Twenty-Sixth Session
The Kiss of the Vampire
Dramatis Personae
- Actias Aureus, a 10th-level Tiefling Warlock
- CoralKing, a 12th-level Gnome Monk
- Orky, a 12th-level Half-Elf Paladin
- Wulrif, an 11th-level Human Warlock
Summerday +1132 hours
From the journal of Dame Orky
We are in Neverwinter and decide we are going on a quest to repair my Unholy Avenger. We try to find out how to repair the weapon. We find out that the sword must not be a focus for the Death Knight to disconnect from it. The weapon has aftermarket magic runes on it that seem to be corrupting the weapon. We decide to go to the magic store of Neverwinter. Actias asks around for a Feather Fall token. We buy various magic items. Then, I ask the shopkeeper if he knows of anything we can use to rid evil from my weapon. He responds that he isn’t the Templar. So, we get directions to the Magisterium to find the Templar.
He responds that he knows of us. We killed Lord Varkosian, the Paladin-turned-Death Knight. We ask why he did what he did to become a Death Knight. He said he saw him in the chapel atoning several times a week. Actias asks if he knows of anything he can do to atone for his sins. He says he doesn’t know but we could talk to his wife. We ask where to find her, he asks a sergeant to lead us to his quarters. We arrive to find it empty, but looks like 1 person has been living there for several months. The second person seemed to have packed up and left. Actias finds a crystal cube with an impression of a woman’s face in it. I put it in my Bag of Holding. We don’t find any other clues in the place. We ask the sergeant if he had seen her lately and he said the last time he saw her, she was in an airship. He directed us to the Air Masters. We head there to ask. We see an orb and ask about the Air Master. It responds that she is busy. We ask about the lady Varkosian and he said “on whose authority can I release these records?”
We go back to the Artificer to ask if he knows how to purge the curse on the weapon. He said we need to release Lord Varkosian's soul from the sword to cleanse it. He said it’s possible to enter the sword but we would have to enter the shadowfell. So, we head back to the Templar to ask him how to release the Death Knight’s soul. He tells us only a Templar could investigate something like that. He asks if I would like to become a Templar. The only downside is that I would have to take a vow of poverty, I can requisition supplies whenever needed.
I begin the quest of the Templar…
The first task is the purification ritual. I must fast for a cycle and sit in prayer. Then, I must sit in front of a panel who judge my trial by combat as complete as I slayed the Death Knight. Provisionally, I am now a Templar. I will complete my quest to become a full-fledged Templar if I purge Lord Varkosian’s soul from the Unholy Avenger. I am assigned Brother Harrod, a Dwarf with a shaved top, to monitor me. He seems like a jolly lad. We all pray before setting off on this quest. I was granted a +2 Cloak of Protection.
We go back to the air hanger and ask about Lady Varkosian’s. The orb tells us that 3 months ago she went to Savra's Cathedral. They tell us in the magical travel area, there is a Teleportation Circle to the Cathedral. We ask about a wizard and he tells us the other end seems to be closed off. That’s when I remember we’ve been to this cathedral. That’s where we found the cursed ward stone. We go back to the orb and ask if we can requisition an airship to travel to the Cathedral. He allows it and we fly above the clouds, unable to see the sun.
We arrive at the Cathedral to chase down Lady Varkosian. Actias sees one of the coffins with a stake through a body that has features similar to the lady on the crystal cube. We discuss how to talk to her without freeing her or putting ourselves in danger. Actias decides to cast Magic Circle and Wulrif uses mage hand to remove the stake. She FREAKS OUT and tries to escape by hundreds of methods. She turns into a fairly attractive woman, sits down, and smiles at us asking what we need. She said she hasn’t been around the Lord until the Springrise and didn’t know he became a Death Knight. She became bored with him since he was concerned about climbing the ladder of the **Templar and she wanted a family. She decided to pray about it. The Vampire Lord came to her and converted her to a Vampire. Then, she left.
She thinks she has something to do with her husband being converted. She thinks Lord Varkosian was trying to reconnect with her by doing that. Then, she spends quite some time trying to seduce Actias. We decide to stake her again and put her in Wulrif’s Bag of Holding. Then, we seek out the Vampire Lord. Actias attempted to swallow the Bag of Holding. He expresses to all of us how desperately he wants to become a Dhampir.
We head back to Phandalin via an airship because we know Sister Garaele can cast divination spells. She said she has a good idea of where this Vampire Lord is. She knows of a town that fell, called Axeholm, and there are a ton of Undead there. Since our party is pretty thin, we decide to stay in Phandalin and pursue this quest for Actias.
He needs to find a way to Shadowfell. She said deep in the woods there is a type of tree with a black brook underneath, and a cave that can lead to Shadowfell as long as we do the correct ritual. She instructs Actias how to perform the ritual. We wait for the correct opportunity and the ritual seems to be working. We all venture into the cave.
We see this strange forest with open sky and a castle off in the distance. Actias and I both cast Magic Circle and he releases Alyssa. He asks her how to become a Dhampir. She tells him he has to kill lesser Vampires. We tell her about the purpose I need for her to complete my quest. She consents to become a Dhampir to help both Actias and myself. We cast a geas onto Actias and Alyssa to protect us from their bloodlust while they complete their quest.
Quickly they encounter a Vampire to battle and I cast Haste onto Actias.
Round 1
- Actias casts Hellish Rebuke and does 5 HP damage. He wields his Sunblade and casts Hexblade’s curse. He attacks with his dancing blade and his shortsword, doing 72 HP damage.
- CoralKing runs up and tries to grapple the Vampire to give Actias advantage. He fails but Shadow Steps to the back of the Vampire to succeed in giving Actias advantage.
- I harm the Vampire by 7 HP.
Round 2
- CoralKing hits the Vampire with one unarmed strike and uses a ki point to make it a stunning strike. He does 8 HP damage.
- Actias strikes twice and does 54 HP damage with the Sunblade. That kills the Vampire. He lets out a scream as he is dissipated forever.
Alyssa emerges from the distance licking blood off of her arm and is impressed by Actias’ kill. They proceed to the nearest river, lie under the water as they die, and I pull them from the water at the last moment. They are now both Dhampir. We realize the importance of leaving the area before we take a long rest. We quickly head back to Phandalin.
Alyssa asks what happened to her husband. I explain in a persuasive way that he killed his friends to reunite with her, summoning a demon and became a Death Knight.
He had friends in the order who were very secretive and seemed more sketchy than the rest of the **Templar. I recall that the Templar are the people in the church who fight the occult. A branch of them worship Baphomet for unknown reasons. I ask Harrod about the Illuminati. He is alarmed that they got to Lord Varkosian and is confused about how to summon Baphomet without their involvement. With the Arclight, there are no Shapeshifters or Undead. They guard the Teleportation Circles. He thinks there has to be a Teleportation portal that is compromised in order to get the Illuminati in, as they are usually Shapeshifters.
He asks Alyssa if there is anything that caused her and the lord to have marital problems. She said he started associating closer with the group, but she doesn’t think he took potions or anything. She said to sacrifice 12 members of his order would have been very difficult. He must have poisoned them or put a spell on them or something since they had no obvious wounds. We decide to head back to Neverwinter with Alyssa.