The Monarch Reborn
by Night DruidEntry in the Original SJ Local Chapters Challenge.
The Cult of Dragon is famous on Toril for their worship of undead dragons. For many centuries, they have been confined to Faerun. Recently, one of their dracoliches, Dretchroyaster, the Monarch Reborn, has uncovered a spelljamming helm and taken to wildspace.
In his few months in wildspace, he has left a trail of death and destruction in his wake. In ports all around Realmspace, whispers tell of the Monarch Dragon and his plan to rule the whole sphere.
Dretchroyaster has named himself the Monarch Reborn for the Monarch Mordent, an elven Man-O-War lost during the Weeping Wars of Cormanthor. The dragon has grafted the magical plants from the Monarch to his skeletal frame to turn him into a living spelljammer.
For centuries, the Monarch Reborn has lived in fear of adventurers. He has twice nearly been destroyed at the hands of relentless adventuring parties, and it was his fear of adventurers that the Cult used to convince him to agree to become a dracolich. His fear has made him angry, and now that he has taken that rage out on anything that crosses his path.
The Monarch Reborn has a long-term goal is find a place safe from adventurers. He is scouting Garden as a potential lair. That lair will be protected by a whole armada of ships loyal to him, guaranteeing his eternal survival. Once his safety is assured, the dragon will plunder the sphere of its wealth.
The Cult of Dragon was founded centuries ago by the mad Chosen of Mystra Sammaster, who believed that undead dragons would one day rule the world. Sammaster perished at the hands of the Harpers, but his Cult survived, even flourished.
The dragon Dretchroyaster was a green dragon that menaced the area of Toril known as the Dales for centuries. After a series of near-death battles at the hands of adventurers, Dretchroyaster gave in to the overtures of the Cult and became a dracolich in the year 1365 DR. A decade before his transformation, the Cult offered him a new lair. This lair, the Monarch's Fall Glade, was the site of a crashed elven Man-O-War, which was destroyed during the Weeping Wars that claimed much of ancient Cormanthor and the fabled city, Myth Drannor. After his transformation, Dretchroyaster became obsessed with grafting the starfly plant to his skeletal frame and become a living spelljammer. Only the lack of a spelljamming helm held him back.
Early in the year 1371 DR, the Cult discovered a major spelljamming helm in the ruins of Myth Drannor, a forgotten treasure of the Starym noble house. The Cult sought to use the helm as leverage against Dretch to stir him to attack rivals in Sembia, but Dretch had his own plans. A well-placed assassin's blade and a few coins in the right pocket, and the treasure was his.
In the few months since acquiring his spelljamming helm, Dretch has visited the inner planets of Realspace and traveled as far as Garden. He and his followers are still learning the ropes of spelljamming and want to avoid anything too dangerous. Thus far they have only attacked a few small ships. One, a dragonfly, has been armed to equip to guard the Monarch Reborn while the other ships have been left drifting.
For a more detailed history of the Cult and Dretchroyaster, see the Forgotten Realms product Cult of Dragon.
The lair of the Monarch Reborn is in the northern forest of Cormanthor in Monarch's Fall Glade. Once he finds a suitable lair, the Monarch Reborn intends to move completely into wildspace and leave Toril behind.
The Monarch's Fall Glade is a twisted maze of crystalline plants grown from the wreckage of the Monarch Mordent. Construction has begun on a dry dock facility for ships captured by the Monarch Reborn. If he proves successful, the Cult intends to refurbish captured ships into their own merchant fleet to use as a front for their illicit activities.
As of the start of 1371 DR, the Monarch Reborn has become a living spelljammer. His crew are fanatic cultists and mindless undead. A captured dragonfly with a furnace helm is being used as a boat. Each Cultist has numerous necromanic devices and weapons to use. The Monarch Reborn has acquired numerous powerful magical devices lost since the Fall of Myth Drannor, including the Diamond Staff of Chomylla and Dragonslair, a longsword +2 dragonslayer that serves as his host.
Dretchroyaster: This dracolich was an ancient green dragon before his transformation. He has experimented with grafting starfly plants to his skeletal frame, and the results are quite remarkable. He now has the full benefits of the Starfly Bud template (see below) as well as it gives him enough space in his body to carry a small crew. His wings are now butterfly-like and his tail supports an abdomen that looks like it belongs on an elven Man-O-War. Dretchroyaster uses a change self spell to appear as a full-fledged elven Man-O-War to get close to spelljammers before attacking with his breath weapon, spells, and physical attacks.
Dretchroyaster, the Monarch Reborn: Ancient Green Dracolich; CR ; Gargantuan undead; HD 32d12 + 16d8; hp 334; Init +0; Spd 40 ft, fly 200 ft (clumsy), swim 40 ft; AC 39; Atk +40 melee (4d6 plus1d6 cold plus paralysis, bite), +35 (2d8 plus 1d6 cold plus paralysis, 2 claws); Face/Reach 20 ft. by 40 ft./15 ft.; SA Breath weapon, frightful presence, paralyzing gaze, paralyzing touch, suggestion; SQ Blindsight, control undead, damage reduction 15/+2, invulnerability, immunities (acid, cold, electricity, polymorph, standard undead immunities), keen senses; SR 27; AL LE; SV Fort +25, Ref +18, Will +23; Str 35, Dex 10, Con -, Int 20, Wis 21, Cha 22, Length 70 ft.
Possessions: Diamond Staff of Chomylla, Dragonslair (a longsword +2 dragonslayer, serves as Dretchroyaster's host).
Chall Darkhand: This mid-ranking Sembian cultist has been assigned to Dretchroyaster to keep an eye on the dragon. The Cult is beginning to suspect that the Monarch Reborn has slipped the bonds that they placed to keep him under their thumb. Little does the cult realize but Chall has been charmed by Dretchroyaster and serves him, not the cult. Chall reports only what his master wants him to report. Chall is a meek, balding man with a pot belly. He has always been a minor player in the cult, a fact that Dretchroyaster played upon to charm him. The Monarch Reborn has promised to make him his court wizard when his empire is born, though the dracolich makes many promises he has no intention of keeping.
Chall Darkhand: 9th level Wizard; CR 9; medium humanoid; HD 9d4; hp 23; Init +2 (Dex); Spd 30 ft; AC 14 (Dex, Bracers of Armor); Atk +3 melee; Face/Reach 5 ft. by 5 ft./5 ft.; AL NE; SV Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +8; Str 8, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 17, Wis 14, Cha 12.
Possessions: 3 Cure Moderate Wounds potions, Bracers of Armor +2, Wand of Ray of Enfeeblement, Wand of Magic missile (9th level caster), Wand of Mirror Image.
Baulnt Marrowsword: This brute of a man hails from the Vast, where he earned his living for a while as a sellsword. He was brought into the Cult after doing several jobs for them and proved himself. Baulnt is loyal to money and was bought off by the Monarch Reborn. His duties aboard ship are to lead boarding actions against enemy ships, a job he relishes. Otherwise, he sits around bored sharpening his blade and bossing around the other humans aboard.
Baulnt Marrowsword: 11th level Fighter; CR 11; medium humanoid; HD 11d10 +22; hp 97; Init +1 (Dex); Spd 30 ft; AC 24 (Dex, full plate, metal shield); Atk +15/+10/+5 melee; Face/Reach 5 ft. by 5 ft./5 ft.; AL NE; SV Fort +9, Ref +4, Will +3; Str 18, Dex 13, Con 15, Int 8, Wis 11, Cha 9.
Possessions: Greatsword +1, full plate +2, large metal shield +1, 2 potions of cure moderate wounds, cloak of resistance +2, boots of speed
Other members: The Monarch Reborn has four more wizards and six fighters (6th to 7th level each) that are loyal to him alone. He plans on expanding his stable of servants and henchmen in the near future, but is wary of cult spies and agents. Instead of relying too heavily on humanoid troops, he has been creating skeletons covered by starfly plants, which he intends to use as front-line troops. Thus far he has 35 of these skeletons completed and is working on 10 more.
Starfly buds are skeletons that have starfly plants growing on them. The starfly plant provides additional armor and protection for the skeleton as well as providing flight ability through gossamer wings. The skeleton takes on a butterfly-like appearance, with a thorax where the chest used to be and an abdomen-like tail.
Starfly buds have an unearthly appearance. The plants are blue-green dotted with blue portholes across its thorax and abdomen. Hallow cavities in the thorax and abdomen allows for creatures at least two sizes smaller than the base skeleton to ride along. Thus a halfling could ride in the chest of an ogre starfly bud skeleton.
This example uses a standard skeleton as the base creature.
Starfly Skeleton Medium Undead Hit Dice: 1d12 + 2d8 (15 hp) Initiative: +5 (+1 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative) Speed: 30 ft., fly 50 ft. AC: 15 (+1 Dex, +4 armor) Attacks: 2 claws +x melee Damage: Claw 1d4 Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft./5 ft. Special Attacks: None. Special Qualities: Undead, immunities, damage reduction Saves: Fort +x, Ref +y, Will +z Abilities: Str 10, Dex 12, Con --, Int --, Wis 10, Cha 11 Skills: None Feats: Improved Initiative Climate/Terrain: Any Organization: Any Challenge Rating: 1 Treasure: None Alignment: Always Neutral Advancement: --
The Starfly Bud Skeleton appears like a skeleton covered with blue-green crystalline plants. It has butterfly-like wings and an abdomen-like tail.
Undead: Immune to disease, mind-affecting spells, paralysis, sleep and stunning. Suffers no ill effects from ability damage, critical hits, death from massive damage, energy drain, or subdual damage.
Entangle: Can make an entangle attack against 1 melee opponent per day. See the spell entangle, adjust for one opponent only.
Damage Reduction: The skeleton has damage reduction 5/-.
A Starfly Bud Creature is created by grafting starfly plants to a skeleton frame. The plant grows into the space between bones where flesh once was. The plant imparts some of its durability to the skeleton, making it a much tougher creature.
Size and Type: The starfly bud creature is still considered an undead and can be turned as an undead creature of the base skeleton's hit dice without the bonus hit dice.
Hit Dice: The starfly plant can absorb some damage before it is destroyed, taking damage that would otherwise be suffered by the base creature. Skeletons gain extra hit dice as follows: Small 1d8; Medium 2d8; Large 4d8; Huge 8d8; Gargantuan 16d8; Colossal 32d8. The creature does not gain any bonus hit points due to constitution. These hit points are in addition to the base skeleton's hit dice. The bonus hit points are considered living and can be healed by cure or plant growth spells.
Speed: The starfly plant grants the ability to fly at 50 ft. per round.
AC: The starfly plant adds a +4 armor bonus to the skeleton.
Attacks: The base skeleton's attack bonus is increased by 3/4 x bonus hit dice.
Special Attacks: A starfly bud can make an entangling attack as per the entangle spell. This attack can only be made against melee foes. The starfly bud has one entangle attack per 2 extra hit dice the plant grants per day. The starfly bud can make one entangle attack per round.
Special Qualities: The starfly bud is strong wood, granting damage reduction 5/- to the base skeleton.
