Vanrakdoom VI

…Nym came around a massive stone column, set with rusty iron torch brackets, on the western side of the gigantic octagonal chamber (28). While the ceilings may have been 30-feet high, the bottom two feet was blanketed in a thick fog. A few vampire spawn roamed around the chamber, but the scene in the middle identified this as the dark heart of the cult of Shar: in the center stood a wooden table carpeted with maps—and studying them was a pale woman dressed in black and purple, with a pendant in the shape of Shar’s holy symbol. Behind her loomed an 18-foot tall furred behemoth: a yeti, imposing and abominable. The vampiress turned and gave them a colorless smile, addressing the invaders in a raspy voice that magically echoed about the great chamber:

“The Lady of Loss whispered of this day. Welcome, ‘heroes’!
Welcome to your well-deserved end. All will fall before the Shadow!”

As the split party came around the column, an additional dozen vampire spawn rose from the fog and attacked! Seeing the odds horribly stacked against the outnumbered party, Molish stepped forward and called upon the divine might of the Lord of Bones, sending two-thirds of the undead fleeing the room! Glyster, having taken the southern route, engaged multiple spawn as he wielded Scintilmorn with deadly precision. Keresta moved north, blasting the party with deadly waves of necromantic energy. The vampire moved with legendary speed, seemingly crossing the battlefield at a supernatural speed as she brought the battle to our party. Shady and Leo took on the challenge of the abominable yeti, and its freezing cone of arctic breath.

Vampire spawn fled by the exits to the northwest, north, and northeast. Soon, the vampire spawn that had not been turned began to fall to might of Glyster, Thaminor, and Pix. Summoned swarms of rats were nullified by Molish, as he moved to aid his companions battling the mighty yeti. Finally, the huge monstrosity fell, and Keresta—seeing the writing on the wall—used her vampiric powers to transform into a mist, and disappeared into the fog that still covered the floor.


Opening the nearby doors to the southwest (29), they found only a bas-relief mural covering the southwest wall of a 20-foot-high room. The mural depicted Shar in the form of a young woman, her billowing cloak becoming one with the night sky as she descended upon unsuspecting human mourners in a graveyard. In each hand, she clutched a dagger. Pix asked Glyster where Keresta could have gone, and he told them there could only be one place: her tomb, south of the chamber where the party had met him. Glyster bade them move with all haste, before she could regenerate and regroup, while he left to the north and hunted down the fleeing vampire spawn. Shady led the way back through the dragon’s audience hall, and south towards the vampire’s tomb.

Shady inspected and opened the door to Keresta’s tomb (30). A lidless amethyst sarcophagus stood atop a 1-foot-high stone bier near the south wall of the 30-foot-high, vaulted chamber. A 20-foot-square bas-relief mural dominated the east wall, depicting Lord Vanrak Moonstar as a skeletal death knight. The former Waterdhavian noble rode on the back of Umbraxakar, the shadow dragon. Lying at the dragon’s feet were piles of withered corpses with hideous shadows hovering over them. Two vampire spawn stood guard, ready to defend Keresta, who herself was ready with a magical sphere surrounding her.

Shady stepped through the shadows, attacking from behind while Thaminor & Leo charged in, and Nym & Pix attacked from a distance. Keresta realized that she erred in returning to this chamber, and let her spawn cover her escape as she transformed into a mist once more, and seemed to disappear straight into the bas-relief on the eastern wall. When the spawn fell, Shady’s inspection revealed small holes in the mural. Throwing a coin enchanted with continual light through the hole allowed him to see a 20-foot-high corridor (31) or room with rusty chains and manacles hanging on the walls. Shady could not find a way to open what he assumed were secret doors, nor could Thaminor break them down. With Keresta getting away, Shady stepped through the shadows into the space behind the mural and moved north after the vampire. Pix, able to magically pass through the hole as well, quickly followed the tabaxi. The rest of the party, however, was left to go back the long way around.

With no sign of the vampire in the fog, Shady began his search to the south. The floor of the southern-most room (32) was also heavily obscured by a 2-foot-high blanket of thick fog. It swirled lazily around the base of a 20-foot-diameter, cylindrical stone column that supported the 20-foot-high ceiling. Rusty iron torch sconces mounted to this central column stood empty. With still no sign of Keresta, the monk returned to the site of the massive battle, and proceeded to the southeastern doors.

The thick fog continued to hug the floor as Shady entered a 20-foot-high chamber (33) whose walls and floor bore carvings of centipedes. With the chamber otherwise empty, he checked the first door on the right and found a small empty room (34). The next room (35) was cloaked in a magical darkness that even the tabaxi monk’s keen eyesight could not pierce. Using his staff in front of him like a blind person might, Shady entered the room and followed the walls…

Mere moments later, Shady found himself under attack in the darkness: from all sides, the monk was clawed and slashed in a brutal assault that overwhelmed the brave tabaxi! Hearing the sounds of battle from his companion, Pix dispelled the darkness and turned his arcane might on the assassins of shadow, before the monk was lost. The rest of the party caught up from their roundabout journey, just in time to finish off the denizens of the Shadowfell and save Shady.

After a few moments to get Shady back on his feet, a lightbulb went off! A quick divination from Leo to locate a creature had the party seeking a route north. Through the northeastern exit off the octagonal chamber, a hallway (37) littered with corroded, broken weapons led them to the decrepit kitchen (38). The centerpiece of the 10-foot-high chamber was a free-standing stone oven that stood dark and unused. Lining the walls were worktables and cupboards piled with dishware and utensils that hadn’t seen use in years. Continuing through the northern door, they heard the sounds of a scuffle before turning right, towards the dining hall (39)…

Two rusty iron chandeliers hung like giant spiders from the 20-foot-high ceiling, their chains attached to winches mounted to the east wall. Beneath the chandeliers stretched a long wooden table surrounded by twelve high-backed wooden chairs. The furnishings were decrepit and draped in cobwebs. Before the table lay a dozen slaughtered vampires, the floor littered with undead limbs and heads. Standing amid his handiwork was Glyster, Scintilmorn at his feet… and Keresta’s fangs in his neck. As the party neared, the final two vampire spawn moved to intercept and Keresta dropped Glyster to the ground, where he lay still. With the strength of their numbers, the party advanced on the remaining children of the night…

The vampire spawn fell quickly, and the net closed around their creator. The seekers of the Rod advanced with sword, shaft, and spell, putting Keresta on the defensive. Molish quickly knelt beside Glyster, calling forth Kelemvor’s aid to bring the noble vampire slayer back to his feet. Keresta realized that remaining in battle would bring about her final death, and quickly fled south down the hall (24) with her supernatural speed. Shady swiftly returned to the grand octagonal chamber, seeking to prevent a second escape… only to lose her when she once again took to her mist form in the fog.

With his divination still active to locate Keresta, Leo called upon the elemental forces to shift his form into that of an air elemental, matching the vampire’s speed while negating her ability to hide. Chasing her through the northwestern room (36) and back up the northern hallway. Realizing she would not escape, Keresta returned to her corporeal form to resume battle… only to be grabbed by Bigby’s Hand and restrained while the party put an end to their undead foe, driving a stake through her heart to seal her final death.

While the thick fog finally started to dissipate from the last of Vanrakdoom, Molish resumed the search for his lost mentor. To the east, he found an oval room (40) where black mold clung to the walls and the air was heavy with the scent of rot. Though stripped, bound, and gagged, Molish found Master Mantartis at long last…