The man shakes his head. "No one knows. They come in the night, take what they want and leave. Few of those who they take have come back."
Jonis answers the man.
"Is any of those who came back around, so we can ask them for help?"
Auriel's ears perk up when the man mentions people being taken coming back.
"Yes, we need to speak to everyone who has returned. They might each have a clue that, when combined, might lead us to where we need to go."
He nods, indicating one of the other men in the group. "Devlin here was returned a few weeks ago. He was tired and hungry, but otherwise seemed unharmed. He just refuses to talk about it. You are welcome to try though."
Devlin comes over, a human with strange green eyes that look afraid of everything in sight even though his stature puts on a more brave showing. He looks at each of you in turn. "I don't remember much."
Jonis closes, smiles to him, and grabs his hand.
"I guess it was horrible. I wouldn't want to remember too. But, if we are to free your town from this evil, we need your help. What can you tell us?"
Delvin looks at Jonis, shaking his head. "I... I only remember when they took me. They never told me why they let me go. I remember being brought back on one of their night visits, but that's all. I'm sorry I can't help you. I... I wish there was something. "
She'll follow up with a more on depth scan and see if she can spot anything.
She whispers to Burgerk, "Are you able to prove his memories? See if you can pull out any memories he has been commanded to forget?"
Burgurk whispers back "Actually, no I can't. Most of my psychic abilities are combat-related."
Jonis looks at his eyes and smiles sweetly at the man.
"It is ok, thank you for trying."
Burgurk whispers back "Actually, no I can't. Most of my psychic abilities are combat-related."
Shakti continues to whisper back, "Aren't we a pair then; two psychics, neither of whom can read minds. *Sigh*"
Auriel will sit the man down and start asking him questions:
"Don't try to remember the entire place all at once. Instead, focus on one of your senses: was it hot or cold there? was it as hot as putting your hand into a fire, a warm sunny day, or curling up under a blanket? was it as cold as snow, the cold from a strong winter wind, or like drinking a cold drink?"
"Was it bright or dark? If it was bright, was it as bright as sunlight or the light from a campfire? if it was dark, how did you see?"
"Were the walls smooth or rough? How about the floor?"
"Was it wet or dry?"
"What did you smell?"
"Did you touch anything with your left hand? if so, what? How about your right hand?"
The man looks at Auriel, squinting and closing his eyes in thought. "Warm, I think. They always kept us warm. I try to remember more, but all I see is flashes that don't make sense. It was always dark though. Like they didn't want us to see well. They didn't seem to have a problem seeing though. Not at all. I just remember walls, lots of gray walls. Concrete, I think. That's.. that's all I have. I'm sorry."
"That's okay. You did great. That was really helpful."
Returning to the group, Auriel will say "So we're looking for a place that way" Auriel indicates the direction the Vampires came from "that has a concrete basement. Does anyone have a map?"
"A map?"
Jonis seems at a loss for a second. Then she smiles.
"Oh, from this area. Let me see..."
Jonis shakes her head.
"We don't have one... people, please, do any of you have a good map of the area we can see?"
"Or is there anyone around here that knows the area well?"
Auriel then pauses as if he realized something, before beginning to look for tracks leading here.
One of the other militia men speaks up. "No maps, ma'am. Anything like that has been taken away. We know just enough to get out into the woods and back here, nothing more..."
Then and older man pipes up. "That's not entirely true. While the maps may be gone, before they came, some of us still remember the old trails. I might be able to draw up something of what I remember."
At that moment, Auriel notices the tracks that brought the vampires to the center of the village. They lead off to the north, towards the thickest part of the woods..
"We would be grateful, father." - Jonis will help the old man do the map.
Auriel waves over Shakti and Burgurk while Jonis is working on the map and says "either of you particularly adept at tracking? I think I have their trail, but I'm far from a master hunter."
Burgurk says "No, I'm good at living off the land, but not following things."
"I can take many forms, sone of which are masters of tracking, either by scent or by sight. However, on the chase, holding the form long enough to find the prey may leave me too drained to defeat it once we get there."
"Okay, I guess I'll take point then. We'll wait for Jonis to finish talking to the what passes for a guide here, then we'll set out. When we find the vampire next, if the vampire intelligence is here, we'll need to fall back as quickly as we can. As I told you before, it will look like a massive mound of flesh with a face and hundreds of tentacles. When the location of one is found, an army of Undead Slayers are usually called in to deal with it, as these creatures are incredibly hard to kill. If it is just a master vampire, then I'll engage it and I will rely on your assistance to kill it."
The old man smiles at Jonis as he speaks. "I will try to remember what I can, but it will have to wait until morning comes..."
The rest of the night passes and when morning comes, it is as if nothing happened, the townsfolk coming out in the early light to begin their daily regimen of work. As you rise, the older man from the night before comes to you with an escort of two of the militia men, both of them supporting his frail frame. They hand a piece of paper to you.
Looking it over, you can see a crudely drawn map of the village and its environs. Of note is a section to the north marked with a large X. Written underneath is a note:
This facility survived the old wars, but none who have gone to explore it have ever come back.
According to the scale of the map, the facility is probably ten miles north of your current position.
"If we have no further business here, I suggest we get started."
"Agreed. Do any of you require rest before proceeding? It may be wisest to confront them at first light as opposed to allowing them to have the advantage of night."
"We'll likely get there by mid day, so we might as well get started now." says Auriel. "I have an ability that can detect Vampires and their spawn, so when we get closer I should be able to pinpoint their location."
You travel for a few miles, scanning the path in the forest for any signs of the facility that the old man drew on the map. As you progress, you figure you are about 3 km from the facility when Jonis picks up several heat signatures approaching about 200 meters or so ahead of you. As you round a corner, you see off in the distance a group of individuals in a loose formation moving along the path. So far, they don't seem to have noticed you.
Shakti looks at the newcomers, and opens her third eye, looking for signs of what kind of beings these might be.
Auriel finds a good hiding spot while observing the creatures.
Auriel senses that there are no vampires among the approaching people and maybe silently worries that if they were a bunch of vampires in broad daylight, it would be a scary sight indeed. Shakti's senses tell her little more than these are merely humans or minor D-Bees at least. As Auriel slips further into the forest, you notice the group slowing down a bit. It is possible they may have seen you, or at least the shiny silver Glitter Girl in the middle of the road...
Auriel will remain hidden, waiting to see what they do.
The platoon of men close the distance, getting to within 80 meters before you realize they are leveling laser rifles in your direction. The armor they wear is painted a greenish gray color and has markings that are difficult to make out from this range. They immediately split off towards the edges of the road and take aim. They do not fire however.
Burgurk shouts as loud as he can "We mean you no harm, if you mean us no harm!"
It takes a moment for the response to come, but it is short and to the point. "Lay down your weapons and power down that armor and we will talk. Do otherwise and be destroyed."
The other soldiers repositioning and sighting down their rifles tells you that they are not bluffing.
"Hahhahahaahaha! That's funny."
Raising her voice, Shakti addresses the gunmen from behind cover, "I believe you have seriously misjudged who has the advantage here; any one of us could slaughter the lot of your band, we just thought we should give you a chance to let us know who we were killing first. Of course, if you want to surrender, we may consider a change of plan."
"You overestimate your abilities, lost one. Grayspear will pay us well for you. The man who brings me that freak alive gets extra leave this week! Kill the rest!"
Any chance at further talking is cut short as they start firing their laser rifles in your direction.
In response to the Vampire's taunts, Auriel will ignite his sword and shield and surge forward, clearly intending to make himself the target.
As Auriel bursts out of the trees towards the soldiers, a few of them turn in unison to open fire at him.
The other soldiers spread their fire between the rest of you, some even firing small rockets towards Jonis in her Glitter Girl.
Auriel's shield reflects most of the incoming fire but even the Atlantean warrior can be overwhelmed and one of the bursts of laser fire gets through, scorching his arm. Two small explosions and a zap and subsequent smell of ozone light up the area near the rest of you, reminding you quickly that you are in a warzone...
Burgurk will run into the edge of the forest, trying to get a little closer to the bad guys while using the tree trunks for cover :
--> Move=9 (map updated)
And while running, concentrates on creating his "mental knife" (Bolt) :
And manages to hit one of them, doing
...a mediocre amount of damage.