Outside of Waterdeep 's North gate, the trio Naivara, Varis , and Rhogar were attempting to stall the ancient silver dragon, Elia . While they were successful in stalling her, they were less successful in improving her mood about it. Eventually Halle , Titus , and Livia arrived - very winded. Elia transformed fromher human guise into her ancient draconic form and allowed the six of them to climb on her back so she could fly them to the Dragon Conclave in the Nether Mountains . Just before climbing on board, Naivara heard a familiar voice yelling for her. With shock she recognized the voice and the person running towards her. Naivara told Elia to go ahead without her, and before anything more could be said Elia took off, leaving Naivara behind. Only a few hours into the flight Elia was ambushed by powerful demonic magic. Chains wrapped around her, causing her to plummet towards the ground. Her struggles to free herself and to stay aloft were in vain. A pair of Red Wizards of Thay riding the back of the black dragons Voaraghamanthar and his mysterious twin appeared from within the clouds, and attacked the group with magic while the dragons strafed Elia and her passengers with their deadly acid breath. Eventually the group noticed that each Red Wizard had an invisible demoninc servant, and it was those servants who were maintaining this powerflul magic channeled straight from Avernus . With the group's counter-attacks refocused, the demonic servants were defeated and Elia was finally freed. The black dragons and their surviving Red Wizard wisely fled. Elia expressed her gratitude to the group, and at the end of the first day of travel she brought them to the Star Mounts to rest. The group rested within an area called the Valley of Heroes . The cliff walls around them were carved with the likenesses of many Aarakocra from over the years, but the newest one was familiar - it was the spitting image of Zeed^ , the aarakocra who watches over Halle's home in Waterdeep, the Elrevien Mansion . The next morning the group continued the flight towards the Nether Mountains. By sundown, they neared the valley. The presense of the ancient dragons within the valley altered the landscape for miles around, filling the area with illusionary creatures, mists, etherial music, and terrain features reshaped to resemble at least one of the ancient dragons. Elia landed at the meeting place, and made introductions. Protanther , the ancient gold dragon. Nymmurh , the ancient bronze dragon. Tazmikella , the ancient copper dragon. Ileuthra , the ancient brass dragon. And finally herself again as Otaaryliakkarnos , the ancient silver dragon. As each member of Flowyr Powyr introduced themselves, some of the dragons had visceral reactions. Tazmikella and Protanther's moods soured significantly as Varis introduced himself, and Tazmikella's continued to worsen as Rhogar was introduced. All parties agreed there was no need to wait any long, and began the discussion in earnest. The dragons were ready to mobilize against Tiamat and her children. The question here, and why humanoid represenatives were sought out, was whether the dragons should work together with the mortal races, or if they should fight on their own. Each dragon made their case, and raised their concerns with the mortals as they had experienced over their long lives. Only Nymmurh had no greviances or concerns - but he was just one of five voices among the ancient. When the party had the chance to talk, they addressed several of the dragons' issues. They promized Ileuthra that any dragon masks would be turned over to him, which changed his attitute significantly. Tazmikella's hurt over the mortals who had raided her treasures in the past were partially mended when Titus returned to her a treasure which had once been hers - his celestial polearm of light. Both Protanther and Otaaryliakkarnos had deeper greviances, however, against the Elves and Dwarves. They insisted the King of Elves and King of Dwarves would need to publically make amends for crimes each race had perpetrated against dragons. While Otaaryliakkarnos' greviance was more personal, Protanther's greviance was much stronger, and the anger visibly seethed in him. A recess was called in the early morning hours so the dragons could confer privately, and the mortals could do the same. There would be one more chance to try and convince the dragons to work with the mortals against Tiamat once they reconvened, but would the concessions they demand from the Elves and the Dwarves be too much for the Lord's Alliance and the Council of Waterdeep to bear? At game start it is 3 Alturiak in the Year of the Star Walker's Return .
