Hans the Hermit

Hans
A strange feeble old man with a mane of greasy grey hair and a bedraggled beard dressed in a motley collection of tattered rags, with watery blue eyes that gleam with insanity and dart back and forth, twitching and ticking with paranoia, imagined or real. His smile reveals more than a few missing teeth, and when he does smile its full of sly cunning. His mood swings back and forth from crippling fear to camaraderie and friendship, he speaks often of "The House under the Hill", and reveals to the adventurers a collection of ancient treasure, as old as the Empire itself, intermixed with an assortment of human bones. When asked who lives in the house under the hill, he says only, "The Dead".

The adventurers who sought sanctuary in Hans's tower were awoken and escorted by the eccentric hermit into a tunnel that lead to a series of crypts and barrows, the largest of which Hans brought them to.

The Betrayal
After wakening Peter Tsarovich, Hans led the adventurers down a secret path at the bottom of the tunnel. Rolf Hightower, fearful of the depths below, left the path early on and retreated to Hans's room. Hans led Lorthiel and Peter further down the tunnel until they reached what seemed to be a buried monastery, with crypts everywhere. Skeletons were in each crypt, emblazoned with ancient weaponry and armor, while tattered banners hung from the rafters. It was then that a massive tomb was seen in the back of the room.

The tomb was opened by Lorthiel and a vampire lord was revealed to the two adventurers. He awoke from his crypt and battle ensued between the vampire lord and Peter Tsarovich. With neither side gaining a clear victory, and with the arrival of the other adventurers, the vampire lord fled in a wave of bats. Searching for Hans after the battle was inconclusive and could not be finished as the warhorns of the Beastmen were heard in the distance.