Jurgen takes down the last bugbear as it tries to flee.

Combat is over (or paused?)

Quinn pauses and assesses the situation. He acts on Bryony’s advice and moves to help Ruven. He quickly looks him over and decides how best to treat him.

“Ruven, damn. You look bad.”

Quinn calls out to the others in a hushed voice.

”Keep an eye out. They were yelling for help. 

Someone wanna check the bodies? Maybe they have some healing potions on them.”

Action: cast cure wounds on Ruven for 11 hp

Boona nods and begins checking bodies.

Bryony moves to the doorway and crouches down even smaller, trying to make herself look as inconspicuous as possible. She tries to peer down the hallway to see if she can see anything, but she can't see or hear anyone coming. It's too dark.

Perception - Nat 1 lol

Boona finds the big bugbear carries a pouch containing 15 cp, 13 ep, two brownish gemstones, and a vial of red fluid.

Bryony hears nothing. The scene remains dark and quiet.

After tending to Ruven, Quinn moves to toss some of the bedrolls to see if there’s anything hiding or stashed away in them. 

Boona hands over the gems and money and the potion  to Quinn.

Quinn finds no bedrolls here – just cold stone bunks, long disused. Probably once a barrack for miners, nobody has slept here for years.

Ruven nods his thanks to Quinn as the bleeding gashes close up. He's still in a bit of a mood. Who are these bugbears? Why are they here? And who were they calling for? We must proceed carefully.

He looks to his lizard, who has been following the party at a safe distance (and usually on the wall or ceiling). He connects with it telepathically, sitting in a meditational pose, and sends it into the next hallway to scout.

Ruven's lizard spies debris to the south, stairs (up) to the north, and still dark water downstairs to the west (together with a fishy odor.) The hall is otherwise unoccupied.

Ruven sends the lizard up the wall to the ceiling, and then north down the stairwell to see what's up ahead.

Ruven's lizard silently climbs the gently rising roof above the top of the stairs to the north. It spies another hallway, stretching east and west. To the east, stairs lead down again into what seems to be a larger chamber. There are no lights, but there are voices, the steady sound of falling or splashing water, and the sounds of heavy rocks being moved.

Ruven sends the lizard to the right, checking out the cavern

Bryony watches Ruven send his lizard familiar scouting along the ceiling, secretly wishing she could walk on the ceiling like that. It would make her own ability to scout and be sneaky even better.

While she waits, she walks over to Boona. "What do you think we will find, Boona? Deeper into the cave, I mean." The little halfling has really grown attached to Boona and appreciates the goliath's strength and directness. She's not quite what Bryony had pictured in all the books she had read of heroes and adventures growing up, the same books that led to her becoming an adventurer in her own right, but that's all right. Bryony decides she might try to write her own adventure book when this is all done, about all the crazy things they have seen and done, and honoring those who were lost like Sir Roderick and Kimberley.

Ruven's lizard skitters along the ceiling to the east: Stealth: 9

Ruven's lizard remains undetected. Through its eyes, Ruven can just make out a deep rift on the eastern end of this cavern. A stream pours from the west wall before tumbling into the rift with a steady boom of water. Secured to iron stakes along on the edge of the rift are several ropes leading down into the chasm. A drow supervisor barks orders into the hole while two bugbears stand guard near the lizard.

Quote from owlbear89 >>

Bryony watches Ruven send his lizard familiar scouting along the ceiling, secretly wishing she could walk on the ceiling like that. It would make her own ability to scout and be sneaky even better.

While she waits, she walks over to Boona. "What do you think we will find, Boona? Deeper into the cave, I mean." The little halfling has really grown attached to Boona and appreciates the goliath's strength and directness. She's not quite what Bryony had pictured in all the books she had read of heroes and adventures growing up, the same books that led to her becoming an adventurer in her own right, but that's all right. Bryony decides she might try to write her own adventure book when this is all done, about all the crazy things they have seen and done, and honoring those who were lost like Sir Roderick and Kimberley.

Boona thought long and hard, " Rock......probably a lot rock....caves made from rock.  Maybe more bugbear.......not sure why here. Bugbear tall and cave short like dwarf.....keeps hurting Boonas head...."

" Maybe mushrooms.....sometimes.....can make stew........sometimes use the wrong ones......can be bad......make you see colours or make all your insides come out at once......"

"Make your insides come out?" Bryony says in a horrified tone. "That's awful. But a good mushroom stew that doesn't do that sounds good. Can you make some for us sometime, Boona?"

Bryony waits for Ruven's lizard to come back. She's not sure how it works exactly since the lizard is a magical one. Can Ruven see through its eyes? That sounds both super useful and also a bit scary at the same time.

Where to? What next?
(Shall we presume that Ruven has reported what his lizard sees?)

Boona nods to Bryony then walks out into the corridor, she cant resist taking a peek down the stairs opposite.