Vampires in Hommlet
13th Marpenoth (October)
14th Marpenoth (October)
15th Marpenoth (October)
The Death of Terjon
16th Marpenoth (October)
The group sees movement at Grandpa Methuzalor’s place and decides to check it out. Vall peaks through a window, but cannot see anything. Thelinor checks the door for traps, but doesn’t find any. He tries the door and it is locked, so he tries to pick it. The door bursts open and flames shoot out hitting Thel. Jangobah calls upon Calderon’s memories and remembers the password to enter safely.
Thel steps into the building and lights a torch. He can hear a fluttering, but he cannot see anything in the room. Vall and Terjon step in as well. Terjon casts Detect Evil and says there is an evil presence in the room. As he tries to pinpoint the evil, they are attacked by six flying heads. They are Vargoyles and the group quickly strikes down three of them. Ieriyn casts Daylight on a rock and throws it into the room. Vall is bitten by one of the creatures.
When the last of the Vargoyles is killed, the back door bursts open. A large monster with tentacles comes floating into the room. It attacks Thel, but misses. As the creature approaches, the feeling of her brains being sucked out overwhelms Aemaria. She is dazed and unable to act. Jangobah shoots Magic Missiles into the thing, as another one appears from outside. Ieriyn warns the group of the second creature and then turns Invisible. Terjon casts Shield Other on Aemaria, as she turns and runs out of the house.
Thel tries to attack the new creature, which knocks his weapon out. He is overcome with images of the dragon attacking the caravan and flees. The first creature attacks Vall. Though he takes no damage, his head is filled of images of his time in the Elven underworld. He turns and flees the building, quickly passing Aemaria. Jangobah blasts the creature in the house with a Lightning Bolt.
Ieriyn moves to go down the road, following those feeling. Terjon suddenly feels a sharp pain. Looking around, he realizes that Aemaria has been attacked. Ieriyn sees something over Aemaria and takes a shoot at it, but misses. She attempts to charge it, but again misses. Realizing that she needs help, she heads back to the house.
Terjon tells Jangobah about Aemaria. Jangobah decides to end the fight. He casts Chains of Vengeance on the first creature, killing it. Terjon casts Mass Resist Elements and then Jangobah blasts a Lightning Bolt on the second creature. Terjon casts the Mace of Odo and moves to strike the second creature. He hits it and it explodes with blood and guts everywhere.
Terjon steps outside and sees Ieriyn running back towards the house. Jangobah takes a last look around and then steps outside as well. Ieriyn tells them that she followed Aemaria, who was attacked by a vampire. It is in the druid’s grove still attacking her now. The three of them run to the grove, where they see the creature kneeling over her.
Terjon casts Death Watch on Aemaria. He gets a very strange reading, as it seems that her soul is gradually disappearing. Aemaria has a little bit of strength left and pushes the vampire off of her. It flips on its back and hisses at the group. Terjon attempts to call on the power of Helm to banish the vampire, but it merely hisses at him. Ieriyn casts a second Daylight spell. Jangobah casts Chains of Vengeance, trapping the vampire in the flames.
Ieriyn tells the group how to kill the vampire. Terjon takes a look at Aemaria and casts a Protection of Evil on her. As they try to figure out what to do next, Vall and Thel return from the woods. Terjon casts protective magic on Vall in case the Vargoyle bite was infected. He wants to head towards to the Temple of Helm. When they get there, they see that some of the windows are boarded up. There is extensive damage and it looks as if it is abandoned. Terjon steps inside and sees there is a body sacrificed on the altar. He thinks that it has only been there a day or so.
The group heads back to the Welcome Wench. They do recognize a few people there, but it is a very somber place. Terjon asks about the evil in the area. Ostler tells them that vampires have infested the area. They arrived shortly after Lareth had attacked the Temple. The temples of Lathander and Mielikki had also been desecrated. As far as Ostler knows, not even any of the minor priests survived the attacks. Nor has anyone seen the Druid or Rufus and Burne since the trouble began.
Ieriyn talks to Ostler and gets them free rooms. Exhausted the group retires for the night.
Vall wakes up first the next morning. He is convinced that it is 8am, but it is still dark outside. He wakes Ieriyn if she had ever heard of vampires having the power to blot out the sun. She says no. He wakes up the rest of the group. Only Terjon agrees with Vall about it being 8am. The rest think it is probably 2am or so. They notice that the darkness barely allows the torch to illuminate a 5-foot area. Vall checks out the rest of the inn and wakes Ostler. He thinks Vall is full of crap about the time.
Terjon examines Aemaria, who still is very weak and pale. He casts several spells on her to try and curtail the damage of the vampire’s attack. First, he casts a Protective Ward on her. He follows this with Guidance, Protection from Evil, Vision of Glory, and Prayer. Because she is still weak from the blood loss, he also casts Endurance on her.
The group heads out of the Wench and heads towards Gramp’s. Jangobah casts Detect Magic. He learns that it is moderate evocation magic and says the magic looks like snow falling. He attempts to cast Dispel Magic, but there is no effect on the darkness. In Gramp’s library they find several books on cults in general and the Temple of Elemental Evil in particular. There is nothing that relates to the darkness or vampires though.
Terjon suggests that they return to the Temple of Helm. Even though it has been attacked, there might be something left there. As they cross the river on their way to the Temple, they step out of the darkness and into the light. There is a small group of villagers in gathered staring at the darkness. They are scared and confused and avoid the group. The group looks at the darkness and it appears to be a canopy. They walk around the edge of it and notice that the keep is in the dark area. They continue on towards the Temple.
At the Temple, the walls are covered in excrement and all the holy symbols are broken. Most of the library is destroyed, but Terjon is able to find a few scrolls that had been hidden away. One is a Consecrate spell, which he casts on the altar. Another is a Greater Restoration spell. He casts it on Aemaria, but she still appears to be weakened. Terjon is disappointed and suggests the group check out the other temples.
As they are leaving, Thel hears a noise from the lower levels. They go and check it out and find a minor priest, Jones, guarding the door. He will only say that Y’Dey told him to guard the door. When they ask to speak to her, he hesitates just a second and then says that she cannot be disturbed. Terjon casts Detect Evil and says there are six strong presences down below. Thel fires a shot at Jones, who retreats from the group.
They follow him down the stairs, but are quickly attacked by wargs. Aemaria slices one in half and Thel sneaks behind another one, killing it. Vall and Ieriyn take down the third. Terjon says that the other evil is in the rooms further ahead. There is one in each of the three center rooms, with the most power to the left. Thel sets up to guard the far right, while Vall and Terjon will guard the center door. Ieriyn will have the Lightning Sword ready to blast the left door.
Terjon casts Consecrate on the rooms. This is answered by a howl of rage and the far right door bursts open. An undead creature comes out and begins to fight with Thel. Trying not to get trapped in a corner, Thel is unable to fight as effect as he would like. Aemaria steps over and joins the fight, and then the center door opens. A second creature comes out and engages Vall. As those fights go on, the last door opens and Y’Dey steps out. She is clearly a vampire and moves to attack Terjon. Terjon calls upon the power of Helm, but Y’Dey only laughs.
Ieriyn blasts Y’Dey with the Lightning Sword and then moves out of the way. Jangobah moves over and sends a Fireball onto Y’Dey. Y’Dey screams and Jangobah is frozen in place. With another scream, he calls upon unholy power and stuns the group. Terjon recovers and casts the Mace of Odo. He steps over and hits Y’Dey, the magical power killing her. The others quickly dispatch her two minions and the battle is over.
Terjon takes a look at Y’Dey’s body. He calls on Ieriyn to help him perform the necessary steps to give her eternal peace. He does take her Sword of Helm, her chainmail, and a large ruby. There is nothing else of value in the Temple, so the group leaves. As they leave the Temple, Aemaria says she feels her strength return. Terjon’s spell had worked, but it was blocked by the corruption of the Temple.
Terjon casts Detect Evil on some of the items taken by the group. There is some evil on Y’Dey’s sword, but Terjon thinks it might be residue from being near the vampire. He once removed a similar taint on a sword many years ago. It was an all day process and he does not feel that he has time to do it right now. He will keep monitoring the sword until he has a chance to purify it. There is also evil on D’Gran’s fire symbol necklace and the flesh covered spellbook from the mines.
He asks Jangobah if he has any magic to identify what some of the items actually are. Unfortunately, Jangobah does not have any spells to aid them. This leads Vall to make a comment about visiting Spugnoir, a “real wizard”. Jangobah is somewhat dejected, but offers no other suggestions.
The group gets to Spugnoir’s shop. He is glad to see them and tells the recent history of the town. It seems that Lareth came back and attacked the Temple right before Jangobah left for the mines. Then people started disappearing. The guards stopped allowing people into the castle for protection. No one has seen the Druid in weeks. Then the vampires came and they desecrated all the temples. The group ponders his tale and buys some potions from him. Terjon buys a pot of Oil of Timelessness. The group then buys some potions of Darkvision and Blur. A couple of people replenish their supplies of healing potions. Altogether, they spend 3,100 gold.
The group thanks Spugnoir and then heads to see the other temples in town. They first head to the Temple of Lathander, the Morning Lord. It is also desecrated, but there is not the external damage that was on the Temple of Helm. The Temple is normally well lit, but is shrouded in darkness. The group hears fluttering in the rafters, but can see nothing. Thel lights an arrow and fires it into the ceiling. He hits a Vargoyle, causing it to fall to the group. It lets out a scream, freezing Ieriyn. Aemaria quickly moves over and kills the creature. Another of the creatures flies down, shrieking at the group. Jangobah fires a Magic Missile and kills it. Terjon asks Jangobah to launch a Fireball on the top of the Temple. This blasts the ceiling and glass there and allows light to flood into the Temple.
The group then heads to the Temple of Mielikki. It is normally up inbetween two trees, and has been brought down. The area is very quiet. The group decides that they have used too many spells to deal with anything inside the area, so they head back towards the Wench.
As they near the bridge that leads to the darkened area, they meet Elmo. He eyes the group suspiciously and begins to question them. There are a few tense moments as he and Terjon trade barbs, but they both realize that it is pointless. While not exactly pleased that she was a vampire, he is not exactly saddened by the news of Y’Dey’s death. He says he would like the group’s help and has a couple of guards take the group to his house to rest up.
On their way there, they decide to test out the Darkvision in the darkness area. They volunteer Thel to be the one. He drinks a potion and crosses through the edge of the spell. He can still see in the area, but everything is black and white. Satisfied, they continue on to Elmo’s house.
After resting a bit, Elmo joins them and tells what he knows. It seems there was a new flag flying over the keep. It was not drastically different, but it was the flag of a united Lapal League. The last person to try to unite the League was Thrommel. He disappeared after the first time the Temple of Elemental Evil rose up. The group tells him of the Darkvision working in the dark area. He agrees to get them a couple more from Spugnoir at no cost. He appears to be annoyed with Spugnoir, who has done nothing to help with the problem.
Deciding not to venture into the dark area during the night, the group continues to rest. During the night, they hear a scream. They look out the window and see several villagers attacked by phyres. The group moves out to attack the creatures. Thel accidentally hits Terjon with his attack and then flees. Jangobah, Vall, and Ieriyn quickly follow. Terjon casts a Magic Circle Against Evil, protecting Aemaria and himself from the fear. Aemaria hits the creature and Terjon hits it with the Mace of Odo. The phyre moves over the villagers and then disappears. The villagers are all dead.
Aemaria and Terjon are able to track down the rest of the group and everyone heads back to Elmo’s house.
The group begins to plan for their trip into the darkness. First, they head back to Spugnoir's and sell a potion of Intelligence for 150gp. Next, they buy some garlic, which given the current situation is pretty expensive. Also, Terjon gives Thel a couple of flasks of Holy Water. Finally, Ieriyn reviews the different ways that will actually kill a vampire.
They decide to enter the darkness by the grove. Expecting a fight, the group buffs up with Cats Grace, Bulls Strength, and Eagle's Splendor. Also, Terjon gives Jangobah a potion of Wisdom, which he hopes will help him fight off the vampire if it tries to dominate him. They all take the potion of Darkvision and head into the darkness.
As the group moves through the area, they check out the buildings. They do not appear to be any different than they were before the darkness fell. When the group reaches the town hall, Ieriyn hears faint music in the distance. She says it sounds like a regional form of festive music, but it has not been played in a long time. She thinks it is coming from the Druid's Grove.
The group moves cautiously towards the Grove. Thel climbs a tree and moves further into the Grove. They can see the altar to Tharizdun in the middle of the Grove. It is sunk down in a pit and the group can see movement around it. They can also hear husky, female voices. Jangobah, through Calderon, recognizes ones of the voices as Ganna, the wife of the woodcutter. He says that it has changed though.
Thel says that he sees a fire on top of the altar. There are six women dancing around it and chanting. He says there is a change in their dance and then sees a dark figure riding up on a horse. It is difficult to see, but the figure is flanked by two wolves. The figure says "Enjoy this eternal night." The woman chatter back as he dismounts and joins them around the altar.
The group makes their way around the edge of the Grove. Jangobah casts Detect Magic. He says there are seven sources of magic on the figure, with most of them faint to moderate in strength. The altar in the pit is overwhelming strong.
The group attacks as Aemaria charges out into the Grove and Jangobah blasts the figure with Spellfire. Vall moves out into the Grove as well. The figure screams, but more in anger than pain, and two of the women are knocked over. Before Aemaria can reach him, he tells her to "Come, protect your Prince." Thel tries to shoot him, but breaks his bowstring. One of the women attacks Vall, but he is able to fight off the creature. Another tries to seduce Jangobah, but is unable to do so.
Terjon casts Magic Circle Against Evil on himself and moves to help Aemaria. Ieriyn casts Haste on Aemaria, who has moved to protect the dark figure. Vall slices into the woman that attacked him, and Jangobah blasts his attacker with a Magic Missile. Terjon is cut off from Aemaria by the two wolves. He tries to push through them, but is unable to do so. Ieriyn blasts the figure with the Lightning Sword, but it does not appear to have an affect.
The dark figure is content to hold Aemaria out of the fight as he watches. Vall kills the woman attacking him. He moves to help Terjon, who had tripped when one of the wolves bit his ankle. Jangobah sends a Lightning Bolt through two of the women, a wolf, and the dark figure. The women and the wolf are killed by the blast, but the figure does not seem touched by the energy.
The figure moves towards Vall and Terjon. It says, "I have a mission for you, Watcher of Helm." Terjon sees that the figures shield has desecrated image of Helm on it. Here the eye of the Watcher would be, there is instead a Flaming Eye. It is the symbol of the Eldar Elemental Eye from many years ago. Terjon attacks the figure, who laughs. "Acknowledge your Master," it says as dark energy crackles out of his hand and into Terjon.
Thel finally manages to restring his bow and fires. Unfortunately, he was under the control of the figure and shoots at Jangobah, hitting him. Ieriyn pulls out her bow and fires at the women. She hits, which annoys the dark figure. He sends Aemaria at Ieriyn. After being hit by Aemaria's great sword, Ieriyn turns invisible and flees the Grove.
Vall attacks the figure and hits with his sword. Jangobah throws another Lightning Bolt at the creature. It hits the creature, but also catches Terjon and Vall in the blast. The figure pulls out a great sword and strikes down Terjon. It then turns and attacks Vall. Vall is struck by the evil weapon and pain sears through his body. He reaches down and grabs the Healing wand from Terjon's body, giving the figure another attack against him. He manages to free the wand and runs out of the Grove with Jangobah and Ieriyn.