Session 33 Report

General Summary

Haymin’s Heroes tried for many days to find their next paying adventure. They advertised their availability at the local inns and taverns and tried to spread their name throughout Rowadin. During this downtime, Titta Morco commissioned a pair of fine leather bound copies of her book on nature, Living with the Land: Two Perspectives. On May 16, 498 AV, when the first copy was ready, she sent it by courier, along with a personal letter, to her adopted elven brother, Kraalin Valathar, in the northern realm of Aravess. Ladigo Farthon sent a letter and a small package to his family in Evercress. It was not until the night of May 27, 498 AV, that their next adventure would come about. After they had all retired to sleep, a child’s voice called out from downstairs, inside Heroes for Hire. Belpher Burrows and Haymin’s Heroes awoke and rushed out to see who was calling to them. They found the ghostly form of Ella Neeks, the daughter of Jule Neeks, a waitress they had come to know at the Alehouse. The ghost of Ella pleaded with Haymin’s Heroes to help her mother who was taken by a “scary looking man.” She informed them how she followed her mother and this man to his house. He had Ella to leave, but she refused. Then he struck her with a cold hand. She fell to the ground and then got back up and immediately ran to Heroes for Hire to hire them to save her mother. Haymin’s Heroes immediately agreed and quickly got ready. Ella, apparently not realizing she was a ghost, asked them why their door was an illusion as she walked through it and led them to the house her mother was taken to, not too far away. As the adventurers were about to investigate, Ella went back to wait for them at Heroes for Hire. Auren Sylynn picked the lock on the front door and they ventured inside. They found a plainly furnished house with a kitchen, sitting area, and a single bedroom. A thin layer of dust covered everything as if the home were not really lived in. Titta clearly saw a single set of footprints leading to the bedroom door. As they searched around, Selia Roselyn Maxwell noted how there were no mirrors anywhere. In the bedroom, Mogi Delvin searched the dresser, finding it completely empty. Titta pulled up the red velvet rug on the floor before the bed and found a trap door on the floor. This trapdoor, however, had no handle. She pried at it with a dagger and eventually muscled it open. A set of stone stairs led underground. As they began to descend them, the animals became uncomfortable and unwilling to continue any farther. Titta instructed Fisher to stay in the bedroom and guard the trapdoor. Ladigo had Pennig remain with him. Mogi tucked Fluffy in a pocket and closed it. The weasel was visibly nervous, but remained hidden. At the bottom of the stairs they were faced with four skeletal archers across the room. Titta rushed forward immediately to attack, but when she neared the closest skeleton she triggered the pit trap before them. Her reflexes saved her from a twenty foot fall and she stepped on to the ledge and attacked the skeleton from around the corner, destroying it. Pyzar Zim then leapt across the pit around the corner and ran behind the skeletons, cleaving through two of them with his greatsword. Mogi finished the last skeleton archer with a Magic Missile. At the bottom of the pit they saw four alcoves surrounding it. Spread evenly around these alcoves were eight skeletons awaiting anyone unfortunate enough to have fallen into the pit. Luckily, no one did on this occasion. They left the skeletons in the pit and continued down one of the halls that exited the room. There were two doors, set across from each other in the middle of the hall. One of the doors was locked. The other was not. They opened the unlocked door first and found a room containing three tables. Upon each table was a corpse. One of these was Jule Neeks, still dressed in her waitress garb. The other two, a man and a woman, were naked, and appeared as if they had been dead for at least a few days. All three had a pair of fang marks on their necks. They unlocked the door across the hall and opened it. Three ghouls and a ghast were inside gnawing on small bones. Tossed into a corner of the room was Ella Neeks tattered dress. Titta rushed in with a fury and attacked the nearest ghoul. When the ghast neared her, however, she was sickened by the smell. These undead were defeated rather easily, though Auren was struck by one of the ghouls and became paralyzed for several moments. After they defeated the ghouls, they waited several minutes until Titta’s sickness passed. The next door led into a long and wide corridor. At the far end was a line of four skeletal archers. Floating above these archers were wicked looking winged heads. A green vapor seeped from their fanged mouths. Sinjin Fairchild rushed in to attack the skeletons. Titta did as well. Mogi cast Magic Missile at one of the floating heads. Then one by one, the heads began to shriek. The sound was unnerving. A magical effect of the shrieking caused Sinjin, Titta, and Pyzar to become paralyzed with fear. Then Selia attacked one of the heads with her Wand of Scorching Ray. The fiery blast killed the creature and both Titta and Pyzar were freed from their paralysis and Pyzar ran in and defeated the remaining skeletons. Ladigo also charged forward and flung his shortspear through one of the floating heads. Then the vampire attacked from behind. He had been clinging to the wall above the doorway, waiting for the party to enter. He struck at Selia, but she managed to elude the swipe of his clawed hand and made it clear with a burst of obscenities that something was amiss. She stepped away from him and blasted him with her wand. Mogi then cast a Scorching Ray of his own at the vampire. Titta ran to help them and engaged the foul undead creature. And Auren told Pyzar to go after the vampire while he fought off the last floating head. A vicious strike from Pyzar’s greatsword felled the vampire and the creature turned into a cloud of vapor. It fled from the party as they pursued. Between Mogi and Auren, they killed the last floating head as the gas cloud slipped through the cracks of a door down the hall. They followed and came to a sitting room decorated with quality furniture. But the vampire, or the cloud it had become, were nowhere to be found. They began scouring the room for a secret passage or trap door. Selia found it on a short wall next to the door. A set of stairs descended down into a room containing a mound of dirt with a coffin on top. Titta and Pyzar maneuvered to the ends of the coffin to open the lid while Sinjin held a wooden stake he had fashioned out of a torch, ready to impale the vampire. The rest of the party stood nearby to aid them in battle if necessary. They opened the coffin and found the gas cloud coalescing into a humanoid shape, slowly taking form and solidity. Sinjin thrust the stake where the chest should be and felt resistance through the gas. As he drove it deep, the body began to solidify and the vampire gasped. It lay lifeless, with the wooden stake through its heart. They finished searching the room upstairs, claiming any treasure they found. Mogi brought some papers her found on the desk to their attention. They listed some notes on Lady Dyora Albyn, the Black Glove Society, and even Heroes for Hire. There was also a letter addressed to Lovren, presumably the vampire, from his master. The letters XV were the only signature to the letter. Haymin’s Heroes decided to inform the authorities and share the letter with them. The notes, however, they would keep for themselves, and show to Dyora at their earliest opportunity. Pyzar and Sinjin ran to find the guards, Titta and Mogi returned to Heroes for Hire to check on the ghost of Ella. The rest remained in Lovren’s lair awaiting their return. When Titta and Mogi reached the guildhall, they found Ella waiting. The ghost asked if they had saved her mother. Before they could answer, she ran past them with arms outstretched to hug the ghostly form of Jule Neeks. Then the ghosts of the mother and daughter faded away.

Campaign

The Heart of Embril

Protagonists