14 Marpenoth, 1371

Dear Master Zorthaster,

We have defeated the evil lurking beneath Shadowhold, returned the fortress from its drifting on the Plane of Shadow, and have claimed it as our own.

After killing the shadow wizard, we followed the secret passage he had tried to use for his escape. There was a terrible trap there, consisting of a pool of acid and a log for a bridge. One by one we traversed the log, most of us riding Oskar's huge tiger. Unfortunately, when it was my turn, the cat accidentally stepped on a trigger, releasing a huge spiked log on chains. The spiked log swept down from the ceiling and slammed into me. It threw me from the cat and into the air over the acid. I would have fallen in had it not been for Xan. He was flying nearby and tried to lift me away from the pool. I was too heavy for him and we both began to sink toward the acid. The cat, who I had touched with a levitate a short time earlier leapt from the log, catching both of us and giving us the lift we needed to avaid a deadly dunking. Even so, my poor feet dragged in the acid for a breath and I got a painful burn. I thank Moradin and my friends that it was no more than that.

Everyone else passed over the trap without incident and we found ourselves in a more naturally formed cavern with very uneven footing. It was very dark in here and the ceiling was some 80 feet above our heads. Shane and Kerith both found bones that had been gnawed upon and the marrow sucked out. Many of the bones appeared human. Some were old, but many were fresh.

We passed through a narrow passage and entered another cavern. Here we found shadows that attacked us, passing through the walls and appearing beside us. Their lair was beyond a very tight crevice that only Shane could navigate. Not wanting to loose him to unseen dangers, I polymorphed to a mink and Ciercie and I accompanied him. He was the first to discover the shadows in their lair and we drew them out to be killed by the Wandsmen. In their lair we found a pile of deteriorating gear, the obvious remains of long dead adventurers. Amongst the ancient garbage were a couple of magical treasures. They were still pristine amongst the filth. One particularly interesting find was a longspear. Kerith told us that the Dordrian Lords, including Sallust were known to hunt dragons with a powerful magic spear.

Beyond the shadow's hunting chamber we discovered a deep chasm bridged by a thin rope and wood bridge. I crossed as a pixie, flying this time, not wanting to rely on other's skill at dangerous bridges. Across the chasm we discovered another large chamber with many alcoves. Some unseen undead thing was here and it ran off as we approached. I stayed close to the Paladin, as Xan took off in pursuit of the undead thing. From the room ahead there was thunderous boom and I heard the panicked shout of a living voice. "Shadow Dragon!"

The evil lurking beneath Shadowhold was a fiendish shadow dragon. It had a fearful aura of evil that felt thick and oily with menace. It's breath was no less dangerous than the fiery destruction of a red dragon. This beast burned away strength and memory and skill with arms as it caught its victims in a rushing fume of shadow. I was lucky to dodge the poisonous tendrils and fumes that shot towards me. Others were less fortunate. The battle in the dark with a creature of shadow was the stuff of nightmare. I did what I could to injure the monster, but many of my spells spilled off it, doing no more damage than a shadow crossing a wall on a gloomy day. Retreating back into the corridor, I began to prepare for a retreat should that become necessary. I was looking for places to either form a rope trick or to put a wall of force between us and the shadow monster. Instead I found Sallust's poor wife and daughters. They had become horrible undead monsters and tried to kill me and gnaw my bones.

Primula quickly came to my aid and destroyed the wretched victims of Sallust's fall. In the other cavern, the battle with the dragon ended. Oskar had used the dragon spear to pierce the heart of the evil creature and kill it. Shane and Xan had both aided in the kill. We all felt fortunate to be alive after such a terrifying encounter. When we had caught our breath, we cautiously explored the cavern system to ensure that we had cleared it of all the evil things that might leap at us from the shadows. Kerith discovered that this terrible dragon had been a granddaughter to Shimmergloom. I recognized the name as another Shadow dragon, from the north I believe.

The death of this beast did not return the keep to its place in Daggerdale, so we reviewed the poem told to us by the actor who led us here. We came to a grizzly conclusion. Returning to the dining hall, we cut Sallust's head from his body and placed it on the blade of the longspear. This was planted in the ground outside the gate where it could see the rising sun. Rodriguez appeared and applauded our timing as the sun rose and a raven flew out of the dead umbral banyon to pluck at Sallust's eyes.

Color returned as the run rose. Terrible, unearthly screams of death called from the towers we had left undisturbed. We believe these resulted from the destruction of more shadows or other shadowy monsters that could not abide the departure of Shadowhold from the plane of shadows. We had returned Shadowhold to the sunlight. I sank to the ground in a patch of growing sunshine. It was nice to see the vibrant colors of life returning to the world around us. There would be time for deciding what we were going to do about the keep later. In that moment it was enough to sit in the sun and appreciate the colors of the world.

Your student,

Cedar