A really great story idea which can be amazing with a few tweaks. The skills/exploration part of this module was interesting though turning everything into group checks makes it feel more like the table is actually looking for things.

The first encounter is basically a combat scenario which has some neat interactions to deal loads of damage to tier 3 characters without even having to roll dice. I added a timer to make it feel like the NPC was in greater damage and to make the party have to dcide between just attacking or actually saving the NPC

The module mentions flying undead but there aren't any encounters with them which was a bit cconfusing. In the 2nd encounter if combat went down, I enhanced the combat by including some greater zombies that ould fly.

I wish there was more explration of the mote but really we only had about an hour to deal with the 2 rooms. At this point my players were a bit confused on what the "rot" was. Was it causing thngs to be poisonus? Was it turning things undead? Lots of open ends that I tried to close for them.

After speaking with the author, I understand the use of the "big bad" but felt it was confusing to people that had played season 1 modules as well as some AOs so made a slight tweak that he was happy about. The Green Abishai was a joke. Replaced him with a half black dragon archmage who was part of the Cult of the Dragon, connecting the story more to other modules.

With tweaks, the table had a blast and really enjoyed the story. As a one shot tier 3 it works though I don't really understand giving story awards to players and not characters. Maybe this worked at the convention it premiered?

My review includes spoilers, of course

I was looking for a cool tier 3 to run for my dudes and the name of this one was intriguing. Combined with the fact that Jeremy Hochhalter wrote some of my favorite CCCs like Zhentarim's Lament or The Dreaming Relic.

First of all, the things I liked: Even if I didn't read the 2 other parts of the trilogy (tier 1 and tier 2), the story award is cool and new (they can be applied to the other characters who play the other modules) and they made sense. The story was also cool and I like Velvet as a bad guy. Some of my players played Raiders of the Twilight Marsh or Claws of Fury when I DMed those adventures and it felt nice to revisit that baddie.

The inclusion of a Song Dragon, something not in 5e was well thought and well done. I think she could had been a bit more integral to the story and some player boons could had been given or something.

The earthmore and the aarakocra were interesting elements and I liked having them.

The magic item is quite cool too and it made many players happy.

The things I didn't like: The first part with the skill checks didn't please me when I read it. I never really liked that idea and I still don't. The DCs for the checks were low and easy to beat and it just seemed like a waste of time. I was happy when the wizard decided that he could just use Teleport to go help the mage in danger.

The first combat with the dire trolls was fun, 5 of 'em against the party was a good fight and I managed to down the level 14 barbarian/paladin with one. It could had been a bit more diversified though.

My main issue with the module and the combat in general was the final fight. In my opinion, this wasn't playtested enough. It has ONE Green Abishai (he's not worth his CR at all) and the Adult Black Dracolich. It was nowhere near a challenge for any players I know in tier 3. I guess it could be challenging if you have 4 level 11-12 but still. I rebuilt the encounter and added a Red Abishai (as the main emyssary), a blue abishai and 4-5 white abishais. Now, it was a good and challenging encounter. The cleric even used Heal to save the paladin. Easy fights are way too common in modules but this one was far too easy as is. If your players are min/maxers with great magic items (everyone and their mothers have a Staff of the Magi now because of the seasonal unlocks), encounters should take that in consideration.

All in all, fun adventure that you need tweak to make sure your players face a good challenge.

I ran an adventure during online premier - it was a great experience. Both mechanic difficulty of combat and social possibilities was great, but, to be true, I vow to upgrade difficulties of non-combat checks, like history and other things. Anyway, I was surprised by included story awards - it is a nice idea, so I strongly suggest to play all modules with different characters.