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[i]One week later...[/i]

After the slaying of the DeathKnight, the rescue of the Lord, and the victory the Mercenaries had gained in the competition, Kayden and his group were welcomed into Starkvale as minor celebrities. The up-and-coming Guild of Sellswords were given a hall merely a few streets away from the gate. It was a fair sized manor made of stout stone and timber, with great oaken doors and a sign hanging above the door with a Sigil, twin spears crossed emblazoned upon a kite shield. 

Within the Guild Hall, Kayden sat at the center table of the common room. Downstairs, walking in through the front doors was a foyer area that led left, to a lounge room, right, to the armory, and forward, towards the stairs (left) and the common room (right) where Guild members dined and talked among themselves. Upstairs was off limits to newcomers. Those were the private quarters. Each room was fair sized, with a fine bed of straw, a desk, and a privvy area accompanied by a drain and a water bucket in case they wished to wash. The halls were finely carved walls of timber, with lamps hanging above.

With this sudden and overwhelming income the Guild had received, Kayden felt like he and his fellows deserved to treat themselves. He had hired a few maids and serving wenches, as well as cooks to be permanent residents of the Guildhall. Mead and various hearty meats and vegetables were available to all who resided there. 

The Mercenary Captain sat there, sipping his mead and positively bored. He couldn't even flirt with any of the serving wenches. It was their lunch hour at this point. The central table was turned to its side, so Kayden sat at the widest part of it facing outward toward those who would enter and ask to be apart of the Guild. The newest recruits would have been allowed into Starkvale and guided to the Guild by armed escort, in order to be given a chance to join the guild. Unless they had somehow already been within the city, which had been closed off to all save wealthy merchants for the past season.

Most of the Guild members that had survived that fateful day at Hillcrest resided at the Guild as well, having a free room near the center of the vast city of Starkvale. They could stay there with Captain Kayden, grab a drink or await the serving wenches to return with freshly cooked food. They could be outback in the training yard, practicing swordplay or archery, or of course they could peruse the vast city before them. 
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Morek and Jex (as well as a few other mercs) had elected to stay back at Hillcrest, a day's travel away. The plate armored and silent Dwarf had been tasked with overseeing the wealth that had been gathered and placed in the Fortress's vault. They had found the Vault after slaying the DeathKnight, and Morek had gathered every piece of loot, every stray chest, every coin found on a dead body, and shoved it all into the vault. He and Kayden then distributed a portion of the funds to all Mercenaries, which came out as a tidy sum of 87 Gold, 317 silver, and 500 pieces of copper each. Or, about 100 gold for each. They did have extra funds to use, but they would need to speak to Kayden about taking some of the cash that had been afforded for all in the vault. Morek now stood watch over it all, as well as the food and drink (and there was much there. Bread, Meats, Mead, Dwarven Ale and Elven Wine!) 

Jex had taken the opportunity to scour the Fortress of any and all things he deemed hazardous, be they sleeping bandits, critters, or even openings in the Fortress's defenses. The Guild would need to hire contractors to fix up the place and clean it, and there wasn't much to do out here in the Wilderness other than drink yourself silly, explore the empty Fortress, or going monster hunting outside. There was, however, the cavern entrance at the back of the Fortress where the Ogre tribe had been said to be located... 

The Fortress had two keeps to the northeast and the southwest. It held a dungeon for prisoners at its lowest point, and the large chamber/throne room where the vault was hidden was where they had slain the DeathKnight, at the back of the great courtyard. It had all the accommodations of a normal castle as well. A hall to eat, rooms near the upper floors, a stable and a smithy, as well as a barracks. Of course, none of it was clean. Much of the old standards and cloths were tattered, and much of the walls were covered in dust or filth. But, someone had to stay behind and watch their second home...