1052. Erasmus Must Die
Over a century ago a group of powerful wizards, warriors, and clergy journeyed to an isolated village brutalized by the most powerful vampire in the world, Lord Erasmus the Mighty. The beast destroyed them all. Shrewdness won out against over confidence, and Erasmus abandoned the village before forces could be arrayed against him. The vile lord was slowly forgotten by all but two; an orphan who had been taken in by one of the murdered clergy, and a child whose life was destroyed when Erasmus abandoned his village. Together they vowed to one day track down and destroy Lord Erasmus the Mighty. The orphan became Exemplar Theodore Huntyng the Paladin, and the child became Sandar, a powerful evoker.
The pair searched for decades, finding other vampires and the destruction left in Erasmus' wake. But never Erasmus himself. They came to believe he had some base from which he would travel the world sating his brutal desires. But always returning before he could be discovered. Until one day the pair hit upon a lead. Rumors of an isolated village sequestered in a valley of the Cinder Mountains full of place names derived from Lannic, the vampire's exotic tongue.
Theodore and Sandar commissioned two priests to join them, Kobertinn Golddigger the Dwarven priest of Polis and Exemplar Wyn of Holden a healing priest ordained under Heb, healer of our Souls.
The pair searched for decades, finding other vampires and the destruction left in Erasmus' wake. But never Erasmus himself. They came to believe he had some base from which he would travel the world sating his brutal desires. But always returning before he could be discovered. Until one day the pair hit upon a lead. Rumors of an isolated village sequestered in a valley of the Cinder Mountains full of place names derived from Lannic, the vampire's exotic tongue.
Theodore and Sandar commissioned two priests to join them, Kobertinn Golddigger the Dwarven priest of Polis and Exemplar Wyn of Holden a healing priest ordained under Heb, healer of our Souls.
This adventure is a sequel / continuation of the Thorny Grove campaign that ended with the party's death at the hands of the Vampire Lord Erasmus the Mighty. The new party will get a second crack at the villain, 120 years in the future. It was played over two days with a total play time of a 15 hours. Four players took part, of which two played in the Thorny Grove campaign.
I used a version of Castle Ravenloft for Erasmus' new home, and also took Madam Eva and her fortune telling from the second edition Ad&d module "House of Strahd". Both modified to fit my plot (of course this was not posted before the adventure was played).
I used a version of Castle Ravenloft for Erasmus' new home, and also took Madam Eva and her fortune telling from the second edition Ad&d module "House of Strahd". Both modified to fit my plot (of course this was not posted before the adventure was played).
Sander found out from the Conclave Tower in Equm that the Conclave had no holdings in Tutlich Valley and as far as they knew there were no wizards in the valley at all (but the Conclaves information is questionable post Conclave War).
Kobertinn Golddigger went to some local merchant guilds to see what he could learn about the village of Nogel. The wheelwrights guild had sent a journeymen up here a few years ago, and a bribe got Kobertinn some information. The village ordered several wheels every year for a carriage, and refused offers for a traveling wheelwright to visit. The Guild suspected that unsanctioned wheelwrighting might be going on, but when the journeymen went there he found that Nagal was making and using their own inefficient solid wheels for carts, wagons, wheelbarrows, etc. Which is legal. The journeymen also was able to supply some general information about Nagal including that it had an old broken down mill, and that the leaders of the village seemed 'off' and not very wise for refusing high quality wheels.
Kobertinn supplied a bribe to get this information and was also able to get a letter of introduction and support for a plan Ex. Wyn of Holden's had just hatched.
Kobertinn Golddigger went to some local merchant guilds to see what he could learn about the village of Nogel. The wheelwrights guild had sent a journeymen up here a few years ago, and a bribe got Kobertinn some information. The village ordered several wheels every year for a carriage, and refused offers for a traveling wheelwright to visit. The Guild suspected that unsanctioned wheelwrighting might be going on, but when the journeymen went there he found that Nagal was making and using their own inefficient solid wheels for carts, wagons, wheelbarrows, etc. Which is legal. The journeymen also was able to supply some general information about Nagal including that it had an old broken down mill, and that the leaders of the village seemed 'off' and not very wise for refusing high quality wheels.
Kobertinn supplied a bribe to get this information and was also able to get a letter of introduction and support for a plan Ex. Wyn of Holden's had just hatched.
Knowing they were hunting a vampire, Ex. Wyn of Holden was very keen to be guaranteed a 'home' in the village of Nagal. To that end he visited the record keeping clerk and told him that he was a companion of Theodore Huntyng and he heard that clerk thought that Adler was in declining health. Ex. Wyn offered to visit Adler and check on his well being. After all E. Wyn was a skilled healer and could maybe even cure him.
Wyn maneuvered the Clerk into supplying them with official papers to that effect, including permission to live in the rectory, and a little money as a per diem. He even got the temple to supply the Heroes' Journey Blessing that Theodore wanted, but it would only apply to their mission or investigating and curing Ex. Adler.
Wyn maneuvered the Clerk into supplying them with official papers to that effect, including permission to live in the rectory, and a little money as a per diem. He even got the temple to supply the Heroes' Journey Blessing that Theodore wanted, but it would only apply to their mission or investigating and curing Ex. Adler.
The Road to Adventure
The Tutlich Valley is only 45 miles away from Equm, but to get there the party has to make the perilous journey over the Nash Hills, home to Runt Giants and Ogres. And the valley itself is in the Cinder Mountains which is one of the most inhospitable places in the world thanks to the many clans of Fire Giants who live there. Conscious of real world time constraints, these dangerous travels were narrated away and the PCs rolled dice to simulate how bad the journey had been (how many hp, spells, and charges they would have on the other side of the journey). A bit heavy handed, but the GM had planned on starting here!
Following a small river everyone makes it to the valley relatively intact, and we 'start' play near nightfall, within sight of the village.
All the player were experienced and wise. So they took a quick look at the village and immediately turned around and left, not wanting anything to do with a vampire's village just before dark. Wyn remembered a sandbar in the middle of the river they recently passed and the party decided to camp there, confident (hopeful) that the natural running water would prevent Erasmus from attacking.
Following a small river everyone makes it to the valley relatively intact, and we 'start' play near nightfall, within sight of the village.
All the player were experienced and wise. So they took a quick look at the village and immediately turned around and left, not wanting anything to do with a vampire's village just before dark. Wyn remembered a sandbar in the middle of the river they recently passed and the party decided to camp there, confident (hopeful) that the natural running water would prevent Erasmus from attacking.
The First Night
The party sets watch and Wyn protects the island with a powerful Barrier Ward that should keep out all undead (and demons and summoned creatures) for at least an hour. Within a few hours of sunset, During Wyn's watch he is startled by the sound of something splashing into the water near the sandbar.
The party, minus a groggy Kobertinn Golddigger, jump into action and sees a large (3' wingspan) half skeleton bat being swept away in the current. Wyn is able to Turn, and destroy, the bat before it it pulled too far away. The party goes back to sleep hopeful that killing the bat means that Erasmus won't immidiately by informed of there presence, but also fearing the creature would eventually be missed.
The party, minus a groggy Kobertinn Golddigger, jump into action and sees a large (3' wingspan) half skeleton bat being swept away in the current. Wyn is able to Turn, and destroy, the bat before it it pulled too far away. The party goes back to sleep hopeful that killing the bat means that Erasmus won't immidiately by informed of there presence, but also fearing the creature would eventually be missed.
Into the Village of Nagal
Approaching Nagal it seemed a perfectly normal village, if slightly rundown. The party encountered a farmer named Heskey weeding turnups on the way, he asked for news of the wider world and talked about Nagal is a pleasant place to live except for the wolves were a major problem outside of town, he was evasive about the undead bats in the area.
Farmer Heskey agreed to take the party to Ex. Adler at the temple, and along the way talked about the village and Erasmus. Despite the dangerous region that Nagal was in the village had no wall, watch, or militia, and had never been attacked. Crop yields are good, although the land is unsuitable for growing cereals, which was why the mill had fallen into disrepair (the party is suspicious of this as Vampires dislike grains). Heskey also reported a general lack of religious life in the village, they didn't have weekly services, or celebrate religious holidays although they did have cultural festivals. The village has one priest and an assistant named Nardwin. As the party walks through town Wyn, using Divine Sight, sees that several villagers have a magical enchantment affecting them.
With the help a a Friend spell from Sandar, farmer Heskey admitted that he thought the strange bats were a big problem and that Ida, his mother in law, had once been to the castle for a sort of dinner party and after that believes that the bats and wolves 'came from the Castle'. The party also learned of the existence of a traveler named Madam Eva living north of town, who had unknown magical powers, and was disliked by Lord Erasmus.
The party is taken to the local temple and are surprised to find that it is outside of town, temples are traditionally in town or even at the center of town. The temple sanctuary was empty and obviously in disuse, covered in cob webs and dust. The reliquary contained various religious items, notably the 'holy water' merely unblessed water without miraculous properties.
Exemplar Adler eventually entered the sanctuary, wearing normal clothes, not priest vestments. He was enchanted and strangely unemotional. When engaged in casual probing questions he stressed that; everything is fine, this is a good place to live, moving here would be impossible, and everything is fine. Kobertinn miraculously removed the enchantment and Ex. Adler's demeanor changed, he still maintained that everything was fine but when confronted with specific abnormalities he started to get upset and realized that something was very wrong.
Ex. Adler called for his 'alter boy' Nardwin when he entered Adler was shocked to see a 22 year old, in his mind Nardwin hadn't aged and was a 12 year old boy. With even gentle probed about Erasmus Nardwin fled the scene immediately, and was chased down by the party. They caught him and interrogated him, eventually getting him to give some information about who lives in the castle. Including that one of the adventurers that Erasmus killed a century ago, the powerful demonologist Py, had been turned into a vampire and lived with Erasmus. He also told the party that Madam Eva was hated by Erasmus, but that Erasmus seems unwilling to act against her.
The party started scheming about how to kill Lord Erasmus once they were alone. Ex. Theodore was worried about the fact that Py had been turned into a vampire by Erasmus and that they would be facing not one powerful vampire, but two. Sandar had the thought that Py might be glad to be rid of Erasmus' control and even help the party. Theodore was skeptical. Among the myriad of other plans Ex. Wyn had the idea that they could try and find Erasmus' coffin, but instead of destroying it, consecrate the area it was in. Then if the party could defeat him in battle he would be forced back to his coffin as mist and the priests could preform burial rites on him putting his soul to rest and destroying the vampire! The party also settled on talking to Madam Eva and Ida, the village women who had visited the castle in her youth.
Farmer Heskey agreed to take the party to Ex. Adler at the temple, and along the way talked about the village and Erasmus. Despite the dangerous region that Nagal was in the village had no wall, watch, or militia, and had never been attacked. Crop yields are good, although the land is unsuitable for growing cereals, which was why the mill had fallen into disrepair (the party is suspicious of this as Vampires dislike grains). Heskey also reported a general lack of religious life in the village, they didn't have weekly services, or celebrate religious holidays although they did have cultural festivals. The village has one priest and an assistant named Nardwin. As the party walks through town Wyn, using Divine Sight, sees that several villagers have a magical enchantment affecting them.
With the help a a Friend spell from Sandar, farmer Heskey admitted that he thought the strange bats were a big problem and that Ida, his mother in law, had once been to the castle for a sort of dinner party and after that believes that the bats and wolves 'came from the Castle'. The party also learned of the existence of a traveler named Madam Eva living north of town, who had unknown magical powers, and was disliked by Lord Erasmus.
The party is taken to the local temple and are surprised to find that it is outside of town, temples are traditionally in town or even at the center of town. The temple sanctuary was empty and obviously in disuse, covered in cob webs and dust. The reliquary contained various religious items, notably the 'holy water' merely unblessed water without miraculous properties.
Exemplar Adler eventually entered the sanctuary, wearing normal clothes, not priest vestments. He was enchanted and strangely unemotional. When engaged in casual probing questions he stressed that; everything is fine, this is a good place to live, moving here would be impossible, and everything is fine. Kobertinn miraculously removed the enchantment and Ex. Adler's demeanor changed, he still maintained that everything was fine but when confronted with specific abnormalities he started to get upset and realized that something was very wrong.
Ex. Adler called for his 'alter boy' Nardwin when he entered Adler was shocked to see a 22 year old, in his mind Nardwin hadn't aged and was a 12 year old boy. With even gentle probed about Erasmus Nardwin fled the scene immediately, and was chased down by the party. They caught him and interrogated him, eventually getting him to give some information about who lives in the castle. Including that one of the adventurers that Erasmus killed a century ago, the powerful demonologist Py, had been turned into a vampire and lived with Erasmus. He also told the party that Madam Eva was hated by Erasmus, but that Erasmus seems unwilling to act against her.
The party started scheming about how to kill Lord Erasmus once they were alone. Ex. Theodore was worried about the fact that Py had been turned into a vampire by Erasmus and that they would be facing not one powerful vampire, but two. Sandar had the thought that Py might be glad to be rid of Erasmus' control and even help the party. Theodore was skeptical. Among the myriad of other plans Ex. Wyn had the idea that they could try and find Erasmus' coffin, but instead of destroying it, consecrate the area it was in. Then if the party could defeat him in battle he would be forced back to his coffin as mist and the priests could preform burial rites on him putting his soul to rest and destroying the vampire! The party also settled on talking to Madam Eva and Ida, the village women who had visited the castle in her youth.
The Fortune Telling of Madam Eva
Madam Eva's camp is deeper into the valley from Nagal under the ruins of a magnificent stone bridge that long ago spanned a chasm 80 feet above the river. On the way the party investigated it and Kobertinn could see that it was made by dwarves but was destroyed many decades ago. Kobertinn believed the destruction was the doing of Erasmus for reasons unknown. Theodore believed that it was an attempted assassination of Erasmus by the dwarven builders.
Entering the small camp only one young man and 5 wagons are apparent, after pleasantries he holds his hand out while blocking the door to Madam Eva's wagon. Theodore hands him 100 gold, he smiles and seem impressed but turns back to the party a jokes "an unimaginative gift". Theodore jokes back that he has garlic if he'd rather. The man seems to become suddenly practical and takes 5 pounds of garlic, commenting it is surprisingly hard to come by up here.
The inside of the wagon is cramped, colorful, and gaudy. Madam Eva brooks no small talk and offers to tell the group's fortune. The players shuffle a deck of cards and each draw a card laying it in front of them, Madam Eva does the same.
Four of Clubs: The four corners of a square, the four corners of the castle. It is there your future lies.
King of Clubs: This card is the Dark Lord that you seek! IT says that you shall find him, but it does not guarantee success.
Six of Diamonds: The Hexen card! This is MY card. You must heed my words closely. My guidance is the key to victory.
Queen of Spades: This is the card of a woman, or a girl. She sits crosswise to the King. She is more useful then you may first imagine.
The Four of Spades: The four Grave diggers. There jobs shall become yours. Whose grave you are digging cannot be seen.
Ten of Spades: A powerful earth card for the dwarf. Before your quest is finished your affinity for stone must bare fruit.
The party discussed what the fortunes meant, they concluded that the two most important things were the girl/woman who could be Ida the old villager that had been to Erasmus' castle or Py, and the dwarf's affinity for stone which could mean the dwarf needs to find a trap/secret door in the castle, or locate an entrance/cave into the castle.
Entering the small camp only one young man and 5 wagons are apparent, after pleasantries he holds his hand out while blocking the door to Madam Eva's wagon. Theodore hands him 100 gold, he smiles and seem impressed but turns back to the party a jokes "an unimaginative gift". Theodore jokes back that he has garlic if he'd rather. The man seems to become suddenly practical and takes 5 pounds of garlic, commenting it is surprisingly hard to come by up here.
The inside of the wagon is cramped, colorful, and gaudy. Madam Eva brooks no small talk and offers to tell the group's fortune. The players shuffle a deck of cards and each draw a card laying it in front of them, Madam Eva does the same.
Four of Clubs: The four corners of a square, the four corners of the castle. It is there your future lies.
King of Clubs: This card is the Dark Lord that you seek! IT says that you shall find him, but it does not guarantee success.
Six of Diamonds: The Hexen card! This is MY card. You must heed my words closely. My guidance is the key to victory.
Queen of Spades: This is the card of a woman, or a girl. She sits crosswise to the King. She is more useful then you may first imagine.
The Four of Spades: The four Grave diggers. There jobs shall become yours. Whose grave you are digging cannot be seen.
Ten of Spades: A powerful earth card for the dwarf. Before your quest is finished your affinity for stone must bare fruit.
The party discussed what the fortunes meant, they concluded that the two most important things were the girl/woman who could be Ida the old villager that had been to Erasmus' castle or Py, and the dwarf's affinity for stone which could mean the dwarf needs to find a trap/secret door in the castle, or locate an entrance/cave into the castle.
A First Glimpse of the Castle
Before going back to the village, Wyn convinced the party to continue traveling up river until they could see the castle, which should only take about an hour. To go that direction they would have to cross the low wooden bridge that replaced the grand stone one. As they approached the water they saw something large disturb the surface before submerging. Not one to take chances Kobertinn guess where the thing was headed and used Assault of Stones to pepper the area, it wouldn't do much damage but it did flush this thing out. A second later a monstrous catfish-like creature breeched the water's surface like a crocodile attacking an antelope. It missed Kobertinn and started to role back into the water. With speed well beyond what his years should allow Theodore rushed forward and swung his claymore at the monster. Scoring a mighty blow (critical affect) he killed the 20 foot long creature in a single blow.
The party recovered the body and field dressed it in preparation to drag it back to Madam Eva's camp. They found a crumpled helm, judging from the style it was about 100 years old. Theodore asked Madam Eva if she could use her powers to tell them anything about it. She concentrated, closed her eyes and said that the owner's name started with an S... or an N! and he had a beard that he was very proud of, or maybe a mustache... He was a scout hired in the building of the road to the castle, darkness, fear... She had to rest... At least half the party this second use of her 'power' was all a con and nonsense.
Crossing the small river the party traveled about a mile and rounded a bend and Castle Machtig came into few. A large structure with tall well built walls, only 2 towers can be seen over them. Odd purple tiles make up the roofs. Soon a seemingly supernatural fog descended from the mountain and covered the castle, but not before Kobertinn got a look at it. It was built on a small plateau that would be a challenge to climb. (taking a skill check) His dwarven senses discerned that there would be a cavern under the castle, but it would have no natural entrance or exit. If it had man made entrances, he could not say.
The party recovered the body and field dressed it in preparation to drag it back to Madam Eva's camp. They found a crumpled helm, judging from the style it was about 100 years old. Theodore asked Madam Eva if she could use her powers to tell them anything about it. She concentrated, closed her eyes and said that the owner's name started with an S... or an N! and he had a beard that he was very proud of, or maybe a mustache... He was a scout hired in the building of the road to the castle, darkness, fear... She had to rest... At least half the party this second use of her 'power' was all a con and nonsense.
Crossing the small river the party traveled about a mile and rounded a bend and Castle Machtig came into few. A large structure with tall well built walls, only 2 towers can be seen over them. Odd purple tiles make up the roofs. Soon a seemingly supernatural fog descended from the mountain and covered the castle, but not before Kobertinn got a look at it. It was built on a small plateau that would be a challenge to climb. (taking a skill check) His dwarven senses discerned that there would be a cavern under the castle, but it would have no natural entrance or exit. If it had man made entrances, he could not say.
Back to the Village of Nagal
The Second Night
The party was able to make it back to Nagal with enough time to perform the rituals necessary to sanctify the temple before sundown. They were confident that it worked but were more confident that vampires couldn't enter people's homes, so they slept in the rectory.
During the night they were not attacked by vampires, but a pack or wolves followed by zombies did attack, breaking through shuttered windows. The wolves did some damage particularly to Kobertinn, who fought the lion's share of them. Wyn turned, and destroyed all but one of the zombies.
The party asked to talk to Ida and had her discuss here visit to Castle Machtig. She didn't have much useful information but did give a description of several rooms of the castle. Ida said that she felt like Erasmus was 'shopping' and that she was found wanting, another girl that went with her to the castle stayed the night but died soon after. Ida also verified that Py was in the castle at the time.
During the night they were not attacked by vampires, but a pack or wolves followed by zombies did attack, breaking through shuttered windows. The wolves did some damage particularly to Kobertinn, who fought the lion's share of them. Wyn turned, and destroyed all but one of the zombies.
The party asked to talk to Ida and had her discuss here visit to Castle Machtig. She didn't have much useful information but did give a description of several rooms of the castle. Ida said that she felt like Erasmus was 'shopping' and that she was found wanting, another girl that went with her to the castle stayed the night but died soon after. Ida also verified that Py was in the castle at the time.