[That does it!  With the final Giant Strider put to sleep, it is dispatched easily when Ran arrives next turn.]

As the adrenalin of battle begins to fade, you are left with the remains of 5 Giant striders and 4 Firenewt Warriors, along with a pair of unconscious dwarves.

It appears the Firenewts in this area were melting and processing iron ore.  The next chamber to the west looks to have once been a parking area for minecarts, repurposed by the Firenewts into a stable for these large creatures they are using as mounts.  Unless they have another pen somewhere, or there are more of those creatures out and about with riders, you may have wiped out all of the Giant Striders here in Hrakhamar.

Hew approaches the group.  "That hammering... its coming from somewhere beyond that door."  He looks over everyone's condition, with an eye on the two dwarven invalids.  "What say you all?  Are we continuing on?"

Ran wipes off the blades of his swords on one of the striders, collects his crossbow from her had dropped it and joins up with Hew. 

He kneels down by the fallen dwarves and unstoppers the Alchemy Jug, using it to conjure up fresh water to try and get inside the two beaten captives.

"Yeah, we should press on," Ran says. "It doesn't look like anyone escaped to sound the alarm. Hopefully we can catch the next group by surprise."

Meili spent a few moments studying the sleeping strider before returning to others from the other side of the path.

"For how long will it be asleep?" She looked curiously at Nalomanterys. "Do you think we can tame it when it awakes? Could be a good beast of burden. Or a riding animal..."

Hew interrupted the dreams about easier life in the jungles with a practical question, returning the monk to earth. "Yes, let's finish it. Wherever we are, the gauntlet is not here."

She walked to the door, glanced back, making sure everyone was ready, and pulled/pushed the door as quietly as she could

(Stealth if needed: 23)

(It's going to sleep forever, Ran killed it while it was sleeping)

[Sorry... that was narrated by the DM.  I just assumed we would want to kill the horrid fire breathing bird-lizard before it woke up.]

(No, that worked for Ran and is what he would have done.)

[Np! Consider Meili never said a word about sleeping then.]

If the rest are up to continuing, Ran joins Meili at the doorway, ready to enter.

Mica takes another look at the fallen striders, remembering what he learned when he examined the body before shrugging and moving back to join the others by the door.  There would be time for trophies later and there wasn’t much he could do with the leathery hide at the moment anyway.  “Yes, let’s push on and find the gauntlet and whatever is making that racket up ahead.”  He pauses and looks over at Nalomanterys, making note of the scorched robes. “Are you okay, will you make it?  Best stick closer to us moving forward.”

Nalomanterys grimaces as he attempts to check his scorched backside. He tenderly prods the edges of the burn and announces, "the blisters are growing quickly around the periphery, and the center is going to need magical healing eventually... I could use some healing now ((below half HP)), or else we should press on quickly, before this damned heat sucks the water right out of me!" Any attempt to cover the hole burnt clean through his robe fails, so the wizard reluctantly lets it fall where it may and prepares to press on.

"Bad news about my magic, though: I am stretched thin! I could compose myself a bit if we took about an hour, or else you should just know that I will be... shall we say, not at my best for the next fight- hopefully it is the last before these newts are cleared out."

"Oh!" Nalomanterys' vivid description of the injury forced Meili to turn away from the door. "It is serious. Give me a moment..."

The healing kit was on the ready since the beginning of this little suicidal adventure, all she had to do was to carefully apply some soft green paste - courtesy of local flora and no less local healers - to the aforementioned blisters. "Not much but should help you to withstand the next battle."

Healer's Kit: 2 + 8 HP to Nalomanterys

Mica looks on and grimaces slightly as Meili dresses Nalomanterys wounds “Ay, looks like it stings. That will blister up something fierce.” He looks over to the others, “There can’t be that many left, and I would hate to give them time to discover us.  Let’s continue on.”  Mica takes advantage of Meili turning back to aid Nalomanterys and pushes forward through the door first.

The party gathers outside the wooden door, catches their breath... and press on.  The door itself is a dense, heavy wood, fit perfectly for the stone door frame.  It opens silently as Mica leads the way into the next room.  

You enter a dark, 30' x 20' chamber filled with axes, mauls, crossbows and armor.  It looks like an old dwarven armory.  Most of the equipment is pushed against the walls and covered with ash, dust and cobwebs.  A path leads through it all to a heavy metal double-door in the south wall.  The sound of hammers on anvils is clearly coming from just beyond these doors.

As they pass through the room, Ran takes a look at the weapons against the wall, looking to see if there's a better crossbow than the one he has (eg a heavy crossbow vs the light one he has).

Nalomanterys makes a valiant effort to remain stoic through the first aid, but a few whimpers and small cries of pain make it through. At the end, though, he seems much better off. "Ahhh... that feels much better." He turns to Meili and bows very shallowly to avoid stretching out the burn on his back. "Thank you, Ms. Meili. Your healing hands are much appreciated."

When the group arrives in the armory, Nalomanterys looks around the dusty old room. "Is this where the artifact was supposed to be stored? We should try to grab it now, in case we need to beat a hasty retreat later."

Anyone searching the room may make a perception check, please.

Perception: 9

Nalomanterys wanders around the room - but between the loud hammering, burning pain, and dusty darkness, he's quite distracted. As he examines a few pieces of Dwarven craftsmanship, he nods in approval but says little about it. "It does not look like the newts have used much from here. Color me surprised that they have not recycled it for scrap metal; Maybe even they can appreciate superior craftsmanship."

“Nah” Mica shakes his head at Nalomanterys question “It isn't here.  The gauntlet is supposed to be in a room further along.  A treasury of some sort.  This looks more like an armory or storage area.  Bound to be something useful here though.”  Mica looks around the weapons and armor for anything useful, especially looking for a sturdy, well-made shield. 

He looks at the double doors to the south and frowns. “The old dwarf’s map had a passage leading to the east from here.  The path to the treasury.”  He focuses his attention on the wall to the east for any signs of a door or passage.

Perception: 8.

.

Meili froze by the metal doors, listening and trying to count the hummers.

"Just a few smiths beyond those doors. I doubt some riders are there. We do not have to kill them all, and got lucky so far - none of us are dead. But we can as well finish the newts and set dwarves free for a longer time."

She stepped away from the doors. "Maybe first get the gauntlet and then decide." Meili also looked at the eastern wall and Mica's investigation. "Found the tunnel?"

Mica carefully searches, first by look and then feel.  At first he is confident there must be a passage hidden behind the weapons and armor piled against the east wall, but once moving it all aside he finds only warm stone.  He feels along every block looking for a hidden seam, but finds nothing.  Stepping away, he can only conclude there is no passage through the east wall.

While Mica is searching, the others have time to thoroughly pick through the room's contents.  As expected, there is nothing here that could be the target of their quest, Moradin's Gauntlet, but they do find the following:

• 6 battleaxes
• 6 greataxes
• 6 mauls
• 6 morningstars
• 6 war picks
• 6 warhammers
• 6 heavy crossbows, plus two hundred crossbow bolts 
• 4 suits of dwarven made half-plate armor

Strangely, it all looks to be completely untouched.  Despite the firenewts' interest in the dwarves' forges, they apparently care not for dwarven craftsmanship.