The party eventually agrees to lend their services to Lord Mayor Kazmerak's plea for assistance, in exchange for 500 gold pieces and a sizable plot of good land located on Windham's southern outskirts. After concluding their business in the small town, the group sets out, now a few days after their resounding defeat of the Dread Ogre slavers.
The town's Sergeant-at-Arms, Belden, leads the party to the ford that is frequently used by the Dread Ogres to raid across the river. There, the party crosses the river and heads into the Forlorn Hills, with Inas leading the way. It does not take long for the ranger to pick up signs of a trail, which shows signs of heavy use, leading away to west. After studying the tracks left behind, Inas concludes this is the trail used by the Dread Ogres, and the ranger leads the party further into the hilly country.
Save for the occasional antelope or bird, the party moves along with little incident, and Inas finds the trail quite easy to follow. After several hours' journey, the tracks lead over a rocky rise and the groups spots a broad grassy valley, where a ruined stone keep rises from a low hill in the center of the valley. A score or so sheep clamber about the hill's edges, idly munching on the grass and sedge, oblivious to their surroundings, while a flock of large gray birds glide in circles around the keep's perimeter.
The keep is about 100 feet wide and perhaps just as deep. Its exterior appears mostly intact, though its upper workings have large sections which have fallen inward, leaving some question as to the structural integrity of its interior. A broad gatehouse is located on the keep's south face, the only obvious surface entrance into the keep.
The ogre tracks most certainly lead to the keep, though no ogres are presently seen.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:07, Tue 02 Sept 2014.