The party, desperate for a place to hole up, rest, and treat their wounds, finds their way through a tunnel and into another set of caverns which is aglow with rich deposits of luminescent crystals. They leave the suffering hulk of Shadwick to guard the way against pursuers. Davros and Mishok carefully explore these tunnels, while the rest of the party remains in the “entry” chamber to this set of caves. In one of the ancient chambers, they encounter a strange pile of dust. Upon closer inspection, they determine it to be a pile of ash that seems to have trickled down from above. They surmise that this pile of ash is a recent addition to these caves that have otherwise seemingly lain abandoned for centuries. Looking up, they spot a crevice from which these ashes may have fallen. They guess that the occupants of the mine above may be releasing waste ash down a hole and this is where it ends up.
Continuing their exploration, they encounter a more concerning issue. Sitting on its massive haunches at the back of a large chamber is a giant roughly humanoid creature. It has gray, mottled skin, so much like the surrounding rock, that if it were not moving and muttering to itself, it might have passed as a boulder. It sits back, burps and pats its stomach. It appears inattentive, which is good, because this unknown creature is of massive proportions, and of unknown temperament. Mishok speculates that it is some kind of ogre. As they observe it, it heaves its bulk upright, standing nearly 12 feet tall. It mutters to itself about being thirsty, and it shuffles off toward the place where the rest of the unwitting team waits. In their haste to get ahead of the creature and warn their comrades, they draw its attention. It turns to them and speaks in a deep gravelly voice, “Hey, who are you guys?”
They cautiously engage this fearsome looking creature in conversation. It does not appear to be particularly aggressive. Rather it seems bemused by these strangers. It introduces itself as Croncho, and tells them that he has lived down here for a long time, and hasn’t seen anybody until that “big crunchy guy” came running in. He burps up a few bits of gravel, and complains about how thirsty he is. Mishok comes to the conclusion that this is what is known as a Rockchewer Ogre who has likely eaten the “salt golem.” Rockchewer ogres are known to be a problem primarily in that they can be destructive to stoneworks and architecture. While they may not be as generally bellicose as most of their ogre kin, they are temperamental and capable of great wrath. The party is somewhat disturbed by the fact that their new acquaintance would simply eat a stranger, but they are somewhat heartened by the fact that they, themselves are not made of stone. When asked about ways out of here, Croncho vaguely gestures to the north and says that there’s a passage that will surely get them lost in the vast subterranean world of the Underdark, but there is another one that will bring them to sunshine, and flowers, and all that stupid surface stuff. The ogre, although not outright hostile, does become demanding, insisting that they share their water with him. They agree to do so, and that seems to stand them in good stead with the creature.
Davros and Mishok introduce the rest of the group to Croncho, but before their conversation can proceed much farther, they hear the hoarse voice of Shadwick calling out “we have company!” They prepare themselves for action, and they ask Croncho for his assistance. The dimwitted ogre does not seem particularly inclined to get involved, but he does not refuse. He again stands in bemusement as yet more strangers enter his domain.
The party sees a small group of armed individuals emerge from the southeast tunnel. They immediately recognize Slender James. Two goblin archers flank him, with their bows drawn and ready to fire. This trio is led by an unusual character they had not seen before. He announces his presence in a booming arrogant voice, “Stand aside creature! I am Scaythe, and by authority of the Wend family, I am the rightful master of this place. I am here to take this group of intruders into custody.” The one speaking is a humanoid, but with the features of a dragon. He has a reptilian face and is covered with shiny black scales. He stands no more than four and a half feet tall, and is broadly built. He wears a steel breast plate chased with gold filigree, and a blue cape. He has a sword sheathed at his side, but he also carries a quarterstaff.
A verbal confrontation ensues in which Scaythe claims authority to apprehend the offending adventurers. He insists that the party accompany him to his office where they can sort out their dispute. And he warns them that he has powerful allies in the Wend family, and in his “mother” who will be arriving soon. They ask who his mother is and he announces that she is none other then Nightscale, the fearsome black dragon of the Stone Tooth. The party still refuses to submit, and Slender James again threatens them with his “powerful magic.” The disagreement finally comes to a head and Slender James hurls a spell at them. It misses, but Croncho, finally having had enough, approaches Slender James and slams a mighty fist down on either side of him. The frightened spell caster wets himself.
More weapons are drawn and arrows are fired. Both Slender James and Scaythe receive wounds. But Scaythe steps forward and tries to assert control with a breath weapon much like that of his mother. A spray of powerful acid strikes Cycek and he is once more knocked down and brought to the brink of death. Before Scaythe can use the fallen elf as a bargaining chip, he finds himself in the sights of the increasingly irritated ogre. Croncho strikes Scaythe with a massive fist, leaving him reeling.
Davros runs from cover to drag Cycek out of harm’s way. Meanwhile, Slender James, no longer directly confronted by the terrifying ogre, once more attempts to subdue the party with his magic. But, he fails and is brought down by arrows, finally dying on the cave floor.
Scaythe realizes that this conflict is not going as he had hoped and he retreats. Before he can fully extricate himself from the fray, Croncho, now in a fighting mood, spits a mouthful of gravel at the fleeing dragonborn. Scaythe is knocked to the ground, now gravely wounded, but he staggers to his feet and retreats with his goblin archers down the tunnel from which he had emerged.
Krago, seeing this occur, steps forward and shouts in obvious distress, “No! he’s just a misguided boy!” To the amazement of his colleagues, he rushes past them, runs past the ogre, and follows Scaythe down the tunnel and out of sight.
Mishok muses… “I think I see what’s going on here.” The party concludes that Krago has somehow fathered the dragonborn Scaythe with Nightscale. Sartan loots the body of Slender James, retrieving two daggers, a light crossbow, 9 gold pieces, 7 silver pieces, 5 copper pieces, and two gems worth approximately 40-50 gold pieces. He also find 2 vials of some kind of serum, and an assortment of pouches of various alchemical substances.
Cycek is stable, but still unconscious. The party now must decide what to do next. Do they go in pursuit of Krago? What do they do about the captive citizens of Blasingdell? Mishok expresses the urgency that they return to Shadowfurst, as well as the concern that the dragon may return. For now, they ask Croncho to guard the entrance while they take some time to recover.