The sun had barely broken the horizon when the party met Lognar and his mercenaries at the main gate. In addition to Lognar, there were four dwarvish men-at-arms, a cleric of Clangeddin Silverbeard, and a shifty-looking warrior named Tyrion. After they completed introductions, the group left on horses for the redoubt.
Along the way, they noticed a fortification to the south which had not been there previously. They determined it would be best to investigate it later, and continued on their way. The journey was otherwise uneventful. They arrived on the plateau above the redoubt by nightfall, and established camp almost a mile away from the secret passage they intended to use.
The next morning, the group moved through the secret passage towards the redoubt's vault. Just before cracking the door into the chamber, West and Triben cast several defensive spells upon the group. They rushed through into the vault, and then quickly moved towards the lord's quarters.
They were intercepted just as they reached the entrance to his room by a wave of ghasts and wights. Snarling ferraly, they crashed into the party, trying to rend them limb from limb. The party's protective magics held fast, though, and they were able to stand fast against the undead. After fending off the wave, they broke into the outer office. Finding no necromancer, they pushed on into the bedroom while the dwarves stood fast at the entrance.
That room was empty, too, but sported a coffin instead of a bed. Most of the party moved on. While they pushed into the dining area, Tyrion searched the chamber for spoils while West urged him to burn the coffin. Tyrion finally complied after West flew out to rejoin the party. Pulling a sword and shield off the wall for good measure, Tyrion moved back towards the group.
The party, meanwhile, had run into a large group of undead in the dining hall. In addition to more unusually tough ghasts and wights, there were also large humanoid skeletons with huge claws. The claws could extend out a full twenty feet from the skeletal bodies, keeping the skeletons safe while skewering party members.
As Gronk, Ann, and one of West's summoned creatures fought through the undead, Triben launched a fireball into the middle of the room. While very effective at harming their foes, it also lit most of the long wooded tables in the room on fire. The party rushed to slay the remainder of the undead so they could push past the fire.
Once they broke through that room, and an abandoned storeroom, they found themselves in the long backside corridor of the redoubt. They made best speed down the corridor, hoping to reach the temple before any more undead found them. At the turn to the last hall, though, they were ambushed by more undead. To make things worse, more poured in from behind them, pinning them.
The party was able to push forward, with the dwarves forming a steadfast rearguard as they plugged towards the temple. They cut down ghasts, wights, and the bony undead, but they seemed innumerable. Finally the party reached the door, and burst in, only to be confronted by two pale-looking dwarves .. the remains of Golin Firebelly and Darfur Steelhews. Their unearthly pale skin was disrupted by magical runes, which burned to life as black rays lanced from their hands at Ann, who was first through the door.
After a fast few seconds, the door to the temple proper burst open, and an albino human vampire burst through. His first act was to cast waves of fear at the party, causing Tyrion, Gronk, and Tiger to flee the room. West and Ann fought a holding action against them while Triben banished Gronk's fear. They then both moved back towards the antechamber. When they arrived, Triben tossed a bolt of pure sunlight at the vampire, slaying it immediately. Its gaseous remains floated back into the temple while the party continued to struggle against the enhanced spawn.
A further threat quickly became apparent as a large human-wolf creature made itself known in the temple. The party immediately recognized it as the same creature that had accosted them just after Ann met the party. It had been a close fight last time, and now their resources were tapped. Nevertheless, they turned to face this new challenge...