Six obviously ensorceled human guards await you at the top of the stairs, armed with longswords and clad in breastplates. They brandish their swords at you menacingly.
Sledge tenses his muscles so as to Overrun in an Improved fashion.
He then brings the ruckus directly to the vampire.
And BAH GOD, he breaks the vampire in half. Probably.
Jones is probably still behind.
Darius delays.
Two men leap out of the way of Sledge, and he rips the vampire in half with his bear damn hands. It turns into mist and floats downward through the floorboards.
The men surround Sledge and attack.
Darius un-delays and nonlethally whips one of the guards into shape, nonlethally, with the bane of hoomans.
Jones arrives at the top of the stairs, pleased to see that his teammates are doing well as always.
Sledge punishes some fools.
He then unleashes the unleashment upon the guards who were foolish enough to surround him.
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" I see now what happened to a few of the people who live here. Some bruises shouldn't cause much issue to them. The vampires, however, lair in the bottom, that is clear as day. Sledge we will have to recuperate before venturing down from this point. "
Sledge becomes a whirlwind of fists, dropping Darius' injured target and two more guards.
The remaining guards mindlessly attack Sledge, seeming to take no notice of either Darius or Jones' presence.
Sledge nimbly dodges the only attack that came close to connecting.
Sledge hits three guards in the schnozz.
Jones studies and stabs nonlethally smacks a guard with the pommel of his rapier. His strike leaves the guard reeling in pain.
Darius tries to put them down.. "softly"
Sledge finishes off the weak humies.
Darius and Sledge each drop one of the guards, with help from Jones. The last remaining one attempts a last attack against the master hobo
He manages to strike him once, but the miss is retaliated against and he is laid out cold.
"Ouch. I could do with some healing."
Darius looks over Sledge's wounds and nods.
" You are injured and have been getting so more than normal. Perhaps it would be better for myself to draw fire for the while? Check and see if Jones has any excess, but in general it might be best to be more cautious of our enemy. "
For his own part he threw a CLW at Sledge while thinking on a few other healing choices on himself.
Variel finally reaches the building he had tracked the Vampires too.
Surely they have some connection, or at least knowledge of, the Way. Okay... lets do this.
As he reaches the entrance he notices the door being shattered and thrown off its hinges.
Perhaps I am not the only enemy of these beasts tonight. One hell of an entrance either way.
He hears the voices from upstairs carried down as almost a whisper.
Ah, perhaps fortune smiles on me. lets see if these be friend or foe. Perhaps some people I could use in achieving my vengeance.
He cautiously approaches the stairs, having cast mage armor early, he quietly makes his way to and up the stairs.
Upon seeing the group, he speaks up, ready to disappear should things go... bad.
Ah, good evening gentlemen. Oh! You must be that group I've heard about! What fortune it seems. Do you have any information on what these vampires goals were here? Other groups they may be attached to? Well, either way, if you are working against these creatures you are an ally to me. If you desire I'd offer you my more than significant services. Ah if you are injured, let me help a bit with that. I'm no cleric, but I have a few things that could help with the pain.
If allowed, he casts Celestial healing on anyone that asks, they would gain a whole 7hp!
The man speaking is a rather tall, elegant man. He wears a robe of Black and white designs that is superbly kept. His voice has a hint of a noble's accent and his hair is short and jet black. While you can tell he is thin and has almost no muscle, he doesn't appear particularly frail.
As he finished speaking, he thinks for a moment. Ah, I am Variel Postar Manwell de Alarin, master of magic and collector of trinkets, at your service. I'm sure you've heard of me. And I say, your reputation is warranted. You've beaten me to the punch it seems on this place.
Sledge raises an eyebrow...
"Jones, you ever heard of this guy?"
Assuming Jones or Darius identify the spell, he will accept the healing.
Jones' grip on his sword tightens when a stranger appears in the doorway, but he relaxes somewhat when the newcomer starts talking instead of attacking.
He gives Sledge a reassuring nod when Variel starts casting his spell.
"Perhaps. I must admit, my knowledge of the current nobility is lacking. House of Alarin, you say...?
He trails off, trying to figure out whether he knows anything about this guy.
Jones knows everything Variel knows about his noble house.
Darius looks at the man as well his eyes wholly skeptical, and that is if taken the nicest way.
" So your name is Variel, was it? Do you not find it equally odd you suddenly knew of us, our quest and of the .. issue surrounding this land. Where did you come about this information. Last I knew our comings and goings were... confidential. "
The stern orc narrowed his eyes.
Ah, yes quite right sir, Variel is fine. I admit I know little of your quest, or your coming and goings. I've only heard rumors of your groups exploits. Well, at least I assumed it was you, you seemed to fit the descriptions, at least somewhat, though I had heard there had been another of you... Either way, My finding you here is purely coincidence, and a good one at that I believe. I was investigating this place on my own, I believed the... creatures here to be connected to a certain group I have a particular grudge against. I had been hoping to come here and confirm if that was true.
he looks the half-orc in the eye for a moment.
Well, I suppose no reason to be obscure. I had heard rumors that those residing here had connections to the Whispering Way, a cult I have more than one bone to pick with. I've been attempting to track them down with... mild success unfortunately. However, I had hoped this lead would prove fruitful. If nothing else, I believe we are both enemies of whatever resides in this house, and so I would extend my aid to you. An enemy of my enemy is my friend, or so they say. Ah, what were your names again?
He gives a smile.
"From what I've heard, the Alarin family was accused of conspiring with the Whispering Way, and promptly wiped out by a rival house. So, why would a noble from a deceased lineage have any bones to pick with his family's allies?"
Jones raises an eyebrow.
"Fortunately, I've learned that such stories shouldn't be taken at face value, especially when it involves influential rivals who can put their own twist on events. I must admit, Variel, you've piqued my curiosity. And quite frankly, we need all the friends we can find."
He doffs his hat.
"I am Jones Shei'lac, private investigator. These are Darius Ral'algul, esteemed monster hunter, and Samuel Sledge...combat specialist."
Yes, any that remember or know of the family would have heard of that charge. False as it is. My family worked heavily against most types of necromancy. They used the fact that some in the family had taken the enemies powers and turned it against them as grounds for their... slaughter. I assure you, I have plenty of real reason to hate the Way. Though, I had thought you may have heard of me specifically. Alas, I suppose not.
The disgusted look on his face ebbs away as he glances around at the aftermath of the clear combat.
Pleasure, and, yes... remind me not to get on his bad side. He says regarding Sledge.
Pray tell, what did you have planned as your next move?
He steps forward, then stops and steps around a bit of pooling blood.
"Alright, sounds good with me. The vampires we misted should take a bit to regenerate, so we can check this upstairs bit out before clearing the basement."
Sledge will have Jones check for traps while he searches the room.
There's nothing of interest here, unless you want some pillows and blankets. The guards ARE all armed with +1 longswords, though they might be happy to have them once their domination is broken.
We go where the mist went.
Lead the way good gents. You seem to be ahead of the game on me so to speak. After a moment.
So, we are just leaving these blokes here with their weapons?
Sledge will tie them up.
"The vampire's mist traveled through the floor, so let's head downstairs and look for a basement."