Coia: 12 - Out For Blood
General Summary
As the group crawls back up out of the shitter to return to the Library and report back to Yaldra, they notice a strange fog has enveloped the town. When they reach the Library, they find their old friend Jayson Boothbarrel dangling his little legs off a bookshelf waiting for Yaldra to come back. They discover that Candlekeep sent Jayson to get a book from the Shimmering Elm Library. Yaldra returns to tell Jayson that he'll have to wait until tomorrow to get the book.
The group hands her the Naga bag so she can dispose of them and decides to get some dinner and rest before heading back out the next morning to search for more portals. Jayson joins them and they head out to the Copper Worm Inn in the Six Lodges District.
On the way, some of them hear a strange clawing sound. To the surprise of everyone, Retta suddenly turns into a puff of gas and moves towards the sound, flowing under a door to a nearby house. The group approaches and can hear the scratching getting louder. It sounds like it's coming from just behind the front door.
Suddenly a small girl comes crashing through the window and lands almost on top of Sszarden trying to bite him. They realize she's a vampire and quickly dispatch of her. Cautiously heading into the house, they find the remains of what they assume were her parents in the bedroom. It appears the little girl became a vampire, killed her folks, and then was trying to escape.
With nothing more to do, the group heads to the Inn for dinner and bed.
Trouble in the Night
In the wee hours of the early morning, noises from outside awaken the group. Zen sees figures running outside at inhuman speed and quickly alerts the other. Thinking quickly, Jayson runs down to the kitchen to grab some shallots apparently for an odd late-night snack. The group gathers downstairs and sees what look like vampires running from the river to the Library. Explosions sound off in the distance from all areas. Emis says "I've got an idea!" and then runs off toward the water without another word. Retta says "I've got an idea!" and then runs off toward the Library without another word. The rest of the group decide it'd be best to warn Yaldra and see if she has anything they can use to fight the vampires with. They arrive at the Library and wake Yaldra and explain the situation. She gives them a small vial of holy water, tells them all she knows about vampires, and agrees to alert the town guards, lords, and appropriate staff. She suggests that if they can kill the Master vampire, the others will disintegrate. As the group leaves the Library, a bright light like the sun comes shining from the river. Assuming this to be Emis, they run there to find he is distracting the vampires with his light balls. The group noticed 13 magical boats with red crescent moons on them docked at the harbor. After careful study, they determine that the boats move backward and upward in a straight line. Hoping to keep the vampires from escaping, they tie up half the boats and move the others up out of the water. Nym looks behind him and sees a castle in the sky. Deducing this must be where the master vampire is, the group commandeer two boats and row, row, row up to the castle.Castles in the Sky
Docking the boats, they approach the castle to discover mystical writing at the entrance. They translate this to "IN NOMINE DOMINI NOCTIS PORTAS MORTIS APERIRE". Having no scholars in the group, they shrug and try just saying the phrase while touching the door, and fortunately it opens up to them. Entering the castle, they find themselves in an empty hall. As the group explores the various rooms to find wolves, bodies, food, etc. Sszarden notices a shimmering in the wall and finds a hidden room containing three pillars with red, green, and blue cat gems on them. He grabs the Red one (which turns out to be a good luck gem) and as he does the other pillars sink into the ground and the gems disappear. One by one, they find themselves feeling a call in their heads and Moose, Jayson, Ssarden, and Retta all walk into the Lair as if under a magic spell. Concerned about their friends, Zen and Nym run into the Lair to find the Vampire Master sitting on his throne at the end of the room while their friends stand in a pool of blood staring around. The Vampire Master laughs maniacally and attacks. Nym and Zen chase him around the room, but he's a tough one, firing a Legendary action every couple turns, and his Lair gets to throw up walls and jets of blood. A pack of wolves soon show up to join in the fight. During the battle, Moose gets attacked and wakes up out of his trance to join in the fight. Jayson takes out some of the wolves while Sszarden and Retta flail around in the blood singing praises to the Master. The group drive the Vampire Master out into the hall where a strange floating muppet assists by hurting him so they can destroy him. He blows up when destroyed and the castle and island start to immediately fall apart. The group runs for the boats and quickly row back to shore as the island falls into the ocean behind them. They make it back to town to find the vampire threat is gone.Rewards Granted
- Red Cat Gem Luckstone
- A smaller version of the Master's Sword
Sszardan T'Sarran
Zenhorn
Emis Faralei
Retta
Nym Lenore
Moose Knuckle
Report Date
24 Oct 2023