"Should we go back to this Radvir's lair? One cannot exactly bind a vampire with ropes. If his chieftain wants to dispose of him personally, we could leave one coffin intact. Then when we destroy his form and he must retreat into that coffin, we bring it and him to Luvick before he can replenish his strength.
That may be easier said than done, but you slew many of his allies?"
Luvick's seneschal brings you a gift in the morning.
"My lord bids me to give these chains to you. They have been enchanted, a vampire wrapped within them cannot call upon their shapeshifting powers in any capacity, neither to turn into animals, nor into mist. Use this gift wisely. They are rare treasures, and the bearer of each is known and recorded."
The xeph accepts the chain.
"Be sure to send to your lord our regards."
Zone turns Jones.
"Let's search his lair."
"Indeed. And I think Sledge should be the one to hold the chains. He shouldn't have a problem capturing Radvir, if we find him."
"Sure, sounds good to me. Let's head out."
The lair is deathly quiet. It looks like everybody who was still alive has been vacated, including the thralls you tied up and left unconscious.
This makes searching the place easy, though you come to the conclusion that wherever you follow Radvir next might be that much deadlier with monsters you did not dispatch inhabiting it.
It is in the dye room, of all places, that you find the most damning evidence. There you find Radvir's diary, which it looks like he'd attempted to destroy in a dye vat, but luckily the color is light enough once dry that the text is still (mostly) legible.
It details Radvir's attempts at framing the nobles, and his plans to take out the vampire aristocracy one by one (which you already knew), but it also details his connection to Adivion Adrissant, a name that you associate with other Whispering Way connections up to now (including the whole fiasco in the Shudderwood). There are also several letters scattered inside the bottom of the vat, detailing a correspondence between Radvir and the Dublesse sisters, Aisa and Hetna. It seems he has been shipping them captured vampires (staked, but not beheaded so as to keep them trapped but "alive") in exchange for something called "Bloodbrew Elixir". He seems unsure why they want them, though deduces that it must be some kind of concoction to transform the living into undead forms for the benefit of the Whispering Way. It gives detailed instructions on how to reach their base of operations in the Sante-Lymirin Abbey.
The abbey is only a few miles outside of town, you could get there in a few hours if you walked.
"Shall we head to this cursed Abbey? I am ready to go whenever you all are."
"Yeah. Jones, check if that journal is fake."
Jones does so.
It's ink spattered, but not forged.
"With that much tracks left behind? Nah. Being sloppy is his style."
"Right. Let's find the bastard."
We continue our hunt.
As the group journeys to the abbey, Zone guards the rear.
You travel for miles, and eventually go off the paved road and onto a simple dirt road. The path soon leads up, and after a while longer the Abbey comes into view at the top of a sheer bluff overlooking the bay. Jones has horrifying flashbacks for a moment, but quickly calms. This place isn't quite THAT high up, nor as precariously perched.
The Abbey is a two story stone affair, with a connected carriage house. The most striking feature is the bell tower, a clean 60 feet tall, though it looks like it' seen better days.
Osric casts Magic Vestment on his shield and armor.
"Should we look around before going in the front door?"
"Might be wise."
Jones drinks a cocktail of buffs and starts looking around.
[ooc](Barkskin, Heroism, Echolocation, Alchemical Allocation > Elixir of Vision.)
He also contemplates the result of his Kn. Local check above.
Jones knows the abbey is dedicated to Saint Lymirin, patron saint of the first blood, who is affiliated with Iomedae. The Abbey itself was bought by the Countess Carmilla Caliphvaso recently, and she promptly turned it into a winery. As the years have gone on, she has become obsessed with maintaining her youth and beauty, and tries anything and everything she can.
Jones sees nothing on the grounds of particular note.
"Lead the way. I got your back."
Zone takes his time acclimating to the shadow as he follows the party.
Stealth (Take 20) - 46
Osric bows his head in a brief prayer to Lymirin, calling on this servant of Iomedae for Heroism.
He flies along behind Jones.
"Lead the way. I got your back."
Zone takes his time acclimating to the shadow as he follows the party.
Stealth (Take 20) - 46
"Maybe we should just torch it?"
"There may be information we need... And we have to capture Radvir."
"The bell tower seems promising. A good hiding place."
Osric is willing to do that. If there is a suitable protrusion (like a solid-looking spire), he will tie a loop while on the ground, fly up, and place the loop on the structure. It might not quite reach all the way to the ground, but it looks like Sledge also has a rope.
If Osric will have to land up there to anchor the rope, he'll ask Sledge to climb up simultaneously so he has somebody to watch his back.
Sledge fairly easily climbs it.
Jones utters a command word, then begins flying alongside Osric.
"Celestial armor," he explains.
You climb to the top, where a massive bell hangs from the ceiling. A rope hangs just beneath it.
The room is small enough that all of you can't fit in at the same time, but a ladder leads down to another floor.
Sledge lets Jones look down.
Jones does so.
Jones sticks his head down the hole...and immediately pulls it back up.
A spider sits on his face, crawling, innocuously for now, down from his hair.
Hundreds, thousands more fill the room below, surging with a strange malice and forming a vaguely humanoid shape before they quickly begin to scale the ladder.
Zone (27)
Sledge (22)
Osric (15)
Swarm (11)
Jones (9)
Osric will fly off to one side for now.