Sneaks and Snakes

**Company:** Lavender, Spenser, Kallax, Ekenir, Agathon, and Shae

For the better part of the day our band followed the river from where it split from Drowned Wolf Creek, northwards over the grasslands until it met the steep inclines that marked the mountain beginnings. Here at the summit the river ran fast, but remained relatively shallow and simple to cross. On the eastern edge of the river a well-worn path hugged the bank as it moved north up the peaks.

Rather than make ourselves known along the path, we started our initial scramble up the mountains to the east of the river as the sun began to set. We made camp a short way up from the beginning of the path, taking care to cover our tracks and make our camp blend in to the surrounding area—including spending the evening without a fire. Luckily, the evening's weather remained amenable.

Shortly after dusk, Spenser and Agathon spotted torches moving down the path from the mountains. A patrol of four, possibly five goblins, walking slowly and carefully down the path. At several intervals they appeared to pause—presumably to adjust or tend to traps. Outside of the single patrol, the night passed easily and uneventfully.

It was as the dawn broke that Ekenir heard a screech echoing across the mountains to the north, the likes of which they'd never heard before. Even with the terrifying screeching noise, we decided sticking to the mountains would offer us more opportunities to cover our tracks. Alas, it did not. An hour or two of mountaineering and a narrow escape from slipping off a cliff (my thanks to Agathon!) found us with a better view of the path below, where we could just spot another, lesser used path forking off to the west. Could this be a stealthier option for arriving at the keep?

Retracing steps brought us just beyond the fork in the path a few hours later, at the lip of a ravine, deep and wide. Here the river roared at the bottom of an eighty foot drop—stakes from a long decayed and forgotten bridge marked why this path may have been lesser used, but we were not deterred! Through the use of many lengths of rope and Ekenir's remarkable fortitude, a daring high wire act was born.

Three of our six, myself included, were successfully across the ravine when a boulder loomed large over our shoulders. Jokes and witty barbs brought only brief respites between its many vicious attacks, but bought precious time while Kallax and Shae fought against the perils of gravity in the efforts to cross the ravine.

With all six of our party successfully on the other side of the river and one rock monster dead and sliding down the cliff, it was Agathon who pointed out another collection of boulders beginning to grind to life and move upon our position. A hasty continuance of our journey was just the ticket, followed by a short rest a good distance away. We continued down the forgotten path until nightfall, set up camp nearby, and passed an uneventful night.

The next day we began to see signs of the keep in the distance, looming high up on a ridge as we approached from a lower elevation. While not as ruined as most of the structures we've seen in the area, elements of the castles weathering the ages were apparent from a distance. Kallax scouted the path ahead to its end: the entrance to a tunnel, blocked by massive iron bars.

Perhaps emboldened by my recent brushes with death, I again scrambled up a ridge for a better view of our quarry and was duly rewarded. A rough sketch of our reconnaissance has been enclosed. The main path makes a sharp turn over the river and snakes its way to the keep's main entrance on the western wall. The river disappears into a cave below the keep; the wall above this area also appears to be crumbling more substantially than the others. There is an outpost on the south wall where goblin sentries keep watch, and many goblins patrolling the walls. It appears that none have a good sightline on the iron barred entrance to the tunnel, but could potentially spot adventurers who dally on the path leading up to it.

Spenser, Kallax, and Shae pressed forward to investigate the tunnel... and swiftly beat a retreat. Within its dark confines, at least one behemoth snake awaits its next meal. Should we wish to tangle with these foes, we could gain access to the keep's interior. But I will leave this matter for those more military-minded of our crew.