The first order of business was this gaseous vampire. Zolton was keeping it in that form by hitting it with radiant damage (cantrip) every minute. Research in the book the NPC got revealed that only had to happen every hour. Holy water could not kill it, however, it could do the equivalent to the cantrip. The Holy Avenger could not since it was incorporeal. As for finally killing it, a Ceremony spell could do it but neither Ezera nor Zolton had it memorized. Unlike Wizards and their spellbooks, divine casters have to have ritual spells memorized, and casting it as a ritual simply saved them a spell slot. So, we needed a long rest however it was only 1 PM and Brian said we couldn’t go to sleep yet. So, we decided to hang out down here, with Zolton zapping it every hour. Loki and Kharn went up to cover our tracks. And we needed 250 silver pieces worth of silver dust to do the ritual. We successfully argued that between Loki’s gunsmith kit and Kaladin’s alchemy skills (we still haven’t found him a kit), we could create it from silver pieces (Dan: Whoot! Finally was able to use this skill in-game. So happy!).
In the meantime, armed with a short rest, we’d explore the lower chamber of the crypt. Down the stairs was a corridor that opened into a large chamber. There were pictures of subjugated demons on the walls and a scroll in a recess in the far wall. As Ezera approached it, two invisible demons attacked with surprise. One hit Kharn and one hit Kaladin as they walked towards the chains in the corners of the room. They did a claw, claw, bite(Dan: A classic!) and were resistant to various things including necrotic (Dan: My monk can use all the elemental energies and tried them one by one. All of them did half damage. I almost didn't try the last one because I was distracted for a moment but my final attack with an acid fist did full damage. My massive 10 points of unresisted damage was clearly the deciding factor.). We concentrate fire on one, Ezera doing most the damage since they were fiends, dropping it in one round. The other gated in a third and a will o wisp also appeared. They did some significant damage but it was all over in a couple rounds. The wisp went invisible and various people tried various things to track it down. But to no avail. Secret doors were searched for since it seemed to end here. Eventually, the scroll was read by the draconic-speaking Kaladin. Something the greatness of demon summoners or some such. Once done, we heard stone grinding on stone.
Loki ended up nearest the door that opened and looked in. He found an ancient study with rotting books. At the desk was a skeleton. And then a Specter rose and demanded to know who had disturbed his studies. Loki claimed to be a lost woodland creature and apologized for disturbing him. I think a talking raccoon threw him off a bit. He demanded to know what year it was and was angered that no one from his Valki family had been down here in hundreds of years to consult with him. Loki played on this knowledge angle and asked his advice on dealing with vampires. He correctly concluded that Strahd was still in charge. He said that she had made a deal with a “dark power” and was now immortal. Lord Q asked for advice on how to kill her and his response was to summon an even bigger demon(Dan: When asked how we would get rid of this demon he responded that you would summon a bigger demon. We dropped that line of questioning as unproductive.). Still, he was impressed that we had taken out his guards and declared that we’d earned a boon. We could take any one item from his desk. We took that meant Loki. Zolton cast a quick Detect magic. There was a ring, a wand, an amulet, and a scroll. Loki took the ring, hoping it would be the most versatile choice. Lord Q asked a few more questions as he eyed the other items. (Get the sword.) But the Specter grew tired of the audience and slammed the door shut. Ezera was itching to vanquish the evil undead thing but we successfully argued that he was down here, not a threat and that we should concentrate our efforts on the undead that were roaming the streets.
An Identify revealed that it was a Ring of Spell Storing which could hold 5 levels of spells. It currently had a Web and a Counterspell. It could be reloaded by any spell caster and used by anyone. Pretty good. There was some debate as to who should get it but we ended up with the Warlock who gets so few spells a day (Dan: No one disagreed but it occurs to me that my monk gets even fewer spells a day;). We took our long rest, cast the Ceremony, and put the Father to rest. That put us back to what to do next. More debate and we ended up with getting out of town and still going to the abbey. We wanted to get a new priest in place. This was made more complicated by the fact that it was festival day. Ezera would talk to the junior church guy and give him a note for Lady Watcher. The rest would sneak out of town asap. Loki decided to turn into a dog and stick with Ezera, figuring it’s always better to have 2 characters. The first group got out okay. Unfortunately, it was another skill challenge and without Ambrus, Kharn, Ezera, or Loki, they were short on skills. They managed, using an inspiration to get past one roll and Spider Climb spell. Andy had assumed he could leave through the gate since he wasn’t wanted but the gate was closed for the festival. So, he and dog Loki had to sneak as well. That did not go so well. Loki could not roll a 10 or better on a perception roll. First with advantage then with his inspiration, then Ezera’s. He rolled a 2, 3, 1 and 5 or some such. Ezera pretended to be chasing Loki over the walls and the guards we too confused to do anything. Comical but I think everyone made it to the Vistani camp outside the walls.
