# Merak's Story Hour: Heroes vs Vampire Lord!



## MerakSpielman (Nov 23, 2002)

Ok, so I finally got around to it. _Please tell me what you think!_


*Group Background:*
Most of my D&D group has been gaming together for a good many years, with members occasionally coming and going as life changes. They are very intelligent people, most of them working for a major research and development company. Several of them have very high IQs, and they have a tendency to see through my attempts at puzzles and riddles readily, as well as many of my "surprise" plot twists (Professions of my members: Digital Image Tech (me), Doula/Daycare operator w/ PolySci degree (my wife), programmer, physicist, mathmatician, tech writer, and homemaker). 
My wife and I joined them about a year and a half ago - our first real D&D experience (we had dabbled before).
Soon (perhaps too soon) I was DMing, and the experienced folk took it easy on me as I learned the ropes. We play three campaigns in rotation, so we only play my game once every three weeks, and that's about how often this thread will be updated (edit: reality falls short of expectations, doesn't it... oh well).
Of our three campaigns, one party is primarily neutral (mine), one is primarily good, and one is primarily evil. All are terribly fun.

*Our Playing Style:*
My group, after playing D&D for so long, craves challange. They expect mistakes to be lethal and the dice to fall where they may (character death is not uncommon). They do not expect that their characters will be treated any differently by anybody in the game world from a random NPC.
They love debate and diplomacy, and have a nasty habit of out-talking me before I think to make them roll checks. The group observes strict non-metagaming - being very careful about what they know versus what their characters know. They try to role-play the intelligence of their characters accurately. They activly try to play new and different character concepts in every campaign.

*About this Story Hour:*
This Story Hour chronicles the last adventure in my current campaign - ongoing this past year. The heroes have word of an uber-vampire building a superweapon to destory the world, and off they go!
The party is mostly different shades of Neutral, with a couple Goods thrown in for variety. The Neutrals, be it Lawful or True, tend to dominate the group.
The game takes place in my homebrew world of Tharian (Thar-e-AN), and mostly in the Kingdom of Silleria.


_*Next: The Cast of Characters*_


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## MerakSpielman (Nov 23, 2002)

*The Cast of Characters!*

*Canter* - Clr 12
A human priest of Fharlanghn, Canter is devoted to a life of travel. He seeks to build roads - figuratively if not literally, between different lands. He is True Neutral, caring not for evil or good, only for the philosophy of Travel. He has demonstrated a certain ruthlessness at times when good characters might falter, and a certain charity to those who do not thwart his designs. He loves to craft Wondrous items for himself and the party, and has some skill in magical arms and armor as well. One of his favorite items is a Gem of True Seeing, crafted with the help of a high-level wizard at a local Cabal.

*Fjorda Templestone* - Brb 10 / Rgr 1
A Dwarven Barbarian, Fjorda numbers among those of her clan who make their living patrolling the surface of the dwarven  territory. She is a distant relation to the King of her clan, and has been sent on a mission to retrieve a powerful artifact for her fellow dwarves (any non-evil artifact). If successful, her clanmates hope that they can use the power of the artifact to reunite the scattered Clans and forge a United Dwarven Kingdom again. During her travels on the surface, Fjorda become enamored of the world of natural growing things and started learning from the Kellen the Druid the ways of Obad-Hai. She turned from Moradin and her barbarous ways and started following the path of the Ranger, though she still has a tendency to rage in battle. She hasn’t told her clanmates yet. She is Chaotic Good, though her barbaric Chaotic side often rules the Good side.

*Cloudtoucher* - Mnk 11
A human monk, Cloudtoucher hails from the Golden Hills Monastery in southern Silleria. The mission of this order is the accumulation and free sharing of Knowledge, particularly that contained in rare books. The Golden Hills Monastery has one of the most impressive libraries in the kingdom, not in size, but in sheer variety. The traveling monks consider it their duty to bring back as many volumes as they can. The library is open to all  people. Cloudtoucher has become instrumental in a deal with the Fiernas Cabal to exchange copies of books. This rare opportunity to deal with the reclusive wizards has brought inter-monastic fame to Cloudtoucher. The monks all, of course, retain their strict fighting discipline, dispite their scholarly attitude. Cloudtoucher is Lawful Neutral and ultimately more loyal to his order and its philosophy than to his party. 

*Kellen* - Drd 12
A human Druid, Kellen follows the teachings of Obad-Hai. He, like Canter, is True Neutral, letting none of the good/evil baggage to color his philosophy. The preservation of the natural order is paramount, but recently Evil has been doing a lot more damage than good, so Kellen finds himself battling the minions of Evil these days. He has no regular animal companions and is noted for creative use of his spells and abilities - including the kill-first reincarnate-later method of obtaining a subject for interrogation. 

*Serena the Evoker* - Wiz 12
Serena is a member of the all-female Fiernas Cabal, which is devoted to eliminating the sexual slavery that passes for “apprenticeship” at the male dominated Cabals. She specializes in spells that make loud noises and leave lots of dead bodies. The subtle magics of Enchantment and Illusion are forbidden to her. She. Being Lawful Neutral,  is ultimately loyal to her Cabal, and seeks avidly for ways to increase its power in the current tense situation. She is noted for secretly making a deal with an evil Medusa Wizard to gain a powerful magical item, considered a near betrayal of the party by some members. Her long, isolated hours in the Cabal library studying history, arcana, and religion have impacted her social skills. She is a worshiper of Wee Jas, but her faith rarely impacts her daily life.

*Glim Knackle* - Rog 11
Glim is a thief and a reasonably good one. Good as in Chaotic Good. He still has a good number of lapses, usually when large sums of money are involved. He left the party for some time after receiving news of a large inheritance heading his way (read: the player had trouble making it to the games for some months), only to return months later having been cheated out of his fair share by unscrupulous relatives. His experience dealing with lawyers during that time kept his Rogue abilities up to par with his friends abilities, so when he rejoined the party he was of the same level as they. Glim tends to act rashly much of the time, but his skills allow him considerable success rates regardless.


_*Next: The Story So Far*_


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## MerakSpielman (Nov 23, 2002)

*Brief History of Events leading up to the Current Situation*
_(Note: Many side-adventures occurred to supplement this main storyline. Much detail has been omitted for briefness.)_

	The party was discovered and assembled by a nobleman named Trevor Idlespear, a Hero Scout for the King of Silleria. He noted the abilities of the members separately and arranged to meet them together. He hired them to clean out the abandoned Myrtolo Keep, lost during the Gossland war, which just ended. The party traveled to the Keep and cleaned it out, receiving their reward. They were told to travel the lands, doing good deeds in the name of the King. Some of the Heroes considered this directive rather irritating, especially since Trevor Idlespear seemed unwilling to help them in any material way.

	It wasn’t long before they uncovered clues regarding the location of the Eye of Vecna, taken by Hero-Sages of two centuries ago for banishment. Apparently, the Hero-Sages failed. The Heroes, after much trial, time travel, scuffling with blue dragons and juju zombies, prevailed, and completed the ritual to lock the Eye away from the multiverse forever in a pocket of raw Time.

This earned them the wrath of the Temple of Vecna, which had been plotting these many years the subjugation of the Kingdom of Silleria. The Vecnoids tricked the Hero Serena into donning a cursed Glove of Storing, and when the King shook the hands of the members of the party to indicate his pleasure at the good jobs they’ve done, the Glove activated and destroyed him in an instant. 

	A Vecnoid, posing as the High Priest of Hieroneous, charged the Heroes with murder, but they escaped and retreated to the Temple of Fharlanghn, where the High Priest attempted a True Resurrection of the King. It failed, and the High Priest divined that the Kings soul must have been trapped in a gem. If the Heroes want to clear their names, they have to retrieve the Soul Gem.

Meanwhile, a small army shows up and burns the Temple of Fharlanghn down, scattering the clerics to the open road on the orders of the High Priest of Hieroneous. Figuring out that this priest must be a Vecnoid imposter, Canter swears he will not rest until he has attained revenge for this act. Before they part ways, the High Priest of Fharlanghn gives Canter a scroll of Hallow, with instructions to cast it in the main sanctuary of the Temple of Vecna if he gets a chance.

	(Note: In my campaign, Hallow/Unhallow is more potent and difficult to eliminate than it is as stated in the PH. This would seriously mess up the Vecnoid temple for some time, if successful. The idea being that the Unhallow cast on the Vecnoid Temple was cast a long time ago by the highest level Cleric they had, but at that time, he was not 20th. The High Priest of Fharlanghn is 20th, and his scroll of Hallow is the more potent version of the spell.)

	One thing led to another, and the Heroes recovered the magical one-of-a-kind axe Tunneler from the hands of some devious Kuo-Toa. Using the unique properties of Tunneler, they gained entrance to the old, forgotten way into the Temple of Vecna, knowing they would have no chance at a frontal assault. Using Hats of Disguise, coupled with the fact that the Vecnoids were not expecting infiltrators, they managed to catch the second-in-command, a priest named Malz Akir, alone in his quarters. They got around his absurdly high AC and killed him, using a combination of grappling and attack spells. A well-placed Death Ward saved Fjorda from a Destruction spell, and the battle was theirs (as well as the nifty magical stuff). 

	Meanwhile, Canter manages to Hallow the main sanctuary of the Temple in the name of Fharlanghn. All hell starts to break loose as the Vecnoid clerics realize that their Temple doesn’t feel right any more. While they’re getting organized, Canter dons Malz Akir’s armor and, using his Hat of Disguise and some lucky rolls impersonates Malz Akir and visits the High Priest. Having learned from Malz Akir’s journal where the King’s soul gem is hidden, they convince the senile High Priest to take them there (a secret library) where they discover the soul gem (and destroy it to free the soul), some treasure, and a crystal ball, which Serena takes gleefully. The Vecnoid High Priest is killed, and Canter uses Sending to tell his own High Priest to start the True Resurrection to restore the King to life.

	However, all is still not well. Malz Akir’s journal also described an ally of the Vecnoids, a Vampire named Murnig Ulbrig, is constructing some sort of hideous Ultimate Weapon involving multiple Spheres (of Annihilation???). It will be complete in two weeks time, whereupon the wizard Cabals will be destroyed and the Kingdom will fall under the subjugation of the Vecnoid army, still very much intact.

	The Heroes return to the Fiernas Cabal to find out what they can about this Vampire, and discover he has a fortress in the far North. This Tower is protected by some kind of permanent Dimensional Anchor, surrounding the premises and preventing teleportation in or out. Serena concludes that this effect would have to be created by some sort of unique, very powerful magical device. If they can destroy it, they should be able to teleport in and out at will. Further research reveals that Murnig was, before becoming a Vampire, the head of an evil wizard Cabal. He could easily be 20th level, and the wizards of the Fiernas Cabal do not believe the Heroes can defeat him in open combat. The icing on the cake is that the Tower is so far north that, to put it bluntly, the sun set a month ago. It is not expected to rise again for about 2 more months.

	Leaving the Sillerian Cabals to handle the Vecnoid army, the Heroes get themselves teleported North to a small village near the Tower of Murnig Ulbrig. 

	That is where we join them.


_*Next: The Party travels all the way to the front door.*_


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## MerakSpielman (Nov 23, 2002)

*The Party Reaches the Front Door*

	A puff of snow sprayed out as suddenly the group found themselves in the center of a small arctic village. The temperature contrast of this place compared to the warm, comfortable Fiernas Cabal was striking.

	“A bit chilly here,” commented Canter.

	Serena shrugged. She had remembered to wear a warm wool robe - and under layers. It wasn’t her fault if the rest of the party forgot that it was devilishly cold this far north. Canter did not, however, seem particularly troubled. Perhaps that shiny new armor he had taken from Malz Akir’s smouldering corpse kept him a bit warm. Canter had made a big show of using his crafting skills to remove the embossed insignia of Vecna from the breastplate, replacing it with the symbol of Fharlanghn.

	None of the others seemed particularly distressed about the weather, with the possible exception of Glim, who was trying with great effort to keep his teeth from chattering. Fjorda’s bushy beard and thick skin probably kept her quite well insulated. Cloudtoucher seemed to not notice the temperature at all - wherever they traveled. It must be some sort of monkish  discipline. Kellen was at home in any natural environment.

	“Well, what now?” Glim asked, as articulately as he could while holding his teeth apart.

	“We head north I suppose,” answered Kellen, “The wizards back at Fiernas seemed to be pretty certain that was the right way to go from here.”

	The party looked north.

	“I think I see a greenish glimmering of some sort,” announced Cloudtoucher. 

	“That would be the Dimensional Anchor we heard about,” explained Serena, drawing on her extensive knowledge on the subject.

	“We might as well get it over with,” Canter decided, leading the way.

	The group moved out of the nameless town, not even bothering to exchange glances with the astonished-looking townsfolk they passed on the way. They didn’t speak to the locals before setting out. _(There were some rather important things they could have learned, too. Oh well for them)_

	After a little more than half a day of trudging through dwarf-deep snow, they came within a mile of the massive structure. Rather than a traditional tower, it seemed shaped more like some sort of step-pyramid. Each “step” on the pyramid was composed of two distinct levels: a smooth, well-crafted level followed by a ragged, stony level. The rough-cut levels made the entire affair look like it had been carved out of a rough, conical mountain, but the carvers only bothered carving out every other level. There was a massive set of doors in the side of the tower facing the party.

	“Shall we go over again what we know about this Vampire?” asked Canter.

	“All right,” agreed Serena, always eager to show off her memory, “He was the head of an evil Cabal over 200 years ago. He abruptly left his post and traveled north, never to be heard from again. He was a very powerful wizard at that time. He has resurfaced now, as a Vampire, and has significant dealings with the Vecnans. He has engaged in a project to create an Ultimate Weapon to aid the Vecnans in their attempt to Take Over the World. This device will be complete in one week. We must protect the lives of countless innocents by ending this before then.”

	“An apt summation,” Cantor observed dryly, “Though I was hoping to lead into more of a conversation about what we plan on doing now that we’re here. The wizards seemed confident that we would be totally unable to defeat him in combat. There must be another way.”

	“We could bluff our way in,” suggested Glim, “You have all those Hats of Disguise, remember? They served us well enough inside the Vecnan temple. Why not use them here?”

	The group talked it over and agreed that this was, indeed, the best plan available to them. They would pose as a group of Vecnans coming to see the progress being made on the Ultimate Weapon. Canter would pose as Malz Akir, because the shiny armor was very unique and would allow his disguise to operate more efficiently.

	“All right,” said Kellen, “The story is we’re emissaries from the Temple of Vecna come to check on the progress of the Ultimate Weapon. If possible, we want all talk and no violence. Got it?”

	Fjorda seemed sullen, but everybody agreed.

	Disguised, they approached the double door. It stood at least nine feet tall and looked strong enough to repel a siege. Canter approached and knocked. 

	There was no response.

	He called out, “I am Malz Akir, and I wish to speak to Murnig Ulbrig! Open the door!”

	There was no response.

	The party stood there, shuffling their feet uneasily. Should they enter uninvited? Was there some sort of protocol to be observed when one high and mighty villain visited another? Was their cover already blown?

	Canter tried the knock-shout routine again.

	There was no response.

	The group exchanged glances.

	Glim shrugged, “We might as well just go on in. Is the door locked?”

	“There’s no lock,” said Canter, pushing on the right wing of the door. It opened easily, “It’s not barred either.”


_*Next: The Party discovers whether or not their disguises worked*_


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## MerakSpielman (Nov 24, 2002)

They stepped into the tower and found themselves in a thirty-foot wide corridor leading due east toward the center of the tower. Evenly spaced every five feet along each wall were a series of bare alcoves. The hallway was illuminated by a series of stones set along the center of the ceiling that glowed with supernatural light. The floor was covered in large, square, gray tiles. There seemed to be no way to go except ahead.

	Canter raised his hand, "Just a moment," and inconspicously raised his Gem of True Seeing to his eye.

	"Nothing not as it seems." he decided, leading the way forward.

	“It seems our entrance has gone unnoticed,” observed Cloudtoucher.

	“I can’t believe the main entrance is unguarded,” snorted Glim, “ I mean what kind of security _is_ this? Door unlocked, no guar...”

	The gnome was cut off in surprise as the floor dropped away from Canter’s feet. The cleric barely managed to leap back in time to avoid falling. One of the large tiles had given way, revealing a pit. Fjorda stomped over and peered in.

	“Can’t see the bottom,” she announced, “Even with my darkvision. Why didn't your Gem of True Seeing warn us?”

	"That is not its function," Canter replied, breathing heavily, "It only unmasks magical deceptions, such as illusions or invisibility."

	More wary now, the party skirted the pit and started to proceed down the corridor, but before they had gotten far, another pit opened, almost catching Fjorda. Her barbarian reflexes served her well as she spun about, catching onto the edge and pulling herself out. Her arsenal clanked around her belt and back as she regained her feet and composure.

	“I don’t think we, or anybody else, are welcome here,” commented Serena.

	“Wonderful observation,” said Canter dryly, “Once again, your superior intellect has revealed what was hidden to us lesser mortals.”

	“Enough of this disguise,” said Kellen, “If the main entry of this place is this hostile, I don’t think bluffing is going to get us anywhere. If we’re going to be fighting a vampire, and possibly his spawn, we need to eliminate their coffins. I’m going to find out how to reach them.”

	He started casting a spell. Canter and Serena smiled as they recognized _Find the Path_.

	The spell concluded.

	“Well?” asked Glim.

	Kellen concentrated, trying to feel how the spell was directing him.

	“Nothing,” He reported momentarily, “Something’s not working right.”

	“Well, if I was a vampire,” Serena said smugly, “And a powerful wizard like Murnig Ulbrig, I would have protections around my coffin. I could have told you your spell wouldn’t work if you had asked before you cast it.”

	“If you’re so smart, why don’t you suggest something,” snapped Kellen.

	“All right then, I will. So far in our adventuring, we have depended upon our ability to come and go as we please via _Teleports_. That ability is useless as long as the _Dimensional Anchor_ is in place. I suggest we find the mechanism by which it is operating and disable or destroy it. Then, no matter how bad things are getting, we’ll have a way to retreat.”

	Cloudtoucher nodded. He knew that Serena always kept a teleport or two in her ring of spell storing, and Canter’s god let him _Teleport_ occasionally as well, “I second this plan,” he
announced.

	“Fine,” said Canter, “I’ll try a _Find the Path_ myself. Perhaps this location is not as well guarded."

	He cast his spell and closed his eyes, perceiving the direction of the mental tugging.

	“There,” the cleric announced, pointing at the nearest pit in the floor, “The fastest path to the _Dimensional Anchor_ device involves entering that pit.”

	The others stared at him.

	“Are you sure?” asked Glim incredulously.

	“This Murnig Ulbrig is more clever than I thought,” exclaimed Serena, “By riddling the front entryway with pits, intruders will assume they are traps, not passages. No doubt they’re not _safe_ for us to enter to enter,” she added hastily, “but vampires can assume _gaseous form_ and climb sheer surfaces with magical ease. These pits are only significant obstacles to non-vampires.”

	“And non-clerics of the great Fharlanghn!” Canter added, “My god allows me to _Fly_, if I wish it.”

	“I’ll turn into a bat,” Kellen shrugged, “If you really believe we should go down there.”

	“My god would not put my feet on an incorrect road.”

	“Of course not,” Kellen said sarcastically, “What was I thinking?”

	“ I can cover the rest of us with _Mass Fly_,” Serena suggested, “I just learned it at the Cabal. The only catch is that you can’t go further than thirty feet from somebody else who is affected, or the spell ends for you.”

	Cloudtoucher, Glim, and Fjorda agreed to be placed under the _Mass Fly_ spell. Canter invoked his domain power of flight, and Kellen turned into a bat. Cautiously, they entered the pit.

	They flew down for about twenty feet before the pit proper ended and the party found themselves at the top of a huge, shaft-like room leading deep into the bowels of the earth. They could see in the ceiling above them numerous holes leading from other pits in the main entryway. The room continued down further than they could see.

	“Well, let’s go,” decided Canter, leading the way again.

	Down they went, another one hundred and twenty feet, before they found their progress down blocked by a sheet-like magical barrier. The purple field extended floor-like over the entire shaft, shimmering with power.

	The party halted, considering it.

	“It reminds me of the _Prismatic Walls_ in Myrtolo Keep,” observed Glim, “The ones guarding the Vaults. They had colors other than purple, though.”

	“We saw something exactly like this when we raided Riznik Q’baltho’s tenement to get my spellbook back,” Serena remembered, “I looked it up. It’s an _Otluk’s Dispelling Screen_. It must have been made permanent somehow. Passage through it is harmless, but has a good chance of ending any spells you have effecting you at the moment.”

	“Like our _Mass Fly_,” growled Fjorda.

	“I think my flight would be disabled too,” added Canter.

	“What about Kellen?” asked Cloudtoucher.

	Serena considered, “I think he would remain in bat form. I should be able to _Dispel_ this wall, though, so it doesn’t really matter.” She hiked up her sleeves, “Ready?”

	The others indicated readiness. Serena started casting _Dispel Magic_.

	Quite suddenly, a minor sort of hell broke loose.

	Serena reeled from the simultaneous attacks of two creatures that had quietly appeared floating in mid-air next to her. Her spell fizzled as she cried out in pain. The touch of the creatures seemed to be trying to suck her very life essence out of her, but she managed to resist the drain and pull back from the creatures. Looking around, she saw that the rest of the party was engaged in battle as well. The creatures were humanoid and dressed like the villagers they had seen in the snow-locked village that morning, though they were clearly no longer human. Their faces were pallid, their skin hung loosely from their muscles, and their eyes shone with hatred. When their lips parted, wicked fangs were revealed.

	“Vampires!” Shouted Serena, “Lesser spawn, by the looks of them.”

	One of the spawn had snatched the bat-form of Kellen out of the air and was vigorously sucking blood from a wound in his neck as he struggled. Another two had appeared next to Canter, flanking him and trying to lock him in a deadly embrace. So far, he had managed to fend them off. Another vampire had popped into sight next to Cloudtoucher, but hadn’t even managed to touch the agile monk. Glim and Fjorda were the only ones not being attacked.

	Fjorda flew over and attacked one of the spawn next to Serena, getting its attention with a strong blow from her enchanted axe. Glim pulled out his crossbow and started pelting off shots at the same spawn from only ten feet away. Canter pulled out the wand of _Searing Light_ he had purchased at the Cabal and blasted off a charge at one of the spawn attacking him. Kellen, weakening due to blood loss, managed with a great effort to win free from the grasp of the vampire attacking him. Squeaking in fury, he dived down below the _Dispelling Screen_ and emerged to flank one of the vampires attacking Canter. 

Cloudtoucher was raining a devestating flurry of blows down on his attacker, the permanent _Magic Fang_ Serena had given him working wonders against the vampire’s undead form. 

Serena cursed at the loss of her _Dispel Magic_, stepped back, and surrounded herself with a shield of flames. She was in pain from the dread touch of the vampires that had attacked her and knew that she wouldn’t be able to take much more punishment than she had already.

	The vampires continued their assault fearlessly. The one Fjorda had struck looked her in the eyes, and she felt her anger dissipate. These vampires were her friends! What a truly odd thing, to have two groups of trusted friends attacking each other like this. The other vampire that had surprised Serena looked apprehensively at her _Flame Shield_ and decided to help his comrade attack Cloudtoucher. Those two together managed to lock the monk in an embrace and start drawing out his blood. One of the vampires attacking Canter had had similar success, though he managed to fend off the other one. The vampire that had been sucking the blood of Kellen the druid turned to join his two comrades attacking Canter. It seemed they had a dislike of clerics.

	Fjorda, charmed, was facing something of a dilemma. Two groups of her good friends were hacking and slashing at each other in apparent mortal combat. Then she brightened. This 
was similar to the gladiatorial combats the party had staged to entertain local crowds soon after meeting. This battle was clearly a free-for-all, and she could attack whomever she wanted! Certainly Canter would heal everybody up afterwards - no harm done. She stepped forward and simultaneously attacked Glim and the vampire who had given her such a loving gaze, damaging both severely. It was difficult to say which was more surprised. 
	Behind her, Canter blasted a vampire with his wand of _Searing Light_ again. The spawn, already heavily damaged, dissolved into vapor and started drifting upwards. Cloudtoucher similarly finished off one of the vamps facing him, and another gaseous vampire joined the first.

	Serena didn’t want the gaseous vampires to get away just yet. She flew up above one of the “poofed” vamps and cast a _Gust of Wind_ straight down. The poor creature was blown straight through the Dispelling Screen, but suffered no ill effects and began to creep upwards again.
  	The spawn that had _Charmed_ Fjorda seemed baffled by her dual attack of itself and Glim. Deciding that something must have gone wrong, it attempted to _Charm_ the dwarf again. Fjorda promptly sliced it in half with her axe, rendering it gaseous and dispelling the _Charm_ effect. 

	The remaining two vampires were quickly dispatched as the party surrounded them.

	“Follow them!” cried Canter, “We need to find out where the coffins are hidden!”

	“Stay close!” Serena reminded them, not wanting to have a comrade leave the area of the _Mass Fly_ spell.

	The gaseous vampires rose up through one of the open pits the party had entered the shaft from. Back in the hallway, they drifted into one of the alcoves and issued slowly into a crack in the wall.

	“Heh. Got’em.” Fjorda chuckled, triumphantly. She raised her axe and started hacking at the wall, knowing nothing non-magical could damage the enchanted blade. Progress was, however, painfully slow. After a couple minutes of this, Kellen, back in Druid form, pulled her back gently.

	“I can just Stone Shape it Fjorda,” he said.

	Glim peered into the crack.

	“Something odd,” he announced, “It doesn’t seem to lead anywhere I can see. Not into another room anyway.”

	Fjorda took another look, applying her intuitive knowledge of stonecraft to the puzzle, “This crack was constructed here deliberately,” she decided, “It doesn’t mean the wall is any weaker here, like a crack normally would.”

	“For all we know, this place could be riddled with vampire cracks,” muttered Serena, “Allowing them to get anywhere, including their coffins, without us following. Quite brilliant, actually.”

	The party considered their next course of action. They knew they had little more than an hour before these very spawn would be back, ready to fight again. The _Find the Path_ spell was still in effect, telling Canter that the fastest way to the Dimensional Anchor device was below them. Meanwhile, this first level remained unexplored. They had never even reached the end of the first hallway.

	What to do, what to do...

_*Next, What they do and What Becomes of it.*

Note: This is where we ended the game on Saturday the 16th. The next game is not until December 14th, since this campaign is only run every third week, and we’re taking Thanksgiving weekend off. Wait until then for the next update, and please leave any comments you have!_


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## Terraism (Nov 24, 2002)

Well, I can tell you - I'm quite pleased with it.  I'm not pleased with the length (what'dya mean, it's _over!?!_ [Grin.]) but that's to be expected with a new story hour.  Good job, so far - I'm enjoying this.  And, by the way... if you've got some free time between now and that next game, maybe select bits of backstory written out for eager readers would be a good idea...


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## MerakSpielman (Nov 25, 2002)

Thanks for the input! I'd love to write up some of their earlier adventures, but they happened so long ago I'll miss tons of importent and interesting details (Plus, there is the Time factor - I'm in my final year of college, and they keep me busy).
Heck, in the one above, I forgot Cantor using his Gem of True Seeing on the hallway... I'll go put that in.

Maybe I'll get around to posting my Campaign Background sometime, though. it's not too unique, and bits of it are stolen, but it kind of sets the stage.

Thanks again!


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## MerakSpielman (Dec 9, 2002)

For all of you anxious fans, (  ) the next game in my story hour has been delayed 1 week to the 21st. The next SH update will be a few days later. Thanks!


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## Mathew_Freeman (Dec 10, 2002)

Count me in for reading. I love having a big stack of Story Hours to catch up on...

...and these vampires sound like really tricky customers!


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## MerakSpielman (Jan 26, 2003)

Ok, so I don't update when I say I will. So sue me.
Back to the Story.

--------------------------------

The party talked among themselves.

	"Those vamps are long-gone by now," Serena said, "and I feel there is no clear way to pursue them."

	"And they will regenerate their physical forms in an hour," muttered Canter, "I vote we follow our Find the Path spell and take out the Dimensional Anchor. No vampire is going to keep a follower of Fharlanghn from traveling where he wills."

	"I second that," agreed Cloudtoucher, "We don't want to waste the spell, and nothing else looks as promising."

	Glim, Fjorda, and the bat-form of  Kellen also indicated agreement. The party returned to the open pit.

	"The spells are still active," Serena reminded them, "Let's fly!"

	They went down. This time, no vampires accosted them.

	"Here goes nothing," muttered Glim as Serena raised her arms to try Dispelling the purple screen again.

	She completed the spell and the field vanished. The party continued down.

	And down.

	And down.

	Finally Fjorda snorted in disgust, "I know the ways of wizards are strange, and vampires even stranger, but this is a lot of excavation for very little purpose. It must have taken years to complete this shaft alone, let alone this entire complex," she paused, "Wait, I think I see the bottom. It's not stone. I can't tell what it is. Blasted darkvision."

	Soon the others could see to what Fjorda had been referring.

	"It's green," commented Glim.

	"It's slimy," observed Canter.

	"It's green slime!" everybody said together.

	Glances were exchanged.

	"This would have been bad for anybody who had their fly magic dispelled by that Screen," Serena mused.

	The room was not too extensive, shaped like a slightly larger version of the hallway that formed its ceiling, far above.

	"Which way?" Cloudtoucher asked Canter.

	"Over there," the cleric pointed, "There's a door."

	Indeed there was: in the wall mere inches above the level of the green slime was a perfectly ordinary-looking door.

	They passed through it, still flying. It opened into a 
somewhat oddly shaped, plain, empty room. There was another door to the right.

	"That way," Canter pointed, unnecessarily.

	The door opened onto another perfectly plain, empty, oddly-shaped room.

	"A lot of wasted space," commented Glim dryly, "I at least expected to be able to poke fun at the decor. The undead don't seem to bother with it at all, though."

	They passed through another door.

	This room was not oddly shaped. Nor was it empty. It was square, forty feet on a side. A large iron ring was set into the exact center of the room. Attached to the ring was a large, iron chain. At the terminus of the chain was what made the party come to a screeching halt just inside the room.

	"Is that... an ogre?..." asked Cloudtoucher, "it seems... Odd."

	"It's too big," said Glim, "far too big."

	It was indeed. Not only did it stand a full three feet taller than a normal ogre, its eyes burned with a dull red glow. Its face was twisted in an expression of incredible hatred. It did not move.

	"The chain!" shouted Serena, "It's glowing green!"

	She was right. The iron of the chain and ring set in the floor was glowing a dull green. The party knew, of course, that anything that glowed green couldn't possibly be good.

	"Bah!" spat Fjorda, "We took on ogres when we were green, at Myrtolo Keep. We can take this one, no problem." She hefted her axe and flew forward.

	"Wait!" cried Serena, "We don't know what we're up against!"

	But it was too late. The fray commenced.

	Fjorda swung her axe as the rest of the party scrambled to get into position. It struck true, leaving a large gash in the ogre's arm. It growled in animalistic fury and lifted a huge iron club, bashing at the flying dwarf. It scored, and Fjorda screamed in pain.

	Serena stood back and flung a magic missile. Against unknown opponents, it was something she knew would work. The darts slammed into the ogre, leaving oozing bruises where they struck.

	Cloudtoucher leaped nimbly into the melee, making contact with a rapid jab under the ogre's snout. Something snapped, and everybody hoped it was the ogre's face instead of the monk's fist.

	Glim circled, hoping to find an opening to dart in with a precise thrust, but stayed out of range of the dangerously swinging club.

	Kellen, still in bat form, began flying around the room, searching for anything else that might be amiss.

	Canter looked at their foe, trying to decide whether to cast a spell or not, and decided to strike at it with his ensorceled staff. He missed by a wide margin.

	The melee fighters continued hacking on the ogre, but its club was devastating. Fjorda took the brunt of it, but Cloudtoucher was forced to withdraw for healing. Glim managed to sneak up behind it, but barely scratched it with his dagger thrust.

	Just when it seemed the battle was going well, the ogre lifted its club and shouted something incomprehensible. A wave of total darkness roiled out, engulfing the entire room. Suddenly blind, the party faltered.

	Then there was a sickening crunch-slice noise, and just as quickly as it had been summoned, the darkness fled. Fjorda's battle axe was deep in the ogre's skull, and it lay on the floor, dead. The chain was no longer glowing.

	"Nobody blinds a dwarf," she explained, pulling her magical axe free and examining it for nicks, of which, of course, there were none,  "It is not polite."

	"You look pretty beat up," commented Canter, touching Fjorda lightly. Instantly, her wounds healed until she looked barely injured at all.

	"Thanks," she grunted, "Which way now?"

	Canter took a deep breath, clearing his mind from the distraction of combat, "There," he pointed at a door.

	"Good enough," shrugged Fjorda, flying over and flinging the door open before anybody could stop her.

	"All clear!" she called, "Come on, let's find the Dimensional Anchor before your spell wears off."

	The others panted, their hearts still pounding from the intensity of the combat. In a few moments, they gathered themselves together and followed the dwarf.

	Serena glanced back at the dead ogre, wondering. Why had the chain been glowing? Why did it stop? Why had this ogre been so hard to kill? She could only presume the chain must have been enhancing it in some way, making it stronger than it should be. But why chain it in place, instead of enchanting some item the ogre could carry around? Did the vampires not trust their own minions?

	The path led them through several more rooms, tending generally north. All of the rooms were unnaturally empty - devoid of any sort of identifying features, furniture, or items, with the exception of several plain doors leading out of each. At some point during the trek, the flying magic wore off, and the party was walking again, except for Kellen, who persisted in bat form.

	"This is starting to creep me out," muttered Glim, "What is the purpose of all these rooms? Is this supposed to be a maze?"

	"I hate to express faith in the reasoning of a vampire," commented Cloudtoucher, "But I have a feeling nothing is done here for no purpose. It is just not apparent to us."

	Just then, they opened another door into a room slightly larger than most they had seen. It was shaped like a fat cross, and in the northern arm stood another ogre, identical to the first except that it was half again as large. It was similarly chained, and the chain similarly glowed. It stood looking at the group, but made no movement.

	"I had hoped that they only had one of those," commented Serena mildly.

	"We killed the last one without much effort," shrugged Fjorda, "What are we waiting for?"

	Moments later, as was the norm when Fjorda was leading, the melee ensued. The batter was much tougher than the first. The ogre attacked the instant Fjorda charged into range, its iron club doing terrible damage before she even got close enough to return the favor. Canter spent much of his time doling out healing spells, until his supply was nearly exhausted. Serena, after initially cursing the dwarf for keeping her from using her devastating area-effect spells, kept up a steady barrage of magic missiles and acid orbs. Kellen finally shed his bat-form and joined the fray, worried that one of his companions would fall if the damage rate against the monster was not increased. The flame of his enchanted scimitar, though, had very little effect. Finally, the giant ogre crashed to the ground lifeless, the magical glow of its chain fading.

	"Where now?" panted Kellen as he completed one of his own healing spells on Cloudtoucher.

	Canter focused his attention on his still-active magic, "North again. Through that wall."

	"There must be a secret door," exclaimed Glim brightly, "This is a job for your local gnome!" He searched and quickly found the outline of a secret door where Canter was indicating.

	"Great," commented Fjorda, "Now get it open."

	"Er..." hedged the gnome, "The activation mechanism is not readily apparent."

	They spread out and searched the room. Other than the ogre, the room was as empty as the others. Finally Cloudtoucher cried out.

	"I got it! The ring the chain is set into, see?" he pushed one edge of the ring and it turned slowly. There was a click, followed by a loud boom from some sort of machinery. The section of wall Glim had noticed slid down into the floor.

	"Hurry," urged Canter, "The spell hasn't got much longer."

	They rushed through the opening, which led to a landing on a stairwell leading up and down.

	"Up!" directed Canter, and up they sprinted.

	And ran.

	And jogged.

	And walked.

	Finally Serena exclaimed in disgust as their progress slowed to a crawl, "Exactly how many stairs are there anyway? I'm half tempted to suggest we fly again, except I only had that spell prepared once."

	"We should be almost back up to ground level now," said Fjorda, "I can feel it."

	They trudged up for another two dozen steps.

	"We're there," said Fjorda, "Back up to the first floor. No doors or openings though."

	"We're still supposed to go up," said Canter.

	So up they went. After about another thirty steps, the nature of the stairway changed. After a certain distance from the ground, it stopped being neatly cut stone and became rough-hewn. The walls stopped being neatly carved and now looked like the walls of a natural cavern. The demarcation between the two styles was as sharp as a razor and perfectly horizontal.

	"How... odd," remarked Kellen, "It looks natural, but I don't think it is. What do you think Fjorda?"

	The dwarf stopped and looked at the rough walls, "It was carved to look uncarved," She decided, "I have no idea why."

	"It seems to correspond properly to the difference we saw in the outer wall," said Serena, "We have the question of ‘why bother?' again."

	After a few more steps, the stairway opened into what looked like a natural cave.

	"They got it wrong," Fjorda snorted, "Anybody could tell this isn't a cave. Stalactites are supposed to grow from the ceiling down and stalagmites from the floor up. They got it backwards."

	The others looked. There were pointy projections of rock coming from both the floor and ceiling. They looked pretty much identical.

	"Um, of course," said Glim, pursing his lips.

	"Right," directed Canter.

	They followed the right wall and found after a very short distance another stairway going up. It was as if the large cavern was merely a big landing.

	Canter directed them up again.

	There was another sharp demarcation, and the stairway continued in its previous, well crafted style and started spiraling more tightly. Just in time for the third floor, there was a door off to the west, through which Canter directed them.

	"It's on this floor then," said the cleric, "unless this place is a three dimensional maze."

	The door opened onto a wide corridor. It terminated quickly to the north, but continued for some distance to the south. There were torches burning with a smokeless flame in sconces in the wall. It was by far the most inhabited looking place they had seen so far in the tower. There were several doors to the sides near the north end, but Canter directed them south.

	"What's that?" Cloudtoucher asked, pointing. There were deep gouges in the floor in several places.

	"Let me see," said Kellen, applying his tracking abilities to the marks.

	After a few moments he announced, "Claw marks. Some old. Some very old. Some fresh. All from the same large creature."

	"A dragon maybe?" wondered Serena, "I hope not. Nothing for it, though, but to press on."

----------------------------------------------------

The rest will be posted soon... I haven't caught up to now-time yet.


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## Mathew_Freeman (Jan 29, 2003)

I'd forgotten about this!

Very good!


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## MerakSpielman (Jan 30, 2003)

Thanks!

Those ogres were fiendish 6th level barbarians with +4 Greatclubs.


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## Mathew_Freeman (Jan 30, 2003)

MerakSpielman said:
			
		

> *Thanks!
> 
> Those ogres were fiendish 6th level barbarians with +4 Greatclubs.    *




Crunchy fun goodness!


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## Nail (Mar 26, 2003)

MerakSpielman said:
			
		

> *Thanks!
> 
> Those ogres were fiendish 6th level barbarians with +4 Greatclubs.    *




Uhm...why didn't they attack it with ranged weapons?  If they insist on charging...they'll get spanked.

Good story hour, BTW.


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## MerakSpielman (Mar 26, 2003)

Sheesh, I keep responding minutes after people post.

This party doesn't do ranged weapons. Fjorda won't be talked out of melee, for one thing... Glim probably should, but doesn't. I guess it never occured to them.

I mean, the ogres were CHAINED in place, you know? But they can fight them however they want...

And thanks for reading! I love responses. Now I'm gonna have to post the rest of the adventure, like I promised my players I would. I'd just about forgotten about it.


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## Nail (Mar 26, 2003)

MerakSpielman said:
			
		

> *Sheesh, I keep responding minutes after people post.
> 
> This party doesn't do ranged weapons. Fjorda won't be talked out of melee, for one thing... Glim probably should, but doesn't. I guess it never occured to them.
> 
> ...



It's good....and I like reading about this particular style of DMing.  Keep it up!  I'd like to know the reasons for the strange architecture.


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