After helping the slaves and pointing them to the entrance the group continued exploring the caverns. They found more evidence of the mining operation in the next room where a bench sat with rocks being sorted by Tarik, the large orc who joined the previous battle. They continue on into the caverns and find more of the mines with a few more slaves. They send these slaves on and continue into the winding tunnels, following tracks laid for an ore cart. Part way through their exploration they run into a mephit who annoys them for a few rounds before flying off to other parts of the dungeon. The group continues to the end of the tracks and find a few more orcs to polish off. They are able to sneak up on the orcs and take them out quickly. They find the end of the digging and make their way back to the front part of the mine.
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On the way back, in the room with the sorting of rocks, Coravel spots a secret door. The group opens the door and sneaks into another chamber where they find a duergar, reviewing books at a desk. He leaps up, fights and when is injured bolts through another secret door before anyone in the group can stop him. Coravel and Kaylord search for the secret door in the wall but neither has enough skill to find the door. The group notes this room for later searching when they have increased their skills and then proceed to loot the area. They find some books which none of them can read and decide to take them back for the Sablewing Council. Since they feel they have finished the level, except for the secret door, they decide to head back to Cillamar. They quickly catch up with the group of slaves and help to guard them on the way back to CIllamar.
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The trip to town is uneventful and the group is greeted by cheering crowds as they walk through Cillmar. Many of the slaves are reunited with their families and the town is celebrating the cleanup of a group of slavers. The Sablewing Council also praises the group, with words and gold when they meet again. After hearing about the secret passage the group found the Sablewing Council asks them to go back to the castle and make sure there are no other orcs or other evil creatures lurking. A reward of gold is again offered and the group agrees to go back.
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Hugin has again offered to stay with the group to help out and it is decided that Hugin can help Theraga out with guarding the wagon while they explore the castle ruins. The group takes some time to sell their items, get some new items and get experience. They also find that it is hard to buy magical items in town due to thefts occurring around Cillamar and the local area. Aramil and Quis'Ari are unable to buy as much scroll material as they'd like and Kaylord and Coravel are unable to get weapon upgrades as quickly as they would like. Magic casters in town are hiding out because of the thefts and some killings that have occurred. Frustrated, the group buys supplies as best they can and then heads back to the castle.
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They find their way down the secret passage and find more finished chambers. Coravel finds one trap and disables it but finds another trap the hard way when a huge morningstar swings towards him. Fortunately, his reflexes take him out of danger and he then disables the trap so the rest of the group can move through safely. Since first trap looked like more of an alarm the group moves stealthily through the corridors. They a find chamber with orcs working with beakers and strange smelling items. The orcs quickly turn their attention to the group who becomes separated from each other in the room. After a fierce battle, with Aramil knocked unconscious at one point, the orcs are defeated. The group finds several alchemical potions and other goodies and takes them from the room. Across the hall they find a store room with a dissected troglodyte on it. They also find notes on how the glands of a trog can be used to make the stink pots that they have encountered during their battles.
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They continue down another hall and find a room full of bugbear bodies and orc bodies, as if a battle occurred that they missed out on. They find gold and a contract for the bugbears signed by someone named Drugila. After taking the items they could use or sell the group continues down the hall and sees a door at the end after two branching passages. They go to the door and discover a room full of orc corpses laid out. When Coravel enters the room the corpses shamble towards them mumbling 'brains'. Kaylord and Coravel fight the zombies and discover the zombies like to keep on giving even after they are killed, again. When a zombie is killed it explodes and spews a vile, green ichor within a few feet of the body. Kaylord as a dwarf simply laughs at the green goop but Coravel has spots appearing where the goop touched his skin and feels somewhat weaker. Quis'Ari uses her knowledge of healing to diagnose the spots as zombie rot. It takes several days for it to spread and those of strong fortitude and fight off the disease. For those of weak constitution they get weaker and weaker and will eventually die if they do not get help only to rise back up as zombies. With this news the group decides to go topside for the day in order to rest and see what can be done for Coravel.
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It is late afternoon when the group arrives at the top of the ruins and they find Hugin and Thera keeping watch on their wagon. After a meal and quiet evening the group settles in for the night. They are interrupted by a group of bandits who attack them while sleeping. Fortunately, there was someone on watch and the group quickly rallied and fought back. Thera was knocked unconscious and Hugin took damage but both helpers survived the battle. After searching the bodies the group found a note with a picture of a wolf on it. After disposing of the bodies the group went back to sleep, except for those on watch, and had an uneventful rest of the evening.
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