Chapter 11: Mistaken Nobility
After a month of downtime, the savage seven were approached by two people at hawk's inn about possible work. The first they spoke with was a wealthy merchant named Wilfred Smithers. His daughter was missing, and was believed to have attended a lavish party at the estate of a newcomer in town on mansion row. They accepted the job and went on to speak with the other potential employer.
Thorok Goldtooth, a half orc owner of the Surbrin Mercantile Company, hired the group to retrieve a lost shipment for him and find out what happened to it. The shipment was lost somewhere in the trollmoors on its way to Nesme, and may have contained materials of questionable legality (Thorok dodged the question of its legality when asked). The group accepted, especially after being told that the job might take care of a debt Keladrien owed to the company after cheating in a dice game at one of their establishments.
The party first began investigating the missing daughter, visiting the Smithers home to view a portrait of the family. They also visited her room and found a journal describing her attendance at the party and how she fell in love with the Duke and was planning on staying with him. They then visited mansion row, asking around about the new aristocrat and his parties. They discovered him to be Duke Rhyn of Cormyr, and that his parties occured only at night and attracted young, attractive socialites. After visiting the Brambleberry estate, they also learned that the Duke had hired an unusually large staff of gardeners to tend to his gardens, and that he was never seen during the day. Baen visited the library to research vampires, while the rest of the group visited Haedius the alchemist to purchase illicit substances for the party (hoping to gain entry with them).
They waited until night and approached the estate. Sai tried to steal a mask from one of the attendants, but then gave up the idea and simply tried to enter the estate with the rest of the guests. As the servants blocked their entry, the mysterious Duke appeared and allowed them entry. Nalzmyr, Baen, Keladrien and Sai visited the gardens and spoke with the gardeners. They learned that the plants could not be kept alive more than a few days and had to be replaced frequently, and that the soil was extremely acidic. They also heard rumors that the duke was from a long lost line in Cormyr that suddenly re-emerged following the arrival of a long-lost relative. Baen took this time to whittle stakes from gardening equipment and roots.
Meanwhile, Pan and Kathra entered the ball room and soon captured the attention of the entire room with tales of adventure. As the rest of the group joined them, the Duke stopped the music and cleared his throat--at which point the guests all ignored the group and began dancing. Kathra cast detect magic and investigated the room, approaching the duke with Sai and speaking with him for a moment. She detected auras of illusion, transmutation and enchantment. With the guests obviously enthralled, Pan danced with some of them to gain answers and only learned the depth of their enchantment. As he danced, he infused his performance with bardic magic that granted them resistance to the duke's enthralling magic. One by one, they broke free and left the estate. Angered by the dismantling of his enchantment, the Duke said "Very well, let this game come to an end!" and teleported away. The group revealed an illusion behind his throne that hid a secret stairwell leading down.
In the basement, the group encountered several vampire spawn. Battled raged, and they proved worthy foes. Without much harm, the group destroyed the spawn and explored the basement. Sai triggered a trap that sent a blade swinging at him from the walls, nearly killing him. As he bled to death, Kathra used her magic to heal him. Eventually, they discovered a hidden door that led further down into a crypt. There, they discovered a sarcophagus filled with acrid, foul smoke and a fanged skeleton that looked as though its flesh had been melted off by acid. They also discovered the merchant's daughter Winnifred Smithers. She appeared pale, with sunken eyes and dark circles. She refused to hear reason, insisting that the duke had promised her eternal life in return for her family's fortune. She ran into the next room, and as the group followed they encountered the duke in his throne room.
The duke then asked the savage seven what they had learned of him, and proved disappointed by their efforts. He revealed that he was not a vampire, and that Winnifred's appearance was an illusion. He then transformed into a large black dragon and the party attacked. As they battled, he explained that the real duke Rhyn was indeed a vampire and his oldest, most hated enemy in Cormyr. After blasting Kathra with his acid breath and downing her, he explained that he had followed him here to Nesme and discovered him here in this estate, where he slew him and took on his identity and the service of his minions. With their help, he would enthrall the wealthy young of this city to give him their fortunes. But his plan had yet to come to fruition. The battle raged on, with the group dealing significant damage to the dragon but taking on much more loss. Sai, near death, dragged Kathra away to safety and stabilized her before returning to pelt the enemy with darts. Nalzmyr was defeated, followed by Keladrien. At last, only Sai and Baen remained. As the monstrous beast came upon Baen, he dropped his crossbow and drew his battleaxe. The two battled on (with sai sending a flurry of darts his way), but eventually Baen slew the beast. Alas, by then Keladrien had perished. In the last moment, Baen conjured goodberries and fed one to Kathra--awakening her. She was able to rush to Keladrien's side and pray to Haela Brightaxe to return his soul. He awakened, having crossed back from the threshold of death.
The group then beheaded the dragon, finding an empty hoard room and nothing else of value there. They returned the girl to her father and were paid handsomely for their work. The group had the dragon head stuffed and mounted and discussed the possibility of claiming the estate as their own. They would need to speak with first speaker Alondo about this as soon as possible.
Comments