While the party await on the riverbank Braylec approaches the keep from the southwest. Jutiapa scrambles up the disgusting chute as a rat and reaching the top nudges the lid with her nose. The lid moves as the orc who was sitting on the toilet turns to find out what was poking at his bum. Seeing the rat he grabs it by the tail and cups it in his hands. Jutiapa is taken to another room where she falls into unconsciousness.
Outside the rest see a caravan approaching the keep from the north on the other side of the riverbank. Thanodel splashes across to investigate and rustling through the long grass is able to spot that a raiding party of orcs and worg riders guards the three wagons. He splashes back to report his findings. A plan is quickly hatched; Gargouth leaves his horse with Thanodel and crosses the river. He hobbles towards the caravan and gruffly greets the leader with an explanation about being separated from his raiding party and being wounded. He is told to get in the middle cart, which he refuses growling that he is not week like the others in the cart and generally insulting everyone. The caravan turns south along the riverbank and due to Gargouths distraction they dont see the others hiding in the copse on the other side.
Jutiapa awakens in a round room with slanting sides and an open ceiling. She exchanges her rat form for that of a bird and flies out of the bucket that she was in. The square room is empty save for a well so she flies down this and again changes form into an eel. A quick investigation of the bottom of the well reveals nothing so once she surfaces again she gets out by turning into a duck and is back in the room. Without further investigation she opens a dimension door back to the copse. Explaining her discoveries the party are again astounded at the level of information that the mage comes back with on her forays to the keep. Their admonishments are cut short as familiar human form approaches them. They remain quiet, and as he passes they see it is Braylec. Thanodel imitates a birdcall to get his attention but clanking away in his full plate Braylec is oblivious and Thanodel has to run after him and bring him into the copse. Jutiapa offers to take the party into the keep using her dimension door spell but she needs to rest before she can cast it again so the party beds down for the night.
Gargouth on the other hand is marching with the caravan away from the keep but it fords the river further downstream and enters the keep. Gargouth is led to a barracks where he falls sound asleep from the recent days fighting. A human and two orc guards awake him late in the morning; he swipes at the man who is poking him with his sword and floors one of the orcs. The man says, "You seem feisty! A morning seeing to the worgs will use up some of that energy."
He is taken down to the stables where the worgs are penned up in individual stalls. They seem malnourished and are very aggressive. Two other orcs are also on stable duty so Gargouth tries to take charge "Why place so dirty?"One shrugs "This is stable. Supposed to be dirty." "You clean there and you clean over there." he points. When they dont obey him his knocks one out with a single punch. The other cowers and start sweeping as he has been told. Once a couple of the stalls are done he sends the worried sweeper to fetch him a drink. Gargouth cuts the throat of the unconscious orc while the other is not looking and pitches him into a clean stall where the occupying worg start eating the evidence. Taking the water ladle from the returning orc he sits and watches him continue to sweep.
Fully laden with spells Jutiapa discusses the way into the keep. She cant take them all so Sheylea remains behind with Galendiel and the horses. She casts mage armour on herself, gaseous form on Braylec and they go through the dimension door together. Back in the well room Braylec drifts under the door into the corridor beyond. He does the same to the door opposite and finds the lavatory. Back down the corridor he flow past a side passage and seeps into the armoury. Seeing the grizzly orc guard inside he retreats to the next door and finds a dark corridor lined with four narrowly spaced braced doors on either side. Each with a spy panel to look inside. Sliding back out he now investigates the side passage and hears screams coming from the door on the right. Wafting under this door he sees a dark robed man holding his captive over a steaming vat by means of an apparatus. Two orcs stand guard laughing. Seeing enough he returns to the well room where Jutiapa releases him from the spell. He quickly relays what he has seen.
Thanodel opens the door and sashays to the corner of the corridors. The party follows and they now hear humming coming from the latrine. Thanodel moves down the corridor, confident that Braylec and Vildar can take care of the newcomer and takes position outside the armoury. Braylec storms into the communal toilets and swipes his mighty sword at the orc before it can react and his severed head rolls around the bloody floor but his body remains sitting with breeches around the ankles. Thanodel gesticulates to Jutiapa who knocks on the armoury door. An orc voice enquires from inside but Thanodel only nods for Jutiapa to knock again. A hatch opens in the door but before the orc inside can react Thanodel releases three arrows into its face; it only grunts as it collapses against the door. Braylec jams the third door to the latrine with a halberd from the rack outside and positions himself outside the torture chamber as Thanodel and Jutiapa joins them. Braylec opens the door and charges in with a single swing of his sword he slices through the orcs and stepping aside from the doorway he bellows "He dies you die!"
The black robed man gestures and Braylec is held in place and cannot move. Jutiapa sidles into the room ready to act. Vildar enters next and moving past Jutiapa and Braylec he hacks at the cleric with long and short swords. Thanodel follows and does the same. The cleric lets go of the apparatus and it falls into the boiling water with the poor wretch still bound to it. He attacks Vildar with a heave mace. Jutiapas hold person spell is shrugged off by the cleric and a couple of orcs arrive hitting her from behind with their axes. Braylec growls incoherently unable to move. Thanodels swords blur trying to slay the cleric but doing little damage while Vildar pulls the apparatus from the boiling water. Another two orcs appear and they all try to fell Jutiapa with their axes. Though bloodied she holds out her hand and five small balls of fire hit the orcs and two fall writhing in flames. Thanodel at last deals the killing blow to the cleric and Braylec is released from his immobility. "Get back!" he shouts and as Jutiapa jumps out of his way he bounds forward and thrusts his sword through both of the orcs with such force that their mothers would have trouble identifying whats left.
As Thanodel helps Vildar lower the apparatus away from the boiling vat a pair of arms is stuck through one of the bared windows and begins to clap.
