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Realms: Inizii Logs

The Final Confrontation -- For Now

The paladin squints his eyes, before nodding. "Yes... Me prayed to the Suffering Lord. A spell to bless our valor and defenses, and a simple spell of healing is all me can give, however."

Derleth takes a moment to pray for healing, laying a glowing hand on the gashes given him by the lizard vampire....

Kyrel sighs and nods. "Then we don't have a choice. We attack now or get cut down after dark. Perhaps your goddess will bless us, Derleth. The gods know we'll need her help...."

Derleth smiles wryly as the wounds close up. "Aye, belike we will. Gird yerselves, lads."

The paladin lifts his hands. "Gather close, that me may bring upon us the blessing of Ilmater." He prays, quickly, steadily, his voice almost booming. They all feel the light tingle, a warmth spreading up through their bodies, exhilaration, courage, strength. When the paladin finishes, he glances at the storm doors. "Now, we get these open, and flush evil from this place?"

Kyrel nods. "I think so. Let's do it."

Derleth closes his eyes as he receives Bodan's blessing. "Aye. Let's be at it." he says in response to the paladin. He reaches down and tests the doors, to see if they are locked. The paladin steps up beside him, and slips a hand into one of the handles, giving a mighty tug...and grunts heavily. They are barred, from beneath.

Kyrel says, "Axes, then."

The half orc snarls. "No time!" Taking firm hold of his hammer in both hands, he simply launches himself against the doors. First one stroke, then two. "Join with me, Derleth!"

Derleth yet feels the holy strength he prayed for burn in his bones. "Lets nae dull the blade o' the only axe we have...the tools we use in combat are enough." He joins the paladin with a mighty stroke of his blessed flail.

The damage heaped onto the door quickly rends its surface into gaping cracks and holes. The bar is soon visible beneath, reachable through the holes. Derleth reaches through one of the gaps and lifts the beam free from the metal brackets that keep it in place. The bar rolls down the stairs. Bodan pulls open the doors, and glances a question to the others. "Same order?"

Kyrel nods, "It worked before. Let's go."

Derleth nods. "Aye. Ye be the best of us in martial power, paladin."

The paladin starts down the uneven, stone stairs, before pausing, glancing back. "Should we send the bat down, to look, first?"

Derleth looks at the mage. "It be yer call, man. It might have it's risks...this be Ebrek's lair, after all."

Kyrel says, "Indeed. He'll stay with us. He has darksight, but I'm not sending him in alone against vampires."

The paladin nods once. "Then, we go down." With that, he starts down the stairs, well aware that the sunlight is steadily waning, and only stretches across the cellar's dirt floor for some five feet.

Derleth gives Bodan the lightstone he wields and then takes up the rear position, looking suspiciously back the way they came as he brandishes his flail.

Just as the paladin reaches the bottom of the steps, he jerks to the side in a futile attempt to dodge. Sara's chain lashes out of the darkness, smacking across the half-orc's frame, lightning arcing across his armor in a wicked charge. "Hurry!" The half-orc shouts, leaping off the base of the stairs.

Derleth's breath catches in his throat as he sees the chain and realizes what it signifies...but he knows, then, that despite his feelings, he must strike and strike hard, no matter who it is that he faces. He charges into the fray.

Sara stands near the back of the cellar, an earthy room some twenty feet in diamater. It's filled with typical farmstead items - shovels, bags of seed, and in the corner a pile of unidentifiable roots. However, the wall opposite the stairs has a hole piercing it, leading into a dark tunnel beyond. The vampiress whirls her chain menacingly; and although she is well out of range of the paladin's weapon, hers can easily reach him. She doesn't even look at Derleth, but focuses on Bodan and his warhammer, gripped tightly in the half-orc's hands. Her chain rises up, snapping outward, in an attempt to tear it from his grip. Bodan dodges her strike, weaving to the left as her strike goes to his right.

Derleth cautiously keeps out of range as he uses one of his remaining prayers...he calls forth a mystical shield of deflection that surrounds him like a cloak as he weighs his options of attack...

Kyrel calls out. "Sara! What are you doing? You don't want to help the dwarf, do you?"

The woman, pale, her face pulled in an almost feral, grim expression, bares her teeth. "I can't let you stop him," She hisses, drawing her chain up for another strike, blue fire crackling up it's metallic serpentine length.

Kyrel says, "Why not?"

"It's not a choice!" Her angry glare shoots into the upper corner of the dirt room.

Kyrel says, "Fight him, Sara. Be your own ... vampire. It's not an alliance I'd normally wish to make, but ... remember. He did this to you. Don't help him now."

She shakes her head, her eyes settling onto the half-orc, ready to strike forth. "I cannot! It is like the relations of a wizard to his conjured skeletons; I am under his control, until his destruction!"

Kyrel sighs. "All right, then. You might have mentioned it when you visited Derleth that time." He aims his bow at the vampiress, but his first shot misses. The arrow streaks in, but the chain whips up, knocking it from the air with inhuman precision. Then, like some metallic snake, the chain whips up again, lashing toward the powerful paladin, but unlike the first blow, meant to tear away his weapon, her obvious intent is now to tear away his life. The chain's barbs slash into the half-orc's leg, wrapping around it enough to dig deep, to tear, to let the electric tongue sear into his flesh, before the pained man pulls free.

Derleth does not speak as Kyrel did, instead circling around the chain-wielding woman, helping Bodan to cage her in as he looks for weaknesses in her defence. Bodan, taking note of Derleth's move, decides to keep Sara distracted, with a rather simple, but effective, ploy. He charges. His hammer raised, he moves rapidily toward her. She takes advantage of the apparent opportunity to strike at him again, swinging her weapon at him, but this time he's ready for it. The chain is batted aside by the paladin, and his blows swing in viciously, the hammer coming in with an overhead chop, and then reversing in a powerful backswing. The vampiress, however, easily weaves around the hammer's wide strokes.

Kyrel frowns and fires another arrow. "We will put you down if we have to, Sara. Fight him!"

The arrow is wide, sailing over the woman's head, and planting itself firmly in the dirt wall five feet from Derleth's shoulder. Derleth gives Kyrel a hurt look, but is too grim to make verbal banter at the moment...

Sara, with the paladin now within arms reach, decides to drive at him. Instead of using the wicked chain, she ducks down under his swings and comes in with her arms up in a vicious strike - made all the more deadly by the vampire's chilling touch. Derleth, seeing an opening, darts in as Sara unleashes her vicious attack, attempting to wrap his flail around Sara's leg to trip her.

The blow rocks the paladin back on his heels, though his inner strength saves him from the full effects of the vampiric touch. He backs away in pain, gasping for air. The cleric's swing is off, merely scraping the back of the vampiress's ankle. Kyrel nocks another arrow and fires, this time the arrow skipping off Sara's armor. She ignores him and spins to attack the cleric while Bodan is off balance, but he ducks under the swing.

The paladin, though a little beat up from the earlier blows, still comes in strong as Sara turns, his hammer crunching into her back. Seeing her momentarily off balance, he moves in quickly. With his greater bulk, he attempts to wrap his arms around her, to hold her firm. Around comes the chain, however, as the paladin leaves himself open. A ferocious blow, the weight cracking into ribs, wrapping around once, the piercing bite sinking through his armor to the flesh beneath, letting the electricity fry tender skin. The paladin succumbs to his wounds, and starts to stumble, before simply falling onto his back, unconcious, blood bubbling up from the score of wounds.

Derleth's eyes go wide as he sees the paladin go down....he then reaches for his special bottle and hurriedly speaks the command word that will send blessed water flying at Sara. The stream of water hits Sara in the back of the head. A scream of pain comes from the woman, as the blessed elixer eats into her undead body. Her hair falls away, melting as smoke lifts from her scalp.

Kyrel gives up on the bow and begins the chant for his last magic missile spell. She's been badly hurt... let's hope this puts her down. The green bolts fly out, zigzagging through the air, and impact the vampiress. One strikes her knee, nearly sending her down; another into her stomach, almost knocking her over in the opposite direction; the last one a solid crack into the side of her head. Her form simply explodes into mist with a last cry.

Kyrel swears as Sara disappears into mist. "Quick, Derleth... we need to put Bodan back on his feet."

Derleth does not waste time and rushes to Bodan's side, applying emergency healing techniques to bring him back from the edge of death. His breathing stabilizes, but he remains, for the moment, unconscious.

"Bah!" screams a voice, from within the hole at the side of the room.

Derleth looks at Kyrel. "He's stable," he says sotto voce. "I have a few healing spells left...so we want to take the time to try to bring him back up to par?"

Kyrel says, "How long would it take?"

The mist slowly filts out of the storm cellar, and out, clear that the sunlight's purifying rays are now not a threat.

Derleth doesn't respond, instead bringing his hands down on the half-orc's chest and letting out a mighty chant, healing power courses through his hands...

The half-orc coughs...rather loudly. He sits up, or at least tries to. HIs wounds are still severe, but he can move, he can still fight. He jerks, looking around. "Where is she?"

Derleth grunts. "Mist, Bodan. She's nae a threat for now. But Ebrek awaits."

"Aye," The voice calls, at the opening in the wall.

Derleth says, "Bodan, can ye heal yerself?"

The paladin nods, but his attention is instead on the figure in the tunnel's opening.

Kyrel rummages in his pouch until he comes up with the gem. He hands it to Bodan. "Here. I'm not sure it will help without being attached to the hammer, but it can't hurt."

Derleth stands and faces the voice. "Ye're allies are all gone, Ebrek. Ye stand alone, and alone ye shall fall."

The dwarf's eyes shine at the sight of the gem, but he shakes his head, clicking his tongue. "Y'know, despite the fact that it was fun, watchin' ye kill yer old comrade, I be thinkin' this isn't worth the fight." The half-orc slowly gets to his feet behind the others, and releases his healing magic on himself.

Kyrel says, "You've got a very nasty sense of humor, Ebrek."

Derleth grins humorlessly. "Why now, c'd that be because yer losing, spawn of evil?"

The dwarf gives a slight bow. "Exactly. Tis just a damn gem, an' metal, albeit of sentimental value. No sense in gettin' meself killed a third time, an' all of it due to a personal item."

Kyrel says, "A bit late for such a change of heart now, I'm afraid. We can't trust you to just go away."

Derleth says, "Ah fear ye don have a choice, vampire. If ye had fled t' begin with, we may ne'er ha' found ye, and twould be sommat else's problem. But ye've commited terr'ble acts against our own, and now ye've over played yer hand. Th' only thing what'll bring ye square with the house is yer death."

A fanged grin in response. "And, ye going te be catching me...how? No need in comin' back fer me vengence; not worth it, just yet. Forge me another, better axe, mayhap armor at that! Perhaps even swallow me gall and hire a wizard t' enchant 'em."

Derleth says, "Nae today, nae ever, Ebrek."

Ebrek chuckles softly. "I dinnae plan on seekin' out yer blood, anytime soon. Get me all situated, and, comfortable. Then, mayhap, I'll go about it the lazy human's way, and send assassins to do me wo-"

Kyrel surreptitiously sets off his last fire spell, the sheet of flame washing over Ebrek in the middle of his gloating. "Thought as much. We finish this now, undead."

The fire strikes him square in the face. An undigified howling curse as he sputters and flaps his hands, beating out the flames with his shield and glove. "Damn ye wizard! Damn ye to the abyss!"

Derleth points an open palm at Ebrek. "No, vampire. Damn ye!" He calls forth the power of his goddess, and holy light shoots forth to attack the staggering dwarf. The god-blessed sunlight blazes into the still sputtering dwarf, hitting him square in the gut. He shrieks in pain, as the beam of the sun scalds him through and through. He snarls, and simply brings up his shield, an enormous, blinding flash of light blasting from it's surface, filling the room quickly, before it's cast aside. Even before it strikes the ground, his form is shifting, contorting, drawing in on itself, soon, the wings of a diminitive, red-furred bat flapping in its place.

Bodan reels back, a hand lifting to his eyes. "Me cannae see!"

Kyrel fires off his last offensive spell - a lightning bolt. The electricity washes across the spot where the bat is standing, but it's too late. As the dust clears in the air, the bat's already moving, its fur unsinged, unaffected by the wizard-born tongue of electricity.

Derleth snarls as the bat moves to get away. Grabbing his bottle one more, he speaks the command word to unleash its final dose of holy water...

The spray hits the bat squarely, and he releases an obvious squeak of anger and pain. It struggles to fly, and then simply drops to the ground, form changing to that of a very angry wolf. With a snarl over its shoulder, the thing starts down the tunnel.

Kyrel says, "Quick, Bodan!"

Bodan stumbles forward, still holding his eyes. "Me cannot see! He's done something to me!"

Derleth yells at the fleeing wolf in frustration, lighting off in pursuit...

Kyrel says, "It was just that flash of light, Bodan. It'll wear off in a minute. Follow me, and give me that gem stub if you can't use it..."

Fumbling, the half-orc hands it over to Kyrel, and then starts, albeit slow and groping, after the pair.

Kyrel takes the hand of the blinded paladin and leads him along.

The trio chases the wolf through a short passage and into what looks like a mine tunnel. Its ceiling is low, the half-orc having to stoop to even move through it. However, Derleth has little trouble navigating the passage, even closing in on the running wolf at first. Soon, though, the wolf gains in speed. Only slowed at first because he was still changing form, soon the four-legged vampire can simply run - and he does, fast, easily outpacing the cleric and vanishing from sight as he skids around a bend in the tunnel.

Derleth does not falter, running as fast as his small legs will cary him, intent on his prey.

Kyrel follows as close as he can, leading Bodan until the paladin's eyes recover.

Bodan's sight returns after a minute, and he releases Kyrel, ducking in his shoulders and frame, bounding quickly after the wolf. The three make it to the bend, and see that a hole about five feet high and maybe three wide has been simply knocked in the wall; on the other side is a cave, the wall breached with a rusty pick-ax discarded nearby.

Derleth growls. "Ah'm goin' after 'im. E's not getting away this time."

Bodan shakes his head. "No matter the case, we must hurry!"

Kyrel nods. "This is our best chance. If he gets away, he'll have more spawn to defend him - and you heard him joke about hiring assassins." He sends his bat through the hole first. "Kiri... which way did he go?" The little familiar flits into the passage, circles once, and then turns, chittering to Kyrel. The half-elf points to the right. "He's down that way, and he's shifted back to dwarf. Let's go... but be careful."

Derleth nods and hustles into the tunnel easily, since he's far shorter than the others, barrelling down the right tunnel which he illuminates with his lightwand.

The cleric can see the dwarf squatted at the end of the cave, where its mouth open to the night sky. At his side are the dwarf's boots. He gives a glance up at the cleric, sneering, and simply hops off out of the cave.

Derleth snarls and palms a vial of holy water as he approaches the mouth of the tunnel in hurried caution...

The vampire clings to the bluff's wall, crawling down it's surface like a spider. It's not very high, only some thirty feet above the ground.

Derleth smirks, and then pours the vial into his waterbottle, aiming downwards and activating it.

The blessed water spouts downward, hitting the dwarf's head. It splashes everywhere, running from his helmet down otno his face. "Arrgh!"

Derleth grins ferally. "Time t' take yer bath, dwarf. Yer final bath."

Bodan makes it to the edge of the cave, staring down at the dwarf. He glances back at Kyrel. "What exactly do we do to stop him? Me don't think even an arrow could stake him, from hiere.

Derleth says, "Iffn we do enough hurt to him, he might go vapor back t' his lair....ah hope."

Derleth speaks the command word once more, aiming the bottle at him...

Kyrel grins. "Let's see..." He chants the words of a spell he hasn't used recently, laying his hands on Bodan as he does so. "There. Fly down and smash him."

Kyrel hands the gem-shaft back to the half-orc. "And jab this into his chest when you're done."

Bodan grins, taking the shaft. He simply jumps out of the cave mouth, after Derleth's shot rings in. Ebrek lifts up his hand, getting it burned, sending several oaths from the dwarf, before his eyes widen at the speedily decending half orc. "Why'm I even climbin'?!" He screams, and bursts into mist.

Derleth groans. "Damme. Forgot he coul' do that wi'out 'avin his body destroyed."

Kyrel says, "So'd he, apparently. We can follow him, though."

The dwarf seems more than capable, however, floating away as Bodan flies through the mist. He pulls to a halt, and hovers beneath the gas, before looking up at the other two. "What me do? Can't hurt him!"

Kyrel says, "Just follow him. If he's not back in his coffin at dawn, he's done for, after all."

The mist starts to fly upward, and out, away from the caves. Bodan can easily outpace it, but it's streaking diagnally from it's poisition, toward the frosted forest.

Derleth calls out. "Follow him all the way, Bodan! We'll look for the others!"

Kyrel sighs. "We may have lost him. And we need to ..... deal with Sara and that lizard vampire before they start regenerating."

Bodan nods. "Aye!" And then continues after the mist, futilely trying to smack it with his hammer.

Derleth nods. "Aye, we do."

Derleth starts back into the heart of the tunnel then, intent on finding coffins and such."

After recovering the items left in the trio's wake, Derleth and Kyrel walk back to the barn. Having scaled the rope Bodan had left, considering the ladder was faulty and unreliable, they approach the coffin. The cracked box still lies there, though Sara's form can be seen, bruised and battered, under it.

Kyrel sighs. "We have to do it, Derleth. She's already dead, after all."

Derleth looks grim,, seemingly trying to keep his emotions under check. "Ah know." he murmurs. He takes the stake in both hands then, and drives it home into Sara's chest.

The woman's corpse jerks spasmodicly, her hand snapping up, clawing at the air reflexively...until it grows lax, and simply slumps down in the coffin.

Derleth reaches down and strokes Sara's cheek, still smooth even in death. Then he takes the hatchet and finishes the gruesome job. He turns to face Kyrel, and his face is red and stained with tears. "Let's find the others."

Kyrel murmurs a prayer to Sashelas. Take her in. It wasn't her fault that this happened to her... He nods. "We'd better. And destroy the dwarf's coffin under the house as well..."

Derleth sighs. "Right. Let's be about it then."

As the pair finishes staking the last spawn, this one actually being within Ebrek's cairn, they hear heavy footsteps on the cellar stairs. Bodan leans against the wall, puffing. "Me didn't get him..."

Derleth curses under his breath. "Where'd ye lose 'im?"

The half-orc shrugs. "Over the woods, somewhere...Me started to float downward. He just kept going."

Kyrel says, "Ah, well. Can't be helped. He's probably got another backup coffin somewhere. I doubt he'll be back, though. Just means we'll have to hunt him down again. It'll give us a hobby for the next decade or two."

Derleth says, "Nae now, no. But we should take 'is threats seriously. We canna go light on ourselves. We dropped th' ball, this time. And e'll be back to haunt us." He sighs. "Let's just wake the old man and then get 'ome."

Bodan chuckles wryly. "Apologies, wizard Kyrel, priest Derleth but...me's not staying, not riding with you, not now. Me's going to help the town in its suffering...and then ride off, to do more work for Ilmater."

Derleth nods understandingly. "Thankee for yer help, paladin."

He nods, gazing at the cleric. "Will you be keeping any of the items left?"

Derleth considers, and then gives the flaming hammer to the paladin. "Ye'll have more use of it than I or Kyrel. Ah canna use it."

The paladin smiles, taking it up. "Thank you; me actually had eye on it..." He peers over the hammer. "Me imagine you use the shield, then?"

Kyrel looks quizzically at Derleth. "You think you could make it work? The vampire managed something with it above and beyond being a shield."

Derleth eyes it distastefully. "Ah dinnae...me personal combat style requires ah keep one hand free...though t' be honest, was thinking of melting it down...but...mmm...mayhaps should hold onto it nonetheless.

Kyrel says, "It's magical, Derleth. We're not going to melt it down. Turn it over to the local temple, if you don't want it, as a thank you for their help."

Derleth nods. "Ye're prob'ably right, Ky."

Kyrel grins. "Maybe they've got something I can use to trade it for.... you can have that electrical chain, too, Bodan, if you want it."

The paladin shakes his head. "Me's not much for that...it hurts too greatly," He grins. "It seems too painful a weapon to subdue, not to kill."


Ah, town. It felt good to be back at the tavern. The three had woken the old man from his slumber, and explained to him what had happened. He'd been none too pleased with the happenings...until he was given some reparations for the destruction of his property. Tomals, recovered and held until he wouldn't hurt himself, was returned to his grief-stricken mother. The town was already rebuilding... though some of it was brought to a halt, when the casket caravan arrived in town, and the next day was set aside for mourning.

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Last modified: 2001-Apr-19 23:10:57

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