Corrupted

Kesra wakes up in the morning feeling an impending sense of doom. At breakfast, Leona tells Kesra that Alexander said to scowl more. Kesra asks her to tell him to do some research on the Veldahar, which she does.

They make their way east out of the city. Leona whittles a dragon. Aureo asks Elden about the state of the army and troop movements. They also discuss Leona's friendship with the leader of the thieves' guild, and Kesra's cursed weapons. Eventually, they make camp for the night.

Leona contacts Soren to see if he has any updates on Zanelor. Soren tells her that Zanelor has been captured and is being held in a dungeon in Zandaria. He had infiltrated with 3 others, one of whom proved to be a traitor. Zayn Lightbringer was one of the infiltrators, but he's not sure which.

She tells the others what she learned. Aureo makes a deal with Elden - if Elden will help him free his sister and Zanelor, Aureo will take the throne as he and his faction wishes. They all head to bed, and Aureo and Elden's watches are quiet, but on Kesra's watch, she continues to feel an anxiousness in her chest. Eventually, she gets on her horse and rides off.

Kesra rides for quite a while before coming across a woman on the trail. The woman invites Kesra to come and stay at her house, magically trying to compel her to obey. Kesra resists, but the woman is quickly surrounded by a pack of wolves, and she forces Kesra to go with her. The woman introduces herself as Sylvain, and Kesra recognizes the name as that of a trio of monster hunters in the area.

Sylvain takes Kesra to a fine mansion, and summons two more creatures, clearly vampires. As Leona wakes up, sees that she's missing, and sends her a message, the vampires rush at Kesra. She struggles for a while, but is pummeled and bitten into unconsciousness.

Leona, Aureo, and Elden rush after Kesra, following Red's tracks. As they approach the house, they are flanked by several wolves, which they fight off. They quickly burst into the house.

They find the 3 humanoids there in the house, seeming perfectly unsurprised to see them. The vampires try to convince the group to leave, then try to charm Aureo, who pretends to fall for it before drawing a dagger and stabbing Sylvain. They manage to kill two of the vampires, with the third turning into a bat and flying away.

They quickly scour the house, looking for Kesra. They find a dungeon full of cells, 2/3 of which are empty, and the rest have bodies, including one which looks like Kesra. Leona rushes to her, and finds her not breathing. She grabs Kesra's holy symbol and prays to Pelor to bring her back.

Kesra stands before Pelor, who asks her what happened. He pulls two balls of inky corruption out of her. He tells her that she's been targeted by the King of Torment, Apollyon. He sends her back, but tells her first that, the next time she feels that way, she should reach for her holy symbol.

Kesra comes to, and Leona and Aureo quickly heal her. They check the other bodies, but find that they are all dead. One of them is Will, the one who helped Roman acquire the poison he used to kill Lord Kentigern. They go through the house and find a treasure trove of magic items: each room is dedicated to a group of adventurers, killed by these vampires.

Kesra and Elden loot the house and also retrieve Kesra's armor, which she re-dons. Leona and Aureo sit outside, watching the sun rise. He tells her that he's going to have to leave her soon.