The party more or less began to follow Menka’s insect path in reverse. We reached the wall we had previously taken down with Gonchar’s hammer and, passing through, headed north. The tunnel was supported in makeshift fashion with hastily erected wooden beams. Ahead, in the distance we heard a loud, barking scream. A cross between a human and an animal.

An annotated map of Markheim is saved here.

We entered Markheim from the southeast, following a road that crossed through a village of huts (1). The village seemed of recent construction. Fields and groves lie just south of the village. Men and women of the same racial stock as the worshippers of the ice god worked the fields and populated the village though the overt, undead evil was not apparent. An ancient-looking elven woman worked the groves among the people. Kyril recognized her as Auntie T and acknowledged her all-seeing glance. He dismounted, handed off his horse and walked out into the fields to speak with the elven druid. We would not see him again for a week or so.

Since Gonchar was not leveling-up, he passed the time between adventures by volunteering to ride with the Castellan’s men on patrols of the region around Markheim and Ninax’s Blockhouse. He was given a small-ish pony of surprisingly-surpassing speed (“Mala”), and was told by the men he would be riding with to get used to the horse for a day or two, for they must ride swiftly. Gonchar got used to the pony for a day or two, and the animal was smart and fast, and Gonchar - a below-average rider at best - was soon able to ride well and with speed with only two days of getting used to Mala. He was also fitted for lighter chain mail armor, as he was told that plate would not work for the kind of riding they’d be doing.