Having stopped the elementals, the Draakhorn has fallen silent, but it could still be sounded again if the Cult were to recapture it. It is too heavy to move and destroying its ancient magic would take more power than the adventurers have available, but Brin uses a spell of creation to stop up the horn with a block of stone. By the time someone could remove it, their quest will be decided one way or the other! As the sorcerer finishes her spell, a group of cultists comes to investigate the sudden silence! Seeing the party, they call out battle cries to Tiamat and attack, but their assault is short-lived. Normina summons a guardian spirit, the ranger takes our several with well-placed arrows, and the bard and sorcerer both let loose spells of destruction. None of the cultists survive. With that skirmish won, the party returns to the corridor outside the treasure room and follows it up to an exit into the inner caldera of the volcano. Carefully Tammy sneaks to the opening and peers out - only to see a gathering of five adult dragons, one of each chromatic color! They are positioned in front of the entrance to the Temple of Tiamat, and bloody remains are strewn before them. Killing has taken place here, and recently - most likely a sacrifice to power the ritual of Tiamat's return. Not wishing to make a suicidal attack against so many dragons, the adventurers retreat and try another tunnel. Here they come upon a chamber appointed as if for a knight, but ancient and covered in dust. The knight himself is present, but the cleric senses that this is an undead wight! Tammy uses her finger-bone protection spell (from the Red Wizards of Thay) then bravely steps forward to speak with him. The ancient wight responds, imparting that he is a member of the Cult, but of the faction which opposes Severin and the return of Tiamat. He wishes to continue to worship her from afar, not be destroyed along with the rest of the world in her return! After a brief conversation, he tells them of a tunnel to the south which can be used to enter the temple from the other direction, avoiding the dragons. The party retraces their steps to exit the tunnels, then head south. They can see the battle still raging, both on the ground and in the air. With the Draakhorn silenced, the sides seem evenly matched. Given time, the Council of Lords and their allies might prevail - but it would take hours or days, and by then the ritual would be complete! The best hope for victory still lies with the adventurers. On the south side of the volcano, they find the tunnel spoken of by the wight. It is clearly unused, but soon they find a branching passageway leading to areas lit by lamps. However, the cleric feels a pull to explore another branch of the unused tunnel. This leads them into a depression in the caldera, outside the temple. A red-gold glow lights one end of the depression, and following it, Normina finds a small statuette of a red dragonborn paladin. When she picks it up, she falls unconscious! After a few minutes, the ranger is able to wake her. While unconscious, she dreamed of the voice of Bahamut, the good god of metallic dragons. He told her that the statue contains the spirit of his servant Drice, who will aid them in their hour of greatest need. Feeling encouraged by the aid of Bahamut, the party returns to exploring the tunnels. They find an empty room full of beds and travel chests, clearly a barracks of some kind. Declining to investigate further, they press on - and find a Cult patrol! Concealing themselves, they wait for it to pass, but then they see additional cultists leading prisoners through the tunnels! This they cannot ignore, and leap to the attack. Bears are summoned, cultists are entangled, spiritual guardians are activated, arrows are fired, and many cultists are stabbed by daggers. The final cultist is caught in the act of trying to flee by arrows from the ranger. The rescued prisoners are extremely grateful, and show the party to a dirty chamber filled with yet more prisoners. They were captured from the surrounding area and have been kept here for many days, with barely enough food and water to stay alive. Other prisoners have already been taken by cultists for some mysterious purpose - the adventurers suspect as sacrifices for the ritual. Tammy provides food and water for the prisoners, but cautions them to make their way to the depression protected by the spirit of Bahamut. An attempt to flee the area would be unwise, as they would likely not survive the battle outside. The prisoners head off to temporary safety, along with another group found after a quick search of the nearby tunnels. Only one direction remains - through an upward-sloping tunnel and into the temple itself! The adventurers move carefully through the tunnel and peer out into a huge open space. The temple is a huge, hollow, 5-sided structure. Each of the five sections is stained with one of the chromatic dragon colors, and within each is two Red Wizards - one floating near the ground and another 50 feet in the air. In the center of the temple, also 50 feet up, a portal shimmers, with glimpses of the hellscape of Avernus occasionally flashing on its surface. Another 50 feet above that, at the very top of the temple, floats Severin, the leader of the Cult. He wears a dragon mask with four heads - all but the blue dragon! Knowing that the portal must be closed before Tiamat can use it to come to this world, the party attacks! Most of the Red Wizards are focused on their ritual, so the first falls easily to a surprise assault. The adventurers are in turn surprised, though, when a devil bursts from the corpse! This one is quickly dispatched, but it slows their attack. Some of the other wizards turn to defend themselves, while most continue the ritual. One wizard in particular is familiar - this is Rath Modar, who the party had encountered back on Skyreach Castle. He disappears behind an invisibility spell, while the adventurers focus on bringing down Severin. Tammy shoots arrows and summons giant owls to harry him, Brin attacks with lightning, Normina summons a swarm of insects, and Mella causes a distraction by flying up using her magic bandore while wearing the blue dragon mask. Severin is a difficult target, but before long he no longer moves...but his death does not stop the ritual! The heads of Tiamat herself begin to appear in the portal, and the party knows that time is short! They methodically begin to pick off the remaining Red Wizards. Mella polymorphs into a T-Rex and demolishes wizards and the demons that appear from their corpses. The ranger uses bow and rapier with equal facility to bring down wizards, while the sorcerer lobs every spell at her disposal and the cleric works to keep everyone standing. The number of wizards dwindles, but more of Tiamat's heads continue to appear! Finally, Mella's mighty dinosaur jaws close on Rath Modar as his invisibility fades, ending his life and reducing the total number of Red Wizards to four. As soon as fewer than five Red Wizards remain, the portal shimmers and stops growing! But Tiamat has already appeared and begun to pass through the portal. As her first head begins to push into this world, however, the red dragonborn paladin statuette suddenly expands! The huge spectral form of Drice the red dragonborn paladin stands before the portal, 60 feet tall with arms stretched wide to grasp the edges. Tiamat tries to attack him, but his spectral form is impervious to her jaws. Slowly, he forces the portal edges together, until with a final burst of light it closes. When the dust settles, Tiamat is gone, the portal is closed, and Drice has disappeared with her. The exhausted adventurers, stunned by all they have witnessed, are suddenly surrounded by wizards! These are the friendly Red Wizards of Thay, come to stop their traitor brothers, and other magicians in service of the Council. Once Rath Modar was dead, the barrier preventing them from using magic to enter had dropped. They bring word of a great victory of arms as well, since the silencing of the Draakhorn had tilted the battlefield in the favor of the Council. Thanks to the actions of the adventurers, the back of the Cult was broken and the day was won!
