8 Marpenoth (October)
Location: Caer-Dineval

The party departs the mountain lodge early in the crisp morning and soon is descending a weaving trail along a southeasterly spine of Kelvin's Cairn toward Caer-Dineval. In the distance, sun reflects off the Lac Dineshere's broad surface, a beacon drawing the party nearer as the morning yields to afternoon.

Hengar and Arnan ably lead the party down the snowy trail, warning their companions of hazardous stretches along the way and the group gets along with very few incidents. The lake disappears out of sight for a time as the party descends into a valley between two parallel spines, only to climb back out see the lake yet again though now much closer than before.

Along the near side of the lake the party can make out smoke rising from the fireplaces of a cluster of buildings which must assuredly be Caer-Dineval. Caer-Dineval consists of a clifftop castle and a ruined watchtower at the mouth of a harbor. Most of the town's buildings form a crescent-shaped stretch of land that run from the castle to the watchtower.

Perhaps more interesting than the sight of Caer-Dineval just a few miles ahead, is the more omenous looking dark smoke rising from a much larger city across the lake from Caer-Dineval--Easthaven. The smoke rising here is not of the fireplace variety, but something else that even at a glance appears troubling.

In any event, Caer-Dineval lies at the bottom of about a 2 miles stretch of trail that both Hengar and Arnan identify as particularly hazardous...avalanche prone!

The going here might require a bit more caution...

"Vaelish Gant," Morgrim growled, scowling across Lac Dineshere at the spiralling smoke. "And to think I didn't believe he was telling the truth."

"Hmm?" Thane asked, not sure what the reference was about.  He was dismayed by the large amount of smoke coming from the town across the lake.  "I don't think zombies cause fires, so what in the frozen north is going on here?" he observed rhetorically.  "Do we go through Caer-Dineval to get to Easthaven?"

"When Gant fled Bryn Shander he said Easthaven would next feel his wrath," Morgrim replied, gesturing across the lake. "And now it burns. I don't think its a coincidence. And I agree, I don't think the zombies from the dwarven valley have anything to do with it."

"So now again we are pulled in two separate directions, Easthaven, and the Dwarven Valley, and here we are faffing about chasing Helda's shadow through fishing villages."

Arnan glanced at the Dwarves. "You two have dealt with this Vaelish Gant before."

"What are your feelings regarding whether to press on with our search for Helda Silverstream, or make haste for Easthaven?"

"My feelings?" Morgrim said without taking his eyes off the horizon. "We should have dealt with the Dwarven Valley while we were there and then pressed on. However - I suppose we would have never known about Easthaven then," he conceded grudgingly.

"My gut tells me Helda is there somewhere. The Gods' willing perhaps I'm wrong, but it makes no sense to me whatsoever why she would have continued on to Caer-Dineval in the first place. Or Termalaine for that matter. As far as I'm concerned we're chasing shadows, but I agreed to go along with it because - well, because of Dal," he said, glancing at his sister.

"But now we have a clear threat in Easthaven." Morgrim shrugged. "And I'll not sunder the group again. Someone lives and someone dies. And we have to live with it."