Unplug the hole!

After a little bit more dithering, but not too much, the party decides to use a Passwall to bypass the plug and escape the golem factory.
Upon reaching the surface, a slaughtered band of adventurers awaits.
Mules and party have been pummeled to death by very hard blunt instruments. The corpses have been looted and the scene of the slaughter is no more than a few days old. The only clue is a lot of slipper prints that lead away from the scene and out into the badlands.

Naima mentions that the slipper prints bear a distinct similarity to the slippers of the missing ‘rug merchant’ that the group freed in the early hours of the raid. The same ‘rug merchant’ went missing during the first battle with the iron golems, and it was right around that time that the stone plug sealed the group underground. Dalliance asks the heavens what evil the group has loosed _this_ time. Some scouting on the part of Bard and Bud reveals little about the slippery merchant’s whereabouts, but the mysterious mining operation is rediscovered. It is determined that a Beholder runs this operation, or guards it – which might be worse.

Returning to Thudheim, the group travels to Waterdeep where Dalliance stocks up on puissant magic. Surveying the options immediately available to them: Sphinx, Beholder, Undermountain all seem slightly unpalatable. The land is finally starting to stabilize after two decades of strife and mayhem, so the adventuring opportunities lie further and further afield.
Naima takes the opportunity to regale the group with tales of uncut gems, gold nuggets and fantastic wealth that resides in the ruined temples and forgotten cities of her homeland.

Faced with another long cold and boring winter in the north, the group books passage on a merchant vessel to take them to the steamy jungles of Chult. Upon arrival, it is learned that a thriving trade in slaves is carried out, with the various tribes capturing each other and selling the captives to slavers to be taken to Thay. After spending some time and money amongst the nearest native settlements, it is arranged for a guide to lead the group to a remote entrance to a hidden location where – if legend is to be believed – an emerald cobra resides. The group arrives, the guide departs and the adventure begins…