Session 11 - The Manor of Augustin

General Summary

Amelie took the orb that Mateo was trapped in and ended up dispelling the magic. Suddenly, the orb collapsed, and Mateo was freed from his prison. He thanked Amelie and hugged her, and was grateful to see she was still alive. Mateo sat down, and told the party he uncovered where Augustine often hid when he was investigating, before he was imprisoned. Mateo revealed a spell, called Augustine's Teleporting Castle, which allowed him to make castles teleport through dimensions. He also revealed a block of gold he reduced via spellcraft, and dispelled it so it returned to it's original, large size. It had the inscriptions of Castle Odo. Mateo suggested taking Castle Odo and bringing it to Augustine's dimension to travel there in safety.
The party had Mateo teleport Castle Odo into the fields outside of Fenestein. They met back up with their Ogre friends, and then Mateo placed the block of gold into the center of the castle. Mateo had the building plane shifted into the pocket dimension where Augustine was hiding. They went into a realm of eternal night, where fog surrounded a large castle in the distance and a full moon created a silhouette of the manor.
Then, the new Crusaders of Larian (as they will be called in history) walked into the nightmare realm. They went through the dense fog and were encountered by ghosts, but they were slain quickly by the might of the warhammer Holy Avenger. The party then met Cawkens, a Kenku servant of Augustine and gravekeeper, and struggled to communicate with him. Eventually Sunjar convinced him to stay behind and "dig a grave for someone." The party then progressed into a garden, where they were nearly eaten alive by Shambling Mounds, but withering spells from Amelie and quick attacks from Org, Terra, and Thimbleswipe kept anyone from being completely consumed.
After the horrific garden experience, the party ventured to the front gates, where they were welcomed by a vampiric butler who would lead them to Augustine. Org used the washroom for a bit (but was secretly stealing towels and bedsheets) while the party saw poltergeists within the halls. Thimbleswipe also started to explore the castle, and came across the dungeon and it's stairs. Thimbleswipe found an iron door, which he unlocked, and found prisoners in cells, guarded by a large Iron Golem. He quietly took the keys from the golem and tricked it into being locked in the iron door. He fled, rejoining the party within the ball room on the second floor.
There the party was stopped by the butler, who told them that Augustine was waiting for them. However, as the butler turned around, Sunjar tripped him, and Org took one of the towels to gag the butler. They tied him up and kept him from joining the "dinner" that Augustine had prepared. They plotted to take out Augustine in this vulnerable situation, so Amelie turned Thimbleswipe invisible and Sunjar gave Amelie a platinum ring to protect her with a spell.
Then, they entered. They saw Augustine at the head of the table with two vampiric brides and groomsmen. The party saw the body of a dead man strewn across the table. Augustine greeted the party, telling them he had been expecting them, and was looking forward to finally meeting Amelie in person. He offered the adventurers to drink the blood of the victim on the table and join his brood. Amelie was disgusted by him, and denounced his ways. The two wizards argued about the implications of death, and Amelie learned Augustine plan: to convert the race of men into vampires and conquer the realms and feast upon them as immortals. Amelie then remarked how this sin of death and conquest was what brought death into the world in the first place. However, Augustine was not going to hear it. (During this, Thimbleswipe was under the table, tying the legs of the vampires together without them noticing.)
Then, Sunjar told Augustine he would face the consequences of his actions, and that they would not leave the realm until he was slain. Thus, Augustine took his Cape of the Mounteback and vanished in a puff of smoke, but not before telling his vampiric brood they were welcomed to have "dinner". The vampires tried to leap up but were suddenly stopped by the leg bindings. Amelie cast a fireball, engulfing the vampires. The vampires ran from the fire, but tried to attack the party with their bites. Sunjar bashed their heads, and was hasted by Amelie's magic, going incredibly quickly to defeat the vampiric spawn. Cawkens also rejoined the vampires, taking a potion to turn him into a large, muscular, hunchbacked creature that tried to kill them. He was slain by Thimbleswipe and Sunjar.
When the battle was over, the party started to hear a large banging sound underneath them: the sound of metal hearing metal. Thimbleswipe realized what happened: the golem realized the keys were stolen. Thimbleswipe suggested to his cohorts to make haste, so they ran toward the broken staircase that led up to the roof of the manor, using ropes to get up.
There, they saw Augustine had fled into his wizard tower. The party yelled at Augutine to surrender, but the vampire refused to cave in. He said, "how will you attack me when you have a worse enemy to deal with?" And indeed, the adventurers heard a thudding coming beneath them. At first, they believed the iron golem would not be able to reach them with a broken staircase. But that was before they heard the roof underneath them cracking.
CRACK! A large metallic hand ripped through the roof, and the party stood back. The Iron Golem heaved itself halfway through the hole it made. Then, quick thinking from Org took place for once: he used a Command spell against the golem, telling it to "sleep". The golem fell for the spell, and let go of it's grasp. The party saw the golem suddenly drop through the floors of the manor, all three of them, and slamming all the way into the dungeon. They cried in victory, but they saw Augustine was quickly escaping.
Sunjar grabbed the party's Cape of the Mounteback and took Org with him to the top of the tower. When they arrived up there, it appeared Augustine was gone. Sunjar quickly used Divine Sense, and detected him fleeing down the staircase. Sunjar and Org nodded in agreement: they would give chase. Then, they charged down the staircase...

Date (in world)

October 28th, 4282

Report Date

23 Aug 2021

Player Characters

Org Orgenson, righteous Half-Orc Paladin of the Ancients. He seeks equality between monster and men and is willing to crusade for his cause. Though he appears to be a dumb brute, he has a heart and soul of gold, and a great sense of right.

Terra, fair and kind Wood Elf Fey Wanderer Ranger. She seeks to find her long-lost love in the lands of Larian, a knight whom she once met but knows not the name and face to.

Thimbleswipe, mischievous Fairy Psi-Blade Rogue. Long ago chased out of the fey lands, he now seeks a new life of mischief within the lands of men. But look beyond his heart of guile and greed and one will find a hero fitting of the fey.

Sunjar-Navi, proud Dwarf Paladin of Devotion. He has come from the lands of Bolderun to uncover more about the mysterious Vivian and uncover more truth about dwarf religion.

Amelie Dumas, adventure-seeking human Necromancer. Amelie has humble origins, growing up in a family of cheesemakers. However, after her uncle took her in as an apprentice, she has secretly studied the dark arts and finds thrills in adventuring in her studies.

Allies

Lady Jeffery, a white pig with brown splotches. She is Org's pet, and sponsor of the party.

Augustin by MrCrackerpants

Augustine Fledermaus in his true, drained form, that the adventurers encountered in his manor as a terrible Vampire.