From my professional journal during the Keep on the Shadowfell missions, entry four, part two: Did I ever tell you about the time I almost died?

I found my group battered and bloody, but resting. Since Lars, Lodi, and I were still in good condition we decided to let the others rest while we did some more scouting. I don't know what I was thinking, mistakes like those can be fatal.

We proceeded down nearby stairs with Lodi and I in our usual Outrider roles, although with only one other group member that kind of loses meaning.

We were able to see we had a welcoming committee waiting for us in the room, and we didn't want to leave without saying hello, because how rude would that be? So we sent our arrows down range while slowly backing up the stairs a little ways to create a choke point, and they showed their appreciation by yelling excitedly.

Things were going quite well as the three of us invited Death to crash their party, but unfortunately he turned out to be an equal opportunity griefer and came for me in the form of a huge spider that our hosts had unleashed. At least now I know what they were yelling, I suppose, but I would have rather been ignorant.

I don't really remember much after seeing the monstrosity charge us, as it came up the wall and over the hobgoblins we had choking the base of the stairway. It slammed into me with bone crunching force, and its venom began to cloud my mind. The next thing I knew I was waking up in the safe room with the rest of the party, and Lodi and Lars were asking if I was healthy enough to head out again. I was, and we did, but I was quietly beginning to question my immortality.

After thoroughly searching the room at the bottom of the stairs we discovered all the bodies had been removed, but we found no signs of who or what had removed them. When we searched its adjacent rooms we discovered a living Dragonborn encased in webbing, and we quickly cut her free. As she retrieved her equipment she explained to us that she was a Paladin of the Silver Flame, and introduced herself as Vosh Glimmerscale. I am beginning to believe those Silver Flame folks breed like rabbits, but who am I to complain about such an incredible stroke of luck? She volunteered her services as meat shield, and we gladly accepted. Everyone was so relieved that I don't think anyone even noticed that I responded a bit more enthusiastically than normal, but even if they did I do not think they would have made the connection. After all, who would know the doubts forming in my mind?

After introductions were made we set out again.

We hadn't gone far before I noticed an irregularity in the walls that turned out to be a portcullis trap, which I quickly disabled. Since it was obviously guarding the nearby room we proceeded with caution, which turned out to be a very good thing because the room belonged to the Hobgoblin Chief, and he wasn't at all happy to see us.

The battle was fierce and both sides took heavy damage, but when it was all over and Vosh's pick firmly planted into the Chief, only one side had casualties. The rewards were high, though, with quite a bit of gold to be found and a shiny new Vicious Dagger +1 for yours truly. We also found battle plans to invade Winterhaven, and an offer by a group calling themselves The Bloodreavers to purchase any slaves the Hobgoblins brought back. I can only hope that by killing the Chief we prevented the raid.

We set off again after a brief rest, and eventually came to a very worrisome room. The room was relatively small, but had three statues in it. In the center was a giant statue of a swordsman, and in two corners were statues of Dragons. The room was quite obviously trapped, but I wasn't sure how, exactly. Attempting to find out nearly cost me my life, as time and again the statue of the swordsman took swings at me. Vosh finally got impatient and charged the thing, reducing it to rubble with her pick.

We prepared to take our leave of the room but found the exiting hallway to also be trapped. It was moderately long, with a pair of statues at each end and water on the floor. The statues were cherubic and had vases on their heads, and the vases were hinged. I could tell it was a water trap wherein the hallway fills with water to drown the occupants, and explained it to the group. Because the trap was both mechanical and magical I needed Lars' help with it. It was a fairly simple affair, and we disarmed it easily while Vosh got impatient again and got a bit singed for her effort.

Setting out on our own had turned out to be a bit more challenging that we had expected, and so we decided to rest in the next room for a bit and wait for the rest of the party to catch up to us.