S55: Aspects of the Past

A freakish version of Huther stands before you with barely having a semblance to a man. Roots and worms wriggle in and out of his body, as bugs crawl over moss and thorn covered hide. It seems unfazed by your intrusion, curious for sure, but mostly unfazed. The group is awestruck. “Oh, hey, what are you doing here? Anybody want to help me with some esperiments?” The group does not respond. “Oh ok, fine, let me know if you need anything.” Huther goes back to work, mixing chemicals and reading tomes. Mokon, seeing his brother floating helplessly in a green brine, approaches the large tank. “Ah, ah, ah. Don’t be messing with him. He’s one of my best subjects. He didn’t even die. Your other friend there… yeesh… he didn’t fare too well. You know the guy with the big gross hump… yeck… now look… he’s just red and pink goop.” Huther pulls a lever -- the liquid begins to swirl and drain. “Don’t need him anymore. Any volunteers… … … No… Okey dokey.” Huther goes back to work. The SOP seriously consider taking Huther out here and now. “You know, without your help. You know, selling Varro… oh, sorry, Echo my skull and brain, I would not have reached this level of evolution yet. Anyway.” The creature continues to work. Holding back the group opts to fight the bigger evil asking Huther questions about their vampiric foe. Huther tells the group the vampire is probably upstairs and that he has been a benefactor for many years. Huther likes it precisely the way it is. All the laboratory equipment he can use and all the protection he needs. Huther seems indifferent. Huther makes sure to pay special attention to Alora. A few impolite words are exchanged until Alora, fed up with the conversation, casts mage hand and knocks multiple vials crashing to the floor before beginning to walk up the stairs to the next floor. In retaliation Huther reaches into the vat holding Nordrum with one of his tendrils. “Oops, it appears this one’s ear has fallen off. How sad. Oh well.” Alora storms upward igniting the power of sunlight. The group follows her upward. Dorus paying particular attention to Alora’s radiance that is currently burning his skin. As the group walks upward they anticipate the fight ahead. Alora, who has been keenly investigating her new multi-patched cloak, starts handing out magical boons in the form of small uniquely shaped and embroidered patches. Mokon and Dorus receive bonuses to their armor, Nom is gifted with teleportation, Fay is granted polymorph, and Alora increases her strength to giant status.

Atop the last final flight of stairs. The group emerges into a very basic room. Basic wooden shelves hold plain vials which appear to hold dirt. A simple brass mirror leans against one wall and a no-frills coffin rests in the corner. On a shabby wooden desk sits a thick blue covered book. A rusty metal gate gives way to a roof balcony, through the gate the group can see mounds of dark brown soil, a large gear filled wooden lift hangs over the edge of the roof, and a large golden telescope points upward on the opposite side. Dorus quietly walks to the coffin, fully expecting his foe to be within. Readying a wooden shard he opens the lid and pierces downward. Nothing is inside, the coffin is empty. In a rage Dorus smashes the coffin into splinters. All of the party takes at least a single wooden stake from the coffins remains -- Alora takes an armload. Nom begins to grab as many dirt filled bottles as she can. Dorus thumbs through the book quickly only noticing references to realm rifts and soul capture. Fay stops to investigate the mirror by using her shard -- it has the outcome expected -- opening a gate to Kloci and Zola. She removes her head from the mirror. Nom fractures the mirror's glass.

Opening the gate the crew makes their way to the balcony. They look around -- ready for an attack. An attack does not come. Nom picks up a large shovel and begins jabbing it into each mound of soil hoping to find purchase with a sleeping vampire -- she does not. They continue to investigate. Mokon believes the lift is to bring dirt onto the roof. Nom meanders over to the telescope, looks through, is unimpressed, and with a quick smack of her sword's hilt, shatters the lens. Almost feeling let down, the group decides to head back down to maybe confront Huther, or maybe go into the basement once again. 

As they begin to head toward the stairs to descend once more, Nom decides to continue her destructive streak. She approaches the lift thinking about which part she should break to do the most damage. Then, she isn’t. She isn’t interested in breaking the machine or fighting the vampire. In fact, she’ll just wait here for him to return. A slow clap can be heard from the edge of the balcony. “How fun. Watching you run around like little mice. How adorable.” Nom, approaches the far edge of the floor as your prey slowly turns visible. Fay begins to sneak, still invisible, toward their foe while clinging closely to the balcony short walls. His eyes dart toward her. “Ah ah ah… none of that now.” 

Nom’s rage returns as Dorus rushes his foe plummeting a wooden stake deep into his chest. The vampire gasps then falls over the railing. Alora, angrier than she has been in some time, leaps over the wall in pursuit brightly blinding those around her. Dorus barely notices his skin burn as he momentarily thinks about following suit, but remembering his inability to shape change in sunlight. As Alora falls she begins to fly and 20 wooden stakes begin to dance around her body. A comet of pain quickly approaches the vampire as he holds a spike in his chest with one hand and covers his burning skin from Alora’s light with the other. He hits the ground with a soft thud. He stands as quickly as he is able and begins running toward the door to the tower. Alora is close behind and before the blood-sucker can make more than a couple steps, a hail of wooden spikes pierce, cut, and email his body. As he falls to the ground once more Alora impales him with a stake she saves specifically for his heart. Face first he hits the rocky ground. Gasping and gulping for air through blood filled lungs. Alora stands, sure certain she did her part. Bright light still burning the vampire's neck he does his best to stand yet again. Slipping and stumbling he does, but only barely. A loud howl escapes his lips. The water around them begins to move, rushing footsteps can be heard from all sides. Alora spins around to see herself surrounded by fleshy hungry monstrosities.

The rest of the crew needs to act. They begin their descent down the five flights of stairs. As they rush past Huther they notice he has the three small children they had escorted from the basement of the tower. Fay, Nom, and Dorus continue downward, disgusted by Huther, but unwavering in their plan. Mokon stops for a moment, torn between chasing the vampire or saving the children. “Oh Hey, do you mind helping me plop one of these little ones into that vat?” Mokon of course objects and takes a moment to dissuade Huther from continuing, but eventually succumbs to the need to help his party leaving Huther to his plans. As Mokon descends the next flight he hears Huther drop the first child into the vat. “There you go. Be quiet now. You're fine.”

Alora is no match for her multiple foes and is overwhelmed. Small two legged blobs of skin and teeth begin to bite at her. She tries to defend herself, but is no match to the onslaught and falls. She feels her life drain away as the world goes dark.

Dorus, seeing the vampire heading toward the basement (and not having Alora’s light to hinder his change) transforms into a bat and flies over the balcony waiting for an opportunity to arise. Multiple wide mouthed beasts enter the tower after his foe. Dorus waits trying desperately to point out that the vampire went downward, into the basement. Bat form does not allow for easy speaking or pointing.

Just then Nom and Fay make their way to the first floor, jumping over a railing and rushing past multiple opponents. Nom reaches Alora’s body first. Easily dispatching two of the three devouring creatures. Fay enters next, taking out the third. Alora was dead. She was missing an entire leg and her left hand. A big chunk of her throat was missing. Fay scoops up her friend and sobs. Nom doesn’t have time for feeling. She knows Alora had a ring that could come in very handy in this fight. Putting two and two together she knows Alora is missing the hand, it must be in one of these dead creatures. Nom begins to plunge her hand deep into the stomach of Alora's killers until she finds the ring Alora had adorned from Ud’resh’s stash. Fay picks up Alora and heads inside with Nom.

Mokon rounds the second floor stairs and is greeted by four very angry long-clawed monsters. He begins to fight. Blow after blow he lands on his enemy, but it is taking too long and there are too many. Behind him he hears “Move over my friend. I’ll help you defeat these creatures.” Echo has appeared behind Mokon ready to fight. Even higher on the stairs Mokon hears. “I’m here too. Time for some magic.” Torin is here to aid. As Echo and Mokon widdle down their foes they feel a warm glow behind them. Quickly looking back, Mokon sees an open portal. A portal to a beautiful land, perhaps an exact opposite of the one they are in currently. Bright sun pours through the portal blinding their enemy. “Oops, well, that worked I guess.” Torin magic is clearly at work.

Dorus, tired of waiting, flies speedily down the stairs to hopefully land the final blow to his adversary. Flying nimbly between the two massive fleshy guards he drops his bat shapeshift and crashes directly into his vampiric foe with stake in hand. The vampire falls to the ground, gasps one time, and disintegrates into a cloud of fog. The fog begins to drift as the two creatures, adjusting to Dorus’ entry, begin to attach. Dorus fends off his attackers while staying in close proximity to the vampiric cloud. There is no way he is letting this vampire out of his sight.

Fay and Nom appear in the stairs. Fay is still carrying Alora. They begin to attack a second set of foes that followed Dorus downward. Mokon is a bit behind, but on his way as Echo and Torin helped him make short work of their enemies.

The fog cloud floats slowly while the group battles. Eventually the cloud passed through a strange glowing barrier into a room that appears to be an underground graveyard. Dorus follows with ease. Unfilled freshly dug graves are scattered about while others look as though something made their way out of the grave -- vampiric spawn perhaps. Dorus watches as the cloud coalesces around an ancient coffin that rests off to one side of the room. Dorus flings off the cover revealing the vampire fully formed once more -- he appears to be in a catatonic state. Dorus plunges a wooden stake into the vampire's heart. His eyes open wide as his pale skin becomes even more colorless. The vampire lay motionless. Dorus feels victorious… and exhausted.

The  two fleshy creatures Dorus was battling cannot seem to base through the shimmering gate. The push and claw trying to get to Dorus, but cannot. Clumsily, and enraged, one of these minions pushes its adversary a little too hard causing it to pass through the barrier instantly turning it to dust.

Fay and Nom battle forward. These large jawed fleshy creatures are even stronger than the others, biting and clawing Nom and Fay. Fay refuses to let go of Alora. They push forward as Mokon joins the fight. 

Dorus has no fight left. He needs rest. Dorus finds the closest grave and crawls in. Laying on his back he empties the dirt from the vial labeled Dorus across his body and drifts into a deep slumber -- dead to the world. In the distance a high pitched voice is heard. “You killed my brother. You awful people. You killed him. AHHHHHHHH!” And from the room where Dorus had dispatched Bogtwo rushes Bogone screaming and crying directly toward the glimmering gate behind which Dorus rests. Bogtwo runs directly at the monster scratching against the glimmering gate. Dropping a small purple should he hits the beast instantly evaporating it as it passed through the magical barrier. Then, with a bling, and seemingly as easy as Dorus passed through the threshold, so does Bogtwo. “Why did you kill my brother? He is all I had. Now you will die too!” A short wooden staff appears in his hand. Nom, just finishing the last foe in the room, sees what is about to happen and teleports inside the room, directly in front of Dorus. She dispatches Bogtwo without so much as a bad thought -- a stake through the heart.

Dorus sleeps. Nom stands beside a staked vampire. Mokon and Fay cannot stand outside a magic barrier they cannot cross. Alora is dead.

Nom knows what she must do. First she begins to dismember the vampire. Remove limbs and head. Then, testing her theory she tosses a rock through the barrier… It works. Next she tosses all but the spiked-torso through the barrier. Mokon instinctually looks for water to bless. Finding some sort of dumping pool (for what he believes is for Huther’s failed experiments). He blesses the green-brown bile and throws the vampire pieces within. They instantly dissolve into nothingness. Fay sits on the floor once more doing her best to brush Alora’s bloody hard away from her face. Nom has one more idea. Passing Ud’resh stone tablet to Mokon through the barrier she asks him to perform the rite. Mokon, not wanting to mess up the ritual, as Mokon will sometimes do, passed the tablet to Fay. Fay has not done this sort of thing before. She isn’t exactly sure what to do, but she will do her best. She sets Alora’s corpse on the ground. She takes a few deep breaths. And then, repeating the words she heard Alora read a few short days ago she chants. At first nothing happens. Fay repeats the words again, and again, and again, until the air begins to fill with electricity. The hair on Fay’s arms begins to stand upright. She continues to repeat the words. A bright flash of light explodes in a gust of wind. When their eyes adjust to the dim light once more they see, laying where Alora’s corpse once rested, a younger child maybe ten or twelve years of age with Alora’s eyes.

Alora gasps awake. She sees her friends looking at her. Then, one by one they disappear from her mind. The vampire disappears. Huther disappears. Gruddy disappears. Her mother and father’s death disappears. Alora’s memory reverts back to her younger self, with no memory of anything or anyone from the Grimshackle.