Play Session 12/13/21 - The Plot is Revealed

There was so much dialogue in this section, that I couldn't take good enough notes to get everything right. If you recall something that was said and needs editing, don't hesitate to leave a comment. Thanks.
Jorn cast Lay on Hands on the dwarf the group assumed was Varram the White while the dwarf's head lay cradled in Jilfaen's lap. Jilfaen looked up for Robin and quietly mouthed to him, "Check the room...". Robin and Cava began looking around the room for things that may be of interest to the party. Robin spotted a hollow space underneath one of the serpent statues. He spent a minute tinkering with the space until he found a catch that opened a small door revealing the temple treasury as well as a door that led somewhere else. In the treasury were coins, gems, and two scrolls: levitate and a druid spell.
Meanwhile, Varram came to consciousness with the surge in magical healing and looked about at his new situation. He thought for a moment and then spoke,"Well... obviously I didn't get eaten." Jilfaen must have heard something differently based on the odd look she gave the dwarf as if she was looking at a horrible monster. Jorn spoke up, "What are you seeking in the temple of Didarius?" Varram didn't hesitate in answering Jorn's question, "An object valuable to me and my leader: a mask of the dragon, a magical one that my order lost. We have many masks, but there are very few like this one. We need this mask for what's coming." He studied the group for a moment and continued. "If I go back empty-handed, I'm a dead dwarf. So I surrender myself to your mercy." He then added almost as an afterthought under his breath, "I must now think about my survival... no matter the cost." Someone in the group followed up this response with a very logical next question, "What do the masks do?" Varram eyed the group and with an upper-crust countenance spoke matter of factly, "They are terribly comfortable! Everyone will likely be wearing them in the future..." This smart-aleck response touched a nerve with both Jilfaen and Gojira. Jil dropped the Varram's head from being cradled in her lap, and it hit the floor with a thud. She stood up and crossed her arms. At the same moment, every scale on Gojira's hide seemed to raise in protest. He took in a titanic breath and roared in Varram's face and then spoke, "What kind of answer is that!" Varram cleared his throat, shaken a bit, and then continued in a slightly less sarcastic tone. "Look, I am a priest of a dragon cult. Who do you think I worship?" He paused for a moment giving the group a second to think about the question before answering it himself. "Tiamat. And each of the dark dragon races has its own magical mask that gives the power of the dragon race to its user. We need to collect these masks for a ceremony." Now the group was getting somewhere. The change in several of the party member's attitudes seemed to remind Varram that he was only alive at the whims of these adventurers, and if he wanted to see tomorrow, he had to dial back the sarcasm somewhat.
Robin, now interested in this line of questioning spoke up, "What is the ceremony for?" Varram responded with a slight smirk, "The mask of the white dragon which I and my companions were seeking is one of five magical masks. There is a white one, a blue, black, green, and red mask. These are items of power! He's going to raise Her, you know." Varram could not hide his evil grin at this statement. No matter what happened to him, he apparently thought it inevitable that the course of history was set. His goddess would come back. It was inevitable. Varram turned his gaze to Jorn as if throwing this morsel his way. "You, knight. What would you say makes for a good cult?" Jorn knew where this was headed. Varram was a leader of sorts, but he owed his allegiance to a higher authority, who in turn answered to another and culminated in a head of operations. He answered, " Cults like other organizations are organized around an idea or person." Varram nodded in agreement. "Severin IS organized. He'll see that She is brought into this world. All will be laid waste before her. It WILL happen. I just want to be around to see it." He looked around at the group of adventurers with disdain. "If you are the best adventurers that could be mustered, this shouldn't be too hard." The group found out with more conversation that Varram's followers had successfully found the mask and had escaped from the temple a day or two ago, but Varram wasn't as lucky. He was captured by the Yuan-ti in the process. Someone asked where his group was headed. Varram, probably thinking that it didn't matter if he spilled the beans since the mask had a two-day head start on the group. "All the masks are on their way to the Well of Dragons. We were to meet up with other cultists in Waterdeep, not far actually from where your council took place." The irony seemed to please Varram. It was as if he knew that there were those on the council who were more aware of the plot than they ever would let on. In Jorn's mind, it seemed a possibility. But it could also be an enemy attempting to place a seed of doubt in the minds of the council. The groups that had assembled weren't exactly used to working closely together and had only met in this council because the potential threat was greater than the issues that normally kept them apart. Jorn was lost in thought a minute ove potential next steps when Jilfaen's voice shook him out of it.
"Robin...did you search him?" Jilfaen tensely pointed to the dwarf as if looking at her mortal enemy. Robin stepped forward to pat down the dwarf who was being helped to his feet by Jorn. The paladin had not left the dwarf's side and probably would have shielded Varram with his own body had any of the party attempted to attack the dwarf. As much as he disliked what the dwarf was doing, he never forgot his charge. He was to find Varram and question him for the sake of the council. And he meant to bring Varram back to the council alive. Robin found nothing but rags hanging off the beaten and bruised body of the dwarf. He had been stripped of anything valuable long ago before coming under the merciless blows of the Yuan-ti and snake-men. Jorn reached into his backpack and got out some hardtack and his waterskin and offered it to Varram. If he was going to make the trip back to Waterdeep, he needed his strength. Robin shook his head to Jilfaen signaling that he didn't find anything. The druid spoke up, "Were you going to eat us?" Jorn hid a smile as best he could. Varram looked at her with a questioning look, "Eat you? I may be many things, but I'm not going to eat the flesh of humans!" He turned to Jorn. "Why is she so fixated on this? She's not going to eat ME, is she? If you are intent on carrying out my justice, you must swear not to eat me!" Jorn turned slightly where only the dwarf could see him. He gave the dwarf a wink. "She may decide to eat you if you don't cooperate." The paladin loosened his pack, removed rope, and began to tie up the dwarf though the bindings were not terribly tight. Jorn figured that the dwarf was telling the truth that he was as good as dead if the cultists found out he had failed and attempted to return. His best bet at keeping alive right now was in a cell in Waterdeep. "Time is of the essence, we must be going if those that have the mask are two days ahead of us!" The group used the newly discovered tunnel to leave this chamber and head directly out of the temple instead of having to retrace their way through Didarius' tomb. Apparently this was the Yuan-ti's secret entrance.
On the journey back to Waterdeep, Jorn let Varram worry a few days about becoming a snack before pulling Jilfaen aside and mentioning to her that he was in no danger of seeing us as food. It was the Yuan-ti who had a hunger for the flesh of men. That evening before retiring, Jorn walked about twenty paces away from camp before kneeling down on the ground facing the setting sun. He fingered his mace and great axe before loosening the bindings of his family heirloom and placing the axe on the ground in front of him. He closed his eyes and began a silent prayer to Tyr. "All my adult life I have followed the way of justice. My mind and strength are yours, god of justice. You know this. But I come to you now with a heavy heart. It seems that there are things that have been set into motion that would tip the scales toward chaos and destruction so heavily that they might break the scales altogether. I cannot sit idly by while this happens! But I dare not act on my own without your blessing, wise one. Who is my enemy? Who should I strike down for the sake of justice? Are the cultists the enemy? Are dragons the enemy? I pray for your guidance, Tyr." Jorn could feel electricity in the air as if his prayers and meditation did not go unheard. He stood and headed back to camp. Later that evening in a dream he heard a commotion and though his body didn't move, he sat up in his dream and saw a burly one-armed man with a beard looking at him. The man spoke, "Dragons are not the enemy. Cultists are not the enemy. It is the Queen of Chaos that would make all the lands bow to her that is the real enemy. Justice must prevail. If you would heed my call, then you must find my temple. Take the oath and bring forth my justice in this matter." Jorn was about to speak when the dream immediately changed and he found himself standing in the middle of a field of daisies as far as the eye could see. He woke. Jorn was sweating even though the night air chilled him. He thought over the words in his dream attempting to recreate the conversation before the memory of it faded into nothing. In his mind, he tried to interpret Tyr's instructions as best he could. He would drop off Varram, report to the council, and find a temple of Tyr in which he could say his oaths. It was Tiamat's worshippers that would feel his enmity moving forward.
Jilfaen also experienced the warmth of approval from the deity from which she drew power. Nature itself seemed to cheer her on. She could feel her druidic energies surge more easily within her.
Meanwhile back in Waterdeep, Robin was walking in the market one afternoon when a man approached him quickly. "Sir Robin the bold!" The man stepped up with a gap-toothed smile. "We've heard stories about you... you have potential!" The man held out his hand as if to shake and instead palmed a letter over to Robin covertly. Robin without thought nodded and slid the letter within his pocket. As quickly as the man had approached, he vanished again into the crowd. Later that afternoon in a quiet corner of a room, Robin opened the letter. There were only two words written down: "You'll do." Besides that, there was an address. Interesting invitation apparently to one of the city's theives guilds. Robin made note and folded up the letter putting it away from sight.