"This all must have happened just before we got to this level. I doubt it would be loud enough to hear from the level up, and I don't think they left the area to get back to the shroomies."

Alice can't reach the ores with her pole.

"I'm not 'pocketing' the rings, look, they're safely on my fingers. Snug! And sorry chief, I'm almost out of Mana, I'll set up these rings to auto-cast summons when there's danger. It feels good not to have to eat or breath, I could fight goblins all day now. As for the rock, maybe one of the bandits took it out with them? I still don't think Nundro would have intentionally lied to us just to hide that there's a weapon of mass destruction in their mine and we were sent here to die. Right? But I'll have some words for them when I see them again.



Ashley's not arguing to stay and turns back with the rest.

[Tell me what you're going to do next.]

The walls appear to be burned, and bits of dark obsidian cover certain spots.  You recognize the burns to be similar to the odd rock with the hole in it you found earlier; the stone itself was heated to the point of melting and cooled quickly, forming obsidian. "Beam holes" in some spots extend a hand's width deep. It would be fair to say that standing in the way of whatever made that would be unwise.

I just hope this is magic or we have people with laser cannons running around here!
At least, to her relief, the damage does not appear to be caused by technology of the Men of Iron she is aware of.

Bits of petrified leather and steel bobs lay among them, the remnants of their equipment untouched other than by time and the occasional rockfall. Amid the dust of the cavern, the skeletons are thankfully all broken, inanimate, and pose no danger. The minerals in the ceiling are pretty, not all of them the same aqua crystals, but they are beyond your reach for now.[/i]

Alice takes out her 10ft pole and attempts to reach them. Then she searches all skeletons for valuables.

This lower area has been recently disturbed by rockfall and reveals fresh corpses of bandits; they look like they lost horribly. Some have burn marks reminiscent of the stones, appendages are cut clean off and cauterized. some have the look of horror frozen on their lifeless faces. They're still wearing their armor equipment and brooches, 7 in all; whoever killed them took nothing and left them where they fell. Even a sword seems to have been cut clean in half by some magical means, the metal pooled on the end as if melted by extreme heat, hotter than the hottest known forge. The air is still and stale with the scent of fresh kill not more than a day old.

Alice's eyes narrow.
How's this possible?
We have been in this cave for 2 days now, about one day on this floor and we heard no sound of this battle. Maybe the environment in this cave preserves bodies exceptionally well.

Alice searches the bandits and brings all salvageable equipment to the ladder leading up to the myconids

On the furthest southwestern wall next to the drift, there is a very old metallic structure, made of that same dwarven metal, built to survive anything—well, almost anything. There are remnants of what was once a very sturdy metal seal here; it looks like it was recently opened, and by the looks of it, with literal barrels of explosives, enough to make even Alice blush. The metal hinges are partially melted from the blast. A deep black tunnel remains, too black to be natural. To the southeast of that is a wooden platform with stairs leading down. The stone that once separated the drift from the other side has recently fallen away, revealing a fresh rock surface, likely from the blast.

This must have occurred before we entered. Impossible we overheard that blast! And how did they get past the shrooms? They must have been furious about the noise.

Ashley refreshes her Truesight and she describes what she sees in the magical darkness.
"Dust, ash, walls blackened by fire, and heaps of debris beneath a sagging ceiling—yeah, this room was damaged by a destructive blast. I can see remains of furnishings—tables, chairs, bookshelves, and beds—are charred; this was some kind of living quarters. Wait a minute..." Just on the edge of darkness, a scorched iron chest stands proud and blasted open. Glowstone light piercing the darkness shows glints of gold and the tell-tale hue of Mythril--a lot of it. A rope, ladder, or other means could be used to reach the chest.

Alice scratches her head.
Why would you need such massive doors to protect living quarters? From the monsters in this mine? I'm not really fond of going in there but with the rings and a Pretty Please - I might!
Alice looks at Ashley expectantly.



But yeah I think we should go back for now...

This lower area has been recently disturbed by rockfall and reveals fresh corpses of bandits; they look like they lost horribly. Some have burn marks reminiscent of the stones, appendages are cut clean off and cauterized. some have the look of horror frozen on their lifeless faces. They're still wearing their armor equipment and brooches, 7 in all; whoever killed them took nothing and left them where they fell. Even a sword seems to have been cut clean in half by some magical means, the metal pooled on the end as if melted by extreme heat, hotter than the hottest known forge. The air is still and stale with the scent of fresh kill not more than a day old. You sense no traps or signs of life.

Yulya watches the carnage with horror and speaks a prayer for the fallen bandits as always. Criminals or not - they are (or were) still human beings. She covers her face in her hands and whispers.
Do you - realize what this means?!
The rock we found when we returned from the goblin cave to Phandalin - it had a fresh beam hole. Identical to the ones here. I doubt there are several beings around here who can do this. That means - whoever did this went to Phandalin before us and is now in this mine. The ones who left the goblin den before us were Sir Gundrens brothers Tharden and Nundro - and Sir Sildar.
Yulyas paranoia increases further as she ponders if any of them could be responsible for this incident.

I still cannot quite make sense of the dwarves reaction - I do not remember who if the brothers it was - who analyzed the rock. He seemed agitated but might a well have been drunk. I furthermore cannot comprehend he would not have recognized it as it would mean the dwarves had never come to this place. None of this makes sense. None of it...
Yulya shakes her head

We see very old and fresh burn holes meaning no human could have done this. Unless it is a spell that has been passed on. What is your take on this? Could the drow elf who leads this organization be the cause of it? He might be old enough to have caused the ancient beam holes. I would not rule out he killed his own men for whatever reason. Still why? Treasure was obviously not the goal. Perhaps something magical. Whatever was in this chest. Too bad we could not communicate with the myconids they must have witnessed what happened here.

[/i]

Cat turns to Yulya and whispers:
Yulya Nya we should turn back now Nya at least until we know what the hell was going on here Nya! Or we'll end up like all the other guys over there Nya! I'm serious Nya!

Yulya is more than happy to pick up Cats words and glances over to Ashley who appears to be already charmed by the treasure
I absolutely agree. I just want to get away from here...



Ashley we will not forsake this treasure but now is not the time. I agree we should retreat. And why are we out here without your summons in front? I did not give you these rings to pocket them! Get us some summons as front guard before we get ambushed again! Let us carefully move back now before we trigger whatever caused this carnage!

Cat takes the ring from Yulya without much afterthought
Okay Nyaa!

The ceiling extends upward in this large cavern and is dotted with more glow worms and more slime-covered glittering minerals hanging from the ceiling catch any light and reflect it back to create the impression of a starry night sky. Dozens of skeletons—many crushed under fallen debris—are scattered across the floor. The walls appear to be burned, and bits of dark obsidian cover certain spots.  You recognize the burns to be similar to the odd rock with the hole in it you found earlier; the stone itself was heated to the point of melting and cooled quickly, forming obsidian. "Beam holes" in some spots extend a hand's width deep. It would be fair to say that standing in the way of whatever made that would be unwise.

Cat looks at the damage with unease.
Nyaa Yulya Nya doesn't matter if I have full HP or not Nya if that hits me it's over Nya...

This lower area has been recently disturbed by rockfall and reveals fresh corpses of bandits; they look like they lost horribly. Some have burn marks reminiscent of the stones, appendages are cut clean off and cauterized. some have the look of horror frozen on their lifeless faces. They're still wearing their armor equipment and brooches, 7 in all; whoever killed them took nothing and left them where they fell. Even a sword seems to have been cut clean in half by some magical means, the metal pooled on the end as if melted by extreme heat, hotter than the hottest known forge. The air is still and stale with the scent of fresh kill not more than a day old. You sense no traps or signs of life.

Cat lets out a hiss
I'm not a coward Nya but fighting whatever did that is suicide Nya!
Cat nonetheless carefully cuts off the bandits heads and takes their brooches to prevent them from coming back as zombies and hands the brooches to Yulya.

Ashley refreshes her Truesight and she describes what she sees in the magical darkness.
"Dust, ash, walls blackened by fire, and heaps of debris beneath a sagging ceiling—yeah, this room was damaged by a destructive blast. I can see remains of furnishings—tables, chairs, bookshelves, and beds—are charred; this was some kind of living quarters. Wait a minute..." Just on the edge of darkness, a scorched iron chest stands proud and blasted open. Glowstone light piercing the darkness shows glints of gold and the tell-tale hue of Mythril--a lot of it. A rope, ladder, or other means could be used to reach the chest.

Generally unimpressed by treasure, Cat ignores all of Ashley's words that that do not indicate an enemy and scans the area instead, her ears rotating in all directions. Cat turns to Yulya and whispers:
Yulya Nya we should turn back now Nya at least until we know what the hell was going on here Nya! Or we'll end up like all the other guys over there Nya! I'm serious Nya!

Before Yulya can come to her senses, she's already descended the steps into the southern area.

W13: Starry Cavern

The ceiling extends upward in this large cavern and is dotted with more glow worms and more slime-covered glittering minerals hanging from the ceiling catch any light and reflect it back to create the impression of a starry night sky. Dozens of skeletons—many crushed under fallen debris—are scattered across the floor. The walls appear to be burned, and bits of dark obsidian cover certain spots.  You recognize the burns to be similar to the odd rock with the hole in it you found earlier; the stone itself was heated to the point of melting and cooled quickly, forming obsidian. "Beam holes" in some spots extend a hand's width deep. It would be fair to say that standing in the way of whatever made that would be unwise.

The cavern is divided by an escarpment, onto which ladders lean.

The structural damage and the human and orcish skeletal remains in this area are evidence of a destructive spell battle of unimaginable power, fought here long ago when the orcs and wizards stormed the mines. Bits of petrified leather and steel bobs lay among them, the remnants of their equipment untouched other than by time and the occasional rockfall.

Amid the dust of the cavern, the skeletons are thankfully all broken, inanimate, and pose no danger. The minerals in the ceiling are pretty, not all of them the same aqua crystals, but they are beyond your reach for now.

[Arcana vs DC15 1d20+5=20][Perception=1d20+5=22]

Both Yulya and Ashley can sense a subtle aura of magic in this cavern. The aura becomes stronger as one ventures further south to the lowest area (W14).

W14: Wizards' Last Rest

This lower area has been recently disturbed by rockfall and reveals fresh corpses of bandits; they look like they lost horribly. Some have burn marks reminiscent of the stones, appendages are cut clean off and cauterized. some have the look of horror frozen on their lifeless faces. They're still wearing their armor equipment and brooches, 7 in all; whoever killed them took nothing and left them where they fell. Even a sword seems to have been cut clean in half by some magical means, the metal pooled on the end as if melted by extreme heat, hotter than the hottest known forge. The air is still and stale with the scent of fresh kill not more than a day old. You sense no traps or signs of life.

The southernmost end of this room is another deep drift or natural cave.



On the furthest southwestern wall next to the drift, there is a very old metallic structure, made of that same dwarven metal, built to survive anything—well, almost anything. There are remnants of what was once a very sturdy metal seal here; it looks like it was recently opened, and by the looks of it, with literal barrels of explosives, enough to make even Alice blush. The metal hinges are partially melted from the blast. A deep black tunnel remains, too black to be natural. To the southeast of that is a wooden platform with stairs leading down. The stone that once separated the drift from the other side has recently fallen away, revealing a fresh rock surface, likely from the blast.

Ashley refreshes her Truesight and she describes what she sees in the magical darkness.

"Dust, ash, walls blackened by fire, and heaps of debris beneath a sagging ceiling—yeah, this room was damaged by a destructive blast. I can see remains of furnishings—tables, chairs, bookshelves, and beds—are charred; this was some kind of living quarters. Wait a minute..." Just on the edge of darkness, a scorched iron chest stands proud and blasted open. Glowstone light piercing the darkness shows glints of gold and the tell-tale hue of Mythril--a lot of it. A rope, ladder, or other means could be used to reach the chest.



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