Sunless Ep. 1

Intro stuff…

Rescue Mission

Another party of adventurers, locally based, delved into the Sunless Citadel a month past.

They were never seen again. Two human members of that ill-fated party were brother and sister, Talgen Hucrele (a fighter) and Sharwyn Hucrele (a wizard). They were part of an important merchant family based in the nearby village of Oakhurst. Kerowyn Hucrele, the matriarch of the family, offers salvage rights to you and your team if you can find and return with the two lost members of her family- or at least return the gold signet rings worn by the missing brother and sister. She also offers a reward of 125 gp per signet ring, per character. If the characters bring back the Hucreles in good shape (of good mind and body), she offers to double the reward. The other two members of the adventuring party were a male human paladin of Pelor named Sir Bradford and a male half elf ranger named Karakas.

Solving a Mystery

The goblin tribe infesting the nearby ruins, called the Sunless Citadel, (though no one knows why) sells a single piece of magical fruit to the highest bidder in Oakhurst once every midsummer. They’ve been doing this for the last twelve years. Usually, the fruit sells for a lot of gold. The fruit, apparently an apple of perfect hue, heals those who suffer from any disease or other ailment. The townspeople usually have a condition of sale to outsiders of giving them the seeds. They wish to plant seeds, hoping to engender an enchanted apple tree. Previously, seeds germinate in their proper season, they produce a twiggy mass of twisted sapling stems. Not too long after the saplings reach 2 feet in height, they are stolen every time. The mayor suspects that goblins send out thieves to ensure their monopoly of enchanted fruit, so he and his son, Shelbyn, have made a planting spot in the center of the village.

Other rumors:

– Sometimes the goblins bring a corpse-white apple in winter. It’s poisonous to the touch
– Garon, barkeep, remembers a grim human named Belak asking about the citdel 13 years ago. He had a large pet frog.
– No one knows for sure what the citadel once was, but legends hint of it as the retreat of an ancient dragon cult
– Sir Bradford has an amazing magical sword called Shatterspike!

Stuff you’ve figured out

– By speaking to a horse, Nithmya found out that the animals in Oakhurst fear the trees
– Through excellent historical knowledge, Adanor knew that the old road skirts the Ashen Plain – a lifeless area. The desolation is attributed to the long-ago rampage of a dragon named Ashardalon.
– This name came up again, when Corin ripped the spear from a Goblin and behind it was the name of the dragon inscribed on the wall.

Things you’ve found but are not sure about:
– A magical dragon mouth door! It swirls with colours that Adanor figured out were the colors of the chromatic dragons.

Things you’ve seen so far: