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A quick glance down the stairs reveals little, as the stairs curve along the wall and offer a limited view, but you can see what appear to be crates stacked on the floor edging the stair, so presumably it is used for storage.
You ascend into a single room some thirty feet in diameter. Cots are spaced around the walls, with small footlockers under each, indicate that this area provides sleeping quarters for a half dozen humanoids. The place seems old and rundown, but it is kept clean by its occupants.
Currently in the room, gathered near the far stairs that ascend yet another level, are five figures. Three of them are garbed for travel. An older human with short-cropped hair and beard, garbed in brown robes, stands with a tall, slim woman whose features are concealed beneath a deep hood. Behind them is a barrel-chested gnome burdened with a pack that is possibly as tall as he is. Its outer area is festooned with equipment hanging from hooks and loops--pots, pans, tankards, picks, a shovel, ropes--making the pack look unbearably heavy and awkward.
The three are speaking with a human woman. Her hair is long, blond shot through with gray. She wears it in a long braid that reaches below her waist. Her robe is black, with a single white circle upon the chest. As your party ascends the stairs, the four turn to regard you.
Amara looks delighted to see you, but you can see lines of concern about her eyes.
"Welcome back, Ren. Please, take the others upstairs. There is food and drink for you all. I need to see my visitors out before we speak."
She motions for you to go up, then leads the others past you toward the stairs. The man pauses to examine you a moment as the woman and gnome descend, the stairs creaking dangerously under the weight of the gnome's pack.
While seeming much older than you, it is hard to pin an exact age on the man. His hair is mostly gray shot through with black, his skin lined but firm. He has a secretive half-smile seemingly fixed to his face. He nods approvingly at you after a bit.
"Yes, promising. I feel you young ones may be just coming into your stride, but you'll go far."
"Perhaps you especially, lad," he says to Remy, "but for now, I must depart. Things are afoot." And with that he descends down the stairs.
The three odd visitors exit with Amara in tow. Ren wearily ascends to the next level with the party following behind him. On the next level the party finds the remnants of the mill's great stone, now used as a table. The axle of the mill's wheel turns and creaks incessantly, no longer connected to the mill's workings. Here the party finds the remnants of a breakfast: bacon, bread, cheese, and apples. There is also a jug of sweet wine still half-full. Seated here you find a young woman in simple, loose-fitting garb with short blond hair. She greets you with a nod of her head, quietly introducing herself as Annika.
You refresh yourselves as you will and a short time later Amara returns with Marten and Lessa in tow.
The three distribute spells of healing among the still-wounded in the party. () Once that is done, Sister Amara addresses you.
"You have my thanks for coming at our request. We hoped you would aid us with a task, however other matters require urgent attention." She goes on to speak of the skeleton attack that took place near the shrine, filling you in on the battle that nearly claimed the lives of the young woman and the two acolytes. "This woman, Annika, came to me requesting assistance. After seeking inspiration from Daena, I feel that this attack by undead is related to the assault on her monastery. There is evil abroad and it must take precedence over the task you were summoned for."
"You are correct. Animated dead such as these can follow simple commands by their creators, but are mindless. However, neither my acolytes nor Annika saw anyone else in the area. That said, once animated, they can be...released from control, in which case they often attack anyone they encounter.
My visitors mentioned that a similar attack took place near Three Oaks. Were you present when it occurred?"
"Then you shall have your chance,"Amara says. "I'm fairly certain that this person, if they are determined to plague the area with undead, will be headed to the chapel of Baal south of here. It hosts the graveyard where the folk from Three Oaks are buried. There is no greater collection of the dead in the area. You should go there and ensure there is no further desecration." Amara hands each of you a glass flask, sealed with a cap of black wax topped with a circle of white. "Holy water to assist you in your task. Also, Annika here should accompany you. I have divined that she may find the answers she seeks there. Plus, she is capable in a fight."
"Bear in mind that the resident cleric of Baal at the chapel is a dwarf. He is charged with caring for the residents of Three Oaks and its environs. We do not wish for him, or any dwarf, to be to closely involved in our efforts. Therefore we have sent him a request that will take him to the far side of the valley this day. However, we do not know when this desecrator of the dead will arrive. With luck, the priest will not return to the chapel until the 'morrow.
If you are successful in defeating this menace, you will hopefully find clues to the attack upon Annika's monastery. If you need any other information or assistance, I shall do what I can for you."
With that, Amara awaits any further questions from the party. Those of you native to the area know the location of the chapel well enough. You should be able to reach it by the early afternoon.
Your party determines to set out immediately so as to arrive at the chapel with as much time as possible left in the day. You gather your gear and bid Amara farewell, and she bids you go with Daena's blessing. The day proves unseasonably warm, giving you a pleasant journey throughout the day, heading south across the valley through fallow fields and small stands of trees surrounded by piles of autumn leaves. While the weather is pleasant, the countryside seems too quiet and empty. The only witnesses to your passing are the occasional crow scolding you from a nearby tree, or a lonely scarecrow hanging in a field.
The sun has passed its zenith and is sinking steadily towards the western mountains when you arrive at the chapel of Baal. It is a somber structure of brown granite--two stories high with a peaked roof--a work of solid dwarven construction. It stands in a tended yard. Behind it, you can see the headstones of the cemetery, partitioned from the yard by a low rock wall. The cemetery stands on a promontory edged with trees and undergrowth, that descends down to a small winding river known as the Little Sister. The place is quiet and unoccupied. It appears Amara spoke true, and the old dwarven priest that tends the place may be absent.
What would the group like to do?
Erius steps forward and grabs the rust-tinged wrought iron handles of the doors. They are oak, each sporting a carving of a flaming hammer above an anvil. He pushes, and the heavy doors creak on their hinges, swinging inward. Beyond them is a staid chapel, with a center aisle between two rows of wooden pews. Laid down the middle of the aisle, over the flagstone floor, is a worn red carpet that leads to the sanctuary. A raised dais, surrounded by a low iron railing, holds an altar of black basalt. Standing behind the altar is a marble statue. It stands eight feet tall, appearing to be an armored figure of dwarven stature, with a hammer held in both hands raised above its head. The only light in the chapel, aside from that slanting through the high windows, comes from a lantern on a chain held aloft in the middle of the room, and from the banked coals in an iron brazier sitting upon the altar.
The party can see two doors at the back of the place, to the left and right of the sanctuary, that lead into the east and west branches of this T-shaped structure.
Erius leads the group down the aisle and to the door to the left of the sanctuary. Trying it, he finds it unlocked. It leads into a vestry, about ten feet square. There is an open closet containing clerical vestments and a small wooden cabinet, as well as a chest. Another door sits on the wall directly across from this doorway.