The Sunless Citadel

So I’m feeling brave today and I want to give you a glimpse of some of my early writing. This is the first chapter of my novelisation of a DnD campaign I played in five years ago now. It was a glorious adventure with characters that I have grown to love. As with all DnD campaigns, we followed a setting guide. This setting/ adventure was called, funnily enough, The Sunless Citadel and was written by Bruce Cordell. Some names and places in this chapter belong to his setting guide, published by Wizards of the Coast in 2000.

I claim absolutely no rights to those parts of this story, but they were a springboard for the story I have set out to tell about the characters we made. The characters belong to me and the players I shared the adventure with. I’ve taken liberties with NPCs that our Dungeon Master played out - his influence is also a key part in how the story played out, just with any Dungeon Master. I’ve changed and moved a lot of things around to suit a ‘novelisation.’ As such, it’s not something I can ever truly ‘publish’ in the traditional sense. However, I’m sharing the first chapter of what I’ve written here in homage to that adventure. I guess it’s kind of like ‘fan-fiction’ for a setting and a world rather than characters? If that makes sense.

Anyway, I absolutely have no intentions of infringing any copyright here and if I have done so, it is entirely accidental. Wizards or Mr Cordell, if you do somehow read this - wow! And also, please don’t sue me. If I need to take it down, just tell me and I gladly will do so.

With no further ado- here is Chapter 1.

Chapter 1: Vaari

My right boot was covered in horse shit.

I stomped to the side of the road, finding a patch of dry grass to wipe it off. It was my fault. I should have looked where I was bloody going, but I was tired. We all were.

‘Mind your step, Vaari,’ chirped Tylfaen. The half-elf was smirking at me as he nimbly sidestepped the enormous pile of horse crap in the road, my small footprint clearly visible in its centre.

‘Go shoot yourself in the balls, ranger!’ I growled.

‘Thanks, but no thanks,’ he teased. ‘I much prefer watching you make an idiot of yourself.’

I scowled, still stomping my boot on the grass to get the worst of the manure off. It was better, but would no doubt smell for a couple of days. It could have been worse. It could have been goblin shit. Or guts. Those stink and it lingers.

We’d been on the road for at least a week now. Tempers were fraying, mine included. It had been at least three days since we had eaten a decent meal. Tylfaen had caught us a few rabbits, but the last of the meat from those had been picked through the day before. Thankfully, we were closing in on the next nearest town; some godsforsaken place called Oakhurst. I couldn’t wait for a comfortable bed, even if I had to share the room with Aguariel’s snores. My cleric friend may well be blessed by the gods, but his sinuses aren’t.

Standing on one side of the dusty road, I checked back to locate Aguariel. It always made me anxious if I was over five feet away from him. We were an odd pairing, a high elf cleric and a shadow elf… half shadow elf… whatever I was. Our peoples were mortal enemies, the Malkathi being despised by most races. Despite this, I’d known Aguariel for over a century. I’d saved his life, after a fashion, but that kindness was nothing compared to all he had done for me. We had earned each other’s trust long ago. As I watched him dragging his feet along the road, it was clear he was flagging, the weight of his heavy armour, shield and mace taking its toll.

The heat was far more intense than I had expected for the northern climes, even though midsummer was fast approaching. We’d all been sweating and cursing our way along the last stretch of dusty road, but the last thing we needed was one of us passing out. I’d offered to carry Aguariel’s shield or mace to help with the load, but he had declined, spouting some crap about ‘shouldering the burdens the gods desired him to carry.’ He’d need a long rest. I hope we can afford the rooms. Our last job in Melnir didn’t pay all that well as we had to leave town quickly. Very quickly.

As I wandered back towards Aguariel, a large cart came rumbling round the bend behind us. A halfling was driving the pair of strong, expensive horses that were pulling it along. Fine silk clothes, too much glittering metal. Merchant. Definitely a merchant and a stupid one at that. Once upon a time I’d have had the cart stopped and the gold from round his neck in a matter of moments, but those days were behind me now.

There had been several merchant carts driving past us on the road. A surprising number. On the map we carried, Oakhurst appeared to be a small village, but the bustling traffic heading towards it suggested that either our map was out of date, or there was something going on. Busy could be good. It was easier to hide in the hustle and bustle, but that also meant it was easier for the creatures hunting me to hide as well.

‘Out of the way!’ The horseman yelled. I looked ahead to see the last member of our company, Richard, still ambling down the centre of the road. The cart was advancing on him fast.

‘Richard, look out!’ I yelled, but Tylfaen was already ahead of me. He grabbed the meandering barbarian by the arm and dragged him out of the centre of the road. Just in time. The wheels of the cart crunched through the dirt where Richard had just been standing, leaving clouds of dust and flicking up flecks of stone that pinged off Aguariel’s shield.

‘Do try to pay attention, Richard,’ Aguariel snapped as we caught up with the others. ‘I may well be blessed with divine power, but I’m not capable of healing stupidity.’

I chuckled under my breath, but helped dust Richard down. There was mud all over his leather armour and the long black braid of hair he wore was thick with dust, but there was nothing to be done for that now. Richard was still looking a little dazed, scratching his head and staring off into the distance.

‘Sorry, I was just thinking of…’

‘If you say one more word about your “beloved lady,” Richard, I’m going to fucking vomit or kill you.’ I snarled, dragging my own matted hair up off my neck and tying it at the back of my head. ‘She’s not here. It’s so sad. Woe is you. Now, can we please get to this fucking town before nightfall?’

‘Vaari, control yourself,’ Aguariel chided. He’d removed his gauntlets, reaching up to sweep back the long strands of his greying blonde hair and was fixing me with the piercing, golden stare that reminded me of a pissed off owl. ‘Your temper is unhelpful and unbecoming.’

I resisted the powerful urge to roll my eyes at the hypocrisy and turned instead to Tylfaen.

‘What does the map say? Is it much further to go?’ I asked him, half dreading the response. Tylfaen rummaged in his cloak pockets to drag out the map and consult it. Paper crackled and tore, but he eventually prodded a finger on the map.

‘Well, we’ve walked at least an hour since this last farmstead, so according to this..,’ he dragged his finger along the road marked on the map, muttering a little under his breath. ‘Oakhurst should be about another five miles away,’ he mused, scratching his beard.

‘Praise Corellon,’ Aguariel sighed. ‘Let’s keep moving then. We can rest when we arrive if the gods will it.’

Tylfaen nodded and folded up the map while I made a grab for Aguariel’s gauntlets, still clutched in his hands. Snatching them from his grasp, I looped the lining through the webbing of my belt, trussing them.

‘You don’t need them and it’s far too hot,’ I snapped at him. ‘I’ll take care of them. I promise.’

Aguariel sighed and patted my shoulder.

‘Very well Vaari, but you worry too much. Corellon will sustain me.’

I nodded, focused on shuffling the straps of my pack on my shoulders to adjust the weight before gesturing for him to go ahead of me. My brain always switches off when he starts talking about his God. I’ve no time for deities and they’ve no time for me.

‘Lead on Tylfaen,’ I called. ‘Richard, keep your eyes on the road and around you. There are rumours of bandits in these parts. Fredis won’t thank you if you get your ass handed to you by a highwayman because you were daydreaming about her!’

Richard nodded, looking embarrassed, and fell into place behind Tylfaen.

As we trudged along the edge of the road, the number of wagons passing us began to increase. More than just merchants, there were now farmers with carts full of produce and some groups travelling by horse. Something big was happening, it seemed, and as one family trundled by in a large wagon, I heard one of the small human children squeal about a festival. A big community event would explain the crowds gathering, but it didn’t bode well for our chances of finding a bed. We’d need to find a room quickly when we arrived.

More and more carts passed us as another road from the east joined with the road we had been following northwards. The sun was beating down on us and I’d pushed back the hood of my cloak to get a cool breeze to my neck and forehead. This was a mistake. As another group rode past us, a bunch of young human nobles all dressed up for the event, one caught sight of me. My skin tone. The next thing I knew, he’d spat on me.

‘Get back underground where you belong, filth!’ He yelled, his friends jeering as they rode on past us. My hand had already reached for one of the throwing daggers at my side when Aguariel caught my arm.

‘Let it go, Vaari,’ he warned.

I hissed at the retreating backs of the nobles, now spurring their horses onwards towards Oakhurst, but nodded. Aguariel released my arm, and I used the edge of my cloak to wipe the spittle from my face. I had hoped that being this far north would make me more of a curiosity than something to despise, but it was nothing I wasn’t used to.

I huffed, flipping my hood back into place despite the bright sunlight, and nodded to Aguariel to continue. As we trudged forward, I comforted myself with the knowledge that noble pricks like that usually got their comeuppance in one way or another. However, it was bitterness and frustration that propelled my steps as we finally approached the entrance to the town of Oakhurst.