10. Reinforcements for Bakaris the brave

Bakaris and his son had both marched a whole army division to search for the Dragon army, and they found it. They had 4 flanks that were outnumbered, and that was not good at all. Poor Darrett had no way to disobey the order, but he was able to call for backup. Our goal is to hold the Dragon Army until our reinforcements arrive in the morning.
 
Apparently there is a witch around here, and with enough offerings, she may well help us turn the tide of this battle. And, of course, we want to help keep the Kalaman Army standing.
 
This battle is a hard one. The offerings are spread across, and some even hidden in very dense woods. Luckily, Thalassa and Faylyn are both here, and they do well with wooded areas. I do not know how, but even in the flanks where few of our soldiers stand, we are able to rally them. Maybe the tides turn in our favor!
 
Bakaris is becoming unnerved, maybe because his own son is having a tough time keeping his head in the battle. In an act of great bravery, Bakaris the Elder runs away, leaving even his son to stand against the Dragon Army, despite his lack of experience. Despite this man's best efforts, we are able to hold. The ensuing battle is bloody and gory, but we turn the tide.
 
Once it is all over, we are addressed by one of the commanders we do not know, Willhelm (need to confirm the name). He tells us that Bakaris the younger is now missing, but that victory was only possible through our help. He says that we are the Heroes of the Steel Springs, and that is fantastic. All the members of the Kalaman millitary now look up to us (and we get advantage on charisma checks).
 
We return to Kalaman, looking forward to some rest, finally. We also get paid.
 
As we approach the gates, we notice a gathering of people, all excitedly talking about something while the guard tries to disperse them. I figure they are my fans, but turns out they are excited because they saw some Knights of Selumnia! Man, Sterling should have been here. He would have loved this!
 
Anywho, if Knights are here, then that is a good sign. They headed to the castle, and so should we. That way, we can figure out why they are here, and also get ready for some well-deserved rest.
 
We pass the gates, and head to the castle. As we enter the courtyard, we notice that no one is there. Most of the city's defenders are in the West with the Marshal. But there are 2 knights here, one of them holding a banner with a rose on it. Waah and I try to talk to one of the knights, who looks our way, but does not reply. We decide they are not as nice as Sterling, but since they have helms, we cannot yet decide if they are more handsome than he or not.
 
Either way, these rude Knights are now blocking the way to the castle, and we live here. And we also want to see the leaders, to complain about Bakaris again. I mean, what were they thinking, giving him command of anything? Well, Waah tries to go under the horse, but the Knight throws his sword down to keep her, and grabs her arm. She screams in pain, and that is not ok. Faylyn reacts and attacks the knight with her bow. The Knight seems unfazed. The other jerk hits me with their sword, but luckily is not able to touch me. I try to attack the horse so I can get rid of the rider, but I am unable to get through the armor. Thalassa is able to hit one of them, and since it damaged a part of the helm, we can see it is undead.
 
Panic time. How many are there, and what are they after? Are they with the Dragon Army? Also, how could I have fallen into this trap? I am suppose to trap them! And, most importantly, how do we stop them? Waah and I have the same idea to enter the castle and disrupt any possible plans they may have. I follow Waah into the castle, looking for more guards in the barracks. She heads toward the council chamber.
 
Luckily, all our friends are awesome, and defeat those two fake knights pretty quickly and follow us in. Again, inside the castle is pretty empty, and it is concerning. We group up and head to the council chamber with a bad feeling about all of this. As we approach, there is no guard or anyone still alive around here. There was a clear slaughter, and in the position of honor, the governor's body is propped up by a sword, in a vicious mockery of his previously-held power.
 
What we had thought was another body in the chamber is actually a man who calls himself Caradoc. He acts like none of this bothers him, and tells us he brought these knights here. Waah tells him that his people are dead, but he does not seem to care. He mentions that he is here because his lord is visiting a friend around here, but he refuses to name the lord. I feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
 
Surrounded by bodies and even undead bodies, I am unsure of how many people came up, but it is obvious we are falling for a stalling tactic. I know we are in a trap, and I'm mad I cannot avoid it. Really, the sooner we kill him, the sooner we are able to work on the next problem he has unleashed. We fight him, and for some reason, I get the feeling he cares not about the wounds we cause on him. We finally kill him, and a purplish spectre comes out of him, not quite corporeal. Again, we battle and defeat it.
 
Caradoc, in his human form, had been holding a scroll. We examine it, and it says that Lord Soth, the Knight of the Rose claims this land. It turns out, he ruled when he was Lord Knightland, the one who had been ordered by the gods to stop the mess, before the cataclysm. He did nothing. His fate was unknown, but his home, Dargard Keep, has been known as a haunted ruin ever since.
 
We must act quickly, but what is going on here? Then, out of the blue, that suspicious blue-skinned elf, Leedara, from the first night at Vogler, steps into the room. She tells us we need to hurry - there is a secret in this castle that the old lord must not be able to posses.