No matter where you go, there you are.
We have defeated the Vampire ‘Kartharsis,’ and obtained the key which should get us the Heart of Nerull. I wanted to look around and see if Kartharsis had some treasure stashed away, but Ghelt was in a hurry to get out of there and back to check on Aramis. (She has become very attached to him, it would seem.).
I got some dirty looks for stopping to search as we were being rushed out of the catacombs, but I was worth it! I found a spellbook in the coffin of one of the Vampire Spawn.
Aramil has been following me around ever since.... I am going to have to wait until he is asleep before I can take a close look at it, as he keeps looking over my shoulder and preventing me from studying it properly. A quick glance did reveal that it contains some spells that I do not already know! (I might let Aramil take a look at it after I have copied the spells I am interested in... but not before. I saw him give his own spellbook to Pockets, and I wouldn’t want him to do the same with this one... who knows what that reckless fellow would do with it!)
Unfortunately, when we got to the center of town, we found that Aramis was gone. I must admit, I was hoping he would be able to restore our strength, as some of us were weakened by the attacks of the Vampire and his spawn. I was also hoping we could rest, so I could re-memorize some spells... but once more Ghelt insists we continue on.
I only hope, that in our weakened and tired state, we are a match for whatever may be guarding the Heart! I suspect it will be more than just a door with a fancy lock.
Personally, I just want to get the damned thing destroyed, removed or whatever it is we are supposed to do with it. Then we can get out of this place. I have had enough of the city of the dead!
FF
Dearest Grun,
Yes, I’m still catching up on my tale! At least, things began to look up at this point.
After dispatching the rats, we again followed Urkel’s map. It led to a staircase (which at this point we checked thoroughly before descending), and a passage that looked to be the vampire’s lair - much fancy workmanship, and lots of darts in the walls for Aramil to find. “Pockets” merrily stabbed me in the back.. with the healing sword, but I fear he’s having too much fun with that! There were three doors to choose from, and “Pockets” picked the central one after listening at all three.
Sure enough, it was a great throne room, and full of attacking wraiths! As we battled them, screams from behind let us know that the other doors must have held some surprises, too. Fafnir came flying into the throne room, Aramil was looking absolutely terrible.. and the vampire Kartharsis finally showed up. Out of nowhere, it appeared next to Drusilia and attacked.
The battle moved mostly into the room, but a fireball blocked the doorway with “Pockets” on the wrong side with the vampire! Thankfully, when the fireball swung away, “Pockets” was still alive and the vampire was gone.
Of course, it appeared as soon as it could get to Drusilia again - she really was tops on its list! Luckily, we had more room to attack it together. At one point it was even on the floor being grappled by Valon and a wildly swearing “Pockets” so that Drusilia could do her damage. (Its armor made it hard for anyone else to land a blow.) Suddenly, it turned to gas. We went for the metal door in the corner of the room, hoping to find its coffin before it had a chance to heal up and attack us again.
The room was a trap.. as soon as “Pockets” was inside and checking out the chest, bars came down across the entrance and an earth elemental appeared to attack him! I was trying to command it to stop, and that crazy half-human created another fireball - inside the small space! As if that would hurt anything but his friend - should I worry about that? He trapped “Pockets” in the hall with the vampire, too! Thankfully, the others were able to cast various spells to destroy the thing and someone got the bars to retract. “Pockets” returned to checking the empty box, and I smashed it up for stakes before we checked the last door in the room.
“Pockets” quickly found and fixed the trap in that doorway, and we found the vampire’s sarcophagus. We got holy water and acid and spells ready, and I shoved the lid off! The vampire was there.. and didn’t move. Valon and Drusilia realized that it had been hurt enough that it wouldn’t be able to move for an hour, thank Moradin! Valon pulled off the plate mail and staked him, and Drusilia used her mace to turn Kartharsis to dust. An evil creature has left the world!
Certain crazy party members began to divide up the vampire’s belongings, although I warned them they could be cursed. I went hunting for our real goal - the key to the Heart of Nerull! As soon as I found it I was ready to get going, but others wanted to find the vampire’s treasure. I pointed out that there were other evil creatures about, still.. finally, everyone agreed that they wanted to see the angel again. They’re awful dependent on that angel for some reason, but it got them moving at least!
We did check the other doors in the hallway; found, staked, and destroyed the other vampires, and discovered one musty tome for Fafnir to peruse later. We climbed out of the lair, went to the angel’s tower, and found that he was gone. Good for the angel, I said - and off we went to find the Heart of Nerull!
More later!
With love,
Ghelt
We continued following our map to the Vampire’s lair. we found it without much trouble, unless you count the traps that Arimil set off onto the party. we came to a passage with three doors to choos from, one to the left, one to the right and one straight ahead.
The center door seemed the obvious place to assault and we opened the door and charged through. Unfortunately, our opponents had prepared for us and we charged into an ambush!
Many Wraiths dropped onto Arimil and I from the ceiling, touching us and draining away our health. Attackers came from behind us, cutting off any kind of retreat. Things became even more grim when the Vampire appeared, exclusicvely attacking Drusilia. Through Fafnir’s Magic Missles, Drusilia’s Searing Light some teamwork, and a huge amount of luck, we managed to drive them damned Vampire away.
We immediatly began searching the throne room for the vampire’s coffin. We tried an iron door, thinking the heavy door would be used to protect a vampire’s coffin, but as Pockets found out, it was not the case. Iron bars slammed down from the doorway, trapping Pockets in the small room, and an earth elemental appeared. We managed to use ranged weapons and spells, and some poking through the bars, but we managed to kill the elemental and set Pockets free.
We tried the other (wooden) door in the room, and stepped though to find a huge coffin with a vampire inside. We took off his armor and staked him, and Drusilia destroyed his body. We split amongst the party as many of his possessions as we could, despite Ghelt’s protests.
We also checked the rest of the small area we were in, killing several resting Vampire Spawn and finding an old tome for Fafnir to inspect.
As weak as the party was we decided to head to see the “Damned Angel” as Ghelt called it. When we arrived in the center tower, however. the angel was gone. Ghelt was overjoyed at this. We decided to rest here for a short bit and continue on while it is still light.
I hope we can find a way to restore our health soon, as the party is almost all looking terrible...