[ We find Our Heroes deep within the stale dungeon! They're in front of a door. On the other side is who knows what. But they're gonna find out! ] [ Max doesn't seem to be paying attention, all of a sudden. ] [ Session Start! ] * Seylin examines the door for traps. * Tia waits patiently, wagging her tail. [ Seylin finds no traps. ] * Seylin says, quietly, "Well, it's not trapped." * Tia sings quietly and cheerily in Draconic. * Patrick is laying back and, um... Watching Seylin's work, yeah. Not Seylin, nope. Tia, open it. Okay! * Istvan motions for Seylin to move back from the door, and maintains his position a bit behind Tia. * Seylin moves back! * Tia steps up and opens the door, peering in curiously. Helloooo? * Alcinoe isn't paying much attention to the rest of you, as she's reached into her haversack and extracts a pinch of something fine, powdery, and sparkly. Fortunately, Tia isn't paying any attention. She whispers a quick prayer as she sprinkles it over herself, her features becoming hard and sharp. * Patrick is waiting for door to open and stuff. [ Two former Drow knock Tia upside the head, hard! ...but she doesn't even seem to notice. Maybe they hit her helmet? It's hard to tell. ] * Tia blinks. "Hey! What was that for?" * Alcinoe looks over and clanks that way, making sure her sword is drawn. Tia, rekill them. I can't get past you right now. And move in so we can get through and help you! Hey, looks like someone wants to get wasted. Again. * Tia needs no urging as she attempts to move deeper into the room and smacks her axe into the nearest drow. [ The two vampire spawn send startled stares towards Tia. ] * Will watches Tia do her thing. His sword is drawn though, just in case. * Patrick has his bow out and is ready to send arrows at Vampheads. * Istvan steps into the room as soon as Tia makes way, muttering to set his pick alight. * HKenji darts in front of Istvan and goes for the undead! * Alcinoe steps in immediately after Istvan and... er, apparently Kenji, looking for her target. * Seylin follows in the back. If there's only two of them, she probably won't get a chance to do anything before they're dead, but that's okay. [ Tia hurts one of the vampire spawn while moving further into the room! Kenji steps up to the other, who's still paying attention to Tia. ] * Patrick fires arrows at the vampire spawn when he has the chance. [ Kenji bisects another vampire spawn! Who seems rather surprised by this. ] * HKenji darts through the door and draws his sword in a flash of silver, cuts through the doorframe, and neatly bisects a vampire spawn. *thunkthunk* * Istvan tries to finish off the one Tia hit... [ Patrick moves around to the side, where he has a clear shot at the one Tia hit. ] [ Patrick ventilates the vampire spawn, and it falls over! ] [ This room is clear, now. It's thirty feet by sixty feet, and has a south-leading exit along the east wall. ] * Istvan finds it dead... undead... redead before he can get there. "Nice reflexes, Patrick." * Patrick cracks his neck and grins. "Thanks." Yeah, nice job, everyone! * Seylin heads to the next exit and checks for traps. * Tia grins. "Thanks!" * Istvan makes room for everyone, then eyes the room, making sure to stay behind the trap-finder. * Tia follows Seylin to the door. * Alcinoe looks around, realizes there's nothing left to kill, and heads after the rest. [ Not a door; merely an exit. ] * Patrick moves in and heads with the rest. * Will walks in behind Alcinoe. Seylin, stop. * Istvan looks around s'more... empty room? * HKenji frowns greatly. Istvan... you take this one. * Seylin halts. Not that she's gone through or anything yet. [ Seylin finds no traps. Honest. ] Something wrong, Kenji? A feeling. Well, it's not trapped. So, okay. * Seylin gets out of Istvan's way. * Tia glances around the room. * Alcinoe eyes Kenji, but it's his show. * Tia pokes her head through the exit. Anyone here? * Patrick gets next to Seylin, as usual, and whispers to her, as usual. Tia, NO. * HKenji sounds actually angry this time. * Tia freezes. Sorry, Kenji... * Patrick raises an eyebrow. * Seylin blinks. * Tia 's ears droop as she backs away. * HKenji closes his eyes for a moment and visibly forces himself to relax. * Alcinoe places a hand on Tia's arm, as she's backed towards her, and puts a finger to her lips. Istvan... the archway, please. What about it? Go through. Be wary. * Tia hugs Alcinoe. Ah. *shrugs* If you say so. But if I get my arm bitten off, I'm gonna throw it at you. * Patrick draws his bow and aims it around Istvan, covering him. Anything that's big enough to bite your arm off under all that metal isn't going to leave you alive to throw anything at me. * Seylin grips her halberd more tightly. * Istvan advances towards, and eventually through, the archway, war pick clutched tightly in his hands, moving slowly and scanning left and right. He looks... less than thrilled. * Seylin looks at Patrick briefly and smiles. She nods. * Alcinoe is hugged. Well, worse things have happened. * Tia still looks like a scolded child, but she looks comforted slightly. * Patrick smiles at Seylin and murmers another thing. [ In the dim light provided by his flaming weapon, Istvan sees a vampire spawn sneaking up on him! ] * Istvan holds still for a moment, pretending like he's peering ahead... then turns toward the vampire spawn with a huge overhand swing of his war pick, flames trailing behind the strike. [ Istvan drives his pick into the right side of the undead creature's torso, lopping off an arm as he does so. Meanwhile, another Vampire spawn comes out of the shadows and jabs Istvan at the edge of his helmet! It's not much of a hit, but Istvan feels life being drained from him, as it happens. ] Isty? * Istvan grunts, and wobbles a bit. He growls, and then LAYS INTO the vamp with a flurry of pick strikes. "HANDS OFF!" * Tia lets go of Alci and runs off after Istvan. * Alcinoe 's ears twitch, and she runs in immediately after, sword drawn. * Patrick dashes forward and packs three arrows onto his bow, plastering the first vampire he runs into with them. * Tia growls and swings her axe as she sees the vampire spawn. * HKenji darts through the archway, sword already half out of its saya as he draws to cut down the remaining vampire. * Seylin chants something and her halberd lights up again. Take that, forces of darkness! * Will runs in too! Sword drawn and ready to smite evil vampies. [ Istvan tears his apart, and Kenji finishes it off! Tia chops the other in half, but it's not as neat a cut as Kenji makes, sadly. ] * Patrick steps in and relaxes the draw on his bow. "Well, nice job." ... okay. Officially hate the undead. * Alcinoe looks over at Istvan. He's probably got a similar pale look. "Ya all right?" Yeah. Been hit a coupla times now, and I think it did that life drainin' thing to me. m'okay for now, though. We're all suffering a little from the touch of the undead, Alcinoe. We'll be fine. * Will skids to a halt as he sees that all the undead are... dead. Should I keep this light on? We'll deal with it when we make camp. For now... Yes, Seylin. * Tia wipes off Mr. Axe and shoulders him. * Patrick nods. * Alcinoe frowns, then nods. Undead see in the dark better than us. Better for us to have some light too. ~_^ * Seylin nods. And they definitely don't like the light. Are you sure you're okay, Isty? * Max floats over, pushing his glasses up. [ You are in a room forty by sixty feet. The walls are covered in tapestries, and there are dust-covered tables down the center. There are doors to the south and west. ] Been better, been worse. Like I said, m'okay for the moment. *pauses* But don't think it'd be smart to go into a big battle like this. * Tia nods. Yeah. * Will nods. So let's be careful about what doors we charge through, 'kay? * Patrick nods. Did we get to those coffins, yet? We'll be fine. * Tia nods. "I'm sorry I wasn't careful earlier." She cringes a little. Let's find those coffins. Right! *starts looking around for likely routes* * Tia nods and trails after Kenji. * Patrick nods. "Oh coffins, where are you... o/`" Seylin, check the doors. * Seylin checks the doors! [ Seylin finds no traps! ] No traps. Good! This adventuring business is quite exciting. I'm all itchy to cast some major destructive magic, for some reason. ^_^ Calm yourself, wizard. Istvan, do you want to do the honors? Which door? The south. * Max smiles happily. "I'm quite calm. Well, in control, at least." ...and my name's 'Max', not 'wizard.' Then don't overdo it, Max. :P * Istvan heads to the south door, and waits until everyone's in position. Once they are (and we'll assume they do that, to save time), he opens it. * Tia is about to follow Istvan over to the door, but she stays herself. Seylin, let there be light for him, please. [ Inside is a small room, lined with coffins. Seven in total. ] ... coffins. Smash 'em? With extreme prejudice. Gotcha. * Istvan starts smashing coffins with his flame-bathed adamintine war pick. * Tia is overcome with curiosity, and she goes just close enough to take a look inside the room. * Max watches, standing with an almost comically serious expression on his spellbook, arms crossed over his chest. * Patrick lets them do their thing. * Alcinoe heads in, Best Sword Ever drawn, and puts those sunder feats to good use. ...Can I help too? Yes, Tia. Destroy. Destroy all the coffins. * Tia immediately cheers up and falls to. [ The coffins are made of wood, or of some woodlike material. Maybe there's some particularly sturdy fungi growing in the Underworld. ] I think they heard ya the first time, Kenji. * Seylin even gets in on it, chopping at one with her glowing halberd. [ Tia and Alci SMASH. And in no time, the coffins are just so many splinters of quasi-wood. ] * Max looks left, then right, then stands in a melodramatically villainous pose. "Destroy everything! Muhahahahahahahaha! ---*cough* sorry. Always wanted to try that." ^^; * Alcinoe eyes Max. * Patrick raises an eyebrow at Max's outburst. * Alcinoe kicks the last bit of coffin into the wall. "We're done here." Yeah. * Max looks embarrassed, though not exactly ashamed of himself. And a touch amused. * Tia giggles at Max. [ Seven coffins down. Now it's time to find the rest. ] * Will takes a couple of steps away from Max, discreetly of course. * Tia trots out of the coffin room and beams at Kenji. [ There's still the other door, tho. Whatever could be behind it? ] (More coffins!) * Patrick looks back. "Let's get the rest of'em." * Istvan finishes up on his coffins, and heads for the other room. (Fear the halfling of destruction!) * Tia trots off after Istvan. * Istvan gets to the door, waits for everyone to get in position, then opens it. * Max floats after them, too, still looking inordinately amused. He must really have enjoyed that little outburst. [ Behind the door is... A vampire spawn! He looks familiar, tho, and he's carrying some sort of instrument and a bag over his shoulder. "'Bout time you guys got here." ] * Tia blinks. You were expecting us? * Alcinoe eyes him. She blinks, opens her mouth, then closes it. And blinks again. "Kenji, don't go killin' him this time." Sorry, we didn't get a copy of the itinerary. You have one? * Seylin blinks. * Tia turns to Alcinoe. "Who's he?" [ The vampireling nods at Tia. "Yeah, ever since whatsisface there cut my head off. I thought that'd keep me dead, too." ] * Will rubs his eyes as he stares at the Vampire. ... you're a lot less dead... undead... redead than when we last saw you. I could finish the job for you. * Alcinoe looks back at Tia. "Someone who's gonna help us, Ah think. Fer once, Ah'm glad we didn't find a coffin." I must've missed this part. ...you know him? * Alcinoe glares at Kenji. * Max stands on his book, behind Istvan, peering over Istvan's shoulder. [ "Yeah, I thought I was a gonner, too. But blah blah, something about driving wood through my chest or some shit." He sighs. ] * Tia looks a little confused. "Oh, you're going to help us?" Yeah. Disgruntled vampire spawn. Nice guy, really. * Patrick nods. * Istvan turns to Alci. "You got somethin' in mind?" Oh. *turns to the disgruntled vampire spawn* Pleased to meet you, then. I'm Max. ^_^ * Tia grins at the vampire spawn and extends her hand. "Nice to meet ya! I'm Tia!" [ The vampire blinks at Istvan. "Uh... thanks, I think." Then he peers at Max. "Pleased to meet you, too, I suppose. So, you guys got any wood handy?" ] Well, we could use some of those old coffins we just busted up. Um...I'm sure I've got some somewhere in here... *turns around, and starts digging through his backpack* We could get some from the other room. ...oh, right, or that! * Alcinoe shakes her head. "About that. Ah wanna talk to ya fer a moment." I'll help get the wood! [ He shakes his head. "Tried the shroomwood. Didn't work." ] * Istvan backs off a step or two, letting Acli have some space. But, apparently, Alci's got another idea. And it just might be worth a shot. ~_^ [ He points to a hole in his chest. ] Weren't we trying to find a way of saving this guy last time? Yeah, until Kenji disembodied his head. Oh, uh, shroomwood? We *woulda*, if Kenji didn- yeah. * Tia looks confused again. Hold up, Tia. Let Alci talk to him before we do anything. Okay. * Max floats over and whispers into Tia's ear. "I think they met him before, were going to try to turn him back...human or whatever he was before...but Kenji's allergy to undead made him break out in violence too fast." * Tia turns to Max as she absorbs what he says. "...Oh. Okay. That makes sense." * Alcinoe takes a step forward, managing to get in front of Istvan. She shoots Kenji another warning glare before she turns her attention back to the vampire. "Ya don't wanna stay in the path you've been followin', enough that you'll die ta get out. Right?" [ "Yes," says the vampire spawn. "I'd love to not be unliving anymore." ] * Alcinoe tilts her head, regarding him. Her sword's still in hand, but she's not holding it threateningly. "Ever think of turnin' to the light?" [ The vampire seems confused by Alcinoe's question. ] [ "Turn to the light? Isn't the light what burns my eyes? Doesn't the light want me to die?" ] [ He quirks a grin. "Although that works out funny, because I want me to die, too." ] * HKenji eyes Alcinoe. * Alcinoe shakes her head. "Yeah, it does. Ah don't want ya ta die, though. Ah think there's somethin' better for ya, if yer willin' ta try. No promises, but we can try." She doesn't seem to mind Kenji's scrutiny. * Tia watches the scene with a certain amount of puzzlement, but she sits on her haunches and watches anyway. If it's what ya want, Ah don't think the light will turn ya away. It didn't for me. * Max tilts his head curiously, watching this exchange with great interest. [ "Something better? ...are you saying you can make me a living Drow again?" He seems both suspicious and hopeful. ] Ah dunno. But if yer willin' ta try ta change yer path, I'm willin' ta try ta help. Ah think it'll be a while before the light accepts ya, though. * Alcinoe frowns a little, then adds, "An' even if it works, it'll be tough." [ The vampire spawn eyes Alci. ] Wow, that sounds really neat. I'd love to help, too! What, ya think Ah'd give ya an easy way out? Find a way ta make ya alive again, an' you'll jus' go back ta worshippin' Llolth and practicin' evil? It don't work that way. The easy way out's us findin' yer coffin and killin' ya. But Ah don't think you'll be happy, even after yer truly dead. * Alcinoe ignores Max. Woot! * Max seems unbothered by this! Maybe he's used to it? [ "Fine," he says. "If 'the light' can make me alive again, I'll walk that path, or whatever. Lemme get my coffin." He turns, then pauses, and turns back. "And NOTHING can ever make me worship Llolth again." Then he walks into the room and retrieves one of the thirty coffins within. ] * Patrick peers at the vampire spawn. * Tia whispers to Istvan. "Vampires don't -usually- do that, right?" * Alcinoe watches him go. Well, not worshipping the spider is a good start. *nod, nod* Hmm... * Alcinoe looks back to the others. He seems sincere to me. * Istvan shrugs. "Don't look at me. I don't do religion." Why wouldn't he be? Being undead and not able to see the sun must be awful. Well, maybe more desperate than sincere, but he's not planning anything. * Patrick nods in agreement with Seylin. Desperation's the first step. Sincerity comes after. * Will nods. "Sounds good to me. I'll ask Bahamut what he thinks next time I speak with him too." * Tia looks like she doesn't know what to think. [ The undead thing comes back towards the door, dragging his coffin along. ] * HKenji frowns. Tia, destroy the rest of the coffins. Yeah, we need to get rid'of the rest. Okay! ...I should have memorized a disk today. Oops. * Tia does as she is told, gleefully sundering all coffins in sight. (Other than our Bardicus's coffin?) (He's got his) * Istvan follows Tia in, and helps out. [ Smashy smashy! And the Bard is carrying his coffin, now. ] Now... let's go find the master. * Alcinoe nods. * Tia happily trots back out of the room when she's done breaking things. [ "Whoa," says the Bard. "You don't mean 'right now', do you? 'Cause if you do, I need to stay here. Otherwise it'll make me fight you." ] Then stay here. * Alcinoe nods again. "Can ya tell us where an' what it is, exactly?" 'sides, we need to rest up a bit before we find the big guy. [ He sighs, sets his coffin down, opens it, and has a seat inside. "He's down the same hall that lead you here. Big, big, big chamber. Huge podium at one end. Makes us bow to him sometimes." ] * Tia nods. Lotsa stuff guarding him, or just him? * Max pffs. "Wow, and I thought my little outburst was over-the-top." Him? It? What's the right word? Ah, who cares. [ "You'll know it when you see it. And it's got..." he pauses, and counts from 'one' in common, as if he doesn't know the word for the number he seeks off the top of his head. "...twelve guarding it, three groups of four." ] Ah. Lovely. ...Oh, dear. That's a big number. * HKenji shrugs. * Alcinoe frowns thoughtfully. "Twelve what?" Sounds great. [ "More like me. Four of 'em are those new guys, the Orogs. They hate guarding that thing, tho." ] * Alcinoe nods. But it controls 'em, so they don't got a choice. [ He nods. "Exactly." ] ...there's got to be a way to disrupt that control... *pushes his glasses up his nose thoughtfully* Are those like the guys we fought earlier? Yeah. [ He looks thoughtful. "Well, I do always feel a rush of energy when he does it. Kind of... innigurating? Is that right?" ] "Invigorating" is the word. Hm... [ "Uh, right. That." ] Great. I'm thinkin' he's a cleric now. * Alcinoe scowls. But she doesn't look like she's about to hit anybody, so that's good. [ He shakes his head. "No. I can't see that thing worshipping anything." ] I could try hitting him with a Dispell Magic when he looks like he's gonna do it... Would he be in his coffin when we start? If so, I might contain him while we deal with his minions, too... [ "It doesn't have a coffin. It's much to large for a coffin. I don't see how it even got in the door." ] It's not a vampire. It's a... big thing. Shoots out bugs that eat you and turns you undead. ...oh. So probably the screwed up experiment of some pscho wizard gone evil. I hate it when people don't clean up after they're done with their experiments. It's just rude! s'our job now. You know, my mom says the same exact thing. * Istvan rubs his neck. "We should rest up, let the clerics get us undrained before we go after this thing." Probably a good idea. But can we be sure it won't come after us in our sleep? No... we've put a serious kink in whatever its plans are. We have to finish the job now. * Alcinoe nods. * Tia nods. "We'll go hit the bad men!" ...I don't think they're men... ... Kenji, we're in no shape to be fighting a huge battle. We gotta let the magic people prepare spells, undrain us... * Will looks back and forth between camp Kenji and Isty, nodding each time a person speaks up. Both sides sound good to him. * Alcinoe flexes her fingers. *She* looks like she wants to kill something. If we don't finish the job now, not only do we stand a large chance of being ambushed in our sleep, but there is also a chance it could flee entirely. I will not miss the chance to destroy this abomination. If you will not go, I will go alone. ...I would be willing to go with you, but not alone. The others need rest. We will fail if we try now, Kenji. We will not fail. ... okay. Clerics, do you have the spells you need ready? Plus enough healing left to get us back to near full health? Ah could... go with havin' a certain spell or two ready, but Ah think Ah can last another fight, if Will takes care of most a' the healin'. I can do a little healing, too. I can fight! ... actually, forget it. I'll chug some potions. Don't like it, but Kenji's got a point. I can either heal or help out in the fight. Don't have enough spells for both I'm afraid. Let's take a few to get ready, then go. Use some massive curing spells. It'll blast the undead and heal us at the same time. Also, don't forget to turn them like before. ~_^ [ And so they went to confront the big boss! End session! ]