Journal of Talian, #4
21st Day of the Running Moon.
It was the yelling that woke me. I had locked the door to my room, and Hannah had knocked a fair bit, but needed to yell to arouse me from sleep. It was a busy couple of days, and a full belly and a soft bed held me deeply in sleep all night.
I called out to her that I was awake, staggered over to the door, opened it, and assured her that I wasn’t just going back to sleep. She said it didn’t matter if I did. The copper I paid last night was to be awoken, not kept awake. I told her I would be down in a few minutes and asked her to have some food ready to break the night’s fast.
I could hear Hannah’s footsteps going away as I turned and surveyed my surroundings. I had dumped all of my clothing and equipment on the floor just to get to bed. I set about organizing everything, while I went through my thoughts of the night before. When everything was ready, I decided to meditate.
Meditation was one of the things Synona taught me during my time with her. Back then it was more of a restful time for me, but this morning it was different. I was able to focus on the spirits of nature and I could hear them respond. And they spoke of things I could do to help with my work today: how to mark prey for the hunt. I focused on them, and committed those ideas to my memory.
After that, I went downstairs. Dawn was just creeping over the horizon, and I paid Hannah for the food. I was able to eat about half of it, and carried the rest, mostly bread and cheese, with me as I walked to the temple.
As I arrived, I could see Vincent approaching. He was wearing a chain shirt, and carried a spear and shield. I could see that he had a short sword at his waist, and was wearing a small pack. Not one for a long journey, but I didn’t think we would be long in the tomb. If we were, then something had to have gone terribly wrong.
The Temple was impressive. The architecture was old, older than any other structure in town, older than even the gatehouses. It was definitely older than The Keep, and ages older than the Custom House.
The Custom house, what I saw of it, was a new building. My guess was that the reason it was more impressive than the home of the local nobility was a result of local politics.
The Temple had a wide set of steps leading up to a porch that had three distinctly ornate pillars supporting the front of the roof. Each pillar represented one of the three gods in the religion. The Queen of Light, who represents the Sun, in the middle. Off to the right was the pillar dedicated to the Prince of Peace, representing the stars, especially the polar star and the other stars that circle around it but never dip below the horizon. The third pillar, on the left, represented Father Time, who some also call The Old Man in the Moon. Thus the three main deities of the Heavenly Three.
The doors leading into The Temple were on either side of these three pillars. As Vincent arrived, I could hear the clunk and clank of the large iron latch on the Prince’s Door, the one on the right. It opened and Sister Ysabel Michon stepped out, wearing what looked like scale armor under her robes. She was also carrying a mace and shield. She was followed by another robed acolyte who carried a tray with several vials on it. “Light’s blessing on you both” she stated as she approached. “I have some equipment we should be carrying if we are to face evil in the dark.” She handed a vial to Vincent and Myself. “These have the blessings of the Three. Use them to ward off evil.”
Vincent stored his in his belt pouch. I placed mine in my bandoleer that I keep my potions in. I spoke up,“Speaking of equipment, there is someplace I would like to go to before we leave town. I need some more arrows, to replenish what I’ve used. Also, can the temple provide a healing potion for this endeavor?”
Ysabel shook her head, “Unfortunately we have needed to put our efforts elsewhere this month. There was a sickness, and we needed to tend to that. But if you get your arrows at Martin’s Trading Post, he may have one to purchase. He sometimes gets odd supplies from down the river, and sells them to river crews.”
With that we set off to Martin’s. Martin was apparently the family name, and it was a middle aged woman at the counter when we entered. Her name was Faustine and she was gruff, but fair. I replenished my supply of arrows, and as it turned out, she did have a healing potion to sell. It cost me several of the gems I found on the cultists to pay for the items, but was well worth it.
We left the town through its eastern gate, which was easy enough this early in the morning as Vincent was able to get the guards to action without much fuss. An hour later we found ourselves approaching Ordonos’s Hut. The sun was just above the horizon, and the air still had a refreshing chill.
Once again I knocked at the old door. And once again there was the rustle of steps, the peeking through the window, and then the opening of the door. Bleary eyed Ordonos stood before me. “Back so soon? Was there something else you needed before going to…” and then he looked past me at Ysabel and Vincent. He then looked at the sky and the rising sun. “I see I’ve lost another evening’s sleep," he said out loud, but probably to himself. “But what you brought me was fascinating, I couldn’t stop, the sooner the Tomb is safe the better!” He then blinked, and looked back a Ysabel. “Sister Ysabel? What are you doing here?”
“Ripping evil out by the root before it grows and spreads!” She said rather like someone older than Ordonos, and not decades his junior. I wondered if she always spoke like she was standing at a pulpit.
“Excellent!” Ordonos said after a moment. “But, wait. I have something that might help.” He retreated into the house for a few minutes, then emerged with an ornate flask, and a pouch. “Here, use these. They might help.” He handed them to me. “The flask is a very potent healing elixir, and the pouch has a powder that once spread around a room, will cause anything that breaths to cough and sputter, making it hard to fight.”
“Won’t that affect us as well?” said Vincent, eyeing the pouch. “Or is there a way to avoid the coughing?”
“Um, no”, said Ordonos. “So, be careful with it. Perhaps you can throw it behind you if you need to escape," He said trying to be helpful. “It’s really the best I can do. I’m not that fast, and I’m afraid my days of fighting evil are behind me now. I’d only get in the way and have to be rescued.” As he stated this he looked down rather dejectedly.
“No worries," I said. “You did enough by starting this. we never would have known about this evil had you not advertised for help.” With that I turned to the company behind me. “We should divide up the healing, just in case. Ysabel, can you heal us if we go down?”
“Of course” she said, “But alas, not that many times, so try not to fall, obviously.”
“Well, we all have holy water, and you can heal, so here.” I pulled out the healing potion I purchased in town, and handed it to Vincent. “Now we can each of us get another up if they fall.”
“Good thinking," Said Ysabel. “You seem like you’re more competent at all this than I first surmised. Your ragged appearance misled me. My apologies if I seemed to try to commandeer this expedition. You’ve already been down there, we should follow your lead from here on in.” And for once, she sounded less puffed up. Maybe the air of overconfidence was for her own benefit as much as ours, but now it was replaced with calm determination.
“No apologies necessary, Sister," I said, not being able to think of anything else to say. But with that short exchange of words, we all turned toward the tomb and set off to the entrance.
As I approached the door, I noticed that the last steps to pass by were mine. At least whatever evil I left behind did not escape that way. I opened the door and activated my light. This caused a bit of a surprise to my companions. “How can you do that?” Exclaimed Vincent. “Is that some mountain ranger’s trick?”
“No, this is just a useful remnant of my past life. I was originally apprenticed to a wizard. But the fall of my home to the Kesh ended that life, and thrust me into another," I said as I began to step down the stairs into the first chamber.
At the bottom, Ysabel pointed at the portcullis and the door. “Where do those passages lead?”
Meanwhile, Vincent lit a lantern that was one of the few items in his pack, adding even more light to the room.
“I don’t know yet. I wasn’t able to open the door, nor was I able to lift the gate. I meant to come back, but I had found the cause of Ordonos’s concern before having a chance to," I said.
“Perhaps we could now," said Vincent, shining his light down the corridor that was beyond the portcullis.
“No need," I said. “Our task is deeper in the tomb, but first, Rimple is waiting for us. We should go there directly. I wouldn’t want him to get frustrated and leave before helping us.”
“This Rimple, he’s a gnome, but from the tomb?” Ysabel asked quietly as we walked.
“Not originally from the tomb. He lives in a community of gnomes, that dwell deep under the earth," I said as I tried to describe the little I knew of Deep Gnomes to her.
By the time I was done with a short explanation, we arrived at the door to Rimple’s room. I knocked softly, hoping to alert him but not make a racket. I heard nothing from inside. I then whispered through the door. “Rimple, it’s me, Talian. I’m back with help.”
I then heard another voice whisper, but behind us, close to Vincent. “I can see that.” As we all turned towards the voice, Rimple stepped away from the wall which he was almost completely camouflaged against. He smiled, “I heard you coming and thought to wait for you out here," he said in Undercommon.
Rimple turned to Ysabel and Vincent and said “I Rimple MacGrabben, and I hopes to be service to yew,” in Common. Both Vincent and Ysabel stared for a moment.
“These are my companions, Ysabel Michon and Vincent LeVern,” I said, pointing to each.
“I greet you, and may the Queen of light bless you," Ysabel stated.
Rimple returned the greeting in words of Undercommon. It translated into something like, “May the sweet air be with you,” which I imagine to be some greeting in the deep places of the world. I translated for both Vincent and Ysabel.
“Well met," Vincent finally returned. It seemed like he was the one most taken aback by Rimple’s appearing in the corridor.
“It’s be quiet since yew left, Talian. Some noises, but far, many durs lay between," Rimple stated to me once we got moving.
At that point, since we were all together, I pulled out the map I had been making. I pointed to where we were, where I saw the cultists, and the place I heard the fiend. “As you can see, there’s a lot of area down here that I’ve yet to explore. Fortunately, where I first encountered the cultists is close by. We may be able to pick up their trail from there, and follow them.”
In a few minutes we were outside the door to the first location. I listened at the door and heard nothing. Readying my bow as the others readied their weapons, I then noticed that Rimple was armed with a relatively large war pick. To be fair, I hadn’t expected such a martial weapon in his hands. I still remember him with the broom, sweeping up in the chapel.
I whispered to the others that I was opening the door, that I would enter first, then Vincent, followed by Rimple and Ysabel. I opened the door quickly and took a few steps in, scanning the room for danger. Vincent entered right behind me, turned right and took a position on my right side. Rimple did the same for my left, and finally Ysabel moved into a position right behind me. The room was empty.
The camp that was here the last time I was here was partially cleared away. The skeleton that was on the stone table was gone, as were two of the bedrolls. Three other bedrolls, presumably for the three cultists I killed, were still there.
Rimple and I tried to make sense of the tracks in the room. It appeared that three persons entered and then left. The skeleton, however, seemed to leave under its own power. This was evident by the boney footprints in the dusty, dirty floor. The packs of the three dead cultists were also missing, but oddly, they seemed to have been taken after most of their belongings were dumped on the floor.
We followed the cultist’s tracks out the other door, into the corridor where I had the running battle with the three that I killed. Once in that corridor, I spotted four more sets of tracks. These seemed to be waiting for the three that exited the room. I recognized one set as being similar to the Drow that I fought yesterday. There must have been another guide.
We followed them as they turned the corner, still following the path of the running battle, to the location where the fight ended. The bodies were missing. The blood was there all over the floor, but someone had moved the bodies. Given what they were doing with the skeleton, I now had a guess as to who, or rather what, the four other footprints belonged to. I told my suspicions to the others.
“Undead!? If they have the power to do that, they could wreak havoc if they get to a graveyard," Ysabel exclaimed with a startled gasp.
“Or a tomb," I returned. “I think we now know why they’re here. We need to find them as soon as possible. The longer they have, the more forces they’ll have at their disposal. It’s a good thing that all of the crypts I found on this level so far have been filled with urns of ashes. And they don’t seem to be able to reanimate dust.”
Taking a second look for tracks, I was able to see which way the cultists went. The track led up to a nearby wall and stopped. I recognized it as the secret door where I left the hidden section of the tomb, after the trapped gallery yesterday. They must have seen my tracks, and discovered it.
I looked for the catch in the wall and found one similar to the catch in the door where I entered the area yesterday. Knowing there was a door here to begin with made it much easier.
Opening the door, I could hear voices in the distance. I opened up the map again and pointed at the gallery. “That is what lies at the end of this corridor. It’s a gallery dedicated to some who are interned here, many statues. It was trapped, but I think they must have dealt with the traps already to be there. There are two ways that enter it that I have explored: this one and the one to the south. There are two other ways out that I have not: a corridor to the north, and a door, also to the north.”
“Which do you think would be best, to go at them now, walk around and attack from the south, or search for a way to connect with either of the northern entrances?” asked Ysabel.
“Since time is somewhat of an ally to them, my instinct is to attack now," I said.
“Yes, and I was no hearing past dis doors. They very cunning. Anything could be in deer," added Rimple.
“Well, I came for a fight,” added Vincent, “and the fight’s that way," he said, pointing down the hall.
“That settles it then," I said. “We go in quickly and try to surprise them, same as before. I go in first, then Vincent, then Rimple, and then Ysabel.” They all nodded in agreement.
The passages on the secret side of the tomb were narrower, so we walked single file to the door. Beyond it I could hear talking.
“There’s no complaints from Kala any more, at least there’s that," said one voice. Another voice replied, “And Stephan will actually carry his weight now," said another. There was a chuckle from both voices.
I could then hear the sound of large stones being dragged across the floor. The second voice then spoke again, “I hope it’s here. Once we find it, we can finally head back.”
I waited for a moment, hoping they would clarify what they meant, but all that was said after were commands to “Move that over there,” or “Topple that one over”, followed by a loud crash. I didn’t hear the voice of the fiend, which I felt was lucky. If we could defeat these cultists here, then perhaps we could have time to prepare for the fight with the fiend.
I told my companions to go on the count of three, and on three I kicked the door open and went in. I immediately saw the three cultists I had killed yesterday. They were grey and dead with the open wounds I gave them, but still moving. They were on my right hand side, very close to the entrance, dragging a statue across the floor. They were too close for the bow, but because of the surprise of our entrance, I had enough time to sling my bow and draw my swords while I moved to the right. I needed to draw them off, to allow my companions to enter the room.
I could see a cultist with the skeleton near the center of the room. With him appeared to be the dark elf that I had killed yesterday. It looked like they had animated its corpse as well. They appeared to be trying to move a statue. By the southern wall, to the left as we entered, was another cultist with a scroll. He appeared to be examining a fresco on the wall.
When Vincent entered, he joined me on the right with the three zombies. Rimple entered after Vincent. At that moment I noticed something odd about him. He was difficult to see, more of a blur than a figure. The blur that was Rimple moved to the left towards the cultist at the wall. Ysabel stayed where she was. I heard her shout “Queen of Light, Blessed Fire!” and there was a bright flash that burst up with golden fire where the skeleton was standing. It appeared to be scorched by the fire.
Calling upon the meditation of this morning, I placed my mental focus on the zombie in front of me. I then swung both blades, striking it twice and cutting it deeply.
Vincent stabbed with his spear, but he missed the creature. The zombie then swung a rotten fist at Vincent, striking him in the shoulder. I heard him grunt under the blow. The other two zombies swung their fists at me, but only one of them connected, and only a glancing blow at that. The dark elf shambled toward Ysabel.
Rimple started swinging at the cultist with the scroll, but missed. The cultist called for help to deal with the blurry thing attacking him. The cultist in the center of the room joined his companion in trying to hit the elusive deep gnome.
The skeleton began to move towards Vincent and I, but there was another shout and it burst into pieces in a golden fire. Then Ysabel appeared in the threshold of the entrance to the room, mace and shield at the ready.
My next set of swings did enough damage to bring down the first zombie. I switched my focus on the next undead corpse and Vincent then scored a powerful hit on the one next to it. The reply from the zombies was fierce. They all seemed to go for Vincent, and he collapsed under a flurry of blows from all three.
Ysabel was already close to Vincent. She moved to him and was able to pour his healing elixir down his throat. He convulsed as the magic did its work.
Off to the south, I could see the cultists swinging their scimitars with growing frustration at the blurry figure of Rimple. One of them staggered back, spurting blood from a wound in his leg.
I struck down the corpse I was focusing on, and switched to the one that Vincent had already hit. As I did so, Vincent stabbed from a crouch as he was getting up. Pushing his spear through it as he stood, it fell back to the wall, then the floor, and stopped moving.
The last one, the dead dark elf, swung at me. It struck me hard, but not enough to break any bones. Ysabel smashed that one with her mace and it turned toward her. To the south, I saw one of the cultists fall dead, and the other began to swing with a mad rage, but still hitting nothing.
I let Ysabel and Vincent finish the last zombie, and I moved to help Rimple. But it wasn’t necessary. Rimple planted his pick in the man’s chest just as I arrived. The last zombie fell, and we gathered to take stock of our situation. Vincent and I were hurt, and Ysabel had just taken a hit from the last zombie before it finally fell. Only Rimple remained unscathed.
I drank half my potion, saving the rest for dire need later. Vincent’s potion was used but he was still hurt. We were considering falling back to rest, and bind wounds, but the next sounds we heard dashed that idea.
To the north, from the doorless corridor leading out of the room, a raspy voice spoke from the distance. “I do hope I am not being further inconvenienced by that wandering human again.”
We formed a sort of triangle in the center of the room. Vincent and I side by side, about two strides apart, with Ysabel between but behind us. Ysabel then began to pray. I saw golden light form around Vincent, and it seemed his wounds vanished. I heard the same prayer again and there was a glow behind me. Ysabel must have healed herself. While this was happening I lost sight of Rimple as he faded into the stonework. He seemed to be getting ready for a surprise attack.
We readied ourselves for the coming fight. I saw the light grow dim in the northern part of the room. The corridor itself grew even darker. The darkness coalesced into a form, and that form appeared as an even darker blackness, walking leisurely down the corridor towards us.
“Talian, is this the fiend you spoke about?” Ysabel’s slightly wavering voice sounded behind me.
“It is, this is the fight I needed all your help for. This is part of the evil that destroyed my home," I stated to the others. “Brace yourselves, and do not yield. Worse than darkness awaits if we fail.”
“We’re with you Talian," came the voice of Vincent at my side. My hope with all this banter wasn’t only to bolster my companions, but to draw attention away from Rimple, now so hidden that I could not even see him.
“Talian?” mused the raspy voice as it, or as I could now see, she, stepped into the room. “Talian, Talian, Talian.” She paused for a moment. I could see black leather, the insignias of death and symbols in demonic writing on her outfit. She bore no weapon. She probably didn’t need any. Dark hair, pale skin, and hollow black holes where her eyes should be with burning red sparks in the sockets. As she spoke I could see her enlarged canine teeth.
“Now where have I heard that name before?” She glanced up slightly, scratching her head in a comically pensive stance. “Oh yes”, she then said, “That name’s on the list.” She stopped looking pensive and smiled, her vampire’s teeth making her smile far more menacing. “You must be the missing Dufresne boy. The apprentice that ran away. You so disappointed us, we do like to keep noble families together. It’s always better to have a matching set.”
Before this fight I had steeled myself against the memories. I expected rage and despair, as when I fought the cultists two days ago. But this. Not this. It was just too much. As she was speaking I was readying my bow for the fight. But with her last words I was frozen. The thought of my family, animated, kept, toyed with. Then rage exploded in me. “You’ll pay, you’ll burn, I’ll destroy you all!” I let the arrow fly, it struck her in the stomach, but she didn’t flinch, she didn’t even stop smiling. She just calmly pulled the arrow out and gave a quick laugh, as the wound closed, then calmly walked toward me.
“Destroy us all?” she sneered. “You really don’t understand, do you. About us, about Kesh. What we’ve accomplished. I’ll give you this courtesy. Firstly know that I am Lady Katalin Galambos. I am Commander of the Fourth Outer Circle. Allow me to tell you and your little henchmen all about the greatness of Kesh.”
“Greatness?!” shouted Ysabel behind me. Which brought me back to myself. She continued, “You’ve turned away from the Heavens, away from the three. Only darkness awaits you creatures, darkness and oblivion! We will never fall to your evil!”
The vampire stopped, about two paces away from me. “Fall to us? Why should we care? This is nothing to do with you or your little country. Like I said you know nothing.” She then faced me, “If history has shown us anything, and I know, having lived through a fair bit of it, it is that nations fall, people are destroyed, and sorrow soaks the world. You yourself have faced this, Dufresne, you know that very well.”
“What we have done in Kesh has stopped that. We are now eternal. Of all the nations we have learned and adapted. So banish thoughts of our destruction at your hand from your mind. Even if another Age of Wrath were to come again, we would survive it. You are not even an insect that we need to swat.”
She then pulled her hair back, and tied it with a string. “And now it comes to it. Drop your weapons Dufresne, accept your fate, and I’ll even let your little friends leave alive. I have no interest in them or their little provincial problems. There’s nothing else for you to do. Perhaps if you had continued your wizarding studies, you may have had a means to beat me, but I don’t see a weapon amongst you that can seriously wound me.”
“You want magic?” I said, letting my bow drop. “Have some!” I fanned out my hands, touching my thumbs together, and recited an incantation, the only Arcane non-cantrip that I knew. Fire burst out from my finger bathing the vampire in flames. I then drew my swords, and braced for her reply.
The vampire screamed, more of a startled scream than an actual rage. Her leather armor was scorched and her face was blackened from the flames. She came forward with what now looked like bared claws that sprouted from her fingertips. She slashed at me. I was able to block one of her claws, but the other raked my arm.
Behind me I could hear Ysabel say another prayer. I wasn’t paying too much attention to the words, but I felt…better, as if the blessings of the Heavenly three were upon me. Vincent, who was standing a few paces to my left, threw his spear, striking the fiend in the side.
She pulled the spear out of her side, and I could see her wounds begin to close. Even the burn had started to heal. I had hoped that fire would keep her wounded, but I was wrong. This was going to be a more desperate fight than I thought. I focused my thoughts and marked her as my quarry, the skill I had meditated on this morning. Then I stabbed at her. With the blessings of the three, and my Hunter’s Mark, I struck deeply with both blades.
I seemed to do more damage than she expected. But strangely only about half as much as the attacks should have done. The wounds healed from her regeneration, but slowly. I saw that it was possible, though difficult, to do enough damage to take her down, but we had to strike hard and keep wounding her to overwhelm her natural healing.
Vincent then pulled out his vial of holy water, stepped forward, and emptied it on her in one splash. The holy light fused with the water burned her more that the arcane fire I had hit her with. Now she screamed in real pain. And I saw that she stopped healing.
The vampire then turned her full fury upon Vincent, ripping into him with both claws, shredding his chain shirt. Red blood soaked rings rained down on the floor. Vincent fell just as he was trying to draw his sword. Blood poured out of him.
She then turned to me, licked some of the blood from her fingers with a black tongue, and said “We’ll have no more of that foolishness. But no need to worry, your friend will still be useful later.”
As she spoke, Rimple chose this time to act. Stepping out from behind a statue, he said something that was not in either Common, nor Undercommon. The vampire clawed at her eyes for a moment, then dropped her hands, there was blood dripping out of the sockets, but the embers inside still burned red. She turned her head towards him, “That was a decent trick, little one, but it didn’t work.” Rimple then readied his war pick, and moved to flank her.
I called out to Ysabel, “Holy light! It prevents her healing!” I heard her begin another quick blessing, the same she used against the skeleton. A flame of light burst down on the vampire and though it wounded her only a little, her healing did not restart.
I struck and my swords bit into her again. “This is starting to get tiresome” she hissed, and clawed at me. Both of her claws sliced across my chest, and pain exploded across my body. Strength left me and I fell to my knees. But I was just able to get to what was left of my potion on my bandoleer. I drank it as she closed in, teeth bared, as if to bite down on my neck, when Rimple struck her from behind.
The point of the war pick pushed through the front of her chest and she howled. Rimple pulled it out and made ready for another strike. I then saw Ysable go to Vincent, and the look on her face told me everything. There was nothing to do for him right now. I could see that he was bleeding profusely, but it couldn’t be stopped during the fight.
The vampire then slashed at Rimple. One of the claws hit and he went down to one knee. She was still very wounded but I could see her regeneration starting again.
“We needed to hit her hard, now!” I stuck as hard as I could, nearly severing her left arm at the elbow. She swung back at me in a fury, but missed. Ysabel then pulled a vial of holy water of her own from her belt pouch and threw it at the vampire. It shattered as it hit the creature, burning her again with holy light. Her scream was cut short as my next cut was across her neck. Her head came off and flopped on the chamber floor in front of me. The fires in her eyes faded, then went out.
Ysabel went to Vincent and began to bind his wounds. He was unconscious, but he seemed to still be alive. Rimple was also only barely conscious, but he did not seem in danger of dying. We took the next hour caring for them, and trying to get back our strength.
I felt that we could carry our fallen companions to Rimple’s chambers, and spend the night there. I was reluctant to bring the gnome to the surface, unsure what effect the sunlight would have on him. And that might just be too far to go while carrying them.
Before we left this room however, I went among the cultists and collected their belongings. They had made a camp in the northwest corner of the room. The way they had three of the packs, it seemed like they were planning on using their animated companions as pack mules, the Kesh definition of useful. I knew right off that any symbols of Xall would need to be destroyed, Ysabel would demand that. So I collected all of the amulets from the living cultists, and placed them in their own bag. I set them aside. Any valuables I placed in another. There were several valuable looking pieces of jewelry, and some gemstones. They had a potion of some sort, and a pouch of dust that was sealed like it was important. They also had a sizable stash of coin. I hid the cash as best as I could. It was getting too much to carry while we moved our injured friends out. I could manage the jewelry and gemstones while carrying Vincent, but with Ysabel helping Rimple, there was just too much to take it all. I’d have to come back.
Last of all I searched the vampire. All she had was a small locked box. It had pieces of stone and dirt embedded in it. They must have found it under one of the statues. I did not dare open it now, but took it with me.
I placed the bag with the amulets on top of the corpse of the vampire, and we moved all the other corpses into one pile. I would burn it all, but I remembered that Ordonos would probably have a fit it the fire damaged any of the art in the room. So I gave my vial of Holy Water to Ysabel, and she recited a prayer, and poured the vial over the bodies. We hoped that would prevent the corpses from getting back up again.
We fashioned a makeshift bier to carry Vincent out of the cultists’ packs. Rimple could stagger, but needed help. Ysabel walked beside him to give him support. I dragged Vincent behind me.
It was slow going, but we made it to Rimple’s room. I barred both doors, then Ysabel and I made makeshift cots out of the wood of old pews. We spread the two fallen companions out on the cots. I applied the salve again that I used on myself before when I was hurt. Ysabel and I split the night into two watches, I took the first. I’m not sure what time it was. It’s always night underground.