Chapter 6
"The Research"

Alececarr lay in his coffin in the basement of the Ruddy Mary. With a bit of digging, he, Fredrick, and the Ruddy brothers had been able to connect the sewer to the tavern and then hide the entrance. Alececarr had instructed his growing army to sit tight for now and go about business as usual. He would tell them when it was time to act.

Right now he was meditating.

The body that lay in the coffin had once belonged to a man. He had possessed a life, a family, a soul, and a name. The name had been Elias. None of that could be remembered now. Alececarr was the name of the demon that inhabited him. It was an old demon, and he had not been diluted over time.

Alececarr had inhabited Elias over 1,000 years ago. Even the demon could not remember the exact length of time. The vampire had spawned many others, and they had multiplied, but at the end of every campaign those spawn were killed. Alececarr remained.

Other vampires feed and multiplied over and over, such that the personality of the original demon was lost over time. All that remained was a nameless spirit and access to the abyssal planes that brought power and long life. Those vampires did not commune with their spirits except to understand their hunger and thirst for power. They were therefore reduced to primal animals with little thought or reason put into anything.

Alececarr was refined. He had all the same desires and cravings, but he tempered them with reason and knowledge. He used that now. With his body dormant, he left enough of a presence to sustain it, and went in search of answers.

Other demons and denizens traditionally looked down upon vampires because they were only half-breeds, with no real demonic consciousness. Alececarr was different. He was held in some regard in the lower planes, and when he asked questions, he got answers.

There were no interviews or interrogations. Spirits did not meet face to face for the obvious reason that they lacked heads. Instead Alececarr "floated" his question into the planes. His question was a name: Artemis Entreri. The response did not take long.

He received answers from all corners. Servants of Tempus, Lloth, Mielikki, and several human gods, both good an evil all had something to say about the assassin. Followers of these deities had all met Entreri in battle and all said the same thing. Among humans, there was no one equal in skill or one-on-one combat. If you have a conflict with this man, break it off and leave. Victory was not worth the risk of failure, the second being the far more likely outcome.

Having gotten his answer, Alececarr removed his consciousness from the plane and returned to his body in the realm. The human mind, limited as it was, was far better designed for reasoning since it could only deal with one concept at a time as was bounded by time and space.

What should he do? Alececarr had never run from an enemy before, but the information he had just gotten was not vague in anyway. Entreri should be avoided. More confusing than what to do, though, was the man himself. Why was he here?

While Alececarr had toured very little of the city, he had gotten a lot of information from Fredrick. This was a land without magic. Humans were the only race Fredrick had ever heard of outside of fairy tales. It was information that pleased Alececarr, for it was a land ripe for the taking, but Entreri should not be here. What was the realms most powerful human fighter doing in this small city running a restaurant in the rough section of town?

For a moment Alececarr wondered if there were two Artemis Entreris. It was a possibility for sure, and there almost assuredly was another human named such in the vast population of the realm, but for another of the same name to posses such skill, was not likely. Even if there was another of the same name elsewhere who was more powerful (though it was highly unlikely) Alececarr knew that the man he had fought last night was to be avoided.

However, the vampire would not allow the assassin's presence to deter him from his course of action. One man could not stop his rise to power. What could one man do against an army of vampires? If this was the greatest fighter, the only explanation that made sense for his presence in this worthless city was that he was hiding. He had not seemed young to Alececarr, and the deeds of his past that the spirits had talked about might be a decade old at least. If he was here to retire and hide, for a man such as that must have left behind countless enemies, then the vampire hoped that if he left the human alone, Entreri would return the favor.

Alececarr smiled to himself. This was just a bump in the road. He had found a home, had a growing army, and was in a city that would not be able to repel him. There were no mages or priests to worry about. He now possessed the only magical weapons in the city. Nothing would stop him.

3rd Moon of Autumn, Day 10, 2035 AC

The demon has killed my sister.

I have been writing these entries as a scribe for the council, to record the events of our village, but since the demon has come into our midst, I have forwarded these writings to a separate journal hoping that after we are gone, someone will read them and learn from our mistakes.

It has become grave indeed. Last night's attack did not go well. We lost 13 of our number. We only recovered six, among them Elaina, my sister. We fear those we could not find were turned. Though their souls be with Ehlonna, we fear their bodies have not yet found rest and won't until the demon can be vanquished. Those we recovered have been put to flame to ensure they will not rise again.

Our numbers have dwindled and we do not think we will survive another assault. The next new moon will assuredly welcome another attack from the creatures, and we have no means of defense. We have sent word to our brothers and sisters from the eastern woods, requesting their aid, but the delay in their response does not bode well.

In the event that a portion of these records is lost, allow me to recount the history of our dealings with the demon. He has no name that we know, only that he is a vampire of such a level that none of our priestly magic has any effect on him or his followers of first or second generation. Further than that we can see some effect, but these are by nature the weaker vampires, and they are losses the demon is willing to take.

Two moons ago, we began to lose a few of our number. This vampire can invade our homes without an invitation, so too can his spawn. We had no defense against such an attack. When we raised arms against them, they retreated to the caves that we dare not enter. After that the attacks tapered, but did not cease. We lost a member of the village every other night, and no amount of guard seemed to stem the flow.

Soon the demon had built an army worthy of a frontal attack against our forces and we took heavy losses. I write now after the third such confrontation. This vampire has so overwhelmed us that we know not what to do. Many have decided to leave, but those who wish to see their loved ones put to rest will not go until the last vampire is reduced to dust.

Entreri put the scroll down for a moment of contemplation.

He had searched through his dragon treasure many times, each time finding something he had not noticed before. He was yet to find a weapon that suited him better than those he had. A dragon only kept the weapons of the adventures he had slain, and few attacked a dragon with a short sword. There were broad and bastard swords too heavy for Entreri to lift, and there were halberds and spears taller than he was. There were several axes, but they too were too heavy for him to wield comfortably. In the end, he decided to settle with the non-magical weapons John had given him.

The one thing that the treasure did contain that peaked Entreri's interest were dozens and dozens of old tomes that told the history of this land. He was reading such a tome now. The vampire had called himself Alec, and he had found a vampire named Alecearr in a later entry of this tome and had backtracked to the beginning to catch the whole story in context.

The writer of this journal was an elf named Elenain. He was a member of a village in the north woods, probably not far from Karenstoch, which would explain how this journal had found its way into his dragon cave. Elliorn had said there were elves in the area, though this journal far predated her time.

What he had learned so far explained a lot of questions Entreri had. Fredrick had entered the Toole house without an invitation, something vampires were not supposed to be able to do. He was the first spawn that Alececarr had turned, and therefore had much of the same power that his master had. If Fredrick ever turned anyone (assuming he hadn't already) they would be a bit weaker, and so forth.

Homes in the city were not safe. Entreri should tell John, but it would only cause panic and rioting, something that vampires loved. Entreri just knew that he had to formulate a plan quickly. He continued reading.

3rd Moon of Autumn, Day 14, 2035 AC

Aid has arrived!

Two score elven warriors have arrived from Strilliun in the east. With them they have brought Treeal, a mage who has dabbled in necromancy. Though his dark past brings us caution, he swears allegiance to Ehlonna and is well represented by our reinforcements. Though he no longer practices necromancy, he will use his knowledge to help us. Many fear though, and I am among them, that his plan is as evil as the creatures we face.

Tonight is a new moon and will likely bring an attack from our enemies. We will lose many elves tonight, some will be turned and some not. Treeal wishes to take a few of those we reclaim from the battle field and - Ehlonna forgive us - raise them up again as undead creatures under his control. As undead, he claims that they will be able to mingle with the vampires without detection.

Once inside, they will wait until day and then, while the vampires are sleeping, they will start fires. We know the creatures have wood in their caves, for they have raped the forest outside of their cave, and have likely made furnishings for themselves. They will be driven out of the caves into the sunlight where they will perish.

Many elders do not like this plan, and fear that we will be dishonoring our fallen elves for no gain. For how can a cave burn? Treeal assures that his magic will take care of it. There is talk of oil and burning potions, but I did not understand everything. I only pray to our goddess that things will go well.

3rd moon of Autmun, Day 15, 2035 AC

Victory!

Treeal's plan worked, but at what cost? Our brothers and sisters came screaming out of the cave into the sunlight, their beautiful elvish faces contorted into demonic snarls. They burst into flames one after the other, crumpling into piles of dust until it looked like someone had poured a portion of the desert into our forest. The area they had cleared of trees worked against them, and none of them could find shade. So they each ran in every direction at once, their flaming limbs clawing and grasping for the cover of the trees from which we watched. These had been our friends, our family, our lovers, and now the same sun that brought life to our forest was burning them to ash. I could not bare the sight.

Soon it was over, or so we thought. Smoke billowed out of the cave and we could hear the crackle of the flames inside. Surely nothing else could survive in there. Those who had explored the caves before the arrival of the demon swore there was no way out. Finally the chief vampire emerged. He walked slowly out of the flame and smoke and into the sunlight.

I watched eagerly now, for this was the demon that had started it all. Nothing happened. He squinted into the sun, and his pale skin began to tan, but though his clothes smoked from the fire he had walked through, he did not burn. He raised his arms to the sun and laughed. He then cursed us all using every foul name from the abyss.

We raised our bows, to drive two dozen wooden arrows through his heart, but Treeal stopped us. The mage showed no fear and walked right up to the vampire. He must have been able to exercise some power over the creature, for the vampire was unable to move. The mage placed his hand on the creature's head and announced the name of the demon inside: Alececarr. He declared that the demon was too powerful to be killed here with our weapons.

Argument then broke out that I fear will last several days. It has gotten repetitive so I have left the meeting to update this journal. The vampire's sarcophagus was recovered from the cave, and Alececarr has been placed inside and sealed. Treeal assures us that he will not be able to escape from the inside. He also insists that if we destroy this body, the demon will not die with it. It will escape and be allowed to roam free.

Our village has fought against vampires before, and the elders do not believe him. I believe, as do some of the other younger members of the village, that the elders want to enact vengeance against the creature that stole their families from them. I cannot blame them, but I also see the wisdom in Treeal's counsel. We should not in our foolish revenge, release this demon so he can wreak havoc on another land. It is our duty as elves to protect this land. While this demon is trapped in his body, we must make every effort to destroy it.

I only hope that the elders will see this. I also hope that a way will be found to destroy the demon. Our priestly magic has had no effect on it. I will continue to update this journal until we find an answer.

Entreri skipped ahead a bit as the elf went into a litany of the elves who had died and included great detail of the ceremonies that were held in their honor. The rest of the story Entreri could almost guess at, but he wanted to make sure he didn't miss anything that might help him.

4th moon of Winter, Day 9, 2035 AC

We have received word back from our brothers in the south. They have a temple there and their priests would like to see Alececarr. It was discussed that we should ask them to come up to us, but the two trips would take longer than we wished to keep this demon in our woods. Also, it was likely that the southern priests would need their temple to perform the exorcism.

I have been elected to travel south with four others, Treeal included. We will have to traverse the entire continent, but I believe it is the wisest course of action. There is still a contingent within the elders that wishes to kill the vampire here. That is where he killed, so that is where he should be killed. I share some of that sentiment, for I did lose a sister, but we would be dishonoring our vows to nature if we accidentally released this demon on the land.

I am going along on the trip to document it for the village. I will update this journal periodically, for this is how I shall honor those we have lost. I will tell of the last days of Alececarr!

The next few entries dealt with the farms and towns they stopped at along their route south. It told of the weather, the food, and anything else the verbose elf felt like talking about. Entreri skipped to the last entry.

2nd moon of Spring, Day 23, 2036 AC

Disaster!

As I had mentioned in my previous entry, it was decided to take the river south. With the spring waters running full, it would be a swift trip, and the temple we sought lay on the river, several hundred miles to the south. We could not know that the rapids would become too much!

The water swallowed the raft we had made. I escaped with my pack, but only Rentwin made it to shore with me. The sarcophagus with Alececarr sealed inside has been lost to the bottom of a raging river. Treeal drowned, and without his magic, we have no way to retrieve the demon.

The heavy stone will likely sink deep into the soft river bottom, and may it be buried, never to found again. Those who read this may wish to recover what was lost, but we urge you not to. Let the demon lay at the bottom of the river forever, he kept our people from finding peace by stealing their bodies so let him never find peace, trapped forever in his stone tomb.

We will head back north to our home. I hope the elders will not make us return to retrieve that which we have lost. Not only will we not find it, but I truly believe that the wisest course of action is to just let it lie. This expedition was cursed from the start.

I will not write of this again.

Entreri rolled the scroll and replaced it in a chest. That was all the information he could have hoped to find. Alececarr could not be killed by sunlight, though it surly must weaken him. And he was not as flammable as most vampire tended to be. Entreri was encouraged to find that his spawn were susceptible to these things. Stakes and crosses were not mentioned, but Entreri didn't fancy himself using wooden weapons anytime soon.

Now that he had all his information, he still needed a plan. He only had one way to get to Alececarr. He had to go through Christine to get to Fredrick, and then he would go through Fredrick to get to Alececarr. And he had to do it quickly. He expected Alececarr to act now as he had in the past with the elves. He would attack slowly, stealing one or two people at a time. Then, once he had enough for an army, he would attack in waves, not committing himself fully until he was assured victory. This town would be destroyed unless Entreri did something quickly.

Entreri pulled out a piece of parchment and a pen and began to write. He started over several times, wasting a lot of ink and paper until he finally had something he was satisfied with. He rang the bell for his messenger boy to come up to his office, and Sam appeared within seconds.

"Do you know where Thurston Toole lives?" he asked the boy.

Sam nodded.

"Good," he said, handing the message to him. "Bring this to his house. You might get a response right away, if so, bring it back to me, otherwise, wait until they are ready to respond. Go."

The boy ran out of the office and Entreri leaned back and sighed. This was going to be interesting.