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Credits
Editor: Sue Weinlein Cook Author's Foreword: The Crown and the Serpent is the fourth DRAGONLANCE: FIFTH AGE adventure in the five-part series titled Dragons of a New Age. This cycle, which parallels the events of the first trilogy of FIFTH AGE novels, explores the valiant struggles of the Heroes of the Heart against the tyranny of the dragon overlords. In this adventure, the heroes embark upon a quest for an artifact, the Dimernesti Crown of Tides, which could prove decisive in foiling the schemes of the Blue Dragon, Khellendros. The story opens with a bang as the heroes, guests at the Citadel of Light, witness an attack on the mystic master Goldmoon by agents of the Red Dragon Malystryx. Only quick thinking on their part can save her life. After informing the elders at Legion of Steel headquarters of the attack, the heroes and their Legionnaire guide set off on the long journey to Dimernesti, home of the sea elves and resting place of the Crown of Tides. As they trek across the Plains of Dust, they camp one night near the Grandfather tree, an immense vallenwood thought to hold mystic powers. There, several heroes experience dreams that offer portents of what lies before them. After a tangle with two unusual denizens of the Black Dragon's swamp, they reach the edge of the Silvanesti Shield - and witness its horrifying effects on the elven forest. No sooner do the heroes cross the Khalkist Mountains into the lands of the Khur in Act Two when they encounter a tribe of warlike barbarians who reveal a startling secret about their guide's past. Ultimately, the group arrives at the desert city of Ak-Khurman, a Legion stronghold on the Bay of Balifor. Finding passage to Dimernesti is no trouble; running the blockade the Dark Knights have set up is something else again! With the help of some firepower from the Legion of Steel, the heroes make it out of the harbor alive. Act Three pits the heroes on board ship against a spy in their midst, then brings them face to face with the sea dragon Brine, lord of Dimernesti. Assuming they manage to flee his steaming breath, can they convince the sea elves to give up their treasured crown? And, more importantly, will Brine really let them escape a watery grave? The Crown and the Serpent can be played as part of the Dragons of a New Age series or as a stand-alone scenario. While this adventure traces the route used by the Heroes of the Heart in Jean Rabe's novel The Eve of the Maelstrom, a sidebar in Act Two offers the Narrator hints for leading the heroes along an alternate route to Dimernesti, via the Missing City mirage on Ansalon's southern coast. If all goes well, the heroes end their quest ready to face Takhisis herself!
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