Right, what was it I said about taking my time, planning things out and not rushing?
See? That's how it is meant to be done.
Maddok flips his mask down in front of his features and then surges across the room towards the frantic guard and tackles him.
***
Derek's second try is far better than the previous, and he easily gets back on top of the wall. Now that the bat colony is gone (apart from a few who lag behind), Derek sees a door in the north wall, and he realizes that walls and floor are smeared with a layer of bat guano.
Appario brings Extortion down on the moving guard, thankful that Abadar can grant mercy.
to hit;
damage.
Appario's opportune strike gives the man brief pause, but he seems intent on continuing his course of action.
Ugh...thank god for presdignation.
Hang on...didn't I just say I shouldn't rush into things? I better wait a moment and check on the others.
Derek, after taking one last look inside decides to slowly descend from the wall and move around to the front of the house.
Yahirma takes a swing, hoping to prevent the guard's threatening grab for an explosive.
Yahirma raps the man across the temple with her staff, and the man staggers backwards, reeling on his feet, not quite managing to grip the flask. Maddok tackles him to the ground, while Xerath's missiles drop the last remaining guard.
***
Maddok shifts the whole of his weight on top of the struggling guard.
"You there!", he calls out to the temporarily lucid man. "What happened here? Did you see who or what bewitched you and your men?"
Appario sheathes Extortion and approaches the suppressed man.
"You there. You okay now? Can you tell us what you remember?"
Diplomacy
The guard sits down on the nearest bed and puts a hand to his temple. "My mind has not been my own for a long time now. The days float together. It was after the first servant vanished. We all searched high and low for her, and then I saw it. Blood on the floor. I followed the trail, and found her body. A feral, naked man stood over her. I turned, started to run, but then.. I was compelled to stop. I greeted him like a friend, then I covered the bloodstains. I went back to the others and reported nothing of my find."
He swallows and turns his head away as recollection returns. "He called himself Jerusen, and he visited every night. I began leading others to him. Some he killed, like the servant girl. Others he befriended, like me. Together, those of us working with him were able to keep the nobles from the truth. Once the nobles left, he moved in here, and set us to guard this room."
He looks up. "His teeth are long, and his eyes red, like in the stories. I think he might be a vampire."
Appario nods as the man confirms most of his suspicions.
"A feral, naked man." Appario repeats the words as he looks at Xerath.
A. Feral. Naked. Man.
"How many more guards are inside? Or anything or anyone else inside? Maybe wolves? Or shadowy beasts?"
Pausing outside until the most dramatic moment, Derek sweeps into the rom.
"Aye, a vampire indeed, and I believe I may have found some less human guards as well."
"There are no other guards. Well, unless you count the bats. I've seen no wolves or other beasts. There's a storage room over there." He points to the door in the northwest. "Jerusen is here somewhere. We're not allowed to go in there," he points to the boarded-over door in this room, "or in the door at the back of the storage room."
"Indeed, I was refering to the bats, an enormous swarm that left due to the fighting carried out down here. I noticed a door behind them after they left and decided to tell the rest of you about it before atemtping to enter by myself."
Jerusen...
"Tell me, have you ever seen this Jerusen carrying any weapons? And if so, what were those weapons?"
"Only a small crossbow, like these." He indicates the hand crossbows lying on the table.
Derel moves over to the table, picking up the crossbow and studying it intently, looking for any signs of craftmanship, stamps or something to identify whomever might have made it.
I guess it was too much to expect...but and idea that still deserved to be verified.
"Do you mind if we tie you up for your own protection? We don't want to harm you but, from what I understand, you might still be under the control of the evil," Appario asks politely.
Appario looks around to the rest.
"Are we ready to move on and into the main building? Apparently, we're facing some sort of great evil...possibly a vampire..."
...or, more likely, a werewolf and their ilk.
The man looks shocked by Appario's suggestion. "Of course I mind! I don't want to be tied up! What if he comes here after you move on? You called him a great evil yourself!" He pauses. "Look. I feel fine now. I'll leave, and you can do whatever you want."
***
***
"I'm used to fighting shadows though. How have you combated vampires in the past?" Xerath asks the group. "I say we leave him tied up for the time being just in case."
Hearing Xerath's words, the man quickly rises from the bed and draws his sword once more. "I won't be tied up willingly! I'll fight my way out if I have to!"
"Are we really going to do this again? You're afraid of this solo evil possible vampire, but not afraid of all of us? Get some priorities. It's for your own good."
Maddok glances his wounded shoulder and then at the panicking guard.
"Don't be a fool. If we wanted to hurt you, we would have. Put that down before you hurt yourself."
"Yahirma, can you do anything more lasting to remove the enchantment on him?"
***
Waving her arms in a scissors-like motion, Yahirma speaks forcefully and attempts to bring the growing conflict to a halt. "That is not necessary," she assures the guard. "I can permanently break the mental control that Jerusen has over you, but you are wise to be cautious about your own safety. We will manage your fanged former master if you will relocate your unconscious companions to a safer place and keep watch over them. In but a moment, all of you should be free of the enchantment that held you earlier." She takes a moment to pick up and stow the alchemist's fire flasks before drawing out her wand of break enchantment. "If all goes well, then we shall meet again under the auspices of the Mhartis family.
"I trust this is more agreeable?"
Yahirma speaks the command word word and channels the wand's energy for a minute, attempting to sunder the domination of each of the guards.
"You are now free of his control, and you are free to go." Yahirma will inquire about their names before any number of them leave, just in case we could benefit from tracking them down later.
As the former combatants depart, Yahirma will tend to Maddok's shoulder injury, saying "It looks like it hurts, but it could have been much worse." She then invokes rudimentary magical healing to seal the gash.
Maddok nods his thanks as Yahirma's magic mends his injury, "Yes, it was fortunate."
The Shoanti stares at the guard pinned under him.
"How do you feel?"
***
Yahirma's words seem to calm his fears, and he nods in agreement. "I will do as you ask."
***
Yahirma senses that the warding energy was only successful in breaking the domination for three of the victims; the last one (the one Maddok is grappling) is still dominated.
***
While the standing guard sheathes his sword and begins dragging his unconscious companions outside, the guard lying under Maddok continues his struggles. "How I feel? Get off me and ask me again!"
"Do not tempt me", the big man growls.
"What should be done with this one?"
"Knock him out and tie him up. We don't need any distractions from the task at hand."
With a sigh, pulls out a small piece of paper and scribbles down a note. She then gathers a trio of spirits to temporarily block the domination effect . "I'm going to have to make this quick, as we've little enough time as it is. Give us an affirmative if you have been working for Jerusen. You've been mentally controlled for quite some time, and I need you to make your way to a temple quickly. One of the other guards is taking care of your comrades, so do not worry about them," she quickly briefs the man while letting Maddok know that it's alright to release his grip. "What I've done will keep you safe until the count of 450, so be quick. Once you have arrived at such a temple, immediately pass this message to one of the priests. They will work to keep you safe until we can free you permanently. I will then find you and ensure that the domination effect has broken completely."
With a second casting of the protective spell, she hands the guard the note, makes sure that he has no weapon on hand, and points towards the hallway for him to depart.
I am suffering from a mental domination effect - probably from an undead creature - and I am only temporarily warded against the creature's control. Please help with whatever means you have available.
A competent group is dispatching the menace as you read this, and they will come to recover me soon.
Maddok gets off of the man and helps him to his feet.
"How do you feel now?"
Climbing to his feet, the Shoanti addresses the sorcerer's question.
"We've battled the vampires once before. They're flesh and blood so weapons do harm them. One of our old allies, Semenya, favored those magical bolts as you do and they were effective as well."
Maddok pauses as he thinks more about their previous encounter with the blood-sucking undead.
"Even after defeating them in combat, that is not enough to destroy them. Their forms dissolve into a fog and drift to a favored place to rest. It's only there that you have any real chance of destroying them."
Maddok loosens the hammer at his hip and makes his way to the boarded over passage.
"Also, Little Brother has a trinket that they fear", he adds pointing briefly to the bard.
Appario watches the outside as the others deal with the guards, anxious to deal with those therein.
Take 20 Perception to examine what he can see = 31 Perception.
Also, Detect Evil, scanning left, then center, then right of the outside of the main building.
"Appario, might this be trapped or alarmed in some way?"
"So I can fight them. Good to know. It seems some things work on everything. So we wound them enough to send them home and then we can destroy them. I did not think they feared anything. Thank you for that bit of knowledge."
"What Maddok? Oh, you're talking about that? One moment..."
When finished with the outside, Appario will take out his lens and examine the boarded over passage carefully.
Take 20 Perception to examine = 37 Perception for traps.
Yahirma can feel her first casting of the abjuration fail to affect the man, but after her second casting she realizes the fog has left also this man's mind for the time being. He agrees to her suggestion and takes the note, then leaves the building.
***
Appario doesn't see anything outside beyond what he saw during his first search of the guardhouse's exterior. He doesn't detect any evil auras from within.
He does realize that neither of the western doors inside are locked, and neither they nor the boarded-over door appear trapped.
Maddok asks the spirits to guard him against whatever evils they encounter next.
Once he gets the okay from Appario, Maddok pulls the boards down and leads the group into the storage room.
***
Once Maddok has pulled down the boards covering the door and opened it, he sees a small room behind it, only 10-ft-by-10-ft large. The room contains nothing except a carpet. Marks on the carpet suggest a desk once stood upon it. A strange scent, like that of thick loamy soil, fills the room.
Appario begins to work to unlock the western doors...first trying the key(s) they were given, then moving to the more conventional means.
Disable Device
With the door open, he'll hold it open for Maddok and the rest of the Gardeners.
***
Appario easily opens the two western doors; the southern one leads to a 10-ft-by-15-ft room where both floor and walls are smeared with bat guano, and which Derek immediately recognizes as the room the bats flew out of.
The northwestern door opens into a storage room, 10-ft-by-20-ft large. Several barrels of water and crates filled with dried meats stand against the walls here, as well as a smaller barrel of oil. There's another door in the far eastern wall of the room.
***
Xerath will once again use his infernal blood as fuel to protect him from harm before he walks in through the doors.
Maddok looks about the room in confusion.
Not sure what to make of it, he pulls back the rug.
"The smell of earth. I believe that vampires roost near their native soil when possible, so this may be its emergency refuge."
***
Maddok finds only floorboards below the rug. The smell of soil appears to come from below them.
Maddok kicks at the floorboards and looks up at Yahirma, "Be prepared."
Looking for a loose or damaged floorboard, he tries to tear up enough flooring to make a man-sized hole.