The story so far...

The Magus family in Neverwinter heard that the son of their noble ally, Douven Stahl, had gone missing while hunting for a dragon burial site down near Winterhaven. They dispatched their scion, the ranger Glenn, to investigate.

Glenn called in a favor from Argath, a barbarian in debt to the Magus family, to hire muscle to protect him on his journey. He sourced the battlemind Maladril, who has accompanied them west since Fallcrest to lend his mind and swordarm to their cause.

Shortly outside of the town they were ambushed by kobolds. After handily dispatching the threat, Glenn chanced upon the portly Lord Padraig being escorted through the city, and informed him of the kobold threat, much to his advisors' dismay. Despite the kobolds sapping the town's trade for months, Padraig was evidently unaware of the threat, and began mobilizing the town guard to action. They were able to provide the location of the kobold's hideout to both Padraig and the party.

The party heard from the old man Eilian that Douven Stahl hadn't been seen in a week, and pointed them in the direction of the burial ground. There they found an apparition leading an excavation crew, with the bound prisoner Douven half starved alongside. After liberating an ancient mirror from the burial ground and freeing Douven, he rewarded them with his Amulet of Health before retiring to Winterhaven to plan his return to Neverwinter.

After observing an aura of gloom about the town, they met with the sage Velthrun in his tower, who shared stories of the shadowed keep to the north, rumored to hold an ancient portal to the Shadowfell plane.

After consulting with Lord Padraig, they set off towards the kobold camp, but were ambushed once again by a much better prepared kobold force, who nearly felled the mighty Argath before taking the dirt nap themselves. Sobered by the growing threat, the party returns to the tavern in Winterhaven, hoping Argath can locate additional mercenaries to bolster their ranks before assaulting the kobolds' main encampment.