Battle at the Vintares Gate

Meanwhile, the remaining Hunters of Cain had been dealing with the aftermath of the battle. Hildraft had replaced the Heal spell in Surya's Ioun stone (it seemed churlish not to!) while Greygill and Luregon checked the rest of the Wench's upper floor to be sure it was empty, and Surya went to talk to Prince Crixus.

The Emperor's heir had sobered up a bit by this time, and was more or less capable of coping with the situation; once Surya had explained their need to cross the city in a hurry he was only too pleased to lend some horses; "These won't be in any state to ride anywhere for a while," he commented, indicating his acquaintances. Then the ranger Sack reappeared on the roof, and dropped down into the room.

The half-orc's fingers flickered in the sign-language they'd established between them over the years of their friendship. In seconds, the others knew what had happened at the Gate, and sprang into action. Greygill, Hansen and Luregon climbed into Hildraft's Bag of Holding, after which Surya and Hildraft (and the first Bag) climbed into Sack's Bag, and the half-orc used his last Teleport of the day, whisking the Hunters of Cain to the top of the Vintares Gate.

Little had changed in the couple of minutes since Sack had left. The vampires were mostly stumbling around, struggling to clear their vision from the Sunburst. The cloaked figure on the outer edge was unmoving, presumably having been too far away to be blinded, and Slaughter was beginning to address the task of trying to transfer the pools of Calpurnia's blood onto the exposed material of the Vintares Gate. Stealthily, the half-orc unpacked the rest of the group, and they took stock.

Surya swiftly doffed his Robe of Eyes, while the others spread out across the front edge of the towering monument. Each directed his Rod of Daylight at a different target point, ready to release the magic, while Sack, who had decided that the cloaked vampire was probably the greatest danger, nocked his home-made Arrow of Slaying and drew his mighty bow.

On a silent count of three, hostilities were opened. Five Daylight spells illuminated the whole area of the Gate in warm, bright sunlight, bringing screeches of pain and distress from the Lasombra vampires below. Unseen by their dazzled eyes, the silent missile sped across the square, unerringly directed at the cloaked watcher. Sack's aim was true, and the mysterious form dropped, instantly slain by the terrible Arrow.

Leaning as far as he dared over the edge, Hildraft cast a spell and released his Firestorm, engulfing the whole area at the foot of the Gate in a wash of fire. He'd aimed it primarily at the place where Calpurnia had died, and a roar of fury from Slaughter confirmed the effect - the cooking off of the remaining blood. The energies pulsing through the Gate immediately began to decrease.

Surya and Sack, meanwhile, had transferred their attentions to the unarmoured female vampire, and pelted her with arrows, starting with the remaining two Slaying arrows. She was able to shrug off the magic of the missiles, however, and it was clear from the reduced damage inflicted by their hits that she, like Rhendal, had access to the Clan vampire's improved resistance to damage from lesser weapons. She also seemed to have some sort of magic that distorted an attacker's perception of her location; half the shots aimed at her unaccountably missed altogether. Moving now, she set off towards the base of the gate, running at an incredible rate.

Greygill also loosed arrows, while his comrade Luregon cast a Searing Light, and Hansen started readying some of Sack's garlic naptha bombs. The bard also commenced to sing, his words extolling the nobility and power of his comrades and denigrating the foe. While Sack and Surya glanced at him in some annoyance, they felt the effect of the words, and realized their power.

Below, most of the Lasombra vampires - the ones not too badly burned by the holy Firestorm - had reached the foot of the Gate and started to climb with the spider-like abaility common to all vampires. Faster far, the female - who they heard one of the others address as "Maven" - was already half-way up the side of the Gate. Sack rained arrows down on her, and Hildraft and Luregon hit her again with their Searing Lights, to no avail.

The bloodlust rose in Surya as he waited atop the Gate, the two dark-forged swords in his hands, his instincts urging him to attack this vile creature as it crawled towards them. Disdaining to wait for her arrival, he leaped down at her, slashing with his blades as he did so.

The terrific impact of the Tellaran's mighty frame, plus Asildur's armour, crashing onto her was too much for the Maven's grip, and she was flung from the face of the Gate. Twisting desperately in the air, she tore herself off the swords and launched a blizzard of punches and kicks at the Tellaran, who felt their power batter him as he responded with two more strikes from his own weapons as the ground rushed up at him -

Crunch!

Above, the Lasombra killers had breasted the lip of the Gate and were attacking the defenders. Greygill swung to meet the two he faced, his flaming sword ready, but botched his parry and was felled by a terrible head wound. Leaping over his prone form, the two vampires carried on, heading for Hansen, who had retreated to the centre of the Gate, naptha bombs ready, still singing.

On the opposite side of the Gate, Sack slew the one vampire who reached the top at his side, and whirled to check for new opponents. Seeing Greygill felled, he altered his direction and raced across the stone towards him. Beind him, Hildraft unleashed a Flamestrike, incinerating two more Lasombras that had climbed up where there were no defenders and had then been made to pause by an inaccurate but happily-placed naptha bomb from Hansen.

Divining from the wound Greygill had taken that he couldn't afford time to fight the two he faced, Sack gathered himself as he ran at them and sprang into the air. Clear over their heads he sailed, somersaulting as he did so, and as he passed them his swords slashed out. A shower of black blood erputed as the Blade of the Sun and Bloodfang struck, and the two vampires toppled away, instantly killed. Sack landed with effortless grace next to his fellow Render, dropping the Blade as he did so and placing a hand on the stricken man. He grinned as he felt the healing magic flow and Greygill respond.

Below, Surya groaned and rolled over. His first thought was to locate the Maven, but it was needless; the impact with the ground, added to the damage inflicted before and the weight of Surya and his armour landing on top of her, had ended her unholy existence; the Maven was dead. Staggering to his feet, Surya looked out away from the gate, to where one of the two more badly-burned Lasombras still stood, staring at him. He set off towards him, but as he rounded the corner of the Gate's arch became aware of Slaughter still standing under the Gate. He altered direction to confront the leather-clad vampire.

Snarling, Slaughter whirled to the attack, his two short swords a dazzling blur. The two engaged in a clash and scrape of steel, but the Tellaran was blood-mad now and nothing could stop him. His weapons tore great rents through the undead flesh of the mad assassin, and soon Slaughter lay dead on the stone flags.

Seeing this, the two Lasombras who'd been too wounded to climb the Gate turned and fled, one in each direction. Jamming his swords into their sheaths and seizing his bow, Surya brought the nearest down with ease, but by the time he spun around the other was out of the circle of Daylight and fleeing across the square. Dashing after him, Surya ran into the darkness, and once his eyes accustomed to the dimness he halted. A swift arrow caught the fleeing vampire and pitched it over onto its' face.

The battle of the Vintares Gate was over.

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