Though he has no basis to be concerned, and (apart from Locke, the nimble merchant, showing off with some tricks as he climbs the rope, from the sound of it) the keep is quiet, today has been difficult and Faith feels unnerved on top of the rope by himself. 

He sends his eagle to the top of the tower, to find a way in or look down from above. 

The familiar easily fights the mountaintop winds and finds its way to the top of the tower. It is 20 foot square, with a small battlement on top, and nothing else except a square wooden door on the flat stone roof. The door, which clearly leads down inside the tower, appears just large enough for a man to go through, and has a heavy metal ring to lift it.

Fortunately, along opposite sides of the tower, near the top, are two tall, narrow windows just wide enough for an archer to target a foe... or for a tiny creature to sneak inside. The eagle can see in to spot stone stairs descending from the roof to a lower level of the tower.

Faith calls the eagle back, and turns to head to the rope, pulling his mind back from behind its eyes. A defensible position for them is a dangerous position to be caught in. He best help the others up the rope, and encourage Locke to demonstrate his nimble acrobatics another time. 

They need to get into the tower as quickly as they can. 

Drex

Athletic Check:  20

Drex grabs ahold of the rope and puts a little tension on it to make sure it's still secure then starts his climb.

Seeing Gordon hesitate, Locke sighed and attempted the climb again, nervously hoping and praying that he fared better this time...

(( Athletics Check: 14 ))

This time, the merchant nearly makes it to the top, but one little slip right at the top spins him upside down. Fortunately, Locke is able to hug the rope tightly enough to just slide down a little bit, before righting himself and continuing a controlled slide back down to the ground.

Turning to Gordon, he asks, "Sure you don't want to try next?"

(( @Cwreando: Sorry, missed your post while I was typing mine. Drex succeeds in his climb and now stands besides Faith. You will probably want to look at the spoiler I gave him earlier so you can know what's behind the wall. ))

Drex

Drex says, "Come on Goliath....It's not hard just pace yourself and one hand over the other...Slow and steady my friend."

Drex looks about to get his bearings with the structures and features now visible from the top.

Drex will attempt to go into stealth mode from here.   17

Gordon, finally snaps back to reality and get ready to climb the rope. 

Athletics: 27

Locke's eyes widened in suppressed shock as he watched Gordon practically sprint up the rope and onto the wall. Shaking his head, he could only chuckle to himself, "So it's the monk that's the slowdown, eh?" before attempting his third climb.

(( Athletics Check: 23 ))

(( @DH: you should check out the previous spoiler as well. ))

As the last of the adventurers make it up the rope, the interior of the walls suddenly seems... more tense. There is only the sound of the wind, and the only movement below is the gentle swaying of the sapling and the dead bushes. Although... it looks as if the wind might have slightly widened the opening of the main door to the keep?

Finding nothing of interest up on the walkway, the party makes their way down the nearest set of stairs to the ground. The main doors to the wall are now visible, and where the keyhole would be on the other side is an ornate metal handle, allowing the doors to be locked or unlocked from the inside with just a twist.

The wind dies down significantly as the tension in the air seems to intensify. A few straws of loose hay from underneath the horse shelter lazily leap up and follow the breeze across the immaculate grass. And before the group lies... the keep, silent and foreboding.

(( What will the party do? ))

(( Other than the wall and the keep, recall that the only structures of interest are two sheds (with the stone path going to the larger of the two,) the horse shelter, and the cistern. You're free to explore and examine anything, although you all have the distinct feeling that the keep is where everything stops. Or begins... ))

Drex

Drex says, "I'd like to check out the two outbuildings first...Something tells me to start there.  I mean this place is kind of put together a bit differently don't you think?"

Drex moves to the stables first though unless others choose differently.

Still in stealth mode presumably?

Quote from Cwreando >>

Still in stealth mode presumably?

(( It's still afternoon, and everyone is out in the open here in the yard; there's nothing to hide behind, and you can be easily seen from pretty much every vantage point. Stealth doesn't really apply out here. ))

Drex approaches the shelter; it's an area of thinly hay-covered dirt, about twenty feet square, with four wooden posts that reach up to a crude, flat wooden roof several feet high. Two of the posts have a chest-high wooden beam connecting them, with a knot of rope tied in the middle of the beam. From the faint smell alone, there were horses here at one point; but as far as the half-elf can tell, not recently.

Drex

Drex comments, "Time to head into the Keep I'd say.  Let's go."

He'll start going that way, but make sure the others are coming too.

Gordon shall follow, being as stealthy as he can. 

Stealth: 5

“Perhaps two of us should enter from the hatch on top  of the tower, in case of surprises,” Faith suggests, going on to describe to the others what his familiar saw. 

As Drex and Gordon approach the keep, there is an instant where the wind seems to die down entirely... but only for that instant. Then it picks back up with full force, as everything goes wild.

(( Encounter 6 ))

The four dead bushes, each roughly four feet tall, begin to undulate, then literally uproot themselves, twisting and turning to show angry faces to the party. The twig blights give a low groan as a roar, then rush towards the party.

(( Roll for Initiative! ))

(( Locke's Initiative: 20, Enemy Initiative: 13 ))

Faith’s initiative: 22

Drex

Drex Initiative:  6

Gordon: 16 

*Did you make that castle? It looks pretty good.*