Here’s the write up from latest Scarlet Citadel session, in which the characters returned to the Bat Caverns to pay their debt to the chort devil Vuxarix. We were without Tricksy the elf rogue for this session.
You can read earlier posts here. This post contains spoilers for Scarlet Citadel.
As the characters enter Brutwer the blood hag’s gallery, the grotesque faces hanging on the walls fly around them. Clairmont uses burning hands to scorch several of the flapping faces but there are a lot of them! A peeled dwarf visage envelops Maya’s face, while an elf maiden’s skin wraps itself around Clairmont’s.
Eventually, the faces are all destroyed (or are they…?) and the characters are free to open the door in the east wall. This takes some doing and once it opens, a strong wind blows the adventurers down the stairs. Maya manages to stop herself from falling too far but Tunde tumbles down several feet, and Clairmont falls all the way to the bottom. Maya ties a rope to herself and hauls the cleric of Khors to safety. They shut the door and the wind drops.
After some discussion about where to go next, they decide to leave their raft at the Frog Shrine and board the Boatman’s vessel, asking him to take them to the Shrine of Charun. The Boatman steers the boat west, and they travel down the Black River for some distance, even plunging over a waterfall, before arriving safely, if a little damp, at the shrine.
From here, the adventurers can use the owlbear tunnel from the Dwarven Barracks to leave the Scarlet Citadel and return to Redtower where they spend the next two days.
After a good night’s sleep, the characters purchase cold weather clothing for the icy chambers of the Howling Halls as well as plenty of candles so they can keep the ghoul lantern shining on Llagfel’s phylactery. They get Agniezka, the smith, to fashion a screen for the lantern to make it harder for the candle to be blown out.
Clairmont casts commune to try and learn more about the location of the “sphere of darkness” in the Howling Halls, and if the devil Vuxarix will accept Void coins as payment. He gets a confusing answer to the first question, and a “yes” to the second.
That night, a peeled face creeps out of Maya’s backpack and attacks the cleric after her heavy night’s drinking in the Cage. Maya destroys the face and thoroughly checks her gear for any more stowaways.
The following day Clairmont casts another commune to learn more about the Howling Halls and about Gellert’s intentions. Unsurprisingly, he learns that Gellert is not to be trusted!
The three clerics return to the Dwarven Barracks and climb down the hole in the stables to the Bat Caverns. They attempt to creep through the cave without disturbing the bats, but this is not easy while dressed in heavy armour and swarms of bats attack. Clairmont casts silence to confuse the bats and the group advances to the ledge overlooking the large Bat Cavern.
Seeing lots more bats flying around, Clairmont casts fireball which wipes out some of the creatures but also supercharges the flame-eater swarms. All three clerics summon their spiritual weapons as waves of bats attack the group, backed up by derro with crossbows. After a few rounds of combat, the bats are all dead, and the derro have withdrawn into the darkness….
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Main image by David Auden Nash
Richard Green | Game Designer 