Perchance

Many a sage knows the sad tale of Sammaster, the brilliantly-powerful wizard whose passion and gradual descent into madness caused him to rise and fall in the Goddess Mystra’s favor; she took him as one of Her Chosen, only to revoke the status when his lust for power and vengeance finally overshadowed the few morals he had ever possessed, and he confronted (and was slain by) three others of Mystra’s Chosen.

Yet after falling out of Mystra’s good graces and losing his God-given powers, Sammaster’s tale was not done; together with a poison-tongued Priest of Bane who revived and manipulated the wizard under orders from Bane himself, he founded what is known today as the Cult of the Dragon, an evil organization formed around the belief that dragons, specifically undead dragons, will come to rule the world—Sammaster and his followers in the Cult dedicated their lives to convincing the evil dragons of Faerûn to choose to partake in an unholy ritual and become Dracoliches.

Sammaster’s and the Cult of the Dragon’s actions after the wizard’s resurrection did not go unnoticed by the good folk of Faerûn; the Harpers in particular were anxious to eradicate the Cult as soon as possible. After an ambush which culminated with an epic showdown between an Avatar of Lathander and Sammaster himself, Sammaster was reduced to ashes and the unifying-piece of the Cult was gone.

However, Sammaster had been prepared for such an eventuality, and had arranged several chain-contingencies upon his death; he became a lich, and 300 years later, in the Year of Many Mists (1282 DR), he emerged from a crypt high in the Desertsmouth Mountains near Shadow Gap and began to gather an army of dark minions and servants, included dragons and the occasional dracolich, under his banner.

In the Year of Blacksnake (1285 DR) a group of adventuring paladins known as the Company of Twelve rode off to confront Sammaster and his growing army. The paladins, supported by the Harpers, attacked the lich and

his powerful dracolich-mount in the ruins of an ancient city then known as Harrowsmouth, or the ‘Gates of Hell.’ The battle was immense and nine of the Company of the Twelve died, but in the end Sammaster was defeated and the mad mage fell once more; the paladins and harpers who were slain in the battle were interred with Sammaster at Harrowsmouth to act as eternal guardians against the lich’s resurrection.

However, despite the best efforts of the victorious forces of good after the battle at Harrowsmouth, no-one ever did locate Sammaster’s phylactery, which was said to be an un-cut diamond of tremendous monetary value, or the Tome of the Dragon, the artifact book containing Sammaster’s and his Cult’s unholy prophecies and teachings which the good people of Faerûn would have liked nothing better than to have seen destroyed once and for all.

The Current Situation:

The year is 1360 DR, 75 years after the lich Sammaster’s defeat at Harrowsmouth, and strange rumors abound, rumors pertaining to the evil Cult of the Dragon; there are fearful whispers amongst the people of Faerûn that the highest-ranking members of the Cult, known as Those Who Wear Purple for their trademark robes, plan on performing a vile ritual in order to resurrect their First-Speaker, Founder and Prophet, the Fallen-Chosen of Mystra known as Sammaster, whose remains are said to lie deep beneath the long-abandoned city known as Harrowsmouth, or ‘The Gates of Hell.’ In life, Sammaster was a mage who wielded power comparable to that of Elminster or Khelben “Blackstaff” Arunsun—in undeath as a lich, he was even more fearsome a foe, until the Company of Twelve, a band of powerful paladins, with aid from the Harpers, defeated him. His phylactery, of course, was never found after the battle was over...

If a scheme to resurrect Sammaster truly does exist, it would be grave news indeed—and so, eight of Mystra’s Chosen, all of the known Chosen except the Drow Priestess Qilué Veladorn, have gathered to discuss which course of action to take—if the Cult of the Dragon indeed has the means to somehow resurrect Sammaster, they must be stopped at all costs.

The Module:

‘Perchance to Dream’, an adventure of epic proportions (both in story-content and level-range), places the player in the role of Khelben “The Blackstaff” Arunsun, a level 27 wizard and one of Mystra’s Chosen. This module includes 11 new custom spells designed by yours-truly specifically for this adventure; included in these 11 are the Silver Fire and Call Chosen epic spell/abilities, along with 1 other non-Chosen-Ability-epic spell and 8 more high-level (7-9) custom spells. You must use the pre-provided character for this module (Khelben “Blackstaff” Arunsun); he already has all of the custom spells and abilities learned and set-up, along with a complete memorized spell-book and three full quick-slot sets for easy-access to his abilities, items and spells.

The fate of Faerûn hangs in the balance, and it’s up to you and your allies, the other Chosen of Mystra, to see that, if the Cult of the Dragon truly intends to resurrect Sammaster, they are not allowed to do so.

Armed with Mystra’s blessing and an arsenal of spells deadly enough to lay-low a small army, you will soon be journeying to the ancient abandoned ruined-city of Harrowsmouth (The Gates of Hell), where a showdown with the highest-ranking members of the Cult of the Dragon seems to be in order...