On reaching Aldium, Njarl and Himo with their companions, Leif, Salgado and Golin made their way to the Severed Head Inn to quench their thirst. It was then that a foppish young noble in all his finery entered and made himself comfortable at their table. After he identified the party, he informed them that people proven as resourceful as they were required for a little job. A book need to be recovered and hidden in the 'shadows'. Giving them the location, he informed them that they would be handsomely rewarded by the Conclave? Finishing their food the party made ready for the quick journey to a ruined manor house, in which the book was said to be located in an underground crypt. It was an uneventful 2 day journey apart from a nightmare that they all suffered, Himo had believed that a mounted Wight skewered his leg before a skeleton cracked him over the head.

At the ruin, the party cautiously advanced, reckoning that the larger ruined tower would provide the entrance point. At this point a host of ghouls emerged from the smaller tower to assault the party. Making a fighting retreat up the curtain wall, Himo discovered a second entrance into the tower, but before awaiting a safety report, Njarl promptly raced through to discover there was no floor and promplty fell to the bottom of the tower, luckily only stunned. Gaining some respite the rest of the party quickly followed, though they took the stairs before Himo lost his footing and fell on the still groggy Njarl.

Searching the floor of the tower was proving fruitless until the unsuspecting Himo fell though a rotten trapdoor into a tunnel below. Throwing up a rope and secured by Leif, the rest made their way into the tunnel. Following the tunnel on a downward journey the party quickly found the floor flooded up to their waist (chest for the 2 dwarves). Njarl and Salgado both felt something brush pass their legs, only Salgado reacted the quicker as Ghouls sprang out and pulled Njarl under. The party were quickly swarmed but the ghouls found themselves no match for the well armed and skilled party. Once Njarl regained his feet he dealt death with ease, Himo, Leif and Salgado each despatched their foes while Golin took out another three.

After a short breather to recover their strength they made their way onwards. The smell of death and decay growing. Fear was in the air. As they entered the room Salgado was unmanned and fled in terror, the corpse of a dragon rose to meet them. Even Njarl and Leif paused before joining the fray. Leif quickly in the action thrust deeply, into the beasts chest before a talon struckout and sent him clattering against a wall. Himo kept up a steady stream of arrows, though most found their mark the damage seemed negligable. The 2 dwarves then got stuck in, hacking and slashing at the beast before in turned on them. Njarl was sent crashing to the floor, forced to use his shield to parry repeated blows. Himo drew his sword and joined the fray but not before Golin had been dealt a heavy blow, casting him down in a heap. The Dragon then turned on Himo, knocking his blade from his hand and forcing the Elf to scurry for cover. Salgado eventually discovered his courage and rejoined the fray, sending a couple of arrows into the beast. The Dragon turned and bit down sharply, tearing Golin's arm off at the shoulder before ripping up a leg with a talon.

Njarl and Himo, finding their feet and weapons respectively rejoined the fray before dealing a death blow to their foe. A hard won fight with a high cost. their compaion Golin was dead, his lifeblood splashed across the floor.