The Soulless One

"The Soulless One"  is the 10th episode of the Dungeons and Dragons adventure,  Sword of the Godslayer. It follows episode 9,  "The Assault on Von Schreiber Manor"

Synopsis
After breaking into the Von Schreiber Manor, the adventurers face the Baron and his followers.

Flesh and Bones
Lira and the others could only watch as Marley was thrown across the room by the flesh golem. The creature then immediately turned its attention towards them, and Nicolas and Firroth crowded the doorway to hold it back. Effectively trapped in the crypt, Lira fired arrows over their shoulders at the golem. They could only just see that it was flanked by two fanatics and an orc.

Across the hall took a few steps forward, and followed closely behind by a purple tiefling. The tiefling touched his staff onto the baron and he immediately transformed into a giant eagle. The baron, in eagle form, flew upwards on a balcony overlooking the hall and disappeared from their sight.

Orc vs Croc
Since he had landed somewhere by the front of the hall, Marley ran up behind the tiefling and tried to put a silence collar on him, to keep him from casting spells. However, even with the collar, the tiefling transformed into a crocodile. He attacked and pinned the rogue, knocking him unconscious. Fortunately, the thief's relentless endurance kicked in and he stood bleeding.

With the distance keeping her from healing Marley, Lira handed a healing potion to Scout and the giant weasel hurried towards the mortally wounded thief. Marley quickly gulped the whole potion and stood relentlessly in front of the crocodile, but was immediately grappled by the beast's snout.

Eventually, Nicolas was able to push the golem back enough for Lira and the others to slip free. Rob and Minos, remembering the last time they had been in the hall, ran to the nearby cells to free the captured children. Nicolas and Nong-Poi focused on the golem and orc, while Azula and Firroth attacked the fanatics.

Lira and Auren followed Scout and fired on the tiefling from a distance. Marley managed to free himself from the crocodile's jaws and took cover behind the ranger. Nong-Poi leapt and finished off the golem with a poisoned bolt she had taken from the assassin Inverno.

Seeing the monstrous creature fall, one of the Baron's remaining henchmen surrendered, but Firroth continued attacking him. Lira sent Scout to stop Firroth from killing the the hench but the barbarian kicked the animal out of the way and sliced the henchman in half. Azula knocked the other remaining henchman down to the ground convinced him to act dead, hence suffer the same fate.

Auren and Lira finished off the druid's crocodile form, just as Nicolas and Nong-Poi killed their orc opponents. The paladin and monk charged the tiefling and knocked him unconscious.

Another Ritual
Curious, Nicolas touched Nong-Poi with the staff that had fallen from the tiefling's hand and inadvertently turned her into a giant eagle. Enjoying herself, Nong-Poi flew a few circles over their heads before ferrying each of them to the overlooking balcony.

When Nicolas and Lira arrive at the top. they found a room with a magical circle etched into the smooth marble floor. The baron stood at the center, surrounded by six unconscious children. Nicolas was tried to pick up one of the children, but was pushed back by arcane energy. However, Lira fired at the baron from over the paladin's shoulder and killed him instantly before he can finish his incantation. However, as the baron fell, he managed to smile saying that it wasn't over.

The magic surrounding the circle dissipated. However, Lira, in total disbelief on how easy it was to kill the Baron, approached his body and sliced his throat off just to be sure. Nicolas finally managed to lift a child from the circle.

Marley, still heavily wounded, finally came up and asked Nicolas to set the Baron's body on fire while Lira helped the others with the children, but not before the thief stripped his body of all his valuables. After freeing all the children, the ghost of Denise reappeared to thank them. With all the missing children in tow, the group found a shortcut that came up into the manor's dining room. As they left the passage, Lira recognized the poison-trapped cabinet she had set off.

Another Life Saved
By that point, the manor had been filled with guards and they left the children in their care. They exited the building and were met by a thief, who carried a message from Sei. He told them that Captain Steffan was about to be executed for being a vampire.

They ran to the crowded city square, where a stage had been erected. Aside from a small council, the stage only held a box with air holes. Rob reminded them that he had a Wish scroll from Cassana, which could cure vampirism, but the others insisted that they should save it. Lira tried to cause a distraction by starting a fight, but the random townsman she punched was only slightly annoyed. Nicolas mimicked her with more success, and all eyes turned to the sudden brawl at the back of the crowd.

Azula ran up to the box with the tiefling's staff and inserted it through an air hole. As the crowd settled down and looked back toward the execution, the box was opened to reveal only a cat. In the confusion that followed, the group picked up the vampire cat and easily slipped away.

Featured Characters
Godslayer Expedition
 * Auren
 * Azula
 * Firroth
 * Lira
 * Marley
 * Minos
 * Nong-Poi
 * Nicolas
 * Rob

Von Schreiber Manor

 * Denise von Schreiber (ghost)
 * Dominic von Schreiber
 * Rickheart (flesh golem)
 * Thevir (briefly)
 * Lisa

Next Episode
"The Soulless One"  closes the second chapter of Sword of the Godslayer. This is followed by episode 11, the first episode of  Chapter 3: Heretics, titled  "The Island".