After approximately three more hours of following the road northward, the forest opens up into a small downhill clearing leading to a river bank, where a stone bridge lies directly in front of them, creating a road over the bank and rapid waters. Due to the length of the bridge, the opposite end is completely veiled by the fog.

“We're here.” Veros announces. “Levinburg. This bridge should take us directly to the south gate. Let's go.”

As everyone cautiously crosses the long bridge, Erik looks down to the active water below. “I wonder how long it'll take before the water erodes at the foundation beneath the town and causes it to collapse into the river.” The usually quiet archer ponders aloud.

“Levinburg's stood for a few hundred years, so I'm sure it'll stand for at least a few hundred more.” Veros replies. “The town was built on this island to begin with in order to avoid construction of a man-made moat. With only one bridge to the north, one to the south, and the rapids below creating a hard time for rafts, it is a very difficult place to lay seige upon.”

“The mist succeeded pretty damn well, I'd say.” Kellar interjects with a touch of snark.

As they make their way across the bridge, the mist begins to slowly clear and reveal a large open gate before them, in the middle of a tall stone fort wall stretching beyond visibliity both east and west.

“Gate's still open.” Veros declares.

“Likely been this way since everyone hightailed it out of here months ago.” Royd ascertains.

“Indeed.”

Veros slowly urges forward, through the open threshold, peering into the empty, ominous walkways of Levinburg. Beyond the watch towers at the gate lie modest stone and wood buildings lining the street at either side, with multiple intersections in the distance. The density of the buildings combined with the distant roar of the river below and sight-obscuring effects of the mist create a deeply unwelcoming and dreadful ambiance. Despite Levinburg being populated with well over then thousand inhabitants months ago, the atmosphere on its own makes it seem as if no one has set foot on these cobbled roads in centuries. It bears only the image of a haunted ghost town now.

“So how are we going to do this?” Kellar asks with clear hesitance.

The pensive group leader considers his options with an idle rub of his goatee for a moment before turning to his two most combat-ready men, “Atticus, Royd. Will you both dismount and take point? Inspect the buildings ahead to confirm a clear path. We don't want to be ambushed in close quarters while we're still on our horses.”

“We're not gonna just run straight through?” Kellar asks.

“We need to see the condition of the north gate first, and if any undead stand in the way.” Veros begins his explanation. “If we sprint ahead, it might attract unwanted attention or lead ourselves straight into a bad situation. Remember our limited visibility out here.”

“We can't just go around the whole town? Follow the outer side of the wall?”

“There's no path along the eastern or western sides of the wall. Just cliffs.”

“Great.” The bald rogue says as he heaves a small sigh before turning to the two point men. “I'm not gonna tell you two to hurry, but... hurry, will ya?”

“Don't bunch up your skirt and run off now, Kellar.” Royd throws a verbal stab as he and Atticus dismount their horses.

The two sturdy warriors walk past the rest of the group, with the massive Royd wielding his daunting battle axe, and the steadfast knight holding his black iron shield and straightsword.

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“You take the right side of the road, and I'll take the left.” Says the bulky blonde man. Atticus nods, and both steel themselves to comb through the buildings lining the street, one by one.

The first small home on the knight's side has an open front door, making it easy for him to peer inside. With his shield at his chest and sword ready to be swung, he crosses the doorway, and scans the interior. Much like the homes in Newmanstead, only broken and upturned wooden furniture and empty storage containers remained.

“This one's clear.” The knight confirms.

“Aye. This one too.” Royd returns the announcement with his own, stepping back from another humble house that's totally empty.

Slowly, they both proceed to the next pair of buildings. Atticus has yet another small one he can inspect from the safety of the doorway, but Royd is tasked with a slightly larger one with a separate room. The large, fearless man walks in, his feet brushing against the dust, dirt, and various torn up, broken remnants of the items and belongings that used to be kept here. He walks into the bedroom, and spies nothing of interest. He calmly walks back out onto the street.

“Empty?” Asks the knight.

“Aye.” Royd replies with a nod. “Let's keep going.”

For the third pair of homes, Royd has a building similar to the previous one, but with an attached animal pen. Of course, nothing resides in it now but old, leftover, rotten feed. Atticus, however, receives a house much larger than the previous two, which also seems to have a second floor, possibly an attic. The knight walks in, stepping over the dusty remains of wooden chairs and stools and shattered clay plates at the base of the fire pit. Opposite the front entrance were the strairs that led to the second floor, and adjacent to it was a doorway to a large bedroom. Before heading up the steps, Atticus peeks into the nearby room to find an intact bed that still had its mattress and sheets atop its wooden frame, but the chests at their feet were open and emptied out. He surmises that unlike Newmanstead, Levinburg doesn't seem to be under as much constant abuse by passing looters. Instead, there seems to be evidence of families simply grabbing what they can and leaving. Either that, or looters simply become more picky as they journey further into the mist.

Content with what he's seen on the ground floor, the knight turns to the wooden steps leading up to a hatch in the ceiling. It'd be incredibly easy for him to be caught off guard from his position, so he practices extra caution, keeping his shield up to his face, and plainly letting the top of his helmeted head push the hatch open enough for his eyes to peek inside. Directly in front of him was a collection of crates and sacks filled with who-knows-what, but nothing of immediate interest. He slowly rotates his body and head counterclockwise, the top side of his helmet gently scraping the surface of wooden hatch, soon spotting a fleshy, rotted heap of meat vaguely shaped like a human. It was a corpse lying unstirred near the corner of the attic, its back facing the hatch and Atticus.

He further ascends the steps, quietly letting his shoulder push the hatch open further and further until it stands completely perpendicular to the attic floor. Gravity takes over, pulling the hatch door downward, causing it to slam against the floor. The noise causes the still undead to twitch with curiosity for only one short instant before the knight's sword is thrusted forward with great force and driven into the back of its neck. Before Atticus can pull his sword from the pierced flesh of the unknown cadaver, he hears a creak come from the unstable floor boards behind him. Swinging his head around, he becomes face to face with a second undead he didn't notice, lunging at him with a grotesque, feral desire to rip him apart, its rotted teeth gnashing horrifically and voice uttering only disgusting, unintelligible snarls.

Thankfully, his reflexes were quick enough to let go of his embedded weapon, and push away the arm the creature was attempting to seize him with, causing it stumble pathetically to the side and leave its head draped over the lip of the open hatch threshold. Having no bladed weapon does not prevent the knight from retaliating, however, as he brings his shield up, places his now-free weapon hand on the top edge of it, and uses the strength of his two arms to force the bottom edge of his shield down and through the back of the frantic corpse's neck like a guillotine, effectively severing the head and letting it tumble down the staircase that led into the attic.

“Good Gods!” Royd's shocked voice is heard exclaiming from below. Atticus looks down to see the burly warrior staring back up at him with a puzzled expression. “Are you alright up there?”

“I'm fine.” The knight affirms his condition while catching his breath which was slightly lost in the sudden, urgent scuffle that lasted a mere few seconds. “Is the other house clear?”

“Aye, it is.” Royd replies with a nod before looking back down at the disembodied head. “Looks like the owner of the house doesn't enjoy guests very much.”

Atticus turns back around to retrieve his sword with one drastic pull that nearly takes the undead's head with it, and both men return to the street, where they reach the first intersection of their patrol. Seeing no other walking stiffs in either direction of the intersecting path, Royd waves his hand to the four other members of the group who are still waiting with bated breath at some houses back.