Having defeated the Goblin Irontooth and his Kobold minions, we head out to rescue Doven and the townspeople who are being forced to work as slaves at a nearby ruin. When we arrive close to the location of the ruins, we are able to get a good glimpse of the site, incredibly managing to stay out of sight long enough to assess the situation. The ruins had been turned into some kind of archaeological dig site, with the hostages being used as manual labor. It was guarded by several Humans, a Halfling and a Gnome. The draconic-like beasts Daniel had warned us about were no more than a couple of Guard Drakes, a much lesser threat than we expected...
Bolstered by our defeat of the Raider's camp earlier, we threw away all thoughts about careful planning and charged the camp head on. We managed to get pretty far before the guards noticed us and engaged us in battle. Apparently they were more intent in watching their prisoners than for any outside strike. The first ones to close into melee were the Humans and the Guard Drakes, while the Halfling ang Gnome sniped us from a distance. The humans turned out to be poorly trained mercenaries and were easily and rapidly beaten. The Drakes however, were much tougher, taking a beating and still standing to give one back. Busy with the Drakes, we continued to get sniped by the remainder of the guards. With the Drakes dealt with, we were able to focus on the ranged attackers and defeat them as well.
Guards defeated, it was time we checked on the prisoners, loot the corpses and scan the area for something else of interest, so we split up to deal with these tasks as soon as we could. Night would be coming soon, and we were travelling with wounded and weak townsfolk. We find Doven tied and gagged in a corner off the dig site, next to a small crate. We immediately release him and he is extremely happy to see his old friends and son and even more surprised that we had come so far to find him. He explains that he had come to the ruins looking for remainders of a dragon's hoard but that when he had found it, it was already being explored and he and his companions had not managed to evade capture. Apparently, from what he heard from his captors, the excavation was ordered by someone named Kalarel who wanted an old relic from the Nerath Empire, that ruled these lands a very long time ago. The relic had beeen found and was contained in the small crate, awaiting to be taken to Kalarel, at the Old Keep. As a reward for rescuing him, Doven gives us his magical amulet, which we found on the body of the Gnome, after removing the portrait of his wife from it. As for the relic, it was an ornate mirror, which we toook for safekeeping.
Doven's revelations made clear that what we had suspected was true. Kalarel, the fallen Cleric, and his Death cult were behind all the strange happenings in the region, manipulating everything to give them the time they needed to find a way to open the rift for their master, the Demon Prince of Undeath, Orcus. We head out back to town, intent on speaking with the Lord about this matters, taking the tired townspeople and Doven with us.
We arrive late at night to a most disturbing sight. There was flames and smoke just over the walls. We rush to see if the town was under attack, but as we arrive we find that the Inn was on fire. The militia had managed to control the flames from spreading but there was nothing to be done about the Inn. After the initial shock, we go to ask Salvanna what had happened. She was hugging one of the prisoners we had rescued, a Halfling, who we realize must be her husband. However, all we could get from her were some more ramblings about ghosts and curses. We leave her and her husband, Chuck giving him a weird look, and go to the Lord's house to discuss what we had discovered.
When we arrive at the manor, we discover that the Lord was already expecting us, having heard the news of the release of his townspeople, and had summoned both the scholar Valtrum and Sister Leonora to speak with us. News travels fast in Winterhaven... After hearing what we had to say, the Lords asks us to forgive him, but when we had first arrived in Winterhaven he had ordered Valtrum not to reveal to much information regarding the Old Keep, until he knew we could be trusted. This was now the time for the full story. Although they knew very little about the cult and they didn't know that they were occupying the Keep, they knew what had happened in the Keep ages ago and what it contained.
Valtrum explains that today only a select few know that the Old Keep was in old times named Keep on the Shadowfell. The Keep had been constructed by the now extinct Nerath Empire not only for defensive purposes, but especially to watch over a most dangerous anomaly: a rift to the Shadowfell, a region of Hell ruled by the Demon Prince Orcus. Once, the rift had been opened and the legions of Orcus poured out of it and laid waste to the region until they were driven back by the forces of the mighty Nerath Empire. The Empire's wizards had managed to seal the rift, and the keep had been built to guard it. However, the Nerath Empire had eventually collapsed and the Keep became abandoned and unmanned long ago, casting the shadow of the rift over the region. Valtrum believes that the seal must be weakening for a long time now, because strange things started to happen and the road to the Keep became dangerous. Legends of the Keep being haunted grew in the region and nowadays noone dared to travel that way. When asked about the mirror we had found, he could provide no information about it.
After this, the Lord asked us if we could attempt to vanquish Kalarel and his cult. His militia were too few and too weak to pursue this task, and there was no Empire to count on for aid this time. If we didn't do it, there was nothing stopping the cult from opening the rift and unleash Chaos into the world. Moved by the sense of impending doom and the promise of reward, we accepted and promised to travel to the Keep in the morning. Since the Inn had burned down, Lord Ernest found us lodgings in the homes of his townspeople, where we could rest for the night and prepare for a very busy day...
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