Here’s the write up for our 19th Scarlet Citadel session. Hopefully these write ups will prove useful to others running the adventure.
You can read earlier posts here. This post contains spoilers for Scarlet Citadel.
Last session, the party finally confronted and killed Danaska Maksilov. We began this session with the characters back in the Alchemist’s Furnace. Only Clairmont was missing this week.
As the characters have explored almost all of Level 2 I decided it was high time they encountered the dust goblins. So, when Farthrum opens the east door from the furnace, he spots a goblin at the end of the corridor who promptly disappears into the gloom.
The goblin has vanished by the time the rest of the party enter the corridor, so they continue around to the storerooms and search through the crates. Scorch marks on the floor and the faint smell of fried onions indicate this was where the three original PCs perished at the claws of the barbed devil.
The characters continue north and open the door into Maksilov’s lab. She had time to straighten things out since the gelatinous cube/ochre jelly hybrid escaped, and there are a pair of ochre jellies here that the party need to deal with. Maya is attacked by a gelatinous cubelet hiding under the bed when they search the room after the battle. They recover a couple of magic items that belonged to the dead PCs as well as lots of potions.
Next, the party ventures north and west towards the Ooze Plasma Holding Tanks but the acrid smell puts them off and they turn back. Searching the storeroom again, they find Maksilov’s hidden stash of valuable alchemical components behind the secret door.
Continuing back around the corridor, the characters discover another secret door, leading to the dust goblins’ hideout. The crossbows are triggered by the goblins as soon as Tunde opens the door. Farthrum tries to topple the barrier but fails, but does manage to collapse the barrier to the adjoining chamber while trying to climb over it. Fortunately, he lands on his feet. Cauldvyr wild shapes into a bear and starts killing goblins and Tunde finishes off Firstblade Keluikinj, with sacred flame. They loot the goblins’ chambers, finding several potions and two mildewed books which intrigue Tunde.
Deciding this part of the level is now secure, the characters set to work on clean up. They dispose of the dust goblin bodies by chucking them into the vats in the laboratory, then do the same with Maksilov’s corpse. Finally, they move the alchemical components from the furnace and Maksilov’s collection of books into the secret chamber in the storeroom. Once this is done, they return to Redtower.
Back in the village, Tunde identifies the potions, then spends the next day communing with Baba Yaga to locate the nearest Veela, learning she can be found in the ruins of Erdovar in the White Forest. The forest is home to gnomes, and often visited by druids gathering herbs and plants.
The group’s plan for next session is to return to the Scarlet Citadel with mules, load them up with all the loot they’ve stashed in the secret chamber, and take everything to Triolo to sell to alchemists. Simple!
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Richard Green | Game Designer 