Okay, so I'm looking for all the angles that a player might take. Don't worry about the mechanics of d&d, just try to think of different options. Assume the party is made of four people, playing the four standard classes (Fighter, Thief, Cleric, Mage). Like a choose your own adventure book. Except that your goal is to think of a choice the book didn't offer. Okay: Elder
Sirrus of the Fanum temple issued a call for the destruction of an
ancient, and dangerous vampire by the name of Caedis. After months of
following his movements and actions over the past century, you found his
lair in the mountains to the north of a small village called Umbra. For
weeks you scoured the mountains for his lair, to no avail. Until one
night you realize that he'd been following you since you entered the
mountains! Waiting until nightfall, you managed to turn the tables on
him and he fled from you. Hot on his trail, you found not only his lair
but his coffin as well. Smashing it to pieces, you've been
chasing him through the same system of caves since yesterday night. For
you know that if you can manage to bring him down now, he'll be
destroyed for good. As you round the corner, you see the
primordial menace turn to face you, mud-cake talons poised to strike.
Not only have you managed to corner him, but the northwestern wall is
emitting small rays of sunlight into the otherwise dark chamber. A
surprisingly large river runs through the western portion of the cave. Between
you, the river, and the sun, the vampire's final death appears
inevitable. When he turns to face you, rather than charging, he begins
to emit some form of hissing. After a minute of tense watchfulness in
which no giant bats attack you from behind, you realize that the vampire
is attempting to communicate with you. "SSsss SSssSS, SSsss CssSSc. SSsssSs..." is all you can make of his words. A
second of silence goes by in which he appears to be trying to remember
something. Then he manages to choke out a few broken words in the common
tongue. "There is danger. Villagers… danger. Cannot, sleep. Now." The vampire charges you, and you strike him down together in perfect synchronicity. The body of the vampire appears to be erased from existence before your eyes. His threadbare rags fall the floor, completely unsupported. Back
at the vampire's ruined coffin, you find a small armory of well made
weapons. Though many have been ruined by the damp cave environment, or
simply destroyed by time, some of the weapons appear to be in good
repair. The fighter finds a sword. The wrappings on its grip appear to
have rotted away, but it is otherwise in very good shape. The thief
finds a bow, and quite a few arrows. The cleric finds a morningstar that
appears almost new. The mage finds a strip of leather, attached to some
fine rope. Within a few minutes, he's targeting smaller and smaller
pieces of wood from farther and farther away. Using the apparatus to
launch stones. You also find a decently sized pile of gold coins,
bearing emblems that you're sure you recognize from the history books. A
small pile of shining jewelry catches your eye. A silver ring, and two
silver necklaces appear to make up the entirety of the pile. The cleric
finds a gold necklace that appears to have been tossed into a corner and
forgotten. Despite your fatigue, your exultation makes the
prospect of staying in this cave any longer entirely unbearable. You
feel the need for the company of civilized beings, and your first night
of real sleep in months. So you set off back the way you came.
Southward, with the sun high overhead. Making your way out of the
mountains without incident, you begin the trek back to the village of
Umbra. Despite the fact that you have talked to almost no one else since
your quest began, all the stories you've heard a dozen times feel like
something new as you chatter to each other with no real meaning to
convey. As the sun begins to set, and the sky to darken, your
party falls silent under the wave of noise from nature at night. To the
east, you hear what sounds like a pack of wolves fighting amongst
themselves. You hurry down the road, eager to avoid whatever might be
making that noise. Finally under the cover of full darkness, you
re-enter the village of Umbra. As you walk toward the inn that you
noticed on your last trip through, you see a light go out in one of
three houses located directly along the road. The residents of the other
houses aren't quite as discreet however, they pull back their curtains
to watch you openly. The sign above the inn shows an
extravagantly dressed man in silhouette, mid-leap in some kind of
frantic dance. The innkeeper's wife tells you at least a dozen times how
fortunate you are to have come on a night when the inn had vacancies.
Even so, you're forced to share rooms. And take rooms on opposing ends
of the building. The barroom is full, despite the lateness of
the hour. Though lacking any real knowledge of the area, you can't tell
who's a local and who's a traveler. So you spend half the night hearing
wildly embellished tales of faraway lands and improbable (yet exciting)
adventures. And you spend the other half hearing about which neighbor's
cow gave birth last year. Finally, through varying levels of inebriation you manage to find your way into what you're reasonably sure is your bed. You
awaken to complete and utter silence. When you sit up, you realize how
late it must have gotten. The sky is far too bright for your customary
"sleeping in" time of 7am. Sliding out of bed, you carefully maneuver
around your compatriot sleeping on the floor. You wander out of your
room in your underwear, and make your way to the outhouse. Determined to
completely ignore anyone's opinion on the matter. No one offers any. You
slip back into your bed, deciding that if the innkeeper is soft-hearted
enough not to throw you out, you'll sleep as long as you possibly can.
You roll onto your side facing the wall, close your eyes, and realize
that the inn is completely deserted. Pulling back your sleeping
friend's blanket, you see nothing but a nest of comfort. Your cleric has
disappeared as well. You pull on your armor as quickly as chunks of
metal can possibly be applied to the human body, and grab your dagger.
If there's trouble in the hallway, a dagger's better for such close
quarters. When you reach the bar room, you find two of your friends
wandering out of the opposite hallway in their underwear. After a few
humorous misunderstandings about breakfast, you accompany them back to
their room to arm themselves. Bursting into every room, dagger at
the ready, you find only unmade beds and a few scattered belongings.
When finally, you satisfy yourself with every room's relative safety,
you begin to hear the sounds of movement from somewhere inside the inn.
Your remaining friends burst out of their room, armed and covered in
protective layers. A fully dressed man is standing across the bar
room from you, in the hallway of your room! Nothing about him seems
remarkable or distinctive, but you definitely do not remember him from
last night. (You don't think you remember him, anyway.) His clothes vary
from shades of brown to shades of green, and his long hair is one of
the more brown shades. He is holding his head, as though to mitigate the
pain of a head wound. But when he spots your party across the room, his
hands lower and he freezes in place. He neither runs away, nor charges
you. The stranger appears to be waiting for your move. What do you do?
