B.J. Thomas

October 11th - 13th, Albanus 1.

As the band explained the situation to the slaves, Gaius and Leyna heard the tromp of hobnail boots coming down the passageway outside and a deep, nervous voice muttering, "Noli me tangere" ("Don't touch me" in Old Rostillan).  While his relatives pressed themselves against the cave walls and prepared to ambush the man, Severus shifted into the form of one of the pain devils.  A moment later the wanderer rounded the corner.  He was a well-armored guardsman, fairly young.  Contrary to expectations, he did not appear to recognize the devil.  Instead his eyes bulged out in horror and his jaw dropped.  The man gasped, clearly preparing to scream at the top of his lungs.

Gaius popped around the corner and loosed three arrows.  But all of them sank into the shield that the guard cringed behind.  Severus then snapped off a command:  "Surrender or things will go badly for you."  With a gulp, the guard dropped his shield and begged for mercy, bringing the combat to a very quick end.

The man appeared to be very confused, and thoroughly terrified.  He kept looking at Titus and muttering, "They were right!  They were right about paladins after all!"  When questioned, he said that his name was Stefanus and that he was one of the junior guards on duty at the station above this cave.  Their captain had just received a message which said that there might be criminals (perhaps even paladins) in town, and he should check to make sure that the slaves were well.  Stefanus was set this task.  He'd never been down in the caves before;  he was just a junior guard, and -- until this day -- had not been entrusted with the password past the magical defenses.  He didn't know who actually watched the slaves.  He did, however, believe that a strange pale man (whom the younger guards called 'the Freak') lived down here.  He never came out, and nobody ever sent food or drink down to him.  Obviously he was a weird magus of some sort.

Since Stefanus did not appear evil to the paladins, the party unchained him and showed him what lay beyond the slave caverns, in the chamber of horrors.  The guardsman was appalled -- doubly appalled when he recognized the madwoman as the Countess Ossarius.  "But that's impossible!" he gasped.  "I saw her just this morning.  She and the Count rode out for hawking.  They only came back an hour ago..."  The band explained that this was the real Countess.  The one Stefanus had seen was a demon, probably a succubus.  At that, Stefanus winced and admitted that a number of the officers and senior guards boasted that they'd enjoyed the Countess' favors.  She apparantly was a woman of prodigious... appetites.  Convinced by the evidence, Stefanus told them everything he knew about the Count's defenses and agreed to stay in the caves and watch over the slaves.

The next task was to take out the guard post above, to ensure that no one gave the alarm when they attacked the Count.  As the band mulled over attack strategies, Severus suddenly announced a... disturbing plan.  He would sneak down to the town, take on the Countess' appearance, then walk boldly up to the guard post.  Once inside, he would demand that guards all disrobe and 'service' him.  Once the men were naked, the rest of the party would charge.  It would be a lop-sided, impossible battle for them.

When the family's shock and horror died down, they agreed it was a good plan.  Though one they should never, EVER let the bards hear of.  Corvina offered to do the dirty work, but Severus declined her offer.  Partially to protect his sister's honor... and partially because he was simply better at impersonating a demonic female harlot.  (Another fact which deeply disturbed the family, when they thought about it...)

The plan went smoothly.  The captain of the guards greeted the "Countess" and escorted her into the guard house.  He got a little surly when he realized he was going to have to share her attentions today.  But a little teasing improved his mood and soon he was boasting that once they were disrobed she'd find out why HE was the captain.  The younger guardsmen were shocked by these events -- but didn't dare disobey their captain and the "Countess".  The senior guards and officers, however, seemed only a little shocked.  Apparently the Countess had done similar things before...

Soon, the nine men were lined up -- stark naked -- along the wall.  Severus plunked himself down on the table across the room, clapped his hands loudly, and called out, "Alright.  I think we're ready to begin."  That was the cue for the rest of the family to charge.  Most of the stunned guards began hiding their privates and scrambling for their pants.  However the captain and two of his officers darted across the room for their weapons.  "Oh come on!" Titus shouted, brandishing his flaming greatsword.  "You're naked!  We're armed!  Don't be idiots!"  After a moment's thought, all the guards agreed with the paladin's logic and surrendered.

The band marched them down into the slave cavern and locked them up.  The captain and officers radiated evil, however three of the newest guards seemed alright.  They got chained in the demons' room, where Stefanus explained what had happened to the real Countess.

With the slaves rescued and the guards disarmed, the group turned its attention to the main attraction:  capturing the Count of Ossarius.  Shifting back into ephermeral form, Gaius flew out of the cavern to reconnoitre the manor house.  His scouting confirmed Stefanus' information -- and revealed that the Count and 'Countess' were in their bedroom.  The Count was fully armored, however, and impatient.  "This is foolishness," he snapped at the Countess.  "If there truly was someone in town, there'd be a commotion by now."  "Be patient," the succubus said.  The Count grumbled;  he clearly wanted to get back to 'recreations.'  But, to the ranger's disappointment, he did as the demon counselled.

On his way back to the caverns, Gaius spotted activity around the Black Ship.  There was a small carriage at the dock, piled high with painted, silk-covered trunks.  Three young girls, about age 12, stood near it.  Two appeared to be "ladies" in waiting;  one was dressed in lovely green velvets and had her long blonde hair neatly twirled into long curls.  The Count of Ossarius' daughter, he guessed.  A man accompanied the girls;  sallow-faced, pale, with black hair drawn back into a long pony-tail.  All of his garb was black, except for the chain shirt he wore.  As servants piled the trunks onto the dock, this man led the children towards a waiting jolly boat.

Gaius zoomed back to the family and gave his report.  Although everyone agreed that the Count was their first priority, they knew that they had to stop the girls from going on board that boat full of undead.  At worst, they'd be eaten as soon as they set foot on it.  At 'best', their presence would make it difficult for Corvina to fireball the ship safely.  And so, the band split up (which is, in D&D, almost always a precursor to disaster...).  Gaius headed back to the manor, to keep an eye on the Count.  Severus shifted to look like the captain of the guards and ran down towards the dock.  Leyna flew out in wind-walk form, staying underwater and out of sight -- but hopefully close enough to aid Severus if things went awry.  Titus, Marius, and Corvina watched from the guard post on the hillside.

By the time Severus reached the dock, the girls and the Man in Black were already a third of the way to the Black Ship.  "Halt there!" Severus shouted.  "Return to the dock.  The Count wants the girls back."  The dark man cocked his head, staring ahead blankly for a moment.  Then he ordered the rowers to continue on towards the boat.  The rowers, however, were far more worried about the captain than this stranger, and they began to turn the boat around.  Frowning, the Mollitan whispered a charm over each of the oarsmen and a second later they continued out to sea again.  

At that, Severus unlimbered his bow and once more ordered the boat to shore.  The dark man sneered.  "You'd never fire on this boat while the little lady is on board."  "It's a trap, Contessa!" Severus shouted.  "They're trying to kidnap you!"

Count Ossarius' little daughter turned out to be made of stern stuff.  Without a moment's hesitation she shouted "Swim!" to her two companions.  Then she threw herself overboard into the cold ocean.  Alas, her playmates could not swim, and so they clung to each other and cowered on the floor of the boat.  Once the Contessa was clear, Severus loosed a shot, which dug a furrow across one of the rower's arms.  When they saw that, the rest of the family shot out of the guard post, flying ephemerally down the hillside towards the dock.  The glowering bard changed his mind and ordered the jolly boat to return to the dock, much to the rowers' relief.

The Contessa was dog-paddling furiously towards shore -- making little progress, however, because of her heavy skirts.  She managed to wriggle out of them before they dragged her down.  But the delay allowed the jolly boat to catch up with her.  As Leyna watched, the Mollitan reached down and grabbed the girl by her golden curls.  The child's scream of pain was too much for the paladin to endure, and with a thought, Leyna dismissed her wind-walk spell.  She shot up out of the water, swinging her sword at the dirge-singer's arm.  His chain shirt saved his hand, but the shock and pain of the attack made him drop the Contessa.  Leyna quickly grabbed the girl and pushed off of the boat.  Once the Contessa had taken a deep breath, Leyna dove under water -- hoping that the bard's spells couldn't affect her, if she couldn't hear them.

The rest of the family neared the docks as well.  Corvina zoomed underwater and transformed herself into a mermaid.  In that form she quickly caught up with Leyna.  The paladin handed the little Contessa over to her, and Corvina shot off towards the sea cave, where the girl could hide safely.  Titus headed directly for the jolly boat, and when he appeared over it, he too dismissed his wind-walk.  Marius, more patient, remained on the dock and shifted more gradually into material form.

Titus' first blow caught the necromancer's minion across the chest, and while the chain shirt held, the blow cracked a couple ribs.  The dirge-singer scrambled backwards, beginning to hum a song to drive the paladin mad.  But as he did, he stumbled over a pile of rope and lost his concentration.  Titus leaped nimbly forward and struck him again, nearly killing the man.  As Leyna appeared by the boat's side, the dirge-singer realized he didn't stand a chance against two paladins.  (He probably didn't stand a chance against one, but he was a little over-confident.)  "My master will not be pleased," he hissed at Titus.  "We will meet again."  With that, he touched a brooch at his throat and vanished.  Teleported back to the Soft Isles, no doubt.

Severus, meanwhile, feared that the commotion would rouse the Count and drive his succubus into flight.  "Marius, the dagger!" he shouted, as Titus appeared on the jolly boat.  When his little brother tossed him the demon-banishing blade, Severus chanted expeditious retreat and ran at full speed towards the manor -- still in the form of the captain of the guards.  Marius charged after him, slowly shifting into ephemeral form.

Titus and Leyna weren't sure what the plan was (or even if there was one;  "plan" is a four-letter word, after all).  But they saw what direction Severus and Marius ran off.  The waited for Corvina at the dock.  Once the sorceress was back from dropping off the Contessa, Titus summoned Sinister.  He and Leyna then charged up the street, scattering peasants left and right.  Corvina transformed into a harpy and launched herself into the air.

Gaius spotted Severus as he ran up and filled him in on the current situation in the manor.  Then he and Marius (who was now wind-walking) flew behind the manor house.  Severus ran into the manor's courtyard, shouting that paladins were attacking the dock and had kidnapped the Contessa.  He barked orders left and right, sending all the available men down to the sea to "save" the Count's daughter.  Little realizing that the paladins were indeed charging up the main street at this very moment, directly towards the guards.  (They were able to ride through the guards, when they met them, though Sinister took a couple of blows.)

At the first signs of commotion, the Count and "Countess" strode out of the main bedroom, towards the great hall.  Marius -- demonstrating one of Legis' lesser-known gifts -- unlocked the window and slipped in after them.  Gaius, still in wind-walk form, slipped into the Countess' room next door.  As Marius watched the retreating nobles, he noticed something odd.  The Count never shut any doors.  This seemed odd, and deliberate to the cleric.  Marius whispered a detect magic prayer and immediately spotted blurry illusion auras drifting after the Count.  Invisible creatures, he whispered to Gaius, who had slipped out into the hall with him.  Three of them.  As he said this, one of the auras paused, and turned his way.

Severus had no clue that he was getting more company than he expected.  The Count and Countess burst into the great hall at about the same time he did.  Count Ossarius demanded a report.  Severus repeated his tale of marauding paladins.  As he did, a deep, inhuman voice spoke up from the "empty" hall behind the Count.  "An intruder," it said.  "One moment."  The Count immediately closed the door behind him.

Back in the corridor, the blurry aura vanished as a large demon appeared out of nowhere, charging Marius.  It was tall, perhaps 8 feet;  a gaunt, human shape with foot long talons and tattered wings.  An Enforcer, one of the bully-boys of the Abyss.  The thing backhanded Marius, careful not to use its talons on him.  At that, Gaius dropped his wind-walk too, and sank three arrows deep into the thing.  The Enforcer staggered.  Then it snarled something in Infernal and charged the ranger.  This time it used its claws, and when its talons raked across his flesh, Gaius was swallowed by a mad, unreasoning terror.  Dropping his blow, he turned and fled down the corridor.

Marius wasn't out of the fire, either.  As the cleric began to shift back into ephemeral form, a second demon appeared and charged.  Marius struck it twice, but none of his blows sank very deep into its desiccated flesh.  The Enforcer, however, grabbed the young man by both arms and proceeded to nearly tear him in half.  Marius passed out and the creature dropped his bloody body to the ground.

As the sound of combat echoed into the great hall, the Count looked at Severus and said, "Captain, I think it may be time to promote you.  You're a sensible man, yes?  Not afraid of anything?  Not easily shaken?"  Severus assured him that he could rely upon him.  Ossarius nodded and opened the door to the corridor.  "Say nothing, Captain."  Severus indeed said nothing -- he simply charged the succubus and drove the dagger into her back.  Brilliant white light limned her form as she screamed... and then vanished.

"You idiot!" screamed the Count.  "What are you doing?"  

"It was a trap, sir!" Severus replied.  "That wasn't your wife!  That was a demon!"

"I know what it was, you fool!" Ossarius snarled.  "Do you have any idea how difficult those things are to get?!?"

Another inhuman voice rasped behind the Count.  "Ask him where he got the dagger," it said.  Severus began to stammer that he didn't know where it came from, as if he was charmed.  But the Count interrupted.  "Just kill him," he told the demon, drawing his own sword.  Severus scrambled backwards and chanted a true strike, praying that the dagger would come through again.

And, at that moment, the cavalry arrived.  Literally.

Corvina swooped down in harpy form, loosing a fireball on the manor's front door.  The door (and the two guards warding it) were incinerated in a flash.  Leyna and Titus were hot on her heels and they charged, without slowing, into the great hall.

Immediately, Leyna leaped off Sinister and dove in front of Severus, shielding him from the demon's charge.  Its claws raked her as well, but even though she was not yet immune to fear, the paladin did not give in to the terror that washed over her.  As the demon and Leyna traded blows, Severus took advantage of the distraction.  He slipped to the demon's side and, with true strike running, drove the dagger into its hide.  Again, the demon was lit by an unearthly halo, and vanished away.  Severus then tossed the dagger to Leyna, since he wasn't sure he could hit a demon without magical aid.

Another door opened and the first Enforcer (the one that Gaius shot) stepped into the room.  It gurgled a spell in Infernal, and Titus' body went rigid.  Corvina attempted to dispell this, but the demon's curse was too strong.  Sinister bit and slashed at the creature, and took several blows in return before Titus was able to shake off the hold.  When he did, he made short work of the badly wounded monster.

With that, the two paladins charged through the two doors the demons had used -- and each then saw the last remaining demon, standing over Marius' bloody body.  Sinister was having trouble manuevering in the narrow corridor, but "fortunately" the demon charged Titus.  Leyna ran over to check Marius and found that he was merely knocked out, not dead.  Then she closed in behind the demon and drove the holy dagger into its back.  This time, alas, there was no flare of light.  However the strength of her blow alone was enough to dispatch the demon.

Back in the great hall, Corvina and Severus squared off against Count Ossarius.  "Burn in the blood of all those you have wronged," Corvina hissed at him.  Whereupon great gouts of acidic blood rained down upon the evil nobleman.  Ossarius staggered back, slashing at Severus.  "Surrender," Severus commanded -- but the Count did not succumb to the spell.  He turned and charged Corvina, wounding her as well.  The sorceress took a step back and called down another bloodstorm upon Ossarius.  With the doorway now open, Ossarius spoke a word and sped up.  As he did, Severus snarled, "Darkness take you"... and the Count stumbled, blind.  Ossarius threw a powder over himself, which rendered him invisible.  But Severus cast see invisible and quickly knocked the villain out.

After the battle, Corvina went to fetch the Countess and Contessa immediately.  The Black Ship was setting sail, and so the sorceress let loose her last fireball, hoping to destroy its rigging.  There appeared to be no effect -- though she could not say if this was because the destruction was hidden by illusion, or if the ship was protected against fire.  Then, with Stefanus' help, she guided the madwoman and her daughter to the manor, drawing great crowds as they passed through the town.  There was no organized resistance.  Lacking the Count, their captain, and several of their senior officers, the guards were confused and disorganized.  None of Ossarius' knights rebelled.  The Count had few, it seemed, and the knights either made themselves scarce or were out riding circuit.  When Severus asked Melissa, the Contessa, whom she trusted, the girl could only give him two names:  her grandfather Largitas and Sir Tomasus, the brother of one of her companions.  Tomasus was in the field, and so Corvina sent Tenebrus to search for him.

Titus and Leyna rounded up the servants and scanned them for evil;  a disturbing number appeared quite nasty.  During the round-up, Titus found another richly decorated room  -- with a small boy hidden inside its wardrobe:  Count Ossarius' son, Andrus.  The child was gaunt and pale, with bright, bulging eyes;  exceedingly timid.  When Titus asked him if he was hungry he said no.  He didn't like to eat any more.  Food made him sick.  Corvina recognized the signs of poisoning, and after a bit Andrus confessed that he'd been eating oats from the horses' troughs because all of his food made him ill.  Questioning the servants, Titus found that the Count's two oldest sons had died, wasted away.  The cook (who stank of evil) admitted that she'd put powder in the boys' food -- but under orders from the Countess, she insisted.  It wasn't her fault!

This news disturbed Marius, who went to the Ossarius mausoleum to check on the boys' burial.  He sensed two spirits -- not nefas, but not at rest either.  And so, with a couple family members as bodyguards, Marius descended into the crypt and performed proper burial rites over the children.  The Countess was brought down, and throughout the ritual she petted the boys' bones, crooning their names.  But the ceremony did seem to give her some peace, and when it was done, she let herself be led from the mausoleum.

Late that afternoon, the Surrexi surveyed the temples in town.  The results were distressing.  There were two temples of "Crescens-Hedonae".  One was tainted.  One was a brothel, pure and simple, where the "priestesses" couldn't cast a cure light to save their lives.  There was also a small temple of "Legis", which turned out to be dedicated to the Sleeping God.  Marius goaded one of the drug-adled priests into attacking him, and Titus promptly killed him.  The rest were rounded up and locked in the county's now-overflowing dungeons.  This "cleansing" disturbed the townspeople, and they milled around outside.  Marius tried to assuage their fears and reassure them that clean priests would be sent to care for their sick.  His speech, however, met with dull resentment and dissatisfaction.  One heckler mocked the Order of St. Cavallius, calling paladins heretics and trouble-makers.

Severus announced that henceforth, slavery and trade with the Soft Isles was illegal.  This speech, too, had a poor reception.  In fact, had people believed him, the Surrexi might have had a riot on their hands.  But everyone assumed that the Surrexi would eventually leave and things would go back to normal.  So the townsfolk and burghers simply nodded, politely.  Severus also sent word, via a fast ship, to Count Veterinus Pelasgus, the northern neighbor who feuded continually with Ossarius.

The next morning, Titus, Severus, and Marius (along with the two Ossarius children) wind-walked to the county of Largitas.  It was a poor land, hilly and dry.  A few pockets of fertile land were scattered here and there, farms where generations of tenants had built up the soil.  They found Count Largitas checking fences with one of his knights;  his clothes were worn and plain, and he himself worked.  But when the Surrexi precipitated, he greeted them kindly -- once it was clear that his grandchildren were not hostages.  The news of his daughter shocked Largitas to his core.  He knew the counts of Ossarius were not the most upstanding Rostillans;  but he had never dreamed they could be so corrupt.  In fact, his daughter had left home with great hopes that she could improve the House of Ossarius, and discourage some of the county's more unpleasant traditions.  Marius tried to assure him that there was hope for his daughter;  there were powerful prayers that could heal the greatest of injuries.  Largitas bitterly disagreed.  No cleric of that caliber cared about his family.  There would not be any aid.

It took another day for the wind-walk to refresh, and then the Surrexi, Count Largitas, and two Largitas knights returned to Ossarius.  There was a bittersweet reunion between Largitas and his mad daughter.  Later that evening, two last guests arrived in the manor.  One was Sir Tomasus.  Who, it turned out, was about eighteen or nineteen;  he inherited his knight's chain when his father died (about a year ago...).  He was big, perhaps as big as Lucellus;  a broad-shouldered red-hed with a handsome, square face.  He spent most of his time patrolling, he admitted to the Surrexi, because he had come to loathe the "Countess".  Tomasus was not surprised to learn that this creature had been a succubus and was infuriated to hear that his little sister was nearly shipped off to the Soft Isles.

The second visitor was Count Pelasgus, who arrived fully armed and accompanied by a half dozen knights and a score of competant guards.  Wary of assault, he ordered his ship to hang back out of the harbor.  Pelasgus was quite young, perhaps thirty.  Though he was polite to the Surrexi, he displayed a deep contempt for Ossarius and its inhabitants.  He explained that he believed his father had been poisoned by Ossarius, and that he suspected his southern neighbors of raiding his hamlets for slaves to trade to the Soft Isles.  Then he accompanied the Surrexi back to the manor house, where decisions about the county's future awaited.