Fergus:

Smiling at Jorzu’s concern, Fergus says, “I will be careful.”

Climbing down to the level of the Ashenwrights, Fergus puts down the jar and climbs back up.  He calls down, “Your captain claims his spirit resides in that jar.  It appears to be a puzzle to open, but I am sure given time you will figure it out.”

He watches intently from above, now back with Jorzu and Laiti.

One of the ashenwights takes the jar from Fergus. A second one approaches to examine it. Together the two dead dwarven miners study the lid of the jar for a long moment, before attempting to carefully turn it. DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check: 20

The ceramic jar opens, belching a cloud of heavy vapor which soon condenses and manifests as a stocky dwarf or duergar, albeit translucent. It is dressed not unlike the ashenwights, if their clothes were not in tatters.

"Thank you, strangers," it speaks, audibly. Then it turns toward the ashenwights. "Ay! Brammand, Thordan, Murmiir... What has become of you? How much time has passed?..." He then lapses into Dwarven, speaking with the ashenwight at length, who mutely watch with great interest.

Finally, he turns toward Fergus and Jorzu. "I promised you a reward. I will give you two. First, look for the hidden compartment in the bed frame in the room in which I was imprisoned. Push the panel to open it. Second, examine the north wall in the same room and find the section engraved with four runes. 'Storm,' 'death,' 'light,' and 'wind.' Left to right. The runes must be tapped in the correct order. Left to right: storm, death, light, and wind. Do not tap them in any other order. Take what you think is fair. I must stay with my people. We have much to discuss. I thank you again for my freedom, sincerely. It has been a long time, too long..."

Fergus:

”I am glad we could be of service—it is pleasant to see you reunited with your brothers.  A question for you—did you overhear from Ruxathid in his quarters where they were taking the townspeople?” asks Fergus.

Jorzu 

While waiting fir the spectral dwarf to answer, Jorzu says to Fergus in a hushed way; "Well, that's a pleasant surprise - he doesn't want to eat us or send us to our untimely graves". Followed by;  "Well done young Fergus, I had thought you possessed by some spirit what with the words you were speaking. Turns out your judge of character is more sound than mine" he offers the compliment to his friend before quickly turning his words to the information offered up by Hollowhelm. "I dont speak Dwarvish but I think Quinn does. Hopefully he can confirm the writing on the wall in the bedroom." 

When Fergus indicates he is done with his line of questioning Jorzu join him as they head back to the group. "Are you coming Laiti?"

Fergus:

”Thank you, Jorzu,” replies Fergus, a bit embarrassed, “I very well could have been possessed unbeknownst to me.  I appreciate your concern.”

”Good idea on the runes, too.  Let’s go get treasure after we hear from the good captain what he may have overheard of the chosen one’s plans,” he adds.

"I admit I don’t know much about the goblins' plans," explains Hjoldak. "The goblin leader - this 'Ruxithid' - his stays in that room have become increasingly infrequent. Is he slain or confined now? I've tried to get his attention for years now, to no avail. He could not hear me or perhaps he chose to ignore me. Whenever I saw Ruxithid of late, he always seemed distracted, poring over scraps of paper and then leaving in a manic rush. I know nothing of 'townspeople' I'm afraid. I wish I could be of more help..." 

Unless you have further questions for Hjoldak, Jorzu, Fergus, and Laiti return to the rest of the waiting party upstairs.

Fergus:

”We freed the captain of the Dwarven miners, and he has given us directions to some hidden treasure on this level,” relates Fergus.

Describing the directions to the treasure in detail, he adds, “We do need some help reading the Dwarven runes to get it right, though.”

“If the runes are dwarven, I might be able to help decipher them. Let’s be quick, the townsfolk are ill. They’re outside breathing in the fresh air.”

Quinn checks in with the townsfolk before heading the Ruxithid’s room.

”We’ll be back. Don’t stray away too far from the door. If you see or hear anything, run back in and alert the Sawplee goblins. They’ll help defend this place.”

Quinn heads for Ruxithid’s room and looks to the north wall to find the runes where Fergus says he would find them.

DM: Quinn speaks dwarven, can he interpret the runes and verify the wording? If so do they match the order that words and order that Hjoldak mentioned?

Fergus:

While Quinn does his Dwarven runecraft, Fergus goes to the bedroom and follows the instructions to open the panel in the bed frame.  Gathering what treasure he can find there, he comes over to where Quinn is and shows the rest of the party what he has found.

Perception to find the panel if needed:  16

Jorzu 

Jorzu nods his agreement at Quinn's suggestion of haste. "Indeed, we must help the villagers. Yes, help" he follows both Quinn and Fergus to the bedroom. If the stone carvings are within reach he will Help Quinn, otherwise he assists Fergus.

Fergus and Jorzu return to the upper level. Quinn joins them for a side errand into the Captain's suite.

Looking, they soon spot a small section of north wall of the bedroom engraved with four Dwarvish runes. Although old-fashioned in design, the markings are unmistakeable to Quinn. The runes read (from left to right) “storm,” “death,” “light,” and “wind.” ...So far, they match Hjoldak's description precisely.

Meanwhile, Fergus takes a moment and eventually finds the outline of the bed frame’s hidden compartment, as described. Pushing the compartment’s panel, he opens it. Inside he finds an ornate dagger and an emerald. The emerald glows with a faint internal light.

The two sick villagers crowd the door, but cannot quite squeeze through the gap like their gnomish companion did. "Please, ma'am," begs the Paulina the human stablehand to Boona, "Can you pull the door open a little more? We need to leave! We can't breathe here!"

Boona nods and strains at the doors....

" I can carry you...if you want..."

Fergus:

”Left to right,” reminds Fergus, showing the treasures he has found.

Quinn reads the runes.

"Well...everything tracks so far. But you might wanna give me some space, just in case that ghost was a sadistic bastard after all."

Quinn gives Fergus and Jorzu time to back away if they choose, and then he steps forward and taps the runes in the order as directed. Left to right: storm, death, light, and wind. After tapping the last rune, he closes his eyes hoping for the best. 

Jorzu 

The thrill of opening a dwarven puzzle almost overpowers Jorzu's sense of self preservation. He stands behind Quinn, literally hugging his right calf, he peers in wonder as the mechanism is triggered.

The runes radiate warmth as Quinn touches them in order. With a soft, satisfying grind, a secret door slides open in the wall, revealing a 5 x 15' vault. 
The stale air indicates it hasn’t been opened in many years. Inside is a dust-covered assortment of coins, gemstones, and cloth.

Upon closer examination, you find that the vault contains a multitude of ancient duergar coins (56 pp, 350 gp, 189 sp, and 304 cp) as well as four pieces of jade and one large peridot stone. Additionally, folded neatly against the wall are three richly woven but dusty duergar tapestries and a velvet brocade, all of which look like they carry significant resale value.

Meanwhile, Boona pulls at the massive obsidian doors. After a few long moments, she has them open wide enough for the others to pass through, into the outside air. Soon, she'll have them opened far enough to allow her to pass through as well. 

Fergus:

“We need to get ourselves and the townsfolk into clear air and bed down for the night before we can risk travel back to town,” suggests Fergus.

He then suggests the following treasure division…

”Let’s take the gems, platinum, and most of the gold for ourselves,” reasons Fergus (56 pp and 340 gp split 5 ways gives 180 gp equivalent each), adding, “and we could also take the brocade.”

”I suggest we give 5 gp (or 50 sp) each to the townsfolk to help them recover once they get back to town.  We could leave the rest of the silver and the copper for the goblins as encouragement to refrain from aggression towards us and our allies,” he suggests.

”I think we should take the historical Duregar tapestries down to the captain and his miners so they can display them as they see fit, fueling their discussions and remembrances of their lives,” he concludes.

”What do you guys think?” he asks.

Quinn exhales a loud sigh of relief the runes down end the crew in a ball of fire. He looks over the treasures found in the secret room and the bed. He hears out Fergus and Quinn likes the sound of his plan.

"Fergus, that sounds quite fair indeed. I appreciate the offering to the ashenwights and their captain and offering some of the coin to the goblins as a gesture of peace. Bryony might like that dagger. She's quite good at sticking things with sharp objects. And there's something about that emerald looks...different. Perhaps Jurgen can tinker with it and figure out if it's more than it seems.

Let's check on the others. I worry about the townsfolk. They aren't looking very well."

Fergus:

”Excellent!” responds Fergus, “We couldn’t have done it without your expertise in Dwarven runes.  I’ll need some help getting the duregar tapestries down to the captain, then let’s find a good place to rest—I think we are too tired to travel tonight.”

“Jorzu, did you find any good place to camp where the air is clean?” asks Fergus, adding, “it needs to be close and defensible too—the townsfolk are almost asleep on their feet.”