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Inner Sanctum
In Pursuit of the Faceless
I rest up and then buff up to the max before stepping through the portal. Death Ward for everyone, Spell Resistance for everyone, Magic Circle against Evil, Magic Vestment for Charissa, Greater Magic Weapon for Mantides, Eagle's Splendour for Charissa, Bull's Strength for Salazar, Dark One's Luck for Salazar. I step through the portal when I'm done.
I start off at #1 on the map of the Inner Sanctum. At #2 is the throne of the Faceless, a Vampire Lord named Orbakh. A dialogue ensues, with an eventual choice. One choice is to embrace becoming his servant as a Vampire, which I'll explain below.
I show the good choice, which is to refuse his offer. Several Ebon Claws led by Altama show up. Orbakh enters combat against both my party and Altama and her servants. It's fairly simple to gang up on him and overwhelm him, the more easy for Mantides inflicting damage with his Adamantine Greatsword. Of course, I want to make sure I land the killing blow on him to get the 482xp.
Altama
Next up for a fight are Altama and her Wererat Lieutenants. The usual formula of physical combat aided along by Vitriolic Acid / Eldritch Blasts works well here as well. They leave behind random loot for the most part.
Altama leaves behind:
Tasheni
I go west to Orbakh's sarcophagus at #3. On either side of the sarcophagus, at locations marked #4, are Candelabras that can be broken apart to yield a Wooden Stake. I get 3,000xp for driving the stake through Orbakh's heart.
Tasheni, Mantides' former lover and now a vampire, shows up for some dialogue and an inevitable battle. She'll be helped out by three lieutenants named Alek Rastaine, Tynar Vungrald and Cassandra Vorsil.
A Word of Faith spell from Charissa pretty much ends the fight before it even starts, giving everyone else a free hand to finish them off at will. Chances are that Cassandra Vorsil may go invisible, which can make targeting her a problem. The simple solution is to have Salazar position himself right next to Cassandra so that his Hellfire Shield will finish her off.
There will be some loot left behind. Two such items are a Duskwood Light Shield and The Sly Blade (Longsword +3, +1d6 negative energy damage, Doom (10) on hit, Displacement (9) 3 / day). I have no use for either, and indeed negative energy will heal the rest of the Vampires that I am soon to face.
The other item is a Studded Leather Armor +4. Rinara puts it on and hands over her Studded Leather Armor +3 to Salazar. Both have their armors for what's left of the game.
15th Level
And here is where Salazar, Charissa and Mantides advance to their 15th level of experience.
In particular, Charissa's newly acquired Extended Spell feat allows her to reorient her memorized spells. She now includes an Extended Regeneration, an Extended Battletide, an Extended Divine Power, an Extended Eagle's Splendour to use on herself, and an Extended Bull's Strength to use on Salazar.
The Curse of the Mask
I try to leave the Inner Sanctum through the portal, and this leads to the spirit of Elandra of the Flails appearing to me and urging me to the Undergate. The Domino Mask now has the following properties: +10 hit points, -4 Concentration, immunity to death magic, immunity to mind-affecting spells, Fear (5) 1 / day, Ghostly Visage (9) 2 / day.
Now I do return to the Catacombs through the portal. There will be a statue of a monk near the Altar, its location being at #11 on the Catacombs map.
Wearing the Domino Mask reveals a luminescent set of footprints leading to the statue itself. Wearing the Domino Mask allows me to click on the statue, and enter the Undergate. The party now finds itself at #17 on the Undergate map.
Wearing the Domino Mask reveals a path of luminescent footprints that eventually leads to #18 on the Undergate map. The Wraiths that inflict damage on me while wearing the Domino Mask can sometimes get in the way of my comrades following me, so I sometimes have to take it off to allow the party to regroup.
At #18 is a barricade that is actually an entrance to the Human Cattle Factory. That is the path for a good party. The alternative path for the evil party is described below.
*Evil* Embrace the Night
Selene accepts Orbakh's offer to become a Vampire. That choice leads to at least Rinara and Charissa turning on Selene and trying to kill her. Mantides would turn against Selene as well had he not become a Champion as well, but following his conversion he sides with Selene against Rinara and Charissa. Altama and her Wererat minions also join in and attack Selene and Mantides as well.
And so the reason for developing Mantides as a tank becomes apparent, because he can now more or less absorb the numerous blows directed at him by both Charissa and Selene. Selene meanwhile uses her Hide in Plain Sight ability to go into stealth mode, and always looks for opportunities to hit Charissa or Rinara or the Wererats from behind with sneak attacks. If any of her enemies attack her, Selene will just retreat a little and go back into stealth mode via Hide in Plain Sight. That results in her enemies focusing their attention back on Mantides, and leaving Selene free to position herself again for more sneak attacks. The battle is won fairly easily.
Once the battle is over, Orbakh completes Selene's transformation into a Vampire. She gains the following benefits:
Orbakh's mission for Selene is to wipe out the Ebon Claws in their lair in the Sewers.
