Caves of Myrddin: fear the Vampire Lord of Crows

[The following was written by Evan of In Places Deep in a blatant attempt to cash in on his own Xp-for-session-reports houserule. Well it worked. Future explorers of the Caves of Myrddin may score +10% or 100xp, whichever is greater, for supplying a good summary of the session. N.B. I have made one edit to the following text, removing the italics. I hate it when gamefic is italicized.]

 

The following letter was found discarded next to an inebriated messenger boy.

My dearest Susan,

My return from Ireland has thus far been inauspicious, and I regret that my failing health will prevent me from visiting you in your bedchamber.  Since I was unable to bring you an treasures from the Emerald Isle, I thought I might win some more prizes from the ruins of Castle Dundagel.  Oh, how wrong I was.

In the company of one of your husband’s boorish knights, whom I hired to serve as my body guard, as well as two stout fellows and another fighting-man I headed out to the ruins of the castle.  Since the Dragon had been seen entering the southern tower, we elected to check the northern one to avoid its ire.  If only we had known what perils awaited us.  We explored the tower itself, which seemed rather non-descript aside from the presence of a coffin which I now believe must be the resting place of a vampire. 

While investigating the roof I was once again mocked by those hideous crows.  I managed to kill one, and I intended to turn it into one of those taxidermic displays you so love.  Now I cannot look at the thing after the horrors I saw in those dungeons!

After leading into the dungeon proper one of the dwarves abandoned us to die leaving us only with a cryptic warning to “watch out for cage traps.”  Would that I knew what he meant because it could not have been as terrible as what we experienced.  Exploring the chambers more, I found an area that looked familiar to me.  Just as I did, we were assailed by misty figures who soon materialized into vampires. 

Luckily, I had brought a large number of flasks filled with holy water.  These were quite effective against the creatures, but not before the most terrible of their number – a crow faced monstrosity whose terrible visage will haunt my dreams forevermore – raked me with his awful talons.  The shock of this still haunts me, and I find it difficult to remember the incantations that were once so easy for me to rattle off.

On the positive side, the mysterious power I learned in Ireland was of used to me as I used it to slay one of the vampires, which once was a woman.  While I have this small victory I am still gripped by the horrors of the things I witnessed.  I saw the crow-headed master of vampires burst into flame, but I know he still lives.

Incidentally, your husband’s stooge whom I had temporarily borrowed met his end in those tunnels.  I have included the sum of 600 solidi to make up for his loss.

Hopefully I will recover soon and be able to see you once again, my love.

Your snuggle-bear

Philip of Luxembourg