Into the Darkness (days 4-5)

After a harrowing encounter, the heroes manage to destroy the cube without any casualties. The suit of mithral plate needed a good wash to rinse off the acidic residue of the cube but was otherwise functional. The +1 battleaxe shed light and bore the inscription "Glintaxe". Jeva has heard the ballad of the Glintaxe at least a few times:

Glintaxe, mighty hero of the dwarven race,
Seeker of heirlooms lost without trace,
He ventured the deeps where old evil sleeps
He perished in the halls of some dark place.
His restless spirit still stalks the night,
His shining axe still glows bright,
I've seen his ghost, and this is no boast,
I've ne'er laid eyes on a more fearful sight.

The heroes asked Kibbo and Jarrdreg why they were gathering the obsidian obelisk, to which they answered for its reflective qualities. Vreggma, Chief Consort and "Only One Allowed to Nag-Nag His Greatness" is having slaves construct a black mirror in her quarters.

After resting, the heroes enter a room with three stone tables in the middle, while the long benches that once stood next to them had been knocked askew and overturned. This chamber was the site of a heated battle between kobold warriors and a few of their captives, who escaped their holding pen on the kobold warrens and made it to here before being overtaken. When the heroes entered, a halfling was grappling with a kobold warrior and two kobolds had a half-elf girl backed into a corner. They looked like they were attempting to recapture her without harming her too badly. A human boy was crying under a table and clutching his head. Four kobolds rushed to engage the heroes. When two of their numbers were slain, the kobolds tried to flee, with two of them succeeding. The warrior grappling with the halfling though hurled javelins from afar, and was then tripping foes with his flying talon. This kobold was brainwashed to fight to the death. The halfling employed his bardic performance to help the heroes during the fight, while the half-elf girl distracted the kobold by throwing rocks. Edgrin Galesong, a chubby halfling and bard extraordinaire, is a member of the Gray Eagles, an adventuring troupe based in Falcon's Hollow who ventured into the wood a week ago seeking treasure. The Gray Eagles were swarmed by a large hunting party of kobolds. Most of Edgrin's companions were killed, but he and a half-elf wizard named Tyran Moonsilver were captured alive and dragged back as captives destined either for eating or sacrifice. Originally dejected by the death of his friends, Edgrin consigned himself to his fate, but when the children were hurled into the holding pen with him Edgrin grew determined to help them escape. The bard and Tyran overwhelmed their guards with more than a little help from the courageous Kimi Eavewalker. As they sprinted for freedom, Tyran and Hollin were felled by spears, but the other children and Edgrin made it to Droskar's Crucible. They took a wrong turn towards some smoking tunnels, where Edgrin watched helplessly as a hulking dwarf there dragged little Jurin Kreed into the darkness. The escapees reversed direction but the kobolds, fast on their heels, caught up to them in this mess hall. Edgrim and Kimi decided to make a stand and buy Mikra and Savram time to escape. The heroes found the overweight halfling and brave little girl fighting for their lives against a band of evil kobolds in a pitched battle. Edgrin is a sweaty, moon-faced little halfling whose heart is as big as his stomach. His once debonair, brocaded, green-velvet doublet and silk leggings are torn and covered in grime, and his lute still hangs on a strap at his side, although he splintered it on a kobold's skull in defense of the kids. Edgrin is all courage and spitfire, willing to die to save any of the children. Edgrin does all he can to aid the heroes' efforts to save Tyran and the rest of the kids. He told them Savram fled the mess hall towards the north, and disclosed the fate of Jurin Kreed, who was taken alive by a hulking dwarf. Kimi is a black-haired young half-elf girl with fierce green eyes wearing a leather hunting vest, slacks, and high hard boots, looking like a miniaturized adventurer. Her bravery flows from her need to protect Mikra, who she treats as her kid brother although he is older than her. Kimi could not be dissuaded from helping the party save the other children.

Next to the mess hall was a once well-appointed kitchen that had suffered from long neglect. Shelves covered in broken stone and other refuse lined the walls, while across the room an old rusty cauldron rested in the ashes of an ancient fire. The refuse on the eastern shelf concealed two potions of owl's wisdom.

The next room the heroes approached was behind a locked strong wooden door. A malcontent of the Truescale tribe named Kerrdremak held court here over five kobold warriors. Consternation at his tribe's many recent tragedies has caused Kerrdremak to unceasingly express his laments to the other five. The group is rife for rebellion, although Kerrdremak is too spineless to suggest it. While approaching this chamber, Hrol, who speaks Draconic, noted Kerrdremak's disillusionment and appealed to it and earned some allies against the Kobold King.