Ascore

As one travels east away from the Silver Marches, the old road passes between the Vordrorn Forest to the north and the Arn Forest to the south. Before reaching the edge of Anauroch, the road ends at a great set of stone doors set into a high ridge. Statues of dwarves once stood in rows on either side of these doors, but all that remains of them now are the marble plinths upon which they once stood. The doors open to reveal a pas­sageway that goes underground for nearly a mile before emerging at the desert's edge. Standing outside the yawning exit are two gigantic stone statues of crouching griffons, and beyond them lies one of the great wonders and mysteries of the North: Ascore. This ruined dwar­ven city once overlooked a sea. Now it lies half-buried in the cold northern sands of Anauroch, its mighty stone docks still thrusting eastward, pointing toward the empty hulks of colossal stone ships lying half-buried in the sand. Dwarven magic once enabled these ships to float on water, but that magic has long since faded.

Suggested Encounter
The ancient blue dragon Iymrith claims Ascore as part of her domain. Though she's not here to watch over it, two of her offspring have made separate lairs for them­ selves inside a couple of the great stone ships. These adult blue dragons, Anaxaster and Chezzaran, fre­quently accost each other in the sky, playfully jousting and breathing lightning as they zoom around. They are flying over Ascore when the characters first lay eyes on the ruined city. After an hour of fun, the dragons return to their lairs to rest. If the characters take no steps to conceal themselves and enter the city while the dragons are in the sky, the dragons spot the party and attack.

The ships that the dragons have turned into their lairs are hollow, sand-filled hulks surrounded by open desert. Each ship has ld6 + 4 gargoyles perched on it, watching the sands for treasure-seekers. If the characters make their way past the gargoyles into a dragon's lair and de­feat the dragon within, they find the dragon's hoard hidden under the sand. Roll on the Treasure Hoard: Chal­lenge 11-16 table in chapter 7 of the Dungeon Master's Guide to determine the contents of each dragon's trove.