Eagle flew back to Windham in the middle of the night, leaving his companions to spend the night at the ruined keep and lair of the recently vanquished Horned One and his menagerie of minions. Upon arriving at the
Fat Falconer Inn, Eagle's news is received with a mixture of joy and sadness. The villagers are of course thrilled to learn that the Dread Ogres and Horned One have been defeated, but when Eagle shares the news of the discovery of scores of bodies, that elation is quietly diminished.
Eagle also shares a private audience with Lord Kazmerak, whom hired the group on the village's behalf to seek out and destroy the Dread Ogre menace. During their meeting, the Lord Mayor's herald, Miglaf, shares what he knows about that ruined keep.
The keep had been occupied by an elderly arch-mage by the name of Cavalrix, though he was mostly commonly referred to as simply, The Arch-Mage. The Arch-Mage did not meddle in the nearby villages' affairs, and mostly kept to himself though at times he was known to take on apprentices, some of which came from Windham itself. About 25 years ago Cavalrix' keep was besieged by an army of Duergar led by a Dark Elf sorcerer and the keep was destroyed, the status of the Arch-Mage unknown. The keep has long been avoided by locals, though occasionally adventurers pass through Windham on their way to attempt to unearth any treasures which might be found within the ruins. Over the years bands of goblins and orcs have occupied the keep, though none have gained a long-standing foothold in the keep. Local legend claims it is haunted by the ghost of Cavalrix, though nobody has come forth offering any proof to those claims.
At any rate, the Lord Mayor pledges his support to the recovery effort and agrees to round up a dozen or so villagers to help reclaim the dead. Additionally, several teams of horse-drawn carts will be supplied in the morning, to accompany Eagle in this task. Finally, Miglaf the Herald tells Eagle how to reach the keep by means of an old wagon track that runs through the Forlorn Hills.
Morning comes and Eagle is joined by a score or so able-bodied villagers and six horse-drawn carts. Additionally, Eagle befriends a group of aspiring adventurers eager to lend their hand as well, and perhaps scour the ruins for whatever might be found! Among this group are two half-elves, an elf, a paladin and a half-orc!
The large group heads out early in the morning and makes their way along an overgrown trail that winds through the hills toward the old keep. The journey takes about an hour before the keep comes into view. As the party approaches, their arrival does not generate any activity within the keep. Odd, considering Eagle's companions are awaiting his arrival?
The courtyard lies silent, perhaps giving Eagle cause for concern. Probing deeper, Eagle steps inside the ruined west wing, perhaps expecting his companions to be waiting his return in there.
Though the party cleared the hall of all bodies last night, Eagle spots five recently slain ghasts in the hall, their bodies hacked to pieces everywhere. Then, he notices what looks like another mangled corpse lying at the top of the stairs!
Though the corpse would be completely unrecognizable to most, Eagle knows at an instant who that mass of bone, blood and precious few scraps of meat belonged to: Norion!
Glancing around, Eagle does not see any sign of his other companions!
Tragedy! What has happened here?!
Once the emotions have perhaps subsided, Eagle spots something nobody noticed last night after searching the hall: a concealed passage in the floor. A heavy stone lids has been cast aside, a few feet distant, revealing a set of stairs leading down to darkness.
Perhaps his companions might be found, somewhere below?
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:49, Mon 12 Jan 2015.
