Chapter 14: Return to Vraath Keep
After retreating from the Ghostlord's lair, the party returns to the wild elves' camspite. There, they find their Tiri Kitor guides awaiting their return. Relating their desire to return to Vraath Keep, the elves simply nod and begin preparing their great owls for a hasty departure. Apparently, they too have little desire to linger in the Thornwaste for they also noticed the ghostly lions prowling in the distance and would just as soon be gone at once. And just like that, the adventurers are helped onto the great owls and borne aloft, soaring above the Thornwaste as the sun drifts under the distant horizon, the landscape below them cast in shadow.
Soaring high above the ground, the owls glide ever northward, beyond the ruins of Drellin's Ferry and over the darkness of the Witchwood toward Vraath Keep. As the owls swoop in on the ruins of Vraath Keep, one of the elven guides gestures off in the distance. In the light of the waxing moon that hangs overhead, the adventurers see the shadow of a familiar foe, a manticore, alighting quickly away from the keep. Apparently the manticore returned to its lair after the adventurers previous departue and wants no part of a lopsided confrontation with a flight of Tiri Kitor hunters.
One of the wild elves begs to give chase, but is waved off by her flight leader. A chase for another day. The great owls circle the keep for some time in an effort to assess whether any other foes remain within and then, presuming the site to be devoid of threats, they land just outside the keep.
The Tiri Kitor leader says, "We must not tarry here long. Do as you will, but make it quick." As soon as the party has dismounted the owls, the wild elves take flight yet again and begin to circle the area, remaining vigilant for the manticore's potential return.