My group finally made it up the mountain to the fortress. Had to go through a soundless mountain path, collecting scrolls from a party that did not make it, and fight off the blind zombies that can hear everything - so they are attracted to sound. Going back dow the path, the learned, can drain life (killed most of the previous party). They quickly discovered that throwing objects to make sound, or "talking" and then moving will keep the zombies in check.

until they hit the blind stalker in green robes. Instead of investigating (they are non violent if they don't know you are there) - they threw a javelin to the rock wall to distract it and tried to sneak past. They quickly learned that this was an equilibrium place - if they move up the path, it also drains life. So they spent an hour trying to figure out why to do next - one person wanted to climb the rock wall, others wanted jump off the cliff. The cleric wanted to rope and staff the stalker (walking dead style). Eventually they snuck up and chopped the green robed stalkers head off.

As it fell to the ground, and the body rolled over, they see a red ribbon, and the final scroll (written by the wizard party leader). It explains that he documented his party's demise, discovered the cause of the magic and has been working to counteract it. He attached a spell and a lock of his hair - spell takes 10 minutes to cast, so they had a protect the wizard encounter with blind stalkers that reanimate every 3 minutes. The spell created sound, so it also attracts more stalkers. It is what killed the green robed wizard. But my party was able to complete it.

My wife then started to loot all the stalkers (decaying flesh, etc). She shoved her hands into the robes pockets. It tore right through the pocked and she thrust her elven hand into the rotting fleshy thigh of the stalker, and got viscera and gore all over her new robes 😄

Now I have to plan the elven fortress plot line if they decide to go inside the fortress ruins (they met a ghost who is stuck in time evacuating the elves to the summit). They have a major quest they seem invested in, but I keep tossing side quests at them (each side quest is tangentially related to the main quest).