Derek's rapier glances off the vampire's thick skin, although its skin glows red for a moment where the silver touched.
***
Maddok swipes at the vampire as it passes him.
Maddok's hammer hits, although just like for Appario before him, Maddok feels the strike causing less injury than he would have expected if his opponent was an ordinary man.
Looking down through the hole he's created Maddok sees the pile of torn up floorboards and an idea comes to him.
"Hold your attacks!", he calls out.
"Little Brother, have Yahirma see if she can bind it with her magic."
Better not say more, if the vampire is smart enough it will understand the plan anyway, but just in case...eh, and in case it speaks Infernal that is...
Appario swings as it crawls away.
to hit;
damage.
***
Appario's opportune strike isn't as effective as his previous strike, now that the vampire is able to make evasive moves.
***
Yahirma saves her energy rather than swing ineffectually at a passing vampire. Instead, she begins opening another pouch of salt while glancing at the rather ferocious hole Maddok tore in the ceiling. Upon hearing Maddok's translated request, she flings another handful of salt at the undead creature.
After initially seeming to resist the effects of Yahirma's thrown salt, something distracts the vampire's mind, and it's once again held immobile. The vampire's red eyes are fixed on Yahirma; no good thoughts seem contained behind them.
***
"Episkopos enei!" Yahirma calls out to Maddok, though she suspects that she will have to rely on Derek's translation.
"It is successful!"
Appario's mind spins with questions.
Xerath's arms are soon covered in blue energy as the magic flows from them and forms missiles that fire themselves at the vampire.
Seeing the vampire succumb to Yahira's power over the dead again, Maddok swings down into the room through the hole he made.
Picking up a piece of the discarded floorboards he breaks it across his knee, leaving a larger piece sharpened to a point.
"Hold your attacks and do not break Yahirma's spell!", he warns.
"If we destroy its body and it will just disperse into mist. Driving wood through its heart will slay it instantly."
***
Xerath's missiles pummel the vampire's body with their energy, adding to the numerous wounds already there.
***
Better do as he says now, he is the one with a vampire/vampire slayer woman as his love...I think that makes him the resident expert.
Derek holds off on making any other attacks, concentrating on singing alone.
For the first time since the initial excursion into Delvehaven, Derek's and Maddok's foreheads begin glowing along the lines where Yahirma once painted tribal tattoos, starting when Maddok drops down adjacent to Derek. Derek's song gains an even greater inspirational quality, while Maddok feels his defenses bolstered by his closeness to his little brother.
***
***
Appario delays.
"You want me to do what? Or not do what? I'm sure I could chop his head off this time, no problem."
Still fixing its gaze on Yahirma, the vampire attempts to slip inside the oracle's mind, hoping to force her to somehow release her hold on it while also protecting it from her companions.
Thankfully, the way the birds flew over Westcrown this morning gave sufficient clues that this could occur to allow Yahirma to focus her mind.
***
Appario moves to E7 and readies to strike if the vampire begins to move of his own accord again.
"Uh, should I hit it?"
Maddok considers explaining again but declines.
"No."
Cerath woll delay until he is allowed to do something.
Maddok moves into the larger room alongside Derek and Appario.
"Blades and your spells cannot slay it, at least not permanently. Wood through its heart though..." the Shoanti explains while offering the stake to the chanting bard.
Shaking her head at the vampire's attempts to control another minion, Yahirma walks to F7, draws out a sack and gently places it over the vampire's head.
This is surreal...and I'm NOT going to keep all these details in my memoirs...
Derek accepts the stake from Maddok and holds is uncertainly for a moment.
Me? I...no, let us do this!
For a brief moment as she puts the sack over the vampire's head, Yahirma senses another entity watching from behind its eyes. The vampire snarls.
Struggling slightly with the vampire's thick skin, Derek finally succeeds at pushing the stake all the way through to its heart. The vampire slumps over, held upright only by all those surrounding it.
Maddok nods as the deed is done.
Grabbing the vampire's remains around the shoulder he drags the dead weight into the rays of sunlight pouring through the damaged roof.
"Well done little brother."
Derek smiles a little, unsure if he really contributed that much, but accepting the praise, hoping that if he didn't earn it, then maybe he WILL soon.
"I...thank you big brother."
The vampire's skin boils for a moment in the sunlight, before the body is burned to dust in a flash.
"It's done", Maddok says as he peers up at the hole.
"Do you think the Mhartis will be upset about their roof?"
***
The few items the vampire was wearing or carrying drop to the floor:
A hand crossbow, 10 crossbow bolts, 5 vials, a loincloth, an amulet, a set of bracers, and a ring.
***
Maddok scoops up the items.
"What do you make of these", he says offering them to Yahirma.
Appario smiles as Derek easily dispatches the vampire.
"Well struck, Derek. I don't know how you knew that would work, but it did. Well done."
Appario sheathes Extortion and moves to check out the sleeping area of the vampire and the area behind the boarded door.
"What else do we have here?"
Cautiously approaching the fallen equipment, Yahirma nods and magically seeks auras. "I would not be surprised if these items were magical, but it will take a few moments to determine their properties. For the moment, though," she says with gradually diminishing volume. She furtively looks about the room before adding, "I could feel something riding alongside the vampire's spirit. It might have been a companion spirit or whatever remained of its humanity. It may also have been some form of magical observation - likely the creature's master, if it had one."
With a look at the ashes, she contemplates aloud, "If it was a form of observation, our faces may become favored topics in shadowed alleys. We may also have a more difficult time executing a similar plan if someone witnessed our strategy."
"But a good strategy it was, Maddok. I trust that you were shouting those suggestions?"
Feel free to ignore any checks for non-magical items
"I was inspired when I saw the discarded floorboards. They reminded me of the research we did together our the things Vaynwynne taught me...", Maddok grows quiet as he thinks his huntress.
"But it would not have worked without your magic and without the cooperation of everyone."
"Perhaps its master was watching from the eyes of his thrall", Maddok suggests. "Do master vampires possess that kind of power?"
"So thats what that looks like." Xerath says as the vampire is slain.
"Well, then we will have to change our strategy. If its master was watching, it now knows we exist and that we plan on stopping it. What do we do now?"
"We know little about this master vampire other than it is active."
"Walcourt still needs our attention. Perhaps the two are linked and we can find information about him within Walcourt's halls."
"That seems to be a wise choice."
"Hmmm...A master vampire observing us through its thralls? And I would imagine that it is the same master as the one who controlled the ones before."
"Two things strikes me, first, what was it that the vampire wanted here? Because if it is important enough, then the master will send more to try and get it and then the Mhartis will not be safe..."
"Secondly, if we have crossed his plans twice now, it does seem logical that he may decide to strike at us directly to remove the threat.
We should not divide ourselves up during the following days...or rather, nights."
"That the vampire inhabited an outbuilding and not the manor itself suggests either that the manor itself was being preserved for some purpose or that inhabiting the manor directly would draw too much attention," remarks Yahirma. "Either way, it behooves us to check inside the manor to make certain that there are neither more threats to the Mhartis nor more clues regarding our dark foes."
"Following that, I agree that Walcourt demands our attention."
Maddok considers Derek's and Yahirma's words.
"I had not considered that. Perhaps there's more to the Mhartis haunting than vampires. Let us search the manor."
Appario finishes searching the back area before joining the team to go to the manor.
Appario will use the given key to unlock the door.
A thought occurs to Appario.
***
***
The hand crossbow is masterwork, while the vials all appear to be nonmagical in nature .
Yahirma identifies the following magical items:
+1 bolts (10x; the tip of each bolt are coated with something)
ring of protection +1
She also determines that the loincloth, bracers, and amulet are all magical, but she's unable to determine their properties.
***
Appario finds nothing of interest in the vampire's sleeping area. In order to gain access to the room behind the door that seems to be boarded up on the inside, Appario would either need to break down the door or walls by force, or find some other way to gain entrance.
Maddok regards the boarded door.
"Should we smash it down or try to find another way around?"
A magical loincloth? Now I've done seen everything.
"I am wanting to check out the door behind the bat swarm, either it was guarded by the bats, or it was just hidden there."
***
***
After a diligent look through the main building, the only discovery of note is a distinct lack of the type of valuables one would expect a noble family to have accumulated over the years. The walls are void of paintings (although markings on those walls suggest paintings were once there), and cupboards are mostly empty. While some of this lack can be attributed to the family having moved to another location, one would still have expected more valuables remaining.
***
After the extensive search:
"No clues what the vampires wanted with this place. I cannot believe that they would drive the Mhartis out just to feed on their servants."
"We should report what was found here so the family can try to resume their lives."