Scarlet Citadel Session 60 – Howling Halls

Here’s the write up from our 60th (!) Scarlet Citadel session in which the characters continued to explore the Howling Halls and finally destroyed the lich Llagfel’s phylactery. The chaos magic surges which have a 50% chance of occurring when magic is used on this level were a lot of fun! Hats off to the designers of the table in Deep Magic! 

You can read earlier posts here. This post contains spoilers for Scarlet Citadel.

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Battle is joined in the black ice cavern as the rime worm and its grubs attack. Tunde casts phase bolt and a chaos magic surge happens, conjuring a hedge maze which fills part of the room. 

Maya finds her way through the maze to the rime worm and casts spiritual weapon. This conjures an armchair and a side table, with a copy of her third favourite book on it. There’s no time for her to enjoy it though, as she is grappled by the rime worm.

Clairmont explodes into radiance twice, killing the smaller worms, but deactivating his sun staff and changing his spellcasting modifier in the process. Tricksy sneak attacks the large worm from the hedge, then Clairmont conjures a wall of fire. The worm flees from the flames and is killed by Maya’s opportunity attack. The party withdraw to Level 5 and cast healing spells. 

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Returning to the black ice cavern, Tricksy uses his wand of ignition to melt the ice door. The others smash through the ice as it starts to melt. 

Strong winds pull Maya down the corridor. She hunkers down in an alcove where there is a narrow opening to the foul-smelling lair of wind demons. Tricksy sends Professor Yaffle into the snowy chamber; the owl peers into the wind demons’ cavern from the other side. 

 The rest of the party battle their way down the corridor and find Maya. After talking to the wind demons through the opening, Clairmont casts stone shape to widen the gap and the characters go in. 

The group chat to the mischievous demons, giving them a couple of items which they throw into the winds so they are pulled into the sphere of annihilation in the next chamber. When Maya gives them Llagfel’s phylactery, however, the demons don’t seem to want to throw it away. 

The fighting kicks off soon afterwards. Tunde’s teeth turn into moths and fly away when she casts power word fling, but she manages to propel the wind demon with the phylactery into the sphere where both are destroyed!

The characters keep casting spells, triggering more weird chaos magic effects – their mouths become sewn shut and Tricksy’s eyes turn into potatoes and fall out!

After defeating the wind demons, the adventurers make it back to the black ice cavern, then return to the crystal garden on Level 5 for a short rest. Tunde casts remove curse on Tricksy to restore his sight, but the rogue is still under a curse of bad luck, and Tunde’s teeth are still missing. 

With the phylactery destroyed, the party decide to explore the area of the Black River scouted by Yaffle back in Session 55 next time.

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Main image by David Auden Nash