Siora’s attack roll (W1): 1d20+12 = 16 (Hit)

Damage: 1d6+2 = 4 (Piercing)

Siora’s attack roll (W1): 1d20+7 = 24 (Hit)

Damage: 1d6+2 = 3 (Piercing)

Moving up next to her sister, Siora pulled out her bow. In quick succession, two arrows flew from the string, piercing the wight that had been trapped around the corner each time. Looking back at me, she waved a hand, and sound returned to me. “Melinda, take down the tentacles, and we’ll finish this!”

Melinda’s attack Roll (W4): 1d20+24 = 30 (Touch) (Hit)

Vitriolic Blast: 7d6 = 26 (Acid)

Melinda’s attack Roll (W3): 1d20+24 = 40 (Touch) (Hit)

Vitriolic Blast: 13 (Acid)

Melinda’s attack Roll (W2): 1d20+24 = 39 (Touch) (Hit)

Vitriolic Blast: 13 (Acid)

Melinda’s attack Roll (W1): 1d20+24 = 43 (Touch) (Hit)

Vitriolic Blast: 13 (Acid)

I grinned at Siora as a beat of my wings sent me gliding past the sisters, taking a spot next to Frostmane where we could keep the relatively squishier twins out of direct harm. With a flourish, I dropped the tentacles, before unleashing a bolt of acid, targeting the wight in back. That wight literally melted, and the bolt of acid chained to the other three, injuring all of them.

Frostmane’s Frost Breath: 4d6 = 17 (Cold)

Breath Recharge: 1d4+1 = 3 Rounds

W2 Ref Save (Frost Breath): 1d20+2 = 21 (Success, Half damage)

W3 Ref Save (Frost Breath): 1d20+2 = 6 (Fail) (Dead)

The white wolf moved forward, and breathed out a cone of frigid cold once again. Personally, I thought he was just happy to find foes he could use the frost breath on. However, it was most certainly effective, as one wight fell over, dead, and the other looked all but ready to join him.

Vestele’s Attack Roll (W2): 1d20+10 = 30 (Hit)

Damage: 1d8+1 = 4 (Piercing)

Pulling out her crossbow, Vestele fired a bolt at the wight that had survived Frostmane’s breath attack. The bolt lodged directly in the wight’s forehead, a shot that would have brought it down, if it were still among the living. Still, the wight looked to be on its last legs.

W1’s Attack Roll (Frostmane): 1d20+3 = 18 (Miss)

W2’s Attack Roll (Frostmane): 1d20+3 = 6 (Miss)

The two remaining wights, injured, but without the tentacles to keep them back, howled as one, saying only a single word, “FOOD!” The long years of isolation, as an undead who was driven to consume flesh but did not have any flesh to consume, must have driven them mad. Their flailing attacks easily deflected off Frostmane’s armor, not even scratching the wolf.

Lingering Acid (W1): 2d6 = 7 (Acid) (Dead)

Lingering Acid (W2): 2d6 = 7 (Acid) (Dead)

And then, as Siora held back, readying her bow should any of them slip past Frostmane, the wights melted, as the other had, the acid from my blast finishing the job. Looking around at the others, I said, “Is that all? Did we finish them?”

Vestele’s Knowledge (Religion): 1d20+12 = 24 (Success)

“Not yet,” the priestess said. “We still need to deal with the vampires. They might have run back to their crypts, but they’ll be back within the hour unless we end them permanently.”

“How do we do that?”

“There’s a few ways, but the easiest for us would be to stake them through the heart with a wooden stake, and then cut off their head. That would destroy them permanently. There are other ways, such as dumping them in running water, which we don’t have, or hauling them upstairs and throwing them in the sunlight, risking getting jumped by wraiths while carrying the vampires, but I think staking is the best choice. We just need to find, or make, wooden stakes.”

I looked around at that, taking stock of the materials around us. “Hmm. The walls, doors, and the like are all stone, and the fixtures are metal. But the coffin the leader was standing next to didn’t look like stone. It was some kind of wood, I believe.”

“We could shatter the coffin and use it as a stake, then.”

We returned to the tomb where the head priestess had been. As I thought, the coffin on a small dais was not made of stone. Instead, it was made of black wood inlaid with silver, made like a work of art. It was almost a shame that we were going to smash it.

Unarmed Damage: 2d6+2 = 10 (Bludgeoning)

Eldritch Blow Damage: 7d6 = 18 (Magic) (Hardness 10) (Half Damage)

Unarmed Damage: 2d6+2 = 7 (Bludgeoning)

Eldritch Blow Damage: 7d6 = 28 (Magic) (Hardness 10) (Half Damage) (Broken)

But smash it I did. The wood of the coffin was only three quarters of an inch thick, but punching it felt like hitting solid steel. Probably had some kind of magic on it. Still, two hits had the coffin in pieces. All that time, the vampire priestess laid motionless, eyes closed.

Vestele did the honors of staking the priestess with one of the wooden shards, and I stood by with a bastard sword taken from one of Frostmane’s bags. As soon as Vestele drove the stake home, using her mace as a hammer, I cut off the vampire’s head. The moment I did so, the rest of the corpse crumbled into dust, leaving only the gear she had been wearing.

Seeing that as a success, we then turned our attention to the three remaining vampires. One by one, we staked them, and cut off their heads. When the last one was gone, we got the notification I had been waiting for.

Your party has defeated Naevys Enynore, 3 Vampire Acolytes, and 4 Wights!

Melinda gains 1050 xp.

Frostmane gains 1313 xp.

Siora gains 1313 xp.

Vestele gains 1313 xp.

Loot:

+2 Mithral Full Plate Armor

+2 Heavy Steel Shield

+1 Heavy Mace

MW Heavy Crossbow

Amulet of Natural Armor +1 x4

Ring of Resistance +1

Gauntlets of Ogre Power

Periapt of Wistom +4

+1 Mithral Full Plate Armor x3

+1 Heavy Steel Shield x3

Heavy Crossbow x3

MW Heavy Mace x3

Periapt of Wisdom +2 x3

Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds x3

None of it was particularly thrilling, though much of it would sell nicely enough that it was worth tossing into Frostmane’s bag. The masterwork and common weapons we left aside. Those weren’t worth the weight, compared to the rest of what we were carrying.

We also found a silver key in the remains of the high priestess’s coffin. The key was emblazoned with the symbol of Selune, leaving little doubt that this was what we were looking for. I was a little surprised that the crypts were so empty, but then perhaps the temple fell before they had many ‘honored dead’ to fill the crypt. After all, the vampires weren’t intending to become vampires.

Standing before the Founder’s crypt once again, I inserted the key in the lock, and turned. There was a flash of light, and the warding spell locking the door faded away. Without even touching it, the silver-inlaid stone doors swung soundlessly inward.

This crypt was lit by lanterns, each holding a silver everburning flame. Opposite the door, a statue of Selune stood, with crystal eyes filled with that same silver everburning flame, looking down upon the stone sarcophagus sitting upon a dais made of white stone. The sarcophagus was made of marble, and inlaid with silver.

As I took the first step upon the stairs leading up to the sarcophagus, the statue’s eyes flared brightly. A feminine voice, filled with wrath, sounded from the statue. “Blasphemers! You DARE befoul this place with your evil taint? PERISH!”

Siora cursed. “They probably set up some kind of ward to attack evil creatures who made it this far. I doubt anyone even knew it was here!”

I was about to ask what the thing was doing, other than trying to talk us into leaving, but then I sensed the flow of magic coalesce in front of me. There was a flash of silver light, and I found myself face to face with a VERY angry-looking angel.

Vestele’s Knowledge (Religion): 1d20+12 = 31 (Success

Vestele shouted, “That’s a Planetar! Not as powerful as some angels, but it is still a powerful spellcaster and melee combatant! Acid and Cold won’t work on it, Mel, and spells are likely to not make it through!”

Oh, that was bad. That was really bad. That meant that we would essentially be relying on Frostmane for much of the damage if we had to fight this angel. We couldn’t afford this fight, not before the battle to come.

The nine-foot-tall angel looked down at me, a look of righteous indignation upon her face. “So, you are the fiends that have transgressed on this sacred place? I will give you one chance to repent, and make peace with your gods, before I send you to them!”

Melinda’s Bluff Check (Planetar): 1d20+34 = 52

Planetar’s Sense Motive Check: 1d20+23 = 24 (Fail)

“WAIT!” I cried, “Don’t you want to know why we are here? Do you know what has transpired here?”

The angel paused in the midst of raising her greatsword, which looked to be as big as I was. Her eyes focused more intently on mine, and I could see a flicker of… not doubt, but perhaps a bit of caution? “Why should I care about the mission I was sworn to accomplish, protecting the resting place of the lover of Mortal Selune?”

Melinda’s Diplomacy check: 1d20+19 = 27 (Hostile to Indifferent)

I blinked at THAT bombshell, but didn’t let it stop me. “The truth is, the Temple of the Moonmaiden’s Glory fell to darkness long ago. This chamber is the only one that has not been besmirched by the presence of the undead, souls caught here unwillingly as a magical barrier was raised imperfectly, trapping them between life and death.”

Seeing that the planetar was not chopping me into tiny pieces at the moment, I decided to keep it going. “Orcs, under the influence of the Beastlord, Malar, attacked the Moonwood in force during one of the great Orc Wars. The defenders of the temple fought bravely, it is said, but, in the end, they were driven back, into the temple itself.

“The High Priestess, desperate to save the temple, erected a barrier of moonfire, but the spell was cast imperfectly. The hell-touched orcs became wraiths, while the remaining defenders fell and became wights and vampires. And, for many years, the Temple was cut off from the outside world.”

I took a breath, and then continued on. “The Temple of Selune in Northport, upon the coast, learned that the barrier around the temple was weakening, but before they could get more information, the priestess in Moonwater was slain, and all contact with the town was lost.”

“My friends and I were looking for adventuring work, for reasons of our own, and came across a call for aid from the Temple. The teams that they would normally use for such work were all engaged elsewhere on the continent, and they believed the situation was grave enough that they overcame their misgivings and hired us to travel to Moonwater and discover the truth behind the goings on here. Our priestess had done her own divinations, and come to the conclusion that Malar was behind the disruption, so we agreed.”

“Why would minions of evil aid the forces of Selune?”

“I could give many answers for that, but suffice to say that I follow Auril Frostmaiden, along with my wolf companion, while the twins follow the Succubus Queen, Malcanthet. While our patrons may not be friends with the moon goddess, neither are they in direct confrontation, either. In addition, Malar is a mutual foe between the Frostmaiden and the Moonmaiden, so thwarting the goals of the Malarites will cheer my goddess.”

The angel’s gaze was so intense that I was certain it could melt adamantine. “And you expect me to believe this? That the church of the Goddess of the Moon would buy the services of such creatures as you?”

“Like I said, they were pressed for time and we were the most trustworthy groups available for the task, as we had a vested interest in seeing the Malarites fail. Too many of the other groups in the city were getting mixed up in politics, you see. So, they decided that an enemy of their enemy was the best of a bad batch of options. And, so far, we have done quite a good job in clearing away the cultists.”

The planetar took a deep breath, considering for a moment. “I sense no lie in your words. You have not said everything, I believe, but you have not lied. Tell me, then, why you have broken into this tomb?”