Troll, Torvald, Tahmeena, Dakkar, and Evelynne were pulled from The Pit. After Dolus Malus whispered in King Foldrid’s ear, the King ordered a survey of the mountains. He expected the group to make it deep into the mountains or to not return. He wanted a road to Mount Runegate, reports of threats, and giant goats for his people to use as mounts.

The group traveled east towards the mountains. On the journey, Tahmeena spotted a cave bear aggressively holding its ground. While the group fought the bear, Evelynne used terrible magic on it. After it was dead, the group discovered it had been eating a goat it had killed recently.

Pressing on from there, the group arrived in the foothills of the mountains by nightfall. The weather indicated winter would be coming soon. The group found a place to camp at the base of a ridge, but on the first watch, goblins riding wargs attacked the camp. Everyone suffered injuries, but due to luck and tactics, the group prevailed. Two injured goblins attempted to crawl away. Evelynne slew one, and when Dakkar saw Evelynne might be in danger, he killed the other one. One goblin rode away during the fight, so Tahmeena advised relocating to try camping again.

The group traveled about an hour with Dakkar using magic to obscure their trail. Then, the group found a large cave. Troll snuck inside and found a sleeping cave bear. The group quietly crept up on the bear, ambushed it, and killed it. Then, they camped for the night.

For the next day, the group wandered the tunnels from the large cave leading deeper beneath the mountains. Many passages ended in dead ends. The tunnels led north. Weary, the group found a defensible dead-end and camped there. The night was interrupted first by a large black panther, which leapt over the hunting traps and attacked Torvald. The group killed it without waking Evelynne. Troll cooked the panther for everyone to eat. Before anyone could finish their night’s rest, a cave bear tried to slip into the camp to attack the group, but it was caught on one of the hunting traps. The group killed and skinned it.

After packing up, the group set out northward through the tunnels again. After about 3 torches worth of travel, they found a larger cave like the one at the tunnel entrance. The cave would serve as a safe place to rest, and it was also a crossroads. Tunnels led north and east. Fearing the eastern tunnel led towards an orc stronghold, the group chose the northern tunnels.

Sometime later, they found another large cave with many stalactites. As they marched through the cave, some of the “stalactites” fell, injuring Troll, Torvald, and Evelynne who fell unconscious and bleeding out. Torvald warned the group these were something called “piercers” that would eventually grow to become something worse if they lived. With Evelynne injured and dying, Dakkar and Torvald tried to get the piercers away from Evelynne. She somehow managed to live, despite bleeding significantly, until Dakkar could heal her. Then, a piercer nearly killed her anyway. With Evelynne hanging on to consciousness by a thread, the group dispatched the monstrosities as quickly as possible.

After the fight was over, the group recovered as best they could and decided to press on to find a way out as soon as possible. Tahmeena expertly navigated the group on a bending path north and east to find an exit. The group returned over the mountains to Retreat’s End where they shared the news of the tunnel network they found.