Alair - Holy Wars |
 DM Note: No Derek this week, so DM controlled Ghlaads with spell selections by the other two. |
The three Triad agents stood outside the glowing circle of holy energy, watching their prisoner warily. Naked, bound hand and foot and (possibly) imprisoned in arcane restraints, she stood tall and unafraid, no sign of her earlier surrender on her face. "Let's get this over with," growled Hougaard, and Egia turned to her two friends.
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"Can you give me a few minutes alone with her?" she asked. Hougaard shrugged, and Ghlaads headed for the door. Once they were outside in the stub corridor, Egia addressed the captive.
"Your life has been spared, so far, and I have no intention of taking it. I can't speak for my colleauge, though. I can probably persuade him to abstain, if you provide the information we need, and your repentance is sincere." She eyed the Maculate for a reaction to that but saw nothing. The woman shifted her balance, then began to speak in her antique High Erlyid.
"I hight Abaviya, sixth of the High Maculate. When those descended of Cain spread across the world, most did settle into the Clans he had created for them, and forsooth became in nature as their clans described them - all of a sameness with each other, almost a mock of a vampire. Some, though, had more vision, more progressive minds. Led by My Lord Invercane, First of the Maculate, we dared to experiment with the keystones of the Vampire Curse, developing it to refine the world's greatest predator towards the perfection that art Maculate."
Egia interrupted. "But you're still vampires; you need blood and you die in the sunlight?"
Abaviya's eyes darkened for a moment. "There is no revoking the Dark Gift," she said sharply, "but we have managed to dispense with all that messy sucking and biting; we take our sustenance in far more elegant ways."
"For generations we ruled the night in this part of the world. Our power was concentrated in the city Sincarel Adar. Then the new humans came," she gestured at Egia, "thy kind, Southerners, with their little "Empire". Still humans, still weak, but in vulgar, spawning numbers. Our thralls resisted and we spent their blood like water to no avail. We made a tactical withdrawl, here, to our refuge, our bastion in the wilderness..." she glanced around her, as if looking through tower at the thriving town outside. "Some interfering God or Demon ... did something. For us it hath been as no time. As if we but blinked, we were weak unto death, feeling a tiny flow of energy from outside the tower. A dribble which woke us, the get of a meddler with a touch of the gift, a hedge-wizard fooling with a skullgem."
"A what?" asked Egia sharply. Abaviya made no comment or response to that. "We drew him in and fed. With the strength that restored, Invercane was able to wake a servitor and send it forth to forage. Imagine thou our surprise to discover a whole village without, sprung from the ground like a mould - and the Empire long here and hence. Strong, vital peasants withall, enough for us to regain our strength and sire new brethren to share the perfection."
"What," pressed Egia, "is the Skullgem?" Abaviya flicked her head. "Thou needest not to know," she said flatly. Egia called Hougaard and Ghlaads in, the wizard remaining by the door while the Unfettered stalked threateningly around the Circle. "How many are you?" he asked, "How many Maculate and Werewolves?" She watched him cautiously, perhaps a little disappointed that her looks were having no effect on him. "Six of us survived," she said, "thou hast already met with Seltas and Coriahad, to the bane of one and the discomfort of the other. An hour shalt suffice for the mending of his hurts. Invercane, the Lord of the Maculate, Vonforvyr the Warrior, Wyr Venkos the Scholar, and I. Of lesser brethren, we have a handful, and a dozen or so of the servitors." She shifted position, and Hougaard noticed that the burnmarks from the Holy Water were gone, also her leg seemed to have repaired itself.
"Now speak to me of repentance," said Egia. "If you genuinely want to turn to the Light and give up your dark ways, you must leave this place and cease troubling these people. You have a chance - " Abaviya interrupted her. "Everyone has a chance," she said in a sly voice. "This is our home, and we were here long before you - or these sad mortals outside. Leave, or die." Egia frowned. "I asked first," she said. "So you did," said Abaviya scornfully. "So noble, and forgiving, and chivalrous. It maketh my belly heave!" Her skin rippled all over her body, and her shape began to shift. Egia and Hougaard backed off slightly, the paladin re-casting the Bless Weapon spell on Hougaard's fists. "Shut the door!" she yelled at her sister, and Ghlaads spun to slam the heavy door closed.
Abaviya's form flowed and changed, shifting from human to wolf. Her legs and arms became slimmer, allowing the bonds to come loose. Pulled around behind is not a normal position for canine front legs, and an audible cracking of muscles and joints came as she pulled her limbs free of the bonds, to be regenerated by her unliving nature as she dropped to all fours. Abruptly, she bounded forwards over the floor and out of the Magic Circle. Evidently the reversed circle was not efficacious against vampires... Darting between Hougaard and Egia, she broke for the door, but both landed strikes on her as she went past. Egia's attack broke her right hind leg, reducing her to a hopping lope, but she was still moving pretty fast as Ghlaads turned from closing the door - to be confronted by a huge dire wolf bearing down on her without a weapon or a spell ready. Desperately, she flung herself sideways away from the door and out of the transformed Maculate's path, and Abaviya barrelled past straight at the heavy door. Hougaard grinned. "Let's see her open that without opposable thumbs!" he gloated.
She reached the door, angled vertically upwards, and soared into the air parallel with the wall until she reached the ceiling, where she hung in the air out of immediate reach, her wounds slowly healing. Hougaard leaped and punched, cracking a rib and making her cough, but it wasn't really the best he could do - he only had time for one strike at the top of a jump.
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Egia cocked her hand, gripping Sunrazor in Far Vengeance, and threw the great sword straight upwards. It struck the wolf right above the eyes, cracking its' skull and exposing bone and brain. As Abaviya howled in pain, the sword pulled itself free and hurtled back towards Egia. This was the first time she'd ever done this, and she had a moment of trepidation as the sword spun back towards her, its' pale flames fluttering as it rotated. She needen't have worried; with a comforting thump the hilt settled firmly back into her palm. From where she lay on the floor, Ghlaads released a Magic Missile. Three darts of arcane energy blasted into Abaviya as Egia threw again, cutting deeply into the wolf's body. "I can do this all day," she said warningly if not entirely truthfully. Then Ghlaads delivered another Magic Missile, one of the blasts striking her right where Egia's first throw had opened Abaviya's skull.
The wolf dropped to the floor with a heavy thump, to all appearances dead, but although they were not experts on vampires, the three knew enough to know it would regenerate and "live" again if steps were not taken. Adding a sprinkle of holy water to carving off its' head, they made sure Abaviya would not trouble the villagers of Turil ever again. A thought struck both Hougaard and Egia at the same time, and they hacked at the head until they'd smashed it completely - a messy process even without any blood. As they suspected, a green-yellow crystal similar to the ones they'd found elsewhere was revealed. The level of light was far greater, spilling from the riven skull and brain like a lantern, though they could see it fading as they watched. Hougaad picked it up to take along, sure that there would be some useful connection. Then he opened the door again.
Dark and ominous figures filled the stub passage on the other side. Three Maculate led; a tall and aristocratic-looking elf, apparently unarmed; a heavily-built human of some unfamiliar stock, gripping a doublesword - a weapon not often used outside Kin hands. Standing behind them a little was a third Maculate, again of elvish stock, whose right arm was missing from mid-upper. This, then would be Coriahad whom they had already fought. As neither of the others looked like philosophers, they must be Venforvyr the Warrior and Invercane, Lord of the Maculate. Just to top things off, behind them were two hulking furry humanoids - hybrid-form werewolves, but considerably bigger than the ones he'd seen before.
No, don't like the look of that, he thought, and banged the door shut again. "Wedge it!" he hissed, and Egia began to drag the stone coffin across the room as Ghlaads re-cast Magic Circle against Evil, this time in its' normal form. Hougaard and Egia got the door jammed while the Maculate were recovering from the simple cheek of having the door slammed on them, and as the pounding began they prepared for battle. Egia dropped Abaviya's skullgem on top of the coffin. Let's see what happens, she thought, and bashed it with the hilt of a dagger. It shattered in a flare of dying green light, and all three felt a rush of mental energy, similar to the Mind Blast though undirected.
From outside the door came cries of pain and anger. Egia raised her voice. "What do you want of us?" she asked, slightly ingeniously. "Your blood," came the answer from outside, thickly accented. "You will burn for that, mortals!" Evidently the gems were a weakness, so Hougaard and Egia propped the lid of the coffin up across the room such that a light push from Ghlaads would be enough to send it over, and laid the older skullgem from the empty skull on the floor below it.
The Maculate were putting serious effort into breaking open the door now, and the coffin was scraping across the stone floor under the pressure. As they watched, it jerked half-way open, revealing Invercane and Venforvyr. The latter was just picking up his doublesword after using both hands to push the door when Hougaard reached through the gap and repeated the tactic he'd used in the shaft, striking the undead tendons of the Maculate's wrist to disarm him. With a flick the Unfettered hurled the weapon back over his shoulder. Venforvyr made a disgusted sound and swiftly unhooked a mace from his belt, with which he swiped at Hougaard. The Unfettered dodged backwards out of reach.
Egia lifted Sunrazor and concentrated, hurling the energy of light and life out as a weapon, and the Searing Light blasted out towards Invercane. The beam of golden fire struck him - but flickered and died as his inherent resistance to magic defeated the spell. Egia scowled as Invercane, looking smug, launched a Mind Blast. Once more the wave of hammering mental noise washed over them, battering at their psyches, a far more powerful assault than any before. Only just did they resist, pulling themselves back from the brink of unconciousness. With a scream of pain, Ghlaads shoved at the coffin lid, toppling it onto the skullgem and crushing it to powder. All three Maculate flinched, hissing in anger, but the effect was not as strong as it had been from Abaviya's crystal. Squinting through the part-open door, she cast an Ice Storm.
Heavy chunks of ice battered the Maculate and their servitors, and webs of frost spread across the fur of the werewolves. Coriahad cursed, and lifted his remaining arm, drawing a Symbol in the air. The heaviness of irresistable sleep stole over the three adventurers, but the magic of the Circle and Egia's martial faith sustained them, and they threw off the spell.
| DM Note: Third throw with Far Vengeance, second natural 20. Born to chuck! |
Angered by the failure of her Searing Light, on which she'd been counting to take down at least one Maculate, Egia drew her arm back and threw Sunrazor once more. The magic of the gauntlets overcame the difficulties in accurately throwing a four-foot sword, and the holy blade whirled through the door, taking Invercane completely by surprise. The point slammed in right between his eyes and his entire head exploded in a shower of bone and undead brain; a tiny flash of bright green light spun away behind him and was gone. The Lord of the Maculate dropped bonelessly, slain with a single blow.
Hougaard lunged forwards again between the door and the coffin, blinking as Sunrazor cartwheeled past him no more than six inches away on its' way back to its' mistress, and launched a flurry of punches at Venforvyr, battering his already-bruised face further and spoiling his aim with his psionic slam in return. The Maculate's form was suddenly brightly silhouetted against an orange glare as Ghlaads placed a Fireball neatly at the far end of the corridor, enveloping all four of their foes in roiling flames. Hougaard stared in shock as Venforvyr's face crisped and scorched. The Maculate weren't immune to fire, as they'd believed; just very resistant to it! "Do that again!" he yelled, delivering another iron-shod punch to the vampire's carbonized face. Behind him, Coriahad abruptly vanished - whether invisible or fled was impossible to judge.
Abruptly, a flash of green light flared from the direction of the shaft. Another storm of psychic feedback washed through the tower, and cries of pain from the Maculate outside the door were mirrored by faint yells from below. Invercane's skullgem had reached the bottom of the tower (missing the soft landing of a splattered werewolf by a couple of inches) and shattered from the fall.
Ghlaads cast Fireball again, and another blast of fire brought a stronger smell of burning dog hair as well as cries of pain from the werewolves. Stunned, the Maculate made no move to evade the fire, and the damage it did added to the wounds they'd been given was enough to drop them, "dead" by normal standards, though regenerating. Scorched and frozen both, the two werewolves had fared better and stared at the three with wild fury in their blazing green eyes.
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Session Date: 7th March 2013 |
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