Aderian looked out the window of the scriptorium while the others flipped through old papers. He spotted four figures move cautiously from an alley. A moment later, he realized they were not undead. They were humans who somehow had ventured into the extreme danger of Tosasath.
The former pirate called to them and beckoned them in. They dashed through the open door and introduced themselves as four warriors (Harlan, Leveret, Jerker and York) hired by Sheriff Bremlai to scout the city. Already they’d lost two companions to the roving undead and were now looking to flee. Despite the crooked sheriff’s mission being at best interference, perhaps even betrayal, the four were invited to join the party as they planned to assault the tower.
Tower Assault
Presently, Ferris was outside, scrambling up the outside of the tower. Reaching a window, he first smelled then faced a horrible ghast in the form of a once-beautiful elf lady. She cackled as she swiped at him with a poisonous claw. It nicked his cheek. A chilling paralysis overcame him, but before it overwhelmed, he leapt away from the window lest he be left paralyzed at the window and at the mercy of the monster. He fell in the street with a thud.
Aderian hurled a bone of St. Jaludi at the ghast, missing short. Leveret attempted to hurl a grappling hook without success. Jerker dashed out to drag Ferris back into the scriptorium.
Losing patience with the long distance battle with the ghast, Ghevont strode to the two heavy doors of the tower and flung them open. Inside were more ghasts lead by a fearsome wizard. Aderian stepped up beside the cleric and was at once struck senseless by a ghast. Tienarth, the ancient elven mage, wove a spell of teleportation that sent the paralyzed fighting man through a magical doorway back in the scriptorium. Now two paralyzed people were watched over by one of the new recruits.
Tienarth produced his speed that put haste to their limbs and flurry of blows drove the ghasts back. The enemy wizard who now appeared to be undead struck Tienarth with magic missiles, followed by a spell of confusion that sent the inexperienced warriors in various directions. Ghevont brought down a cloak of silence, which frustrated the evil mage. Instantly, he transformed to mist and drifted out of view.
Tienarth, Ghevont and Jerker gave chase, limbs imbued with magical speed. A quick search found the vampire attempting to hide in a bedroom. Tienarth delivered more magic missiles which struck the cloud of mist. It transformed back into an elven body that tumbled to the floor. They concluded it was the vampire Nimue Sylnan, the very prey they sought to capture and kill.
They exited the tower, the defeated vampire now staked through the heart and slung over Ghevont’s shoulder. Four mummies shambled into the courtyard. Tienarth summoned a circular wall of fire that obliterated the mummies with ease. Ghevont, wholly immune to fire, walked into the inferno still holding the vampire. The body turned to ash along with the mummies.
The Oath is Broken
They crept back to the mansion of Imra Herrel without facing more undead. Pansa greeted them at the door and lead them upstairs. Little emotion could be detected in the bony face, but his words were ones of satisfaction at having been released from his doomed oath by the destruction of the vampire. He agreed to let them destroy the machine in his own home that pulled undead from the realm of Haderax.
He pointed across his throne room at a heavy curtain. Behind it, he explained was a device given him to protect that produced wights regularly. Ghevont unrolled a scroll of protection from undead and pronounced the magical words written upon it. A soft glowing orb surround him and the rest of the party crowded close to him to benefit from its power. They pushed into the small room beyond the curtain to find ten wights swirling about a squat idol of the dread god Molok. It held a glowing, green orb which Aderian promply smashed.
The shards of glass tinkled, fell to the floor and then disappeared. Ghevont addressed the wights: “disappear or be destroyed!” They scattered in all directions, passing directly through walls and ceiling.
Return to the Tower
They returned to the tower to look for the other vampired they’d recently faced, Talanastha. When they entered the throne room of the tower, they recognized a bottle and two goblets they’d seen Nimue and Talanashta using via the crystal ball. Through a storage room they found spiral stairs going down. Hoping to find the vampire in this direction, they descended.
The first creatures they encountered was a ghoul holding several zombies by a leash which he dropped. The zombies lumbered forward, but such lowly foes were nothing to Tienarth’s Raiders. The undead were quickly dispatched.
Moving quickly through underground rooms, they paused at a door. Ghevont announced, “We could listen at the door, but undead don’t make sound.” He threw open the door to find a goggler shaman kneeling in prayer, attended by to acolytes. “What are gogglers doing here?” Ghevont muttered to himself.
A tangled battle began, which spells cast by both sides. The gogglers held out longer than otherwise expected due to healing magic. Their sticky shields disarmed two of young warriors. The one called York was stabbed viciously and died screaming, clutching his wound. But the mighty force of the Raiders was too much and presently the three monsters were dead.
End Notes
- Treasure: none!
- Kills 4,125 xp – 590 xp / character
- Nimue Sylnan 1,500 xp
- 4 Ghasts 500 xp
- Goggler Shaman 1,225 xp
- 2 Goggler Acolytes 900 xp
- Characters – 20,000 bonus for orb destruction to Raiders
- Aderian (fight) 22,927 xp
- Ferris (climb) 22,927 xp
- Ghevont (smite undead, heal) 23,134 xp
- Tienarth (patient, avoid combat) 21,068 xp
- Harlan (fight) 655 xp
- Leveret (fight) 655 xp
- Jerker (fight) 655 xp
- York died