Leaving the rest of the party with Archduke Avgost, Strom and I went to the Temple of Sif. Getting in was slightly problematic. We were asked to prove ourselves in combat which we did. Strom, by impressing the warriors with his impeccable bow skills and me by sheer effort and willingness. The high priestess allowed me to petition her for assistance in our holy quest for the robes of Sister Adelind but was not really convinced by my spiel. I let her know that my fellow party members will be also coming to explain some of the details. The temple was under maintenance and looking at their workmanship I could see that my skills would be useful. I offer to help out with the construction until the others arrive. I keep working all night and the next morning when Strom returns with our whole party. WIth all out tales of exploits from the last month The priestess is finally pursuaded of our legitimacy. She can't directly help with the robes but tells us that the anniversary of Sister Adelind's death is this month, and that her agents, The Spear Maidens of Hope, might be found at Castle Yarosbirg where Adelind died in battle. 'Take this snowdrop as a symbol of identification. Good luck in your mission.' Castle Yarosbirg lies deep in the heart of Krakovar and there was plenty of discussion about the best route to take. We eventually decided to avoid the swampy western road in favour of a more rocky option through the hills to the East. The church of Sif provisioned us with horses and travel equipment for our holy quest and we set off back into enemy territory. At the border to Krakovar a rickety bridge led over the Yoshulta river gorge. A dark fortress stands on a hill overlooking the road. We could feel the eyes of undead watching from within dark walls. Samba granted us a magic dome of invisibility to cross the bridge unhindered. Once on the other side of the river we made our way quietly upstream to a small hamlet where we got our bearings before tracking our way up into the hills. The trip South took about five days and miraculously, with no real trouble to speak of, we made it to the gates of Castle Yarosbirg. Riding up to approach the ruins of the gatehouse we noticed a very strange sight. A group of girls were dancing in a circle singing rhymes but getting closer we could see that the girls were not quite what they first seemed. Wrendell sensed that they were actually ghosts. They tried to run away but we rushed in to prevent their retreat. Our magical attacks worked well but those with mundane weapons were less effective. 'Focus your attacks!' yelled Wrendell and we soon took one down but surprisingly as it died it tried to pull Lea down into the ground with it though she managed to drag herself up out of the hole before becoming entombed. Then as we are starting to feel comfortable with this battle another monster joined in. It presumably smelled the horses. From behind a ruined wall a large manticore flew up and loosed a barrage of spikes. It screeched and ducked back behind the wall but the next time it showed itself we were ready and threw everything we had at it. Spears, arrows, and magic strike it and the manticore fell to the ground in a bloody heap. The remaining ghostlings were defeated, though I think one may have escaped
