The hobgoblins were not the only forces that remained after Kalarel was slain. Before the Keep’s portal was fully sealed, evil spirits from the Shadowfell escaped into the Nentir Vale. They were drawn to Kalarel’s own dark soul, which remained in the mortal world thanks to a spirit-orb the priest had created to prevent him from moving on after death. The presence of these malignant spirits caught the attention of a frost witch called the Rime Mistress and her followers—unaligned territorial beasts—who rose up to defend their domain. The Rime Mistress knows that the spirits present a greater threat than the hobgoblins do, so she and Prang, the Iron Gauntlet leader, have agreed to an uneasy truce. Thus, the hobgoblins and the creatures of the Cairngorm Peaks are united in their struggle against Kalarel’s spirit army.

Forlorn is a dreary yet dangerous place, a land of secrets and whispers. Visitors can expect to find no safe rest, no respite from the terrible creatures that plague this land. The skies are perpetually overcast and the land is damp with rain. By night, sheet lightning illuminates the sky in ghastly colors. Even if the intrepid adventurers who come to explore Forlorn know that the lord of this domain is forever trapped within his strange castle, they should take small comfort from it. Servants of Tristen ApBlanc roam freely, and the land itself is horribly twisted. The encounters in this book are designed to offer an introduction to Forlorn and provide clues about both its lord and his home. Melancholy Meetings is intended to be used before the castle adventure book, Eve of Sorrows, but it's not necessary for the PCs to experience all of the encounters in this book before embarking upon the next. Included in Castles Forlorn - https://www.adventurelookup.com/adventures/castles-forlorn TSR 1088, from 1993