Having attended to the gravely wounded Carver and Davros, the band of adventurers takes some time to investigate (loot) the bodies of the fallen. Aside from very few coins and mundane weapons among the personal effects on the bodies of Hack’s cronies, they also take possession of an unusual pair of glasses that had been worn by Berniece. She also carried a number of high quality, but relatively small sapphires, and a silvered warhammer. Additionally, they lift the silver I.D. badge off the uniform of Officer Greene.
Carver has fallen into a state of profound grief over what has transpired. He collapses to the ground, wracked with sobs and cries out “Why did this have to happen? I never meant for anybody to get hurt!” He states that he knew some of those guys since he was a kid. And he never should have taken that gem. He blames himself for what happened. Ursula, in bear form, cradles Carver and tries to comfort him. She, in turn, is distraught for having nearly killed her beloved, and is in tears herself.
During the 15-20 minutes of these macabre activities, Hack and his surviving crew members have mounted their horses and crossed the river. Ursula lifts Carver and carries him back to her cave with the party following close behind. They bed down for an uneventful night, recovering the best they can from their injuries.
They wake before dawn, and choose to spend some time exploring a tunnel at the back of the cave. Cycek squeezes through a tight passageway and discovers a small, locked chest. He slides it out through the opening to Davros, so that he could attempt picking the lock. Davros is successful in his attempt, but upon opening the lid, a burst of acid sprays out, dealing massive injury to him, as well as to Sartan standing nearby. Within the chest is a cache of precious sapphires, and a wicked looking key, with a demonic face on its handle and jagged-looking blades.
Taking more time to recover from this latest injury, the party converses with Carver before taking their leave of him and Ursula. Carver has reluctantly agreed to stay with Ursula, while the party goes on in search of Wendella. Questioned by Cycek, Carver provides more background on his situation with Hack. He tells a story of having been given the massive gem, in a case of mistaken identity, by a goblin who approached him at his job at the Stoneyard. He kept the stone, meant for his brother, in the hopes he could use it to win back Wendella from the mysterious stranger whom she met at the visitors center library. Carver explains how he came to understand that Della and this man had common interests in their areas of study. She was impressed by his worldliness and knowledge. And Carver believes she went with him on some kind of research expedition up in the bluffs, indicating an anomalous circular structure shown on the map.
The party studies the map and decides to pursue this lead, by following the trail back north around the tip of the bluff. They pass by the scene of the previous night’s fight, and as the head around the back side of the bluffs, they notice some evidence of recently disturbed rock, as well as a couple of dented metal buckets, and a rusty pickaxe.
When the travelers approach an ancient stairway ascending to the next tier of bluffs, they pause, suspicious of a large rock they see at the top of the stair. Mishok cautiously proceeds partway up the stairs, only to be shot with a crossbow bolt. As the rear guard moves to take defensive positions, two more shots are fired from rocks near the top of the stairs. Cycek and Davros return fire from cover. Meanwhile, two heavily armored hobgoblins, crowbars in hand, lever the huge rock over the lip of the top stair. It bounds down the stairs with a crash, narrowly missing Cycek. Cycek and Davros bring down two goblins with arrow shots, and the two hobgoblins turn and run.
The team, again injured from this encounter, loot the bodies of the two goblins, and decide to rest for an hour. Their rest period ends at around 7am.