Hidden Space and Serpentine Wiles
Caress braced herself as Mythram's suddenly pulled against her at the other end of the rope. Lyra and Ravyn being pulled sharply aside in the same moment. The sorcerer glanced back toward the keep and then turned to the other adventurers.
"Doesn't look like the guards have noticed anything strange about us yet."
The yuan-ti nodded and then breathed a sigh of relief as Mythram gripped the edge of the walls again and started their climb again, this time making it to the first arrow slit with little difficulty. Then came a tug on the rope to signal she was ready. The paladin hung back, waiting for the sorcerer and warlock to make it across before securing the rope on their end, hiding it in the mortar in a way to keep it clear of any sharp edges.
"Ibjeet saw the arrow slits on the floor above this were the ones that were blocked by darkness and planks of wood," Ravyn said.
"We find the vampire, stake her and be ready, she'll probably have some other defenses," Mythram reminded them. "I'll move up ahead first, listen for my signal."
Caress nodded then reached out, whispering a prayer on her lips alongside Mythram's own and an incantation from Lyra, layering protective enchantments upon the rogue before they crept silently up the stairs. There was a long, stretch of stressful silence before an abrupt gurgling swept down towards them followed by a screech.
"Mistress!!!"
 |
| Benefits of Stealth |
"That sounds like the signal," Ravyn said, rushing up the stairs and unleashing several blasts of eldritch power.
Caress wasn't much behind her, but simply sprinted, eyes latching onto the image of Mythram blocking the approach of a vampire spawn trying to reach her sire to remove the stake from her chest. It seemed as if the changeling had managed to get right up into the vampire's face before she was noticed. Behind her, Lyra came up the stairs and a flash of her silvery magic struck the spawn, slashing through her mind and disorienting her thought.
It was then that the second spawn skittered across the ceiling and dropped down on top of Caress, knocking both of them to the ground. In a clatter of cold-blooded and bloodless limbs, the paladin watched as the rogue plied their swords against the first spawn who tried weakly to collect enough of her slivered will to shove Mythram aside but failing. Then Ravyn's own eldritch magic filled the eyes of the second spawn.
Caress got to her feet and shifted in between the two undead, lashing out with her whip and searing each of the beings with a painful spark of radiant energy to seal their healing wounds closed. Ibjeet zipped past her, stinging one of the creatures with their tail and darting away and Lyra unleashed a hail of rending mental energy and frost so deep it tears stone. She then moved up near Mythram, blocking another route to the vampire.
The remaining spawn tried to shove past the sorcerer but was unable to shift her aside. Mythram stepped forward and tore into the remaining spawn as Ravyn shifted her curse to the remaining target and blasted the spawn leaving it on it's last legs as Caress lashed out with her radiant strike and finished her off.
"Okay, time to pour the holy water on the actual vampire," Ravyn said.
"Wait!" both the religious warriors called out.
"Killing her now will not accomplish much," Mythram explained.
"We have to find the coffin first."
That task didn't take long, though they did find a decoy coffin that had no grave dirt first but Caress and Mythram both recognized it for what it was and they eventually found the proper grave deeper in the tower hidden within some crates.
"Hmm, vampire crates." Lyra said, mysteriously.
Laying the vampire into her grave, Ravyn handed over the vials of holy water to Caress who proceeded to carry out the ritual funeral. As the prayer and ceremony pressed on, the vampire's eyes grew more and more frantic as her thousands of years of existence was drawn inexorably closer to its end over an hour that might have seemed an eternity to her.
And then she was dust.
"We've got to go quickly."
Soon they were climbing back around the tower, Caress stepped out first, landing lightly and eyeing the guards to see that the ogres still had not caught them in the act. She then set herself up to give a signal to the others so they could come across without worrying about being caught. Ibjeet untied the rope and flew back with it, leaving them to work their way back to their rooms.
The guards, missing all the suspicious activity, reached out and waved at them as they walked along the sunny battlements, looking as if they were just taking a walk to look out into the skies. Returning back to their room, they released a deep breath and started to come down from the anxiety.
And then the spectral image of a giant woman appeared among them.
"You are cordially invited...."
 |
| That's a big ghost. |
No comments:
Post a Comment