in any strange goings-on. A mysterious prophet has been invited to town? That sounds like it’s worth keeping an eye on. 5. Blue wyverns are very important to the ecosystem, actually. Disaster struck in the nearby mountains, as the blue wyverns there were practically wiped out due to an infux of perytons out-competing them. You’re on the hunt for a young blue wyvern female, also known as a “Hyvern Wyvern” for the region they were originally discovered in, to bring back to the mountains to help restore the population. You’ve got a few leads, and an astrologist friend of yours told you apparently there’s a stable population of them in the Plane of SampleAir somewhere. If you could fnd a colony of them, you cou ld safileve the species.