Meanwhile, the Company await word from Jeremi and Gur Prasaad, and also from Tennyson, whom they heard had been in Colina Justa as recently as a week ago.
The Company awake to discover that Jeremi traveled through the night. Gur Prasaad has decided to continue on and hopes to uncover the mystery of the devil-dogs. He believes he is close to finding one of their lairs, and has sent Jeremi to inform the rest of the Company.
The Company decide to go back to the ruined keep in the forest which appears to be the base of operations of the brigands. Lauriel accompanies the group again, and she cautions that they should wait until the fall of darkness to raid the keep. The group agrees, and they sneak up to the ruins in darkness. The brigands are aware that something is amiss, as they have lit several large watchfires around the perimeter of the keep. Dodging between the light from the fires, the Company use a key found upon one of the raiders' bodies and enter a turret. After negotiating their way past a pool of some slimy acidic stuff, they come into the interior courtyard of the keep.
B'gokktem blocks the view of Lauriel, Atol, and Jerinor as Jeremi draws upon his arcane power to put the guards to sleep. His spell is minimally effective; only one of the guards falls into a deep slumber. Rafe prepares to scale the wall to dispatch the remaining guard, while Mikela decides to shoot at him with her longbow. Her shot misses, and the guard shouts a warning. The keep comes alive as several brigands emerge along the walls and from a desecrated chapel.
A great battle follows, involving nine or more brigands, a huge man-giant, a brigand leader, and a perversely evil divine spellcaster. The company is eventually victorious, but their victory is not without loss. Atol and Jerinor were fatally wounded, and the company has no healing magic left to save them. Lauriel is unconscious but stabilized thanks to the healing skills of Mikela. Several other members of the company are wounded and unconscious as the company prepares to sleep. Mikela ties up the magically "asleep" guards and brings them into the desecrated chapel, which they use as a base of operations.
Jeremi properly prays for and buries Jerinor and Atol. The dead brigands, including the man-giant and the evil priest are left outside. As dawn approaches, the company sleeps.
When the Company awake, they find that Sebastian has returned from conducting "personal business". As usual, he is mysterious and evasive concerning his whereabouts.
Jeremi leads the company in re-consecrating the destroyed Chapel to Hallowed Saennifel. He takes an obscene black candle outside to melt it down. Once outside, he discovers that the evil priest's body has been taken away. The Company note a set of tracks which appear to drag the body to the northern part of the keep and into the rubble. None of the Company has any real wilderness survival skills, so they are unable to identify or follow the tracks.
Inside a tower in the north-eastern corner of the keep, they find a room of broken furniture. While exploring the tower, two gigantic spiders descend on their webs and attack. Lauriel runs from the room and suggests setting it on fire to kill the spiders. After much coaxing, the rest of the Company follow her lead and burn the spiders. The large fire attracts the attention of two travelers, Usoruhihn Sonahuijf, a golden-skinned elf schooled in the arcane arts, and Grumash, a member of one of the recently-converted barbarian tribes of Stadhof.
The two travelers join the company to explore the rest of the ruined keep. After determining that no threats exists on the keep's walls or in the courtyard, the Company enter the final tower toward the southwest. Inside they discover the rooms of the man-giant and a side-room on the ground-floor that has remained untouched for decades, if not longer. Uso and Jeremi discover a tome on zombie creation as well as a few other scrolls containing arcane magic spells, which they quickly hide from Lauriel.
Descending down a level, the Company find six statues of elven warriors, each with different features and strange, ancient armaments. Mikela scouts the room and calls the rest of the Company down. Once inside, the statues "come to life" and attack the party. A fierce battle ensues and several party members are wounded, but they make short work of the zombies.
