Silthras examines the maps carefully, making quick scribbled notes for later use, as well as quickly tracing and sketching troublesome details that he thinks might be relevant. He works quietly, listening to the conversation, then looks up and purses his lips to the question.

He nods slowly, "Do you have more detailed map of the fort or the area around it? Otherwise...perhaps, something ... a token, a phrase, or a letter ... in case he mistrusts us? And your suggestion of fresh horses might get us there quicker -- and back, if we have one spare." He pauses a moment considering further, "And...you mentioned the missing arcanist, rex. Might he also be there -- we may need a second spare horse? What does he look like?"

"No, I'm afraid not." The baroness says with a shake of her head, "the keep itself is in a ruined state, it hasn't been used for gods knows how many thousands of years, and it stands in no strategic position for us, we've never needed a detailed map of it." For your second request, she hesitates a moment, then removes the pin attached underneath her collar. The small piece is designed in the shape of a white kite shield, rimmed in a gold. In the center sit two black wedges opposite each other that taper sharply towards the top with a gap between them in the spirit of a mountain pass. Some of the white paint has been chipped off, revealing gray underneath. "Our crest. These are not handed out lightly, and he'll recognize mine in particular from the chipped paint."

"I'll send you with an extra horse for him. The arcanist is not missing though. He's dead. There's not a chance Calmaius left him alive, he was too much of a threat, and had no use as leverage."

Silthras nods, "Well then, a speedy departure is in order I think." He smiles, bows again slightly, and looks to his companions for agreement.

With your next objective decided, Lady Anet leaves you to go attend the business of gathering those most loyal - more importantly those she could trust. After exiting the castle you stop by the stables, where an aide has already delivered the message to outfit you with the fastest steeds they have(minus one for Usul and plus one for the Baroness' son?). Once outside of Silverfair you ride hard down the southern road, veering off into the woods after nearly 7 hours on the road as the sun begins to set.The trees here are different from those around the mining towns - these are fir trees, with relatively thin trunks that tower over a 100 feet into the sky. There are no branches or leaves below the top quarter of their trunks. They're dense enough to obscure vision about 300 feet out, but still spaced enough to easily move your horses through them.

After moving through the woods another 45 minutes, night has fallen completely, and you can just make out the crumbling form of the tower keep. There are sparse clouds in the sky, occasionally briefly covering the bright twin moons above(areas outside of the tree cover are dimly lit).

The keep itself is truly in a ruined state. The top half of it has toppled completely, leaving a mess of carved stones across the grounds. There are no windows on the first floor, and from the outside it looks like only the first three floors are still usable. There's about 30 feet of open ground from the trees to the keep on all sides.

"It doesn't look like there's a best way to approach. We're out in the open no matter what." He says quietly to the others. Internally cursing his inability to see in the dark, Kal strains his eyes as hard as he can and burns his Divine Sense to look for undead or desecration. 

Silthras nods, "We should find a place for the horses -- any noise from them may alert guards. Then I can scout if you like. Most people can't see as well as I do in darkness, it's saved my skin a few times."

He does his best to recall the map and and journey to pick a spot nearby that might afford some safety for the horses. If people agree to him scouting, then he will circle the keep at a distance of 100' using his Devils's Sight to observe what he can -- guard movement, traps, doors/gates, lights etc.

After the ride, Usul is happy to stretch his legs, and says to Sil, "We'll go with you. Six eyes are better than two." He adds with a grin. He then tightens his backpack to stay quiet and follows behind as quietly as possible, watching out for all that he can, with Dib perched on his shoulder sniffing at the air.

Before the two sneak off, Syl will reach out and tap them both, casting Invisibility. "That should help some. I can't get Dib too though unfortunately."

As they literally disappear, Usul looks to his arms, how barely visible even to his own vision, and says, "Cool!" He then says something quietly to the small weasel who quickly scampers down into his cloak, now hidden, though unable to sniff the air as well. "How long will this last? Should we just go straight to the keep?!"

Silthras smiles in appreciation, though the smile rapidly disappears from sight. "It's not far around, Usul, but this will allow us -- or just you -- to move closer perhaps. I am not as stealthy as you." After a moment Silthras' disembodied voice  speaks again, "Syl...does your stone allow us to maintain contact? That could be useful."

"You've got about an hour now. Just remember you still need to move quietly, they can still hear you." Syl says, speaking at where she thinks the two are now. "I'm not sure where you should start though. You should be able to get inside the keep undetected though."

In response to Silthras' question, she reaches out mentally,  'only to one of you at a time'. Out loud, she adds, "and you can't get too far. I think I can reach out to the other side of the tower." 

To Kal's divine senses, nothing flares up.

Now unseen, Silthras and Usul move quietly towards the tower. You move around the base of the structure. Footprints can be found all around the area, though curiously none lead the direction you came from, instead, the only sets you see that leave or enter the area are on the north side. The keep sits atop a steep hill, from this side you can see a closed heavy wooden door. As you move around the back side however, you see how unnecessary that may be. A large portion of the back side is collapsed, leaving the interior of the keep completely exposed.

Peering through the hole in the wall, you see no movement. For his part, Dib is not able to hear anything moving or making sounds. There is a scent of human on the air though.

Silthras, if possible, relays what he has seen to Syl, then whispers into Usul's ear. "Did you want to explore further, or send Dib? I would set traps on such an obvious entrance..."

Thinking back, did the large door or collapsed area look used (footprints etc?).

You approached from the east side. The door is on the southeast side. Collapsed area is on the north side. Footprints lead to/from the collapsed area. From the looks of it, the door has been unused.

“We should follow their footprints.” Usul says quietly to his friend. And nervous, but excited, slowly moves towards the collapsed area, then remembering what Sil says begins to look around for anything that might resemble a trap that he might recognize.

Carefully approaching the improvised entrance, you look for the tell-tale signs of classic traps. The ground is solid - no pit traps. No sign of trip wires either. Recalling the ghoulish arcane trap from the mansion, you look for traces of magic sigil and find none. Carefully, you move through the collapsed wall into the tower, certain the area is clear of traps.

The tower itself is only about 20 feet in diameter. On this ground level you can see a heap of rubble blocking the door that you saw from the exterior. There is a single spiral staircase, leading up high and downwards.

Silthras again whispers and tells Syl, if he gets the chance, "It looks like only one way in...but if it was me, I'd want an escape tunnel. These people have used illusion before, so it might be impossible to find." He nods in the direction of the stairs up, "And I'd put a guard up top."

Sylnora peers through the trees, looking to see if there's any movement while she listens to Silthras. She relays his messages to the other two, then replies. "We can be ready to move in at the sign of trouble if you want to explore further. It's strange that you haven't found any sign of them yet..."

Perception: 19

Silthras replies, "Keep under cover at a safe distance, but move to the north side, so you can cover us if needed." Then whispers to Usul, "I've asked them to move to the north side, did you or Dib want to check up top?"