The Sunless Six

At the door of the Sunless Citadel
Session 1

Two travellers, a dragonborn named Xanath, and his guide, a Drow named Grisduin have been travelling for a fortnight from Waterdeep. They were approaching the small village of Oakhurst in their quest to find the Sunless Citadel, a place rumored to have great power, but also great danger. Just one day’s travel to their destination, they met a Tiefling named Anakis by the side of the road, and decided that this would be a good place to set-up camp and rest before making the final stretch to Oakhurst. While they were setting up camp, they were interrupted by a Tabaxi named Ash, who was hunting in the nearby forest. The tabaxi decided to share camp with the trio, much to the chagrin of Anakis, who was not very welcoming to any of the new company that came upon her.

As night fell, the group was attacked, strangely, by the nearby shrubs. The group easily handled the threat, and Anakis recognized these shrubs as Twigs Blights, an abomination that she was sent here to look into.twig.jpg

The group traveled together into the city of Oakhurst, and met again at the local Inn, called the Ol’ Boar. After asking around town about the citadel, the group found that their interests in entering the citadel where common and decided to set out into the underdark to export the sunken Citadel.

As they approached the rift, the group found a rope tied the a pillar. The rope was newly tied and the group assumed that his must have been the entry point of a group of adventurer that recently when down into the citadel in a few weeks ago and never returned.

The group climbed down to a ledge, and were attacked by giant rats. After the group fought off the rats, they traversed a stairway that led further into the dark and found themselves at the entrance to the Sunless Citadel.

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Enter Quin Zel
Session 2

The adventurers climb down to the entrance of the citadel, ready to begin the adventure. Ash triggers a trap door near the entrance an discovers a person, breathing at the bottom of the trap. The group retrieve the victim, and revive her.

She introduces herself as Quin Zel, a half elf adventurer. She is vague on her reasons as to why she is in the citadel. The group is put off by the half elf’s demeanor, and strange habit of talking to herself. Nevertheless the group offer Quin to join them in their pursuit through the underground citadel.

The group come upon a finely made door, adored by the engravings of a dragon on it’s surface. Xanath is immediately interested in knowing what lies behind this door, but he cannot open it. He notices a keyhole in the mouth of the rearing dragon.

They decide to explore further into the citadel, and are met by a weeping kobold named Meepo. meepo.jpg Meepo is devastated that he lost the clan’s dragon, a small white wyrmling. He explains that the fueding goblins stole the dragon. Meepo offers to safely bring the group to his leader, Yusdrayl. In exchange, they promise to help Meepo find his dragon.

The adventurers strike a deal with the kobolds to find the dragon. In exchange, the kobolds will give the adventurers a key that will open the dragon door. Meepo will guide the adventurers into the goblin territory.

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The Dragon Retrieval Party
Session 3

After a rest, the group decides to set out to find the dragon. Meepo accompanies them as their guide. Before they go, Meepo suggests that they meet a halfling that they found stumbling around the kobold’s territory. He leads them to the jail.

The group recognizes the halfling as Stubbs, the cousin of Corkie Thickfinger, whom they met at the House of Worship in Oakhurst. Stubbs claims he is looking for something important in the citadel, and the group lets the halfling join their party.

Meepo leads the group into the goblin territory. They come across an inately sculpted dragon fountain. Upon reading a sentence etched into the stone, a red liquid spews from the mouth of the dragon, filling the empty basin. Xanath decides he will launch a fireball at the pool, causing a great erruption of fire, singeing himself and Grisduin in the process.

The group travels on, as Ash unaware of this surrounding steps onto a caltrop. Two goblins napping behind a crumbled wall are alerted by the Tabaxi’s screeching sound. Quin, speaking goblin, speaks with the two, but quickly resorts to threatening the goblins, causing them to flee.

The group gives chase, but runs into an ambush. The group easily takes care of the goblins, Ash scores the elusive turkey, ripping 3 throats in one combat encounter. Anakis finds a key that opens a nearby door. Within the room there are 3 kobold prisoners and a half orc man in a cage.

Meepo releases the kobolds. The half orc is revived. Anakis recognizes this man as Burt, the companion of Jakilmir. Burt relays information to the group concerning Belak, the twisted druid who is found in the underground grove below the citadel. Burt tells the group that Belak is the cause for all the animated trees (twig blights) that have been terrorizing Oakhurst and the surrounding area. Burt also confirms that the goblins are working for Belak. He also tells them that the Faerwalds and Sir Bradford were also taken prisoner, but Belak came a few days ago and took them. He hasn’t seen them or Belak since.

Burt, badly injured, tells the group that he is going to return to Oakhurt to find Jakilmir, the druid.

Upon leaving, Meepo steers the group to a door, and insists that his dragon is not far from here.

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Catch and Release... A Dragon!?!
Session 4

Meepo steers the group to a room he believes Calcryx (white dragon) to be in. Quin successfully picks the lock on the door and Xanath and Grisduin enter to see a ransacked room. The Wyrmling reveals itself and pleas its case to Xanath that it is a prisoner of the kobolds. The dragon and Xanath make a deal, that the dragons will split it’s hoard as well as work with the group to get the dragon door key from Yusdrayl, in return the group must lead the dragon to the kobold colony and help destroy it.Calcryx.jpg

As a sign of good faith, Xanath leaves Meepo in the room with Calcryx to do what she will to her once capture.

The group leads Calcryx to Yusdrayl in the guise that they have trapped the dragon and are returning it to the colony. The trap works and Calcryx make short work of Yusdrayl, as well as Grisduin, with her frost breath. Anakis revives her fallen comrade. Calcryx destroys any kobold she can find before she leaves the Citadel.

Picking up new items, the group decides to try their luck once again at the locked door in the dragon fountain room. Xanath pulls a spell scroll and tries to perform a spell that it above his head. He fails, the scroll disintegrates and the door remains locked. The group brainstorm creative ideas to get through the door, some more extreme than other, but nothing works.

Dejected the group decide to investigate a dark hallway they bypassed earlier. They come upon a second dragon fountain, and Xanath confidently reads the words etched into the stone. He receives a faceful of poison mist for his troubles.

Quin notices footprints heading into a nearby room, Grisduin charges into the room to encounter 4 giant rats, one of which is bloated and poisoned. The group enters the room after Grisduin and do battle with the rats. A large man, half dead, rears himself up from the dark corner of the room and tries attacking the bloated rat, the rat counters and puts the man down. After the group dispose of the rat, the man is revived. It is Burt, the half-orc they just previously saved!

Embarrassed, Burt admits he lost his way trying to leave the citadel. The group decides to escort the half-orc to the entrance of the citadel.

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Xanath's Vision
Session 5

After parting ways with Burt at the citadel entrance the group decides to use the key they obtained to open the dragon door. The key works and they gain access through the door into an area that looks to be untouched for a long time, possibly decades.

They enter into a room containing orbs, one orb starts to glow and emits brooding music. Anakis, Quin and Xanath cannot bear to be in the room with this music and escape back out of the citadel. Ash decides he will smash the orb, but ends up dropping it onto his foot. The music gets louder, and Ash cannot bear being in the room anymore. Grisduin, the only member left in the room decides to smash the orb with his katana. The orb cracks and the music stops.

The group proceed to a room containing a dragon sculpture that asks them a riddle. Quin solves the riddle and a secret door opens to a new area.

In the next room Ash is attacked by a quasit. Feeling threatened, the quasit tries to escape, but they are able to take him down before the tiny fiend can flee.

The group finally reach a room with a large sarcophagus. They open the sarcophagus and find an elf dressed in fine robes. Xanath sees a ornate dagger the elf is holding and decides to grab it. Upon grabbing the dagger, the elf’s body disappears and Xanath is hit by an invisible force. Tension grows in the room, and the group is assailed upon by an invisible force. Anakis sprays the room with holy water and rids the room of the unease.

The group raids the sarcophagus. Xanath is drawn to a golden pearl he find. Unable to resist, Xanath swallows the pearl. He finds himself displaced in a dragon’s lair. A gold dragon shows himself to Xanath and informs the dragonborn that Xanath is of his blood. The dragon also tells Xanath his name is Palarandusk.palarandusk.jpg

Shaken, but not stirred by the experience, the group decides to continue their mission to find the whereabouts of the Faerwalds.

They come upon a goblin colony. Ash decides to enter the colony and proclaim himself leader! The goblins, unable to understand the odd Tabaxi respond violently. During the battle Grisduin is felled by a particularly skilled goblin.

Once the group quels the threat, Ash, not with the assistance of Quin’s translation, tries again to win over the goblin colony. A goblin shaman appears from another room and interrupts. She is relaying information to a low voice from the other room. Displeased with this odd Tabaxi trying to overthrow his rule, the Goblin Chief comes out to confront the intruders.

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Rumble in the Goblin Hall
Session 6

Durnn (the Chief of the Goblin Tribe) and his henchmen enter into the goblin hall. The parle quickly turns sour. During battle, Grisduin is felled, but revived once again by Anakis, only to be knocked unconscious once again by Durnn. Ash too is knocked unconscious, and things aren’t looking good the adventurer.

The remaining members are able to get rid of the threat, as Grisduin is able to will himself back into consciousness. Quin, seeing an allie in danger, raid the bodies of the hobgoblins and finds a potion on Durnn, Quin adminsters the potion to Ash, bring the Tabaxi back from unconsciousness.

King.cat.1.pngUpon revival, Ash, with the help of Quin’s translating, declares himself, once again, the Cat King! The remaining goblin commoners do not oppose, and seemingly accept Ash as their new leader.

After a well deserved rest, the group decides to investigate the room that the hobgoblins came from. They quickly dispose of a twig blight, and proceed to loot a chestful of electrum that Durnn was hoarding.

There is also a large 40’ hole in the center of the room that descends nearly 80’ below. Grisduin can deduce that there are skeletons gardening a phosphorescent fungus down below. The group repels themselves down some vines quietly and get the jump on the skeletons and a few twig blights that are roaming the garden.

Balsag, a bugbear, is alerted from the commotion, and enters the room with his 2 pet giant rats. The bugbear threatens to eat the group and a fight ensues. The adventures are able to handle the threat relatively easily and investigate the room Balsag came from. The room has access to the underdark and looks like the Bugbear was using this as a base to hunt prey in the underdark.

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Searching for the Grove
Session 7

The adventurers set out in search for the fabled underground grove. They entered into a place that looked to be set-up as a Laboratory for the mad Druid Belak. The group surprised some goblins, killed a few then moved on.

The group then stumbled upon a large hall that the goblin seem to be using to garden the luminescent mushrooms that they have been encountering at this level. It seems that Belak had been using the light produced from the mushrooms to also grow some above ground plants. They met up with a gardener (a Bugbear). They group tried to deceive the Bugbear that they were also working with Belak, but quickly gave up on the roose and started to battle the Bugbear, eventually taking her down, along with a goblin that came from another room to help backup the bugbear.bugbear.jpg

Xanath came across a room with scorched mushroom, and proceeded to investigate a hollow that he saw underneath. A fire snake popped out and unleashed it fury on the dragonborn. Thinking quickly, Anakis transformed into a fire resistant giant badger to do battle with the snake. The group subdued the snake and Anakis, as a badger invested the fire snake’s burrows, finding 2 sapphires.

The group then proceeded, finding a room with a large carved statue of Ashardalon, the red dragon. Xanath stepped into a circle right in front of the statue and read some draconic runes. He was enveloped with a harmless spectral flame. The words also awoken a shadow that was lurking behind the statue. The shadow quickly descended upon Xanath, but the dragonborn cast magic missile and disenterated it.

They moved on from the room, rummaging a looting a connecting dragon library before heading out through a dark hallway. They followed the hallway and came upon a locked door. Quin was unsuccessful in picking the lock, so the group decided to try opening the door with fire and force. They were able to enter the room, with they found to be Belak’s study. Xanath’s attention was set upon a book written in draconic, but as the sorcerer open the book, he did not realize that it was protected by a glyph of warding. The book exploded, leaving the adventurers in poor shape. The blast alerted goblins in the next room that came in to attack. Anakis pushed into the middle of the group goblin and performed a well timed thunderwave, quelling the threat.

The group now looked out onto the vast underground grove, but noticed the clap of the spell alerted hoards to twig blights that inhabit the grove.

Feeling beaten and tired, the group decided to retreat, and quickly headed back through the Citadel, and out to the forest outside.

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Burning of the Gulthias Tree
Session 8

The adventurers find themselves at the same campsite they stayed at just outside the entrance to the Citadel. They decide to stay the night here and make way to Oakhurst at first light. As the night progresses, they notice a single turkey skirting the periphery of the campsite. The group decides to let the turkey be, until it approaches too closely to Ash, who decides to take the nuisance fowl down. Upon killing the turkey and leaving it’s corpse as a reward besides Anakis, Ash notices a note neatly tied to the turkey’s neck. Ash soon recognizes that this is a pet of David, an ally of his within the monastery, and that the turkey was sent to him to deliver a message.

The group makes their way to Oakhurst, and regroup and restock. Anakis meets with Jakilmir who is staying at the Ole Boar Inn, and they converse.

After a short overnight and bath at the Inn, the group decide to head back into the citadel in the morning. Along the path they meet a cart being pulled by a stone golem. The group is then greeted by a few severed heads, before finally meeting Wilderem, a old gnomish shopkeeper within the wagon. The group does business with the gnome, but before the group leaves, the gnome propositions the group with a deal. He will give them a lead on a stronghold that contains many riches, but the group must return to him any weapons they find that bare the mark of Durgeddin the smith.

The group proceed back into the underground citadel, meeting only a small amount of resistance along the way to goblins that are loyal to Belak. The group kills all the goblins, save for one, that guides the group to the underground grove. As the adventurers wade through the thickets and brush, they notice a many twigs blights roaming about. They also notice a large, dead looking black tree hidden behind some ruined walls.
They are promptly greeted by Belak, the mad druid that Anakis has been looking for. The group also notice the Faerwald’s with Belak, but they appear diseased, their eyes blackened, and their skin, rough and woodlike.

AE-session8-Belak_20180304.jpg

Belak explains to the group that the Faerwald’s are thralls of the Gulthias Tree, and the twig blights are the offspring of the tree. Belak exposes his plan to populate the area with the children of the Gulthias Tree in order to wipe out civilization. He once again asks Anakis to follow him. She refuses, and a battle ensues.

The group is bombarded by twig blights coming in from the grove, and a giant frog that was hidden in the tree. Belak is targeted and quickly falls unconscious. The group then coordinate to burn down the Gulthias tree. Quin doses the tree with oil, and Xanath proceeds to unleash fiery magic on the tree. The tree burns and a green mist rises from the ashes. The twig blights ignore the adventurers and converge on Belak’s body, thrashing and gnawing on the druid’s remains until there is nothing left of him.

In the burnt ashes of the tree sits a wooden stake, and a sword with a stone like crystalline blade. The Faerwald’s fall limp and lifeless, and it appears the disease is getting worse fast. Anakis tries to heal the Faerwald’s, but it does not seem to take effect. The group then decides to rush the Faerwald’s back to Oakhurst. They are met by Jakilmir and Reidoth, two druids from Anakis’ circle. The three druids converge as Anakis performs a difficult greater restoration spell on the diseased siblings. The spell is a success and the hold over the Faerwalds from the Gulthias Tree appears to be broken. The group, now in Oakhurst, are finally able to have a quick breath as it seems the threat of Belak the Outcast is no more.

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On the Long Road
Session 9

The adventurers finally get a well earned rest. Kerowyn Faerwald puts everyone up for a week at her manor before they group decides to head out. Ash decides to return to his goblin clan, and tries to instill order before his departure.

After a few days of carousing, training, foot races and prostitution, the adventurers head south down the Long Road in search of riches that may lie in Durgedinn’s lost forge. They purchase 2 draft horses and carriage.

As they overnight in a hamlet named Red Larch, they notice the townsfolk a bit on edge. They visit the sheriff who informs them that an unknown old man came into town and stole some items from the market. He was chased into the nearby forest by the dept sheriff, but neither of them returned. The group agrees to look into this thievery and enlist a local tracker named Bjorn Urso to help on their pursuit.

Bjorn leads the group to an dilapidated cabin in the woods that he had recently noticed action around. Sure enough, there was smoke coming from the chimney. Ash moves in closer to the cabin and peaks through the windows. He notices no movement, but sees 3 dead bodies on the floor.witch.jpg

Not seeing any threat he calls for the group, and they enter the cabin to investigate. Anakis touched the dead body of a small girl, and as she does that all 3 bodies rise and reveal their true forms, the group is now surrounded by a coven of Hags!

Bjorn, still in hiding outside with Quin, starts sweating, looks at Quin and says, “I fuckin’ knew it” as he begins transformation into a Werebear.

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Hag Fight
Session 10

The adventurers find themselves within the thick of it. Surrounded by a coven of hags in a tight cabin. They are able to overthrown the threat, but as they are about to slay the final hag, she tosses a toad into the bubbling cauldron at the back of the room, and a Banderhobb appears!Barehobb_Img.jpg

The banderhobb swallows Grisduin, but the rest of the group and able to quickly take down the beast which regurgitated Grisduin. Upon searching the room, the group find the cauldron and herbs they have been set out to retrieve. They also find a few items of interest, a bag of bean, a broom with runes etched into the handle, a fancy looking ewer and an empty jar.
Ash decides to open the jar, and the group all individually experience a lucid tragic memory from their pasts. They shake off the thoughts, and now, sitting with Bjorn in the room, must decide their next course of action.

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