Saviours of Stormwatch —

I write to you before this final battle to deliver what small knowledge I have been able to glean on your final foe, Tiamat, in the hope that you may gain some small advantage or insight that can bring victory to Faerûn and banish her once again to the Nine Hells.

I realise these scraps of information may seem insignificant compared to the momentous task ahead of you, but I’m a firm believer in having more rather than less knowledge.

May the Gods watch over you,
Maccath the Crimson

Tiamat, Queen of Evil Dragonkind, Her Dark Majesty

Tiamat is a nightmarish synthesis of hatred, rage and draconic might embodied in the form of a five-headed dragon, and she is the undisputed Queen of evil chromatic dragons.

She has one head for each customary colour of chromatic dragon (black, blue, green, red, white), and each head has the powers of a member of the respective race of dragonkind. Her body is a blending of various chromatic dragon forms with an appropriately multicoloured hide.

Her body also has traits in common with a wyvern, including a long tail allegedly tipped with a poisonous stinger.

Along with all the standard powers and godly senses of a deity of her rank, those who have seen her fight claimed that her heads were able to cooperate in battle, and that those heads had the ability to use the breath weapons and spell-like abilities common to their species.

Stories swirl regarding Tiamat’s powers. Some say she wards off all magical attacks (though many dispute this), others that she is unkillable, and others still that she possesses preternatural healing abilities (which no doubt inform the ‘unkillable’ rumours).

All of these tales are of questionable provenance however. One story that does seem irrefutable is that her mere presence is enough to send all but the most strong minded into paroxysms of terror.

She is also rumoured to have the ability to take the form of a dark-haired female mage.

[Note from Maccath: Let me stress that I am not Tiamat.]

The Summoning

Our understanding of the summoning itself is weak, but it does appear to revolve around materialising Tiamat’s Temple onto this plane before commencing the ritual.

We believe the Severin and Red Wizards will be leading these rites, drawing on the power of the sacrifices and assembled Dragon Mask. There may be other factors that come into play - perhaps chromatic dragons will be used, or even devils? - but we have been unable to determine them with any certainty.

Disrupting these elements would seem the best hope for success, as once she is fully materialised, the fight will surely become almost insurmountably difficult.

I am sorry to say that we have very little else to offer in terms of the ritual. It has not been attempted before in living memory, and we have only ancient tomes for reference (one of which we must thank you for retrieving).

Lore

Tiamat is the offspring of the dragon creator deity Io.

She is the eternal rival of her brother Bahamut, the ruler of the good metallic dragons. It is hinted that her overt hatred toward Bahamut has developed, over a vast period of time, into a twisted lust for her brother as well.

Speaking of lust, Tiamat presently has five consorts, who are great wyrms of each chromatic dragon species. When she mates, it is in a protective ring formed by the other four.

In her time she has spawned many abominations, amongst them her favourite children: An-Ur the Wandering Death, Dhrakoth the Corrupter, and Mordukhavar the Reaver. Pray that you never meet them together.

She is ruler of the first plane of the Nine Hells (from whence the cult hopes to summon her), where she spawns all of evil dragonkind. Her lair in Hell is known as The Dragonspawn Pits.

Many myths claim that Tiamat lived for a long time on the Prime Material Plane, seeding it with evil dragons and dark magic, before she was banished to the Nine Hells by Bahamut and a sky/sun god.

[Note from Maccath: or was it Asmodeus - tales differ greatly].

Betrayed and angry, she has instructed her followers in the Cult of the Dragon to assemble the Mask of the Dragon Queen that would allow her to finally escape.

Tiamat is a greedy, vain, and arrogant goddess who embodies all the strengths of evil dragonkind, and few of their weaknesses.

The Queen of Evil Dragons demands reverence, homage, supplication, and tribute from her subjects. Tiamat is most concerned with spreading evil, defeating good, and propagating chromatic dragons.

She never forgives a slight. Although she is not averse to razing the occasional village, her true schemes are subtle and hard to detect.

She has been compared to a puppeteer manipulating her creations from within shadows. All evil dragons pay homage to her, and her followers incant prayers to the Dragon Queen that focus on the promise of filling the world with evil dragons and either destroying it or dominating it utterly.

Appendix: Kobolds

[Note from Maccath: This factoid may have some relevance, as I have heard kobolds have made several appearances in your endeavours.]

In one kobold creation myth, Kurtulmak (patron deity of the kobolds) owes his existence to an assault launched on Tiamat by an army of thieves shortly after she had laid a clutch of eggs.

Badly injured and with her lair heavily damaged, she caused one of her eggs to hatch, thus creating Kurtulmak.

The newly hatched godling quickly began creating a defensive perimeter of traps and restoring the caverns. During the process, Kurtulmak found an egg of Tiamat’s that had fallen away from the nest and, deeming it had been away for too long to ever hatch naturally, used his magic to cause it to hatch, thus producing miniature versions of himself: the first kobolds.