Athonu’s Task

Adventure Hook

Modern scholars who have studied the records and accounts from the days of the Stellar Rupture teach that the event itself was peaceful, where the physical world remained undisturbed while the sky burned. To creatures with innate magical senses however, it was a sensory nightmare. When the astral wave hit Kemet’s core, it created what would amount to an earthquake on the arcane layer. Celestial essence that had been bottled up inside the planet since its birth was violently forced into the atmosphere.

Encounter Tier: CR 15 (18,000 XP) | Non-Combat (Magical Exploration & Environmental Hazard)

• The Trigger: Triggers immediately upon completing a telepathic conversation with Athonu regarding the environment of the Rupture. If the party should be granted the ability to speak with Athonu via Vurnvazir’s telepathic link and ask about what he knows of the past, the dragon will remark about their magic use and how he recalls the event that remade the world which granted them that power.
• The Objective: Athonu will talk about the terror he felt as a hatchling and that the stress upon the foundation of the world was strongest near fissures and faults. He tasks the party with traveling to a location within the Spires Basin where a highly concentrated Wild Magic zone can be found directly over a ruptured fault. The party is asked to venture in and use a Soporic Fragment, a shard created from the dreamscape into the material plane, to capture the residual frequency of the ambient magic. This will prove the Stellar Rupture’s energy surged from deep below the earth rather than descending from above and help scholars of the world understand the truth of the event.

Adventure Progression

Time Limit: 14 days after leaving the Somnium Archivum after which the Soporic Fragment becomes saturated with surface level magical noise, causing the structure of the shard to crumble.

• If Investigating the Wild Magic site: Pushing into ruptured fault line requires the party to overcome three successive trials:
  • First Check (DC 20 Strength or Constitution Saving Throw): To physically brave the constant energy pulses of the ruptured fault. On a failure, a character takes 4d10 force damage.
  • Second Check (DC 22 Intelligence [Arcana]): To navigate through the erratic Wild Magic spell fields. On a failure, the party triggers an arcane backlash and any active spell of 5th level or lower on the party is instantly dispelled. The character who failed the check must roll on the Wild Magic Surge table.
  • Third Check (DC 20 Wisdom [Insight or Perception]): To steady the Soporic Fragment long enough to capture the residual resonance. On a failure, the shard is flooded with ambient magical noise, burning the holder for 6d6 force damage. The character can try again, up to a maximum of 3 attempts but the DC increases by 2 with each failure. After the third attempt, the Soporic Fragment disintegrates.
• On a Success: If the party successfully attunes the Soporic Fragment to the Wild Magic zone, they return with undeniable proof that shatters centuries of academic consensus. Athonu rewards them with a flawless gemstone from his hoard worth 1,500 gp and instructs Vurnvazir to document the findings and provide a copy to the party. While holding this data and interacting with academics, mages, librarians, and antiquarians, the party gains a permanent +2 bonus to all Charisma (Persuasion and Deception) checks. However, local religious sects brand the party as heretics for denying their beliefs, imposing a −2 penalty to all Charisma checks when interacting with priests, temple guards, or deeply pious citizens who view their scientific truth as a direct assault on their faith.
• On a Failure: If the Soporic Fragment disintegrates or if the party retreats from the fault line after failing any checks, the Wild Magic zone becomes highly unstable and detonates. Every character within 60 feet must succeed on a DC 22 Constitution saving throw or take 8d6 force damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.