Game summary for November 4, 2014, Carrion Crown Adventure Path campaign, Ashes at Dawn adventure; PCs included Dario Malavasi (human afflicted dire werewolf oracle), Gnok Thatek (dwarf vampire monk), Thrain (dwarf slayer), and Zeddicus Zu’l Zorander (human abjurer/cleric/mystic theurge), accompanied by NPC companions Alleric Swiftblade (half-elf rogue) and Nyssa Pagonis (human cleric).
The mind fog filled several of the team with a haze and apathy making them more susceptible to mental influence. A broom-riding witch materialized in the air as she uttered a mass suggestion of “Drop any weapons you are holding and touch no weapons until instructed otherwise by me.” All of the party warriors hurled their weapons to the ground, much to the witch’s delight! This didn’t bother Gnok, the vampire dwarf monk! He jumped straight up, landed on the broom, and dumped the witch onto the ground.
Several of the party closed in toward the witch intending to punch and kick the wicked caster. She unleashed a baleful polymorph and turned Zedd into a fluffy bunny! Zedd quickly hid under a table. Nyssa was able to use break enchantment spells to nullify the mass suggestion and baleful polymorph while Gnok swan dived off the broom and pinned the witch. His vampiric nature asserted control, and he ripped her throat out and gorged on the blood. She could not withstand the physical attacks of Gnok and Thrain, and she died in a spray of blood.
The group quickly ransacked the room. They found a cauldron with a half-completed batch of bloodbrew elixir. They also found a couple drops of sun orchid elixir! Another box was labeled “Youth Tonic.” The group put that in a bag and did not open it. Notes in the lab revealed an unnamed noble had commissioned the witches to create a means of artificially extending life. Other notes from another author (signed R.A.) discussed experiments in transforming an unwilling creature into undead through a potion or elixir. The work seemed incomplete but was picked up by the witches. Part of the notes regarding the bloodbrew elixir indicated it was made from vampire blood as well as the “blood of the knight.”
Zedd then cast seeming to make the party appear as the witch and several guards from the first floor. The group then began walking around exploring as if they owned the place. They found a library with a libram penned by Kaer Maga, a bloodbloat mage. Zedd took this for later study. They also discovered the headless blackened skeleton of an annis hag held together by string and held upright by a pole. The team pondered what in the world the witches wanted with such a thing.
