Debtors' Tower

As the day wound to its' close, the companions prepared themselves for the assault on Debtors' Tower. Sack went out into the streets, foraging for supplies among the closing stalls and shops. Some of the specialist items he wanted were a little hard to find, but in the end he came back with enough materiel to construct seven glass bombs containing a sticky mixture of lamp oil, garlic and soap.

Ariella had already decided she and her two followers were not going to accompany the mission to the tower; vampire hunting wasn't their specialty and they had hopes of tracking down the remains of Reital's resistance this night. She did consult with Sack, however, to take his advice about coping with vampires in case she should meet any. This done, she and her party slipped out into the evening and were gone. The June night fell, warm and pleasant, little cloud and plenty of moonlight, as the group gathered around a table to plan...

As the curfew bells rang, Sack cautiously scanned the street outside through the inn's windows. As he'd half expected, a pair of shadowy, cloaked figures were lurking in the lee of a nearby building, observing the Dark Blade. Alerting his fellows, the half-orc left the inn, and soon worked his way around behind the spies. Ghosting up behind them, he flipped his silvered garotte around one's throat while resting Bloodfang's point against the other's nape.

Turning them around, he discovered, not the vampires or vampire slaves he'd expected, but two shocked and worried humans, trying unsuccessfully to conceal military bearing under plain townsmans' garb. Just to confirm, he slashed the face of one with Bloodfang, but apart from copious blood and swearing, there were no effects. Disgusted, he bade them begone, and they left with alacrity. Sack sauntered back into the Dark Blade.

As soon as he was inside, however, he grabbed the others and hustled them out of the back exit, and long before the spies could return or alert assistance, the group was vanished into the silent night streets.

When they reached the Debtors' Tower, it was still lit in various of its' windows, and voices could be heard from inside. They paused, and observed from cover, as the last of the Day Watch packed up, left the tower and went home. A burly, older man, clearly the sergeant, was last out, and locked the door of the now dark and silent tower as he left. Silence descended on the Debtors' Tower.

Two hours passed, as the heroes watched the darkened building. Finally, Sack's eyes picked out a hint of movement from one of the windows; nothing much, shadow-on-shadow, but enough. It was time to move in.

Hildraft and Surya started to work around the building towards the door, leaving Hansen watching anxiously from the shadows. Sack, utilizing his Spider Climb, climbed around the building to the door, unlocked it, then went silently straight up the side of the tower to the roof. As he disappeared over the battlements, the two warriors went through the door.

Entering the darkened public reception office, the first thing they saw was a movement. A rat scuttled across the floor, behind the counter, heading for an open door into the interior of the building. Hildraft tried a Detect Evil on it, but it was too quick; by the time the spell was cast, the rat was gone. He turned back to the plan, and spread his hands across the tower wall. Invoking the magic of Stone Shape, he caused the walls to writhe and distort, stone loosening and flowing across the windows and door, sealing the structure's exits. So far so good.

Above, Sack peered over one of the battlements at the top of the tower. At first glance, the roof space was empty, but then his sharp eyes caught a slight movement. Three large rats - one on the far battlement peering out, two down on the wooden roof - occupied the top of the tower.

Normally, he wouldn't have given them a second glance, but this was a place to be suspicious. He studied them with the skills given him by the Renders of the Dark, and their true nature grew apparent. Undead creatures they were, and not in their true form.

Reaching quietly into his Bag of Holding, he removed and prepared one of the soapy garlic firebombs he'd manufactured earlier. With a deft lob, he flipped it over the wall and down onto the roof, directly on top of the two nearest rats. With a terrific wash of heat and light, flames spread across the tower roof. Struggling and squealing, the rats recoiled from the flames. The one on the battlements actually pitched off, dropping towards the ground far below.

Sack came up over the battlements like a swift shadow, drawing his weapons as the two burning rats began to shimmer and dissolve as they changed shape. Before their humanoid forms could firm, the half-orc was among them, slashing and hacking. Caught unprepared, the vampires were rapidly slain. Sack paused to catch his breath, and only the faintest of swooshing noises alerted him in time. The third vampire, the one who'd fallen off the tower, swooped in through the air to attack him. As it hurtled towards him, Sack summoned the Sunburst of his sword, blasting the creature with the fire of the sun as it attacked. Dazzled and burned, it blundered through the air, and he slew it with a single blow.

Below, Surya smashed through a door out of the front hall of the tower, into a second room, some sort of office. Two vampire Watchmen awaited there, but they were no match for Tormentor and the Axe of Glass.

A couple of empty rooms later, they located the stairwell, and Hildraft pressed on down, feeling that vampires resident in the tower must surely reside in the lower levels. Nothing, however, appeared different in either the stores or the cell-block. Puzzled, the dwarf stood in the store-cellar, looking around. Suddenly, the rat-forms triggered a thought, and he began searching behind the barrels and crates. Sure enough, he found numerous rat-holes hidden behind them. He decided that his earlier precautions had not been sufficient, and rewrought his Stone Shape so as to enclose the entire tower, roof to cellar, in a sealed membrane of shaped rock.

Meanwhile, Sack opened the trapdoor in the now burning wooden roof, and descended the steps into the top floor of the tower. This floor was largely given over to a single large room, clearly a training room and gymnasium. As he stepped from the stairwell, shadowy forms stepped to meet him; four more night watchmen of the type he'd fought on the roof, and two with the rank marks of sergeants. Grinning in anticipation, they began to close in. The half-orc's confidence began to ebb. Hiding it manfully, he struck a defiant stance; extending his hand, he mockingly gestured; come on, then.

Spinning and swirling, the children of the night closed in on the half-orc, their black-bladed swords seeking his vitals. Sack fought as he'd seldom fought before, his weapons a blur as he danced through the dark figures. Soon four were down, but blood was pouring down his face, and his breath rasped in the darkened tower room.

Below, Surya looked up. In the quiet as he waited for Hildraft to return from the cellars. Faintly, from above, he could hear the sounds of battle. Some sixth sense - not of the dark powers of the weapons he bore, but a clearer, simpler awareness of his friend - told him that Sack was in trouble above. Shouting a warning to Hildraft, he hurled himself at the stairs, bounding upwards as fast as his Boots of Speed could carry him. Far behind him, the shorter dwarf, burdened by his heavier armour, lagged behind.

As he rounded the landing of the second floor, the dwarf felt a presence of evil, and for a brief instant, a wash of grey mist flowed around him, filling his bones with cold. Then it was gone, on past him, heading towards the fourth floor.

Surya burst through the doorway into the fourth floor, full of foreboding, for the sounds of battle had stopped moments before. Before him, Sack lay sprawled on his face, blood pooling under him from a second head wound, with two pale forms bending over him. The half-orc was beginning to stir - unbeknownst to Surya he'd managed to cast a desperate last-moment Cure spell before passing out.

The Tellaran hewed down the last watchman without breaking stride, but the final sergeant proved tougher. His blade skirled and clashed, defending himself, and the two faced off for a moment.

In that instant, a cold, authoratitive voice rang out from the darkness of the stairwell.

"You seem to be knocking my men about. I can't have that..."