After dispatching the wererats, you all search the lair and free a dozen prisoners.

They are all in bad shape, possibly only days from succumbing to the curse
themselves. La'i can tell that some of them are farther along than others, so
starts using the curative spells she knows to save those from lycanthropy.

You all pack the valuables you can carry on foot, and escort the captives out
through the trees in the direction of the fort. Damp moss and leaf cover squelches
under your feet, and strange noises in the forest keep you on edge for several days
until you finally break the tree cover.

Soon you return to T�ros Zera. Legate Ionnicato is pleased with your report of
success and asks you to stay while arrangements are made to recover the lost
supplies. He invites you to dine with him and his wife after you've gotten lodging
at the village's inn.

- TRAVELER'S INN -
The Traveler's Inn is mostly unoccupied - one other traveller has rented a room, a
talkative man named Rufus who is hanging out in the eatery and noshing on some
toast with cheese, onions, and ham along with watered-down local wine. He was
planning to take his family to Cyfaraun and do some betting at the big arena, but
with the roads getting more dangerous he's not sure it's a good idea. The cook, a
handsome Nicean man, is singing a bawdy song as he fries up some sausage. He winks
at any women in the party. A few soldiers come in after you all; one calls out
"The usual please, Nik!"

TUROS ZERA - LEGATE'S VILLA -

That evening you arrive at the legate's villa, a large square building inside the
fort with an open-air garden in the center. Servants wash your feet and offer
massages, and bring you to a formal dining area. You join the Legate and Lady, and
are introduced to the quartermaster Caeso and subaltern Agrippa.

The chef produces a feast of roast hares in white wine sauce accompanied with
boiled chickpeas and leeks. After eating, everyone settles in with honey-soaked
wheat cakes and sweet Tirenean rose wine.

Caeso nonchalantly asks if anyone is interested in a game of kyrpeges, a strategy

game of war. The Legate laughs and warns you that his quartermaster is fond of
playing for coin at the inn, where travellers tend to underestimate him. Agrippa
wants to know what your group calls itself, and to hear all about your adventures.
The lady Caria makes polite conversation but avoids any discussion of the Empire's
current troubles.

After about an hour the dinner comes to a close and you head back to your lodging.

- EXPEDITION -
Several days later you meet the merchant Canus Vesnius. The legate has arranged for
the services of his mule team, and has also provided an escort of a dozen imperial
soldiers led by the subaltern Pisentia. She looks sturdy, but not overly friendly
and doesn't say anything to cheer the mood. The men look worried and whisper among
themselves. You recall the Legate mentioning an earlier expedition into the
Naungolle Forest that never returned, and wonder how many former Auran soldiers
you've slain.

After getting organized, you set out for the Naungolle Forest. The woods are still
damp and dark, and at your slower pace you have to camp in the wilderness several
time. The mules start occasionally at sudden sounds, but your group encounters no
difficulties and in a few days you are back at the collapsed elven keep. Pisentia
turns a critical eye toward what can be salvaged, and soon you're leaving the
ruined elven keep with mules heavily laden with bags and barrels full of pork,
cheese, salt, oil, and a variety of valuable trade goods. At camp that evening, the
sky is filled with the flitting dark shapes of hundreds of bats finding hundreds of
bugs to eat.

- TUROS ZERA -
Several days later you return safely again to Turos Zera. Soldiers unload the
mules, supervised by the quartermaster (Caeso).

the merchant Canus seems interested in the goods you recovered that aren't claimed
by the Legate.

Canus pays 945 for 10 yards of woven linen, 2 jars of blue dye, 2 small casks of
liquor, 6 bags of loose tea, and 1 bundle of lion pelts (large, uncommon)

The Legate pays 825 for 43 barrels of smoked pork, 200 cheese wheels, 500 salt
bricks, and 10 jars of common oil.

If holy water and snakeroot are kept, total is 3632.50 gp treasure, 4000 gp reward
from Legate.

Now the party gathers in their room at the Traveller's Inn,