The sarcophagus chamber was quiet and dusty. No prints were evident in the room and the carvings on the walls were just unnerving. Ciprian moved forward to the actual sarcophagus and noted that it was not sealed. He could move in in gaseous form. He whispered to the group as he entered the burial coffin.
Erevel kept watch on the chamber, while Gavril and Agna were busy looking back into the maze, sure that they would soon be attacked.
Gavril found the inside of the sarcophagus did not hold a body and he moved around in the dark. He then decided to take time to become corporeal once again but before that he told Gavril and Erevel to check out the other doors.
Gavril checked the western door which he found untrapped but locked. He then picked the lock but did not open the door. Erevel misted out to the hall and into the eastern room. It was quite austere with only a stone coffin resting on a raised stone platform that ran down the center of this small burial chamber. The crypt was dusty and undecorated, save for something engraved on the coffin lid. It was in a language Erevel did not understand. The western chamber was a mirror image of the eastern but the engraving was different but still in a unknown language.
Ciprian meanwhile lit a sunrod and noted a chest under where the feet would normally lay. It radiated some magic but was too heavy and unwieldy to open with the lid on the sarcophagus. Ciprian called for Erevel to return and help removing the coffin lid.
After the lid was removed Ciprian and Erevel drew to chest out and opened it with the mage hand. It contained a magic viol, several gems, a ring studded with rubies, a darkwood statuette of a serpentfolk warrior with black opals for eyes and several thousand mixed gold, silver and copper coins. A separate bag held platinum pieces.
Seeing no way to open the door even from the inside, Erevel and Gavril again became gaseous and left the chamber. Gavril presented the viol to Erich and he was overjoyed. He again asked, by writing about his other magic items, a +1 dagger, a Ring of Protection +4 and a Tunic of Careful Casting. None of the party had recalled seeing the items. Upon prompting from Ciprian, Erich related that the viol as of Potent Summoning.
Ciprian then checked the engravings on the two other coffins and found the twins names, Ovanda and Ultor. It seemed that they had not used the coffins for decades for maybe centuries, at least in corporeal form. The party then headed back out the maze, collected Lakronis and planned their escape from Avaric Manor.
First was to get back into the wine room and then out the kitchen door. Gavril goes first to stick his head into the wine room, which was empty. The whole crew, except Lakronis who determined to stay below until the party leaves the manor or dies, climb up to the now crowded wine room. Next an invisible Gavril removes the spikes he set at the doors and looks in to the kitchen. No cooks were present but three vampires occupied the room in a semicircle around the door.
Erevel walked into the chamber and said that they were heading out.
"Oh, my here they are. The guests that Lord Avaric was looking for. He would want you to stay for the rest of the evening." one of the vampires said.
"We are just looking around," Gavril responded.
Erevel headed to the door but it was locked. So she reversed course to the dining hall with Ciprian and Gavril. Three more vampires waited for them there with the same request. Gavril found the only door to the exterior in the dining hall was also locked. Erevel and Ciprian then looked out into the main hall and found four additional vampires, including the two at the entry way. No sight of Lord Avaric or Delmaria in any room they had looked. There was still faint music coming from the Ballroom but no one was anxious to try and move to that area.
Gavril went back to the wine room and asked Armania for an invisibility spell and Agna drank a potion of invisibility. Gavril then went to the door in the kitchen and unlocked it. The whole party then exited with Ciprian casting an invisibility sphere to sneak Erich out of the manor.
The group headed back to the copse of trees, with Armania determining that Dimensional Steps and probably Teleportation worked ten feet away from the manor.
"I don't know that we even need to go back for Delmaria. She doesn't seem interested in returning to her family," Armania stated to begin the conversation.
"But Lord Eldarius knows where the stelae is and will only tell us when we bring her back," Ciprian countered.
"Maybe Erich knows," Gavril piped in.
Erich wrote in the notebook that he did not know where the stelae was in Aevan-Vhor.
"So I think we need to bring her back to her father in any case. Hopefully still alive, whatever that means for a vampire in this realm." Ciprian stated forcefully.
"OK, but what are we going to do about Erevel? She can't hear us." Ursina added.
"I think we should try some kind of restoration on her," Gavril suggested.
At this point a Lesser Restoration was used to restore more sanity to Erevel and her hearing was restored. Then a Restoration was used to repair her Constitution damage.
Meanwhile Agna was sitting by herself in a kind of confused state.
Speaking to her Ursina and Ciprian found that she could not speak or write and therefore would have trouble with spells. Her ability to hear was not diminished and she could gesture in response to questions and commands.
"We need to get back into the manor and find Delmaria," Ciprian said. "I will use Locate Creature to see if I can find her."
After casting the spell the party again approached the front of the manor with Ciprian triangulating on Delmaria. She seemed to be near the ceiling of the northwest octagonal room on the first floor. The party had not been in that room.
Gavril climbed the steps and found the doors locked so once again he picked the lock and opened the door where he saw the two vampires who again greeted the group.
"Nice to see you have returned. Lord Avaric will be most pleased."
"Do you know where he is?" Ciprian inquired.
"Certainly not at this time. You will have to find him."
"We are also looking for Delmaria. Is she with him?"
"Possibly, she was dancing with many people earlier. I can still hear the music playing."
"Nice to see you once again. I suppose you have found Erich Zann, the real reason you were here. You will not leave though, my friends and I are prepared."
"Do you know where Delmaria is?" Ciprian asked innocently.
Ursina meanwhile, using see invisible, saw a puff of white gases near the fifteen foot ceiling at the rear of the chamber, making lazy circles in the air. No one else saw this though. Gavril and Ursina entered the room just as Avaric said in Azlant "Now!"
The Vampiric Lord stared at Ciprian making him feel somewhat weaker and then he cast a spell which filled the minds of Ciprian, Gavril, Ursina and Agna with feeling of webs and tiny spiders all but Agna fought off the feeling. Agna felt herself stuck in the web with the spiders crawling all over her. Gavril moved into position behind the vampire and struck but missed with his sword.
Ciprian cast Song Bolt but as soon as Avaric was targeted four additional copies of him arose in his space. Two of the bolts merely destroyed a copy. Ciprian also began a Bardic Performance against the creature.
Erevel ran into the room and swung at Avaric. She thought the attack was of great effect but found that it did limited damage. Armania then stepped up and cast SunBurst creating a globe of searing radiance all around herself. When the light subsided four vampires had been destroyed and the others were singed from the searing sunlight. Avaric seemed to be untouched and laughed in the party's face as he prepared his new attack. Agna and Gavril were blinded by the light.
Agna and her enemy swung wildly trying to hit each other but missed while the other hit Armania with magic missiles. Ursina then hied toward Gavril and used the wand to heal him, curing his blindness and improving his sanity condition.
Erevel stepped forward and forgoing her power attack did a better job of hitting Avaric. Gavril then took his attacks and knocked out the last two images. Both heroes damage was still reduced by the Epic reductions. Ciprian cast another Song Bolt toward Avaric. Armania then broke out Starfall to drop another vampire with one of the southern attackers blinded.
Avaric touched Erevel taking two levels from her and then stepping back again. The blind vampire let loose a fireball as the other attempted to slam Amania. Agna and her enemy again exchanged futile blows. Ursina hit Avaric and Gavril with another Flame Strike. Erevel and Gavril then flanked Avaric once again and dropped him to the floor. Ciprian assured that the other creatures were vampires of the same ilk continued his performance and then hit his last Song Bolt. Armania continued with magic missiles. While the blind vampire turned invisible but Ursina could spot her and the crew finished the last three enemies off while Gavril broke an arrow and struck Avaric in the heart.
The group drug all the dead bodies into the octagonal chamber and looked them over for magic. Ursina and Ciprian called for Delmaria to come down and revert to physical form. Delmaria appeared away from any hero in the room and explained that Lord Avaric had instructed her to change to gaseous form and then he turned her invisible.
"He told me that someone was coming to harm me, but then I saw the group of you and remembered how nice you were. I knew you would not harm me."
"We are glad you trusted us. Your father will be pleased when you return to the home manor," Ciprian responded.
"How can we destroy this vampiric body?" Armania asked.
"I seem to recall running water at Lord Eldarius' estate. I believe if we hold the body underwater it will be destroyed." Gavril remembered.
Then we should take the body there. We can teleport outside the building." Armania suggested.
Meanwhile the group saw Ciprian levitate up to the face of the statue and pluck a pale blue stone out of the left eye.
"Magical item." he said.
"Would it fit in the slot on the crypt door downstairs?" Gavril asked.
"Why yes I think it would," Ciprian exclaimed.
The party gathered up the other magical items from the vampires and Lord Avaric, headed out to the copse where Erich Zann waited. They then teleported in two groups to Lord Eldarius' estate.
Clambering down to the running river Ciprian, Gavril and Erevel held Avaric's body under the water until it was destroyed. On the way to the manor Armania used her Limited Wish to heal Agna, remove her blindness and help her recover some sanity. Agna was still not speaking and didn't really know who she was or why she was here. Maybe more could be done in the morning. They then headed to the manor house where the door was answered by the young son of Eldarius. He and Delmaria exchanged the usual teenage greeting, mostly by ignoring each other.
They were led into the sitting room where Delmaria's mother ran to her and appeared to hug her, ecstatic at her return. The younger sister soon joined in. Eldarius arose and spoke with Ciprian.
"We are so grateful that you rescued Delmaria. She will be part of our family from now on. No more worries about our differences. I see you retrieved the musician also."
"It was a hard fought battle to recover both of them, but Lord Avaric should present no further problems to you or his neighbors." Ciprian boasted.
"I suppose you now want to know the location of the star stelae here in Aevan-Vohr?" Eldarius continued.
"Why yes, we are most interested." Ciprian responded.
"It has stood since time immemorial in the center of a local vineyard that is still worked by local people today. A small path runs between each of the rows, and the stela stands near the center of the vineyard." Eldarius related giving precise directions to the vineyard.
"We thank you heartily but we really need to recover from our experience at Lord Avaric's manor. Do you have a spare room?" Ciprian asked.
Why yes, we even have a separate, unattached chamber to the northwest. You could use it." Eldarius offered. "Erich Zann may be of some help to you also."
Erich wrote that he still was in need of his dagger, tunic and ring but was willing to help the group especially if it could further him returning to the nexus of Paris.
"Paris, aren't we heading there," Gavril exclaimed.
"Are you going directly there?" Erich wrote.
"We are on a mission. We need to visit Bohlvarai next to deactivate a star stelae there and then we head to Paris for the last star stelae." Ciprian said.
"I do not know of this nexus Bohlvarai but am willing to help to get back to Paris." Erich wrote.
"What can you tell us of Paris?" Ciprian asked.
"It is full of warring factions and is run as a police state... Lost mad souls wander the streets. Misunderstandings, misperceptions, uncommunicated feelings abound, and those petty slights and jealousies that give rise to violence and warfare." Erich wrote.
"We will retire for the evening now," Ciprian told Eldarius, "Thank you for the accommodations."
The party headed to the out building and found a run down area with room enough for all. They set about identifying the magical items and unrolling their packs for a night's rest.
DM's Notes: The party earned 53,333 XP for their efforts in Avaric's manor. They now have 832,054 XP and need a total of 890,000 for 16th level.
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