Breakfast was good, one rations of honey and cream with their food, rather than the usual fish stew. The duchess either thought that they were doing good work disrupting the hidden hand or she was happy with the price Alice paid. The Magical artificial that now resided proudly on her belt. Martin was going to spend some time finishing off the leather work for the artefact Tesla's hand. His knowledge of Tesla grenades had helped him a get a little further, he needed a more skilled crafts man to complete it. Before he could start David volunteered him for an exercise with the guards, using mixed unit tactics.

Alice was going to drift off to read up on her books when Vivian dragged her off. She needed a spell caster to practice with. With a little regret Alice helped Vivian train. The first exercise involved Alice throwing a fire bite spell at a target while Vivian would try to intercept it with one of her iron arrows. It was one of the only counters an archer out in the open had to a high-level spell. Alice did note that Vivian could prematurely detonate most of her spells until Alice started duel casting so that Vivian had to intercept two projectiles. She managed it the first few times then her concentration faltered, and one got threw, the target dummy got quite singed.

For a second practice Alice cast an earthen wall spell in-front of the dummy, Vivian's power shots easily pierced the physical barrier they moved on. Alice cast her physical shield spell over the dummy Vivian countered it with a two-hit combination, two arrow one after the other an octium arrow to disrupt the magic and an adamantine arrow right through the centre of the dummy. Alice started to layer shield spells over the dummy two or three deep. Vivian had to launch a volley of octium arrows to pierce these spell shields.

They finished their practice and came out of the front of the duchess residence. The entire group of guards were panting on their hands and knees. David was hunched over feeling the weight of his armour his tower shield used as a crutch, his armour shifting with his laboured breathing. Martin was standing there fresh as a daisy. It was a bad idea to try to keep up to someone with over 90 points of endurance. In a contest of physical strength Martin would never stand up to David or Vivian, but in shear endurance they couldn't hold a candle to him.

Thomas arrived greeting the group, “I guess you've been training hard evil never rests so why should we”, David stood up straight. “Yes, you will have to join us for a training exercise some time”. “Francis asked me to get you there is a small matter that needs our attention”. The party met Francis at the hunters chapter house, “those demons you killed humiliated a noble from the textile city, he is colloquially called the sheep lord. He offered a bounty of 100 silver for them to be beaten back and sent to hell. As far as I am aware you have done that, I just need to take your testimony and oath a letter and I can get the funds released soon”.

They spent twenty minutes filling out forms and swearing on holy symbols. The problem with demons that left no physical remains. You had to rely on a witness statement to confirm that they were gone. The master hunters seal formalised the document. The sheep lord would have his notarized statement his revenge would be complete. The demons were now in hell and he had the last laugh. After that little duty they were directed to the city watch barracks, the deputy sheriff had a reward for them.

There was an old but sturdy wooden box about three feet by one-foot long sitting on his desk, the box had an official wax seal on it. “There is a letter of thanks and this box was form Ulysses crossing, some adventurer gear for killing the big hell hound”. Alice started to read the letter of thanks. There were half a dozen petty healing potions. A dozen iron broad-head arrows, an iron dagger. Two silver rings a silver chain and a silver head band, and a few silver cups.

There were potions of minor shock resistance, potions of restore stamina a compact crossbow with a dozen silver bolts, a scroll of shock bolt a few dozen other low-level spell scrolls and a book on enchanting.

Vivian had destroyed a few of her arrows with the training exercise that morning, “I will have the broad head arrows”. They were about the standard for the city watch suitable for the most basic of tasks. David was next, “I suppose the potion to restore stamina might be useful, it was pointed out to me that I need to perhaps have a bit more, can you make a holder for it Martin”? Martin handed him a leather pouch form inside his jacket, “I made a few spare from last time”. David nodded his thanks.

Alice grabbed the book on enchanting, “it’s useful to know …more about how equipment is made, plus it helps to know what's out there”. Martin grabbed a handful of the low-quality silver, “I can melt this down for silver bullets, I am starting to run low”. Thomas looked over the lot, “I do lack a ranged weapon this might do the trick”. He took the crossbow and bolts as his share. Vivian looked at the rest, “Anyone want any of this other stuff or we just sell it”? There was a general look of apathy towards the rest of the contents of the box, “ok that settles it”.

Francis turned around to the group, “the merchants guild can take the rest of that off your hands quick, let’s move onto more important matters the third vampire lair”. Thomas observed, “all the local vampires have probably pulled back there”. Vivian nodded, “they seem to be sitting tight waiting for reinforcements. We need to destroy them before anything else arrives, the correspondence from the second showed that more troops are on the way”. Martin cracked his knuckles, “our biggest challenge will be the prince, an elder vampire very strong. He avoided fighting us at least once but this time we get him”.

Alice looked at the map, “this lair is pretty far away, we need a coach …this time or we will be spending more time hiking than fighting. Can you arrange it with the merchant’s guild Francis”? “certainly, but it’s not like the coach is going to stay around or make camp after dark, I can get them to send the same coach back every couple of days to pick you up”. Vivian wondered, “we can see how well we do after the first day”.

They went to the merchant’s guild and exchanged some potions for a top up on Martin's thermite the rest of the box sold for 15 silver. They got provisions and other supplies prepared for a long fight they got on a coach and headed off to attack the third lair.

Artus kept a look out on the road, his master commanded it, so he kept to his duty. his blood every fibre of his being obeyed that command resonated with it. It was not within him to disobey. But he could still feel tension, he could still feel boredom. There was meant to have been a big attack on the port city. Army's from the north, but they had never materialised. They had pulled back to the second lair, but they had heard even more grim tidings from their allies. There brothers their companion animals even their masters falling.

They started to whisper rumours that even an ancient had not been able to end the four masters. Some said that they were infused with alchemy and golem parts. Others said that they were not the same four masters that had started fighting. That as one fell another took their place, this still meant that there were four masters out there. Then there were rumblings that something unnatural had been raised up. Some said it was the abomination a vial mockery of the masters, back from the dead others said that it was a second abomination raised with whatever corruption had created the first.

What he did know was that there was meant to be a troop of demons with him and a large pack of thrall wolves, neither of which had shown up yet. Neither of which he was really expecting to show up at this point. He was a beast tamer by trade, his skills and abilities helped him coordinate his charges. Four salamanders with fiery breath not quite equal to a dragon, well not in the same league. They would still toast a country bumpkin with a sharpened stick a long time before they could even bother the masters.

Around him were ten others like himself, born pure of the blood. The power in their veins could not be removed like a common thrall. The church could not break their bonds of service. Three more hours and the masters could move about freely. There was an alarm chain to warn them, they each had a short armour of iron chainmail and a helm. Four carried spears and the rest short bows. For a second he thought that he heard the rattle of a coach then it stopped. There was the clink clink clink of armour something that banged about like a pedlar with pots and pans.

Slowly a man was approaching them up the trail. One lone hero would be easy pickings then they would divide his equipment between them. At a gesture two archers flanked left two right. He moved two of his salamanders up the centre and one on each side. Dealing with one opponent even shielded from the front they could kill him quick enough.

The man was in full Damascus plate heavy armour. He had a really good fancy sword and several magical items by the look of it. They would distract him the salamanders would cook him; it was suicide to get within range of his sword. He took a step and clanged his shield. A feeling clenched in Artus's stomach that looked like a distraction. He was about to order his subordinates to prepare for an attack from the sides when it struck. A fire ball blasted two of his archers to piece's they were there one moment the next they were on the ground the magical flames evaporating from there singed bodies.

A copper coloured cylinder landed next to one of his salamanders it detonated covering the beast with thermite that was strong enough to burn through its hide. Highly resistant to flame molten metal was another thing entirely. A shadow in hunters garb appeared out of the woods two slashes of a blade and two of his men fell before they could react. A rain of arrows took two of his men and one of his salamanders. He felt a keening of anguish at the noble creatures passing. The man in heavy armour leapt towards his remaining loyal salamanders.

Blocking a jet of flame with his shield the armoured adventures sword cut right through his pets’ skull and struck the ground below it. He twisted around in time to bring his shield up again blocking the retribution from his last pet the sword struck down again. Artus headed for the alarm chain. He watched the last of his men fall. One acid strike spell dissolving a shield the next hitting the man behind it. Two throwing knives and the rest of his men fell.

He could almost feel the coarse chain in his hand. A hunter stood up holding his wretched symbol “pillar of salt”. Crippling agony filled Artus's being, he had to serve the masters he staggered forwards his breath became impossible as his lungs were bringing up powdery salt. His fingers reached for the chain, but they crumbled away in front of him. Everything turned white, he did his best his body collapsed unmade, he felt his soul pulled downwards his failure eternal.

As the last blood thrall collapsed their eyes glowed the level up hit. Martin reached level 92 gaining a second rank in his combat dodge ability. Vivian reached level 80 her comprehensive training perk now increased so that she could train up royal guards who had quite a nice bonus to their perception. David hit level 77 gaining the second level of the soldier of fortune skill. Alice reached level 81 mastering the earthen wall spell so that she could create really strong barriers.

Martin checked his monster book the salamanders were carved open by Thomas and David for the organs that were valuable to alchemists. Sections of their back scales were also harvested for ingredients. At a signal the coach drew closer they piled the thralls remains onto the coach for last rights and cremation.

Their equipment to be given over to the militia after the hunters checked it out. The salvaged bits of monster were sent back with the coach driver and guard to the merchant guild. The salamanders remains were quite fire retardant, so in order to dispose of the bodies Alice used her acid strike spell to effectively melt them to the point that there was no body left worth salvaging.

Martin fiddled with the alarm chain and disconnected it from whatever it had been connected to. The coach was gone they had a lair full of monsters to destroy. There was a very complex steel puzzle door. Thomas David and Vivian solved the puzzle by ripping the door from its hinges. Deeper into the lair they found a selection of battle alchemist traps.

Shrapnel mines and fire mines, they looked like they had been set some time ago, idly Martin wondered if they came from Good Ford or if they vampires had sourced them form an unlucky adventure that had challenged this lair before them. He deactivated them and stored them for later. They moved through some basic rooms. A guard post was manned by a vampire who had enough time to draw his sword before Thomas was upon him.

Moving deeper they cut through a platoon of barely animated husks emaciated zombies. Martins field of wrath blessing almost felled the lot of them. A group of fledgling vampires were pulling some duty, or another noticed the party and attempted to flee. A couple of acid strikes took one several arrows a second a silver shot to the back of the head and a stake dismantled the third. The fourth was missed by a crossbow bolt. Thomas tacked the vampire and finished them off with his more usual weapons.

Moving deeper they reached a corridor it was filled with archanist creations. There were forty or so of the professor’s minions, greater walkers and spider constructs. Behind them were a dozen Full vampires and two dozen fledgling. Out in the open they would be flanked surrounded and overwhelmed. Hear in the narrow corridor they had a much better time.

Alice put an earthen wall spell upholding the advancing greater walkers back. The spider constructs behind them started to climb over them to get to the party. Martin hurled a large thermite grenade and the recovered shrapnel and fire mines into the horde of constructs. David and Thomas stood level with the barricade slicing at anything approaching, Vivian snipped any of the spider constructs that came over the top.

After a few hectic seconds the horde of constructs was decimated by half. They were damaged by thermite fire and shredded with shrapnel. David was behind his shield, but Thomas had taken a bit of damage. Alice hurled a few fire balls at the advancing constructs between David and Thomas. Martin used his “pillar of fire” blessing to send a tornado down the corridor. The spider constructs were fast enough to get out of the way, but the heavy walkers were not so good. Vivian finished off the last of the spiders, her arrows finding their marks.

The vampires looked at just how quickly the constructs had been destroyed the vampires were many times tougher than the constructs, but they had little confidence. Still vampires generally fought because there was something a lot scarier standing behind them. The fledglings looked at the full vampires behind them and started to march forwards their weapons ready.

David hurled a flask of oil at the shielded front-rank Martin lit it on fire with a small thrown thermite grenade, three vampires crumbled to dust engulfed in flame. Thomas lobbed a bottle of holy water over the front rank of shields it shattered and hit the back rank. The fledgling it mostly landed on crumbled to dust with the two next to him being heavily injured. Alice hurled a fire ball and an electric strike spell into the mass of vampires. The front ranks shields absorbed most of the fire ball damage, but the electric strike did a bit of damage to the lot of them. Vivian sent two arrows screaming into the front rank they penetrated shields dusted the vampires behind them and injured two in the rank behind that.

Alice cast her spells another earthen wall, then a double layer of shield spells on Thomas and David. The vampire’s moral was not good, but they locked blades with David and Thomas, trying to throw knives hatchets arrows over the shields to get at the back-line fighters.

Martin used his blessings “aura of faith, hallowed earth, sphere of consecration, circle of consecration, field of wrath”. The holy energy was almost enough to crumble the vampires on the spot. There resolve wavered as smoke and steam wisped from there flesh as it blackened and peeled away. Vivian started to release more arrows into the massed vampires one by one they fell. The attack turned onto a rout. Three vampire fledglings retreated back to the full vampires. The leader of the group regarded them with a disappointed look, then decapitated them with his pole axe.

The group of vampires considered what was behind them what was waiting if they failed. As soon as the last of the blessings dissipated, they steeled themselves and charged forwards. In the blink of an eye they crashed into the earthen wall and shield spells. Martin called forth his pillar of fire again washing over the vampires they were a lot tougher than the fledglings. Vivian stepped up her game using her mithril arrows. They would tear right through a vampire and hit the one behind with enough force to sink in, but the vampire from the front rank were still standing.

Martin used more blessings “circle of consecration, sphere of consecration”. The vampires could endure far more than the fledglings. He pulled out his four barrelled pistol loaded with silver shots and emptied it into the gap between Thomas and David. One vampire got the brunt of the attack and collapsed into dust. Vivian put two mithril arrows into a vampire’s head it staggered then collapsed.

A vampire tried to climb over David's shield Alice got them twice in the face with her acid strike spell and they toppled back.

Thomas hooked a vampire with his dagger and dragged them close allowing him to put a blade into their skull ending them. David sliced forwards with a power attack cutting off the crown of a vampire’s head. The vampire was able to land several more blows before there injury caught up with them and they collapsed into dust.

A vampire tried to douse Thomas and David with burning oil Alice switched their physical shield spell to an elemental shield spell and the burning oil had no effect. A fire ball from Alice quickly proved to be a final counter argument to the vampire. Vivian picked off two more of them and Martin hit another with his pistol the lionhearts hammer, the extra holy damage tearing it apart.

Down to their last four the vampires tried to mount an orderly retreat, Vivian's arrows Martins pistols and a barrage of acid strikes set them in full route. Thomas jumped over the earthen wall barrier and took down a vampire cutting until they crumbled to dust. David charged after them, but they were rapidly out pacing him Vivian's adamantine arrow found its mark on the back of one of the vampire’s skulls. They collapsed to the ground and crumbled. Alice engulfed the last one in a fire ball.

The level up hit, perhaps this group was buying time for the rest of the vampires to fall back to another point. Alice reached level 82 Alice learnt a new spell desiccate. It was very powerful especially against large monsters but not very good against the undead. For a siege ghoul it would do wonders, a vampire would probably be quite badly injured as the blood was rung out of their veins. David reached level 78 gaining the third rank of his soldier of fortune skill. Vivian reached level 81 gaining the first rank of the knock down skill which improved her chance of knocking an enemy down. Martin reached level 93 and gained the third rank of the dodge ability.

Martin looked around at the carnage, “no real leadership with this group yet they stayed and fought almost to the end their boss can’t be far away”. Thomas was in agreement as he dusted off his hat, “I would have expected an elite leading that lot. Do you think all their best has been pulled back to one point”? They checked the vampires remains over and gathered up as many teeth as possible for the reward. There were a few trinkets lock-picks coins and items that they could use. The remains of the constructs were moved into a side room which had a bit of ventilation, doused in oil and set on fire.

Moving forwards, they found a section of tunnel that was quite heavily trapped. There were some fairly obvious pit traps a layer of twigs or a mechanical hatch that opened up to a fall of a few feet into wooden or iron tipped spikes. They had light from torches and Vivian's ring David had to be pulled out of one by Thomas. They found a few much larger pits Alice filled them in with uses of her earthen wall spell. They approached one corridor that shifted to become a pool of acid as the metal steps slid into the water after they tripped some sort of wire. Martin held out his holy symbol, “cleanse water” he stepped into the pool and shrugged, “now we can just wade through it”.

The party moved deeper into the lair signs of life beds coffins abandoned cooking pots cards left at a table a few books worth of reading material. The place had been packed hours before they could expect a really thick throng of opponents, when they finally got to the bottom of this lair. Finally, they hit a door that was quite an impressive lump. Martin looked at it, “iron reinforced with steel banding Alice is it enchanted”? “Oh yes, lots of toughness … and damage resistance”.

They looked over the door it had no apparent weakness. Its frame was carved into the rock custom made it was surrounded by well-made masonry, a competent craftsman had put it in place. There were no exploitable gaps or weakness in the frame the lock would not be picked.

Martin tried to get his tools into it, David got an iron bar and tried to pry under it. Vivian kept looking around the area for some hidden override or door an alternative way. Thomas kept prying and jimmying with his adamantine blades to get the door to open. Alice looked at the door, “they must be sitting tight waiting for …reinforcements right”. Martin nodded, “I guess at this point the prince does not want to face us in a fight”.

They backed off to think of a new plan, they got right out of the lair out of ear shot of any creature. Martin turned to Thomas, “can you hear anything”? “No”, “then they probably can’t hear us”. David lifted the visor to his helmet, “do we have any idea about an escape tunnel or back entrance”. Vivian checked her notes, “No one has gotten further than this”.

David pointed to the forest, “perhaps we can cut down a tree, a solid bit of hardwood trim it and use it as a battering ram, between me Vivian and Thomas we have probably got over two hundred points of strength. Almost like there were four dozen people behind it. It’s a lot of steel but it would budge eventually”. Martin remembered the siege of bay city; he had been on the other side of the door then. “They could brace the door to keep us out or prepare some sort of trap, we can call that plan b”.

Vivian sighted, “We can't sit here and wait them out, I bet they have a lot of provisions behind that door”. Alice thought about the construction she looked through the book on enchanting, she shut it with a grin. “My acid strike spells might be able to wear away the frame …round the door, it’s not enchanted, and it does not benefit from the enchantment on the door”. Martin pulled out a medium thermite grenade. “That would work eventually Alice, but I think I have a rough idea were the bolts holding the door in place are. If you could create a gap in the frame, I can use thermite to melt the bolts holding the door in place”. Vivian looked over to the forest, “we can get the battering ram as a backup let’s make some preparations.

With the axe in her pack they cut down a small hardwood tree stripping it of branches. Thomas carried it as they headed back inside. Alice continually use acid strike to weaken door frame in three places marked by Martin. The spell devoured a sliver of rock at a time but eventually two areas were carved out to accept the thermite charges and the third was well on its way.

Alice looked tired, she gestured the group back out of the lair. “Look I am mostly out of mana, I don't want some vampire hearing that from the other side of the door. I need food and rest we have the battering ram prepared let’s finish this tomorrow morning”. Vivian looked around “Could you take a mana potion. Do you really need to rest”? Martin looked at her, “let’s eat some provisions first”.

They devoured their rations. Martin looked about, “I rest, and I can use my blessings again. I have a lot of things I can throw at the vampire elder, but I want to be at full strength”. David looked about, “I can still keep going but we don't want to be caught unaware”. Tomas added, “I don't need to sleep, we want to be close to full strength for tomorrow you rest I keep watch”. Vivian agreed she went off to scout, a small dose of blue powder then went back to get some sleep under a blanket. Tomas stood there unmoving listening and watching for any noise, nothing stirred.