The party continued to dive into Gnomengarde and found the Gnome’s kitchen. They were able to learn more about the cave and found 5 Gnomes in the kitchen. The cooks: Dimble, Joybell, Panana, Uppendown, and Tervaround were busy at their tasks. The party themselves found themselves stumbled around the kitchen and succumb to small mishaps that forced the party to make grand moves to remove the dangers. Tammy found the Gnome’s pantry and picked up a few loaves of green bread while Arsus stumbled across two Gnomish Barrel Crabs. After playing a prank on his friends, Strider and Tammy destroyed the barrel crab and slightly injured Factore in the process. Strider ended up healing the injured rock gnome and they continued on their way. However, Tammy in her curiosity went back to the cave containing the remaining barrel crabs and upon inspection, she ended up attacked and injured by a mimic. Her loyal Mastiff carried her back to the fork in the path and barks loudly to attract the party to his masters danger.
With the grace of Castellan Gilthur and the assistance of Minotaur Kalraz, it falls to the party to head upwards to the upper halls, the previous living quarters of Vyldara and her old party. The party must free the fortress by destroying the Banshee and confronting the Necromancer. This will not be an easy task, and the party must be willing to do all this without Gin's assistance. The party is now assisted by Rivia, a human noble bard who recently joined them on their quest. This should prove a most honorable task as the party has much to consider and has uncovered many mysteries about the fortress and the reasons behind its demise. The party did not confront the Spider queen, but that menace can be removed later.
After the party finds the Fire Spider Queen's lair and the fortress has gone into high alert, Slate and Strider convince the party it would be best to retreat back towards the main hall to not only gain strength to take on the Spider Queen but to dispel the portal blocking their way to the upper levels of the fortress. Meanwhile, Althea and Gin have left the prison armed with new knowledge of the situation from the Minotaur. Gin still wished to explore the forge area and urged Althea to follow him to uncover further mysteries within the fortress.