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dnd_drow

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They landed a few steps from the entrance, passing among the incinerated bodies of skeletons.
"Are you all okay?", asked Luz, reaching Merren and Amity and checking on the latter's condition.
Apart from some light burns she was fine, the same for the half-elf.
Freya on the other hand had part of her long mane singed and a noticeable burn on her back, which made the young bard quite worried.
"By the Gods, you're in a bit of a mess, let me help you," he said in an apprehensive tone, picking up his lute and throwing a couple of Healing Words at the paladin.
She let out a relieved sigh, feeling her healing magic heal her wounds and burned hair.
"Oof, thank you, really," she smiled.
"It was the least," the half-elf smiled back.
Shortly afterwards they approached the entrance to the tower.
Merren took a moment to rummage through their remains, pocketing a few coins.
As soon as they were in front of the doors, very similar to those of the tomb of Azoth, Freya cast Detect Magic, her eyes widening as she perceived an immense magical barrier enveloping the entirety of the building.
"By the Gods... the complexity of this barrier is incredible," she murmured, looking at the magical construct.
"But we have the key, we can get past it, right?", asked Luz, uncertain.
"We can try," said Merren, taking the key and under the surprised gaze of the Latina, the bard in turn summoned Mage Hand to whom he handed the key and sent forward.
Freya watched as the hand penetrated the barrier, the key emitting a magical aura that neuralized the barrier.
"Oh, if you have the key you can cross the barrier", observed the paladin and then motioned to her companion to pass the key.
The latter nodded, throwing the key in the direction of the young Aasimar who, taking it, headed towards the doors, taking a deep breath and approaching.
As demonstrated, she did not feel any abnormal effects.
Passing the key to their companions, the entire group passed the barrier and then looked at the door and, finding the lock, inserted the key and turned it.
They heard the noise of gears moving and with a rough sound they saw the door lower, allowing them to enter.
They were greeted by a large room in the shape of a horseshoe, the floor was made of green mosaic stone, the walls of hard black rock and chandeliers on the ceiling with candles curiously still lit.
To their left there was a corridor while in front of them stood a huge glass pillar filled with a disturbing green fluid while at the base there was a wooden counter full of dusty books.
The group looked curiously and a little fearfully at the inside of the tower and before they could take another step, Freya stopped them, informing them that she could clearly perceive conjuration glyphs just ahead.
As before, the four adventurers straddled the palismen as they began searching for the tome of Azoth's rituals.
It didn't take them long to discover that she wasn't in that room, but they discovered something equally noteworthy thanks to the sense of Freya's detect magic.
Three magical items that Merren was more careful to take this time, taking after they were analyzed.
"So, we have a Broom of Flying, which is basically like your palismen but only with the flying staff part," he said, picking up a broom with a twisted handle and black bristles.
"Oh, good so we'll have more room to travel," Luz smiled.
"Yes sure.. this broom is not remotely as fast as your staffs, but still..." replied the other and then showed a fine gold ring studded with diamonds and with the effigy of a shield.
"Do you remember when I said there were cloaks and rings of protection?" he asked, getting an affirmative nod from the Latina.
"Great, I just found one," Merren grinned, getting rather happy reactions from the rest of the group.
"And finally... and I thank the Gods that I was careful this time, a Portable Hole," he exclaimed, showing a black cloth almost two meters wide.
Extremely alarmed looks painted the faces of the witches and the paladin.
"I think...we'll have to keep it as far away from our Bags of Holding as possible," Amity commented with wide eyes.
"Yeah ...", nodded the half-elf, folding and placing the object in a pocket of his trench coat.
"We didn't find the tome here, let's see in the other rooms," said the paladin, motioning towards the corridor on the left and casting Detect Magic again.
Flying over it and passing a glyph of illusion, one of enchantment and one of necromancy located at the base of the stairs leading to the upper floor.
Crossing the staircase they reached what must have been a library, the circular walls were adorned with shelves full of books while in the center there was the same pillar on the lower floor but this time it could be seen that something was kept in the green liquid inside.
A voluminous tome, bound in black and gold plaques.
Freya could perceive in addition to the large quantity of Glyphs of Warding scattered throughout the room, a rather powerful magical aura coming from the tome and which bore the same trace of the key they carried.
"Mh, guys... I think to get the tome we will have to use the key, they bear the same magical signature," the paladin informed them.
Merren raised an eyebrow and then motioned for Amity to come closer to the glass pillar.
Reaching it, the two adventurers could notice that there was a small metal door with a lock and a glyph to protect it.
"Freya, your help would be in order, there is a glyph here," Amity warned.
"Okay, back away, I'll take care of that," she said, taking the holy symbol.
Merren took his own lute, giving her Bardic Inspiration to help.
With a wave of green energy, the glyph was successfully dispelled.
"Oof, done," the young aasimar nodded with a satisfied sigh.
Merren nodded back and then took the key and put it in the lock.
Opening the door, the half-elf and the witch saw the tome emerge from the slime, completely dry and levitating in their direction.
Merren used Mage Hand to catch it, an aura of unease could be felt in the air.
After placing it in the Bag of Holding and making sure they had taken anything of value the tower had to offer, they decided to leave.
Upon leaving the doors they were greeted by a sinister fog that hadn't been there before.
They took up a guard position as soon as they saw a figure step forward.
With surprised and alarmed looks they recognized the drow vampire who had given them the map.
With a cold smile he gave them a slight bow.
"Hello to you brave adventurers, my lord has expressly sent me to extend you a formal invitation..", he said, causing a wave of anxiety in the group.
"Count Malakia Blackwood with his warmest wishes... would like to invite you all to dinner," he revealed, his smile widening.
A tense silence hung outside the Rotten Tower as the group stared at the drow with both surprise and unease, which the vampire's smile didn't exactly help.
"Excuse me what!?" Amity exclaimed, her eyes wide.
Balthazar chuckled lightly.
"My lord was genuinely impressed by your exploits and he has decided to invite you to his home to reward you for your... unconscious help," he said, waving a hand slightly.
"Yeah no dude, this smells like a trap a mile away, a rancid blood trap," Luz said shaking her head.
"We know who your lord is and we know what you are, we will never accept his invitation," Freya said seriously, clutching the halberd in her hand.
"Mh, I know that my kind are not looked upon favorably lately and that these times are rather turbulent, but the Count is not a barbaric bloodthirsty lord, he is a nobleman and a man of honor and wants to discuss with you of something you have taken that he needs, so he is willing to give you until sundown tomorrow to ...
"What if we refuse?" Amity asked, her eyes narrowing.
"Then I think you will have to live with the consequences of your choice," the other replied in a calm tone.
Luz snorted in annoyance.
"Please, I've read a lot of books and seen a lot of TV series with this premise, now you're going to tell us that we've made a huge mistake, that you have men everywhere, that you know our every move and that you're going to crush us like insects and blah blah blah," she said, crossing her arms.
Balthazar raised an eyebrow.
"But we know your every move, ever since your adventure in the Prison of Sorfossa," he said, surprising the adventurers quite a bit.
"But... how!?" asked Amity, confused and wide-eyed.
The drow gave a light laugh.
"Juniper has always been a distracted student, a forgotten scroll here, a spilled potion there... a crystal ball left on for too long that witnessed her demise," he said, arousing a wave of terror in the group.
"You...did you know we were at the gathering?" Merren asked, an angry look on her face.
"Obviously, from the moment you first walked in," he revealed.
"If you knew then why did you give us a map!?", asked Luz, confused.
"An idea from my lord, he judged you competent enough to be able to recover the key from the tomb and the tome from the tower, moreover you were the best choice... even if with your impulsive way of doing things you killed... how many vampires ? Seven or eight?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Almost twenty if you consider feral vampires," Merren commented intimidatingly.
At this the drow raised an eyebrow, somewhat impressed.
"Not bad, really... my lord was very wise to spare you, on the contrary I had proposed eliminating you as soon as possible, but that's not the point," he said, waving a hand.
"The point is, thanks to you we could have wasted many more vampires in this perilous quest... but you have reduced the sacrifices of several dozen to just a couple of them and therefore, my lord thanks you," he added.
"Well, as far as I'm concerned he can stick his thanks where the sun doesn't shine... but considering he's a vampire I'd say he can stick them where the sun shines brightly!", Luz exclaimed, not at all convinced.
"We're not idiotic enough to accept an invitation to a trap, you can forget it," Freya exclaimed.
Balthazar shrugged.
"As you wish, my lord still gives you until sunset tomorrow, if you don't show up here and deliver the tome, I'm afraid you will receive a quick and harsh response... goodbye," said the drow and then stepped back and disappeared into the fog.
The four adventurers exchanged worried glances, a tense silence was left between them.
"It's incredible! If that creepy bloodsucker thinks he can use us for his own personal gain as if we were mindless puppets then he's sorely mistaken!", Amity exclaimed, walking in a circle across the living room while Luz sat in the armchair nearby, a look worry on his face as he wrung his hands.
"I know hermosa... and I don't like this, something like this has already happened and... you know how it went," she said, lowering her gaze a little.
Amity's eyes widened, moving closer to her girlfriend and stroking her back consolingly.
Merren and Freya meanwhile were busy reading the tome placed on the table in the living room, their looks indicating that there was nothing good in it.
"Why are you reading that book? Shouldn't we have to destroyed it?" Luz asked confusedly.
"That was the plan," the paladin began.
"Until I identified it and found out that this tome is protected by a security spell that fires a Finger of Death even if you even try to destroy it... besides, the only thing that can destroy this book is a planetar's sword," the half-elf explained.
"Planetar? What is it? Some kind of warrior planet?" Amity asked, confused.
"No, a planetar is a celestial, a warrior angel and we do not know one nor do we know a spell to summon one," replied the bard.
"Shoot, this doesn't help..." Luz muttered, looking down.
"We can't destroy the tome, that's true... but there's nothing stopping us from destroying the components of whatever ritual the Vampire Count is planning to perform," Freya suggested.
"Okay, but how do we know what the right ritual is?" Amity asked, crossing her arms.
"Well, there is one way to find out... and I'm afraid you won't like it," Merren commented, instantly alarming Luz and Amity.