Inquisition in Draknaar
Inquisition in Draknaar
Read aloud
A crimson eclipse stains the Scale-Spire Cathedral the color of an old wound. Ten House banners hang above the vaulted hall, and every one seems to watch as Dragon Oath paladins escort you inside. Your execution is set for dawn unless you can prove your innocence before the city.
Run the session
Cheat sheet
Objectives
- 1Find and protect Kaelen Veridian and Vexia Scalesworn long enough to establish that the prosecution's seal was forged.
- 2Meet the tribunal's demand for a public trial by combat without turning the contest into an execution.
- 3Convince the tribunal that the accusation is a political fabrication and uncover Naxilar's role.
- 4Break Varen's enthrallment, clear the party's names, and recover Lysandriel's Shard.
The clock
Execution is set for dawn. The tribunal's hearing and arena contest take place before that deadline. During the final hearing, Naxilar's ritual takes three uninterrupted rounds to enthrall Magistrate Varen fully and secure his scripted ruling.
Scenes
- 0:00Under the Red Eclipse
- 1:00The Galleries of Testimony
- 3:00The Law's Arena
- 4:30The Hearing Turns
- 6:30Break the Proxy
Cast
- Thraxis SilverwingAlly
- High Prosecutor NaxilarAntagonist
- Kaelen VeridianWitness
- Vexia ScaleswornWitness and wildcard
The hook
Set the scene
The party arrives in Khar Vesh beneath the crimson eclipse and is arrested by Dragon Oath paladins on a charge of desecrating Draknaar's sacred law. The arresting officer reads the sentence: execution at dawn unless the city tribunal finds them innocent. Thraxis Silverwing, watching the escort more closely than the prisoners, quietly offers a service passage to the witness galleries. As the cathedral bells toll through the red light, the party must decide whether to trust him and move before the hearing begins.
How Thraxis Silverwing asks
Thraxis approaches the party during their escort through the cathedral, speaking low enough that the guards cannot hear.
He offers a route to the witness galleries and asks them to find proof before the hearing makes the accusation irreversible.
Rumours
Scenes
about 8.5 hours0:00
60 min
socialThe table is here
1. Under the Red Eclipse
The cathedral approach and its outer court beneath the crimson eclipse, where incense stings the nose and House banners snap in the wind.
The party is formally arrested, hears the dawn sentence, and meets Thraxis. A Religion check avoids an early breach of Draknaari courtroom custom; failure creates a diplomatic slight but does not prevent the adventure. Thraxis offers a service passage to the galleries.
NextThraxis unlocks a narrow door, and the party slips into the service passage as the cathedral bells begin to toll.
1:00
120 min
exploration
2. The Galleries of Testimony
The witness galleries, clerks' rooms, and archive walkways above the hearing hall, where wax, ink, and stone dust mingle in the close air.
The party must locate and protect Kaelen and Vexia, then establish the forged seal. Use Insight or Investigation checks, requiring three successes before two failures. Each witness can provide a different part of the case; no single check substitutes for both accounts. A failure costs time, exposes a witness, or gives Naxilar a chance to challenge their credibility.
NextWhen the testimony is secured or the recess ends, a horn sounds below and the arena gates grind open.
3:00
90 min
combat
3. The Law's Arena
The cathedral's sunken trial arena, with sand underfoot, stone pillars breaking sightlines, and the crowd's roar rising through the galleries.
The party faces the Dragon Oath Trial Champion and shield-bearers in a public contest. Describe clear surrender and nonlethal options. The objective is to survive and satisfy the contest, not kill the opposing combatants.
The Law's ArenaNextAs the arena gates open, the party returns to the hearing hall under the gaze of the House banners.
4:30
120 min
social
4. The Hearing Turns
The Scale-Spire Cathedral's vaulted hearing hall, where the magistrate's voice carries beneath ten watching House banners.
The party presents the witnesses' claims, the forged-seal evidence, and any bribery evidence found in Naxilar's chambers. The Dragonborn Sorcerer can invoke Cindreth Valeorean and their Sun-Gilded Lyceum credentials as a character witness, lending institutional weight without asking him to overrule local law. Naxilar then uses the hidden shard to enthrall Magistrate Varen, beginning a ritual that takes three uninterrupted rounds.
The Hearing TurnsNextThe moment Varen falters and speaks in a voice that is not his own, the hearing breaks into motion and the party must act.
6:30
120 min
combat
5. Break the Proxy
The hearing dais and witness rail as the crowd recoils, Dragon Oath guards hesitate, and the crimson light slips across the floor.
The party interrupts Naxilar's rite and frees Varen while keeping him alive. They can use force, evidence, persuasion, or a combination, but merely defeating Naxilar does not clear the party's name if the enthrallment persists. Once Varen is free, the officials witness the coercion and turn on Naxilar. The party searches the buried evidence and recovers the shard.
The Hearing TurnsNextAs the eclipse light fades from the cathedral stone, the party carries the shard and tribunal seal beyond the hearing hall.
Behind it
What people believe
The party is accused of desecrating Draknaar's sacred law and faces execution at dawn.
With help from Dragon Oath paladin Thraxis Silverwing, they must secure the testimony of two frightened scholars, survive a public trial by combat, and persuade the tribunal to hear their case. The proceeding also places the Dragonborn Sorcerer's House Naminsiyesh ties and Sun-Gilded Lyceum credentials under public scrutiny.
Background
During a crimson eclipse in Khar Vesh, an accusation of sacrilege has become a public contest for authority among Draknaar's ten Houses.
The Dragon Oath has arrested the adventurers, and execution is scheduled for dawn unless the city’s tribunal clears them. The case touches the Dragonborn Sorcerer’s House Naminsiyesh ties and bloodline secrets. Archmage Cindreth Valeorean cannot overrule Draknaar’s justice, but his standing and the Sun-Gilded Lyceum credentials of a character who invokes him may influence the court.
The stakes
If the party fails, they may face execution, confinement, or a compromised verdict, while Naxilar keeps control of the hearing and the shard remains hidden.
If they expose the conspiracy and free Varen, they clear their names, gain an ally inside the Dragon Oath, and recover a Nova's Heart shard connected to Azkhar's expanding designs.
Encounters
2The Law's Arena
Combat
A sunken stone arena beneath the cathedral galleries. Raised scales divide the floor, with a central dais, two low pillars, and a sand channel that makes the outer ring difficult terrain.
Foes
Dragon Oath Trial Champion
Dragon Oath Shield-Bearers
ComplicationThe combat is a public trial, not an execution. The party can win by defeating or disarming the opposition, meeting the stated contest conditions, or persuading the presiding official that the contest has been unlawfully rigged. Lethal force may turn House opinion against them.
ScalingFor a smaller or less capable party, use one champion and one shield-bearer, and allow surrender or a clear nonlethal victory to end the encounter. For a larger or stronger party, add a second shield-bearer and a hazard that changes the arena's safe ground each round. Treat all enemy statistics as appropriate official 5e creatures or custom NPCs, rather than assuming a particular stat block.
The Hearing Turns
Combat
The vaulted hearing hall, with a magistrate's raised bench, ten House banners, a witness rail, and a narrow central aisle. The audience can obstruct movement and react to visible evidence or magic.
Foes
High Prosecutor Naxilar
Dragon Oath Court Guards
Enthralled Magistrate Varen
ComplicationNaxilar uses the Nova's Heart shard to enthrall Magistrate Varen. The rite requires three uninterrupted rounds and a living proxy. Each round, Varen speaks a scripted ruling that strengthens the prosecution's case. The party must interrupt the rite and free Varen, not merely defeat Naxilar, to secure a clean vindication.
ScalingAt level 7, keep the guards occupied by allies or limit them to a small group. If the party is struggling, Thraxis can hold the guards for one round. For a more dangerous version, Naxilar gains a single defensive ward from the shard, but the rite still requires three uninterrupted rounds. Use official 5e statistics where applicable and define any shard effects as custom features.
Cast
4Thraxis Silverwing
QuestgiverAlly, a Dragon Oath paladin who can guide the party through the cathedral's service passages.
WantsThraxis believes the accusation was engineered and wants the Dragon Oath’s justice restored without provoking a House feud.
“A service door will get you to the galleries. After that, you will have to make the truth louder than the banners.”
High Prosecutor Naxilar
Antagonist, prosecutor and ritualist.
WantsNaxilar intends to secure a conviction, hide his bribery, and complete the ritual that controls Magistrate Varen.
“The seal bears the proper mark. If you claim otherwise, bring proof before the whole city.”
Kaelen Veridian
Witness, a scholar with partial evidence of the forgery.
WantsKaelen wants to expose the forged seal but fears retaliation against his family and scholarly colleagues.
“I saw the wax poured, but I never saw the hand that pressed the seal. Please do not make me say more than I know.”
Vexia Scalesworn
Witness and wildcard, a scholar with the original record and knowledge of the evidence vault.
WantsVexia wants the evidence heard while keeping House Scalesworn from using her testimony as a political weapon.
“The record was altered after I copied it. I kept the earlier version, and I know exactly who can make me disappear for it.”
How it ends
Rewards
Items
Seal of the Tribunal, a signet and legal token documenting the party's exoneration.
Lysandriel's Shard, the fifth Nova's Heart shard, associated with trickery and deceit. Custom shard boon: once per long rest, its bearer can cast disguise self without material components or gain advantage on their next Charisma (Deception) check. Custom influence: on a failed save against the shard's influence, the next time the bearer speaks to an NPC in the scene, they must answer with a lie or half-truth, with the specific words chosen by the DM.
On a win
The party exposes the forged seal, frees Magistrate Varen, and turns the tribunal's officials against Naxilar.
The court clears the party's names in public. In the evidence Naxilar tried to bury, the party finds and recovers Lysandriel's Shard. Thraxis offers his aid as a Dragonborn paladin ally, and the tribunal grants the party its seal as proof of their exoneration and of the conspiracy they uncovered.
What it leaves open
If it fails
- The party fails the gallery investigation or cannot persuade the court to admit the scholars' evidence.
- Without enough reliable testimony or physical proof, the tribunal delays its judgment only if the party can produce a compelling character witness. Otherwise the guilty verdict stands, and the party must escape custody or find a lawful appeal before dawn.
- The party is defeated in the arena or violates the trial's rules.
- If the party loses the trial by combat, the tribunal imposes confinement until judgment. Thraxis can attempt a risky extraction, but the party loses the chance to establish a clean public victory through the arena.
- The party does not break the enthrallment during the final confrontation.
- If Varen remains enthralled when Naxilar falls or escapes, the tribunal's ruling remains contested. The party may avoid execution through allies and evidence, but their names are not fully cleared, and Naxilar's conspiracy can continue through the compromised judgment.
- The party relies on Cindreth's reputation as a substitute for evidence.
- If the party invokes Cindreth's name without supporting credentials or a credible account of his standing, the court treats it as an appeal to foreign influence. A properly presented character witness can instead lend credibility, but cannot dictate the verdict.
Complications (d6)
- 1A House herald demands the Dragonborn Sorcerer publicly name their Naminsiyesh allegiance. Refusing costs the party an audience with that House, while answering may expose a family rivalry.
- 2A witness is moved to a different gallery under guard. The party must find the new location before the next hearing recess or lose that witness's testimony for the day.
- 3A crowd recognizes the party from the accusation and blocks the public stair. Thraxis can lead them through a narrow service route, but doing so risks discovery by a Dragon Oath patrol.
- 4An eclipse shadow crosses the witness galleries, and the lesser-deity fragment stirs in the hidden shard. Anyone presenting evidence must contend with a brief wave of suspicion and distrust.
- 5A House representative offers to suppress damaging testimony in exchange for the Sorcerer's support in a Naminsiyesh dispute.
- 6A clerk discovers that a page of the prosecution's record has been replaced. The party has one recess to recover the discarded original before it is burned.
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