# Forum > Gaming > Roleplaying Games > Journal Thunderscape: World of Aden Pathfinder

## northernbard80

*I've always been impressed that we are here, surviving, because of the indomitable courage of quite small people against impossible odds.  J.R.R. Tolkien*

DriveThruRPG had the Thunderscape: World of Aden campaign setting marked down to just US$1!  Being a fan of the 1995 computer game Thunderscape, I had to grab it.  And so began my first full game using Pathfinder (I am very familiar with DND 3.0/3.5).

Some background is necessary.  In 1995, Strategic Simulations Inc released a computer game for MS-DOS called World of Aden: Thunderscape (Thunderscape for short).  The setting was a Renaissance era fantasy setting - while knights, armor, magic, swords, axes, bows, etc. were commonplace, science and industry exists too.  There's gunpowder, firearms, steam engines, steam-powered golems, vehicles and even mechamagic that fuses magic with science.  It can be classified as steampunk/gaslamp fantasy.

Kyoudai Games produced a Pathfinder compatible edition of the Thunderscape setting back in 2014 and recently did Thunderscape for the Tiny D6 game system.  Here, I'm using Pathfinder.  

So let's meet our team of heroes all starting at level 1.

*Spoiler: Characters*
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*ESTRILDA MATHAN (LG HUMAN CLERIC)*:  Cleric of the Radiant Order, unofficial leader of the party and the team mom.  

*GARUUK ALIBAK (NG RAPACIAN FIGHTER)*:  The big guy on the team and thus their heavy hitter.  His weapon of choice is a katana.

*THOM SUMMERMOURN (NG FERRAN BARD)*:  The heart and the face.  A wise guy and likes singing bawdy songs.

*RINYA VALARION (CG ELF ROGUE)*:  Skillmonkey & trapfinder.  A pretty lady with fiery red hair and a fiery spirit to match.

*BISMARCK GOLDSTONE (N FAERKIN MECHAMAGE)*: The party's arcane spellcaster.  Obsessed with magic and science.

*NUMBER 5*:  Bismarck's golem minion; a metal golem serving as his familiar, pack animal and bodyguard.  (We can only speculate what happened to numbers 1 through 4.)





The adventure path (after a short introductory adventure) is going to involve Gulthias from the DND 3E modules.  That's right - I'm adapting the Sunless Citadel and the Forge of Fury for the World of Aden.  Should we proceed even further, I may expand the path by having the heroes face a certain red dragon from those same modules.

*Spoiler: A few notes on Thunderscape races and classes*
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Rapacians are lizardpeople originating in the desert but are warm-blooded.  

Ferrans are a race of humanoids resembling anthropomorphic animals, primarily mammals (reptile and avian ferrans are rare due to many being killed).  Once created as slaves by wizards, they rose up and won their freedom.  The PC Thom Summermourn is a fox, having ferran sneak racial attributes.

Faerkin are this setting's version (and replacement) for halflings/hobbits.  They are descended from fey and related to them.

Mechamages are an arcane spellcasting class similar to wizards & sorcerers.  Unlike those two classes, mechamages are more like scientists and engineers.  They get golem minions instead of familiars, are proficient with firearms and get sorcerer/wizard spells plus some extra exclusive class spells.  The downside?  They are prohibited from using spells from the schools of enchantment, illusion and evocation.

The Thunderscape campaign setting has more in-depth discussions of these classes, races and setting; check it for more details.

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## northernbard80

A first short adventure with 3 out of the 5 PCs was done to get a feel for the setting and for Pathfinder.  I like to "calibrate" and "attune".

*Spoiler: The Stolen Wand*
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Somewhere in the nation of Vanora, in a ramshackle hamlet called Haven, Bismarck Goldstone made the finishing touches on his golem minion, Number 5.  He worked in the residence of Roderick Graf, a dwarf mechamage who mentored him.  The residence wasn't a mansion or a keep - it was a warehouse that had been bought for cheap from a bankrupt merchant ruined by the Darkfall.

Roderick explains that he needs Bismarck to get his unfinished wand back.  Troublemaking mandrills in search of trinkets actually broke into his lab and stole his wand.  "Get some help" was Roderick's advice.  Taking Number 5, Bismarck headed down to the Lone Wolf Alehouse to pick up two friends:  the fighter Garuuk and the bard Thom Summermourn.  Thom was inside the tavern entertaining the patrons with a bawdy song as Garuuk finished a tankard of beer.  Bismarck briefed the two on what happened.

"Monkeying around again, are we?" Thom said.

Garuuk scolded Thom and led the four out of the tavern.  Heading out into the wilderness surrounding Haven, they approached the known habitat of the mandrills.  Thom went to scout out the situation, succeeding on his Stealth check.  He made out 6 mandrills and something shiny visible in the tall grass by them.  Returning to tell the others, he took point and attacked from hiding by shooting a mandrill with an arrow from his short bow.  He hit and scattered the other mandrills.  Three came forward to challenge the intruders.

The mandrills won initiative and drew first blood, biting Garuuk, Thom and Bismarck.  Our heroes fought back and wounded 2 of the 3 mandrills.  That was enough to make the wounded mandrills retreat but the third one stayed behind.  It was no match for the combined might of the heroes; it was Thom who killed the final mandrill by running it through with his rapier.  The shiny items were some gold pieces, Roderick's stolen wand and even some scrolls (Magic Missile and Mage Armor).

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## Rynjin

Thunderscape is one of my favorite 3pp books, glad to see someone else knows about it.

A quick bit of advice: there's at least one errata floating around out there that fixes things like vehicles (IIRC the stats for starting Thunder Scout vehicles aren't actually listed anywhere, and no prices are?). I'll try to dig them up for you later, they're saved in the PMs of one of my old Paizo accounts.

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## northernbard80

> Thunderscape is one of my favorite 3pp books, glad to see someone else knows about it.
> 
> A quick bit of advice: there's at least one errata floating around out there that fixes things like vehicles (IIRC the stats for starting Thunder Scout vehicles aren't actually listed anywhere, and no prices are?). I'll try to dig them up for you later, they're saved in the PMs of one of my old Paizo accounts.


Thanks for commenting.  

I wasn't planning on using the vehicles and vehicle rules that much.  I'd rather keep things simple and that's why my players chose to stick with most of the original classes with the exception of that mechamage.

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## northernbard80

The plot gets set in motion here.

*Spoiler: Onto the first mission!*
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Upon returning his mentor's wand, Roderick Graf took his student aside.

"Bismarck, your training is finished.  I've taught you what I can; it is time for you to go out into the world."

"Why's that?" asked the faerkin mechamage.

"Two reasons.  First, I'm expecting a new student in the next two days.  Second, it's time you go out into the world and learn from the best teacher there is - actual real-life experience.  Besides that, the Radiant Order needs you.  They sent me a message last week asking for help.  I can't go as I have other obligations to attend to - but I did answer saying I would send help.  Bismarck, you and your golem minion are to travel to the city of Hammlish in Arasteen.  Make your way to the Imperial Inn and Radiant Order agents will fill you in on all the details."

Roderick turned to Thom and Garuuk.  He instructed the bard and the fighter to go with Bismarck.  The next morning, the trio departed the village and headed across the land for Arasteen.  It took 14 whole days by travel, partly by wagon and mostly by the Thunder Train.  It was mid-morning of the 15th day that Bismarck, No. 5, Thom and Garuuk arrived in the city of Hammlish (where they'd meet the rest of the PCs).

The Imperial Inn was an extravagant building made of stone & brick surrounded by exquisite flower beds.

"Wow!" Thom exclaimed "Our old tavern was not like this."

Upon entering through the Imperial Inn through the large wooden double doors, the three were amazed at its luxurious appearance.  Thick wooden beams supported the upper floor with lamps hanging down from the beam. The walls were covered in many paintings of battles, landscapes and important looking people.  It was about half-full as patrons dressed in fine clothing were chatting, drinking wine and tasting impossibly delicious (looking) food.  One of the patrons, dressed in bluish robes emblazoned with the Radiant Order insignia, approached the heroes.

"You must be Roderick's student and his entourage.  Greetings, I am Sir Willmot of the Radiant Order.  Please come with me."  

Nobody said anything but followed Willmot to a room in the back.  Inside this room was Rinya, a red-haired elf in leather, and Estrilda, a human lady with blonde hair in twin braids also wearing the symbol of the Radiant Order.

The mission was both search & rescue as well as catching a fugitive.  Sometime after the Darkfall, an evil mechamage known as Belak the Outcast committed a number of horrible crimes.  He escaped capture many times and vanished for some years until two years ago when confirmed sightings of him were made by ruins known as the Sunless Citadel.  Bounty hunters tried to go into the citadel to capture him but none ever returned.  Three months ago, a Radiant Order operative named Sir Braford was sent to arrest Belak; he stopped in the nearby town of Oakhurst to recruit help and then went into the citadel.  He has not been seen or heard from since.

"The five of you are to go to Oakhurst," Willmot instructed, "Your mission is to bring back Belak the Outcast, dead or alive.  You are also to find out what became of Sir Braford of the Radiant Order."

With the mission set, they would depart for Oakhurst tomorrow.  The town was about four days away close to the border with Urbana.  The team spent the rest of the day relaxing, eating, drinking and making formal introductions.




I'm using the Sunless Citadel module but with some changes.  There's no Gulthias tree, twig blights or magic fruit here.  But it will not be a pushover once these players get to the lower level...   :Small Wink:

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## northernbard80

*Spoiler: Arrival in Oakhurst*
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After two whole days of travel, the heroes made it on the mid-morning of the third day out to the village of Oakhurst.  And the small village was not ready for these new arrivals.

On entering the town via the New Road, many of the townspeople spotted the new arrivals and went silent.  Estrilda led the way with Garuuk and Rinya behind her.  Thom, Bismarck and Number 5 brought up the rear.  People were whispering around the newcomers and a few pointed.  Mothers grabbed their children and pulled them out of the path of the heroes.

"There's strangers in town!"
"More bounty hunters?"
"They're coming this way!"

"This town definitely doesn't have much of a tourist trade," Thom observed as they continued down the main street of town.

Thom noticed that a few children were walking behind them...and found both him as well as the golem No. 5 to be amusing.

"What a cute doggie," one of the children said.

"I'm NOT a dog!  I'm a fox!" Thom scolded them, opening his patchwork cloak.

A few of the town's guards were staring at the heroes but didn't say anything or approach them.  Standing in their path was a fat, middle-aged woman with graying hair; she wore a faded dress held together with patches and carried a tan bag.  She said nothing but just stared at the heroes as they approached.  Thom stepped forward to greet her.

"Greetings.  We need accommodations.  Is there someplace in town we can stay?"  

All the other heroes except Estrilda failed their Aid Another rolls but Thom made his diplomacy check.

The fat woman softened slightly and pointed them to the Ol' Boar Inn.  Thanking her, the party made their way into the modest establishment.  Upon entering, the half-full tavern's patrons went silent.

"Hey!  We don't serve their kind!" barked Garon, the barkeep.

The heroes looked confused.

"Your golem!" Garon clarified, pointing at No. 5, "It'll have to wait in the stables."

Bismarck rolled his eyes but did park his golem minion in the stables, not wanting any trouble.  Once that was done, the party took a table and ordered up cups of coffee and tea (it was still morning).  No sooner than they started sipping their morning drinks, the door opened again and three soldiers bearing spears walked in.  Rinya could spot a few more waiting outside.  The soldiers approached the party.

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## northernbard80

*Spoiler: To the Sunless Citadel*
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The soldiers stopped at the heroes' table.

"You there?  Who are you and what are you doing in Oakhurst?" one of them barked, pointing his spear at them.  The other three guards flanking the sergeant said nothing but held their weapons ready.

"We were sent by the Radiant Order," Estrilda explained, "I'm Estrilda and these are my friends.  We were sent to find out what happened to Sir Braford who came here to investigate the nearby Sunless Citadel; we're also after the fugitive mechamage Belak the Outcast."

The inn patrons went dead silent but the guards were chattering among themselves.

"The Radiant Order?  Well, laa-dee-dah!"
"When they did the order start caring about us?  They never..."

"That's enough!" commanded the sergeant, "In that case, I must take you to see Kerowyn Hucrele.  She's been upset ever since her children vanished into the Sunless Citadel."

The party exchanged worried looks.  Finishing their coffee and tea, they left the inn being escorted by the town guards to the residence of Kerowyn Hucrele.

"That's the best looking cottage in town I've seen," Bismarck quipped with No. 5 behind him.

"You call this a town?" Thom retorted, unimpressed.

"Hold your tongue, ferran!  Our barracks could use a new fur-skin rug!" snarled one of the soldiers.

The sergeant intervened and ordered them to be quiet.  Nothing else happened as they were ushered into the Hucrele residence.  Kerowyn Hucrele greeted the heroes and offered them seats in her parlor; she was the chubby matriarch of the rich merchant family of Oakhurst.  The heroes introduced themselves and explained their mission.

"Please find them," she started, "Sir Braford not only took a local elf ranger, Karakas, with him.  He took my son, Talgen, and my daughter, Sharwyn, with him.  I haven't seen or heard anything of them for months.  When you go into the citadel, I really need you to find out what happened to them.  Please bring them back.  Even if they..."

Kerowyn stopped, fighting back tears.

"Even if they are dead, please bring me back their rings.  At least I will know and can put them to rest.  I will see you are rewarded."

"Rest assured," Garuuk said, "We'll find them.  We'll also bring Belak to justice."

Dismissing them, the heroes set about preparing for their first sojourn into the citadel to be done in the morning.




Don't worry...we'll get to action shortly.

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## northernbard80

Sorry, but things got busy.  Anyway, the party prepares for the descent into the Citadel.

*Spoiler: Preparations & Descent*
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The rest of the day was spent preparing for the journey tomorrow morning.  Rinya and Garuuk bought supplies, mainly several torches.  Bismarck wrote some writs to put into Number 5.  One of them was "Capacious"; with this, Number 5 doubled as a "bag of holding".  Up to 250 pounds of equipment can be stored in an extradimensional storage space.

"We'll have to remember to load up on camping gear when we can afford it," the faerkin said, "I could use a tent, some bedrolls, cookware..."

Estrilda and Thom spent most of the day gathering information.  Some Diplomacy checks found out useful tidbits.  The heroes learned the following:

The Sunless Citadel lies close by the town off the Old Road.  The road hasn't been used for years as it is rife with banditry, especially goblins.
Nobody can remember what purpose the Citadel was meant for.  It was believed to be the cult of some unknown monster; people claimed the creature was named "Ashardik" or "Ashardo".
The Ashen Plain lies close by - it is a dead area.  Something destroyed it ages ago but nobody can remember as it is faded from memory.
The Citadel itself lies about half a day from Oakhurst.  Farmers do not graze cattle there due to goblin banditry.  The townspeople will not go anywhere near the Citadel.  Even without the goblins, they believe that evil forces (maybe even the Nocturnals) haunt the ruins.

The heroes gathered back at the inn in the early evening to get rest for their long day.  But the patrons wanted a song.  So Thom entertained them with "Three Jolly Butchers".  (Lyrics are below.)

Early the next morning, the heroes ate a hasty breakfast, gathered their gear and headed for the Old Road.  As they left, a number of townspeople saw them off, even waving and wishing luck!  Departing down the Old Road, the heroes spent most of the morning walking through the road and then the grass to the Sunless Citadel.  They spotted the gorge and some old stone pillars nearby.

"That has to be it," Bismarck said, having No. 5 hoist him into the air for a better look.

Investigating the old stone pillars, the heroes found Goblin graffiti scrawled onto them with words like "Scram", "Keep out", "You were warned" and "Go in Goblin citadel and you die".  Rinya and Thom found a number of old campfires nearby; some of them were from the last few months.

"Think these belonged to Sir Braford's party?" asked Estrilda.

"Is Magic Missile a wizard spell?" Thom replied.  

They searched around more but could only find an old stone pathway (no knotted rope here like in the original module).  It looked ancient but might not have been part of the ruins.  

"Hey!" Garuuk called out, pointing a scaly finger at the walkway, "Where does this pathway go?"

"It goes down," Thom answered, trying not to laugh at his own joke.

The marching order down the pathway into the gorge was decided.  Rinya took point with one of the torches followed by Garuuk.  Estrilda and Thom followed with the latter readying a Light spell.  Bismarck and No. 5 brought up the rear.  The walkway itself was old with dust and loose rocks.  Rinya and Garuuk had to watch their footing; Garuuk even failed an Acrobatics check and slipped, taking a few HP of damage!  As they got deeper into the gorge, the sunlight above faded.  Rinya lit her torch and Thom's Light spell was ignited.  Rinya drew her short sword and Garuuk pulled out his katana.  They continued on for several minutes until they came to a landing by a sandy ledge.  Littered with rocks, animal bones and other refuse, Rinya took point...and was attacked!



More to come.  In the meanwhile...

*Spoiler: THREE JOLLY BUTCHERS*
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It's of three jolly butchers as I've heard many say:
They were going to some market town their money for to pay.
They rode together for a mile or two and a little more besides,
Said Johnson unto Jipson "Stop I heard a woman cry".
"Then stop I won't" said Jipson, "And stop I won't" said Ryde.
"Then stop I will" said Johnson, "For I heard a woman cry".
So Johnson he alighted and viewed the place around,
And saw a naked woman with her hair tied to the ground.
"How came you here?" said Johnson, "How came you here?" said he.
"Two highway men have robbed me that you can plainly see".
Then Johnson being a valiant man a man of courage bold,
He took the coat from off his back to keep her from the cold.
Then Johnson being a valiant man a man of valiant mind,
He sat her up upon his horse and mounted up behind,
And as they rode along the road as fast as they could ride.
She put her fingers to her lips and gave three piercing cries.
Out sprang ten bold highwaymen with weapons in their hands.
They strode up to young Johnson and boldly bid him stand.
"Stand I will" said Johnson "as long as ever I can.
For I was never in all my life afraid of any man".
Then Johnson being a valiant man he made those bullets fly,
'Til nine of them bold highwaymen all on the ground did lie.
This wicked woman standing by young Johnson did not mind,
She took a knife all from his side and stabbed him from behind.
This day it being a market day and people passing by,
They saw this woman's dreadful deed and raised a hue and cry.
Then she was down to Newgate brought and bound in irons strong,
For killing the finest butcher as ever the sun shone on.

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## northernbard80

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Enjoy your turkey dinners while reading more of our heroes descent into the Sunless Citadel.

*Spoiler: Rats, mephits and traps...OH MY!!*
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Three dire rats the size of dogs all attack Rinya, two of them hitting.  Lucky for the intrepid elven rogue, she makes her saves against their filth fever.  The heroes roll for initiative...and lose, letting the dire rats get the first strikes.  Each one hits but the heroes luckily save against filth fever.  Rinya, Garuuk, No. 5 and Estrilda all miss.  Only Thom and Bismarck hit; the former runs a dire rat through with his rapier on a critical hit while Bismarck's Snowball spell wounds another one.  Another round goes by both all combatants (on each side) miss with all attacks.

Garuuk chops a dire rat in half with his katana and Estrilda crushes the last one to death.

"Everyone okay?" she asks.

Other than minor wounds, the party is all right.  They decide to save their healing spells.  Kicking the rats corpses off the edge into the chasm, Rinya studies the ground.  She makes her Perception check and finds footprints in the dirt.  Thom studies a nearby fire ring but deduces that it hasn't been used for ages.  With torches and Thom's Light cantrip illuminating the way, they continue on and reach the bottom.  In front of them lies the crumbled ruins of the Sunless Citadel.  The air is cool yet stale smelling, upsetting Thom's sense of smell.  

"What do you think this place was?" Estrilda asked.

"Who knows?" Bismarck said.

They went ahead into the crumbled courtyard, filled with rocky debris.  Rinya takes point...and loses her footing, setting off a pit trap!  She manages to make her Reflex save; taking out her tools, she tries to disarm the trap but her luck runs out and she can't.  Everyone just decides to avoid the trap and moves on.  Moving into the ruined tower shell, the heroes find the bones of dead goblins.  Garuuk finds a goblin skeleton pinned to the wall; yanking out the broken spear, he finds writing on the wall - "Ashardalon".  Thom's bardic knowledge check and Bismarck's arcana check both fail.  Nobody knows who or what Ashardalon is.  Thom speculates it may have been the king who lived in this ancient castle.

They find an ornate stone door decorated with reliefs of dragons.  Rinya can't pick the lock and nobody knows how to open the door.  Deciding to leave it, they move on elsewhere.  With Rinya and Garuuk taking point, they find another ornate stone door with an aquatic looking dragon on it.  Rinya is able to pick the lock with a Disable Device check and opens it.  They find a rusty iron keg upright.  Garuuk tries moving it and can hear water sloshing around inside.  He pulls out the bung before Estrilda and Bismarck can stop him...only to release a tiny creature from the top of the keg!  

"That's a water mephit," Thom says, succeeding on his Bardic Knowledge check.  

"Me kill..." the mephit says and swoops at the heroes.

Even with its damage reduction, Garuuk's critical hit and the party's magic quickly kill the creature.

"Rats and a water mephit?" Thom snaps, sheathing his rapier, "What else is waiting for us down here?"

"Don't tempt fate!  Let's get moving," Estrilda commanded.

The heroes enter a room with crude writing on the walls in green paint.  "Here there be dragons" it reads.  They find junk including a broken cage; Bismarck decides to take it with him.  Rinya sees something and finds it is a kobold.  He is cowering in fear of the heroes.  Garuuk draws his katana but Estrilda motions to him to put the weapon away.  Thom steps forward and talks to the kobold.

"Hello.  We come in peace.  What is your name?"

"M...M...Meepo."

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## northernbard80

Just a heads up - more updates are coming.  The party is going to descend soon to the lower level of the Sunless Citadel to face Belak the Outcast; I've still got more material in the game log that I have yet to post up.  Stay tuned!

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## northernbard80

*Spoiler: Enter Meepo*
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"Me Meepo," the scruffy kobold said, "Me need help."

A successful Diplomacy check from Thom Summermourn gets Meepo to calm down and open up to the party.  Bismarck holds up the cage and asks what this was.

"Cage for our dragon!"

"You've got a dragon?" asked Estrilda.

"The clan's dragon!  The goblins stole from us!  Goblins take Calcryx, dragon!"

"Must be a midget dragon," Thom said, noticing the small size of the cage.

"Tell us more about the goblins and this dragon," Estrilda asked.

"Meepo don't know but Yusdrayl know!  Yusdrayl know everything.  Me Meepo take to see Yusdrayl.  Me get you safe passage from other kobolds."

The heroes know that they have had some hard challenges so far with dire rats, booby traps and even that evil mephit from the water keg.  If they can avoid more fights, it will be to their advantage.  Meepo takes the heroes through kobold territory; as they pass through the old chambers of the Sunless Citadel, they encounter kobolds.  The small reptile creatures stare at the heroes but Meepo waves them off, telling the other kobolds they will help get the dragon back.  Walking through the kobold held chambers, they come to a large room with a throne, an altar and a sinister looking kobold in robes.

"More bounty hunters?  Let me guess...you're after Belak."

"You must be Yusdrayl," Estrilda said.

"I am.  I am the leader of my people.  As you know, we kobolds are descended from dragons.  I led my people to this holy site months ago.  This site was once a cult who worshipped our dragon ancestors.  The dragon worshipped here was named Ashardalon."

So that's who Ashardalon was!  Thom made a mental note to research that name later.

"We're after Belak.  He's wanted by the Radiant Order for many crimes and we know he is hiding here," Garuuk interjected.

"Belak lives below, doing his experiments.  The dragon-stealing goblins work for him.  He uses the goblins, the rats and the traps as a buffer to protect himself from any bounty hunters like you trying to capture him."

"We're also looking for Sir Braford," Estrilda continued, "He came down here with some locals to capture Belak.  Where is he now?"

"They were captured by the goblins.  We never saw or heard from them again."

"What about this dragon of yours?" Bismarck said.

"Those wicked goblins stole our dragon minion.  If you return our dragon to us, I will grant you a reward!"

The heroes agreed and would be accompanied by Meepo on this dragon rescue mission.

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## northernbard80

*Spoiler: Tracks and skeletons*
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With Meepo escorting the heroes, they went on in search of the stolen dragon.  They head into the northeast part of the Citadel with stains and crumbled flagstone everywhere.  Rinya makes a Perception check and notices tracks in the dust.  They belong to bigger creatures not kobold or goblin; they are recent.

Estrilda commands everyone to follow the tracks.  Meepo protests about the dragon but is shouted down that the dragon has to wait for now.  Moving into the next chamber, the heroes find an ornate statue of a dragon over an old basin.  Rinya finds more tracks, deducing that most likely Sir Braford came this way.  Studying the dragon statue, Bismarck uses his detect magic spell and sees the statue has magic in it.  Finding a Draconic inscription on the stone, Bismarck chants it...the statue glows and dispense a strange liquid.  It stops and remains inert afterwards.  Rinya thinks to collect the liquid in an empty container.  Across from that now inert, non-magical statue sits a stone door with strange writing on it.  Estrilda asks Bismarck to take a look at it and the door's writing in Draconic.  It reads "Channel the good, open the way."  It takes a channel attempt to open the door...and it works!

Inside the new room, the heroes see sarcophagi and a strange shrine on the wall with treasures there.

"Come on, let's grab that loot!" Rinya said, springing for it with hands open.

Unfortunately, that caused the sarcophagi to open and release 5 vicious skeletons.

"Nice move, Rinya!" Thom taunted, drawing his rapier.

The skeletons won initiative and hurt Estrilda, Thom & Garuuk.  All the heroes missed with their attacks but Estrilda's channeling did hurt the skeleton.  By the second round, No. 5 dropped a skeleton with his slams and Bismarck's spells took down another.  Estrilda was the unluckiest of all; her second channel attempt failed and all the skeletons ganged up on her, knocking her out!  It took Bismarck's magic and No. 5 to destroy the last skeletons.  Thom's healing spells (he is a bard after all) are enough to bring Estrilda back to consciousness.  Among the treasure found at that shrine was an everburning candle (very handy down here!).  

"We've been through a lot," Estrilda said, as Thom and Garuuk helped her to her feet, "Let's stop for the night.  We can rest in the fountain room."

Everyone agreed and rested in the dragon fountain room, keeping watch in turns.  The rest period passed without incident.

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## northernbard80

*Spoiler: More rats and goblins*
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  Finishing their rest, the heroes continued on with Meepo guiding them.  With Garuuk taking point, the heroes came to an ancient prison cell block with very small cells.  He was able to find tracks on the dusty floor belonging to the missing Sir Braford and his entourage.  Unfortunately, that is when more dire rat attacked Garuuk, getting a surprise round.  All missed.  Garuuk manages to chop a rat in half with his katana.  Estrilda and Bismarck take down another one together.  One is able to bite Estrilda only for the cleric to make her save versus filth fever.  Number 5 crushes the last one into bloody paste.

In the next room, everyone notices the trapdoors with iron spikes holding them open.  

"Now that is clever," Thom said.  The ferran fox bard spotted another carved dragon fountain in the room and moved towards it.  

"STOP!" Rinya shouted.  Both she and Garuuk grabbed their bard to stop him.  Rinya moved towards the statue fountain to check it.  Making her checks, she found tubes and a suspicious looking cannister embedded within the statue.  She warned everyone to leave the fountain alone as it was a likely deathtrap.  Garuuk finds more tracks in the dust and motions for his allies to follow him.

They come to the dire rats next where they fight dire rats and a really big one.  (Unlike the module which has Guthash, I used a golemoid dire rat so it would fit in more with the setting.  The golemoid monster template is one in the Thunderscape campaign setting that can be applied to any creature; see the book for more details.)  The rats get first blood and tear into Thom, Garuuk and Rinya.  Lucky for our players, Rinya kills the golemoid dire rat with a critical hit!  Garuuk, Number 5 and even Thom (with a rapier thrust) kill the remaining rats.  The heroes then search through the refuse...only to find a skeleton with some gear intact.  They find a golden ring with the name "Karakas" on it.  Everyone exchanges looks with a mixture of sadness and worry.

"Well, we found out what happened to one of Sir Braford's allies," Estrilda remarked sadly.

"I don't hold much hope for the rest of them," Bismarck added. 

Meepo interrupted everyone and reminded them of the dragon.  

"Goblins!  We go now to goblins territory!  Go now!"







A few notes here: my party FINISHED the Sunless Citadel and made duck soup out of Belak.  I still have a number of entries and encounters from our gaming journal to share.  But they made it through!

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## northernbard80

*Spoiler: Goblins and Dragons*
Show

 The heroes enter the goblin held areas.   Opening the door, they see goblins hiding behind the half-wall.  Thom and Rinya spot the caltrops on the floor and warn everyone else before going inside.  

"Bismarck!" Estrilda shouted, "Use your golem to clear the caltrops away."

Bismarck nodded and sent No. 5 ahead to clear the caltrops.  It takes two whole rounds for the golem minion to clear away the caltrops.  While that goes on, the heroes open fire on the goblins with bows and crossbows...only for all attacks to miss.  The goblins fire javelins at No. 5 only to cause scratch damage against the metal golem.  While it is slow-going, Garuuk is able to clear the barricade and attacks; he kills one of the goblins with a critical hit.  Rinya also clears the barricade and is able to kill the other goblin with a sneak attack.  The heroes then attack the practice range and kill the four goblins there but two of them reduce Rinya to below zero (thanks to a strong damage roll and a critical hit).  

Continuing on, the heroes arrive at the goblin stockade and find a faerkin locked up in a prison cell.  The faerkin shouts to let him out.  Rinya succeeds on her Disable Device roll and picks the lock, freeing the faerkin prisoner.  

"Who are you?  How did you get here?" Thom starts asking.

"The name's Erky Timbers, friend fox.  A year ago, I was travelling on the Old Road and was captured by goblins.  They kept me in here for so long.  It was only my healing spells keeping me alive.  And who are you?"

The heroes introduced themselves and said they were in the Sunless Citadel to capture the wanted mechamage Belak the Outcast as well as find the team sent in before to apprehend Belak.

"Oh yes, I know of Belak but I never saw him.  He lives down beneath us on the lower level.  The goblins answer to him and act as a buffer to stop any mercenaries sent in to capture him."

"Erky," asked Bismarck, "What happened to Sir Braford, Talgen and Sharwyn?"

"They were locked up with me for about a week.  We talked for a while but then the goblins took them out.  Belak ordered them brought to him and that's the last I ever heard of them."

As the party was hurt, low on spells and wanting to get new equipment, a decision was made.  Meepo agreed to stay down in the Citadel and meet up with them later; the heroes and Erky Timbers returned to Oakhurst.  (It was at this point all the party leveled up, rising to level 2!)  Estrilda sent a message to the Radiant Order, paying a courier to ride it there.  Everyone chipped in for a wand of Cure Light Wounds.  Erky Timbers was refreshed, given a fresh set of clothes with supplies, said goodbye and left Oakhurst to return to his hometown.

The heroes returned to the Sunless Citadel, met up with Meepo and continued their quest.

On their way through the trapped hall, Rinya fell into the pit trap and got hurt.  This alerted the goblin bandits in the next room.  This was another quick fight; all of them perished, one by critical hit from Garuuk's katana.  The next room was the trophy room...and inside was the kobold's missing dragon!

"That's it!  Meepo want dragon!"

Getting a closer look at it, the heroes noticed it was a wyrmling...and it was a CLOCKWORK dragon!  (I used the clockwork creature template for the white dragon wyrmling to keep with the steampunk setting of Thudnerscape: World of Aden.)  Bismarck gave the dragon's cage to Meepo; when Meepo saw it was fixed, the faerkin explained he fixed it.  They fought the dragon, all causing damage but getting hit by its breath weapon.  It was Garuuk who killed the clockwork dragon wyrmling with his katana...which caused Meepo to cry his eyes out!

"Why destroy dragon?" he bawled like a child who had his lollipop taken away.

Rinya, Thom and Estrilda were trying to calm Meepo down.  Bismarck used his mechamage tinker ability to fix the clockwork dragon.  He got it working again and quickly got it into its cage with the help of Garuuk and No. 5.  The team backtracked to the kobold rooms and returned the dragon to Yusdrayl.

"Thank you very much," the kobold said, "As a way of showing our gratitutde, take this."

Yusdrayl handed Estrilda an ancient looking key.  

"What is that?" Rinya asked.

"It looks like a key," Thom said sarcastically.

"That key will open the tomb by the entrance way of this citadel," Yusdrayl explained.

That was the doorway they had seen on entering the ruins.

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