Infiltration of Korastown: Korastown is a small town, with over a thousand residents - the PC's will note more beggars and indigent here. There is a small tower with walls that extend around the city. Once held by the lord of the area, it is now a stout border garrison for the Dark Empire, albeit in an area without much threat. There are about fifty soldiers of the Dark Empire, led by three knights (Lord Akydro, Sir Perek, Sir Jormund). The town has been occupied by the Dark Empire for two generations, lost in the same campaign as the PC's lands. Most of the residents are farmers, heavily taxed and oppressed. As in most occupied lands, small villages have been lost to the woods and monsters - the citizenry crowd into towns and larger village. Concentrated subjects are easier to rule, and the locals are mostly cowed. Despite this, farming and trade go on unabated, albeit heavily taxed. Korastown is not a gateway town, and trade across the river must be conducted by the smugglers of the Thieves Guild. Druids and clerics of foreign faiths are forbidden by law, but secret churches practice in hidden groves. In their places, a Temple of Vorokhoi has been set up, staffed by a Lvl.3 Cleric and his acolytes. They are influential citizens and live well. A short distance from town, along the banks of the river, a group of Orcs and Ogres have set up a camp. They are in the employ of the Dark Empire, and grudgingly cooperate with Lord Akydro. They leave the townsmen unharmed, though they occasionally wander into town and bully them. The group more often raids across the border. All of them are terrified of Mother Coranthe.
Slaves from Nyremi are gathered in pens on the outskirts of town, periodically to be sold to locals to labor in the fields. Unfortunately, all slaves are now earmarked for purchase by Mother Coranthe, a personal confidant of the Emperor. She has been dispatched to the region to begin construction of a new Bone Citadel. This, in turn, will allow the Dark Emperor to travel instantly here, and to create and control vast hordes of the undead. Mother Coranthe is a creature with traits of both wraith and wight - physical in nature, but with dark powers and clerical magic. She is accompanied by a group of cultists, acolytes, warriors, and servitor creatures, and she has the ability to summon additional help as needed. The slaves will labor to create a great walled pit, constructing fortifications in the walls, after which they will all be sacrificed in a profane ritual that will activate the citadel. This process will take a year or more if not interrupted or stopped.
Escorting the Freed Slaves to Safety: The band of slaves and their rescuers can leave the bandit fort unhindered, but not unnoticed. The bandit leader Gurtlebek Brasstuck, a fierce Orc warrior, and his followers are returning with a string of captives. Their scout will spot the PC's while the main body is marching to the wrecked fort. They will immediately begin pursuit after a short time. They will break off after a while, once the group comes in sight of any settlement. The pursuers will be humans on horse, and a few orcs running. Gurtlebeck is a skilled archer, and will happily fight a duel with Lady Yana. Once the PC's arrive and report their discoveries to Lord Cantwell, he will immediately dispatch a rider to Mekranov to alert the Earl's stand-in, and to Kruzrodda to alert his neighbor. With this, the region will be on guard and the bandits will have a more difficult operating environment. Needless to say, the Dawnseekers will be keenly interested in the presence of one of Fermas's ghoul minions in such an obscure location. He will also be able to research Mother Coranthe.