The Sunless Citadel, originally Castle Balmora, is the former seat of Lord Decio Balmora, sunk 20–40 meters into a rift on the cliff above Valdemora in the Barrado Balacán (formerly Ardisvala).
| Type | Place (sunken castle) |
| Houses of the Cycle | ☷ House of the Descent |
| Spanish entry | Ciudadela Sin Sol |
History
A minor noble residence, possibly with tower and courtyard, the castle sank during the disaster of Ritornello fifteen years ago (“the matter of the ashes”), when a rift split the valley. It survives as partly accessible rubble in permanent shadow, hence its new name. Other valley structures were also damaged.
Layers
From top to bottom:
- rubble of walls and fallen towers;
- adjacent caverns held by kobolds and a small dragon (a lesser dragon cult);
- deeper caverns of brutal licentious monstrosities, possibly succubi, incubi and other infernal beings;
- the crypt where Lali is, or was, corrupted;
- a three-colored pentagram connecting to the Palace of the Prism.
Return after the Hiatus
When Luminita and Dracos, children of Mirela Valka, vanish, the Seekers and Decio descend through the ruin. They meet a kobold queen and a dragonling (passage bought with pearls), the well that calls Caladan in Lali’s voice, Lali’s crypt with a bloody baroness and infernal whips, and the tunnel to the room of the woodsman Argus, leading to the pentagram.
Cross-gesta identity
It is the same setting as the Sunken Citadel explored by Los Condenados (“the Condemned”, Ravenloft Novices): Stejara / Estellara / Valdemora is the home village; Mirela Vălcan/Valka the mother of the lost children; a ravine with sweetish vapor the entrance. Carbon bonds came undone, with technical crystallization. Room 12 held Kerbog Khan, “the Elf-Troll”, in a sarcophagus, rescued by the Condemned.
Conflicting accounts
- The Condemned’s version counts 30 years since the weapon; Ardis Vala’s, 15 years since Ritornello. Unresolved.