Having finally overcome the orc horde, the heroes release the prisoners from their cells. There are a motely collection of about 20 commoners, plus three more notable prisoners:
Kat immediately appeals to the group to rescue her brother, Findle, who was carried off by the Orcs. The group agrees to do so, then equips the prisoners with as many weapons as possible, and takes them back up the stairs to the secret chambers. There, the prisoners will be safe from the outside, and have only one point to defend if the Orcs come looking for them.
The prisoners explain that the Orcs maintain a quartz mine, and use them as slave labor. There are roughly as many slaves currently working in the mine as the heroes have just rescued. The group, again, promises to do what they can about this.
Pressing on, the heroes quickly find and rescue Findle Glimer, whom the Orcs have press-ganged into service as a gemcutter. The Glimer siblings are reunited, and the group continues their exploration, venturing into the quartz mine. There, they encounter and overcome a number of orcs. Only one of the enemy troubles them; a burly fellow who consistently disarms Bob of his favored weapons.
After a brief encounter with a strange, flaky-skinned, imp-like creature - it blasts them with a breath weapon then flees - the group free all of the prisoners and take them to the "safe point". The group then locates a secret door. Venturing through, they encounter Ulric the book-keeper, a duergar who is responsible for purchasing slaves from the Orcs and then sending them down to "The Impressario", who apparently runs something called "The Bleak Theater", deep within the mountain. The Impressario in turn reports to "The Thane". Ulric exchanges this information for his life, then flees down an ogre-powered elevator. HIs destination is some deeper level of the caverns. The group chooses not to venture there just yet.
Realizing that there is only one unexplored region of the level remaining, the group loads up on all their "buff" spells and bursts into the Orc chieftain's throne room. A brief tussle ensues, but the chieftain himself - Kaernga, for whose head they will be paid a bounty by Sukhun - is the only serious opposition. The heroes are triumphant!
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