Rough for You (Part 4)
You stand before a cabin which you are nearly certain is where the vampires are currently held up. There's a soft sway to the blankets covering the windows that indicates some kind of movement within at least, and so you've gathered outside to discuss your plan of attack before rushing in.
"A thought occurs," Alba murmurs. "If there is a back way, perhaps announcing our desires from there may startle them. This I am happy to do."
Because of *course* she's happy to scare a house full of vampires into being off-balance and tractable...
"I would feel better if we have a plan to remove their victims and their living thralls from the fight," Serene says after a moment of pinching the bridge of her nose. Perhaps reminding herself that Alba really, really is an ally. And probably not evil. Though that magic does fail on occasion... "Kira, you mentioned you have... rope. A great deal of rope. You could use this to bind any of the living who would resist us?" Think, think. "One group to make the noise, perhaps, and a second to sneak in. A paladin in either group for the protections we offer. And... perhaps Alba's idea of using fear is a good one."
Kira isn't a much of a tactician, nor a tracker. Vampire Hunter isn't exactly part of her training nor experience, either. So she looks to the others for ideas. Between glances to the house. She blinks at Alba's idea. "Do you think they'd be frightened? Or annoyed?" She then turns to Serene and nods. "Yes, I have plenty of rope."
"How about I find out if there is a backdoor......by changing into something small and taking a look." Durrankar says as they debate…
"This is I think a very good idea, Friend Shaman," Alba says, nodding.
Serene's head begins its nod before she even gets her glance turned Durrankar's way. "Please do, Durrankar. Be careful... but do not hesitate to summon us if you fall into trouble."
"Of course, Lady Serene." Durrankar says before he turns into a hummingbird.....and flits his way around the house...looking for a backdoor.
GAME: Durrankar rolls perception: (14)+28: 42
The hummingbird is back VERY quickly...much quicker than anticipated. The hummingbird doesn't even wait to land before changing back, and Durrankar lands with a heavy thud. "They have a hostage! There is no backdoor, but they're talking about draining a female in the place!"
In the meantime... Serene fidgets, hand on her sword, eyes fixed on the house. "Be wary of the control they can press upon your mind. If you stay close, I can help you. It is likely they will attempt to flee... I would see that not happen. Be prepared to stop them however you may. Alba.." Serene turns her head a fraction, just enough to regard the masked woman.. but before she can say anything, she snaps her head back to Durrankar, nods. "We move. Now!"
News of a hostage clearly has Alba's back up, and all of her hair flares out to surround her as she lifts off the ground, abandoning secrecy in favor of showmanship. "RELEASE THE WOMAN," she roars to the fluttering windows. "IF SHE IS HARMED, WE WILL *BEGIN* BY DROPPING A FLAMING MOUNTAIN UPON THE HOUSE."
Kira nods to Serene as she listens, then blinks at Durrankar's message. "Oh no!" And she's up on her feet and dashing even as Serene gives the order. She blinks again at Alba's ultimatum, but is too busy running to point out that she's not sure that wold quite work right. Not for the hostage, anyhow.
The door opens, is opened by Serene who is so quick to move. She has only an instant to take in the scene before her really. There are a lot of people in the house. More than there should be. Huddled on the ground. There's a pile of boxes in a room to the right. Coffins. Stacks of them seen through the open doorway. In the back, the only person standing, a room away. He is clearly identifiable as Kol, his dark hair, his green eyes. He doesn't notice the door opening. He's talking to the air and it's not audible through the sound of the door opening and the moans of those who sit camped out in the room. Men and women. All of them striking in ways you can't quite put your finger on. Then Kol is just /gone/. The rest however turn their gaze on Serene and there's clear hunger there.
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+20: (2)+20: 22 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+20: (16)+20: 36 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+20: (6)+20: 26 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d4+4: (2)+4: 6 GAME: Serene rolls fortitude: (15)+34: 49
The vampires move like lightning, moving forward as a mob to attack the woman that opened the door. Their hands claw at her, grasp her hair, her armor, and sink into her flesh as they moan hungrily.
GAME: Durrankar casts Death Ward. Caster Level: 18 DC: 22
Durrankar growls as Kol suddenly vanishes. "We'll kill you yet, Kol." He grumbles before turning his gaze to the paladin, who is 'engulfed' by the vampires before he can do anything else. Rather than leap into the fray...he begins a prayer. "Death Singing Dragon, we seek the destruction of the ones that have closed their ears to your song. Protect the champion that wades into their midst, please."
GAME: Alba casts Heroism. Caster Level: 12 DC: 18
"MURDER THE DARKNESS, WARRIOR OF LIGHT," Alba shrieks as Serene wades in. A lock of hair snakes out, and where it touches the paladin's neck, no lighter than a feather, a sigil glows yellow-white. "MURDER THE DARKNESS UNTIL ONLY ASHES OF SHADOW REMAIN."
GAME: Serene rolls 12d6: (42): 42 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+20: (19)+20: 39 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+20: (9)+20: 29 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+20: (6)+20: 26 GAME: Serene rolls fort: (3)+34: 37 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d4: (1): 1
"Your end is HERE!" Serene declares, perhaps swept up by Alba's declaration and magic... and girded by Durrankar's ward. Energy pulses out from her, washing over the vampires even as Serene draws forth Promise and steps back, fending off the worst of the mob's reaching claws. "Find the woman!" she yells over her shoulder, then, without ever taking her eyes off of the vampires in front of her.
GAME: Serene spends TWO uses of LAY ON HANDS. GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+20: (13)+20: 33 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+20: (6)+20: 26 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+20: (19)+20: 39 GAME: Serene rolls fortitude: (17)+34: 51 GAME: Serene rolls fortitude: (20)+34: 54 (CRITICAL SUCCESS) GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d4: (2): 2 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d4: (2): 2
With seemingly mindless energy the vampires come pouring out, hammering at Serene in an effort to get to her blood.
GAME: Durrankar casts Sunburst. Caster Level: 18 DC: 25 GAME: Durrankar rolls 18d6: (57): 57 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+11: (10)+11: 21 GAME: Serene rolls reflex: (1)+28: 29 (EPIC FAIL) GAME: Durrankar rolls 6d6: (19): 19 GAME: Kira rolls reflex: (12)+19: 31 GAME: Durrankar rolls 1d20+18: (16)+18: 34
Durrankar bares his teeth as he sees a LOT of vampires in the house. "Great." He growls, before letting out a roar into the night....and the roar is answered....by a large burst of light that seems to have been centered on Serene. A couple of vampires are vaporized on the spot, but a side effect is that Serene is now blind. "Blast it. I didn't think that one through......"
GAME: Sabina rolls fort: (17)+5: 22 GAME: Alba rolls acrobatics: (12)+11: 23
Thankful for her mask, Alba tips her head to one side to avoid the blinding initial burst of light... And the moment the night returns, the Witch eels through the air, skirting around the crush of bodies. Her hair whips forward to form a vaguely fistlike, fibrous mass ahead of her as she darts through the window, and thrashes back into place the moment she passes through the portal. "GIVE ME THE WOMAN AND DIE." She pauses, tilting her head at an unseen voice, and mutters. "...No, this is precisely what was meant. Did you wish for me to lie?"
Well, the world suddenly going white is better than the world suddenly going black. Serene does her best not to miss a step, however, raising her shield a little more defensively in response to the continuing, ever reaching claws. "Burn in Eluna's light, abominations!" she yells out, once more channeling holiness into the surrounding vampires. Oh, the white was only temporary... the black starts to settle in.
GAME: Serene rolls bluff: (6)+15: 21 GAME: Serene rolls 12d6: (45): 45 GAME: Serene spends TWO uses of LAY ON HANDS. GAME: Kira spends TWO uses of LAY ON HANDS. GAME: Kira rolls 5d6: (20): 20
Kira was quick enough to cover her eyes at the flash, but is concerned for Serene (even if she's good at pretending to be visually unimpaired). She also watched Alba dive through the window, so she moves for the doorway, where she calls on The Healer's Grace to grant the abominations peace.
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+20: (5)+20: 25 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+20: (17)+20: 37 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+20: (19)+20: 39 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+20: (1)+20: 21 (EPIC FAIL) GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+20: (7)+20: 27 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d4+4: (3)+4: 7 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d4+4: (1)+4: 5 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d4+4: (3)+4: 7 GAME: Alba rolls fortitude: (13)+8: 21 GAME: Alba rolls fortitude: (11)+8: 19 GAME: Kira rolls fort: (12)+20: 32
The vampires rush Alba, climbing onto the witch and feeding on her life essence. She seems to have little defense against them, but she's not the only one attacked. Three more vampires attack Kira, clinging to the woman and trying to drain her blood as they've done to Alba.
GAME: Durrankar rolls strength: (11)+5: 16 GAME: Alba rolls reflex: (10)+7: 17 GAME: Kira rolls ref: (3)+19: 22 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+11: (4)+11: 15 GAME: Aftershock rolls 2d6: (7): 7
Durrankar sees Alba flying around the house....and hears her scream...then also realizes there are more vampires in the house. Rather than let her fight alone inside of the house, Durrankar has the bright idea of helping Alba by going through the side of the house to get the vampires away from her. So with a change to a rhino, Durrankar bellows out and charges into the house....with the wooden walls exploding all around him. He didn't realize the construction of this shoddy old house was so shoddy, as 'Kool-Aid Man'-ing through the wall also causes every other part of the house to groan....and fall....
GAME: Alba rolls intelligence: (15)+1: 16
To be drained that far by the vampire menace was *terrifying.* So much so, in fact, that the house falling on Alba directly afterward was merely *annoying,* and served quite well to snap the Witch out of what was going to be a *remarkably* incoherent temper tantrum. Heaving a long sigh, she mutters a word of thanks to the interrupting rhino, as her hair wraps around the chunks of wall to get a good grip. The fibrous, living ropes pulse and twitch, but the wreckage only shifts.
Oh.
- Now* Alba is irritated.
GAME: Serene rolls 12d6: (47): 47 GAME: Serene spends TWO uses of LAY ON HANDS.
Serene stares blankly as the sudden bellow of an animal she's never heard before is followed by a crunch, then the roaring sound of something she *has* heard before. Her unseeing eyes are forced to close as she's suddenly buffeted by the rushing air displaced by the collapsing house and pelted with varying bits of debris. "What..." She doesn't finish, instead continuing her purging undeath efforts as she very slowly begins to pick her way blindly into the rubble.
GAME: Kira rolls escape artist: (18)+5: 23 GAME: Kira spends TWO uses of LAY ON HANDS. GAME: Kira rolls 5d6: (10): 10
Kira doesn't have the strength of a rhino, nor Alba hair, and works to try and wriggle her way through the rubble. "Alba? Durrankar?" She'd call for the woman, but doesn't know her name, and 'Hostage' just doesn't seem right. Just in case, she calls on The Healer's Grace once more, this time to aid herself, allies, and innocent.
A few wisps of smoke or... something drift away from the house that fell down. Other than that, things are oddly, eerily peaceful in the wake of the destruction.
GAME: Durrankar rolls strength+2: (6)+5+2: 13
The rhino isn't too bothered by the house falling on him. Mostly because he has a thick hide. His immediate concern is Alba, and trying to get her out of the rubble. Unfortunately, the horn gets in his way and he can't hook it under the rubble to lift it.
GAME: Alba casts Enlarge Person. Caster Level: 12 DC: 16
If main force won't shift the building, perhaps arcane tricks will. "Hoi!" she calls at the mass of boards and beyond. "Speak if you have breath to!" And with that, Alba settles into as comfortable a position as she can, her hair extracting a huge beetle from one of her many, many pockets and whispering enchantments over its shell.
"This is.. CALL OUT! Who is still alive?" Yeah, that's really inspiring, there. But Serene has little other options in regards to finding out what everyone's status is. She continues to pick her way deeper into the rubble, one foot at a time, and continues to do whatever she can to burn away the foulness of the vampires. That none seem to be attacking, or even making the noises of attack, is at least comforting.
GAME: Serene rolls 12d6: (42): 42
A rhino lets out a 'grrr' of sorts as he tries to get Alba out of the rubble....
Serene hears the 'grring'... her sword comes up, pointed in Durrankar's general direction. "That did not sound like a vampire, so I am hoping that was you, Durrankar. How is everyone else?"
The rhino lets out another grr...but it's not angry sounding. he's still pushing through the rubble to get to Alba.
Eventually you dig Alba out, she's... much the worse for wear thanks to the vampires, and they are nowhere to be found. Nor do you have any further means of tracking them given that they seemed to have escaped into thin air. Vampires. You have little choice then but to return to Alexandria, knowing that you do so having slain some of the beasts but not their source or even all of them.
There's only one problem. When you arrive in Alexandria the temple of Daeus is in chaos. It seems while you were away Kol Demontry attacked the temple... and killed the woman that sent you on your mission.
The temple district seemed like a good place to take Alba after ensuring there were no vampires remaining... and finding no sign of any hostage at the collapsed house. A promise from Serene to restore the witch's strength once she has rested is hopefully enough to calm the witch's rage and earn her compliance. However, arrival at the temple just delivers another blow to the failed mission. "This... is unsatisfying," Serene declares, gazing upon the chaos. Her expression speaks much more volume than her words. "That vampire's days are numbered."
-End