Gargoyles
Synopsis
Eleria, the duchess at Killsburrough Castle, has always been a fan of Gargoyles, so she hired the greatest architects in the land to modify her castle to have them placed everywhere (from door knockers to the tops of the towers, to even her bedposts.) But simple stone was not good enough for her, so Eleria sought out the Amulet of Earthen Rune, a piece of jewelry that has the power to animate stone, and give the bearer the ability to turn flesh into sculpted stone. She used this amulet to turn her gargoyles into flying and walking beasts to capture local townsfolk and turn them into gargoyles as well.
The gargoyles at Killsburrough are nothing like the "Natural" gargoyles in Gurth, these ones an unnaturally formed, and posses skills and character traits that would never be common in the standard rural gargoyle. Most notable, Eleria's gargoyles tend to be less lazy, stronger, and more intelligent than the average gargoyle (some even posses magical resistance.)
Our hero's will be sent into Killsburrough Castle to retrieve the amulet and return it to the Iron Circle. As a secondary mission, Eleria's gargoyles should be freed, and if possible, returned to their natural state (either stone, or a village person.) Eleria's fate is of no interest to the Iron Circle, though she may be useful in achieving the secondary objective.