Mission: What's Mine Is Mines

Jora, a magera from the quarry camp to the south, arrived at Farhaven and relayed that scouts discovered a mine near the quarry. He led the party to the area and directed them to the entrance of the mine. The party entered the cave, investigating and finding out that this was previously owned by gnomes, and was a silver mine. The group encountered a nest of insectoid monsters that knocked Ryn unconscious and paralyzed her before the group was able to fight them off. After resting and healing, the party delved deeper, fighting various undead, culminating with a confrontation with an over-sized duergar and a mummy. The party was able to clear the monsters from the mine, making it safe for use.(edited)

What's Mine Is Mines (by Rheinhart)
Capable Koristos, Righteous Ryn, Charming Chappy, Acrobatic Akame, and I met with Jora, a magera from the quarry camp to the south of Farhaven, who informed us that some of their scouts have discovered a mine near the quarry. A source for stone and now a potential mine is too good to pass up so we immediately made preparations to check out this lead. As I loaded the saddlebags for my horse, Sunshine, I heard a peal of thunder in the distance to the north. I gazed out at that storm wondering what Ryn must be going through coming from the oceanic depths and never really having to deal with the whims of normal weather that the rest of us sort of unconsciously endure. Teasing raindrops from heaven rather than being surrounded and somewhat crushed by water. Maybe this really is Purgatory for everyone that arrives here and our actions in this place determine our ultimate fate. Niko appears just as I finish packing and mount up, fliting down from the sky to perch upon her spot on top of my pack. Her purrs and she kneads the top of the pack to shape her nest before settling in brings a smile to my face and helps me forget my brooding.

The chat as we journeyed south was predominately about how the current state of the quarry came to be by freeing Jora and his people and their preparations for moving “elsewhere”. Location for that has yet to be determined. Hopefully, they’ll stay in contact wherever they end up. Niko flitted about getting to know everyone’s various scents and mimicking the various wildlife we’d hear as we traveled. Towards evening, she was chasing fireflies around.

Once we reached the quarry, Jora gave us directions to the newly discovered mine and wished us luck. He needed to get back to preparations for their move. They had promised to stick around for a month, but they were determined not to spend one moment longer than that in their former prison. Jora’s directions proved exceedingly accurate and we had no trouble finding the mine his scouts reported finding. There were two decrepit buildings just outside the entrance and based on a quick study of their rotting interiors and a bit of writing found, we determined that it was a silver mine and that gnomes once worked it. Long ago, though, it seems. I wonder if this mine was always present here in the Land of the Lost, or transplanted from somewhere else just like that sawmill.

The mine had three levels to it and we explored them all. The giant poisonous worms near the entrance surprised Ryn and paralyzed her before anyone had a chance to react. Thanks to a lot of teamwork, we managed to keep everyone alive. Further in, we found a room that had another one of those strange gelatinous cubes in it. Nothing floating around in it, however. At the lowest level, we fought some undead skeletons, wights, and a giant duergar. A black dragon corpse was discovered near a pile of precious metal ore and Ryn insisted we bury it “as sea”. The closest thing to it at any rate, was the waterfall which flooded the even lower parts of the mine. The flooding and the dragon are likely why this mine was abandoned in the first place. Thus, the founding of Silver Falls was undertaken near the quarry and mine.