Castle Schafenholz
A castle in a demiplane, sent there by the Ott when the artifact held there proved to be impossible to control.
Event
The party appears in a corridor of the castle. The first thing they notice is that the floor is angled at a few degrees, something it takes a while to get accustomed to. Through the open window they see that the demiplane extends to about twenty meters from the castle wall.
Before our friends have even gotten their bearings a voice sounds out trough the place: “Interlopers, I do not know who sent you, but I am sure we can be of help to each other. Please hand your weapons to my men and they will escort you to me so we may negotiate.” They figure this might be the general but are not sure if there are any actual men, no one has appeared yet. Maybe it's a spell with a prerecorded message?
A quick look at the rudimentary map Maurice provided shows that they are on the second floor. The chimpanzee's best guess at the location of the diary is either the general's bedroom or his study, both are on the first floor. This floor is supposedly mostly sleeping quarters and the first door they look behind is indeed a dormitory, covered in dust and spiderwebs. The corridor itself is mostly free of dust however.
As they discuss their course of action a voice starts speaking inside Zayn's mind. It is the Fang of Kezef and it promises untold powers if the warlock brings the artifact back to their world. It tells the half-orc that it can find his mother for him, and it does seem like something like this would be well within the powers of the Fang. Zayn decides not to tell the others for now and then descend to the first floor.
They come to a large seating area and are noticed by a number of creatures coming from one of the two corridors. All of them are skeletons with not a morsel of flesh on their bodies though they are still wearing clothes, all have stars of blueish energy in their empty eye sockets. The nearest three are corporals, clad in chain mail, brandishing shields and battleaxes. The three skeletons behind them are wearing stained leather aprons. One of those lobs a ball of acid at Zayn and the battle is on!
It's a tough fight and Izzy is brought low but the party comes out on top. The Fang of Kezef probes their minds again and this time finds purchase with Izzy, promising her all the power she could ever need to be strong again to defend herself and the party. Zayn was able to resist this time but tells the others that the Fang made contact with him when they first entered the castle and asks if anyone else was contacted, warning about the power.
They have a look at the map and decide to go to the study. As they walk down the corridor they notice that some big changes have been made to the castle. All the interior walls on the ground floor have been removed, making it into one large space. And the wall in the corridor has been removed from about hip height up, making it into a gallery looking down into the space below.
And as they come to the open wall, they see quite the sight. In the middle of the room is a glass case which contains a large fang. From it, magical sigils crawl in all cardinal directions. Zayn's arcane knowledge has him believe those aren't for containment or protection. A number of Restless spellcasters are busy at various workbenches and Restless soldiers stand around the perimeter.
A large, black chair is stood on one of the sigil lines and on it sits a Restless man in a long, leather coat, wearing a flat cap with a round insignia. He is too far away to see any markings clearly but this must be General Brunns, which is confirmed when he starts to talk, it's the same voice they heard earlier. "Ah, so you are not Ott, this is good. Though if they hired you to assassinate me, know that you will die a terrible death. But if you help me leave this place I will reward you richly, much more than however much you are being paid right now."
Our friends quickly retreat back the way they came, figuring a fight here is a losing proposition. But not before the Fang tries to make contact again. Even though Kieran's near presence helps a lot; another of them is unable to resist the artifact. The Fang tells Boldrek that with its power it will be so easy to turn the barbarian into the combat monster he longs to be.
The party decides to go down the other corridor to the master bedroom, another place the diary might be. They keep low to avoid being spotted from the ground floor and make it into the room. Izzy and Zayn search the place while Boldrek and Kieran keep watch at the door. After a few minutes of searching they are quite sure their quarry isn't in the room, unfortunately this is also when three Restless suddenly appear in the middle of the room. They carry longswords and are mostly skeletal but their half-plates have fused with their rib cages. Their rank insignia shows them to be lieutenants and stars of blueish energy burn in their eye sockets. A fight ensues!
Things get quite hairy, Zayn manages to just about escape via Gaseous Form when surrounded but can't do much at that point, then Izzy is downed, again, these are well trained fighters, working really well together, and going for the spellcasters first. Boldrek and Kieran are able to weather their attacks and a few Divine Smites from the paladin help to more than even the odds.
After the combat the Fang of Kezef probes their minds again, now managing to worm its way into both Boldrek and Zayn, getting more purchase on them than before. It promises the barbarian another maul, even more powerful than the previous one. But it is the warlock in particular who has a tough time when the artifact promises that it Zayn takes it back home, it will find his mother for him and reunite her with him.
Zayn tells the others that it's too dangerous to carry on; the artifact is getting so persuasive that he thinks he won't be able to resist another incursion. Considering everyone is also quite heavily wounded and out of spells, the others agree and though they are loathe to fail their mission, they figure they might come back another day for a second bite at the cherry. Zayn takes the scroll of Plane Shift and though it's far from easy, he manages to cast the spell and return all four of them to the Maurice's basement.