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The Durnhill Conscripts
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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 7634658" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 52: BLOOD AND TEARS</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster: <p style="margin-left: 20px">Daleth Stormsea, elf wizard 15</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Galen Thorne, human paladin 16</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Kaspar Hardstrike, elf monk 16</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Orion Nightsky, halfling rogue 16</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Syngaard, human fighter 16</p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 3 July 2019</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>The sun was at its highest point in the sky when the screaming began. Of course, this was not readily apparent to the citizens of Durnhill, for the sun had been hidden behind a heavy, foreboding layer of dark clouds the whole morning. But when the heavy clouds finally burst, covering the city not in a downpour of cleansing rain but rather of cascading drops of blood - well, then somehow screaming seemed a most natural response.</p><p></p><p>Not surprisingly, the blood cascade was followed almost immediately by a summons from Skevros, assembling the conscripts together to see to this unexpected threat. For Galen, Orion, Kaspar, and Daleth, this simply meant a trip downstairs from their apartments above the <em>Enchanted Flagon</em>, and while the halfling simply descended through the floor on her ghost-dog Carl, the others took the back stairs - and thus were exposed to the sanguine rain.</p><p></p><p>Syngaard, however, was at Mama Kat's when the call came through. Dashing out into the dripping rain of blood, he approached the fountain - a familiar landmark on his way to the closed tavern that served as the conscripts' secret headquarters - and was surprised to see it pumping blood, not water as usual. Furthermore, there were four pillars flanking the fountain at its corners, each capped with a large crystal at top and bottom. But perhaps more importantly was the pale-skinned woman standing out in the crimson downpour, smiling as if having expected Syngaard to pass by this way.</p><p></p><p>"Gather your friends," she purred to him as he approached cautiously, morningstar in hand. "I would speak to you all."</p><p></p><p>"Friends?" queried Syngaard as if the concept were a new one to him.</p><p></p><p>"The group that serves your king's adviser," she reiterated. "I have a task I want you to perform - and it's one you'll want to perform, I guarantee."</p><p></p><p>"You responsible for this bloody rain?" Syngaard countered, eliciting only a knowing smirk from the woman the bald fighter felt was almost certainly a vampire. "You shut off this rain and I'll go gather the others." With a carefree shrug, the pale woman nodded her head and the cascade slowed to a drizzle and then stopped altogether. Puddles of blood in the streets brought a more crimson hue to the city than was usual, but at least Syngaard could now see more than 20 feet around him as had been the case during the downpour.</p><p></p><p>"I'll be back," Syngaard promised, backing off in the direction of the <em>Enchanted Flagon</em>, not wanting to turn away from the bloodsucker where she could do something without his knowing it.</p><p></p><p>"I'll be here," the vampiress replied. Once at a sufficient distance, Syngaard turned and ran the rest of the way to the tavern, his boots splashing through bloody puddles.</p><p></p><p>Bursting into the <em>Enchanted Flagon</em> minutes later, Syngaard passed his tale to the others. "It would seem you have already solved the problem on your own," Skevros mused, dropping a handful of emeralds on the table, his intended payment for the conscripts finding out the cause of the unnatural weather and putting a stop to it. "I suppose we should go and see what this woman wants." Syngaard took the time to snag up his emerald, the others following suit.</p><p></p><p>Skevros accompanied the conscripts to the fountain; for once, the action was occurring within the confines of the kingdom of Durnhill and he was able to attend without triggering the <em>mark of justice</em> on his forehead that would slay him if he stepped outside its boundaries. On the way, anticipating potential combat, Daleth cast a <em>stoneskin</em> spell upon himself and his pseudodragon familiar Todd, and Orion passed him a scroll of the same spell to gain the same benefit. As they approached the fountain - now back to pumping water in a spray, not blood - the <strong>Blood Queen</strong> raised a hand and warned them, "Any hostile actions against me will forfeit the life of my hostage. I believe you know her: Leorna, the Guildmistress of Illusionists from the Azure Glade." None of the conscripts with hands on weapons sheathed them at this announcement, but neither did they press the attack.</p><p></p><p>"I have a way to permanently deal with the lich Alexandros," cooed the Blood Queen, "but I need your help to implement my plan."</p><p></p><p>"This a payin' mission?" Syngaard interrupted.</p><p></p><p>"Is not the permanent destruction of the Mithral Mage payment enough?" asked the vampiress.</p><p></p><p>"Killin' him's a good payment. Killin' him and getting some gold on top's even better."</p><p></p><p>"Well, let's see if you can even kill him first and then we'll see about any potential bonuses. If you are interested in hearing more, I have erected these structures" - and here she waved a hand to indicate the four pillars flanking the fountain - "to block the <em>dimensional anchoring</em> effect you have in place around the city, so we can go to a more private location to discuss our business."</p><p></p><p>"What's wrong with right here?" demanded Galen.</p><p></p><p>"Silly boy," smirked the Blood Queen. "We don't know who all is listening out here in the open, do we?"</p><p></p><p>"Where is this 'private location' of yours?" asked Skevros, indicating the four pillars.</p><p></p><p>"Somewhere, I fear, outside the borders of your little kingdom. My discussion will have to be with your minions - you cannot come with us." This announcement was met with skepticism and distrust by the conscripts - especially Orion, who didn't like the looks of this "Blood Queen" one bit - but Skevros eventually allowed it was possible she was on the up-and-up and if there were any way to further their goals of stopping the Mithral Mage, it was worth investigating. "Besides," he added, "if she's lying you have my leave to slay her."</p><p></p><p>"If you're ready, then, simply step into the fountain," the Blood Queen continued, doing so herself and disappearing from view. "Good luck," said Skevros, stepping back. Kaspar walked willingly into the fountain, also disappearing. Galen gripped his <em>sword of Zehkar</em> and followed suit, with Syngaard, Orion and Carl, and Daleth and Todd entering in their wake. Syngaard made sure to grumble about getting his boots wet before he vanished with the others.</p><p></p><p>The group arrived on a large stage in a vast auditorium, with several <em>everburning torches</em> providing dim illumination. There were thick curtains behind them, and ahead, sitting in one of the seats in the fourth row back from the stage and adjacent to the central aisle bisecting the audience area, sat the Blood Queen, a wicked smirk on her face.</p><p></p><p>"What--?" began Galen, turning to look at the Blood Queen standing beside him on the stage, but this one quickly dropped the illusion surrounding her form and revealed herself to be none other than Leorna - but the glazed look in her eyes suggested her will was not her own. Casting a <em>quickened dimension door</em> spell, Leorna disappeared from the stage and into the seat beside the Blood Queen. She proffered her right hand to her mistress and the vampiress took it in her own.</p><p></p><p>"I must apologize for the subterfuge," said the true Blood Queen, <strong>Larithiana</strong>. "I do indeed have a way to get rid of the lich Alexandros, but I will require your blood to summon his soul from his phylactery. I must also destroy your souls to create the medium with which to forcibly resurrect him back to life so he may embrace the gift he so callously rejected nearly a millennia ago." Syngaard's scarred brow furrowed as he tried to follow. That dead guy, Osleth, had said the conscripts could destroy the Mithral Mage's phylactery from within, but it would mean having to die to do so. But then they could be resurrected back to life - this didn't sound like the same plan at all!</p><p></p><p>"So Alexandros would no longer be a lich - he'd be a vampire," Galen restated. "That hardly seems an improvement."</p><p></p><p>"From your point of view, perhaps not," Larithiana agreed. She snapped her fingers and ten black tendrils sprouted from the ceiling and dropped behind the back curtains.</p><p></p><p>Kaspar was the first to react. Holding a hand to the amulet around his neck, he caused the spirit of John, the giant stag beetle residing within, to manifest beside him. Then he sprinted forward, ready to attack the vampire from the front. But this plan came to a sudden halt as the elven monk crashed face-first into an invisible barricade blocking the front of the wooden stage. "Wall of force!" he called out to the others.</p><p></p><p>"Let's see if we can go over it!" Syngaard cried, whipping out his Dick. The griffon achieved full size in a moment and the bald fighter leaped upon his broad back, coaxing him up to the ceiling height, some 30 feet above the stage. But probing with his morningstar showed the invisible wall of energy reached all the way to the top - there was no way through it, unless Wizard-Pants had some dispelling magic on hand. He called down to Daleth and got his negative reply.</p><p></p><p><em>Of course he don't</em>, scoffed Syngaard to himself. <em>Stupid wizard never has the spells we need at hand - like, ever!</em> But Daleth did have a <em>Rary's telepathic bond</em> spell at the ready and cast it, grouping the conscripts' minds together in a mental communication link. <Gather up!> he commanded. <I can <em>teleport</em> us over to the Blood Queen, but we all need to be touching!> Galen stepped to the wizard's side and dropped a hand on the elf's shoulder, casting a <em>dispel evil</em> spell upon himself in the meantime for good measure.</p><p></p><p>Then, suddenly, the back curtains exploded outwards toward the stage and two figures emerged. Each was a rotting corpse, zombielike in appearance, but with black tendrils attached to their wrists, ankles, and head, reaching up to the ceiling. The overall effect was that of a pair of macabre marionettes. One was dressed in robes while the other wore naught but a loincloth and carried a heavy greatclub.</p><p></p><p>Orion wasn't taking any chances, nor did she have to wait for Daleth to <em>teleport</em> her over to the other side of the <em>wall of force</em> with the others. With a kick of her legs, she indicated to Carl she wanted him to drop down through the floor. Shunting to the Ethereal Plane the ghost-dog did just that, then raced forward, beneath the <em>wall of force</em> and into the orchestra pit immediately before the stage. Then, spotting their intended prey, Carl raced forward, directly for the Blood Queen - who, by now, had taken Leorna's proffered arm and raised the elf's wrist to her mouth, drinking deeply of her life-blood. Neither figure gave any indication of being aware of Orion and Carl's approach; apparently vampires couldn't see onto the Ethereal Plane - good to know!</p><p></p><p>Then a spell went ripping through the conscripts on stage. It was a <em>cone of cold</em>, cast by one of the macabre marionettes, the one wearing a wizard's robes. The spell affected all but Kaspar, whose monk training allowed him to twist his body and avoid the blast entirely, but none so much as Dick, 30 feet in the air, whose feathers were immediately covered in a layer of frost as the blast struck the griffon full-force. Syngaard realized his flying mount was about to revert back to statuette form; Dick flapped vigorously back down to the stage, blinking out of existence at the last moment, but Syngaard was able to reach down and grab up the <em>figurine of wondrous power</em> before it struck the floor. He landed lightly back on the stage, his <em>boots of levitation</em> kicking in as needed.</p><p></p><p>John bit at the zombie mage in retaliation, but although the great insect's wicked mandibles stabbed deep into the undead flesh, still it stood standing. This, Kaspar decided, was no ordinary zombie - as if its spellcasting ability hadn't been enough of an indicator. But, deciding to see if it could withstand a flurry of blows powered by the monk's <em>tenryutsume</em>, Kaspar sent his fists flying into the puppet-mage's face, shoulder, and arms, and soon enough got his answer: no, as it turned out, it could <em>not</em> withstand such an onslaught. The undead mage slumped forward, hanging motionless from the black strings dangling from the ceiling.</p><p></p><p>The other marionette raised its club with both hands and as it did so two axe-blades of crackling, negative energy erupted from the club's business end. A vicious series of blows commenced upon Kaspar, the monk managing to dodge some but not all of the blade's strikes. Syngaard swung his morningstar at the zombie's head but missed, his weapon getting caught up in the black cord rising from one of the undead barbarian's hands.</p><p></p><p>But by now the conscripts were assembled close enough for Daleth to reach out to Kaspar and activate his <em>teleport</em> spell; the monk, anticipating the action, touched John's carapace as well. As a group, the conscripts vanished from the stage and reappeared in the rows of seats behind the Blood Queen and her dominated slave. Galen hopped over the intervening seats, trying to get not to the vampire but rather to Leorna. Dropping a hand to the elf's shoulder, he sent the energy of his <em>dispel evil</em> spell coursing through his arm and into the elf's body, freeing her from the Blood Queen's domination. With a cry of rage, Leorna stood and pulled her bleeding wrist from Larithiana's grasp. The Blood Queen rose as well, but before the vampiress could react to this effrontery Orion's <em>nightflame short sword</em> burst through her midsection - Carl had run up around her, manifested back onto the Material Plane, and the halfling's mystically-enhanced vision allowed her to backstab the vampire in the middle of a nexus of necromantic energy coursing through her undead flesh.</p><p></p><p>The Blood Queen was not at all amused by the sudden change to her plans of watching her enemies be destroyed by her undead minions on stage while she watched with a handy snack at hand.</p><p></p><p>Back on stage, the barbarian marionette ran through a side door to the stage's left side while the puppet-mage, earlier slain by Kaspar, was brought back to an unholy mockery of life by the necromantic energies coursing down through its black puppet-strings. It righted itself from its unmoving crouch and followed he barbarian through the side door, a way around the <em>wall of force</em> intended to keep the conscripts from throwing spells or weapons at the Blood Queen as she watched them die on stage.</p><p></p><p>Kaspar sent a flurry of blows at the Blood Queen and was quite surprised when she managed to avoid most of them - this woman was quick! John got in a bite as well, but his massive mandibles didn't seem to concern her any more than they had the puppet-mage. Then the vampire pulled two blades from the scabbards she wore at her belt and, faster than the others could follow, sent the longsword slashing out at Orion in a series of deep cuts while her short sword went stabbing multiple times at Syngaard, who had stepped up to the Blood Queen and sent several powerful swings at her with his other morningstar - the one that blazed with the light of the burning sun. It was a dizzying flashing of blades and spikes, with similar results to all concerned: Orion dropped, bleeding profusely from several deep gashes, from her ghost-dog's saddle to lie in a quickly-spreading pool of her blood, her pulse flickering to a stop; Syngaard spat up blood from his mouth and toppled forward, the deep stabs through his torso causing cascades of his own life's blood to gush down the front of his stomach and legs in rivulets; Larithiana, in the meantime, screamed in absolute horror as Pelor's life-affirming sunlight emanated from Syngaard's weapon-head and infused its way into her undead flesh, burning her from within. She didn't crash to the floor as did her two current battle-foes, but only because her body burst into exploding mist that burned away in the sunlight effect from Syngaard's secondary morningstar.</p><p></p><p>An eerie tingling feeling filled the room. <I think it's a summoning effect,> suggested Daleth, yet nothing appeared to have been summoned. <A failed one, anyway,> he amended, before casting a <em>wall of fire</em> before the first row of seating to prevent the macabre marionettes, who had just stumbled down a small set of steps towards the audience area, from being able to reach them.</p><p></p><p>Leorna grabbed a potion from her belt and bent over Orion's unmoving form, quickly removing the cork and pouring the healing elixir down the halfling's throat. Orion sputtered and coughed, a sure sign that death had been evaded - even if just barely. Galen sent healing energy through his hands and into Syngaard's body - also on the very brink of death - closing up his internal wounds from the vampire's blade. "Damn!" swore the scarred fighter as he sat up and retrieved his dropped weapons. "That Blood Queen was <em>fast</em> - like, Kaspar-level fast!"</p><p></p><p>Two bulges in the <em>wall of fire</em> spell indicated the blazing arrival of the puppet-things, although bursting through the roaring flames as they did had burned away the black cords that had dangled from them - not that they were at all necessary in animating these corpse creatures, as it turned out. They didn't last long, however, the barbarian being slain almost at once by Kaspar while Daleth took the other one down with a <em>delayed blast fireball</em> (no delay needed), the elf having seen how effective fire was to these undead creatures.</p><p></p><p>"Guess that's it," grunted Syngaard, a bit ticked that he didn't get to take out his anger at having almost being slain on anyone. He satisfied himself with assisting in the looting of the stiffs while Leorna filled the group in on what had occurred. She'd been ambushed one night with a <em>mind fog</em> spell which had severely inhibited her ability to fight off the Blood Queen's domination. From that point on, she'd been the vampiress's mental slave, taking her likeness and luring the conscripts here where Larithiana had intended to slay them and turn the Mithral Mage first back to a human, then into her vampiric thrall.</p><p></p><p>"What was that spell effect immediately upon her death?" Daleth inquired.</p><p></p><p>"The Blood Queen had a <em>contingency</em> spell in effect upon her," the illusionist explained. "It was to have summoned her 'children' - her current vampiric spawn - to her upon her death."</p><p></p><p>"So why didn't they show up?" asked Galen.</p><p></p><p>"As to that, I cannot say," admitted Leorna.</p><p></p><p>"Any idea exactly where the Hell we are?" Syngaard asked, stuffing the various weapons into a <em>bag of holding</em>. They'd decided to turn them over to Skevros, who could likely siphon off the spell energy and redistribute it among the conscripts' own weapons. All, that was, but for the <em>negative energy greataxe</em> - that, they jointly decided to destroy.</p><p></p><p>"North of the Baator's Breath Mountains," Leorna explained.</p><p></p><p>"We ever been here before?" Syngaard asked.</p><p></p><p>"No."</p><p></p><p>"It worth our while to check the place out?"</p><p></p><p>"Unlikely."</p><p></p><p>"Yeah, that's what I thought. Okay, let's get outta here." Kaspar pulled the <em>ring of return</em> from his robes and the conscripts - and Leorna - each grabbed a hold on the six-inch metal circle. Than Kaspar invoked its magic and they <em>teleported</em> just outside the city's gates.</p><p></p><p>During the walk back to the <em>Enchanted Flagon</em>, Syngaard noticed the puddles were all back to being just water. "Where'd all the blood go?" he asked.</p><p></p><p>"There was never any blood," Leorna answered. "That was all just an illusion - one of my more powerful ones, in fact."</p><p></p><p>Syngaard just shook his head. <em>Wizards!</em> he thought. <em>Crazy, every last one of them!</em></p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>Logan used the Paizo "Theater" Flip-Mat for this adventure, which didn't turn out to be anything at all like we had expected. He'd leaked the title to us ahead of time, so we had anticipated this was going to be the fight with the Mithral Mage where we were all going to put up valiant efforts but ultimately be slain. Obviously, that didn't happen - but we did get to take out the head of a faction of the Seekers of Eternity - and quite permanently at that, for Syngaard's <em>solar energy morningstar</em> not only affects undead flesh (instead of passing through it like the normal <em>brilliant energy</em> magic weapon property), but can also permanently kill any undead with a particular vulnerability to sunlight who is slain by the weapon.</p><p></p><p>A funny thing about that, too: Logan made the Blood Queen a 20th-level fighter as well as a vampire and loaded her up on fighter feats which allowed her to deal extra damage with longswords and short swords. He had her attack Orion with her longsword and dropped the halfling to below her Constitution score in negative numbers, but we play with a homebrew rule that states that as long as you can get her healed to above her negative Constitution score (in her case, above -14) before her next turn in the initiative roster, she'll be stabilized. We were all so focused on that - and in assuring Vicki that we'd be able to get to Orion in time (although I took the opportunity to jokingly hint that Syngaard might be seriously considering wrestling Galen to the ground to prevent him from getting to "the blasted halfling" in time), that Logan forgot about the Blood Queen's short sword attacks until Syngaard's turn in the initiative - at which point I had already killed her. So, not wanting to harm Orion any further, he decided he'd retroactively direct the vampire's short sword attacks at Syngaard. I told him to "bring it on" - and then watched in amazement at the vast collection of dice Logan gathered together to roll the damage after she'd managed to hit - and crit - me several times. Syngaard dropped down below his own "safety cap from death" of -16 hp as a result, and rather than "undo" his having slain her, we dropped back to the AD&D 2nd Edition concept of "simultaneous initiative" (which brought back fond reminiscences to Dan and I, who had both - as well as Logan - played in earlier versions of D&D and were familiar with the concept).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 7634658, member: 508"] [b]ADVENTURE 52: BLOOD AND TEARS[/b] PC Roster: [INDENT]Daleth Stormsea, elf wizard 15 Galen Thorne, human paladin 16 Kaspar Hardstrike, elf monk 16 Orion Nightsky, halfling rogue 16 Syngaard, human fighter 16[/INDENT] Game Session Date: 3 July 2019 - - - The sun was at its highest point in the sky when the screaming began. Of course, this was not readily apparent to the citizens of Durnhill, for the sun had been hidden behind a heavy, foreboding layer of dark clouds the whole morning. But when the heavy clouds finally burst, covering the city not in a downpour of cleansing rain but rather of cascading drops of blood - well, then somehow screaming seemed a most natural response. Not surprisingly, the blood cascade was followed almost immediately by a summons from Skevros, assembling the conscripts together to see to this unexpected threat. For Galen, Orion, Kaspar, and Daleth, this simply meant a trip downstairs from their apartments above the [i]Enchanted Flagon[/i], and while the halfling simply descended through the floor on her ghost-dog Carl, the others took the back stairs - and thus were exposed to the sanguine rain. Syngaard, however, was at Mama Kat's when the call came through. Dashing out into the dripping rain of blood, he approached the fountain - a familiar landmark on his way to the closed tavern that served as the conscripts' secret headquarters - and was surprised to see it pumping blood, not water as usual. Furthermore, there were four pillars flanking the fountain at its corners, each capped with a large crystal at top and bottom. But perhaps more importantly was the pale-skinned woman standing out in the crimson downpour, smiling as if having expected Syngaard to pass by this way. "Gather your friends," she purred to him as he approached cautiously, morningstar in hand. "I would speak to you all." "Friends?" queried Syngaard as if the concept were a new one to him. "The group that serves your king's adviser," she reiterated. "I have a task I want you to perform - and it's one you'll want to perform, I guarantee." "You responsible for this bloody rain?" Syngaard countered, eliciting only a knowing smirk from the woman the bald fighter felt was almost certainly a vampire. "You shut off this rain and I'll go gather the others." With a carefree shrug, the pale woman nodded her head and the cascade slowed to a drizzle and then stopped altogether. Puddles of blood in the streets brought a more crimson hue to the city than was usual, but at least Syngaard could now see more than 20 feet around him as had been the case during the downpour. "I'll be back," Syngaard promised, backing off in the direction of the [i]Enchanted Flagon[/i], not wanting to turn away from the bloodsucker where she could do something without his knowing it. "I'll be here," the vampiress replied. Once at a sufficient distance, Syngaard turned and ran the rest of the way to the tavern, his boots splashing through bloody puddles. Bursting into the [i]Enchanted Flagon[/i] minutes later, Syngaard passed his tale to the others. "It would seem you have already solved the problem on your own," Skevros mused, dropping a handful of emeralds on the table, his intended payment for the conscripts finding out the cause of the unnatural weather and putting a stop to it. "I suppose we should go and see what this woman wants." Syngaard took the time to snag up his emerald, the others following suit. Skevros accompanied the conscripts to the fountain; for once, the action was occurring within the confines of the kingdom of Durnhill and he was able to attend without triggering the [i]mark of justice[/i] on his forehead that would slay him if he stepped outside its boundaries. On the way, anticipating potential combat, Daleth cast a [i]stoneskin[/i] spell upon himself and his pseudodragon familiar Todd, and Orion passed him a scroll of the same spell to gain the same benefit. As they approached the fountain - now back to pumping water in a spray, not blood - the [b]Blood Queen[/b] raised a hand and warned them, "Any hostile actions against me will forfeit the life of my hostage. I believe you know her: Leorna, the Guildmistress of Illusionists from the Azure Glade." None of the conscripts with hands on weapons sheathed them at this announcement, but neither did they press the attack. "I have a way to permanently deal with the lich Alexandros," cooed the Blood Queen, "but I need your help to implement my plan." "This a payin' mission?" Syngaard interrupted. "Is not the permanent destruction of the Mithral Mage payment enough?" asked the vampiress. "Killin' him's a good payment. Killin' him and getting some gold on top's even better." "Well, let's see if you can even kill him first and then we'll see about any potential bonuses. If you are interested in hearing more, I have erected these structures" - and here she waved a hand to indicate the four pillars flanking the fountain - "to block the [i]dimensional anchoring[/i] effect you have in place around the city, so we can go to a more private location to discuss our business." "What's wrong with right here?" demanded Galen. "Silly boy," smirked the Blood Queen. "We don't know who all is listening out here in the open, do we?" "Where is this 'private location' of yours?" asked Skevros, indicating the four pillars. "Somewhere, I fear, outside the borders of your little kingdom. My discussion will have to be with your minions - you cannot come with us." This announcement was met with skepticism and distrust by the conscripts - especially Orion, who didn't like the looks of this "Blood Queen" one bit - but Skevros eventually allowed it was possible she was on the up-and-up and if there were any way to further their goals of stopping the Mithral Mage, it was worth investigating. "Besides," he added, "if she's lying you have my leave to slay her." "If you're ready, then, simply step into the fountain," the Blood Queen continued, doing so herself and disappearing from view. "Good luck," said Skevros, stepping back. Kaspar walked willingly into the fountain, also disappearing. Galen gripped his [i]sword of Zehkar[/i] and followed suit, with Syngaard, Orion and Carl, and Daleth and Todd entering in their wake. Syngaard made sure to grumble about getting his boots wet before he vanished with the others. The group arrived on a large stage in a vast auditorium, with several [i]everburning torches[/i] providing dim illumination. There were thick curtains behind them, and ahead, sitting in one of the seats in the fourth row back from the stage and adjacent to the central aisle bisecting the audience area, sat the Blood Queen, a wicked smirk on her face. "What--?" began Galen, turning to look at the Blood Queen standing beside him on the stage, but this one quickly dropped the illusion surrounding her form and revealed herself to be none other than Leorna - but the glazed look in her eyes suggested her will was not her own. Casting a [i]quickened dimension door[/i] spell, Leorna disappeared from the stage and into the seat beside the Blood Queen. She proffered her right hand to her mistress and the vampiress took it in her own. "I must apologize for the subterfuge," said the true Blood Queen, [b]Larithiana[/b]. "I do indeed have a way to get rid of the lich Alexandros, but I will require your blood to summon his soul from his phylactery. I must also destroy your souls to create the medium with which to forcibly resurrect him back to life so he may embrace the gift he so callously rejected nearly a millennia ago." Syngaard's scarred brow furrowed as he tried to follow. That dead guy, Osleth, had said the conscripts could destroy the Mithral Mage's phylactery from within, but it would mean having to die to do so. But then they could be resurrected back to life - this didn't sound like the same plan at all! "So Alexandros would no longer be a lich - he'd be a vampire," Galen restated. "That hardly seems an improvement." "From your point of view, perhaps not," Larithiana agreed. She snapped her fingers and ten black tendrils sprouted from the ceiling and dropped behind the back curtains. Kaspar was the first to react. Holding a hand to the amulet around his neck, he caused the spirit of John, the giant stag beetle residing within, to manifest beside him. Then he sprinted forward, ready to attack the vampire from the front. But this plan came to a sudden halt as the elven monk crashed face-first into an invisible barricade blocking the front of the wooden stage. "Wall of force!" he called out to the others. "Let's see if we can go over it!" Syngaard cried, whipping out his Dick. The griffon achieved full size in a moment and the bald fighter leaped upon his broad back, coaxing him up to the ceiling height, some 30 feet above the stage. But probing with his morningstar showed the invisible wall of energy reached all the way to the top - there was no way through it, unless Wizard-Pants had some dispelling magic on hand. He called down to Daleth and got his negative reply. [i]Of course he don't[/i], scoffed Syngaard to himself. [i]Stupid wizard never has the spells we need at hand - like, ever![/i] But Daleth did have a [i]Rary's telepathic bond[/i] spell at the ready and cast it, grouping the conscripts' minds together in a mental communication link. <Gather up!> he commanded. <I can [i]teleport[/i] us over to the Blood Queen, but we all need to be touching!> Galen stepped to the wizard's side and dropped a hand on the elf's shoulder, casting a [i]dispel evil[/i] spell upon himself in the meantime for good measure. Then, suddenly, the back curtains exploded outwards toward the stage and two figures emerged. Each was a rotting corpse, zombielike in appearance, but with black tendrils attached to their wrists, ankles, and head, reaching up to the ceiling. The overall effect was that of a pair of macabre marionettes. One was dressed in robes while the other wore naught but a loincloth and carried a heavy greatclub. Orion wasn't taking any chances, nor did she have to wait for Daleth to [i]teleport[/i] her over to the other side of the [i]wall of force[/i] with the others. With a kick of her legs, she indicated to Carl she wanted him to drop down through the floor. Shunting to the Ethereal Plane the ghost-dog did just that, then raced forward, beneath the [i]wall of force[/i] and into the orchestra pit immediately before the stage. Then, spotting their intended prey, Carl raced forward, directly for the Blood Queen - who, by now, had taken Leorna's proffered arm and raised the elf's wrist to her mouth, drinking deeply of her life-blood. Neither figure gave any indication of being aware of Orion and Carl's approach; apparently vampires couldn't see onto the Ethereal Plane - good to know! Then a spell went ripping through the conscripts on stage. It was a [i]cone of cold[/i], cast by one of the macabre marionettes, the one wearing a wizard's robes. The spell affected all but Kaspar, whose monk training allowed him to twist his body and avoid the blast entirely, but none so much as Dick, 30 feet in the air, whose feathers were immediately covered in a layer of frost as the blast struck the griffon full-force. Syngaard realized his flying mount was about to revert back to statuette form; Dick flapped vigorously back down to the stage, blinking out of existence at the last moment, but Syngaard was able to reach down and grab up the [i]figurine of wondrous power[/i] before it struck the floor. He landed lightly back on the stage, his [i]boots of levitation[/i] kicking in as needed. John bit at the zombie mage in retaliation, but although the great insect's wicked mandibles stabbed deep into the undead flesh, still it stood standing. This, Kaspar decided, was no ordinary zombie - as if its spellcasting ability hadn't been enough of an indicator. But, deciding to see if it could withstand a flurry of blows powered by the monk's [i]tenryutsume[/i], Kaspar sent his fists flying into the puppet-mage's face, shoulder, and arms, and soon enough got his answer: no, as it turned out, it could [i]not[/i] withstand such an onslaught. The undead mage slumped forward, hanging motionless from the black strings dangling from the ceiling. The other marionette raised its club with both hands and as it did so two axe-blades of crackling, negative energy erupted from the club's business end. A vicious series of blows commenced upon Kaspar, the monk managing to dodge some but not all of the blade's strikes. Syngaard swung his morningstar at the zombie's head but missed, his weapon getting caught up in the black cord rising from one of the undead barbarian's hands. But by now the conscripts were assembled close enough for Daleth to reach out to Kaspar and activate his [i]teleport[/i] spell; the monk, anticipating the action, touched John's carapace as well. As a group, the conscripts vanished from the stage and reappeared in the rows of seats behind the Blood Queen and her dominated slave. Galen hopped over the intervening seats, trying to get not to the vampire but rather to Leorna. Dropping a hand to the elf's shoulder, he sent the energy of his [i]dispel evil[/i] spell coursing through his arm and into the elf's body, freeing her from the Blood Queen's domination. With a cry of rage, Leorna stood and pulled her bleeding wrist from Larithiana's grasp. The Blood Queen rose as well, but before the vampiress could react to this effrontery Orion's [i]nightflame short sword[/i] burst through her midsection - Carl had run up around her, manifested back onto the Material Plane, and the halfling's mystically-enhanced vision allowed her to backstab the vampire in the middle of a nexus of necromantic energy coursing through her undead flesh. The Blood Queen was not at all amused by the sudden change to her plans of watching her enemies be destroyed by her undead minions on stage while she watched with a handy snack at hand. Back on stage, the barbarian marionette ran through a side door to the stage's left side while the puppet-mage, earlier slain by Kaspar, was brought back to an unholy mockery of life by the necromantic energies coursing down through its black puppet-strings. It righted itself from its unmoving crouch and followed he barbarian through the side door, a way around the [i]wall of force[/i] intended to keep the conscripts from throwing spells or weapons at the Blood Queen as she watched them die on stage. Kaspar sent a flurry of blows at the Blood Queen and was quite surprised when she managed to avoid most of them - this woman was quick! John got in a bite as well, but his massive mandibles didn't seem to concern her any more than they had the puppet-mage. Then the vampire pulled two blades from the scabbards she wore at her belt and, faster than the others could follow, sent the longsword slashing out at Orion in a series of deep cuts while her short sword went stabbing multiple times at Syngaard, who had stepped up to the Blood Queen and sent several powerful swings at her with his other morningstar - the one that blazed with the light of the burning sun. It was a dizzying flashing of blades and spikes, with similar results to all concerned: Orion dropped, bleeding profusely from several deep gashes, from her ghost-dog's saddle to lie in a quickly-spreading pool of her blood, her pulse flickering to a stop; Syngaard spat up blood from his mouth and toppled forward, the deep stabs through his torso causing cascades of his own life's blood to gush down the front of his stomach and legs in rivulets; Larithiana, in the meantime, screamed in absolute horror as Pelor's life-affirming sunlight emanated from Syngaard's weapon-head and infused its way into her undead flesh, burning her from within. She didn't crash to the floor as did her two current battle-foes, but only because her body burst into exploding mist that burned away in the sunlight effect from Syngaard's secondary morningstar. An eerie tingling feeling filled the room. <I think it's a summoning effect,> suggested Daleth, yet nothing appeared to have been summoned. <A failed one, anyway,> he amended, before casting a [i]wall of fire[/i] before the first row of seating to prevent the macabre marionettes, who had just stumbled down a small set of steps towards the audience area, from being able to reach them. Leorna grabbed a potion from her belt and bent over Orion's unmoving form, quickly removing the cork and pouring the healing elixir down the halfling's throat. Orion sputtered and coughed, a sure sign that death had been evaded - even if just barely. Galen sent healing energy through his hands and into Syngaard's body - also on the very brink of death - closing up his internal wounds from the vampire's blade. "Damn!" swore the scarred fighter as he sat up and retrieved his dropped weapons. "That Blood Queen was [i]fast[/i] - like, Kaspar-level fast!" Two bulges in the [i]wall of fire[/i] spell indicated the blazing arrival of the puppet-things, although bursting through the roaring flames as they did had burned away the black cords that had dangled from them - not that they were at all necessary in animating these corpse creatures, as it turned out. They didn't last long, however, the barbarian being slain almost at once by Kaspar while Daleth took the other one down with a [i]delayed blast fireball[/i] (no delay needed), the elf having seen how effective fire was to these undead creatures. "Guess that's it," grunted Syngaard, a bit ticked that he didn't get to take out his anger at having almost being slain on anyone. He satisfied himself with assisting in the looting of the stiffs while Leorna filled the group in on what had occurred. She'd been ambushed one night with a [i]mind fog[/i] spell which had severely inhibited her ability to fight off the Blood Queen's domination. From that point on, she'd been the vampiress's mental slave, taking her likeness and luring the conscripts here where Larithiana had intended to slay them and turn the Mithral Mage first back to a human, then into her vampiric thrall. "What was that spell effect immediately upon her death?" Daleth inquired. "The Blood Queen had a [i]contingency[/i] spell in effect upon her," the illusionist explained. "It was to have summoned her 'children' - her current vampiric spawn - to her upon her death." "So why didn't they show up?" asked Galen. "As to that, I cannot say," admitted Leorna. "Any idea exactly where the Hell we are?" Syngaard asked, stuffing the various weapons into a [i]bag of holding[/i]. They'd decided to turn them over to Skevros, who could likely siphon off the spell energy and redistribute it among the conscripts' own weapons. All, that was, but for the [i]negative energy greataxe[/i] - that, they jointly decided to destroy. "North of the Baator's Breath Mountains," Leorna explained. "We ever been here before?" Syngaard asked. "No." "It worth our while to check the place out?" "Unlikely." "Yeah, that's what I thought. Okay, let's get outta here." Kaspar pulled the [i]ring of return[/i] from his robes and the conscripts - and Leorna - each grabbed a hold on the six-inch metal circle. Than Kaspar invoked its magic and they [i]teleported[/i] just outside the city's gates. During the walk back to the [i]Enchanted Flagon[/i], Syngaard noticed the puddles were all back to being just water. "Where'd all the blood go?" he asked. "There was never any blood," Leorna answered. "That was all just an illusion - one of my more powerful ones, in fact." Syngaard just shook his head. [i]Wizards![/i] he thought. [i]Crazy, every last one of them![/i] - - - Logan used the Paizo "Theater" Flip-Mat for this adventure, which didn't turn out to be anything at all like we had expected. He'd leaked the title to us ahead of time, so we had anticipated this was going to be the fight with the Mithral Mage where we were all going to put up valiant efforts but ultimately be slain. Obviously, that didn't happen - but we did get to take out the head of a faction of the Seekers of Eternity - and quite permanently at that, for Syngaard's [i]solar energy morningstar[/i] not only affects undead flesh (instead of passing through it like the normal [i]brilliant energy[/i] magic weapon property), but can also permanently kill any undead with a particular vulnerability to sunlight who is slain by the weapon. A funny thing about that, too: Logan made the Blood Queen a 20th-level fighter as well as a vampire and loaded her up on fighter feats which allowed her to deal extra damage with longswords and short swords. He had her attack Orion with her longsword and dropped the halfling to below her Constitution score in negative numbers, but we play with a homebrew rule that states that as long as you can get her healed to above her negative Constitution score (in her case, above -14) before her next turn in the initiative roster, she'll be stabilized. We were all so focused on that - and in assuring Vicki that we'd be able to get to Orion in time (although I took the opportunity to jokingly hint that Syngaard might be seriously considering wrestling Galen to the ground to prevent him from getting to "the blasted halfling" in time), that Logan forgot about the Blood Queen's short sword attacks until Syngaard's turn in the initiative - at which point I had already killed her. So, not wanting to harm Orion any further, he decided he'd retroactively direct the vampire's short sword attacks at Syngaard. I told him to "bring it on" - and then watched in amazement at the vast collection of dice Logan gathered together to roll the damage after she'd managed to hit - and crit - me several times. Syngaard dropped down below his own "safety cap from death" of -16 hp as a result, and rather than "undo" his having slain her, we dropped back to the AD&D 2nd Edition concept of "simultaneous initiative" (which brought back fond reminiscences to Dan and I, who had both - as well as Logan - played in earlier versions of D&D and were familiar with the concept). [/QUOTE]
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