Chapter 6: Castle Naerytar - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

Chapter 6: Castle Naerytar. The tunnel from the roadhouse emerges in a spot nearby that's screened by trees and brush from the camp. As characters approach through the tunnel, any of them with a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 10 or higher hears bestial voices ahead, growling and murmuring indistinctly in Draconic. From there, a trail leads into the Mere of Dead Men, where a mix of swamp denizens and cultists of the dragon vie for power at the ruins of Castle Naerytar. This stout, stone castle was the home of a half-elf wizard, but he abandoned it long ago when the swamp claimed the area. For a time, a group of astrologers called the Academy of Stargazers took over the structure, but they vanished mysteriously after a few years. No one knows what became of them. Before the group's destruction, the members modified the castle by building an observatory into the top floor of the keep. Some of their magical viewing equipment is still there. Now the Cult of the Dragon has moved people into Castle Naerytar and formed shaky alliances with nearby swamp dwellers, but the surrounding swampland is far from under anyone's control. The cult brought lizardfolk, bullywugs, and a pair of black dragons together in an unstable alliance, but the factions are riven by deep distrust that outsiders can exploit. Traveling to the Castle Castle Naerytar is not just a stone's throw down the road. It sits fifteen miles from the work camp-fifteen cold, muddy, difficult miles. It takes the characters two days to cover that ground at a moderate pace. Fortunately, the trail is marked by the lizardfolk who transport contraband through the mere to Castle Naerytar for the cult. Without the trail, finding the castle in this snarled, confusing maze would depend more on luck than skill. This trail doesn't make travel easy; the lizardfolk's trail is still treated as difficult terrain. It only shows the direction to go. Day 1 The first day's travel is by foot through tangled marsh. The ground is...