Sigurd’s Journal: The Sunless Citadel

 

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    Inside, there was a curious inscription hidden by the body of an impaled goblin. It was in Draconic and was the name of a Wyrm of old, Ashardalon. Some other bastardized script on the walls roughly translated as "here there be Dragons." But if there had been dragons, they were long gone, for all that we found were kobolds.

 

    Apparently the goblins had stole something from a character named Kasrick, and this particular outpost was now home of kobolds, not goblins. I was surprised by a water weird in one chamber, but other than that not much of note.

 

    The excitement was when we captured a kobold named Mepo. The paladin wanted to kill it because it was evil. The elf's sword was also evil, and he threatened the paladin with it, then set off down the hall by himself while we were in the middle of combat. Had we not been attacked, the party may have fought

itself!

 

After the skirmish, I asked Hornwood if he had seen the kobold Mepo, but he had not. Another room was discovered with 3 goblin captives who swore to take us to the magic apple. Alain slew two, before he ran into another combat. The remaining goblin I let go free, but he confessed to me that he did not know what we sought.

 

    In the main room to the North, the kobold sorceress queen and her bodyguards were doing battle with the fighters in our party. Two fell in battle and we were sorely wounded. Had it not been for a lucky crossbow shot, we may have been goners. But, we won the day, and found a silver key and some odd scrolls.

 

So we went back the direction we had come and found the door that was in a shape of a Dragon's head. The key fit into the mouth of the Dragon and turned in such a way that the door could be opened. Beyond the "Dragon Door," there was a chamber with four alcoves. Each held a globe, though only one was glowing.

 

    Then one burst out in a hideous grating and groaning noise. It was so deafening it could not be endured, except that Alain managed to stay long enough to shatter that stone. We made our way beyond, to a room with a riddling statue of a Dragon.

 

  "We come at night without being fetched, and disappear by day without being stolen?" the Dragon asked. Someone whispered into my ears,"Stars," which I abruptly shouted out. The wall itself split apart to reveal six alcoves, spanned by a chasm that ran the width of the room. Elven statues were in each of the alcoves save one, and beyond was a room filled with green light.

 

    A winged creature erupted from the pit as one of us jumped across. A nasty brawl ensued, and ended in a stalemate. We moved on, injured yet determined. A strange sarcophagus shaped as a Dragon filled the center of the room. The source of the green light was a torch upon the wall, obviously enchanted as the everburning torch gave off smoke and light but the wood itself was never consumed by flame.

 

    Inscribed upon the wall in Draconic runes was the following:

    "A dragon priest entombed alive for transgressions of the law still retains the honor of his position."

 

    We decided it was best to head back at that point. After all, we still had to explore the four doors in Mepo's room. I bore the green, everburning torch. We wandered for a bit, then stopped upon finding another inscription. This one read, "Nanarnia," or "let there be fire," as it is spoken in the old tongue.

 

 

At the intersection, the door to the east had collapsed and the door to the west, trapped with Scythe blade and magically locked, could not be opened. North it was.

 

    Thelsin went east, and opened a door rigged with bell that alarmed the goblins within. A charge ensued, as the priest removed the door we had come in. The fighters used that like a shield as they rushed down the hall.

 

    I, learning never to do this again, thought to come around at the goblins from the rear and headed down the north passage. The room I came to did not in fact connect to the east, but was filled with cells, and those cells with giant rats! I turned to run, but was knocked to the ground, and surely would have been eaten alive were it not for the party.

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    My unconscious body was dragged to the room of the queen, a hobbled monolith of rat larger than the largest oxen I have ever seen. My trail of blood lead our band of adventurers to that nesting room littered with corpses of previous victims, and among these ruins the body of a friend that Kaz sought was found.

 

    We healed and headed back to the goblin room and south of the pillared rooms, for we had gone as far North and East as possible, and still had not found the magic apple. We also were wary of the Black Talons camped above, lying in wait.

 

Hornwood found a baby silver or white dragon (due to its ice breath), which followed the party. Would this be the Kasrick that Mepo had spoken of?

 

Eventually, we found our way to a main chamber with a pit, the throne room of the goblin king. Hornwood slew him, and Alain slew his champion, a huge bugbear named Balzak the Hunter. Thelsin fought the witch queen of the goblins, and the rest held off the odd foes, rats and goblin crossbowmen.

 

    Thelsin found an iron chest filled with gold coins, a parchment (spell of Knock), and a potion of black liquid and unknown properties. Alain had found the armor and ring of Hucreol, finding at last the fate of he who he had sought.

 

We descended the pit, finding it led off to other chambers, and headed north in search of the magic healing apple. There was precious little time left, and the Black Talons still stood in wait for us outside.

 

We wandered through fungus-laden rooms, finding among books and scrolls an ancient Tome of Dragon Lore and an old book "Treasures of the Fire Lords." There was also a strange cell with a living rat, mutated such that one limb looked wooden. It was hooked to some apparatus that seemed to drain the fluid from it.

 

    One room had the appearance of a farmer's study, through which we found a wide hall filled with briars. We were attacked en route by branchlings, but made it to the large Golthus tree at the end. Three humans stood by the tree of evil. Balack, a corrupted Druid, was their leader.

 

    A great battle ensued, though we were victors in the end. We managed to procure the magic apple. The female among them was also saved, apparently charmed. Later, we would find her to be the daughter of our patron.