One shadow from the Age of Demons continues to haunt the dragons to this day: Tiamat. Even in her prison, Tiamat holds the power to seduce and corrupt dragons … and some join her of their own free will, dreaming of the power they will possess when she is freed.
The Talons of Tiamat are the cult of the Daughter of Khyber. Humanoids and fiends allied with Tiamat could possess the half-dragon template; dragons that serve the Daughter of Khyber might gain the half-fi end template as a result of her corrupting touch. The Cult can draw on the spawn of Tiamat, vile creatures born from tainted dragon’s eggs. The spawn have always appeared in small numbers in Argonnessen, a lingering reminder of Tiamat’s presence. But now the numbers of the spawn are growing, and the Talons of Tiamat are gathering these forces to build an army.
Even though she is bound, Tiamat occasionally stirs in her prison; at these times, she is more conscious and active than any of the other Overlords of the Age of Demons. It’s said that she can see through the eyes of any evil dragon, and that she can whisper into the hearts of dragons as they sleep. Her chosen agents can commune with her, and at times they have even summoned aspects of her into the world—far weaker than Tiamat in her full glory, but fearsome nonetheless. Each time that Tiamat has awoken in the past, that event has brought disaster to Argonnessen. Now she is stirring once more, and the prophets say that the doom of Argonnessen could be at hand.
The Talons serve an Overlord of the first age, and rakshasas and other fiends appear among their ranks. As such, they can be seen as a branch of the Lords of Dust. However, the Talons rarely coordinate their actions with the Council of Ashtakala. Most believe that Tiamat is the only true Daughter of Khyber, and the rakshasa rajahs are merely usurpers with delusions of grandeur.
The agents of Tiamat have many goals that could take them into the wider world. They oppose the Chamber and the Eyes of Chronepsis, and adventurers could be caught in the middle of such a confl ict. The cultists are gathering artifacts and tools in preparation for war in Argonnessen. They are spreading the spawn of Tiamat across the world, creating hidden nests beneath major cities. Above all, they are working to manipulate the Prophecy in ways that will result in the release of Tiamat. If a Dungeon Master wants to pit adventurers against a significant number of truly evil dragons, the Talons of Tiamat are an excellent choice.
Not all dragons touched by Tiamat serve in her cult. Some simply grow hateful in solitude, giving in to greed and hunger. Any ravager or rogue could be a victim of Tiamat’s taint; they might simply terrorize a region, or they could one day be recruited to serve the Talons.
ADVENTURE SEEDS
The following ideas can set the PCs against the Talons of Tiamat.
Marked for Death: A member of the party is targeted by the Talons of Tiamat; he must die within a week to force the Prophecy down a particular path. Attacks begin with subtle assassination attempts, and then escalate to attacks by bluespawn godslayers (MM4 140). Can the adventurer stay alive until the week is over?
Hard Choices: A group of adventurers discovers the lair of a rogue dragon, only to find that the rogue has been captured by the Talons and is being tormented in a ritual that will ultimately transform him into a halffiend servant of the cult. Do they try to free the dragon? Kill it? Or abandon it to its fate?
Prestige Class
Draconomicon includes a prestige class called the talon of Tiamat. These deadly warriors are trained by the cult, but they are its elite—not all nondragon members of the cult follow this path. The organization is the Talons of Tiamat; a member of the prestige class is a talon of Tiamat.
Dragon members of the Talons of Tiamat often take levels in the unholy ravager of Tiamat or the bloodscaled fury prestige class, both also found in Draconomicon.
Source: Dragons of Eberron
