Lygris

Blinking into existence in the dim streets of Skufruss' capital, the half-orc sought the citadel urgently. Finding the central precincts of the new castle practically finished, he also found himself expected; clearly, the Kin Dragonlord's magical alarms were adequate to detect teleportal arrivals.

Within a few minutes, he was seated in Skufruss' study, surrounded by books and scrolls and provided with a cooled ale. The Lord of Tarlanor had greeted him warmly, and enquired as to the reason for this visit.

Sack passed on the warning about the vampire assassin coming after Skufruss, for which the Dragonlord thanked him - and by extension, his comrades. He also requested the extra and replacement Arrows of Slaying, which Skufruss agreed to provide. Then the Kin lifted a parchment from a nearby stack, handing it to the half-orc with a wry smile. "What do you make of that?" he asked. Sack perused the paper; a letter. It ran as follows:

To Skufruss of the Kin, former Lord of Trialt, styling himself "Dragonlord", "Lord of Tarlanor", etc From Doronond I, King of the Noldor, High King of the Elves, Custodian of Alair, Lord of Viridor, Dragonslayer, greetings: Insofar as you are reputed to be in occupation and possession of the city and fortress known as Vorsand in the former land of Duceor, formerly held of Varkar Barduric the Dragon; And as the last known location of the loot gathered by said dragon from the sacking of the Northlands and the Land that Is No More was in the said fortress and city; In the light of the establishment of peaceable nations of good character in the North once more, those aforesaid being the nations of Dalaghendor in the west, New Tellare in the south, and the Kordasa in the east; This letter recommends and directs you, in the interests of the common weal, as custodian of the wealth belonging only in part to the lands you deem yourself to hold, that you should make over to the above-named sovereign nations, one-quarter weight each of gold, wrought metals and other valuables, and an equal proportion of articles of arcane nature by number or power such as seems good to you, such as have been secured from the Dragon your Sire by the swords and valour of the Dragonslayers, at the risk to their lives and honour. We await your swift response.

Sack was contemptuous, suggesting in graphic sign language that Skufruss should treat the message with scorn. He also observed that there was nothing mentioned about compensating the orcs for their ancient fortresses burned out and looted by the Dragon; and wondered to himself if perhaps Garkaur Kulataur would be interested to hear of this.

His advice given, the half-orc returned to Thornal, to meet back up with his comrades.

Hildraft and Surya, both in one way or another associated with one of the countries the Elvenking claimed to be speaking for, both disclaimed any association with his demands, and were of the opinon that neither state would want what Doronond was demainding in any case.

Over the next couple of nights, people started turning up dead across the city. Not unusual in Thornal, but the mixture of victims and their wounds were definitely unusual. All bore the marks of a vampire attack (throat wounds) although several had been torn almost limb from limb as well; these were victims who were alone when attacked, and were far from possible hearers. Over three days (22nd, 23rd, 24th) the following had been slain:

• Four master thieves of the Thieves' Guild
• Eight Pulverae of various levels within the organization, three of them eliminated from the investigation by Crassus' Praetorians.
• Five assorted citizens, ranging from peasant labourers to very respectable 'serai noblemen. No known links to anything.
• Three vampires, expertly staked. Neither the local Renders, nor Gedrun's local Renders, had slain these.

These incidents were brought to the group's attention on the 25^th, by the praetorians - to whom the city watch now reported. Immediately, the companions started investigating. After some deduction, they worked out the next professional connection to the three Pulverae who'd been slain - one Ilthan - and decided to pay him a visit.

Arriving at the man's solid but unexceptional-looking town house, Surya, Hildraft, Greygill and Luregon made their way in - facing down the house-slave and the guards in the process. Ilthan was understandably frightened, believing at first that the visitors were agents of the praetorians come to "bump him off too". Once reassured that they were in fact there to protect him, he relaxed; but not completely - he was clearly a worried man.

He invited his visitors to sit down, which Surya did; the chair creaked alarmingly, and Hildraft decided not to bother. Explaining that the real "bumper-off" was all too likely to target him next, the four offered to camp out in his house, both to guard him, and to try and nail the killer. Rather nervously, the man agreed, and the vampire hunters began to lay their defences in his house.

Meanwhile, Sack had visited the praetorian barracks, to investigate the evidence first hand. What he found was quite interesting:

• None of the bodies bore wounds inflicted by any form of blade or weapon. The damage resembled more that of a large (very large) animal. Sack took a cast of the best bite mark.
• None of the corpses had actually died from vampiric blood drain, but all had been drained to the point of death - even the vampires. Through his Render training, Sack knew that this was something else considered abhorrent by most vampires, and tended to indicate an outsider, a maverick.

The afternoon deepened into night, and darkness gathered in the corners of the house. Stillness prevailed. Hours passed. Tired eyes tempted to sleep... and then, suddenly, Hildraft's wards were triggered.

Waiting near one of the doors, Surua heard a smash of breaking glass. Pausing to shed his Robe of Eyes and invoke some swift protection magic, he raced down the hall to the door, arriving there just as Sack reached the window of the room from the outside; Hildraft was close behind Surya. With a crash, the Tellaran smashed in the door, to see - an empty room. His eyes flicked to the window - sure enough, it was broken, but only one small pane, 6" square maybe.

At this point, Sack used his Daylight rod to illuminate the room - and Surya and Hildraft saw a small black bat, up near the ceiling, fluttering out of their reach. Surya lunged at it with a snarl. Instantly, the bat dropped towards the floor, and as it did so, its' form blurred and shifted. As its' paws touched down, the change was complete - and a balefuly phosphorescent wolf, six feet high at the shoulder, loomed over the Tellaran and the Dwarf, as Luregon appeared in the doorway and stopped short in horror.

Then sack drew Asildur's bow, and unleashed one of Skufruss' deadly Arrows at the monster. In this he took a fearful chance, as it stood directly between himself, and Surya, Hildraft, and Luregon - but his aim was true, and the shaft sank into the wolf's hindquarters. With a gurgle it sank in its' tracks, slain outright.

The next morning, when the party walked back to their lodgings, Surya found a note pushed under the door. "Wager a thousand sestertii on Salpurnius" was all it said. A little investigation revealed that Salpurnius was a secutorus [gladiator], due to fight in Prince Crixus' birthday games, which were on this very day. A relative newcomer, Salpurnius was given odds of 25/1 by the bookmakers when they checked. Surya duly placed the bet; if it was some sort of signal, he wanted to know what it meant; and then quietly laid a seperate side bet of ten thousand - just in case their informant was accurate.

Then the group took themselves to the great Turgatio arena. There were several in the city, but this was the mightiest; a vast cylinder of tiered seating two hundred feet high, with a great central stage where combats and spectacles were played out for the entertainment of the Ligustoi [peasant] masses. Tens of thousands of people were already there, laughing, shouting, gambling, eating and drinking, and the noise was incredible. The group settled into the seats they'd been assigned, and waited for the Games to start; while he waited, Sack amused himself by purchasing dubious-looking meat comestibles from a seller's tray and having them delivered to nearby people he didn't like the look of.