Outside of town, in a camp that didn't belong to the little Nem, there was a boar roasting on a fire. Though the tent definitely didn't belong to the shaggy-haired girl--the size gave it away--and the supplies definitely hadn't followed her down from the North, the prepared-and-cooking body did, though it was by far stranger than if the other things lying around had. For a start, it was twice as long as she was tall, before even considering the weight of it... Teri had been having a fun day exploring the local woodland, when she'd somehow managed to annoy the tusked behemoth, barely avoiding being horribly gored by the surprise attack and not recovering until stumbling upon someone else's belongings. The fight proper had started, and finished, there and the Nem had decided that since the owner wasn't around, they were going to use the ash-covered spot they'd clearly had a fire in to cook her dinner. It was unlikely that the Paladin that owned the stuff would be pleased with the tiny interloper.

Tanya came to a halt as she reached the edge of the camp. Certainly, she had not left the fire on. She also had not left a boar cooking on the fire, she certainly would have remembered doing something like that. Nor had she left a particularly tiny person in her camp. She had only brought her own supplies, expecting the others that had volunteered to join her to bring along their own as well. However, she had not expected an exceptionally small Nem girl to appear in her camp at any point. What was she doing there, anyway? Tanya hadn't ever seen her before. There were Nem working in the capital, but they weren't exactly a common sight out in the wilderness, or in towns like Balendale. She approached, arms folded firmly across her chest as she approached, purple eyes narrowing at the Nem girl. "What are you doing here?" Tanya asked, her tone firm.

"A-Ah," Teri mumbled, eyes going wide as she saw the group that had arrived, lead by a purple-haired girl in a dress. There were so many of them, and they were all so big and strangely dressed and dangerous-looking. So she did the completely rational thing and hid behind the food she'd been cooking, apparently trusting the smell of roasting meat to protect her from the strangers. "Dinner?"

Laurena ------ The sun beating down on her seemed to lend the world an unwelcome dryness, as though the greedy fire was trying to scour the earth of its nemesis and claim the world for its own. Still, the rumors had pointed towards this strip of land as being the former domain of mad King Haldric, who had supposedly figured out how to avoid dying. Or so people claimed. Dying couldn't be very enjoyable, and it was something Laurena had all intentions of avoiding. So, if someone had figured it out, looking into it was worth a mention, wasn't it? Besides, it got her away from those pesky villagers from Harisburg who hadn't appreciated the joys of rain as much as Laurena. As she walked, she contemplated bringing in a few clouds to lighten the mood of things, yet balked at the effort required for such things. Besides, it's not like these people will appreciate it much either. She thought. Eventually her walking brought her into the heart of the small town of....somewhere. The exact name wasn't that important. Perhaps Bareton? Baleston? B-something at least. Her thoughts were interrupted by a rumbling stomach, which brought more pressing matters such as food and lodging to Laurena's attention. Quickly examining the area revealed two taverns of some capacity. The first looked rather well maintained, warm light flowing from the doorway. A ruckus could be heard emanating from inside, the chorus of the drunk. She heard it quiet for a moment, a voice standing out as the others died down, then picking up once again. Perhaps some event was going on inside? Laurena decided to check the other tavern first. It wasn't likely to be something she would be interested in, unless it was somehow relevant to finding the PrisonCastle, and the odds of that were simply astronomical. The second tavern seemed a bit quieter, the lack of noise giving it the winning edge over the first. Sparing a glance back, Laurena noticed a rather strange party exiting. Led by a rather short woman with a sword that seemed dangerously close to dragging against, the adventurers managed to catch her attention. Amongst those present were at least two high elves, a fairy, and a dwarf. As if that wasn't enough to catch Laurena's attention, the prospect that they, obviously being talented adventurers, might know of the Mad King and his backwards castle spurred her to meet the group and see what they knew, stomach-be-damned. The crowds gave Laurena some trouble, yet the group wasn't hard to follow, considering the wide array of interesting persons that composed it. Soon the town was left behind in favor of a camp, with some sort of beast roasting on a fire. Some of those who had been in the party initially seemed to have peeled off at some point, for whatever reason they chose. Perhaps they would be able to provide a nice meal as well as advice? Coin could help there, if nothing else. As she approached the camp, it became very obvious that its current occupant, a Nem who seemed to be short even for her peoples standards, was not welcome. Furthermore, Laurena seemed to have appeared at an opportune moment, walking into the firelight as the Nem made an offer of food. "You know, dinner sounds quite wonderful, don't you think?" Laurena interjected, hoping to do her best to diffuse the situation. "I'm Laurena d'Olson, Water Mage from Meridan College, here to investigate the so-called 'Prison Castle of the Mad King Haldric,' and was hoping some of you might know of it?" Laurena took up a place between the Nem and the rest of the party, eying the roast beast as she waited.

“Tha's right!” The snowy-haired old dwarf was the first to speak. He seemed to relish the prospect of a new companion on the coming journey, particularly since a good deal of the adventurers who had previously expressed interest in Tanya's quest had yet to reappear. Kaghad radiated a presence of warmth almost as grand as the campfire, though in a different fashion, since he had drained a good beer and found some good company. If the little Nem didn't seem at ease, Kaghad more than made up for it. “Liddle missy's leadin' us there now, in fac'! Danger, glory, gold! It's near enough to make an ol' dwarf sing!” Seemingly have already accepted that Laurena was one of the group, Kaghad turned back to the rest. Nobody was beyond the reach of the twinkle in his eye; it was Terri he faced when he spoke next. “I 'aven't 'ad an adventure like this in decades. Sure, smithin' en the cap'tal's fine business, but ya get so used to people ya ferget wot et's like ta sleep unner the sta's.” He twisted backward, reaching for the Portable Forge he had set aside a few minutes ago. A hunk of coal slipped out from one of his pouches and into the mechanism, and with the ease of one totally accustomed to the maneuver he began to crank it.

The aroma of roasting meat grabbed Alrik's attention just as they entered the camp. The fact that there was food cooking meant someone else must have been tending to it, meaning there was at least one other adventurer willing to join them. That was a blessing, seeing as he didn't know where a good portion of the other interested adventurers had gone off to. When the Tanya confronted the Nem, he simply stood in the back quietly, not wanting to get involved. So much for the other adventurer. Maybe all would be forgiven and they'd come anyway? A woman came into the camp seemingly just in time, defusing the situation and introducing herself as Laurena, a water mage. Kaghad responded first, announcing the party's intentions. The dwarf seemed like a pleasant fellow so far, and Alrik already had the mind to buy him a drink when their quest was finished. Alrik nodded at Kaghad's words, and then looked back to Laurena. "I think it's reasonable to say you could join us, if you wanted."

"Oh, roast boar," Alexander said, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, already sitting on a small boulder, his mandolin in hand and his bag of supplies on the ground at his feet. "That sounds delightful. And I'm sure we could all share some." He then placed one leg on another and started playing a small cheerful tune to remove any fear still in the little Nem. "A lot of us may look like a bunch of barbarians who know nothing but beer and combat, but we are still civilized people." He smiled and gestured to a spot on the boulder next to him. "Come, nothing to be afraid of."

"well, company is always good." Jon said. He looked back, and he saw that a few people from the tavern weren't here. They had mysteriously disappeared. "We're a little short anyway." He said. He sat down, somewhere near the fire as their bard appeared on a rock with his Mandolin, and the rest got acquainted with the new faces. A water mage and an incredibly short, muscle bound person, which made for strange contrast. But, to mirror what he said before, company was always good, especially after more than half of the party disappeared. Jon took his flask of water from his belt and took a large swig, as he was thirsty. Once that was done, he put it back down again and introduced himself. "Well, since we're getting introductions out of the way, I'll follow suit." He said to the 2 new people. "My name's Jon Grimsteel, and I'm just a wandering knight. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

_{"A-Ah, Teri Eriksdottir,"} the nem replied, shrinking back even more at all the strangers, retreating further to where her enormous hammer was resting against a tree and scooping the heavy implement up without so much as a hint of strain. There was no indication of any real intent to fight, however; from the way she was holding it, the weapon was simply being used for reassurance, _{"H-Help yourself..."} Now that she wasn't hidden behind the boar, it was easy to see the irony in the dwarf's statement that they weren't barbarians: if there was one person here who could definitely claim to be one, it was the girl staring in wide-eyed terror at the sheer number of people. Wolf pelt, minimal clothing, and no shoes from where they'd fallen apart on the journey here. It was strange to see someone so intimidated when everything about them--from the way they so easily lifted their weapon to the obviously defeated boar roasting unattended--suggested that she was quite capable of handling herself.

Tanya regarded the campfire when the extra-small Nem said 'Dinner'. Well, there was no denying that. There was no way someone that small could have eaten something that large all by herself, unless the Nem had an appetite to match the apparent strength she wielded. She didn't at all appear similar to the other Nem that Tanya had seen before. She was even smaller, and clad in less clothing. Tanya wondered how she was managing not to get tremendously severe sunburn, unless the girl was wearing more when it was brighter out. Regardless, it was a matter of deciding whether or not cooking wild boar as opposed to stealing anything made up for sneaking into the campsite in the first place. Those who had followed her seemed rather at ease with her... and given her apparent strength, the less-irritable portion of Tanya's mind contemplated the fact that she could be quite useful. She sighed. "You can stay, Eriksdottir." That was such a strange name for a Nem, as well... "I'm sure someone can go ahead and fill you in while we're eating. I've already had to do it for everyone else once. As for you..." The small purple-haired paladin turned to face the taller newcomer. A Mage from the College in Meridan? Hmph, whatever. "At least I don't have to waste more time telling you about it. I am Tanya Palayen of the Church of Reon, and I have gathered a party to reach the depths of the Prison-Castle. I suppose we'll be departing..." She glanced over her shoulder back at the boar... "... As soon as we've eaten."

Laurena surveyed the party as they welcomed her into their midst. Fortune was certainly favoring her now, granting not only a guide to Haldric's final resting place, but food as well. The high elf, apparently rather skilled with a mandolin, began playing a lively tune as they settled down. There certainly were some interesting characters amongst them. The device that the dwarf Kaghad was using was particularly interesting. The dwarf placed something, coal most likely, into its maw and soon a second fire was roaring. Idly, Laurena wondered how hot it could get, and how such a small device could work. The leader of the party, the pink haired paladin Tanya wielding a rather large sword turned to address Laurena. Snapping out of her speculation about the portable forge, Laurena recalled the roast boar sitting nearby. Right. Food. Her stomach growled angrily once more, reminding her of how she'd neglected it recently. None of the other party members seemed too keen on carving it for them, so, unstoppering her waterskin, Laurena took the initiative. "Well, since noone else will...ciegamel" She muttered the last word, and a stream of water followed her hand as she drew it away from the container. A portion of it gathered in her hand, while the rest returned to her pouch with a gesture. She turned to address the nem Teri, moving up to the boar over the low fire. "The prison-castle of the mad king Hadric is said to be the final resting place of the king and all his greatest possessions. The king is believed to have been driven by some sort of paranoia, and put his wealth toward protecting himself, building a dungeon beneath the ground." The flame would make things a bit harder, but it still shouldn't be a problem...Laurena muttered another word, and the water in her palm took the form of a knife of ice. With a quick smile and nod, Laurena went about carving the meat, continuing the story as she worked. "Legend says that the deeper he went, the more the madness took him, until he drove off or killed all who would support him. Legend also says the king turned to darker magicks in order to preserve his life, and that he succeeded. See, this is where things start getting interesting. Countless mages have tried to make themselves immortal, and as far as the college knows, none have really succeeded. Sure, there's forms of necromancy, but would you fancy living forever in a decaying old body? And while it's most likely ol' King Haldric went down this path as well, there's bound to be some interesting magical traps guarding the place! I'm sure our bard could tell you more" A glint of excitement was showing in Laurena's eyes now, but the boar had other demands. In a few more incantations, a small platter was sitting on the grass beside the fire, and Laurena began placing chunks of rough cut meat. While she knew enough to tell what was edible and what was not, she was hardly a butcher. "Who wants some? Get it while it's hot!" She offered to the others, cutting a small bite off one of the slabs, then panting to cool her mouth, caught off guard by how hot the meat had been.

"Ah, let me." Jon said. He'd had a lot of years of experience travelling, and he wasn't a stranger to a good roast boar, so he could tell that it was quite a nice specimen. He drew his broadsowrd and he began cutting off the meaty parts and placing it on the tray that their new water mage had helpfully provided. "Don't worry about my sword, it's clean." Jon said, sheathing his sword. Around a quarter of the the boar had been cut up, and it should've been enough for the party right now. He grabbed a piece he'd cut off and sampled it, checking its tenderness and flavour. A smoky aroma filled his noise as he bit down, and the hot juices squeezed out of the flesh into his mouth. He chewed the meat carefully. It was tender, juicy and had a nice flavour. "Whoever made this, it's pretty good." He said. "Ask me if you need any more."

It was all that Kaghad could do to keep himself from tearing up as soon as he had a mouthful of boar, unfazed by the heat. To be sure, the roast beast wasn't seasoned--just simple, juicy meat. The dwarf loved it, however. For him, it helped solidify the idea of adventure. Here he was, in the wild with other adventurers, away from the well-loved but stuffy heat and clamor of his forge, with a full belly and a quest! He wolfed down his portion of the boar, ruminating on both the meat and the tale spun by Laurena. When he had finished his meal, he pulled out some scrap metal from a pouch and put it into the roaring Portable Forge to melt, where he would recast it into bars on the spot for easier future use in crafting or mending. It was fairly routine work, but it allowed him to think, and after a few moments he spoke up. "Magic en't motch a concern 'mong dwarves, but ya can't live 's long 's I 'ave an' not peck op a few tengs aboot et. If ole 'Aldric's not some min'less zombie, then 'e's been usin' those dark magics ta sustain 'is life. I don't 'spect e's immortal, jus' tryin' ta slow down the whole rottin' process. That sorta stoff needs artifac's, talismans. If we loot or bust 'is stoff, then 'is body should rot." Kaghad shrugged. "'Least, that's if thess whole teng en't some fairy tale made ta keep kids from stayin' op too late."

Teri looked at the others in quiet confusion as they carved up the succulent meat, still not moving from her position behind the animal until everybody was served. Then, the nem tentatively moved herself forwards, placing two hands on the roasted flesh--rather than taking any of the neat cuts--and with a few tugs tore off a haunch. The sudden lack of resistance, though, sent the tiny girl flying back to be sandwiched between all of the much larger adventures.

So she took her mind off it by tearing into the enormous hunk of meat and bone in her hands, displaying a voracious appetite totally at odds with her demure and somewhat skittish personality.

_{"Exploring a dungeon sounds fun..."} the barbarian finally mumbled, using her arm to wipe away some of the juices now dribbling down her chin, _{"But what would we eat in there?"}

Tanya sighed. Seriously? That was what the Nem wanted to know about the dungeon? After the explanation she had gotten? It wasn't as if Tanya particularly cared for magic, though her armor and blade bore enchantments woven into their being she did not practice it herself. But she had at least expected some kind of questioning of what was down there or something. It was so... so simple-minded!

... Whatever... The Nem had cooked a sizable meal for them and Tanya was equipped to store whatever they could not eat. "We will eat whatever we pack with us, if we are down there long enough to require a meal."

There, that should have answered the question. In terms of the rest of the conversation, well... Tanya could give less of a damn about how the Mad King had escaped death. She wasn't exactly up to date on magical immortality or whatever it was, anyway. Her duty was a simple one, to find the insane former king and slay him if he was alive. Or undead. Moreso if he was undead, to be frank, there was no way he would not be one of the malevolent ones.

She unpacked her utensils and swiftly carved herself a nice piece of boar, settling in to eat.

---

After everyone had eaten their fill and the remainder of the boar had been packed away, the journey to the Prison-Castle had begun. It was rather uneventful, crossing wooded areas and plains and a small stream, before at last the crumbling tower was visible in the distance. It had taken hours, but now they had reached their destination.

The walls were crumbling ruins. Certainly, no-one would have any trouble entering the Prison-Castle now, to say the least. Moss and vines clung to the ruined masonry. The tower itself was a wreck, half of it had toppled to the ground at some point and all that remained was scattered stone choked with vegetation. Even what remained of the tower was worn away and heavily damaged, and covered in moss and lichen. Tanya approached the walls, looking up at it for a moment.

"Well, this is more of a trash heap then I even expected..." she said, folding her arms, before turning to face her party. "Supposedly the entrance is on the north side. If it hasn't crumbled away into ruin, at least."

Jon studied the old ruins before him carefully. He was no archaeologist, but he could tell that it was definitely old. Hell, even a monkey could tell it was old, and Jon wasn't sure that it was stable.
"Well, it's a good thing that most of it's underground, but I hope it doesn't collapse on us." Jon said out loud, adjusting the helmet under his arm.

An old ruin like this would've certainly been a good target for treasure hunters, right? There was a chance that there wouldn't be much in this dilapidated dungeon, but then again, it wouldn't have its infamous reputation if that was the case. Judging by the paladin's apparent zeal to clear the dungeon, there was probably something worth killing down there. Something that the church wanted dead, so the place was likely filled with undead.

Well, he could've found out that much from its reputation. Mad King Harrick's prison tower was filled with prisoners back in its day, most of which the mad king tortured to death, if his reputation was to be believed. Places like these would often accrue and draw the curses of the fallen and they would often become a nest of the newly risen. Zombies, in Layman's terms.

Now for what Jon knew about Zombies. Intense lust of life and flesh, non-existant reasoning skills. Zombies were normally re-animated, or in some uncommon cases, lost souls possessing corpses. He couldn't rule ut either possibility in the Mad King's prison tower because sometimes Liches liked to settle down in places with lots of regret and dead bodies. Now, Undead were slow, rather weak and incredibly stupid. Zombies were usually composed of corpses, so fire would be a good idea. He had plenty of torches, so that was fine. If there were skeletons, it would be a different matter. Skeletons lacked flesh and could be surprisingly spry, but they were usually brittle and Jon was sure his sword would do the trick. It was best to use a mace for skeletons, but if he really needed one, a rock would do just as well.

Jon put the helmet he was holding onto the ground and took his backpack off his shoulder to take an inventory. It would be easy to deal with the undead, but he didn't know how far the dungeon went, and he didn't want to starve to death. After a quick look, he ascertained that he had a few water skins, torches, spare knives and enough food for a few days. He took a torch out for the oncoming underground venture, and slung the backpack over his shoulder once again. he donned his helmet and opened the visor so he could see. He should be ready for what would be ahead.

"Before we go in the dungeon, we should probably take stock and figure out a formation." Jon suggested to the party. "We don't know what we could face so its best if all of know how prepared we are."

Now that the sun was setting, the nem--somewhat drowsy throughout their journey--had perked up and stopped using her wolf pelt as an enshrouding cloak, making it easy to see just how much bulkier she was than the average member of her species. The boar carcass, or what was left of it, was placed standing up: Teri's idea of 'provisions' appeared to run along the lines of just bringing the entire body along, despite that being far more food than any one person really needed.

"Why would we need to go through the entrance?" she wondered, when Tanya brought up the location of the way in, "Can't we just go through the walls?" The dilapidated castle didn't seem like it would offer much resistance to an unorthodox entry; with its current state she saw no reason why anyone would want to take what was quite probably the most well-defended portion of the crumbling ruins. As well as the place most likely to smell of rotting bodies, if anyone else had come this way recently.

The small berserker didn't respond to Jon's suggestion of a formation, they appeared to mostly be a collection of fighters of various stripes anyway. 'Surround the spellcaster' was the only plausible formation that they could pull off with their numbers... and it wasn't even to Teri's taste in fighting, either.

Kaghad whistled. Even given the horrid state of the structure, he could tell that the ruins had once been an impressive building. Of course, it would have paled in comparison to any dwarven palace, but the blacksmith could not fault the humans for a good try. He surveyed the masonry with a hint of sadness; to let what had been a grand edifice crumble into nothing always seemed a waste. The cities of the dwarves had stood for thousands of years, but in less than the lifetime of a single infamous man this castle had become a heap of rubble, barely maintaining any semblance of strength. What they did convey, however, was an ominous feeling. Despite Kaghad's excitement to begin the adventure proper, he could not avoid some apprehension in the face of a crumbling castle swamped with the undead.

"I support the li'l lassie. Jus' look at the place; it's nuttin' but entrances. As fer formation, I'm nat gonna be on yer front lines by any stretch o' yer 'magination. I'll cover the rear, mendin' anythin' what breaks for ya."