Later in the day, the band finally reaches Checkpoint Rosemont, the last on their route to Armasstadt, yet only halfway there. As always, after entering the arcane barrier to keep the mist out of the perimeter, they're stopped by Legion soldiers on guard.

“Hold.” The first soldier orders with a raise of his hand. “You're Mistwalkers, I assume?”

“We are.” Veros responds while handing over his card. “We've also brought a bit of a package with us, if you don't mind. Something we need to keep here until we return.”

“And what would that be?” The soldier asks with a hint of snarky suspicion.

“Take a look for yourself.” Veros beckons the man to go to the back of the group and see what they have.

“Stay here and take a look at their cards.” The first soldier gives orders to his colleague as he hands Veros his card back, and makes his way to the rear of the party.

“May I see your card, please? Sir?” The second soldier asks the black knight with a more proper, professional tone. Atticus complies, and the soldier returns it after a short glance. “Thank you, you can both move–”

“What in the blue fuckin' hell is that?!” The first soldier's screams are heard. The second abandons his task to rush over to the source of the noise, and finds his comrade staring at a massive, necrotic, headless brute being dragged between two horses.

“Oh my Gods...” The second soldier utters with a shaky voice. “What is that thing?”

“Just a friend we picked up earlier.” Royd jokingly answers.

“Don't jest!” The first soldier yells, irritated at the strange predicament he's found himself in. “What is this?! Why are you bringing it into the damn checkpoint?!”

“No need to yell, pal.” Kellar replies condescendingly. “This big bastard slaughtered a party of Mistwalkers about thirty miles back. So we killed it, and figured we'd cash it in for one of those 'unique conquest' bonuses back at the gate.”

“Then why the hell are you not taking it south?” The soldier continues interrogating with increasing aggravation.

“Because we're not goin' south.” Kellar continues. “We're continuin' north, and we're gonna come back later for this lug. But if we just left him on the road, someone would probably take him and claim the bonus for themselves.”

“What, so you expect to keep it here?!” The soldier continues ranting. “Are you insane?! It may come back to life again!”

“Oh, hells, the stench.” The second soldier reels his head back uncomfortably.

“It's got no fuckin' head.” The rogue responds. “When have you seen an undead come back after their head's been cut off? Hell, you can tie it down if it makes you feel more secure.”

“Good gods, I'm getting the captain.” The first soldier begins to storm off like a child throwing a fit. “You all stay there!”

“What a pain in the ass.” Kellar gripes.

“We can't really expect them to just take it with open arms.” Veros laments. “I'm sure they've never seen anything like him before.”

After a moment of waiting, the first soldier returns with his commanding officer, a stern-looking older man in an officer's suit instead of battle armor, sporting short brown hair and a trimmed beard. A small scar is below his left eye. He approaches the group with an authoritiative voice.

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“Mistwalkers, I'm Captain Roderick Bellum, the commanding officer residing at Checkpoint Rosemont. Now, what is it that you've brought here?” He introduces himself and cuts to the chase.

“We've brought a trophy that we hope to keep here until we return for it at a later date.” Veros explains as he gestures to the large monstrosity being dragged along by two horses.

The captain walks up to the headless undead, and contorts his face slightly in disgust, both at the sight, and the smell. He isn't nearly as apprehensive as the two soldiers were. First thing he takes note of is the obvious lack of a head.

“I've heard rumors of a giant undead knight stomping about.” He asks. “I guess this must be him. How'd you kill him?”

“We went for the legs.” Royd proudly proclaims. “Oldest trick in the book.” He nods with a self-satisfied smile on his face.

“We were able to surround him and cut him down.” Veros adds. “As you can see, he shed his boots, leaving his lower legs open to exploit, so we did.”

The captain looks back at the unmoving corpse, and notices that an arrow is still sticking out from the back of its left knee.

“How difficult was the fight?” Roderick inquires further.

“Well, it was short, but it wasn't easy.” Veros recounts the recent battle. “It had power, reach, and even speed, despite its size. It all came down to waiting for the opportune moment to strike.”

“Do you have its weapon?”

“I do.” The team leader reaches to his horse's side to retrieve the broken halberd, and display it to the captain. “This is the halberd it was using. We broke it along the shaft in order to disarm the monster.”

“And its head?”

Veros looks at Atticus, who simply holds up the sack, which now has a dark stain on the bottom side of it.

“I see...” The captain rubs his chin pensively, and returns to examining the motionless hulk. “Alright, I'll allow you to keep it here.”

“Sir?” The first soldier speaks up, clearly dumbfounded.

“It's headless, has no weapon, and likely can't walk.” Roderick matter-of-factly states. “If by some terrible act of mysticism, it does reanimate again, it wouldn't be a threat to two dozen armed soldiers here. Plus, it could boost morale to see the that even a monstrosity like this could be fell.”

“But where do we put it?” The second soldier asks.

“Take some rope and stakes and pin it down just inside the wall.” The captain points to a specific spot just inside the gate and off to the side. “It will at least be far enough from the barracks and headquarters so that the odor doesn't affect anyone. Go.”

“Yes, sir.” The first soldier responds with a salute, though his shaky voice gives way to his obvious apprehensiveness.

Kellar and Royd momentarily dismount their horses to untie the rope attached to their horses' saddles, and hand it to the soldiers.

“Hopefully you take this opportunity to become as close to him as we did.” Kellar snidely remarks with a smirk crossing his face.

The first soldier narrows his eyes with contempt as the two Mistwalkers mount their horses again.

“Now...” The captain continues. “Follow me, and you can hitch your horses, stamp your cards, eat some food, and get yourselves situated for an overnight stay.”

“Thank you, captain.” Veros replies.

Roderick turns around and leads the Mistwalkers to Rosemont's headquarters, while the two witless guards look at each other with utter bewilderment. They pause for a brief moment to process their predicament, looking back at the giant dead brute they're tasked to move, and shake their heads in dismay.

Inside Rosemont's headquarters, after the band of Mistwalkers complete the task of having their cards stamped, they proceed into the hearby dining hall, where the usual buffet of free food is available to them. However, continuing with the usual pattern they've witnessed with each checkpoint, the selection of edibles is smaller than before. And yet again, Royd is the only one among them truly hurt by the discovery. Compared to Eowerth, the first checkpoint they stayed at, the amount of food is down by about two-thirds. This isn't because more people come and go from Rosemont, but because it takes longer for Legion food supply to reach it, and they prioritize the southern-most checkpoints because they have more passers-by.

After the group selects their meal, they begin to seat themselves at the far end of a long dining table, with Veros and Atticus sitting across from other at the end seats. Zyra and Royd sit to Atticus's side, as Erik and Kellar sit next to Veros. On most of their plates are big, balanced meals of different food groups, except Royd, who again has a strong preference for meat. They casually dig in to their long-awaited dinners, but not long after they start, Roderick approaches them, with less formality than before.

“Mind if I sit with you all for a moment?” The captain asks, dropping the authoritative tone he held while interrogating them at the gate.

“Not at all.” Veros answers.