Part XIV: Caliphas

With the events in Illmarsh behind us, we had to get to Caliphas, the capital city of Ustalav. It lay on the other side of the Bay - 60 miles straight across, and almost double that by road. No boats were sailing across the Bay, due to the storms that occur in the middle, so we assigned ourselves to the long walk along the coast road.
Ferdibrand, however, had a different idea. He called up to his deity, Sarenrae, for help. Divine light shone through him briefly, then he reached out and touched each of us. In an instant we were transformed into clouds! Our new forms enabled us to fly across the Bay at great speed, and we arrived in Caliphas just an hour later!

Caliphas was a sprawling metropolis, an ancient city that had been around for thousands of years. Shrouded in fog, Caliphas was the most cosmopolitan and vibrant cities in all of Ustalav.
We now had the daunting task of finding the second dark rider. Fortunately, he found us. Unfortunately, though, he was headless and was riding a fiery black steed. He was quickly dispatched though. And on his body we found a peculiar amulet - a jagged edged disc with a large skull in the centre, surrounded by peculiar runes.
But where did we go now? The dark rider had no other clues about the whereabouts of the Whispering Way. We were at a dead end. We needed help.
The help came in the form of the Order of the Palatine Eye - the organisation that Judge Daramid in Lepidstadt was a member of, and also the professor, whose funeral we had all attended so long ago,. We discovered that they had a meeting hall in Caliphas, and that they would soon be gathering for a meeting.
We had a few days to spare before the meeting, so we took some time out to explore the city (Grimbledon was desperate to spend some money, so we went shopping for new gear).
On our third day in the city, we discovered that the inn we were staying in was abuzz with gossip. There had been a series of murders plaguing the city in the past few weeks, and the bodies had been turned to ash. But the local police had discovered a body that hadn't turned to ash. We decided to investigate.
In a back alley we found the chief of police with the body. It was missing its head and had a wooden stake through its heart. We were also told that there were two other bodies on the roof of the nearby building. We took a look to find two piles of ash. We discovered that the piles also had wooden stakes buried within them, similar in design to the other. We then heard a gasp from below. The officers had moved the body from the alley, and as soon as it had come into the sunlight, it had turned to ash.
Vampires. There was no doubt in our minds. Someone was murdering vampires. When we told the chief of police, he told us something chilling. Caliphas had a huge vampire population living under the streets. The vampires and humans had lived in peace for 800 years, since the Shining Crusade - a war between humans and the undead hordes of the Whispering Tyrant. The chief of police was worried that if someone was killing the vampires, they may decide to wreak vengeance and start a war. This was something that couldn't happen, as the living population would be massacred.
As we pondered on how to calm this situation, the day came around for the meeting of the Order. We went along and we were granted access to the Order's immense library. We found out what the peculiar amulet was - it was an object called a Moribund Key - a magical key used by the Whispering Way that opened hidden doors. The librarian that was with us recognised the symbols and showed us a gargoyle statue that was in the vaults that had been removed from an old cemetery. On its head was a depiction of the key, along with some runes that matched the key. When we used the key like a combination lock, an image of the city appeared in mid air. Near the centre was a building that was lit up in green - a safehouse used by the Whispering Way.

We made our way to the building, used the key to enter the safehouse, and found - nothing. It had been abandoned for years. However, as we were about to leave, a tall man emerged from the shadows. He introduced himself as Quinley Basdel. He said he knew people who could tell us where the Whispering Way had gone. In exchange for this information, he wanted us to help him find the killer of his mother. His mother had been the first victim of the vampire killings - she was a vampire! Quinley was half vampire! He informed us that he had connections with the vampires living under the city, and that their leader could help us with the Whispering Way.
We were at a dilemma. We needed to know the whereabouts of the Whispering Way, but in order to do that, we needed to ally with the vampires of Caliphas. The paladins, the clerics, and even myself, were not happy with this, but it looked like we had no other choice. So, we headed off with Quinley to meet with the leader of the city's vampires...