Dragon crusade on Chult? (Have to know Chult!)

[Pinjata]

Heya guys!

I'd ask for some help from those who know Faerun's island of Chult. Here is the setup:

Tiamat has manifested in Faerun. Chromatic dragons rose from their slumber of inactivity and started obliterating settlements, grabbing all gold, silver, platinum and gems they could get their claws on. Armies of kobolds, half-dragons and dragon cultists have swarmed from hidden outposts, additionally fueled by influx of thousandsof humanoids who just wanted to survive and would do pretty much anything to do so. Desolations were enlarged tenfold, as well as dragon hoards. All major cities of Sword Coast got obliterated, Elminster and Silverhand Sisters acting as sort of Noahs - saving what and where they could. Underground settlements suffered form lack of trade with surface and flood of refugees. Some harsh decisions were made. Ruling structures of Cormyr and Thai have crumbled, mans powerful entites fleeing to other parts of Faerun and even to other realms. Dragon onslaught has spread from Sword Coast over ever-larger reaches of continent.


Eventually, one of the dragon-clerics had set his eyes upon Chult. A large, jungle- and undead- infested island.

What I's ask is: What places would his (massive army-like) raiding party strike at? Imagine a single adult super-buffed dragon with a massive flying retinue plus at least a hundred ships and a few schools of water-based allies. Would it make sense to raid all of the coast?

How would draconic crusade in name of Tiamat (and looting. and slaves.) take place on Chult?

thanks :)

[gloryblaze]

As of 5e, the only real settlement on Chult is Port Nyanzaru. The rest of the continent is full of ruins and untamed wilderness. So the initial strike point would be there, almost certainly. Then, because of the dragons' ability to fly, they would likely be able to do an aerial sweep of Chult after sacking Port Nyanzaru, allowing them to quickly and efficiently identify and target key points (such as the treasure-filled ruins of Omu) without getting lost in the jungle, which usually impedes would-be treasure hunters. Besides Port Nyanzaru and Omu, other points that might be sacked are the abandoned dwarf mine of Hrakhamar, currently occupied by firenewts, which contains many of adamantine ingots and a culturally significant artifact called the Gauntlet of Moradin, the Hanging Gardens of Nangalore, a fancy ruin ruled by a medusa, the pirate cove of Jahaka Anchorage, and the aarakocra settlement of Kir Sabal (easily accessible for flying dragons). Chult also is home to the young red dragon Tzindelor, who rules a tribe of kobolds and is familiar with many of these locations. Depending on your campagin and its timeline, she might be allied with Tiamat's forces or attempt to drive them away in order to keep her territory to herself. She also might be an adult or ancient red dragon by the time your campaign takes place if you so desire. Another potential obstacle to the invasion is Aremag, a dragon turtle who rules the Bay of Chult, demanding tithes from ships that enter and exist. A dragon turtle is one of the few creatures that could take on an adult dragon in a fair fight, but the dragon has the luxury of being able to simply disengage and fly away. The ships, not so much. Aremag might be able to smash multiple ships and kill many soldiers before the dragon killed him, and its possible that if he got the upper hand against the dragon he could force it to flee and take out the ships at leisure from beneath the waves, using the water to protect himself from arrows and such. If he routs enough of the invading force, they would have to sail the long way around the island to find a different place to land - a difficult proposition, considering the complications associated with most of Chult's beaches (acidic or boiling water, infested with giant snapping turtles, etc.)

[Pinjata]

Thank you a lot, good sir!

Dragon-turtle is, IMO, most interesting player in all this. He(she?) is unable to engage flying targets (apart form short-range breath weapon), but is a force to be reckoned with in the sea, surrounding Chult. Also, as I understand dragon-turtles are not chromatic and not evil, so they could have a plan of their own in all this. How would dragon-turtle act in this? What brings it greatest benefit?

And since you know the setting, I'd like to add some more ideas to this scenario. Especially pre-invasion social changes on Chulth:
- Tiamat Appearance + 14 days = news of Tiamat reach Chulth
- Tiamat Appearance + 30 days = first ships with (rich) refugees reach Chult
- Tiamat Appearance + 45 days = first ships with common refugees reach Chult

Cool? Got anything else on this?

[Pugwampy]

This is from a novel sooo....

Chult is basically a Jurassic park setting. The God of chult is Ubtao . Ubtao,s children are the dinosaurs . Ubtao,s fair city is called Mezro , his people look like africans and well very much seem like a Zulu tribe culture that live in meso american style buildings . Luv DND

Ubtao has seven chosen paladins each granted with a fancy power. Power over the dead , power over the waters of the river which flows through the city . The power to recall everything one sees or hears and manifest snow and ice , umm also healing i think ..... yadda yadda umm google it ? These powers are found in artifacts , each paladin carries .
The Paladin who commands the dead is somewhat of an renegade captialist . He is always deep in the jungles and using dino zombies and every other dead thing to chop tree and harvest timber for sale but if Mezro is under attack he will probably help defend it ........probably to protect his business interests.

Perhaps Dragon Queenie wants those magic goodies but technically they only work for that chosen Paladin . If you gonna have a Chult campaign bring out some Dino encounters . heck i say add in giant snakes , frogs , amazon chicks , yaun ti , lizard men , troglodytes .

[gloryblaze]

This is from a novel sooo....

Chult is basically a Jurassic park setting. The God of chult is Ubtao . Ubtao,s children are the dinosaurs . Ubtao,s fair city is called Mezro , his people look like africans and well very much seem like a Zulu tribe culture that live in meso american style buildings . Luv DND

Ubtao has seven chosen paladins each granted with a fancy power. Power over the dead , power over the waters of the river which flows through the city . The power to recall everything one sees or hears and manifest snow and ice , umm also healing i think ..... yadda yadda umm google it ? These powers are found in artifacts , each paladin carries .
The Paladin who commands the dead is somewhat of an renegade captialist . He is always deep in the jungles and using dino zombies and every other dead thing to chop tree and harvest timber for sale but if Mezro is under attack he will probably help defend it ........probably to protect his business interests.

Perhaps Dragon Queenie wants those magic goodies but technically they only work for that chosen Paladin . If you gonna have a Chult campaign bring out some Dino encounters . heck i say add in giant snakes , frogs , amazon chicks , yaun ti , lizard men , troglodytes .

All of this is (or was?) true, but has progressed. Ubtao abandoned Chult after becoming displeased with their decadence, leaving them without gods. The people of Port Nyanzaru, the only major city in the continent, turned to the more standard gods (Tymora, Selune, etc) because they were in contact with the outside world. However, the inhabitants of Omu (home of the Chultan monarchy) instead began to worship animal spirits who tricked them into believing that they were gods. This contributed to the city's downfall.

As for the paladin who guarded Mezro, his name was Ras Nsi - a chosen of Ubtao, like you said. However, he betrayed his oaths and tried to conquer Mezro using an undead army. He was defeated and stripped of his powers, and he fell in with a group of evil yuan-ti. He underwent a ritual to become a yuan-ti malison, and he now leads the yuan-ti of Chult, a cult that seeks to bring Dendar the Night Serpent into the world. In the meantime, Mezro has disappeared mysteriously, leaving behind an abandoned ruin with no signs of life. It was thought that it was destroyed in the Spellplague, but it actually was teleported to an alternate dimension for safekeeping.

[Pugwampy]

Okay good to know I guess ? I am not too much into the lore . I just use the map locations and make what I want .
Half my last campaign and my next will also involve Chult location . Jungle with dinosaurs and I will add in a dwarf mining town somewhere and of course a non Dnd approved fairy hub town . If the players find a blip on the map labeled Mezro I will dig out an abandoned city ruins dungeon for them to explore if they want and call that Mezro .

Oh oh I got a question . What is a yuan ti malison ?

[gloryblaze]

Okay good to know I guess ? I am not too much into the lore . I just use the map locations and make what I want .
Half my last campaign and my next will also involve Chult location . Jungle with dinosaurs and I will add in a dwarf mining town somewhere and of course a non Dnd approved fairy hub town . If the players find a blip on the map labeled Mezro I will dig out an abandoned city ruins dungeon for them to explore if they want and call that Mezro .

Oh oh I got a question . What is a yuan ti malison ?

Lower half snake upper half man

[Pugwampy]

Yes I know what a yuan ti half blood is . Whats a yuan ti Malison ? I know they are red for some reason but that's about it .

[Arenabait]

MM page 309, check them out

[gloryblaze]

Yes I know what a yuan ti half blood is . Whats a yuan ti Malison ? I know they are red for some reason but that's about it .

"Malison" is just a more technical term for halfblood. There are 5 types of yuan-ti malison:

Type I malisons are humanoid with snake heads, Type II malisons are humanoids with snakes instead of arms, Type III malisons have a snake tail for a lower body and a humanoid head, arms, and torso, Type IV malisons are humanoid but with a tail, Type 5 are humanoids covered in scales.

[Pugwampy]

Thank you .