My group has been running through Castle Whiterock for a few months now. I thought I'd share their experiences so far. If you're interested, you can read the full write ups with pictures at
http://www.disgruntleddwarf.com.
Note: this follows their inaugural adventure and an overland jaunt to deliver a book to Lady Chauntessa.
The group is: Kristle a Ranger, Tasinthe the Elf Rogue, Ulfgar the Dwarf Paladin, Caelifer the Monk, and Galrin a Dwarf Cleric.
After meeting and delivering the package to the Inn's owner, a strikingly tall, thin woman with silver hair named Lady Chauntessa, the group joined her for libations and conversation. She advised them that if they were looking for a new challenge, the ruins of Castle Whiterock could be just the thing. She told them that as of about a year ago, a band of monks from the Dawning Sun order were camping in the ruins, looking for artifacts from the early history of their order. She had also heard that an entrance to the gnome's famed Clockwork Academy was somewhere in the vast series of tunnels below the castle ruins. Intrigued, they decided to set out after reprovisioning.
After an uneventful trip, the party arrived at the main gate to the castle ruins, which was in surprisingly good repair. Taz determined the heavy door to the gate was barred from within, but was unable to open the door. After talking about their options for a few moments, the door opened and a monk appeared. He greeted them and asked them to come inside and meet with the head of the order, a brother Ikenvar. Ulfgar surreptitiously checked the monk for evil, but found none.
The group was led past the stables to an open courtyard containing the living area of the monks, five large tents. They were shown into the central tent which contained a long table with benches down each side, and bid to wait while Ikenvar was fetched.
A few other monks were in the area going about their daily tasks.
After several minutes, Ikenvar appeared, coming from the main castle ruins. When he got to about 30' of the tents, he stopped and waved. That's when all hell broke loose. The tent suddenly dropped, entangling the party within. They could hear Ikenvar shouting to his "monks" to be careful to take the party alive, "After all, there's no profit in a dead man."
The monks swarmed in, dealing non-lethal, but heavy damage with their quarterstaves. Kristle was one of the first to get free of the tent, and though he fought well, he was quickly overcome and knocked unconscious.
Taz fell next. He led his foes on a merry chase around the camp while peppering them with feathered shafts, but a pair of monks confronted him between two tents and he was taken down.
Caelifer went down fighting. Surrounded on all sides by monks as he fell, it was not his day.
Galrin hoped to turn the tide of the battle when he finally freed himself from the tent trap. He managed to bring Kristle back to consciousness before being felled himself.
Ikenvar tired of the amusement. He turned and walked back to his lair, instructing his minions to fetch him when the party was ready for transport to the mines.
Ulfgar slew more than one monk, but even after using his Lay on Hands ability to heal himself, there were too many foes. They kept flanking him and getting past his defenses. While engaged by three monks, Ulfgar broke combat and made a run for it, only to be taken down by an arrow from a heavily wounded monk.
Finally, it was all up to Kristle and he fought heroically. Using his twin weapons, he cut a bloody swathe through the monk slavers. When his heroic stand began, there were five slavers against him. When it ended, only two survived.
The party was captured.