Wraith King 2

The suspicious warehouse had two storeys, and had a large front door. The door was open, and there were some obvious guards, all Elves, lounging around.

There was a blind alley leading behind the place, so Sorrow [Jeff] lead the group (Ampersand [Shane], Huilam [Jamie], Moonlight [Chris], Lammy [Kevin], and Madagascar [Darryl]) down there. He had spotted a rear door here.

(Argile [Richard], Ronnie [Deacon], Dee Dee [Steven] were marmalading.)

In a (stressful) flash, Sorrow had the door picked, and he slipped inside followed by the rest, into a small kitchen. The group certainly was anything but quiet, and Ampersand, bringing up the rear, spotted movement at the mouth of the alley; so they must have been heard. He shot at an elf, and then slammed and bolted the kitchen door.

 

There was an internal door from the kitchen into the rest of the building, but now no-one was brave enough to continue any more. This decision was confirmed when lamp oil started to pour under the door into the kitchen. They knew they were discovered, so Huilam ... just ignited the oil. 

There was a small table in the kitchen, so Moonlight and Ampersand grabbed it, they threw open the outside door, and fled down the alley towards the street, using the small table as cover, with everyone else clambering behind this, head down. A few arrows thunked into it, and the group got to the road. Here, they fled into the morning crowds.

"Well," said Ampersand, as they got back to their secret base. "That was a fat waste of time."

"Rest assured," proclaimed Sorrow. "We were not followed."

Then they balked in surprise. Tylin [Ian] was here!

Tylin regaled them with his tale: 

When I left you lot yesterday, after spotting the escaped slave woman on that cart, I followed them to a warehouse. The same warehouse where you just came from now. I sneaked after them inside. I thought I was unseen, but apparently not. The alarm was sounded and I had to flee upstairs. I hid, and managed to trick them into thinking I'd escaped out a broken window, but it took them a long while to take the bait. By then, it was near dark and the place was pretty well locked-up and guarded. (I could not use the broken window room upstairs because it had a ballista, and was manned at night.) So I stayed. But I did take a risk to explore a little.

 

Three (of four) escaped slaves are there, and are working for the the Elves as employees (not slaves). But I never saw the the fourth slave, the young girl. They have a big cage full of Half-elves. Wonderful to see. These Half-elves are slaves, or to be enslaved. They also have a room of corpses: ex-undead and fresh ones. Not sure why. 

"This morning, first light, I slipped out and returned, but none of you were here," Tylin said "So, I just waited. And, well, here I am!"

Just then, Esme entered the room with a bit of paper.

"This was stuck to the secret door," she said. "That will be yet another group who knows our secret lair's location. 'Not followed' huh, Sorrow?"

She gave the note to Huilam who read it out loud:

"We need to talk. You know where we live. E"

So, Madagascar, Tylin and Moonlight, the three full Elves of the group, went back to the Elves' warehouse.

Elric Elwin

At the warehouse, they were greeted upon arrival by an Elf called Elric. This group called themselves the Elwins. They were an all-Elves band, were all named with E (leader Elrick, Eric, Edwin, Egbert, Eustace, Ernest, Edward, Edgar, Ezra, Elias, Ethan, Edison, Easton), and they were slavers. They specialized in Half-elf slaves: "half casts", "half-arses", "halvers" and "halvies". Tylin was delighted! Elves after his own heart. The Elwins captured Half-elves via citizen arrests, vigilantism, or plain thuggery, and enslaved them, as Tylin had noted. 

With the recent undead incursions, the Elwins now had a second job. They worked for the City Council to clean the streets after each night's undead activity. They'd pick up the bodies of the destroyed undead and the bodies of undead victims. They would store these corpses in their base, and then dump them in the river later in the day. Scabport City ordinance rules only allowed a certain number of bodies to be dumped, per hour, into the Scab river. So, by storing the corpses, they could avoid exceeding the limit. 

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The meeting with the Wraith King or his mouth-piece was scheduled tonight at midnight. It was at Statue Park in the posh Mansion district, which was across the river from the Docks. Rather than risk travelling over the dangerous streets after dark, the group thought it might be prudent to setup shop near Statue Park.

After a brief search, they found an unoccupied dwelling and used El Cid [Shane] to break in (the subtle entry failed). "Breaking in" involved the destruction of the door's hinges, and the splintering of the architrave. Luckily, Lammy's Mending spell came to the rescue and fixed the door, good as new.

The group was careful not to make a mess, soil any food, clean the toilets with tooth-brushes, or put jam in anyone's shoes. They relaxed and rested until near midnight. Statue Park was only a short walk away.

Great Oak of Statue Park

An hour before midnight, they ventured into the park and headed to the centre by the Great Oak. This long-dead tree, a former oak, was just a skeleton of bleached wood. But it matched the colour of the statues that filled the park. The statues were all superb renditions of people and animals in life-like poses of surprise. Rumour had it that they were all caused by a vindictive medusa in days gone-by.

The park was quiet. People did not risk heading out at night due to the undead, of course. That said, this side of the Scab river was not troubled by them because the seven Scab bridges were blocked each night by the Knives and TGP.

However, four figures approached the group, and stopped a stone's throw away. They were dressed in shroud-cloth  robes, so the party guessed they were Canker priests. When Canker priests walk over vegetation, it goes brown as if sprayed with glyco-phosphate. There were a few tracks like this in the grass of this park.

Wizards carry accurate chronometers. Lammy glanced at his one: dead on midnight. 

In the sky above them, they could hear the flapping of leathery wings. And then it suddenly went cold. Frost formed on the ground and on the boughs of the dead oak. And their breath came out in clouds of steam.

Then a slender figure just fell into their midst.

High Emissary Carmilla

It was a striking young lady, with jet-black hair, pale pale skin, perfect lips but wicked protruding canines, and cruel timeless eyes. She was, of course, a vampire. She was dressed in some kind of deep purple, velvet, long dress which clung to her as if it was alive; or maybe it was just the remnant jiggling of her bust from the drop.

She gave a formal curtsey.

"You must be the Budgie Smugglers," she purred in a strong Luln accent. "Please allow me to introduce myself: Carmilla Romanov, High Emissary of the Necropolis..."

She raised a hand as they were all about to speak.

"But first, kindly empty all your flasks, of the ... cursed water."

They all meekly complied, tipping out the six vials of REAL holy water.

Huilam bravely stepped forward.

"Don't tell me," she said. "Huilam Artois? The dashing..."

Quick as a cut snake, she swept him up in her arms, sealed her lips to his neck, and bit. Gristle and vein. Huilam shuddered and squirmed as she drank deeply. He choked out a throaty moan as his eyes rolled back. It felt so good!

But, it was only a short drink. A "drink of greeting". She stepped back and licked the blood from her own chin with a dexterous tongue.

"Now, how may I help you?" she asked.

The Canker priests, having now seen Carmilla, started to approach, gliding over the frosty grass, making no sound. She gave them a withering glance, and they stopped.

Huilam put forward the town's side. Carmilla put forth the Undead's side. The REALs started the war, so she claimed. They invaded the graveyard. They invaded the tombs and desecrated the grave soil. "We just want to stay undisturbed". When challenged about the ghouls and the undead incursions that had provoked the REALs, she just let out a musical laugh and said "Do not believe everything you hear!"

Huilam didn't press this issue, so he then waxed lyrical, perhaps employing a little hyperbole to exaggerate the Budgie Smugglers' influence over the priests of REAL. And, as a gesture of good faith, could Carmilla beseech the Wraith King to hold back the undead for just one night? That would help their cause immensely. Tomorrow night, even, maybe?

She smiled: "I will do my best."

Then she asked, pointing the Canker priests:

"I believe you have a payment owed to my Lord's ... associates over there? Elven blood and ... some volunteers."

Huilam looked over, then back at her and he nodded.

"I will take the blood now," she said.

She gestured to Tylin and Madagascar (full elves). Tylin stepped forward first.

Quick as a flash, Carmilla swept him into a loving embrace, and affixed her perfect lips onto his neck. Gristle and vein. For the next minute or so there was a loud sucking slurping noise as she drank heavily. Tylin quivered and spasmed like Huilam had earlier, as he lost half an elven pint of his blood.

Then it was Madagascar's turn. She drained the same amount from him too.

This time, she made no attempt to clean the spattered mess on her face, lips and chin. Blood had drooled down her neck and onto the expanse of her décolletage, which rivaled even Daisy Crown.

"I do so enjoy the sweetness of Elf blood," she said, sucking her fingers, and dabbing at some of the larger spatters on her chest. 

Canker Blue-tooth skull

Then Carmilla gestured to the four Canker priests. They drifted over. She whispered to one and he (or it) reached into its own tattered hood, and passed her something large. Instantly, there was a rattle of dry bones and the shroud-cloth robe fell to the ground. Now there were three priests. She gave the object to Huilam. It was a human skull, aged and quite dry.

 

"Use this to liaise with me," she said. "To activate, you touch the tooth. The blue tooth. Oh, only at night."

Huilam looked at it. It was cold to the touch, but maybe that was just Carmilla's presence.

"Any questions?"

They shook their heads.

She waved, and then gracefully jumped upwards, into the air. There was the brief flapping of leathery wings which faded fast. And then the temperature rose again.

The three Canker priests drifted close.

"Our payment?" one whispered.

"Tomorrow!" snapped Huilam. And the party headed off, back to the mansion for the rest of the night.

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In the morning, at first light, El Cid and Sorrow went back to the wharves and joined Sergeant Skipper on the prison shallop boat. They headed back to Prison Island for another stint of guarding. Sorrow had his new stone-coloured robe (made by Burrito's seamstress mother), and had the Teleport glass. He told the rest of the party that, in three mornings' time, they should start to continuously occupy the rented room in the Adventuress and Bugbear in case Michael Stringfellow teleported in.

When the boat arrived out at the Island, Sorrow surreptitiously hid the Teleport glass in a secure spot under the prison jetty. He knew that the magic detectors on the prison gate would spot it otherwise.

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Via Rita's intercession, the group met up with REAL Priest Jimmie Sanford and the other renegade priestesses Keely and Nancy at the Gibbet and Grape later that morning. Huilam gave them the news about tonight's cease fire. They were impressed he had enough influence over the Wraith King to pull this off. If. Then arranged to meet them again tomorrow at noon.

Madagascar went to the Elwins to ask if they happened to come across two scrawny broken Half-elves, then he'd be interested. These would be payment for the Cankers. He negotiated the cost down to two for one COIN.

Everyone else (not Moonlight) went to see Lieutenant Chung. Like the REALs, Chung said he would be very impressed if they could make the undead stay away. To help with the party's cause with the REALs, he offered Ampersand an Arrow of Darkness (one of the IMAG ones). Ampersand gladly received it.

Lammy and Tylin went to the Wizards' Guild and spoke to Sly Dunbar about the cease fire. Sly Dunbar was mildly interested that the Budgie Smugglers had an information conduit to the Wraith King. He said that the Guild might be interested in exploring that after this had all died down.

While they were there, Tylin arranged to see Daisy Crown. Her interest was piqued about the undead cease fire, but more piqued when he told her about the Elwins' collection of Half-elves.