They started just after having killed 8 giant centipedes. Brandy started making her way across the center of the courtyard. On the eastern wall there was a rusty old, and almost down, portcullis leading to a gate that was at least partially fallen. There was tall grass between them and the gate. As they continued that way, they passed a storage area in the south. There was also an alcove that used to have a path leading through it to the west, but the collapse of the area above it had closed it off completely. She continued passed the storage building in the south. They stopped and Kipp did a cursory search for any recent tracks. He didn't so much find tracks but areas where the tall grass had been tamped down. He told Brandy about the path he was seeing and she moved forward toward the gate.

That's when she saw a little movement in the deep grass. There was something large in the tall grass near the southeast corner. As they moved a little closer to the southeast corner, they heard a sort of snort or grunt. They stopped and Brandy picked up a rock and tossed it in there. It hit something but all they heard back was a snorting sound. Audra suggested that Oglesby climb something to get a birds eye view over whatever this was. Oglesby climbed and saw that there were two very large black furry creatures hiding there. He also saw a door back in that area. They decided that maybe Kipp should try and approach them, maybe try and keep them calm. Maybe he could get them to leave.

Kipp approached the animals, showing no fear, and could see the animals. He spoke softly and approached slowly. Jumping up from the deep grass were a couple of large apes. One of them seemed to be placated. The other rushed forward to attack. The ape managed to hit Kipp but it wasn't too bad. Pyreece fired at it and missed. Audra moved up to hit it but missed. Kipp attacked and killed it. A moment later and they'd killed the other one. In one of the storage buildings on the south side, they saw a boat. Seemed strange since there was no water around. They continued to the door behind the apes. It was in rough shape so they easily opened it. Inside, the found a few rooms, the doors were mostly down. There was water on the floor. There was a closed door to the east side of the room.

Kipp checked to see if there was any recent sign of movement. He found booted tracks, barefoot tracks, and lizard folk tracks. None of them were recent. Oglesby moved in and began searching. Audra stayed close by incase something attacked. The rooms were mostly wrecked, having been ransacked. Whatever may have been here was likely already pilfered. Oglesby found a skeleton. It appeared to be someone that may have been exploring, much like they were. The leather armor and clothing were mostly rotted away. A full search of the area revealed nothing. The water on the floor was only about an inch deep. The lower room wrapped around and opened into a room to the north. It was a kitchen area, ransacked. There was a set of stairs going up.

They made their way up the stairs and found another door leading into a large chamber with several exits, a fire place, and a body. Next to the body was a broken long sword. There were tapestry's hanging on the walls, mostly rotted. They depicted scenes of Silvan Groves. The body was dress in rags and rusty chainmail. It appeared to have been there for only a month or so. There was a bedroll lying near the fireplace. The ashes were also relatively fresh. There were also some logs lying near the fireplace. The body was human. Oglesby searched it and found nothing. Audra spotted that the body was dressed much as she would have expected someone from Calimport to be dressed. This person must have come here from Calimport. She wondered aloud if this person might have been part of Halaan's group. The body had some holes in it as if stabbed multiple times.

Brandy searched the first bedroll and found a journal. The name on the cover said Halaan. Brandy didn't like to read so she passed it on to Kipp. The entries mostly dealt with the expedition which set forth over land from Ishau almost a year ago. It noted the loss of bearers and mercenaries quite often. Near the end of the journal he read the following entries.

26, Famine, 563 - “Stumbling onto this castle before dark was a stroke of great luck. It can be used for shelter and as a base camp. There are only four armed men, six scientist including me and a dozen or so native bearers left.”.

28, Famine, 563 - “Native drums are beating and beating. I fear there may be cannibals and that we have intruded upon their lands. It would be best to depart the place but the shelter it offers is excellent.”.

29, Famine, 563 - “I have taken the liberty of placing a magical device amongst the fallen with the aid of our priest, allowing any that follow to find me. Tomorrow, I will take the bearers, men, and two mercenaries into the interior to search for the city where the ice lay. I will leave this journal to aid any that might follow. Use the magic to find me. The drums are getting louder. This place, once a godsend, might well become a prison.”.

Since the message discussed a magical device left with the fallen, they turned back to the body and Oglesby searched it again. He did search it, and found nothing. They turned back to the other bedroll and found nothing. Audra stirred through the ashes in the fire place but all she found were ashes. In the southern alcove, there was a makeshift barrier concealing a hole in the wall. In the alcove to the north was another set of steps leading up and a hole in the wall that opened over the collapsed storage building that had the boat in it. There were doors on either side of the fireplace. They were both corner rooms with partially collapsed walls and they'd both been ransacked. There was another bedroll. They searched it and found nothing. In the northern room, there was a door in the south wall that lead to some stairs going up. Out of the northern door in that room, was the battlement. There was one ballista that appeared to be in good shape.

They finished searching the rooms on this floor and found an exit to the courtyard to the west. From that room, Kipp and Pyreece went to the southern door and opened it to find a room with armor that had seen much better days. There was a horseshoe set of stairs that led upward to a platform with a door that in the west wall. Oglesby opened the door on the north side of the chamber above and found it to contain weapons of various types but all in crappy shape. In the back of the room was a set of stairs going down. It must lead down to the area we couldn't reach from the main courtyard. The stairs were in pretty bad shape.

Kipp went to the door in the southern room. Pyreece backed him up. He opened the door which opened onto the battlements of the southern wall of the castle. He spotted a skeleton not far from the door. It was pinned to the wall with a spear. As Pyreece stepped out, the skeleton reached up and pulled itself off of the spear. It attacked Kipp. Pyreece called out, “Skeleton! Moving body!”. It missed Kipp. Kipp hit it twice dropping it. They searched it and determined it was another Calimport dressed person, probably from Halaan's party. Brandy heard the call from the door that exited west out of the lower chamber. She ran out into a second story courtyard. She saw that Kipp and Pyreece were up on the battlement and Kipp told her, “Never mind, it's taken care of.”.

Kipp and Pyreece continued moveing further down the battlement to a point where it was collapsed. It was about twenty feet across to the next section. There was a supporting column standing in the center of the gap that Kipp used as a hopping point to cross the opening. He checked the rest of the battlement and found another skeletal body propped up against the wall near the far tower. This skeleton did not animate but stayed still. Peering into the tower, the floor was collapsed. The skeleton had nothing on it of importance. Kipp dropped a rope down and everyone moved to the courtyard and climbed it to join him. They moved past the skeleton and into the tower room. There was a door to the east leading out. They opened it and found a room with stairs going down. They went down the stairs and cross the courtyard to the door behind the apes again. The went to the eastern battlements and walked across it. They collapsed structurally and felt unsafe.

They returned to the room with the weakened stairs that went down behind the weapons room. Brandy went part of the way down and jumped the gap in the stairs. They all moved down behind her and they found an iron door. Oglesby checked the iron door, there were no traps and the door was not locked. He tried to open it but it was too difficult to open. Kipp and Audra pushed it open though. It made a lot of noise. The room was a largely collapsed area that looked like a prison. Kipp checked to see if the ceiling was sturdy but there were areas that had collapsed. They searched all of the cells and a big area behind the cells. That room was pretty much covered in rubble and little puddles of water. The cell doors were very rusty and easy to get through. There weren't any bodies. There was no indication that anybody had been down here in a very long time. They moved back up the stairs and made to the northern alcove room in the main room.

They went up the stairs in the back of that room and entered a room on the third floor. There was an opening in the northern wall leading to a balcony with a ballista on it. There was a blocked passage to the south and in the southeastern corner was an opening into another chamber where the floor had partially collapsed. As they moved into the big room with the partially collapsed floor they saw rooms that opened off of it. They had obviously been ransacked. They didn't appear to have seen activity in a very long time. In the most southern wall, where it had collapsed, was another ballista. Kipp saw these pod shaped things hanging from the ceiling in the room next to that. As he examined them more closely, they began to move. He was suddenly attacked by a bunch of stirges. Kipp hollered out, “Need a little help!”.

Kipp attacked one of them and killed it and hit another next to him. That one survived. Four of them attacked him two of them hit him and latched on draining his blood. Elenor magic missiled one of the stirges attached to Kipp and hurts it but it remained attached. Oglesby charged into the room with his sword drawn. He attacked one of the free flying stirges but missed. Pyreece ran in behind Oglesby and fired at one and hit it, but it was still flying. Brandy moved up and fired at the one Oglesby missed and she hit it, but it was still flying. Audra ran around the opening in the floor and moved up with her dagger and grabbed a stirge that was attached to Kipp and attempted to sink the dagger into it but in trying to avoid hitting Kipp, she missed it. Kipp took blood points and some traditional damage. The one attacking Oglesby missed. Pyreece was hit and it started sucking her blood. Audra was missed. Kipp killed both of those that were attached to him. Pyreece killed one. Brandy missed her second attack.

Pyreece pulled the stirge off of her but not before it had inflicted two blood points and some damage. Kipp was attacked and missed. Audra was attacked and hit and had a stirge on her neck now. Oglesby was also hit and had a stirge stuck to him as well. Audra grabbed the stirge on her, attacking it and missing it. Kipp attacked and killed one then attacked the one on Audra and though he hit it, it just clamped down harder. Oglesby attacked and hit the one on him killing it. Brandy shot at one flying but missed. Elenor fired at one with her sling and almost broke her weapon. Brandy fired with her second attack and hit it. Elenor finished it off. Pyreece tried to pull the stirge off Audra but couldn't get as good grip on it. Audra took an additional 2 points of blood draining. Audra pulled the stirge back away from her body and used the dagger to cut the head off.

The blood drain damage weakens strength until you get a good rest in.

Start the recorder!

Exp 373 + 37 = 410