Telain stands and says, ”I must prepare to depart, I am glad you seem eager to assist. Lord Ibrahim sent me with an escort and transportation for you.”

As you exit the tavern, you see the caravan Telain referred to. There's half a dozen riderless horses, a wagon with some supplies, and half a dozen armed men on horses. They are wearing chainmail and have longswords on their hips and longbows on their backs. Their chainmail has the same seal that was on the scroll emblazoned across the chest. One of them is holding the reins of what must be Telain's horse.

Telain takes the reins from the man and says, "Thank you, Sergeant. I see your men have finished preparing to depart, excellent. This is the group we were sent to find, and they have agreed to return with us."

The Sergeant nods sternly and replies, "That is good news. Men, prepare to depart as soon as our guests are settled on their horses. We must make haste back home."

Telain turns to you and says, "It's about 5 days with minimal stops to return to Ogdenhall. I don't expect much trouble."

With that, he mounts his horse and prepares to depart.

The caravan sets out west. You travel fairly constantly, with minimal rests for the horses. At night the sergeant and his men take shifts keeping watch, urging everyone else in the group to rest.

On the third day of travel you start to pass by some farms and similar lone homestands. Towards the end of the day you begin to notice occasional patrols of soldiers, usually 4-5 men, that have the crest of Ogdenhall on their armor. These patrols salute the sergeant and Telain, but otherwise continue on their way.

Throughout the fourth day the population increases, and now you see periodic villages. Everywhere you go, people that see the caravan tend to watch it with mild curiosity, but so far the land and its people seem healthy and content, if not happy.

Around midday you see a structure off in the distance. It appears to be a very large fortress-like building which Telain informs you is Ogdenhall. Once it is in sight, you notice that the character of the land begins to subtly shift. People seem to be moving a little faster, carts they are pushing are not quite as full, fields don't seem to have the same bounty growing in them. There's nothing you can put your finger on as wrong, it just doesn't feel right.

On the fifth day, the sense of unease and discontent increases. The walls of Ogdenhall come to dominate the landscape. The structure is impressive, and you can see men patrolling along the walls. You think you also see ballistas positioned periodically along the walls. As you get closer you notice that a second set of even taller walls rise from the center of Ogdenhall.

The road leads up to the northern wall of Ogdenhall. In the middle of the wall are a set of giant doors, each one roughly 20' wide, made of what appears to be solid steel. The walls themselves appear to be roughly 20' tall and are made of stone. As you pass through the gate you notice there appears to be an inner keep structure with walls that must be 30' tall. The other thing you notice as you pass through the gates is the pair of stout dwarves immediately on the inside of the gates. Each is wearing full plate, wields a battle axe, and carries a shield. They look even sterner than your typical dwarves.

On the other side of the doors is an open courtyard area, roughly 80'x40'. Straight back from the gate is a small 20' wide structure, from which a large man in plate mail exits as your caravan goes through the gate. As Telain gets off his horse, he greets this man with a nod, "Captain Karath, it is good to see you again. Please send a runner to inform the lord that I have returned."

The captain nods, and motions to a boy behind him. The boy takes off like a shot. Another boy approaches and Telain tells him, "Take care of these horses well, they have been ridden hard for five days and have earned a respite."

Telain turns to you and says, "This is Captain Karath, the head of the Ogdenhall's guard and also overall defense forces in Sir Kramer's absence." Captain Karath's face darkens at the mention of Sir Kramer, but he says nothing. Telain continues, unaware of the Captain's reaction, "To the east are living quarters. In general, artisans who are staying long term will stay there, and many merchants and tradesmen who have shops inside the walls also live there with their families. To the west is where the shops, the inn, and similar buildings are."

Telain begins to walk towards the west and beckons you all to follow him. He begins pointing at buildings while talking, "Might as well point out where stuff is while we are on our way. The entrance to the inner keep is on its southern wall. In the northwest corner there you can see the entrances to The Sheltered Soldier, our inn, and The Thirsty Soldier, our tavern." After turning the corner and walking south about a hundred feet there's a gap between buildings where armor, weapons, and various metal goods are displayed. Telain points and says, "As you can see, these two buildings are where our armorer, weaponsmith, and blacksmith work. They are called The Soldier's Shield, The Soldier's Sword, and The Soldier's Supply." Telain chuckles a bit, "And, as you can also see, there's a bit of a theme to the naming of our establishments. It goes back to Ogdenhall's founding, when this land was much wilder than it is now. The armorer and weaponsmith are both very old dwarves that have been here a very long time. In the southwest corner there are the leatherworker, the tailor, and the general store."

As you round the southwest corner you see a large, open area in the center of the southern area. Telain says, "This is our bazaar. Right now it's not that busy, but it used to be crowded like you wouldn't believe, day in and day out. I hope you are able to help us restore those days. Over on the other side of the Bazaar is the temple to Heironeous. Most of us here worship Heironeous, though some do worship Pelor, and an altar to him is also set up inside the temple."

In the center of the southern inner keep wall is a tunnel that leads north through the wall. There's a raised portcullis at the entrance, and standing by it are two armed guards. They wear banded mail and wield greatswords. The tunnel is 7' wide by 10' tall, and if you look up you notice that it has murder holes all along it.

The tunnel opens up into a roughly 30'x30' courtyard. Around the courtyard are benches and flowers, and in the center is a fountain. In the northern wall of the courtyard is a wooden double door.

Telain pushes this door open, and beyond it is a 20' wide corridor. He walks due north and you follow him. You see various hallways that branch off the one you are in, and doors that must lead to other rooms. At the end of a 50' corridor is another double door, this one is open with a herald and a guard stationed outside it. Inside you clearly see a moderate throne room.

The herald looks at Telain and nods, then enters the room slightly ahead of you.

"My lord," the herald announces, "your messenger Telain returns from his mission with the party in question with him."

With that, the herald exits the room and shuts the doors behind him. The room is 30' deep x 50' wide, with a throne in the center of the northern wall. Around the room are various chairs, suits of armor, decorations, and other things you would expect to find in a throne room.

Lord Ibrahim is seated on a throne made of bronze with some gold highlights. The crest is emblazoned along the head and back. Standing next to the lord is a tall man, dressed in green and black robes. In each corner of the room stands a guard at attention. They appear to be wearing different uniforms than the rest of the guards you have seen.

Lord Ibrahim stands after the doors shut. He is a tall man, powerfully built and he moves with a certain ease.

"Welcome," he intones, speaking in a rich voice, "thank you for coming. I am glad to see that Telain's journey bore fruit. I just hope there is something you can do to help us. The message Telain bore contained the essence of what I know, but I wanted to meet you and answer any questions that you may have. While you are here, I have instructed all of the various shopkeepers to give you as much of a discount as they can. I cannot ask them to take a loss of course, but they will do what they can. You may also wish to seek out Quelaas, he is the high priest in the temple of Heironeous and a resourceful man."

He pauses, and then continues, "I would imagine that you are interested in being paid for your assistance, which is of course only natural. I will pay you 12,000 gold if you are able to confirm elimination of whatever is in the tower. If you can find Sir Kramer and return him to us, I will pay you another 6,000 gold. If he is dead, please try to return his armor and sword to us. They are family heirlooms and his son should have them."

Lord Ibrahim looks melancholy for a moment, and clearly Sir Kramer was important to him. The lord then looks at you expectantly.

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Map of Ogdenhall:



1 Square = 10'x10'