Editing Amethyst Guard (section)

===Night of the Vampire===
Baron Althon explained that he was a collector of weaponry, and was impressed enough by their services that he wished to enter into further business arrangements. Before discussing the matter, though, he asked them to join him at his manor in [[Keiramos]], where he would be holding a ball in two weeks' time in honor of the betrothal of his niece, Lania.

When the adventurers arrived, they were introduced to Lania, Baroness Selena, and the variety of Penatoran nobles who had also come for the ball: Lania's betrothed, Lord Iago Montblanc, and his father, Lord Mateo Montblanc; Lady Constantina Brezovo; Lord Vasily Ourosco; and Lord Hugo Strolojca. They also learned that a distant cousin of the Baron's, Lord Andrew, was staying there as well but not expected to appear until dinnertime. The day began with a series of competitive games: archery, horsemanship, and even swordplay. Callisto decided to participate in the tournament of swordplay, in which she defeated Lord Strolojca. The Lord was bitter in defeat, and stalked off the field in anger.

That night at dinner, Lady Brezovo told them that Keiramos used to belong to the Ourosco family, leading to a rivalry that had persisted for nearly a century. After the arrival of Lord Andrew, Iago joked that Andrew did not seem to like him much, and was perhaps jealous of his betrothal to Lania. The ball turned out to be a masquerade. Lord Andrew dressed as a jester and proved skillful with the lute, while Lady Brezovo flirted relentlessly with the party behind a cat's mask and Lord Mateo Montblanc, refusing to participate, warned them to be wary of Lord Ourosco. Lord Ourosco, meanwhile, asked them to meet him in the parlor to discuss an opportunity he wished to pay them for. When the arrived, they instead found Ourosco's men who attempted to kill them. Taking up the arms hanging on the wall, the band easily defeated the thugs, who confessed that Lord Ourosco wanted them out of the way while his assassins targeted the Baron. The adventurers rushed to his chambers in time to save the Baron's life from the would-be-assassins, who turned out to be the musicians hired for the party. The sound of horses and a carriage alerted them to Lord Ourosco already fleeing; as they had no hope to catch him, they returned to the ball.

Shortly after returning to the ballroom, the masquerade was interrupted by a scream. They found Lania lying on the floor in the dining room, pale and cold and breathing shallowly. Noticing the bite marks on her neck, they quickly deduced that she had been attacked by a vampire; the Baron ordered the guards to secure all of the guests in the ballroom. They quickly determined, however, that Lady Brezovo, Lord Andrew, Lord Strolojca, and Iago were missing and the adventurers began searching for them. They found Iago first, drained of blood with his throat ripped open. In his pocket was a note from Lord Andrew demanding he break off the betrothal and threatening him if he did not. Concluding that Lord Andrew must be the vampire, they continued their search for the others and found Lord Strolojca dead on his bed, his throat slashed by a dagger. Lady Brezovo was found safe in her room, and readily agreed to return to the ballroom with the rest of the guests.

Shortly after they arrived, they discovered that a servant had brought Lania to her bed to rest; they rushed to her chambers and found her guards murdered, and burst through the door to find Lord Andrew crouched over her. He gloated that they would never see the sun rise, before transforming into mist and fleeing through the window. Though Lania survived, she was only barely hanging on. Despite her condition, they ordered her brought back to the ballroom so as to keep everyone together and deny Andrew the opportunity to pick off his victims. A few hours before sunrise, the ballroom windows shattered as a horde of wolfs and bats crashed through them and began causing havoc. While the adventurers tried to deal with the wolves, Lord Andrew himself appeared and attacked them, but they were able to hold him off until, badly wounded, he returned to mist and retreated once more.

When dawn came, they began a search for Andrew's coffin to destroy him. They met Lord Montblanc in the foyer, who was preparing to return him with his son's body. When they told him they intended to destroy Andrew, he gave them a scroll of protection and a magical dagger and said he would leave the matter in their hands. Though their search was at first fruitless, a servant eventually mentioned seeing Andrew in the cellars just before dawn a few days ago. When they investigated, they found a secret door that led to the coffin, and plunged a wooden stake through Andrew's heart, destroying him. Baron Althon thanked them profusely for saving his daughter from a terrible fate. Though the night's event's meant he had more immediate concerns and could no longer employ them he gifted them each a weapon from his private collection as a reward.