Great Dragon War
The Great Dragon War (9 Elient 1491 - 2 Marpenoth 1492) was a large scale confilct between the allied forces of the Council of Waterdeep and the Cult of the Dragon which saw the latter attempting to summon Tiamat, the Dragon Queen, onto Toril. The cult's efforts were halted at the Battle at the Well of Dragons.
The largest war Northwest Faerun had seen in decades, the Great Dragon War has affected nearly all cities and people it touch and made celebrity heroes of the Breadwinners, the adventurers that spearheaded the fight against the cult.
The Conflict
Prelude
Though the Cult of the Dragon had traditionally been dedicated solely to the creation of dracoliches, that began to change in the 1470s as a young member of the cult, Don Rel, began advocating fiercely for the cult to take direct action in freeing Tiamat from her infernal prison. This militant belief was picked up by more and more cultists until the cult's leader, Naergoth Bladelord, abdicated in favor of Rel. To achieve Rel's vision, the cult began a massive recruitment drive across Northwest Faerun throughout the 1470s and 80s, targetting the downtrodden, the forgotten, and the vulnerable, promising them a new world reborn in fire following Tiamat's freedom. It was during this time that Rel met and allied with Azbara Jos, the leader of a group of Red Wizard exiles that pledged their aid to the cult in exchange for its aid in killing Szass Tam. The cult also began scouring Faerun for the pieces of the Armor of Tiamat, mythical items that could aid in freeing Tiamat. By 1491, the cult had found all but the Gauntlet of the Black Dragon, which was believed to be in the Mere of Dead Men. Recognizing the potential vulnerability of the Well of Dragons, Don Rel secured a teaching position at Gregory Tumbleton University while still directing the cult, aiming to steal the Aethercore that ptoected the small university. Rel's first attempt to steal the Aethercore in 1490 was spoiled by four of his students, though Rel's involvement wasn't discovered. Incensed, Rel instead decided to make the theft of the Aethercore the cult's grand announcement on the world stage.
The Engagement
On the 28th of Elilent, a militarized detachment of the Cult of the Dragon raided Tumbleton, killing many of its students and defenders. The Aethercore was also stolen, as were as many items of value the cult could steal to add to Tiamat's horde when she arrived.
The Breadwinners, consisting originally of the students that had foiled Don Rel's first attempted theft of the Aethercore, began working with the Harpers, through their agent Ser Vich, and the Order of the Gauntlet, through the Vindicator of Elturel Onthar Frume, to mobilize the Lords' Alliance against this clear and present threat.
Meanwhile, cult plans that had been laid years before began to move. In Baldur's Gate, the head of the local cult chapter, Alexander Rake, attempted to destroy the Baldurian government in a single blast, crippling the city's ability to respond to the cult and potentially placing himself as the new Grand Duke of the city, allowing its resources to fund the cult's efforts. The Baldur's Gate Uprising, however, was foiled by the Breadwinners. Other targets and missions included utilizing trade caravans to discretely ship stolen gold and valuables to the Well of Dragons through Castle Naerytar in the Mere of Dead Men, launching a series of terror attacks in Waterdeep to cripple the city's response to the threat, capturing artificers and forcing them to transmute gold on Stormbreak Island, and using cultists to enflame preexisting conflicts, such as during the Siege of Salt Lake.
The Breadwinners, having foiled the Baldur's Gate Uprising, then secured the aid of Amphail by ending the Siege of Salt Lake. Then, with members of the Waterdavian Force Grey, the Breadwinners disrupted the cult's activities in the Mere of Dead Men, unwittingly locating the Gauntlet of the Black Dragon that had eluded them, bonding it to Mariana Goldfinch. The Breadwinners also prevented a gang of adventurers from stealing a book detailing how to summon Tiamat from Silverymoon.
By this time, the Lords' Alliance, Harpers, Order of the Gauntlet, Emerald Enclave, and Zhentarim, which were invited by Lord Dagult Neverember of Neverwinter, had formed the Council of Waterdeep to resolve the cult threat. The Breadwinners were fully authorized by the council to act in their stead, undertaking a variety of missions while the council gathered its forces to march on the Well of Dragons. These missions included the recruitment of the Arcane Brotherhood, the full Red Wizards of Thay, and the Metallic Dragon Council, all of which pledged their support to the cult. The Breadwinners also undertook various missions to eliminate high ranking cultists, such as Neronvain the Green Wyrmspeaker and Varram the Blue.
In the summer of 1492, the Council of Waterdeep's forces were ready to march, and the host advanced towards the Well of Dragons aiming to prevent the Tiamat's summoning. The forces of the cult, led by their general and the new Green Wyrmspeaker Amara, met the council's forces outside of Hardbuckler. The resulting Battle of Hardbuckler was a decisive victory for the council, but Amara was able to escape before being captured by the Breadwinners.
During the following Battle at the Well of Dragons, the forces of the council and the cult clashed amidst the bones of long dead dragons while the Breadwinners and a few select allies infiltrated the well itself, killing Don Rel and preventing Tiamat's summoning.
Outcome
The ultimate victory of the Council of Waterdeep scattered the forces of the Cult of the Dragon, driving many of them into the surrounding hills and mountains in a disorganized group. Detachments of the council's armies remained in the area for weeks after to pick up stragglers and ensure that the cult wasn't reorganizing for another assault.
Aftermath
Though scattered fighting with various cult cells continued through the rest of 1492, the Great Dragon War was officially over after the Battle at the Well of Dragons. The council's victory was cause for celebration across the Sword Coast, as rival factions and governments fought together in common, glorious cause and triumphed.
The Great Dragon War was also the defining moment for the Breadwinners who had fought and, in many ways, won it. The individual Breadwinners became household names following the war's conclusion, and many of the individual members of the Breadwinners went on to obtain positions of great prestige and power as a result of their actions.
Conversely, the war was a disaster for the Cult of the Dragon, which found itself leaderless and shattered. Many of the recent converts abandoned the cult, while the ones that remained were left divded between two factions. Leading one was Amara, the cult's general who remained dedicated to raising Tiamat but was convinced that further cult actions needed to be handled in a clandestine manner as the group could never hope to win in open combat. Opposing her was Galvan the White, the only other Wyrmspeaker to survive the war, who argued that the cult should return to its traditional mandate of creating dracoliches. Unable to reconcile these beliefs, the two and their followers eventually came to blows, beginning the Cult of the Dragon Civil War that would further reduce the cult's effectiveness.
Historical Significance
Legacy
As a massive war that touched nearly every major settlement along the Sword Coast, the Great Dragon War has had profound effects on the region's people. The ultimately short-lived spirit of cooperation and companionship led to a boon in trade and travel between the member states of the Lords' Alliance and renewed interest in the Harpers, Order of the Gauntlet, and Emerald Enclave. It similarly led to a disdain for cities and settlements that had chosen to not fight or stay neutral in the conflict.
Veterans of the Great Dragon War were also highly regarded and many of the most important military commanders of the next several decades served in the Great Dragon War in some extent or another.
On a regional level, the Great Dragon War cemented Neverwinter's return to glory since its destruction in 1451. The prestige of the war gave Lord Neverember the political capital to begin making aggressive in-roads in neighboring settlements, such as placing a garrison in the town of Saltmarsh to defend against the pirate Sea Princes that took advantage of the war's chaos or backing the Decker Coup in Focosgost. These regional ambitions would become formalized with the creation of the Neveren Alliance in 1496.
Many great and future adventurers also fought in the Great Dragon War, either for or against the Council of Waterdeep, such as Katya Sinaran, Lenore Marsk, and Dzarya.
In Literature
Whlie stories of the war's two great battles spread like wildfire, the actions of the Breadwinners throughout the war was documented by the latest addition to their group, Esme Heavensong, who documented the full extent of the Breadwinners adventures in her work the Wrath of Dragons. This book proved to be a smash success and is viewed by many as the definitive story of the Great Dragon War.
Included Conflicts
Conflict Type
War
Start Date
9th of Elient, 1491
Ending Date
2nd of Marpenoth, 1492
Conflict Result
Victory for the Council of Waterdeep; Cult of the Dragon fractures
Location
Maps
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The Breadwinners Campaign
The various locations visited by the Breadwinners during their three semester long campaign. The map is color coded: Blue for the first semester Green for the second semester Red for the third semester
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