True Monsters – Act 2 Vine Garden - Chapter 21 – Lose End.

The village of Vine Garden was still on high alert, the external threat had been dealt with. The vampires and there minions slain or sent packing. A different threat was present, an internal threat. Something that could not be easily seen, something that would be a more insidious difficult task, than simply slaying some ghouls. The adventures were still on high alert, there were still extra militia and guards brought into defend the village. Travel was restricted, because in all appearance one of their own had betrayed them, metaphorically a wolf was inside their walls.

The party kept their doors locked and their weapons to hand. Most of the senior people in the village were doing this. With the vampires defeated some act of sabotage or retribution was expected. They had not told the general population, about the evidence of a spy. They didn't want a panic or a mob using old grievances as imagined evidence of guilt. They wanted to find the guilty party, not just the most unpopular man in the village.

Martin woke early, he cleaned and dismantled his pistols. Then assembled and loaded them in preparation for the coming day. It was more likely that the one infiltrating the settlement was physically weak but mentally strong. It still didn't hurt to have a loaded silver pistol ready for an extreme situation. The spy could have already smuggled and hidden a vampire in the village, it could be a werewolf or similar creature.

People didn't usually test with silver in this part of the world, it was possible. There were also doppelgängers small in number. One of these elusive monsters would be found every few years in a larger settlement. A person controlled through demonic possession was also possible. As a hunter of monsters he expected to find a hidden monster, time would tell if he was right.

David was woken up by Martin’s diligent preparations, to fight anything and everything. He wondered who it would be, when they found the spy. In his mind he had a certain picture, a way he had been trained to think. The same way you would look for a thief’s guild informant. Someone with a bit of trouble, a bit lazy a bad gambler someone with a drinking problem someone who would need a bit of coin to solve their problems.

Vampires were very much human in mind-set, a handful of coin in the right hand and someone would cheerfully sell out his neighbours. If it was enough coin or if they felt slighted enough. A desperate person looking for something would take a loan from a stranger. Then work themselves deeper and deeper into trouble. He had an idea of the spy in his own mind the metaphorical smoking flintlock, someone that suddenly had their problems disappear through the sudden appearance of wealth, or who suddenly had a few extra luxuries about them.

Vivian woke with a start, she already had her dagger in her hand. Alice was standing there a candle in one hand an apple wedged in her mouth. Vivian calmed down and looked her over, “morning snack”? Alice nodded. Vivian confided in her, “I have my own suspicions about the spy, you remember the large amounts of drugs we destroyed at the bandit camp. I think that we will find a few addicts inside the walls of the village.”

“Someone so hopelessly dependent on one or more of the narcotics, that they would sell out there family there neighbour or there community for another hit. We killed the bandits several days ago. They would keep this person, this spy keen. So they wouldn't give them that much, by now the spy would be experiencing withdrawal symptoms. They might be hard to spot, but after a few days someone is going to be very ill. Then we will find them, then we will find where they got there drugs from and we will have our spy.”

Alice finished off the apple, “I think I will be looking out for other signs. A vampire at a high level can use potent mind control powers, they act as suggestions. There are ones which specialise in magic including mind control spells, a perfectly normal human could be controlled by such a spell and not even realise it. A spell token would be need to be kept on the person, but they wouldn't even realise that they were carrying it. Demonic magic has very similar spells which are carved onto a person in a hidden place, a less subtle spell token. Normal mages have a few mind controlling spells at their disposal, but there use is limited. A psionic has spell like abilities that would do the job well. We will find someone prepared a while ago by a specialist to infiltrate this community, then we will crack the spell and find everything that they know.”

Each member of the party had come up with what to them was the simplest explanation for a spy. Time and deduction would show if any of them were correct. After a brief breakfast they went to the lord’s manor and the steward’s office. The correspondence from the vampire's lair was spread out on a big table. There were three piles, one was terrible poetry and self-congratulating diaries. They were fairly certain it was just the ravings of an ego maniac, not a cleverly disguised code. The second was administrative correspondence and notes. A relatively small pile was detailing shipments of material to the archanist, costs for setting up the bandits. The maintenance and care of various creatures’, plans for propagating the thrall taint amongst the land. The third and largest pile they were still slowly working through.

The vampire had been extremely arrogant, to let all this information fall into the hunters hands. He did not conceive that his lair would be successfully attacked. Now they would try to make as much use of it as they possibly could. The steward looked at the group, “Please have a look through the paperwork, please keep it in the same piles. I am sure that you can come up with a better plan than the sisters of unrelenting mercy, who wanted to start randomly interrogating people with red hot pokers.”

Alice checked the piles of paper, giving them the once over. She couldn't detect a faint trace of magic so nothing would be hidden that way. David was not the best at letters but numeracy he knew his way round figures. He started looking for a series of payments, something to indicate a bribe. Vivian started to go through the general correspondence, the reports that the vampire had been receiving so she could see if there was something she could use. Martin started to talk to the steward, to see if there were any one in the area with abnormality's that could be considered signs of a shape shifter in their midst.

Vivian picked up one stack of paper and pulled up a letter. “this mentions a tartaric acid shipment, what is that some sort of poison?” The steward shook his head, “no it’s an ingredient in making wine”. Vivian put the letter to one side there was another letter on similar paper with the same handwriting. “There is a reference to an oak shipment from the guild, has this any significance?” The steward looked at it, “yes these are aged barrels used for some of the best wine”. Vivian found several more letters in the pile. They matched the letters included term used in vineyards, not surprising for a village that made most of its money through wine.

There was more, it charted where barrels were going to which lords. Which years certain customers liked, which city's they could be shipped to. The information would only be something available to a senior member of the trade guild, the lord Cain and his steward. How this information could be used, they were not sure but it proved a link. Vivian looked at the letters, “the ink is slightly red is it some way to trace who uses this reddish ink to wright the letters?” Martin shook his head, “no its probable a little blood mixed in with the ink, the vampire can instantly tell who sent them the letter, it makes there correspondence impossible to forge.”

Vivian looked at the steward, “considering lord Cain's reaction and your assistance there is no way you could be helping the vampire”. The steward looked briefly annoyed, “that is obvious” Martin held out his hand, “purify”. The steward sighed, “I don't feel any different, no malignant taint has been removed, go and ask Alan and Barnabas if they recognise the handwriting, do it subtly, ask to see his special stock perhaps”.

The group took some of the samples of the letters and went over to meet the trade guild representative Alan. They greeted the counter staff politely and Barnabas let them into the back room. Alan sighed, “While I would like you to spend your reward money hear I don't have any new stock”. Alice looked at him, “You’re aware we appear to have a spy in the village.” Alan nodded “yes probably one of the group of bandits.” Vivian spoke quietly, “We wanted to talk to you privately about this, the correspondence from the vampire’s lair, see their letters it goes into a lot of detail about the wine trade. Do you recognise this handwriting”?

David looked at them both, “please don't be offended, Martin if you don't mind”. Martin held out his holy symbol and approached Alan, “purify”. Alan shrugged “a waste of time”. Martin approached Barnabas the man hesitated. Immediately spells were readied pistols draws. He held his hands out, “OK calm down no need for violence, it’s embarrassing just get on with it”. Martin held out his hand “purify”. Immediately Barnabas hair turned grey, he sighed taking off his helmet to show them. “It was a magic ointment to cover up the grey hair, and it works better than the hair dye which smells funny OK”. He put his helmet back on looking slightly embarrassed. The drawn weapons were re-sheathed.

Alan looked over the letters, then handed them to Barnabas “I don't recognise the handwriting it’s probably disguised, I know that there were times when the archanist's construction was feeding information to the vampires. This spy must have been here for longer than that construct was active based on the paperwork. From this correspondence it must have been a member of the merchant’s guild. There are three possible people who have worked on all of these shipments, these deals. One is myself but Barnabas can confirm my location, an elimination from the enquires. The second is Lydia, she has been a little distracted of late and the third is Malcolm, you can check with them under the pretence of chasing up some petty thefts from stock for me OK”.

They made plans and left the back room. Lydia was fairly easy to find, she oversaw a large chunk of the warehouses checking that the barrels were stored correctly that nothing was out of place. Vivian and David took the lead. Even dressed in armour they were less intimidating than the other two members of their party. Lydia seemed to be distracted, she had a pencil and a book in front of her she was rechecking the shelves.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when the group approach her. “What, how can I help you”? David approached her, “As you know the vampire threat has been dealt with, Alan has given us a small task to investigate a series of petty thefts. We would like you to help us with our investigation, as one of the senior members of the trade guild you could”. She shrugged nervously as Vivian firmly led her to a side room and pushed her into a chair. She started talking, “we are, running out of storage room, shipments out of the village have been stopped for a while, until they get the situation sorted, I suppose they will get a few more guards then start again”.

Martin spoke to her, “Has anyone been acting differently, behaviours mannerisms looks?” she shook her head. “No one that works under me as far as I can tell”. Alice reached out a hand sensing no magic. “Has anyone started to carry a new accessory a token, perhaps something magical to show off”? She shrugged, “would Barnabas hair oil count”? Alice shook her head. David was next “is there anyone with gambling debts a drinking habit that would need money. Or someone that has recently started spending more than they can afford”? She thought for a few seconds, “one of the lads has been a bit generous, but then his uncle passed on and left him a bit of coin”.

Vivian looked at her closely she leaned in, “excuse me for a moment” Lydia leaned back her head hit the back of the chair. Vivian looked at her eyes and passed her finger in front of them. There was a slight lag in Lydia's ability to track it. She swallowed nervously as Vivian reached a hand forward. “I think we found something”. The woman made a small whimpering sound as Vivian grasped her face pulling her eyelids back and then her jaws open exposing her gums.

She was starting to look terrified, “what's going on”? Lydia's voice was nervous. Vivian looked at her “hand it over”. She swallowed “what do you mean”. Martin spoke in a voice of unrelenting malevolence, “you have something to hide spit it out”. She reached into her clothes and pulled out a small pouch handing it to Vivian. She sighed and moved behind Lydia taking a firm grip on her wrists twisting her arms into a tight lock. “just as I thought, the slowed visual response blackening gums yellowing around the corners of the eye, how long have you been hiding a drug addiction to arrow root paste.”? The yellow hallucinogenic stuff was on her person, she had incriminated herself.

Lydia was utterly terrified as Vivian held her fast, “What are you going to do to me”? Vivian spoke “we are going to ask a few questions, then do a little search then we will find out what's going on”. “How long have you been addicted to arrow root”? “I have been finding it hard to get up, I took some of this and then I felt better that was three months ago”. Martin pushed, “where did you get this from?” she sighed defeated, “A coach driver drops it off he has a little for recreational use”. Vivian pulled on her arms, “How do you afford this”? Lydia was quick to respond, “I can easily pay for this on my salary”.

They went back to Alan, Barnabas and one of the local guards accompanied them to discretely search Lydia's personal quarters. They searched her work area then went to her home. She didn't resist, they found a little more arrow root and nothing else. No hidden compartment nothing magic nothing vampireic. The group took her to the church. Father Richard used the blessings purify discern and insight on her.

“As far as I can tell, she is just addicted to arrow root, no other influences are present”. The group relaxed Vivian released Lydia arms, they were numb from being twisted up behind her back. The priest used his pain relief blessing, Lydia relaxed, “what comes next father”? He sighed, “I am here to help, not to judge. I can offer some counselling, I will speak to Alan he may demote or fine you but as far as I am concerned the matter is concluded”. The priest threw the evidence into the fire, none raised a hand to stop him, and he offered her a hand up. “A local herbalist will have something to help you cope.” Lydia nodded her thanks.

The last person was Adrian, Alan's subordinate. He was more concerned with the shipping of goods and had a resolvable knowledge of the trade. He owned a little section of a warehouse. David and Martin looked through some of the paperwork, at his work desk, there were two porters who had helped him deliver six large barrels, they had been delivered to the settlement recently. It was odd as nothing else had been delivered and there were no caravan's. Perhaps he had acquired them from inside the settlement or changed some stock around. It was a good question as David put it, “where were the barrels delivered from, what was in them”?

Under the same pretence of looking for some petty thefts, they did a bit of digging around. It was funny Adrian was not about very much lately. There were a few suspicious behaviours, working at odd hours making transactions pickups. It could be that he was stealing from the guild or he could be just running his own business on the side. There was no hard guild rule against it, as long as guild duties were completed, and all appropriate dues were paid. He had a house Vivian stopped by and had a chat with his wife, she was a pleasant woman but decidedly unimaginative. She decried her husband as a little distant recently. They had two children that looked nothing like her or the description of Adrian. She politely let them know that the children were adopted four years ago, there original parents were killed in a troll attack. Such things were common enough, adoption was better than the orphanages.

They went back to Alan “we checked Lydia she was suffering from a drug addiction, not plotting against the village, what can you tell us about Adrian he seems to have vanished off the face of the earth”. Alan sighed, “he moved into the area from one of the bigger towns, he had an interest in wine so he came hear via the guild that was three years ago.” Martin considered the situation, “this might have been a plan of the vampires for some considerable time, what got you to accept Adrian”?

“We had a recommendation from higher up in the guild, he has been exemplary a model employee. He is really diligent with his work, less so with his family, that is not uncommon”. “His private storeroom where is it, I believe we have enough reason to carry out a search. He has not been seen for a day now”. David pushed, Alan wondered, “He is probably mixed up in all this, I would like to hear his explanation. You could rip the door of its hinges or blow the lock off. I would prefer that you used the spare key I keep, report back when you have checked the place out”.

The group were expecting a fight when they got to the location. They went round the back to the little store room. Martin had his holy symbol and his tipple barrelled pistol ready. David had his sword drawn and his shield up. Vivian stepped back she had a bodkin arrow ready. Alice prepared a spell and stood back. David had a lantern hung from his shield. The door clicked open and they burst in.

The room was not very large. There was a few scraps of paper and an inkwell, On a rickety table. There were a few crates and supplies about the place, they looked like materials that an archanist would have been able to use. Adrian's guilt seemed to be assured. There were six barrels around the edge of the wall and four apparently empty boxes next to them. There was a barrel in the centre of the room and a few torches.

Adrian looked quite guilty, holding an iron sword that glowed with a blood red and purple magic. He had a shield which gave off a similar aura. He had a belt made from chainmail around his waist it held similar enchantments. He grinned, “You want me alive, the boss wants you dead”, Martin looked over him. “You’re holding items imbued by the thrall taint, but you don't seem to have had the thrall taint, I didn't notice it before, it must be very deeply rooted in you”. “He grinned your perspective is flawed, vintage 2895”. The six barrels behind him cracked open from the inside, they each contained a greater walkers with a little of the green preservative fluid. They had been activated from a dormant state by the phrase vintage 2895.

In his shield hand he had a scroll, it glowed with a brief purple light as he thought a command phrase. The necromancers scroll activated a spell, the crates fell apart from the inside the false bottoms revealed four piles of bones that rapidly became four bone hounds. The battle was a forgone conclusion from the start. David hit him in the face with his tower shield sending the man staggering back. Martin shouted to the others, “try to leave Alan to David he might be able to break through with a feat of strength”. Martin took two of the bone hounds out with his triple pistol. Vivian put a bodkin through one of the greater walkers and Alice destroyed another bone hound with an acid strike.

David demolished a greater walker while Adrian was still regaining his footing. With two power attacks it crumbled under David's sword shattering metal and rending flesh. Martin hit the last bone hound with a “wrath” blessing killing it outright. Vivian put a second power shot into the injured greater walker destroying it. Alice hit a greater walker with a few fire bite spells it collapsed a charred crisped corpse.

The remaining greater walkers converged on Martin, he activated his new defensive blessing “guardian seraphim angel”. The first four attacks were completely blocked, giving him enough time to draw another pistol. David blocked Adrian's short sword attacks with his shield, the enchantment in the blade seemed to leach away a little of his life with each strike. He answered with his own strikes.

That started to dent the magically reinforced iron shield that Adrian had. Vivian sent an arrow into the remaining group of walkers, a critical hit with the Damascus bodkin dropping one dead. Two fire bite spells from Alice another walker fell. Martin had an overload shot ready and last walker was gone.

The constructs had been trounced they were not able to stand against veteran adventures. Adrian was not down yet but they wanted him alive. David let lose an adrenalin power strike putting a dent in Adrian's shield and sending it spinning off into a corner of the room. He was not going to hold out much longer. He retreated and grabbed a torch his eyes flashed and he grinned manically, “good bye”. David could see that he was going to throw the torch, he didn't anticipate it being a good thing if Adrian succeeded.

At the last possible second David knocked the lantern off course with his shield, it landed in a corner. Adrian looked dejected and angry as David closed in on him. Martin stamped out the flames from the torch smothering it with a piece of tarpaulin. He looked at the barrel that Adrian had been aiming for looking in the barrel it was a bomb of some sort. He sealed the lid tightly, “it looks like shrapnel and gunpowder, it might have been for the main gate”. Adrian screamed in defiance, “you can’t get anything from me”. David used an adrenalin strike, he didn't want to risk the lunatic trying to blow them up. The blade cut through the man, cracking bone but he was left standing he was much tougher than he appeared to be.

Martin grinned, “I know what he is, a blood thrall, born with the thrall taint,” Adrian did a mocking bow “a 1st generation blood thrall at your service.” Martin sighed, “A human blood thrall gets stronger with each generation that the taint is spread to. So if he had descendants a second generation would be stronger.” Adrian launched himself at David, “I am strong”. He managed to land another blow the swords enchantment doing a little damage. he received a wound for his efforts that sent him hobbling back. Martin continued, “Both parents would be infected, he was born as a servant it was ingrained in his nature, I can’t remove it”.

The blood thrall threw a vial of green liquid over Martin it released a noxious vapour. David staggered back, Martin looked ill Alice was already quick, “cure poison” David was standing up again as Alice used her touch heal spell. He grinned at the thrall, “the hunters highly resistant and I have an Alice backing me up”. The blood thrall countered back, “you can’t level up veteran, you had help”. He shook his head, “it’s only if I had help killing you not resisting your attacks, Martin could use his defensive blessings on me, Vivian could throw me a replacement dagger if I dropped my sword”.

David continued to face off against the Blood thrall. The enchanted belt allowed him to move more quickly than David. The large shield level of skill and overwhelming strength would not allow him any victory. Two more strikes and the blood thrall was barely standing, “I am loyal till the end you will gain nothing from me”. He jumped towards his writing desk trying to turn the lamp over onto his paperwork, trying to burn a letter. David stopped him hitting him with a power attack, which cleaved into the back of his skull. Adrian screamed reaching forwards then fell to his knees. He fell backwards tried to reach up then slowly stopped, he was most definitively dead.

Martins eyes glowed as he slowly began to reload his pistol, he levelled up from the fight. Hitting level 31 he gained more melee proficiency. David felt the flow of time stop he remembered Martin describing the event. The message appeared in front of him, A special action has been performed feat of marshal strength has been achieved you have defeated a worthy opponent your level limit has been increased to level 50, your fait is sealed. He had faced an inhumanly tough blood thrall armed with magical weapons, the man's level would have been close to 25 so it counted. He had gained proficiency in a new skill duellist allowing him to perform better in single one on one fights against humanoid opponents. Vivian missed out this time as she needed to make a break through Vivian would do that soon enough Alice was now a veteran level 25. She had the master version of the acid strike spell it was quite potent.

David saw the equipment that Adrian had dropped on the floor. Martin was quick to react, “don't, it will ether give you the thrall taint or drain your life force”. Martin held the sword in his hand it glowed and seemed to start trying to shake out of his grip. Martin dropped it he held his holy symbol out to the belt, “purify” it cracked into little pieces from the stress of removing the cursed enchantment. “Purify” the shield cracked into iron splinters, David was a little sad to see the sword go as with a final “purify” it cracked.

They started to take the bone hounds remains the walkers and pile them up outside in the street. Away from the buildings, they added tinder and oil getting a fire started to burn the remains clean, Barnabas and Alan arrived and watched the walkers remains go up in flame. Vivian looked at the letter, “I think that they were planning an attack on a much larger settlement, probably forge hold,”

Alice looked at the barrel of gun powder, “What about this one”? Vivian made an educated guess “Adrian would have gotten the gates open, then they would easily overrun this settlement with the forces Islington had”. Martin pointed to the walkers showing Alan, “they would have converted the population to walkers and hidden them in barrels”. He pointed inside to the remains of the broken barrels. David made the next leap of logic, “they would have used thralls or thieves’ guild contacts to get them inside forge hold, the entire place would have been overrun from the inside.” Alice pointed at the skeletal remains, “there must be a necromancer with another group of vampires, they had a trick for those crates they have a false bottom, this was probably a test run for this tactic as well”.

Alice held up the remnant of the necromantic scroll and threw it on the fire. “This scroll didn't conjuror up the dead, it activated them, they had been dormant, it’s quite cleaver but the scroll would still show up as necromantic magic to a thorough enough search.” Martin prodded one of the dead walkers looking at Alan, “from now on we might need to check all barrels with a magnet.” The priest Richard and the steward were there a few minutes later, they were brought up to speed on the situation.

Alan looked at them, “do we keep the details quiet”, the steward shook his head “we tell everyone we need to keep them watchfully. This man Adrian was hear for three years under our noses”, Barnabas asked “What will happen to his wife and children?” Father Richard sighed, “The woman will be checked then sent to another settlement most likely”. He paused “the children will also be checked by then they will be sent to the nearest orphanage, I would think that they are not tainted or it would have risked his cover, I can’t see it being good for them to stay hear”. “Is-ant it cruel to break up a family”? The priest shrugged, “they might stay together but it is hard to provide, I will speak at length with Alan and Lord Cain.”

David looked happy, “we will get paid well for this binging a traitor to justice”. Martin considered the implications, “a family will be torn apart what normality they had will be gone”. The priest looked over at Adrian's body, “for this one for what it is worth I will give him the ceremony of last rights. Then we will cremate him, I have been told that effectively it is like he has been possessed since birth, hopefully there was a soul in there that can find piece”. Vivian sighed, “I'm guessing we don't get a break, we get pulled into a bigger conflict at forge hold right”. Alice sighed “don't worry you will catch up and overtake David soon”.

They met with the lord Cain, “you have routed out the thorn in our mists, you have our thanks and a bonus of 20 silver each.” from this correspondence I believe that next spy is in forge. I charge you to aid in its defence, there is an attack imminent. You will do your duty as you have in my Vine Garden. Alan and the lord had them gather there things they were sent to Forge hold, with letter to the local priest confessor Calvin, the local leader he was a level 45 priest in the larger settlement. It was nice to be treated with a bit of respect, now they were off again to hunt down a spy plot before they could take a break. At least they had a barrel and provisions for the journey, and this time they were in a coach rather than on an open cart.