Dragonbane! Find a weapon to defeat the demon Sathmog!

About the adventure

1000 years ago, the vile demon Sathmog came to our world. His prophet was a village priest named Azrahel Koth. The demon whispered dark secrets in his ear until his magic grew so powerful that he could open a rift between the worlds and allow his dark master to take physical form. With Azrahel Koth as his herald, Sathmog proclaimed a demonic realm in the world of humans that lasted two centuries. It was a time of darkness and evil, but also one of incredibly rapid human expansion at the expense of the elder kin – dwarves, elves, giants, and halflings. As time passed, the opposition to Sathmog grew, until one day a young hero named Eledain managed to summon the ancient dragons charged with guarding the world from demonic influence. Mounted on dragonback, with the elder kin as his allies, Eledain finally defeated the demon, but as his final act Sathmog cast a curse which he said would spread a sickness throughout the world and one day be its undoing. Azrahel Koth was captured, but since his master had made him immortal, Eledain’s knights could not slay him no matter how hard they tried. Instead, he was imprisoned in a crypt under an island in a lake in a remote valley, guarded by warriors sentenced to remain at their posts until the end of their days. Eledain went on to found a new empire, based on the worship of dragons and their cleansing fire. His realm expanded, cities were built, and paved roads spread through the wilderness. Soon the elder folk grew weary of humanity’s advance, and many left. The dwarves burrowed themselves into the mountain and built a new realm underground. In the autumn of his life, Eledain started to distrust and fear the dragons who had carried him to victory against Sathmog. To secure his power, the dragon emperor sacrificed part of his soul to forge Um-Durman, a magical sword with the power to slay dragons and demons alike. Finally, humans would be free of prime­val beings. When Eledain eventually passed away the sword was hidden in a crypt, as the dragon priests believed the weapon to be too dangerous to be used except in extreme emergencies. Open­ing the crypt required a special key: a statuette split into four pieces, one for each direction ruled by the dragon emperor. After Eledain’s death, a power struggle broke out between his children, and the empire took a tyrannical turn. All protests against the dragon knights’ rule were severely punished and the realm was beset by strife. Finally, the dragons turned their backs on the empire, which collapsed shortly thereafter. Orcs invaded the region and many humans were forced into exile. Centuries passed and the stories of Sathmog, Eledain, and Um-Durman became myths. But Sathmog did not forget. Trapped between the worlds he dreamed of revenge, and his growing anger made him stronger. And now Sathmog works to first free Azrahel Koth into the world once more, then free himself, to defeat the dragons once and for all, and establish a demon empire again!