Halls of the Blood King, parts 2 through 4

Walter, Turlough, and Amaris explored the small dungeon and torture rooms in the basement. The body of “Daemetrius” was not really Daemetrius but a corpse animated by a void fungus. They learned that the void fungus moves the manor around to different planets under the direction of the Blood King. They attacked the corpse with fire and the room was sprayed with spores, some of which were breathed by the PCs before they could mask up.

Rathy (and Malique as his “prisoner”) entered the Great Hall and talked with some haughty alien vampires. They used the spiral staircase next to the Blood King’s throne to be digested down one floor and talk with the Blood Spider Queen; then the stairs regurgitated them back into the Great Hall.

Meanwhile, Walter and Amaris explored the trophy room. Walter took the glass jar of eyeballs, wrapped it in cloth, and put it in his backpack. They continued walking north along the hallway, passing the Inner Garden. They entered the Princess’s study and noted the fake bookcase wall that wouldn’t open.

[later…] Walter found the sun ray pistol hidden in the star-decorated piano. Amaris took the crude manor map and read the letter from Lord Daemetrius to the Princess of Blood. When Rathy played the sheet music tune on the piano, the wall of books slid open, revealing the Princess in a secret conference with (the real) Daemetrius and two other vampires. Incredibly, and hilariously, Walter chose this moment to reveal the eyeballs – the Princess yelled that those are the eyes of the Blood King spying on them! The Princess and the vampires flee.

Rathy, in his guard disguise, pretends to be angry to fool the Blood King’s eyes, binds wrists of “prisoners”, marches them out with exaggerated movements. They don’t know if the Blood King can hear as well as see from the revealed jar of eyeballs. Amaris hides her face, Walter goes along but he wants to go to the games room that he can see through the walls (blood morphing magic glass like clarity). Amaris wants to go upstairs.

The game room offers games of chance and poker and a chatty spectral card dealer.

Amaris picked up 3 throwing knives and 5 throwing stars from the Armoury; Walter picked up a blood thrall sword. Walter also took fancy silverware from somewhere. Pantry servants see commotion in hall as Amaris throws knife in guard throat; two other guards blunder into Seleana’s room and die. Fourth guard tries to help fallen knifed comrade. Guards are now on high alert.

Amaris and Walter suit up as guards, take Seleana “prisoner”. Seleana, human, seems to have been trapped in the manor for a long time, hungry, wants to kill all vampires. She’s willing to go along with the party as long as they can get her out of the manor and possibly end the Blood King’s reign.

Turlough and Malique, from the Game Room, can see the angry Blood King speechifying and gesticulating from his throne in great hall – he knows about the traitors (Princess, Daemetrius, etc) via his jarred eyeballs and is initiating the Blood Hunt.

Amaris enchants Rathy’s blood sword with flamesight, and Rathy leaves sword on stairs; Amaris has slightly stereo weird concentration to maintain effect and concentrate on where she is vs what she can sense through Flamesight. Rathy can see clearly even in the absence of light; Amaris – when Effort is committed to her Elemental Art of Flamesight – can see thermal gradients sufficient to distinguish surfaces and living creatures, even in perfect darkness; optionally, she may cause her own eyes to cast a light sufficient to illuminate her surroundings clearly out to a range of 30 feet.