The party decamps and prepares to spend another day tooling around the mountain. When Fingers opens the door, a fire trap is triggered. Though the damage is minimal, it does show the kobolds are not entirely cowed. Exit by an alternate route is also trapped, so the gnome takes an airwalk into the hall. Thanks to his improved sight, he is able to see the ambush/guards long before they see him. He returns with the news.
The prepared party escapes the ambush, routing the attacking force and slaying several shamans as well as a strangely dressed kobold “ninja”. They tear around the various apartments and rooms, enduring another ambush attempt as well and a smattering of traps. At one point they enter a nursery, wherein the party (mostly Digin, but quite a bit of Zaal) slays all but one kobold child, who Sniffles “adopts”.
With child in tow they travel into another area of the vast city – the croplands. Here, hundreds of crystal rods transmit sunlight and illuminate vast fields of crops. The air is dry and the temperature is comparable to a spring day, but there are signs of neglect as well. A bulette is roaming the fields, surfacing occasionally. The party travels by air to a vast grain silo and surrounding buildings and spends some time investigating. Some kobolds might have been killed along the way…the pesky things are everywhere.
Amid the fields are a set of wide stairs that lead down, so down they go. They enter another large cavern, this one a bit dimmer than the one above, that features stockyards and a slaughterhouse operation. Cattle wander around and the place has a decidedly pungent smell of herbivore exhaust. A large lake occupies one corner of the space, and there are signs of regular feeding being carried out.
The party explores the slaughterhouse and slaughters all within. Some looting is undertaken; some questions are asked. Heads are scratched and hypothesis mulled over. Is the dragon up or down? Hmm. On we go! Adjoining areas are explored and these turn out to be full of kobolds that need killing. It looks like the passages and barracks are here to provide defense at the top of a large staircase that rises from below. Exploration, exasperation, exhaustion…and a trap! Might be time to pack it in for the day – maybe not. One more door? Away they go.
They eventually arrive – having gone full circle – to the chasm in the dwarven mansion district, next to the square of the dead and the building full of angry spectres. They pass through and enter the avenues that stretch beyond. They open some doors and poke about, discovering that these were probably used as storage. Though there are occasional signs of dwarven inhabitants the majority of the rooms they explore are empty. There are a significant number of traps that weren’t there on a previous foray, so the kobolds are still lurking around.
They decide to investigate a staircase that runs both up and down, sending Fingers up to investigate. He returns with a description of a rather ornate door that looks like it can only be opened from the inside. This looks like a job for a Knock spell…