The party threw open the door, and faced a mixed group of halflings, hobgoblins, and lavender-skinned humans. Most of these, it turned out, were vampires. Creative combat skills made short work of most of the combatants, until the halfling in charge (and his beautiful bauble of elemental power) retreated into the next room and a wall of force sealed him away from harm.

The wall of force was courtesy of another lavender human, a scholar whose paraphernalia suggested an alchemical bent. He addressed the party in Elven, asking to parley. Edane and Feordin took the bait.

The man identified himself as the Silver Serpent of the Ivory Tower. He and his colleague the Jade Raven (the spelly-rogue halfling) had traveled to the steppes at the request of their unspecified patron, a powerful figure who consorts with liches, dragons, and elemental princes. Their patron had a rubbing from an ancient Orichalan stela, and consulting with the Grand Vizier of Orgolash led him to search the Steppes for clues to the rest of the stelae.

The Silver Serpent showed them (from behind the wall) a rubbing from the stela, which Edane read aloud to the party. Her ability to read the stela impressed him, and eased the parley considerably.

The Silver Serpent agreed that he and the Jade Raven would leave the keep to the party, making the hand-off in 48 hours. They would hand over their servants (vampires and mortals) for the party to address as they see fit. They would also leave their servants’ goods, their rubbing of the stela, and some scrolls on Orichalan history. They would not return or interfere for three hundred years – if they sought to return for some reason, they would contact Edane, Feordin, or the current inhabitants to obtain prior consent.

In exchange for this, they received Edane’s transcript of the party’s stela and the freedom to leave with their lives and personal effects.

Both parties swore an oath of non-retribution: neither to attack the other party nor to bring the other party indirect harm through action or inaction. They agreed to meet again in 48 hours (just before noon) to enact the hand-off.