[Let's Play] Storytrails #12 Return of the Undead

[Thaluikhain]

Stay and help her.

[SlyJohnny]

Priest.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Go with the priest.

[SGamerz]

We're determined to ensure that Martha's in safe hands. Superman would be proud of us.

Martha had been put to bed and was being looked after by Margheta, Father Sebastian's housekeeper. Father Sebastian himself was doing a fine job of strapping up Eric's ankle.

"The road to Chesku is still flooded," the priest explained, "so we have no doctor. There is no need to worry. Margheta knows what to do."

It was at that moment that Margheta appeared.

"I've made her comfortable, Father," she said, and then added something which I was certain I was not meant to overhear - "She has the marks, Father!"

Perhaps thinking that I had overheard, Father Sebastian quickly changed the subject.

"You will know that Toomis, the dwarf has been in trouble in the village again."

"Know!" Margheta replied. "I was there when he came out of the church. I didn't agree with the way they treated him, but I was hardly surprised after the things he was shouting."

"Toomis," Fither Sebastian told Eric and me, "is the caretaker of the house you spent the night in. He is a little odd in the head; though that's not surprising after what happened to him. He keeps the place for the return of his master - who died ten years ago."

"Not according to Toomis; not any more, that is," Margheta interrupted.

Father Sebastian stopped his work on Eric's leg and looked at Margheta.

"It's the truth I'm telling, Father. I can't remember the dwarf's exact words. I think he said that his master had been released by the storm and would soon be back in the house. It has to be true. How else do you account for the girl upstairs?"

"There must be some other explanation," the prest replied. 'Last night was Koljada. Toomis knows that as well as we do."

"What is 'Koljada'?" I asked.

"An old superstition," the priest answered. "It is supposed to be the night when the dead return. I'm afraid that we are still very superstitious people."

Then he murmured to himself, "It cannot be possible. At least there is no way that he can leave the graveyard."

And of course the local religious leader turns out to be the least superstitious guy.

Also, we just missed meeting Toomis earlier by choosing not to follow the cart.

Father Sebastian turned back to finish the job of strapping up Eric's ankle.

"I suppose," he said, to Eric and myself, "that you know nothing of the history of Valdah or the house where you spent the night."

Seeing our agreement, he went on.

"Valdah was made famous in the seventeenth century by the monk, Sestis, who published a small tract called The Vampyres of Valdah. He recounts how the village was plagued by these demons and how many young women died through having the blood sucked from them while they slept. So terrible was it that a priest was sent from Rome - an expert in such matters.

"He declared that the demons were in league with a powerful family who lived in the house where you stayed and, as it happened, were also enemies of Rome! He had them put to death. They and the bodies of those believed to be vampires were then buried in the small graveyard which lies on the edge of the wood below the house. Each corpse had a stake driven through its heart and, as a further precaution, a local river was diverted so that the graveyard became an island. Vampires cannot cross water.

"The house remained empty and ruined until ten years ago when it was bought by a rich, eccentric stranger, Count Sorza, who lived alone with only one servant, a dwarf called Toomis.

"Then a number of mysterious deaths took place among young girls in the village. One night, what I can only describe as 'mass hysteria' broke out. The whole village descended on the house and set fire to it. The Count died in the fire. Toomis escaped, was caught, tied to a cart, tar was poured over him and set on fire. By some miracle, he survived. Since then, he has kept the house and its treasures, awaiting the return of his dead master."

"Are you telling us that the Count has returned and that my sister has been attacked by a vampire?" Eric asked.

Father Sebastian laughed.

"The thought did cross my mind, but I suspect that your sister is suffering from some insect bite. Your ankle is done, and now I am due in church - and if you visit the church, don't go into the crypt. It's dangerous - woodworm!"

Eric and I visited Martha in her bedroom. She was still pale, but awake and looking greatly recovered - sufficiently so to be able to joke with us.

"Margheta," she said, "is a dear, kind woman, but she's living in the dark ages! She thinks that I've been attacked by a vampire!"

"It's the marks on your neck," Eric said.

"Insect bites," Martha replied. "They do something to me. I've had a bad time with them before - but have you seen this room; or smelt it for that matter!"

I had noticed that the room had been hung with wild garlic around both the door and the windows.

"She wanted to hang it around my neck - vampires don't like garlic! That reminds me; I've lost my little gold cross and chain. It could have come off anywhere - a pity. I was very fond of it."

Eric spent much of the day with his sister, at the same time resting his ankle. I walked around the village, then spent the rest of the day in the priest's library trying to find information on vampires. I found nothing.

By night time, the storm was back, though without the same fury as the night before. Martha was asleep. Eric was sure that vampires were just a myth but, in case he was wrong, he intended to keep a careful watch on his sister through the night.

I hadn't seen Father Sebastian since supper and asked Margheta if he was in the house. She replied only that he was out. It seemed late for him to be out and I could see that Margheta was worried. I pressed her to tell me where the priest had gone.

"I'm not certain," she said, "but he took a spade and lantern with him and told me to say nothing."

"Is he walking?" I asked.

She nodded. Apparently the lights on the priest's car did not work.

I could guess as well as Margheta where he'd gone! It was a terrible night to be out and I was not certain I could find my way to the graveyard in the dark. But Father Sebastian was not telling us everything and one way of learning the rest would be to follow him. On the other hand, if Martha was in danger, someone should be here and awake!

We opted to follow the priest and stay with Martha last time...but this time it's one or the other! Make a trip to the graveyard or stay with our friends?

[Darth Rabbitt]

Stay with our friends. The priest seems to know what he's doing. Our friends don't know what they're doing.

[Thaluikhain]

That makes sense, stay with friends.

[SGamerz]

Thus far about 80% of our choices in this book has been variations of "stay with Martha". We're really committed to this.

Eric had been given a room directly across the corridor from Martha's. I went upstairs to see if all was well. Eric's door was open and I could see him seated, reading in a chair. I went in.

I asked him whether he intended to go to bed or to sit in the chair all night. He said that he was certainly not going to bed. He hoped to manage to stay awake seated in the chair.

Remembering our experiences of the night before I thought that, if left alone, neither of us was good at staying awake. Perhaps the only thing I could do was to stay with Eric, talking, or finding some other way to pass the time so that we might keep each other from falling asleep.

Eric was grateful tor the offer. An hour had passed and Margheta had gone to her room, when there was an urgent knocking on the door. Knowing that Margheta was probably in her bed and might take some time to answer it, I took one of the two oil lamps from Eric's room and went downstairs. A man stood outside in the courtyard, well muffled against the storm, but he was someone I was sure I did not recognise.

"Is the priest in his bed?" he asked.

I told him that Father Sebastian had gone out earlier in the evening and had not returned.

"Then there is nothing to do," the man said, "but leave a message for his return."

I said that I would gladly pass the message on.

"Tell him that the old dam has broken and that the river runs its old course. There has been no water there for centuries and houses were built on the old river bed. Some have been washed away and many people may be hurt. I thought that the priest should know."

As he turned to leave, I asked him, "Is that the dam which was built to surround the vampires' graveyard with water?"

For a moment, he hesitated, surprised maybe at such a question from a stranger to the village.

"What other dam might there be?" he grunted, turned on his heel, and was gone. I wondered again whether I should follow the priest to the graveyard, or help Eric keep his vigil.

And yet the book continues to test our commitment to the cause! Once again, are we sure we want to stay with our friends instead of checking the graveyard?

[Darth Rabbitt]

Check the graveyard this time around. I'm not sure it's a good idea but it should be fun.

[Thaluikhain]

Yeah, ok, we've got Eric and Martha together, half vote for wandering off.

[SGamerz]

Margheta had found me another lantern, but I was most grateful for the storm. Without the flicker of lightning in the sky, I would never have found my way along the road through the forest. As I thought I was nearing the house, I struck off hopefully through the trees. There it was - the light of another lantern! I made my way towards it.

As I got nearer, I called out, "Father Sebastian!"

The priest's voice came back.

"I thought you might follow me. Margheta has never been known to keep a secret and I judged you were curious enough to brave the night and the storm. Watch where you tread. The river which made this place an island, is gone. The old dam which was used to change its course must have broken."

I struggled through the mud which had been the stream bed and I was in the graveyard. The sight which met my eyes was enough to make anyone believe in demons.

The priest stood, resting on his spade. On his left, the lantern hung on the broken branch of an oak tree, blasted by lightning. On his right was a tall stone cross. The whole scene was starkly lit by sky suddenly ripped apart by flashes of light. The gusting wind moaned through the trees like the rise and fall of the unearthly murmurings of a thousand voices.

"Come no farther," the priest said. "There is a deep hole in front of you. The lightning which struck that tree had done most of the work for me, but I have dug deeper to be quite certain."

"Certain of what?" I asked.

"Certain of what I most feared. The dwarf was telling the truth. I told you that Count Sorza died in the fire. I did not tell you that the body was buried here with a stake of wood through its heart. I had no part in it. I did not believe in such superstition - though, perhaps, even in those days I had doubts. Now, I must believe. The grave is empty."

"Toomis, the dwarf," I said, "could he not have dug up the body?"

"No. Only one person knew where it was buried. It was told to me under the seal of confession."

"The person who told me is long dead," the priest continued, "so that only I knew the secret."

I was still reluctant to accept the idea. This was the twentieth century!

"The lightning," I said. "surely the lightning has destroyed the body!"

The priest shook his head.

"Not so completely," he answered. "There is nothing down there but earth and charred wood. I too find it hard to accept that we have a vampire in Valdah!"

As he spoke, the stone cross beside him began very slowly to tilt. I shouted a warning. The priest sprang back. The cross leaned slowly towards the hole - and then stopped.

"The digging and the rain!" said Father Sebastian, " - but no harm done. If it falls, we can do little about it, and we have more important tasks. The girl, Martha Hoffman, is certainly in danger. You must return to my house and help her brother keep watch over her."

"Will you return with me?" I asked.

"Not yet," he answered. "There are other things which I must do. Now go, quickly."

I found my way back to the road. The storm was easing, but the darker sky made my return more slow and difficult.

At last, I entered the main street of Valdah. The rain had stopped and the sky was clearing. I made my way to the priest's house. As I neared it there was a movement somewhere in the deeper shadows.

"You're 'fraid for the girl!"

Toomis, the dwarf was standing in front of me.

"I said you 'fraid for the girl!"

"What if I am?" I answered him.

"Toomis can he -"

His twisted mouth gave him difficulty with the word.

"How can you help?" I asked.

'You must come wi' Toomis. Come now!"

Had I any reason to trust the dwarf? Perhaps he could help. Martha was already in danger. Could I too be putting myself at risk? Should I go with him, or refuse his offer?

We finally made a choice to leave Martha's side...and are promptly told to go back and stay with her.

Most of the paths through the earlier part of the book involve the PC meeting Toomis (even if it was just to see him getting beaten by the village mob). I think we took the one path where we completely never set eyes on Toomis before, so there's a slight bit of awkwardness in the continuity of the text where we are able to recognize him on sight. Although being already told that he was a dwarf who was once set on fire means that he wouldn't be hard to recognize anyway (in the paths where we would have met him earlier we'd be told that half his face is burnt and one of his hands only has a thumb remaining, so there's no way to mistake him for anyone else).

Anyway, do we follow the dwarf, or *gasp* go back and watch over Martha (again)?

[Darth Rabbitt]

Follow the dwarf, since we so aggressively (if unintentionally) avoided him earlier in the book.

[Thaluikhain]

Just been told Martha is in danger, so half vote for going back to save her. And Eric, I guess.

[SGamerz]

I guess the full vote to follow the dwarf wins!

The dwarf led me up the side alley between the priest's house and the church. From my explorations earlier in the day, I knew that it led to the outside door of the crypt.

When I had left in such haste for the graveyard, Margheta had given me some keys on a string, one of them to let myself back into the house. I had noticed that it also held some keys to the church, including the outside door to the crypt; or so said its neatly printed label. I felt better for having it. I could not trust Toomis completely and had no intention of being, locked in the crypt!

When we reached the crypt door, it was not locked. Toomis pushed it open.

"You go down 'e stairs. I fo'ow you."

I walked slowly down the steps, stopping at the bottom. The place appeared deserted. I heard the outer door close with a clash but, before I had time to look up the stairs, a shape had emerged from the deeper shadows. The light of my lantern fell upon a face with fine, classical, strangely handsome features.

"I," said the stranger, "am Count Sorza."

I looked, desperately, about me, wondering where I might find the other exit to the church.

"There is no way out," the Count continued in a quiet, cultured voice. "There is no way out except upon my terms. You know too much for me to let you go freely from here, but I am a civilised man and I will offer you a choice."

Another light appeared as Toomis approached from the darkness carrying an oil lamp. He stopped a little way from his master. The Count looked neither old nor young. There was an ageless quality about both his face and figure. His appearance was in no way frightening. I felt that the same might not be true of the 'choice' which he was about to offer.

"If it is your wish," he said, "I will give you a quick and Christian death. I hope you will take the other choice. I have the power to make you like myself."

"A vampire!" I exclaimed.

"I do not find that a distasteful word," the Count replied. "What I am offering you is eternal life!"

Unfortunately, this isn't one of the more "modern" gamebooks where it's possible to take "morally-questionable/ambiguous" options. We're not given the opportunity to say "yes" to vampirism and immortality.

"You find that a difficult idea, perhaps," the Count continued. "I was not always known by the name of Count Sorza. I have had many names in my time. In the courts of the pharaohs, I was Mycenos. The Greeks knew me as Philias, the Romans, as Sextus. I have lived through the history of this world, seen the burning of the great library at Alexandria, watched Hannibal's crossing of the Alps, entered Moscow with the armies of Napoleon."

I could not deny that the offer had about it a terrible fascination, but I knew the price was too high. I could think of nothing but to stall for time so that I might find some way of escaping.

"If I were to accept this offer," I said, "then what of my friend Martha Hoffman? Would the girl's life be safe?"

The Count looked at me, I thought almost with pity.

"I wonder," he said, "whether you are ready for what I offer you. Now, you see this girl, Martha Hoffman as your friend. As one of us, you would see her as just another mere mortal, a small sacrifice for a life which is eternal. Vampires do not have friends. Friends grow old a and die. We do not."

Toomis spoke up, at last.

"I am your friend," he said.

The Count looked at him.

"You are my servant; my good servant."

"But if I die, wha' wi,'you do then?, Toomis asked.

"I will get another servant."

"But there is no need, Master. You offer eterna, 'ife to this one - who has done nothing for you. Why do you not offer it to me, Toomis, who has been fai'fu' to you for many years?"

For a moment, the Count was silent.

"I do not offer it because you are what you are, an ugly dwarf who has served me well in return for the rewards which I have given you. That is how it will remain until the end of your days. Eternity is not for the likes of you."

Toomis' already twisted face now took on an expression which might have been disappointment, or anger.

The dwarf's speech became worse.

"You prom - promise me be 'ike you. Many time, you p'omise Toomis."

"Many times, you have asked," replied the Count. "Never had I made such a promise."

There was now no mistaking the expression on the dwarf's face. It was one of sheer desperation. He picked up the lamp and knelt with it in front of his master.

"You p'omise me!" he shouted, again and again.

The Count struck him across the face. Toomis fell to the ground, the oil lamp breaking beneath him. The flames began to leap up. It was as if Toomis was unaware of what had happened. He grasped the Count about the legs, still shouting the same words. The Count tried to free himself,
but now both were in flames.

As the flames leapt higher, there was a cracking in the timbers above. A great beam fell upon the burning figures, its rotten wood splintering
around them and bursting into new flame.

I ran up the stairs leading out of the crypt, already choking with the smoke which filled the air. The heavy door would not move. It was locked. I could not find the key which Margheta had given me. More of the roof was crumbling. In a moment, I would be trapped. I must find the other stairs!

I ran across the floor of the crypt, past all that remained of the blazing figures, still locked together as the flames consumed them.

I was met only with another wall of flame and no way through it. I knew that I was trapped.

What little air might be left would be near the floor. I lay on the stones gasping at the last traces of life-giving air. Something clattered onto the stone; the key to the crypt door. I stretched out my hand and clutched it in my fingers, but it was too late. I no longer had the strength even to crawl across the floor.

Perhaps Valdah would be grateful to me for destroying its vampire, but the credit was not mine. This thing of evil had been destroyed by the simple love and devotion of a twisted mind inside a twisted body.

The vampire in this book since more vulnerable then most I've read about.

Although the vampire was destroyed, this is not the "good" ending. The text at the beginning stated that to be "completely successful" we must accomplish that "without being destroyed ourselves".

In fact, this is actually the only ending where the PC dies....

So, what to we do now? Do we just rewind back to the last option and ignore the dwarf? Or do you prefer to rewind to an earlier point?

[Darth Rabbitt]

Resume the “stay with Martha” plan and ignore the dwarf.

[SGamerz]

We chose to stray from our appointed task (protect Martha) and paid the price! We must not fail Superman our friend again!

Suddenly, from the priest's house, I heard Eric's voice, shouting, and then Margheta's scream. I pushed past the dwarf and made for the courtyard.

Margheta answered my hammering at the door in a state of near hysteria. Eric had found Martha on the floor of her bedroom with fresh blood on her neck and the window of the room open. I rushed up the stairs. Martha lay very white and still on the bed with Eric beside her.

"I didn't go to sleep!" he said, as he saw me. 'I heard nothing. I looked into the room to see if Martha was all right and found her on the floor."

"It wasn't your fault," I told him. 'You must stay with your sister. I have no time to explain now, but I must speak to Margheta."

Margheta was crying in the kitchen.

"That poor girl"' she sobbed. "If that demon comes again tomorrow night, it will surely kill her!"

"Margheta," I said, 'you must help me. I know little of vampires, but am I right in thinking that they only wander abroad at night?"

She nodded, wiping her eyes on her apron.

"At sunrise, they must return to the earth of their graves."

"To the graveyard?" I asked.

"It could be," Margheta replied, "but it could be to some other place which the dwarf has prepared. It need only be a box lined with earth from the grave. Such a box could be hidden anywhere."

"Then how could it be found?"

Margheta shook her head.

"That I cannot tell you," she said. "There is no way. There could be more than one box of earth in which the vampire could rest."

Margheta made it sound impossible, but I knew that if Martha's life was to be saved, then every minute might count. It was still dark and more than an hour till dawn, but I had to start looking. I could think of one possible place; the strange house in which we had spent the night - the house to which Toomis claimed his master would 'return'. One other thought entered my mind. What had Toomis been doing in the church; the church with a crypt where no-one went because it was unsafe?

Shades, of Vault of the Vampire (FF38) where we have to find the vampire's coffins to win!

Where do we start looking?

[Darth Rabbitt]

Well, we know his lair is in the crypt, so go to the church.

[Thaluikhain]

Yeah, try the church.

[SGamerz]

From my explorations earlier the previous day, I knew that there were two entrances to the church crypt, one from within the church itself, the other by way of an outside door in the alley beyond the courtyard of the priest's house.

I asked Margheta if there was a key to the crypt. She reluctantly gave me the key to the outside door. She also gave me a lantern.

I was surprised to find the outside door to the crypt already unlocked. I pushed it open and held up the lantern. I could see nothing but the stone
steps going down to the crypt.

I walked, slowly, down the steps, stopping at the bottom to look about me. The place appeared to be completely empty and deserted. I heard the outer door close with an echoing clash but, before I could turn back up the stairs, a shape had emerged from the deeper shadows. Thinking it might be Toomis, I lifted the lantern higher. The light fell upon a face with fine, classical, strangely handsome features.

"I," said the stranger, "am Count Sorza."

Ok, there's actually any page of this section, but I'm going to stop here because the text from this point onwards is pretty much identical to the one in the section where we followed Toomis earlier. So yes, this is just another way to the same bad ending. When the priest warned the PC not to go to the crypts, it was apparently a legit warning to the readers, too.....

Which means, of course, that the correct option was to go back to the house where we spent the night before, so let's proceed there.

A setting moon now lit the sky and I made good progress along the road to the house. My heart sank when I saw that the house was in total darkness, but I had come this far and I was not turning back until I had once more been through its rooms.

This time, the door of the house was not only unlocked. It was wide open. I thought of calling out to see whether anyone was about, but decided not to advertise my presence.

I found one of the candlesticks we had used the night before. The candles were burned low, but they were still enough to give me the light I needed. As their flames flared up, I saw that something had happened since our leaving. The heavy table at the centre of the room had been overturned. One candlestick lay on the staircase as if it had been suddenly dropped or thrown! I went up the stairs.

The grand, elegant bedroom looked as if a whirlwind had passed through it. The bed linen was on the floor. The bed curtains were torn - and there were traces of fresh blood on them. Surely, there had been a struggle of some kind; I could not guess between whom! There was more blood on the edge of one of the huge tapestries which draped the walls. I pulled it to one side. Behind it was a door - a door which opened onto a narrow, stone staircase that led down through the thickness of the wall.

The stairs seemed never ending, but opened, at last, into the cellars of the house. The air was thick with smoke from the still-smouldering remains of a large packing case and earth was strewn across the stone floor. Someone had found and destroyed one of the vampire's possible resting places!

I thought of Father Sebastian. Who else had been in the struggle - Toomis, or Count Sorza himself? Had Father Sebastian already encountered the vampire, and where were they now?

Dawn was only minutes away. If the Count had chosen the house as his resting place, the box was now destroyed. He must seek some other place before the sunrise. There might still be the crypt of the church, but he could never reach it in time. It had to be the graveyard!

Something like this actually doesn't happen in Storytrails books. For these books, most of the time the PC's choices doesn't affect events in the story like some CYOA does. It only affects what the PC sees and encounters. An option may cause him to witness a murder first-hand, for example, but if he doesn't make that option, the murder still takes place with or without him at the scene.

This is actually an unusual case where events seem to change according to the choices the PC made. If he goes to the church, the Count is already there, but if he chooses the house instead, then the Count wasn't at the church and had to find some other resting place. Not one of the better-designed part of this series....

I raced from the house and down towards the edge of the forest. I crossed what was now the dried up river bed and stood at the edge of the graveyard. The first light of dawn was tinging the clouds, though the sun had not yet risen.

On top of a mound of freshly dug earth, stood Father Sebastian, his black clothes standing out against the whiteness of the tall, marble cross which was tilted at a rakish angle behind him. In one hand, the priest was holding a wooden stake and a carpenter's mallet. The other hand he held out in front of him. In it, he grasped a large gilt cross of the kind which stands on a church altar.

"You are in my way, priest."

My eyes turned in the direction of the voice. Standing in the half shadow, was the tall figure of a man He stepped towards Father Sebastian so that the pale light of the coming dawn fell upon his face. The features were strong, classical, strangely handsome. The voice was soft and cultured.

"You come well prepared, priest, and you have much courage; but the battle is unequal. My will is much stronger than yours."

Father Sebastian neither answered, nor moved.

"Let me show you, priest. The stake which you hold - the stake which you hope to drive through my heart as I lie helpless in my grave - throw it to me."

For a moment, nothing happened. Then I saw Father Sebastian's arm move, slowly, as if resisting some invisible force. Suddenly, the stake was flying through the air and the vampire Count had caught it.

"Now, the mallet. Toss it away."

The mallet landed near my feet. Mercifully for me, the vampire's gaze had not moved from the face of the priest.

"Lastly, the cross. Drop it!"

Even from where I stood, I could see the beads of sweat breaking out on Father Sebastian's forehead. He now grasped the cross with both hands and, in some strange way looked much taller than he had a moment before. His mouth moved and, carrying with it the anguish of his mind, one word burst from his lips, "Never!"

"Never, priest, is a long time. I do not have that time. In moments, the sun will rise. If I am not then resting in the earth, I am destroyed. Drop the cross!"

The voice had become hard and firm. I looked at Father Sebastian. It was impossible to imagine what the vampire was doing to his mind, but the torment was clear upon his face. I saw the fingers of his hands begin to twitch and blood appear between them as, desperately, he tightened his grip on the cross.

And then it was over. The priest stumbled, fell to his knees, and the cross was on the ground beside him.

"You fought well, priest - but I told you that the battle was unequal. I am sorry that I must now do what has to he done. You know that I must kill you, for if I do not, then you will do as much to me when I am in my grave."

The vampire was still holding the wooden stake which he had caught. Now with its sharpened end before him, he advanced on the kneeling priest. I waited for Father Sebastian to move. He did not move.

A line of light had appeared just over the horizon. The sun would appear at any second - but it would be too late! I remembered the mallet at my feet. If I could throw it well enough, could I knock the stake from the vampire's hand? If I threw it at the vampire Count himself, could I distract his attention for long enough to give him no time to kill the priest without himself being destroyed?

As I bent down to pick up the mallet, something glistened on the ground beside it. It was a small gold cross and chain. It was surely Martha's gold cross and chain which she had lost.

I held the cross and chain in mv hand. I looked at Father Sebastian, still kneeling; a man broken in mind, his cross on the ground before him. In some way, the vampire feared the cross, yet I had seen him break the will of a priest of the church. What hope had I to succeed where Father Sebastian had failed? Time was all but run out. Which should I try to use, the mallet, or the cross?

Endgame! Which item do we use?

[Thaluikhain]

Cross, as dawn is coming.

[SGamerz]

Cross it is!

I ran through the thorns behind the priest and around the other side of the open grave. I dared not look towards the priest and vampire. I felt sure that once caught in the vampire's gaze, I would be as helpless as Father Sebastian.

I reached the leaning marble cross and, with all the strength that was in me, I began to push. I felt the stone move. Again I tried. It moved again, and then began to slip away from me. It was falling into the grave! As it fell I threw the tiny cross and chain beneath it. Unless the vampire's will could
move a ton of solid marble, there was no way the cross could be taken from the grave.

Suddenly, I was conscious that the Count was beside me. I looked at his face. It was no longer handsome, but twisted in an expression of unutterable fury. His mouth had begun to move as the first rays of the rising sun fell full upon him. He raised his arms to cover his face. For a moment, he held them there. They fell, suddenly, to his sides. There was no longer a face behind them; only a crumbling mask of rotting flesh and decaying bone. Slowly, the whole figure collapsed in front of me until it was no more than a heap of grey dust at my feet. As I watched, the dust was lifted away by the morning breeze.

Everything else had gone from my mind. I just stood, staring - numbed, revolted, speechless. An arm was placed gently around my shoulders.

"The task was well done."

The gentle voice was Father Sebastian's. I looked up, not knowing how I expected him to appear.

"l am almost recovered," he said, "in body, if not in spirit. I think that we two should now leave this place - you the wiser, and I the humbler."

Father Sebastian would not talk about what had happened at the house that night before I reached the graveyard. Toomis left the district on the following day and, that night, what remained of the house, together with its treasures, was totally destroyed by a mysterious fire.

A week later, Martha Hoffman was well enough to leave Valdah. I still write to Martha and Eric but we no longer spend our summers together.

And that's the end! This is the "good" ending out of the 4 in this book. Amazingly, as mentioned before, only one of the bad endings actually involve the PC dying (and we found that one, unfortunately). Our chances of survival against a vampire lord was actually much higher than the against the mundane serial killer in the first book (although we turned out to have done better in that one).

Going for the mallet actually still allows us to save the priest. We will successfully knock the stake out of the vampire's hand. Because the sun was already coming up, the vampire didn't have time to stop to kill us, and simply flees into the grave. The bad news is that after that, the stake couldn't be found, so Father Sebastian couldn't finish the job immediately. The stake needed to be cut and shaped out of oak, so he couldn't just grab some random tree branch to make a new one. It took 3 hours for him to go back to the village and get a new stake, but by the time he came back, Toomis was able to move the coffin away and flee from the region with it. Martha (and Valdah) was saved, but the text indicates that the vampire will still be a threat elsewhere.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who played. I'll be starting up the next LP in a few days.

[Thaluikhain]

That wasn't what I thought "use the cross" meant, but whatever.