~Date~
Things keep getting worse… I pause to write this while staying in a nice family's home in Sorrow's Haven, but I'll get to why I am here momentarily. From our last adventure, saving the region, but not everyone we'd hoped to, we came back to Thraben to heal. We hadn't even gone back to the ruins, as of yet, to investigate the tunnel. The very next day I was awoken by a loud commotion in the common room. I'd slept late, having stayed up much of the evening performing research. I've taken a separate room from the others to facilitate this and to not keep them awake. I come down, weapons are drawn, Fleer has a minstrel held in the air, shaking her and Marcus had shot a log in the fireplace, I suppose to make a point. Everyone seemed mid-barfight and were holding still. I was asked to check and scanned the room, but no lingering dweomers were in the room, barring my friend's equipment. Though the absurdity of it all gnawed at me. I was about to turn and return to my chamber when I felt anger rush up within me, I grabbed the nearest drink reflexively as is my want when overwhelmed, and a man with huge thews glared at me. Not to be outdone, I glared right back with every ounce of my contempt for him and his drink… he wisely left the inn and I felt a bit better… but to be on the safe side, I left as well to do a circuit of the graveyard for any tampering. I must admit, even if just to myself, that I've found one passage in the book is tempting… I'd be able to save my dear sister, Isabel, with a cost only to myself. I'll have to pray on it and see if Anubis can give me some sort of sign. I can still do so much good, provided I keep myself alive. Back to more relevant matters, however, Father Matthias found me as I let the anger flow from me with the calming influence of diligence. A village to the south of the lake, Sorrow's Haven, has been having an issue during their harvest season, losing 8 children over the course of the past 3 years. Their harvest season was starting once again in a week and they needed help. He also introduced me to a new member of our small band of hunters. She was a gnome, apparently they are unheard of in these parts. Her name is Laash and she is accompanied by a bear, named, "Bear Bear Bear", apparently. I brought her back to the inn with our new assignment, only to find another gnome has joined us, a wizard named Potter with a small scorpion as his familiar. I gave everyone the details and we agreed to head out at first light.
We rode out and partway there we were stopped by two crimson armored guardsmen, warning us of a nearby set of ruins with a Strigoi residing within it. Strigoi are a very nasty vampire variant, but older, more feral. You will not find a "civil" strigoi. I've added notes about them in the Hunter's manual, but if this journal is found beware their lethal bite, which can cause the victim to rise as a zombie. Also, you -must- stake them, behead them and bury their head in a river to fully destroy them.
I, sadly, did not know about the true horror of their bite and count myself lucky. We entered the ruins, quickly clearing it of the strigoi's previous victims, but it refused to show itself. As a predatory beast, it would not attack us bunched up, so we spread out, but stayed within eyesight of each other. I took it upon myself to act as bait, slicing a shallow cut into my palm… my plan worked well, perhaps too well. It leapt upon me, from where I know not, and sunk it's fangs and claws into my flesh, easily finding ways past my armor. I gasped from the pain and staggered away, woozy and unstable from the loss of blood and a fair amount of flesh from my neck and shoulder. How I kept conscious, only Anubis knows for sure. As soon as I fled it's grasp, the others fired upon it, but it leapt above them, wings carrying it over our heads to assail Seraphim, who's constitution has not been the best of late, only recently recovering from her illness. It's claws and fangs blurred as they struck her, she barely had time to turn as it leapt upon her before she was down in a pool of her own blood, unblinking. We fell upon the beast with everything we had, grateful for the additional aid of the tiny wizard. Viktor sank a stake into the beast's heart and beheaded it. I tended to my wounds while Fleer checked on Seraphim's body, for that is what it was.
I must take a moment and pause, reflecting on my soul since my first thought was dealing with the body so it would not rise… not even thinking of resurrection. I suppose a part of that is the philosophy that Anubis awaits me at the end, he will weigh my heart and see if it is light, or heavy with the sins of a lifetime… I hope it will be light, but I have doubts with this dark, corrupt nation I am striving to help.
Fleer wanted to ride the body back to Father Matthias, see if he could help. I must admit some shock when she thought we would not accompany her back. I may be a bit standoff-ish at times, but I am not without sympathy. As we left the ruins, the armored guards awaited us, wanting to thank and pay us for ridding the area of the Strigoi… It turned out they were from a civilized family of vampires… not evil, per sé… but still resisting Anubis' call. We were wounded, weakened but they did not attack, they offered aid. They said Seraphim was related to them in some fashion, a Dhampir… created from a union with human and vampire. Conventional methods of resurrection would not help her, so they offered, in lieu of payment, to have their family bring her back. I asked them if they had ill intent for her or ourselves, and they did not hesitate to say they had no ill will for us. Their body language betrayed nothing to mistrust them with, and she was already dead. They said they would return in two days with a living companion, should she wish to return.
We tried to be productive, spending the days combing the ruins for anything of use. Bob had found a torn page, depicting Strigoi and mentioning their immense strengths and few weaknesses in old Stygian, a language she happened to know. She translated it for me and I added the information to the Hunter's Manual.
Two days later, the two returned, carrying Seraphim, who seemed hale and whole. We could detect no corruption on her and thanked the two before continuing on to the village of Sorrow's Haven.
We met several nice folk in Sorrow's haven, families… almost all had lost a child or family member to the troubles of the harvest, their harvests also being poor despite sacrifices of livestock and fruit to a standing rock shrine at the edge of the silent woods. We gathered the townsfolk up and I had Viktor inspect them for signs of corruption, none was found. I had them show us the shrine and the place where they found heavy footprints below the window of the last child taken, a baby from its crib. Throughout, Fleer kept resorting to the native tongue of the land, excluding several of us hunters not from the area as she spoke with the townsfolk, so I decided to not let the trail age any further, following the tracks into the woods. I was sure the children would be safe in town, I had ensured their care in one building with Varadiel and Laash. Traveling for some time, a deer spooked us as it broke through some concealment before being felled by a well-placed arrow. Bob called out for the hunter to show themselves, but they hid to come back for their kill later, so we pressed on, intent on finding where the tracks led. Unfortunately, we started following the trail too late and night was soon upon us. I left trail markers and led everyone back into town to sleep in relative peace, writing this down as I woke for the morning…
Hang on, someone says there is a burning tree outside…
