We were going to war.
The Crimson Company was arrayed in battle formation, facing the Vampire's forces. It...
Well, it was a battle. What can I say? There's not much to distinguish one pitched battle from another. Thanks to the flower potion I had concocted, we were able to prevail in this one, and we either destroyed or routed the army by afternoon.
After the Crimson warriors had been resurrected, the army marched to lay siege to the Vampire's fortress. We (being me, Caine, Ilyich and the Crimson cleric Lyrin who seems to want to accompany us for some reason) gathered small groups of Crimson infiltrators and descended the chimneys into the fortress' cisterns.
Forewarned is forearmed, and a little knowledge can prevent a small force of infiltrators from wandering randomly through tunnels hoping that they will bump into what they are looking for, so I sent Paazbul to invisibly scout the way to the holding cells where we hoped we would find Buff.
When he returned, we made our way through the tunnels. The Vampire's garrison was distracted by the Crimson siege out front, so we did not anticipate heavy resistance. We did find some resistance, but I would not say that it was heavy, and we were able to dispatch those that noticed us while my spells were able to block any additional forces from reaching us.
We found the cells, but it didn't appear that Buff was there. Ilyich moved faster than I have ever seen someone move, and killed several of the guards before their hapless prisoner-slaves could react. Once again Ilyich and Caine expressed their desire to free the slaves. I didn't see any particular reason to, but I didn't stop them.
Without warning, Buff arrived, casual as you please. He had apparently been fighting in the ring for the entertainment of the Vampire and her forces, but when the siege happened he was being returned to his cell. Needless to say, that did not happen.
I was of the opinion that we should simply leave the fortress then and there, but the others wanted to try to take out the Vampire and put an end to the problem once and for all. Reluctantly, I agreed. My parents' book told me some things about Vampires that made me think that we would not be up to the task, but the others were determined to try.
We were on our way to the main hall when we encountered a strange misty portal that seemed to be a security system of some kind. Fortunately it was not much of a barrier, since Lyrin simply made a hole in the wall.
I looked about in amazement - we appeared to be in the Vampire's library. The sheer number of books in this place was near-overwhelming. I could spend a long time going through these books. A long time. Unfortunately I was unable to do so since our presence triggered the fire elemental guardian.
I had been waiting for an opportunity to use this magic in some time. I summoned an earth elemental from the stone floor to do battle with the guardian, a task that it performed admirably. The earth elemental was able to distract and soak the fire elemental's attacks while the rest of us worked on killing it. Once the battle was over, I dismissed the creature back to the Elemental Plane of Earth.
I have stopped here in this amazing library for a moment to pen this chapter of my Chronicle. In a moment, we will be seeking and doing battle with the Vampire herself. Hopefully this will not be my last entry.
