-----Dread takes off the hat of disguise and hands it over to Seth.
-----Seth smiles at the idea of accepting Sol's reward as he accepts his hat back from the Dread Pirate.
-----"I guess nobody knew where Krondor is," Kazel says. "So what now? I'm not too keen on waiting around for the bandits to come back. Or Sol and Raven for that matter. But it's going to be dark soon."
-----The Dread Pirate looks at the rapidly vanishing daylight and says, "Well, maybe we'd best stay here fer the night. Since I've already cleaned out the vermin and everything that is. Besides which, we can keep an eye out fer those other four bandits. Maybe take one of 'em prisoner and find out about this RiverLord and Krondor. Maybe they be one and the same. If I remember correctly that note mentioned an attack and a place called SilverGuard or somethin like that."
-----"Silvergard? That was what you read?" Brandel asks with a very curious look on his face. Milling the thought over in his mind, he continues, "That fief is to the southeast of Redmarsh, almost as near as Ravenhold."
-----"Castle made by humans . . .," grumbles Marast. He lets the comment hang as he raises an eyebrow looking over the front of the structure. Shaking his head he begins to walk into the inner courtyard. The expression on his face is one of reservation at staying the night in this place.
-----"Aye, cap'n" Runik speaks up turning to the Dread Pirate, "It be lookin' to be a worthy stronghold. How we be wantin' to watch the walls this night?"
-----Krord leads some of the horses up. As he waits his instructions, he lets out a long yawn.
-----Seth eyes Marast. "I guess if you don't want to stay in this human edifice you can sleep outside, but I think the rest of us can put aside our religious convictions to sleep in comfort and relative safety. I propose that I head towards the kitchens and see what kind of a feast I can knock up while you sort out the guard thing." Seth scratches his head and begins heading towards where he thinks the kitchen might be located.
-----The Dread Pirate glares at yet another of Marast's prejudicial opinions, he then glares and replies, "No, this castle was made by halflings, actually. Ye can tell by the mortaring on the cornices. And the iambic pentameter arches. Very significant mark of halfling engineering, those arches. Humans build in quatrains, halflings in iambic pentameter. It's difficult to tell the difference though, I can see why you were confused."
-----Dread thinks for a moment then says, "As fer the watch tonight, I don't think we really have enough troops to man the walls successfully, so we'd best just stick to stayin inside the keep and man our regular watch in there."
-----Everyone enters the courtyard and the portcullis is lowered securing the castle walls. Marast looks around at the massive keep and then at his surroundings in the grassy courtyard. As he continues to glance around, he says, "Marast stay out here."
-----In the diminishing light, the elf perches himself on a few of the steps leading into the keep with his short sword balanced on his knees.
-----Krord and Brandel let the horses roam the courtyard where the animals seem content to graze while they rest. The two mercenaries follow the rest of the party up into the castle keep.
-----Inside, there is an elaborate stairway that leads into the main hall. Their footsteps echo about the huge chamber and the ceiling and upper walls are lost in the shadows.
-----Brandel lights a torch and finds some torches in mounted brackets in the walls to provide some illumination. Tables are set out in the middle of the hall and blankets are thrown here and there.
-----Seth immediately makes his way off to the kitchen area to see what goods he can find.
-----"I would guess three or four hours is all it will take us to travel from here to the town of Redmarsh," Brandel says as he works about the place. "How early shall we rise tomorrow?" The young mercenary looks tired although an eager expression is on his face.
-----The Dread Pirate shrugs and replies, "We'd best get up early and get out of here. Those bandits might have had a lot more friends close by. And we can inform the locals in Redmarsh that we retook the keep for them, so they can send some more troops out to secure it. Let's get up about five-thirty. It should be getting light soon after that and we can be prepared to move out by then."
-----The Dread Pirate throws his bedroll underneath a nearby table, placing his weapons close by, in case remaining bandits return and find a way inside the keep.
-----Seth walks back into the main hall munching on something. As he walks in he announces, "Well, we have cheese and salted meat and flour! Anyone care to make some bread?"
-----"Soundin' like they be keepin' their troops on bare rations," Runik grumbles.
-----"Yes, but who's they?" Brandel says as he stares off into a dark corner. Turning, he shakes his head and says, "All of this talk of Ravenhold, Silvergard and an attack, . . ."
-----Looking at the Dread Pirate, the young guard asks, "This note you found, did it say where the attack was going to take place?"
-----The Dread Pirate sighs and rummages in his pack for a moment, pulling out a piece of parchment and reading, "Your Lord commands you to be alert. The attack from SilverGard commences soon." Dread then hands the note to whoever might want to read it.
-----Dread then looks up and says, "One of the guards referred to their boss as the Riverlord. That's all I know. I was hopin a couple of 'em might come back from the ruins fer me to capture and question. But they don't seem to be very cooperative. Maybe we can find somethin out in Redmarsh about this Riverlord and SilverGard."
-----The darkness deepens inside the castle as the night comes on. Later on, a waning gibbous moon shines from on high in the eastern sky dimly adding a grayish light from the tall windows. Sometime after midnight, the moonlight dies out again as clouds begin to fill the sky.
-----Everything inside the fortress remains quiet and the sleep for the most part is undisturbed. That is until, in the wee hours of the morning, somewhere far off, a pack of wolves begin their lonely cries into the night. Runik tosses in his sleep and mutters something about telling Marast outside in the courtyard to quit practicing his singing voice.