Arauthator

Arauthator

Arauthator, known as Old White Death, was an ancient white dragon who laired at the massive iceberg Oyaviggaton in the Sea of Moving Ice. He was slain by Deez Nuts in Session 50.

Background

Arauthator was one of the oldest and most feared dragons in the northern reaches of Faerûn. He held an ice hunter clan hostage on his iceberg lair for generations, forcing them to hunt and fish for him. He was known to have a terrible temper and did not tolerate humans near his domain unless they served his purposes. Even other powerful creatures such as the bronze dragon Verithrax and the marid Mick refused to approach his territory.

Maccath the Crimson, a researcher from the Arcane Brotherhood, ventured to Oyaviggaton to study Arauthator and was held within his lair for months before Deez Nuts freed her.

Personality

Arauthator was described as ancient, cruel, and territorial. He kept an entire village of ice hunters as forced servants through fear and violence — killing half the village whenever they attempted to escape. He built up magical protections in his lair over decades. He was also openly contemptuous of metallic dragons — "our awful metallic brethren" — a bigotry the table cheerfully noted made the ancient wyrm "a racist." His larder ran to "fish popsicles": everything dropped down his feeding-hole was flash-frozen by the cold of the berg.

Motive: the Mad Mate and the Dead Wizard

Arauthator's interest in a tiefling wizard — first Maccath the Crimson, later Shade — was not idle. His mate, Arveiaturace, had for decades served alongside a wizard companion who rode her into the sky; that wizard (herself a female tiefling) was killed roughly thirty years ago, and the mate, unable to accept it, still flies with the rider's half-rotted corpse strapped to her saddle. Arauthator expected her grief to take "another fifty" years to pass. He intended to quietly swap a living tiefling wizard onto the saddle in the dead one's place — "as quick as we can so that she doesn't notice. You all kind of look the same" — which is precisely why he kept Maccath alive and why he eyed Shade. This is the reason the Cult of the Dragon could deal with him at all.

In Session 51, Maccath's debrief at the Host Tower of the Arcane confirmed the whole scheme from the captive's side: Arauthator carried her to his lair not to kill her, but to audition her as the replacement companion, and she stalled him with months of research until the party arrived. The revelation's sting is what it leaves behind: his mate survives — insane with grief, at large in the far north, and now with no one even trying to heal her. She is flagged as a live threat (see Arauthator's Mate).

When Arauthator met Shade he remarked on her unusually strong infernal blood: "I'm sensing a stronger infernal heritage in you than from that other tiefling. Do you have dealings with the devils as well?"

The Draconic Horn

Arauthator could resist the Draconic Horn's pull — "I can hear it and feel it, but I've been on this world for hundreds of years. I can shake its effects" — but he had his own reason to mistrust the Cult's plan: "Tiamat being back would knock me a step down the ladder." Roughly six months before the party arrived, chromatic-robed cultists had negotiated with him and left Oyaviggaton carrying the horn. At the parley before the battle, Shade and Karma nearly talked him into turning on the Cult outright — before the party opened fire instead.

Combat Capabilities

In the battle of Session 49, the party learned that Arauthator was no ordinary wyrm. He was a spellcaster, layering frost-magic over his breath — Wall of Ice, Freezing Sphere, Freezing Burst, Chill Touch, and Ray of Frost — and he drank potions of invisibility and healing from his hoard to vanish and recover mid-fight. His cold breath was a devastating cone (Constitution save), and his Frightful Presence could root the brave in place. He shrugged off magic with Legendary Resistance (five uses before they ran dry), acted out of turn with legendary actions, and warped his lair with walls of ice, blinding sleet, dense killing fog, and falling icicles. He could summon an ice elemental to fight beside him. His Strength, Constitution, and Wisdom saves were strong; his Intelligence and Dexterity were his weak points, which the party exploited with Hex to drain his defenses.

Death

Arauthator's reckoning came in Session 50. After the dragon killed the entire party in Session 49, the slain company struck an infernal bargain with Lady Calera and returned to the exact instant of the battle — the bloodied wyrm none the wiser that time had ever stopped. Reforged and at three-quarters strength, the party loosed a single coordinated volley the moment the fight resumed; with time frozen after the first strike, every blow — a trident, a guiding bolt, a blight, a chromatic orb, and an arrow, all under the cover of Gootcha's Silence — landed at once for roughly eighty-nine damage. Old White Death fell where he stood, killed in a single silent heartbeat before he could act.

The party harvested his corpse (heart, hide, scales, claws, teeth, horns, bones, and breath gland) and spent a full day excavating his hoard from the ice. Xanphina ate the dragon's heart and was permanently strengthened by it.

Relationships

• Oyaviggaton - His iceberg lair in the Sea of Moving Ice
• Arveiaturace - His grieving mate, who flies with her dead wizard-rider still strapped to her saddle; survives him, insane and at large
• Maccath the Crimson - A researcher who came to study him — abducted, per her S51 debrief, as a candidate replacement companion for his mate — and was freed by the party
• Verithrax - A bronze dragon who feared him and refused to approach his domain
• Mick - A marid who also avoided Arauthator's territory
• Barking Seal - Chieftain of the ice hunter clan he held hostage
• Bone Carver - Shaman of the ice hunter clan
• Orca Heart - Champion of the ice hunter clan

Current Status

Dead. Arauthator was slain by Deez Nuts in his lair at Oyaviggaton in Session 50, killed instantly by a time-frozen volley before he could draw another breath. His hoard was looted, his corpse harvested, and the ice hunters he had enslaved were freed. His legacy is not finished: with his deterring presence gone the Sea of Moving Ice has grown wilder, and his insane mate still flies somewhere in the north.

Appearances

• Session 47 - The Sea of Moving Ice (mentioned/referenced throughout)
• Session 48 - Inside Oyaviggaton (2026.04.12) - Party infiltrated his lair through Bone Carver's secret entrance
• Session 49 - Old White Death (2026-04-26) - battled the party to a total party kill in his lair
• Session 50 - Reforged in Hell, the Voyage Home (2026-06-14) - slain by the reforged party in a single silent volley
• Session 51 - The Red Gold Reckoning (2026-06-28) - posthumous: Maccath's debrief revealed the audition scheme and his surviving mate

Harvest Profile

Ancient white dragon, CR 20 — Artifact ceiling. Rules: Monster Harvesting.

Component	Tool	Rarity	Effect	Primary for	Contributor to
Arauthator's Soul-Ice Core	Alchemist's / Jeweler's	Artifact	The wyrm's frozen animus — supreme cold; a lair's worth of winter	Staff, Wondrous	Wand
Wyrm-Skull of Old White Death	Smith's	Legendary	Trophy-skull of an ancient wyrm — dread & dominion	Wondrous, Armor	Weapon
Greatwing Pinion Pair	Leatherworker's	Legendary	Ancient wing-pinions — true flight	Wondrous	Armor
Rimeforged Heart (signature)	Alchemist's	Very Rare	The dragon's heart — cold-forged vitality (a permanent boon, eaten)	Potion	Wondrous
Breath Gland (Frost Sac)	Alchemist's	Very Rare	Frost breath — cone of killing cold	Potion, Bomb, Wand, Staff	Wondrous, Weapon
Horn & Frill	Smith's	Very Rare	Frost staff-stock — channels cold	Wand, Staff	Wondrous, Weapon
Heartfrost Residue	Alchemist's	Rare	Arcane frost essence — cold & slowing magic	Potion, Bomb, Wand	Staff, Wondrous, Weapon
Glacial Eyes	Alchemist's	Rare	Cold-sight — see through snow & magical frost; divination	Wondrous	Wand
Cryogland Bile	Alchemist's	Rare	Cold bile — freezing catalyst	Potion, Bomb	Poison
Glacial Scales	Smith's	Rare	Cold resistance; rigid scale plating	Armor	Wondrous, Weapon
Talon Hooks (claws)	Smith's	Rare	Rending cold — cuts & chills	Weapon	Armor
Frost-Tanned Hide	Leatherworker's	Rare	Cold-warded leather; supple & insulating	Armor	Wondrous
Frostfang Teeth	Smith's	Uncommon	Biting cold (minor)	Weapon	Armor
Wing Membrane	Leatherworker's	Uncommon	Gliding membrane — light & wind-catching	Wondrous	Armor
Frost-Sheened Loose Scales	Smith's	Uncommon	Loose cold-warded scales	Armor	Weapon
Ice-Vein Sinew	Leatherworker's	Uncommon	Cold-supple sinew & straps	Armor	Wondrous, Weapon
Rime Crystals (body ice)	Jeweler's / Glassblower's	Uncommon	Never-melting rime — gem & lens stock	Wondrous	Wand, Staff
Sluggish Blood	Alchemist's	Common	Structure only	—	Potion, Poison, Bomb
Tail Vertebrae	Smith's	Common	Structure only	—	Armor, Weapon
Bone Shards	Smith's	Common	Structure only	—	Armor, Weapon
Dragon Meat	Cook's	Common	Structure only	—	Rations
Hide Scraps	Leatherworker's	Common	Structure only	—	Armor, Wondrous
Gizzard Stones	Scavenge	Common	Swallowed stones — scavenge	—	—

(The Rare count runs over the standard 4 slots — the original harvest record listed more, and nothing established is removed.)

Harvest Record

Harvested in Session 50; quantities include the 2026-09 retro pass (margin bonuses). Banked totals: Harvested Materials.

Component	Status	Recovered by
Rimeforged Heart (signature)	Recovered — eaten by Xanphina (permanent boon); not banked	Karma (22)
Breath Gland (Frost Sac)	Recovered (3–4 doses)	Karma (23)
Horn & Frill	Recovered (2 horns + frill)	Baelgrum (22)
Heartfrost Residue	Recovered (2–3 pinches)	Karma (17)
Glacial Eyes	Recovered ×3	Karma (23)
Cryogland Bile	Recovered ×2 (retro pass — column sweep)	Karma
Glacial Scales	Recovered (1 hide's worth)	Baelgrum (22)
Talon Hooks	Recovered ×8	Baelgrum (21)
Frost-Tanned Hide	Recovered ×2	Keyleth (22)
Frostfang Teeth	Recovered ×8	Baelgrum (23)
Wing Membrane	Recovered ×3	Xanphina (19)
Frost-Sheened Loose Scales	Recovered ×3 (retro pass)	Baelgrum
Ice-Vein Sinew	Recovered ×3 (retro pass)	Keyleth
Sluggish Blood ×9 · Tail Vertebrae ×9 · Bone Shards ×4 · Hide Scraps ×2 · Dragon Meat · Gizzard Stones ×3	Recovered	column sweeps & scavenge
Arauthator's Soul-Ice Core	Left on the carcass — no roll reached DC 30	—
Wyrm-Skull of Old White Death	Left on the carcass — Baelgrum's best was 23 vs DC 25	—
Greatwing Pinion Pair	Left on the carcass — Keyleth's best was 22 vs DC 25	—
Rime Crystals	Left on the carcass — no jeweler	—

Only the Rimeforged Heart was consumed rather than banked.