The adventurers depart Starsong Hill, following Killiar's verbal instructions, which take them in a northerly route across largely trackless marsh and wetlands. Fortunately, the wood elf relayed several recognizable landmarks to guide the adventurers' progress and they are able to effectively navigate their way to The Ruins of Rhest.

The once proud city and heart of the Kingdom of Rhestilor stood as the center of civilization and northernmost extent of the Nerath Empire. A crossroads frontier land, Rhest enjoyed three centuries of glory, before succumbing to a combination of corruption, treachery and civil strife. In this weakened state, the young kingdom was ill-prepared to withstand the goblinoid horde that rose up to sack the fledgling realm.

Fleeing from this destruction, its citizenry sought safety elsewhere, finding refuge in towns and villages within Elsir Vale. Now, 200 years later, a new goblinoid horde has risen out of the Wyrmsmoke Mountains, hungry for conquest and destruction...

The adventurers trudge through the Blackfens for two days, their journey largely uneventful, if not wet and uncomfortable. Then, late on the second day of travel, they see their destination in the distance.

A large, dark lake broods in the marshland here, measuring nearly two miles wide. The cloying reek of decaying vegetation and swamp ooze is thick in the air, and countless frogs, insects, and marsh birds chirp, croak and call to each other.

Out near the middle of the lake, dozens of decrepit stone buildings jut from the black waters. In most cases, these buildings sag and lean treacherously, the windows of their upper stories now even with the still lake's surface. Two buildings that seem to have survived relatively intact draw the party's attention--one, a large stone tower, about a quarter-mile from the southern shore, and the other, a large stone building near the lake's center. Both structures have rickety wooden walkways ringing them at water level. These look like recent additions; it would seem that someone has made an attempt to settle down here.