The Search for Calcryx, Belak, and the Other Adventurers
Played on January 11, 2019
24 Flamerule, The Year of Twelve Warnings (1494 DR)
The Sunless Citadel, Neverwinter Wood
The group of adventurers, now five strong, left the kobolds and ventured deeper into the Sunless Citadel.
Their goal was to find the white wyrmling, Calcryx, wyrmnapped by the Durbuluk tribe of goblins, find Belak the Outcast, a druid who may have turned evil, and to discover what happened to Talgen Hucrele, his sister Sharwyn, Sir Braford, and the ranger, Karakas. All four entered the Sunless Citadel a month ago and had been heard from since.
Yusdrayl, the kobolds’ female leader said Belak the Outcast lived below in the Twilight Grove where he grew a fruit from an enchanted tree which he gives to the dragon-thieving goblins who served him. She also added that the goblins were led by a merciless hobgoblin named Durnn who led the Durbuluk goblin tribe. Durbuluk meant “dominator” in goblin.
The first room the adventurers came to had dust and odd bits of stony debris and rubble scattered on the floor. An ornate fountain was built into the eastern wall. Though cracked and stained, the fountain’s overarching carving of a diving dragon retained its beauty. A relief-carved stone door stood on the western wall.
Carvings on the western door showed skeletal dragons. A Draconic inscription on the door read, “Rebuke the dead, open the way.” Everyone noticed how much colder it was in front of the western door. A keyhole was visible on the door. For the moment, the adventurers left the cold door alone and inspected the basin.
Inspection of the basin revealed a mostly worn-away inscription in Draconic on the basin’s front. It read, “Let there be fire.” When the words were uttered, reddish liquid began to well from the diving dragon’s mouth and slowly accumulated in the basin. A Detect Magic spell showed the liquid radiated an aura of conjuration magic. Edmont took a vial and filled it with the strange liquid which reminded him of blood. Not daring to risk ingesting a poisonous potion, the vial was stored away.
While the group was busy with the basin, three giant rats snuck up on them. One bit Skyler on the leg, it’s sharp incisors piercing the cleric’s boot.
The adventurers fought and slew the three giant rats, then walked in the direction where the rodents of unusual size came from.
This section of hallway the rats came from contained six doors, all slightly ajar. The area smelled musky. The door led into small cells containing rat nests and filth. The hallway continued and opened into a room with a cobblestone floor containing two trapdoors blocked open by iron spikes. The north wall held a dry fountain carved with an overarching diving dragon. A door on the western wall stood in front of one of the two open trap doors. A faint rotten stench pervaded the room.
The trap doors opened into a ten by ten pit with bones littering the bottom some twenty feet below. The only way to get across the pits, it seemed, was to jump across. Not wanting to risk falling into the pit, the group returned south to a door they passed along the way.
Beyond the door, the group went farther into the dungeon and later came upon a door. While listening at the door, they heard voices speaking in a language none of them could understand. It was agreed that all forms of lighting should be extinguished before Edmont opened the door. Edmont then slowly opened the door while Ziri used her darkvision to see what lay beyond. She saw a ten-foot-wide hall is liberally strewn with sharp caltrops. On the northern wall, passage to the room beyond was partially blocked by a roughly mortared, three-foot-high wall, complete with crenellations. Hiding behind the short wall were two goblins armed with short bows.
The door was immediately shut and the party considered their options.
After a short discussion, Meepo agreed to cast a Sleep spell down the hall despite knowing the goblins would be ready to launch their deadly arrows at anyone who appeared at the doorway. When Edmont opened the door, Meepo peeked around the corner just as two arrows zipped towards the kobold. One flew past the door and into the room, while the second came dangerously close to striking Meepo’s head. Immediately, the kobold sorcerer let loose his spell.
After the group carefully traversed the hallway covered with caltrops, the adventurers found the two goblins sound asleep behind the short wall. It took short work to kill the goblins and inspect their belongings. Besides bits of clutter and vinegary wine contained in poorly preserved water skins, the group found nothing of value. The group continued on through another doorway.
The room beyond was littered with dozens of blunted and broken arrows lay on the cracked cobblestone floor, while a few protruded from three crudely sewn, human-sized targets hung along the center of the south wall. The northern third of the room was separated from the south by a crudely mortared and crenelated half-wall. A permanent camp of sorts lay north of the wall, complete with a fire ring and several small iron cook pots. Three goblins armed with shortbows were busy practicing their skills when the adventurers stormed into the room.
After the goblins were dispatched, the adventurers discovered a key which opened a door nearby. The door led into a low-ceilinged room. An iron spike was driven into the floor nearby while an iron cage was set farther back into the squalid room. Three kobolds were manacled to the iron spike while a battered gnome, too large for the cage, was locked inside the iron cage. The adventurers released the prisoners using the same key they had found on the goblins. The kobolds were happy to be released and immediately left to return back to the other kobolds. Erky stayed and answered questions from the adventurers.
Erky Timbers introduced himself as an acolyte of Baervan Wildwanderer, the gnome god of forests, travel, and nature. Erky was on his way to seek his fortune when he was ambushed by goblins along the Old Road nearly three months ago. He said that his faith to his deity had kept him alive through his horrific ordeal. When asked about Belak, Calcryx, and the other adventurers who came through a month before, Erky told everyone what he knew.
Armed with the information Erky provided, the adventurers decided to continue on. Erky asked if he could leave the Sunless Citadel and continue on his personal journey while the others continued on theirs.
But before the group moved on, they decided to rest for a short while.
Dramatis Personae
Edmont Patch (Male Human Rogue)
Korg Sunfinder (Male Goliath Paladin of Lathander)
Meepo (Male Kobold Sorcerer)
Skyler Kiltrin (Male Dragonborn Cleric of Bahamut)
Ziri Basha (Female Half-elf Druid)
Plot type
Chapter
Parent Plot
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