The Bat and the Dragon 2

The Bat and the Dragon 2 is an encounter in Dark Dynasty.
==Enemies==
* Zombie Mage (1235 Gold, 152 XP, 95 Energy, 7 HP)
* Vampire Dark-Caster (1235 Gold, 152 XP, 95 Energy, 7 HP)
==Transcript==
===Introduction===
The royal castle, thirty years ago...
"Greetings, Your Highness. I am Markgraf Otto von Malhaven."
The vampire bowed.
The prince stared up at him. There was unease in the boy's eyes. The markgraf could sense that. He was accustomed to such things. Indeed, he often relished the trembles his presence invoked. But there was more in those keen orbs besides. Prince Crenus was trying to suppress his trepidation, to hide it. Yes... This pleased Otto. The greatness of the Selutha bloodline was in the boy's heart.
"You're a vampire."
"I am."
The prince turned to the servant who had brought the markgraf into his playroom.
"You may leave, Larvan. And please bring some blood for the markgraf."
Larvan nodded, bowed, and glided away. The prince turned back to his visitor.
"Are you very old?" he asked.
"Yes, Your Highness." Otto glanced at the wall, on which hung a portrait of a striking man in scarlet armor. "I knew the Red Prince."
Awe dawned across Crenus' face, banishing the half-hidden anxiety.
"What was he like?"
"An impressive man."
"They say he was the bravest warrior who ever lived."
"No. I knew a braver man."
"Whom?"
"Baron Arcadius Selutha, your ancestor."
"He killed a dragon."
There was pride in the boy's voice. It brought a smile to Otto's lips that must have displayed his fangs, for the prince stared.
"I was there. We fought the wyrm together, along with his soldiers. Arcadius' stratagem is what destroyed the beast. He was magnificent." A shadow crossed Otto's face. "And I was there when he died. The kingdom lost its greatest hero that day."
"Greater than the Dragon-Rider?"
"Yes..."
***
Robed vampires and zombies are sat at tables, each poring over large, leather-bound tomes. Several of them look up as you enter.
"<Player name>?" asks one of the vampires.
"Yes," you reply.
"Katrina said you'd be coming. These grimoires are priceless. Make sure they don't get damaged."
"Understood."
The others look from him to you and back again. Then the spells start flying.
===Conclusion===
"The bookcase!" your vampire ally screams.
But you're already there. A muttered incantation, and an azure barrier expands in front of the shelves and the precious books they bear. The zombie's fireball explodes against its surface, sending blue ripples through its arcane expanse but leaving the barrier unbroken and the tomes unburned.
The vampire mage aims his staff at the zombie. Two tendrils of emerald light snake from the orb at its tip. They twist through the air, lap round the startled zombie's head, and dive into his ears. Thick goo, brain matter reduced to the worth and purpose of snot, gushes from his nose.
"These tomes hold the magical learning of generations of von Malhavens," the vampire says, while the zombie falls into his own spilled brains. "Markgrafs and markgrafins may perish and be supplanted, but knowledge must endure."
Category: Dark Dynasty