Alair - Holy Wars |
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Searching the room turned up a pair of golden book-clasps among the dust and corruption on the bookshelves. The stone coffin was carved in disturbing patterns, and had Here lie the Maculate inscribed in eroded letters on the lid. Carefully, Egia and Hougaard slid the lid off to reveal the inside.
In the bare stone space inside was a rather pathetic bedroll, made up of sacking and other coarse material, such as a peasant or labourer would sleep in. By the look of it, the newly-made vampire - or whatever it was - had not fully come to terms with being the walking dead, and had attempted to create a fraction of comfort, not understanding that he would never need it again. Hougaard rifled it roughly, turning up a few sad coins, then scattered holy water across the bottom of the coffin, raising a cloud of steam and a slight sizzling. Egia inscribed her holy symbol - the Rose of Belisama - on the inside of the lid before they closed it. Expressing her real faith after so many days of masquerading as something else made her feel warm and comforted, and a little smug at the probable reaction of any vampire that crawled into the tomb to seek refuge from the sun.
Turning back to the room, they found the body of the creature they'd killed crumbling away.
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Returning to the shaft, the three took turns to lean out, grab the rope, and swing over to the far door. The room behind it was similar, if anything even more affected by time and decay, and with no signs of recent habitation. A close search located a skull, resting quietly in one corner, slightly dusty, but far less ancient than the tower itself. All three were very nervous of it, but intrigued, so in the end Ghlaads cast a Mage Hand and picked it up by proxy. It made no hostile move but rattled as it was moved, so she tipped it around, and a glowing green crystal dropped out, a match for the one Hougaard was already carrying. Out of interest, he held the two together, and the radiance increased, very slightly.
As they stepped out of the door, Egia's sharp ears picked up a faint sound; a rustling movement, like a flag flapping in a slow wind, coming from the shaft ahead of them and rapidly fading downwards. On reaching the shaft, she noticed that the feeling of evil - and the glow of the crystals now being provisionally dubbed "vampire detectors" - from the entryway to their left had disappeared, suggesting that the inhabitant had emerged and flown down the shaft into the darkness. Cautiously exploring that room, they discovered it was indeed empty, though again showing signs of recent re-occupation. An identical coffin, also inscribed Here lie the Maculate, led them to conclude that these vampire types were Maculate - whatever that meant. On the bookshelves were six or eight books, a strange mixture of the mundane and the disconnected, as if someone had simply grabbed volumes where chance allowed. Most common were books about the modern world or fairly recent history. Egia desecrated the completely empty tomb and they moved on.
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Returning to the shaft again, Hougaard swung down the rope to the next level. As he reached level with it, the sound of rustling airborne movement returned, this time approaching up the shaft. Quickly he swung in and Egia slid rapidly down after him, dropping into the entryway opposite the Unfettered. By that time, the oncoming threat was visible below them. Two more of the Maculate were ascending rapidly, each with one hand gripped firmly on the scruff of a huge, hairy werewolf.
 DM Note: We've never used the spell Bless Weapon before. What a bazzing spell! All critical threats against evil foes automatically validate; evil creatures' DR is negated, and incorporeal creatures can be attacked as if by +1 weapons!. |
Ghlaads, still on the level above, leaned over and cast a Web spell down at the section of shaft just below the archways where her friends stood. The massive clot of heavy, sticky strands blossomed across the shaft, filling it, and slowing the ascent of the Maculate and allowing the three to prepare, Ghlaads with a Magic Circle against Evil, Hougaard by invoking his ring's Haste, and Egia by casting Bless Weapon on his hands. Slowly the Maculate forced their way through the webbing until the higher of the two reached level with Egia and Hougaard.
Sunrazor flashed as Egia attacked, cutting deep, bloodless gashes into the body of the first Maculate. He hissed and grimaced, but kept coming. On the other side of the shaft, Hougaard lunged at the Maculate's arm, using a disarming technique to try and break the undead's grip on his passenger. The blow spasmed the undead tendons of the wrist, and the Maculate's hold slipped. The werewolf dropped away, his considerable bulk tearing through the strands of webbing like paper. With a despairing howl, he plunged into the darkness below and was gone.
Hougaard snaked several more quick punches into the thing's face, rocking it backwards in the air. He used his Fiery Fists power, but quickly realized that the Maculate were largely immune to fire.
From above came a cry of "Fireball!" and both Hougaard and Egia stepped smartly backwards ad Ghlaads cast her spell. The ball of flames bloomed level with the second Maculate, engulfing both it and its' passenger werewolf. The vampire was unaffected but the werewolf yelped and snarled in pain as a strong smell of burning dog hair filled the shaft. Bits of blazing webbing drifted up the shaft on the hot air.
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The upper of the two Maculate, freed of its' burden, lifted a hand and made a gesture in the air. Instantly, all three adventurers felt once more the strong sensation as if a million people were screaming into their mind's ear; stronger by far than the last time. Egia and Hougaard threw the effects off, but for Ghlaads the onslaught battered at her mind, leaving her dazed and stunned.
| DM Note: Dog got a Reflex save to grab the ledge below; unfortunately he rolled a 1 so that meant a second pooch pizza at the bottom of the tower. |
Leaning out and down the shaft, Egia unleashed Sunrazor's power, sending a Searing Light down at the lower Maculate. The undead tried to dodge in the air, despite being hampered by the webbing, and nearly made it. The beam of holy, golden light sheared throught his shoulder, severing his right arm... the arm with which he was holding the werewolf. The shaggy lycanthrope scrabbled desperately at the lip of the ledge he was level with, but his massive claws failed to get a grip and he too plunged into the depths.
Hougaard battered away at the first Maculate, who responded by levelling a finger at him and directed an invisible blast at him. Once again he felt a heavy impact as if a blow had been levelled at him, though no contact was made. As he did so, he felt once again the screaming overload of mental noise as the maimed Maculate unleashed its stunning attack. Shaking his head, he cleared it - but across the shaft, he could see Egia stumbling backwards, disabled by the blast. As he watched, the Maculate she fought moved closer, one hand extended. A corona of power surrounded the hand and began to extend towards Egia, who twitched as if under attack. Through her haze she was dimly aware of a pulling sensation, as if some vital essence was being drawn from her toward her attacker.
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Taking a step back, Hougaard sprang forwards, leaping clear across the shaft, kicking one of the Maculate in the head as he went past. Landing on the other side he whirled to place himself between the paladin and her attacker, to discover that his strike en passant had been enough to slay the vampire, which was falling back down the shaft. Its' maimed companion clearly felt that it was outnumbered, for it released its' flying ability and vanished downwards too.
With a grunt of effort, Hougaard slung the unresisting paladin over his shoulder, taking a moment to slip Sunrazor into its' scabbard. Then he climbed the rope back to where Ghlaads was slumped in a like state on the level above. Guiding them to a seated position so they couldn't accidentaly fall, he settled in to revive them, alert all the time for another assault from the Maculate.
After a couple of minutes, the aasimar sisters recovered, and the party considered what to do. It seemed unlikely that the tower had been cleared - for a start, one had got away. Even if his severed arm hadn't regrown, the Maculate who had fled had been regenerating before their eyes. It was pretty certain now that the Maculate and the werewolves were part of the same problem, and that that problem was what they'd been sent here to tackle. Descending again to the second level of chambers, they discovered only one door radiated evil and whatever it was that made the crystals glow. Egia and Ghlaads, still not completely recovered from the stunning effect, hung back a little while Hougaard opened the door.
Inside was another curved chamber, like the ones they'd seen before. This one was partly furnished like the last, with odd touches of carpet and books. Hougaard paused; he wasn't sure what it was, but the room had a discernable feminine air for some reason. This drew his thoughts back to the potential occupant, and he glanced around - and up above the door! - but there was no-one to be seen. Following established practice, he shoved the lid off the coffin - noticing that here there was no attempt to make it resemble a human bed - and dumped holy water into the cavity. A sound, like a sharp hiss of anger, came from behind him and he whirled.
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The room was still empty to his eyes, but he trusted in his instincts and lashed out, connecting with something and hearing the blow land. Swift, light footsteps pattered across the floor towards the doorway, and he cried out "Coming your way - invisible!"
With a sullen whooomph a Wall of Fire appeared across the doorway as Ghlaads cast the spell. The footsteps veered off and stopped. Hougaard dipped into his belt pouch for a vial of blessed water, muttered a quick invocation to Lyr and hurled it upwards to smash on the ceiling above where he thought his target was. Glass and holy water rained down over a wide area, elicting a shriek of pain - again, perceptibly feminine - from whoever was there. Visible spatters of fluid hung in the air, marking the presence of a figure, and thin tendrils of smoke arose from them. Hougaard lunged into the middle and struck again, catching his target completely off-balance and delivering a heavy blow.
Abruptly there was someone there - the most beautiful woman Hougaard had ever seen, clad in a flowing white dress and apparently unarmed, sprawled on her shapely rump on the stone floor, staring up at him in pain and fear. Dots of burn marks marred her otherwise flawless face, though these were closing as the Unfettered watched. She flung up her empty hands to him. "I yield me!" she cried in a low, smoky contralto that did things to his adrenals.
He gazed down at her weaponless hands, her flawless pale skin, tumble of glorious raven locks, curvy figure and ravishingly beautiful features, untouched by the classic fangs of the vampire. Then he kicked her savagely in the belly several times. Knights and paladins had chivalry. The Unfettered knew the unnatural and the evil, and fought it to win.
Desperately twisting up from the ground, the woman took to the air and darted towards the flaming doorway. Hougaard delivered a parting punch that smashed one of her shapely legs to bonemeal, but she carried on, hurling herself straight through the fire.
On the far side, Egia and Ghlaads looked up in surprise as an airborne humanoid form erupted through the Wall of Fire, clothing ablaze but otherwise unaffected by the flames. Ghlaads swiped at it with a dagger but though it slashed at her dress the blade skated off the smooth, pale skin. Egia stepped into her path, Sunrazor lifted, and pointed the blade at her eyes. "On your knees, Child of Evil!" she declaimed. "Yield!" She had heard the woman ask for quarter through the doorway, and by the Code of the Red Flower she had to accept a geniune surrender if offered. The Maculate woman dropped to her knees on the stone flags as the last of her clothing burned away. "Withhold thy hand," she replied "Spare thou my life, I implore thee!" Egia was doubtful as to the sincerity of this but she was bound by the Code. "Your redemption shall be the light," she growled, managing to make an offer of salvation sound like a threat of dire violence.
Ghlaads dispelled her Wall of Fire and the prisoner was taken back through into her room, where the Unfettered bound her tightly. He had his doubts about her surrender too, but respected his comrade's Code. Once she was bound, Ghlaads cast a Magic Circle against Evil around her. Whether she was among those kinds of creatures that could be contained by such was possibly dubious, but she showed no inclination to try and escape.
She glared out at the party, dark smouldering eyes flickering from one to another. Egia leaned forwards, the soft flames on Sunrazor casting ominous planes of shadow across her face.
"Who are the Maculate?" she asked levelly.
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Session Date: 28th Feb 2013 |
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