After committing to the hidden passageway, the party headed down the natural bedrock corridor. Thorm estimated that they dipped roughly 20' lower into the earth. Fifty feet into the cavern, a ten foot natural bedrock hole blocked the path. Unclear what led to the collapse, the party leaped over the hole then used rope to lower Edhas down the hole. Twenty feet into the hole, it opened into a lower chamber with a forty-fifty foot drop to a rushing water. To the south, a ledge ran along the shore of the river. They pulled her back up the hole then proceeded further down the corridor. Near some rubble fallen from above, they found a dead dwarven body, several years removed from death. They bundled the bones and buried him beneath the rubble for a proper burial. He was adorned with armor that Dora recognized as part of the Glintshield Clan. Further down the corridor, the party found a complete drop down to the ledge that Edhas could see.
They decided to use rope to anchor the party as they made their way down the wall. Edhas led the way followed by Sir Loin. As Sir Loin reached roughly ten feet from the corridor, a giant creature scurried across the wall and cut the rope, dropping Sir Loin and Edhas forty feet to the rocky ledge below. Wyndham leaped from the corridor and used his feather fall ring to safely land below. Meanwhile the creature, a hook horror isolated Thorm and Dora above. From below, three grimlocks emerged from hiding and attacked the fallen characters. The hook horror lashed at Thorm, tossing him out the ledge and isolating Dora even further. Although she turned invisible, the creature used its echolocation to "see" Dora, grabbing her with both claws and tossing her across the chasm to the far wall, from where she fell the full distance to the ledge below, crushing her limbs and insides.
Once all the party was on the ledge below, the hook horror joined the grimlocks in attacking the party. While both Edhas and Sir Loin collapsed in combat, Thorm was able to Lay on Hands and revive each of them while cutting down the Hook Horror. Meanwhile, as the party increasingly was beaten down by the the grimlocks, their beserking attacks pushed them to the limits. As Thorm killed the first grimlock, Sir Loin destroyed the second followed by Wyndham's final lightening strike to drop the last of them.
A quick check of Dora revealed not only her broken remains, which Sir Loin committed to burying properly, but also a substantial amount of hidden treasures, which the party distributed, while diviing up her magic items. Further down the ledge, the party observed that the ledge ended with a small cave mouth on the north wall. Further up river, it seemed the river reached a waterfall about twenty feet further. Additionally a large pile of debris and rock seems to have caved in from above. The debris reaches all the way up the forty feet to a spot on the cavern roof that now seems blocked.
Unsure of their next step, the party decided that rest was sorely needed but wasn't sure if the ledge would provide them with the security they would need to get that rest. With no other immediate option, and no way back up to the hole above, this ledge provided them with their only option for now.
You know, if the party really cared about Dora, they'd try to take her to Uthor and use her substantial gold to pay for a raise dead ritual. Someone had wanted to talk to him about the staff or some crap like that anyway.
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