The party arrives in the capital of the vampire bishop Thule. They find an inn, put their satellite dish and cart in a stable, and go up to their suite. Yes, that's right, suite- turns out Laylah's being a dhampir is pretty handy around here.

Comment by Russell:
Good use of Aristocratic Authority here.

Food gets sent up- stew for the humans, and the room service girl for Laylah. Harper is understandably freaked: "So, you're a... good for you! Did I mention I was born without blood? Darndest thing."

Comment by Russell:
Okay, this was fun. Laylah's player, Angela, didn't skip a beat taking the bleeding servant to her room. The characters (and the players) were pretty disturbed by this. The idea of a civilization ruled by blood-drinking overlords of darkness is pretty freaky in the first place, but this brought home the ominous implications of Laylah being a party member.

A Captain Roman comes to search their rooms. Testosticles hides Gavrielle. Roman he's looking for rebels, and that he'll have to report directly to the "Silver Maiden." Judging by Roman's mood, the Silver Maiden is a serious hardass.

Something serious is going on in the city. The Silver Maiden, a major militiary leader, has come home. Troops are being mobilized. Massive smoke generators are being activated to block out the sunlight.

Gavrielle is coaxed to provide information about her past, which she does by painting stew pictures on the wall. She paints horrible battles, and relates that all of her "family" were destroyed. Our heroes decide to infiltrate Thule's fortress to try and find out more about her story.

After poking around the downstairs of the inn gambling with other patrons and stealing soldier suits, the party heads out into the streets, which are now running with rain and mud.

They manage to sneak into Thule's castle and find his massive library. As they gather books, however, they are interrupted by woman. Her skin is pale and young but battle-hardened. Her armor is a sticky, tar-like black with pulsing red veins. Her legs are encased in robotic pants. She has a six-foot long sword strapped across her back.

Her hair is purest silver.

One of the books Testosticles is carrying falls open, miraculously opening onto an illustrated page which identifies "The Silver Maiden, Keeper of the Blade Which Cleaves Through Time."

Comment by Russell:
I stole this identifying trick from House of the Dead II. I intend to keep it.

The Silver Maiden's sword allows her to split momentarily into multiple possible selves, making her devilishly quick.

Comment by Russell:
The effect of this was increased initiative.

The resulting battle is massive. Harper locks the Maiden's soldiers out of the room, Klaproth gets in a biting contest with the Silver Maiden, fire is used copiously, and the fight spills over into the adjacent clock tower.

The Silver Maiden dies flying, on fire, towards Laylah. Laylah, perched on a massive, moving gear, gracefully uses her wrist-blades to bissect the Maiden, who becomes two fireballs which are crushed in the machine works.

Comment by Russell:
The whole fight was pretty gory, but it was also very exciting. The Silver Maiden was the first true "Boss Monster" the players faced- previous encounters were with multiple enemies (the bat-monks of the underground cathedral) or ended in peace negotiations (the battles with Granny and Cedric the cloud-giant).

Comment by Jeff:
I love how, in our world, me hitting an old woman in the face with a metal pole is considered "peace negotiation."

After the battle, the party takes the Silver Maiden's robot pants (still including her legs) and sword, then runs out of the castle. Testosticles and Harper manage to find a building with a basement room to hide out in. The room is warmed by a fire, and in front of the hearth sits a single chair. The chair turns slowly around, and the occupant speaks...

"Braaains."

Fade out.