 The Sunless Citadel, a massive fortress that once stood over a stretch of road called the Old Road. The fortress that once cast its shadow across the road does so no longer. Some whisper that the earth swallowed the fortress hole in an age-long pass. Four brave adventures resolved to discover the truth and set off down the Old Road, but they never returned. Perhaps you could be the one to uncover its mystery. The Sunless Citadel by Bruce R. Cordell was originally published in the year 2000 as a beginning adventure for the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons. The adventure is widely regarded as an excellent way to introduce players to D&D. It is also a great starting experience for a new DM. In this video, I will go over the story that unfolds in the version of the Sunless Citadel found in Tales from the Yawning Portal. While the version of this adventure has changed to Fit 5th Edition's rules, the story is largely the same. Follow me as we explore the story of Dungeons & Dragons, the Sunless Citadel. Chapter 1, Oakhurst Your adventure begins in the village of Oakhurst. It is a small community comprised mostly of human with a sizable minority of halflings and a scattering of other races. While in the town, you interact with the villagers and learn some details regarding a location known as the Sunless Citadel. They tell you that you can find the Sunless Citadel within a remote and lonely ravine. No one knows for sure what the Sunless Citadel once was, but legends hint that it served as the retreat of an ancient dragon cult. A party of adventures locally based delved into the Sunless Citadel a month past. The missing adventures include a fighter, Talgan Hecrel, a wizard, Sharwin Hecrel, a paladin of Pelor, Sir Brathord, and a ranger, Caracas. Once they left for the Sunless Citadel, they were never seen again. The road that may lead to the Sunless Citadel, the old road, skirts the Ashen Plain. The Ashen Plain is a lifeless area and the desolation is attributed to the long ago rampage of a dragon named a Shardalon. And the barkeep of the local inn remembers the last time anyone asked questions about the Sunless Citadel. About 13 years ago, a grim human named Belik stopped by and had a very large pet frog. You also learn that cattle herders don't graze their stock too far afield these days. They're frightened by stories of new monsters that mirrored by night. From time to time, cattle and people who have gone out alone at night have been found dead the next day, bearing dozens of needle-like wounds. No one has seen the creatures that caused this mayhem, nor do they leave a discernable trail. Once you have gathered the information that you need, set forth and follow the old road towards the Sunless Citadel. Chapter 2, Cobalt Den As you travel down the old road, you encounter some twig blights that attack you. You easily dispatch them and continue down the road. The old road passes to the east of a narrow ravine. At the road's closest approach to the cleft, several broken pillars jut from the earth where the ravine widens. Two of the pillars stand straight, but mostly in a top-sloped earth. Others are broken, and several have apparently fallen into dark depths. A few similar pillars are visible on the opposite side of the ravine. A sturdy knotted rope is tied to one of the leaning pillars on the side of the ravine. The rope tied to one of the leaning pillars hangs down into the darkness of the ravine. Judged by its condition, the rope couldn't have been tied there any longer than two or three weeks ago. From the edge of the ravine, older and weathered handholds and footholds can be seen carved into the cliff face. You easily climb down the knotted rope using the wall to brace yourself as you descend. Eventually, you come upon a ledge with some stairs that lead you into a large fortress. This is the Sunless Citadel. You explore the large fortress that is adorned with many symbols depicting dragons. Eventually, you come upon a weeping cobalt by the name of Meebo. Along with the cobalt is a metal cage all but destroyed and unable to restrain any captive. You inquire to Meebo about what has put him in such a tearful state. He responds, The clan's dragon, the cobalt bellows. We lost it. The wretched goblin stole Calchris, our dragon. He offers to take you to his clan's leader, Yustrail. He'll learn more about the events and you agree. While leading you through the fortress deep into the den of the cobalts, you eventually arrive at a throne room. A short throne stands near the west wall, constructed of fallen bits of masonry stacked against an old altar. On top of the altar sits a variety of small items. The portion of the altar that serves as the throne's back features a carving of a rearing dragon. The metallic key is held firmly in the dragon's open jaws. Sitting upon the throne in the room is the cobalt's leader, Yustrail. You ask her about what is going on and she responds. Cobals are heir to dragons, she says. As the mightiest among my people, I have led a brave few to this ancient holy site, where dragons were worshiped long ago. She also tells you of a figure called the Outcast that left the clan long ago. In the lower level, he commands a group of goblins and twig bites. The last group of Avengers went down to fight the goblins but never returned. Yustrail states that the goblins had stolen their dragon, Calchrix, and if you returned the dragon to them, they would reward you. You agree to her request to find and return Calchrix. Afterwards, Yustrail instructs her cobalt to take you to a hidden entrance into the goblins' layer. Meepo decides to tag along with you and together, the two of you delve deeper into the fortress. Chapter 3 Goblin Layer Once you reach the goblin's layer, you explore the area and battle your way through the many goblin bandits. Eventually, you come upon a battered gnome lying in a cage. You free him and he introduces himself as Erky timbers and begins to tell you what he knows. Months passed, I was on my way to seek my fortune and took the old road, he says. My bad luck that the goblin bandits caught me and I've been here ever since. My deity's blessing have kept me healthy, otherwise I'm sure I'd be dead from starvation and abuse. I've heard the goblins talk about the Twilight Grove down below. A wicked old human called Bellic, I suspect, tends an enchanted garden and harvests fruits from something the goblins call the Galthyus Tree. They speak of it only in the most terrified of whispers. An enchanted fruit grows on the Galthyus Tree. The Midsummer Fruit restores spirit and vigor to those who eat it. The pale midwinter fruit steals the same. Bellic allows the goblin to sell the fruit on the surface, but I don't know why. In regards to the lost adventures, he tells you. The goblins caught three of them over a month ago and they were capped with me and here for a while. They said their names were Talgon, Sharwin, and Sir Bratford. The goblins kept them in here for only about a week before they removed them. Bellic wanted them, and that's the last I've heard about that. Urky Timber then suggests joining you on your adventure as thanks for freeing him. You agree and continue exploration of the goblin's lair. After a bit more exploration, you come upon a trophy room that is littered with mass. Mounted in stuffed animal heads adorn the walls. The mounting job is sloppy, and the assortment of heads include cattle, rats, and other not particularly impressive specimens. A few grizzly trophies share the wall with the animals, including a couple of cobalt heads. Smashed in broken cabinets and small tables litter the periphery of the room, mute victims of some sort of rampage. A rusted iron spike stands in the center of the room, trailing a broken chain. Thin patches of frost coat sections of the walls, floor, and debris. Within the room, you find a white dragon wormling resting behind a broken table. This is Calcrix. Attached to her feet are broken iron chains, indicating she has managed to break free of her hold. Currently, the wormling finds her current situation superior to her station as the cobalt's pet. She is immediately hostile when spotting you and the battle commences. Whether you decide to capture her or slay her, you carry on your exploration of the goblin's den. You traverse the dangerous grounds and enter a room that houses the goblin chief. A circular shaft pierces the floor of this domed chamber. A dim violet light shines out of the shaft, revealing sickly white and gray vines that coat the walls of the shaft. The light is supplemented by four lit wall torches set equidestined around the periphery of the chamber. A crudely fashioned stone throne sits against the curve of the northwestern wall, and a large iron chest serves as the throne's footstool. Sitting on the throne is the current chief of the goblin tribe, a hobgoblin named Dern. Accompanying him are some hobgoblins and a goblin shaman named Grenel. The goblin tribe, known as the Durbalic tribe, was not always ruled by Dern. Recently, Dern and his hobgoblins usurped control of the Durbalic tribe. Due to this, Grenel hates them. Grenel wishes to protect her goblin tribe above all else and doesn't care much for the fate of the hobgoblin leader. When you enter the room, the battle immediately commences, and you eventually slay the hobgoblins. Once they are dispatched, Grenel immediately offers a truce. You agree to the truce and hear what the goblin has to say. She tells you that she wishes for Bellic to be dispatched in order for her to control the gathiah's tree. Grenel also tells you that Bellic wanted all the living human prisoners sent down to him, but in a fit of anger, Dern slew Talgan. Thus, Dern only sent Sherwin and Ser Brathor down to the Twilight Grove. She points to the shaft in the room, indicating that it is the path forwards to where Bellic may be found. You follow her direction to begin climbing down the ominous shaft. Chapter 4. Hidden Grove Once you emerge from the shaft, you find yourself in the Twilight Grove. Luminescent fungus, shedding violet light, cleans to the walls and ceilings of this cavern. The air is damp, chilly, and redolent with the odors of decay. A layer of earth, mixed with rotting vegetation and the remains of cave animals covers the floor. Several varieties of mushrooms and fungi grow under the detritus, as well as a few saplings. You battle your way through the layer, fending off bugbears, twig lights, and goblins, until you eventually reach an opening containing the gathiah's tree. The walls are about 20 feet high, which is less than half the height of the cavern ceiling. Several varieties of plants grow around the perimeter of the clearing, including a few suspicious looking saplings, but their importance pales before that which stands at the courtyard's center. Beneath the fungal light grows an evil tree. Its blackened, twisted limbs reach upwards like a skeletal hand clawing its way out of the earth. Before it stands a few twig lights, a heavily armored young human male with a shield and sword, a blonde young human woman in a robe fit for a noble, and a middle age bearded human male wearing a hooded brown robe and armed with a staff and sickle. The younger humans have black eyes and gray skin with the texture of bark. These are Sir Bradford and Sharwin-Huckrill. The older human is bellic. When you enter, bellic calls out loudly, hold a moment, you know not what you do. You pause and decide to listen to bellic's play. He says, I, and bellic, called the outcast. My circle expelled me the fools. Why? Because I dared to expand nature's reach in ways they couldn't grasp. I have found what I saw in the Gothiah's tree. He then gestures to the tree before you. It's beautiful, no? It lives, though it looks dead. In an age long past, someone staked a vampire on this very spot. The stake took root, and so grew the Gothiah's tree, reverberating with primal power for those who can tap it. The twig blights grow from seeds of this tree's fruit. Bellic then gestures to the fruit of the tree and continues, I give fruit to the goblins with orders to disperse their seeds on the surface. The siphil beings that they are, the goblins part of their fruit, but the seeds are dispersed all the same. My plan for colonizing the surface with the children of the Gothiah's tree continues. Finally, Bellic looks to the previous adventurers and explains their situation. They were the first supplicants, he says. The Gothiah's tree has accepted them, and they are mine to control, just like the twig blights. You can't save them. Though your remains would enrich the compost, you'll serve my needs better as supplicants. You shall retain your lives after a fashion. Surrender and submit peacefully or perish. With that, a battle breaks loose and you fight with Bellic and his minions. During the fight, a giant frog leaps from the tree and attacks you as well. This is Bellic's pet frog, Kolkhet. You defeat Bellic and his minions and eventually destroy the Gothiah's tree. In doing so, the previous adventurers die, finally having a peaceful rest. You collect one of the fruits to take back to Ochirst and explain the situation. Adventure Conclusion Once back at Ochirst, you reveal to the villagers the evil and the seeds of the fruits traded by the goblins. Upon hearing this, the villagers that have purchased these fruits began setting the plants ablaze. As the villagers set the evil saplings alight, the mayor turns to you with a frank expression. You realize that our actions have set loose several of these abominations upon the world. Who knows what these twisted plants are doing now? The mayor is right, twig bites that are already loose in the world can still reproduce through root sprouts as aspen trees do. At any rate, having told the villagers of the harm of the seeds is at least a step forward in stopping the twig bites from spreading. Hello everyone. I'm sorry for taking such a long time to make such a short video. I'm currently incredibly sick and hope to make a speedy recovery. I plan on making multiple videos from Tales from the Yawning Portal because they're much easier to do than one entire long video. The plan was to get these out a lot faster than my usual but unfortunately I got sick. Hopefully it won't be too long till my next video. If you enjoyed my video, please give me a like and subscribe. Till then, have a wonderful day. Thanks!