(9) Severozov - Vampire Slayer Gang

With the abrasive entrance of Kasar Katarin in Melnic Manor, tensions grew high. Kopek watched from the elegant stairway and Levi from his invisible position in the room’s center. As Katarin and Kostya stared each other down, the silence was broken by Kacper, who declared it time for the feast to begin. The party guests shuffled towards their seats in the dining hall, and began to take their places at the table. Belov and Dan sat beside each other, the former of whom was visibly drooling over the delicacies to come. Naturally, Kopek and Torgan sat adjacent one another, ready to compare the night’s dishes with those of their homeland. Across from Kopek sat Gordak the duergar, who had kindly agreed to supply refreshments for the evening festivities. As Eli took slid onto the bench, he was shocked to discover Levi appear next to him out of thin air as the gnome ended his invisibility. The two shared a laugh and looked towards the table at the head of their own, at which the high nobility sat. Beseeching the guests for their attention was Kacper Melnic, standing at the center of the elevated table and welcoming all to this celebration dedicated to Katarin’s visit. The Kasar herself paid no attention to Kacper at all, as she was caught up in an aggressively whispered argument with Kostya. On Kacper’s other side sat his wife Barisha, an exceedingly pale woman with piercing brown eyes, though they seemed to be tinged with red. An expression of disdain painted her face as her gaze shifted between her husband and the arguing Katarin and Kostya, both of whom seemed possessed by childlike hatred.

While the guests awaited sustenance, Cornelius wormed his way under Kostya’s door to discover a simple guest bedroom, occupied only by a bed and nightstand. After reverting to his humanoid form, Cornelius dug through the nightstand, uncovering a single item: a picture of a young human and a young orc, both holding their hands out in front of them. In the orc’s hand, a flame burned, while in the human’s hand nothing appeared. Pocketing the drawing, the tiefling progressed to an adjacent guest bedroom, finding a man there who seemed to be asleep. After looting the man’s dresser, Cornelius realized the man was dead, the cause of which he could not determine.

Gordak’s drinks were passed around and Kacper proposed a toast to the distracted Katarin. As the first course exited the kitchen and arrived on the guest’s plates, Cornelius recalled the suspicious seasoning Muz had added to the meatball soup, and rushed to the kitchen to confront his orc friend once more. As Muz prepared to deliver the dish to the denizens of the dining hall, a hand stopped his cart from leaving the kitchen. Cornelius looked Muz in the eye and asked what his intentions were, and more specifically if they were to harm Katarin. Muz kept his jovial demeanor for a moment before lowering his voice and narrowing his eyes, informing Cornelius that his business was his own, and that as a businessman himself, Cornelius should understand discretion. His demeanor shifted once more as he pleaded with Cornelius to step aside, claiming his life would be in danger if he did not follow through. Cornelius saw fear in Muz for the first time, and realized the gravity of the orc’s predicament. As he stepped aside and let his friend pass, Cornelius still felt as if something could be done. Whether he acted out of the goodness of his heart, or because such a valuable potential customer could not be allowed to perish, remains unknown. Regardless, Cornelius followed Muz into the dining hall, and informed one of Katarin’s guards that an attempt on her life was imminent.

While this development unfolded, soup was dished into the bowls of Kopek, Levi, and their compatriots at the long table. As Torgan raised a spoon to his mouth, Kopek sensed something was off. His former duty as a boyar’s bodyguard had instilled in him certain habits, habits which did indeed die hard. He slapped the spoon from Torgan’s grasp before the new hobgoblin leader could devour the dish, which happened to be poison. Levi however, had no such instincts, and he and Eli slurped down some of Muz’s terrific meatball mush. At the high table, the guard received Cornelius’ information with initial disbelief, but unwilling to risk the safety of his charge, he informed the Kasar. Katarin immediately stood up and slapped Kostya. Laughing in his face, she labeled him a fool for thinking he could kill her here, and stormed out of the manor. As she left, Katarin shouted a promise behind her: she would come for the library and burn it to the ground. Levi’s stomach proved surprisingly resilient, and the burning sensation he felt after eating the soup was nothing compared to the reactions of Eli and Belov, who began rolling about on the ground and vomiting profusely. After delivering healing potions down their throats, Levi ran to the kitchen, where the poisoner would surely be located. Suspecting the duergar and his brews, Kopek attempted to force some soup down Gordak’s throat. After sacrificing some bottles of antidote to the hobgoblin, Gordak slipped away and fled the dining hall, pursued by Torgan at Kopek’s behest. Kopek then spoke with a flustered Kacper while Belov was carried back to the garrison. The boyar’s face was a mix of fear and determination as he requested Kopek’s help in locating the culprit. Sadly, many Vlads still perished (though thankfully Vlad the one who went to jail for tax evasion was not among them).

The culprit himself was cornered in the kitchen by Levi and Cornelius. Muz stared blankly as Levi screamed in rage and enwebbed him, for the gnome’s friend was nearly killed by Muz’s actions. Cornelius rose to his friend’s defense, naming another of the cooks (Soup Drinker) as the true perpetrator. As their argument unfolded, Kostya arrived on the scene, and declared that the cases of Muz and Soup Drinker must be argued in a hearing at the Severozov Library. After handing Levi a raven pin with which he would be permitted entry into the library, Kostya disappeared through an arcane gateway with Muz and Soup Drinker in tow. With the chaos slowly subsiding, Kacper thanked the trio for their help and vowed to question each of his servants. The wide boyar seemed a kind man on the outside, but Kopek, Levi, and Cornelius were hesitant to gift him their trust so readily, especially following the occurrences of that evening. While Kopek traveled back to the garrison to deliver a touching bedtime story to the hobgoblins and Belov, Levi and Cornelius used the newly acquired hexagonal tower and its dilapidated furniture as a place of rest for the night.

In the morning, the rotting wooden planks that constituted the hexagonal tower’s doors were battered by a metallic fist. Standing in the entryway was Eli’s animated armor Plate, with a note from the electrifying gnomish wizard himself. Addressed to Levi, the note asked that he meet Eli by the abandoned mission in the upper city, near Melnic Manor. While they decided what to do about Muz and his trial, Kopek and Cornelius accompanied Levi to meet with his magical peer. Upon meeting with Eli, the gnome informed them that Highwatch had sent him east as more than just an inspector come to appraise the library. Highwatch itself had not always been the paragon of orderly research that they claimed to be currently, and had in fact unleashed unimaginable horrors upon the world at large. Their quest to discover immortality was no secret, and in the process of seeking out this goal, the mages of Highwatch inadvertently created a terrible affliction. While those gripped by the disease were indeed blessed with eternal life, they were cursed with a need to consume the blood of other humanoids, an extreme aversion to sunlight and running water, an inability to see their own reflections, and a number of other less than savory effects. The disease was of course vampirism. Many escaped Highwatch’s halls, and ever since its mages are sent to kill any located vampires in an effort to atone for their terrible sin of creating them. Eli relayed the discovery that a vampire was located somewhere in the eastern reaches of Beressia, and he believed the abandoned mission was a good starting place in his quest to find and kill his target. The party agreed to assist him, as the tantalizing title of vampire slayers was too much to pass up.

Entering the abandoned mission, the group discovered a plaque inscribed with the names of Katarin and Nicolas, as well as their mother, also called Katarin. She was credited with the construction of this very mission, itself now in disrepair. After solving a simple riddle in which the young Katarin was compared to a bear and Nicolas to a fox, the group discovered a secret ladder hidden beneath the mission’s central altar, adorned with the statue of great white raven. While Plate remained to guard the passage’s entryway, the rest of the party descended into the dank depths of the chapel. Beneath was a tiled floor caged in by earthen walls and decorated with stone tombs. Levi’s strength proved no match for the weight of the tomb covers, and he and the rest sneakily moved across the room towards a doorway on the other side. Their stealth abilities proved lacking however, and from the stone tombs erupted a number of skeletons. While Cornelius, Levi, and Eli fended off the undead horrors, Kopek quickly and calmly returned them to the abyss with his longbow. His one good eye twinkled, and he felt a twinge of satisfaction: this was what he was made for. As they reached the doorway across the room, the party prepared for whatever vampiric presence awaited them.

They progressed through a passageway beyond the door to discover a number of cells, most of which were filled with chained (and unmoving) skeletons and swarming rats. Two cells however, were occupied. The first of these contained a figure familiar to the entire party. As he cowered in the corner of his cell, Syravich appeared to Kopek, Levi, and Cornelius the same as when they had first encountered him begging for mercy in the Naked Bear Inn. As he raised his head to look at them, they quickly discerned something was unusual. His skin was exceedingly pale and his eyes appeared as red as blood. Syravich had clearly been turned into a vampire spawn, and was now a bloodthirsty thrall of the vampire that had created him. He offered up information regarding the cylinder without fret, naming it an artifact of Andronicus Taith, requesting in return but a drop of blood to sate his hunger. As he begged before them once more, another voice pierced the still dungeon air, one tinged with annoyance, but that almost sounded happy in a way. As soon as the sound of this voice reached Cornelius he was filled with distaste, for he knew to whom it belonged.

In the cell next to Syravich’s lounged Nacho Belle, clearly affected by the same vampiric condition as the former, though lacking the same desperation. As Cornelius approached the cause of Adler Sales Force’s downfall, Nacho greeted his former business partner cordially, extending his hand in friendship. All too familiar with Nacho’s trickery, Cornelius kept his hands to himself. Nacho’s complexion seemed only slightly more affected than his behavior - that is to say, it wasn’t affected much at all. The gleaming eyes and sleazy smile underneath his wide sombrero seemed joyous, as if the world owed him a favor and he was simply waiting to collect. The vampire spawn implored Cornelius to release him, proposing they unite once more to create a real estate empire in Beressia, a proposition that Cornelius did not hesitate to reject. While the tiefling performed a verbal stand off with his mustachioed foe, Levi and Kopek pressed Syravich for more information regarding the mysterious “K” that had signed a note addressed to him. As the old man prepared to divulge the name of this figure, the figure himself raised his voice and announced his presence. At the end of the hallway stood Kacper Melnic, expressing his disappointment at Syravich’s continued disloyalty. Beside him stood his pale wife Barisha, who smiled, baring her fangs and exhibiting her own status as a vampire spawn.

The two were accompanied by a third figure, whose deep voice and dark features were unmistakable to Kopek. Before him stood the grim bearded face of Egor Bartyk, the very same man who had slain the boyar Kopek swore to protect. Bartyk raised his hand, upon which a ring with a red gemstone glowed, and Syravich and Nacho immediately rushed towards him, as if compelled to approach by the bloody light. As Syravich exited his cell, Kopek ended his eternal suffering by driving a stake through his heart, and watched as the old man’s body crumbled to ash. Cornelius however, failed to stop Nacho, and the liar reached Bartyk’s side. The captain ordered Kacper and Barisha to kill the intruders, and told them to meet him at the library when they had finished. After accusing the party of theft, Kacper and his wife leapt into action. They were no match for the vampire slayer gang. While Cornelius shielded his allies in the form of a bear, they slung projectiles at their foes. Kopek shot arrow after arrow tipped with stakes, Eli dropped bolt after bolt of lightning, and Levi directed his spinner to bludgeon his enemies to death. With Kacper dead on the floor and Barisha a pile of ash, the party climbed a ladder at the other end of the dungeon, exiting through a trap door.

They found themselves in a hallway near the kitchen in Melnic Manor, and with its owners now dead in the cellar, it was ripe for the taking. Still, more pressing matters plagued on the minds of the trio, who at that point might as well have been called heroes. They had ousted an exceedingly ambitious hobgoblin commander in Taghai and now killed two vampires infesting the upper city itself. Sure they had slain a few wretches along the way, but truly that remained a minor crime in the grand scheme of things. Regardless, the library remained a mystery unsolved and a source of discord in the city. Kopek’s mind was alight with the possibilities that might be afforded to his hobgoblin friends if they managed to acquire land in Beressia. Levi dreamt of a place at Highwatch once more, and one of prestige at that, for he had slain a vampire and was about to sabotage the Library of Severozov. And for once, Cornelius plotted on not the downfall, but the well-being of someone besides himself, hoping that he could free Muz from the clutches of justice and maybe land a friend more reliable than his scumbag business partner.