While Root lingers back, he had given a torch to Rose so the group wouldn't be walking blind, Mormesk seemed perturbed that Root lingered but he did not make any moves. The ghouls were moved  though the skulls remained like little moons orbiting. After having knocked down many of the weapons,  they lay strewn on the floor. Scavenging through them he finds only a single spear worth using, the rest had rusted over during the last 400 years. No glaives were found, though  1 javelin(s) lay on the floor. 

 Among them are also 1 shortswords that haven't succumbed to rust. There were however a plethora of daggers scattered about the floor, atleast 20 in various places.

Seeing the Skull watching him Root will look at the three spears “Just getting a spear before I go, you have a lot arms losing one spear will be okay wouldn’t it?” Root picking the one up feeling it’s weight “This one seems good. Let me asking you something, if you accept the townspeople deal what do you plan on doing?” 

Rose waits to help Belle up the rope before continuing with Fallan towards Nundro. When they arrive she greets him and checks on his health before saying. We are going to head towards the mouth of the cave, set up camp there. The mine is as secure as it can be and the forge located, we just need to await Sildar. If you'll join us Nundro, we should catch you up with everything that happened. Rose will avoid details about Gundrens fate or further about that status of mine until a camp with a warm fire has been established. If Nundro insists upon going further in she becomes more instant that he needs tonrest before adventuring again.

Back with Root, Mormesk looks at the dragonborn with a bit of confusion What a.. pointless .. question. I intend to do, exactly as I said. Help the new workers learn how to create wonderous items... for their benefit and mine.

In with Nundro, Gwen had followed inside Eh, I don't fully trust the ghost mage, but like I said.. people like hmn will do anything to make their life easier, like any noble or king, mages are just that lazy. And he seems to be a mage who found some degree of success only to lose it when he was about to finally be able to retire and enjoy it.. so his greed can be played on. And I'll be here with you and the others until after we get back to town. I think.. I've adventured enough in my life. I never thought beholders or spectators were real, and after seeing .. what that thing did to those undead... I'll admit i'm scared about 'what if that happened to me?' and those sorts of thoughts. So I'll be here with you until then, but Rose, I think will continue on with you.

And.. I figure if I stay back, it'll give Rose a reason to stay alive... So she can come back, you know?

Just then, Rose came in after having helped Bell up the rope to say what she did, the endless chill in the caves still there but luckily not nearly as bad as outside. 

So then the mine has been reclaimed? Oh.. he seemed to collapse internally as if he had been holding onto tension for a long, long time. Then y'eve done it... Y'eve atleast got the biggest step in getting the mine goin again done, and that were the hardest part.... Just wait till Gundren hears... I bet he'll jump fer joy and try to induct ye as an honorary fam'ly member! Haha he acts tough and edgy tae make people try their hardest but he's a lovin' softie he probably fretted e'vry day about y'er safety, while makin ye think he were only focused on 'imself. He's an odd one. But mouth of the cave tae wait fer Ol SIldar? Sounds liek a plan, but I'll h.. need tae be carried.

Quote from Raiketsu >>

Back with Root, Mormesk looks at the dragonborn with a bit of confusion What a.. pointless .. question. I intend to do, exactly as I said. Help the new workers learn how to create wonderous items... for their benefit and mine.

“Yeah, sure.” Root shrugs his shoulders as he checks out the spear. seeing that it’s in better shape than the other two takes with him “Well good luck with your endeavors, Skull.” Root will leave finally join the others.

"Should we put together a little camp in here, or do you want to back to the camp we had set up outside the mine?  Might be nice to stay out of the elements for one more night before we start heading back.  What do ya think?" Bella asks, looking between Rose and Gwen.

It takes about fifteen minutes for Root to rejoin the others, he will miss the first chunk of the conversation Bell has started. Gwen looks around, and moves to the bag of gold  that was the other half of her treasure that she had lost to the dragon, then to the spider, then found half-of at the tower, now with all of it, she had no small fortune - though obviously it wasn't entirely hers- As Bell starts talking she thinks for a moment as she gauges the weight of the bag, glad that it was still in good condition... Hum..... Well Root's horse and carriage are still at the entrance. While I think the Carriage itself will be fine, short of some intelligent thing seeing it, it'll be fine.. it's probably covered in snow anyway. The horse however, if something wanders in, will get eaten, and Sildar doesn't know where in the mine we are. Though we could tell him through the stone I suppose.. but it's probably best we just head back to the entrance, since if Mr Mormesk decides to try to kill us anyway, for whatever reason, we'll have a decent sized wall above him and his goons, so even if he can fly, or something, they can't. 

Then we can just build our campfire in front of the entrance to wall off the cold blowing in, and I think we'll be more or less set. We'll be warm, Sildar will find us sooner, We'll have the high ground  to prevent any shenanikins, from behind us. It makes the most sense. 

We'll have Root carry Nundro, then we'll lift him up after two of us are up top, like a pulley, and I'll need you to help me carry this...  she says, pointing to the sack in the corner. And it'll be a group effort to pull it up but once we're done waiting, we can load it and Nundro in the cart, and head back to the town, or go our separate ways... or whatever else ends up happening.

So my vote is for the entrance, but still within the mine, to keep the damned elements off us.

Nundro simply grunted, not having much choice in the situation, but it was clear he agreed. Root returns at around the time Gwen says 'group effort'

Rose nods in agreement with Gwen. Agreed, I think the entrance will be best for now. It should be enough to help shield us from the worst of the elements as well and put us in a good position to look out for Sildar and company. Once everyone is more or less set on the plan Rose continues on towards the entrance, giving Yue a few pats on the head to reward her for a job well done in protecting Nundro. Once camp is up and a fire started to warm up the group Rose asks Nundro to take a seat with her near the fire. 

Nundro, before the others get here I feel there's something you need to know. When you first heard the commotion here in the mines, when we were.fighting the Drow, there was an attack on Phandalin. A group of orcs had attacked the town and as soon as we heard we started heading back, which is why we didn't find you until now. Gundren and several others helped defend the town and by time we got there...well I'm sorry to have to say this but I'm afraid Gundren died in the towns defense. But rest assured the town would be a smoldering ruin without him having led the defense. He's a hero, there's no doubt about that. We came back because his ally Sildar wanted to finish what was started in his honor.

Rose trails off after that, waiting for the information to sink in for Nundro and see his reaction.

“What’s happening?” Returning with a new spear Root carries it on his shoulders.

"Wow, that's pretty heavy-duty news," Fallan whispers to those around her. "I was going to ask about food and warmth if we're headed toward the snowy outside, but somehow, even to MY growling stomach, that seems pretty insignificant at the moment." The halfling backs away from the dwarf and watches and waits to see how he reacts to Rose's news.

Gwen lets Root in on the plan to move towards the front of the mine, for all the previously stated reasons, and as the group, as "a" group moves towards the front, they pass the bodies strewn in the hallway, as Root picks up Nundro as comfortably as possible. Gwen and whoever ends up helping her to pull the large sack pulling up the rear. As you all pass through the water room where Fallan discovered the wand, the body of the fiend seems to have disappeared, leaving only its bones behind. Its cleaver and hook still there, but they didn't seem any better, and infact seemed worse than most of the weapons the party had, likely due to lack of care.

a small wetspot in the floor where the jelly had died, where everyone more or less avoided touching, just in case. Heading through the winding halls that had been carved out that the fiend and jelly  had came from. Eventually making it past the chilled halls that were pristine, aside from the clear trail of where the fiend had passed through, that hadn't been noticed before.

Finally reaching the area with the rope that led to the entrance, first Root goes up... Tired from carrying a whole dwarf through half a mine, struggles but manages to make it back up. From there, He grab the rope that was attached the the 'lagmite hanging from the roof he had just climbed, and Gwen picked up Rose and Fallan, telling them to grab on as Root pulls them up, which once both halflings are attached, Root tugs them both up with minimal strain.

Bell gets on by herself  and is also pulled up by Root. After which, Yue, then Nundro were tied to the rope, to be pulled up by Root and whoever decided to help him. Finally came the sack... she tied the end of the rope to the top of the bag, stuffing some of the gold  above the rope to create a tension point, and the group above all help pull it up, and then Gwen herself.

Once everyone was up, Gwen snuck outside, after making sure the area was clear, and collected some wood for fire. Once that had all been setup, Rose says her piece, and Nundro goes from neutrally-happy about the mine being discovered, not being dead and the fact that everything was going to be okay, to worried, to crestfallen. His face twisting as he starts to process the information he's been given. His eyes scan the room as if looking for succor at the news of his brothers death. 

His breathing became ragged as tears began to form, though the tears were thin, both from the cold, and his lack of water in recent days, as his body hadn't had time to process what he'd drank earlier. As Rose continued he'd nod as much as he could to atleast acknowledge what he'd heard, and that his despair didn't prevent him from being courteous and attentive.  Atleast me brother went out like a trrue Rockse.... his eyes had continued scanning the room even as he had began to reply, his eyes had fallen onto the corpse of the dwarf whom the Genasi had robbed of oil after discovering it during Rose's first foray into the mines.

T....T....Tha..Tharden Noooooooooo! Nundro wailed in despair, as his eyes fell on the body, having been too distracted by chill, exhaustion, and other activities until now... his wail would put a banshee's to shame with the amount of pain it radiated, tears flowed heavier and his voice broke down even as Fallan had finished speaking only moments before, his sobbing only increased as he futilely tried to move, but his arms only shifted slightly in response, further weakened by the combination of the news, and the discovery. His body was quivering  rapidly, now more due to intense emotional pain than even the chill air that was slowly, but surely dissipating thanks to the small fire at the entrance.

Th Tharden... no.. please.... please tell me y'er  jest sleepin... C'mon... jest wake up Tharden.. as Nundro continued trying to move to the corpse that had long since frosted over, his body slumped to the ground from his efforts, his eyes shooting back to the body immediately as his arms uselessly clawed at the ground, trying to get closer to the unresponsive corpse. Come... T-t-t-harden... it's me .. Yer brother.. N-nnundro... say somethin... anything ye cannae be gone too... You're all I have left... the last o' me family... please... this continued on with plaintive cries, shivering, and useless attempts to claw his way to the body.

Roses heart sunk when she heard Nundros cries and realized what had truly caused them. Selûne have mercy how many brothers are in this family? Rose put a hand on Nundros shoulder to try and comfort him in his time of grief, momentarily at a loss for words. She let the dwarf cry and get his emotions out of his system before finally speaking up. I'm sorry Nundro. I'm sorry I did realize...we should give him a proper burial. Was all she could muster before offering a prayer to Selûne for Thardens soul.

Nundro continues to shake, sob, and wail pitifully, having just found out Gundren and Tharden are both dead. He didn't even seem to register that Rose was speaking to him, and Gwen joined her to help comfort the poor man. A voice, as quiet and silent as the night, peaceful and clear as the moon, and wise beyond the stars enters Rose's head, one of the few times Selune spoke outside of dreams, omens, or other more mysterious forms.

Rosorla, my little champion, he is the last of his family. He possesses no more kin. she spoke before the presence was gone, leaving Rose there with the sobbing man.

Gwen put her arms around the dwarf, both to help warm him, and .. she hoped, soothe him. She wished she had a spell to help the poor man rest, though for now, he seemed inconsolable.

Fallan drops her head and breathes deeply as she listens to the pain Nundro voices. Feeling a knot of emotion forming in her throat, she slides down the wall into a sitting position and wraps her arms around her knees. Although every fiber of her being wanted to leave this place, she scooted her feet to point back into the cave, so she could watch for anything coming from that direction. It pained her to know that instead of being a part of Nundro's consolation, all she could think of was being on guard against otherworldly creatures like those Rose had just bargained with. 

Nundro continued wailing for more than an hour before he finally, whether by exhaustion or some other factor he fell into a sleep. His face was streaked with hundreds of tiny streams where the tears had flowed  first down his cheeks, then across his nose when he had fallen to his side. Thanks to the fire however,  they didn't freeze on his face, and though the area was still chill, whatever part of the body was facing the fire was warmed more than enough. Nundro had passed into sleep, though the occasional sniffle could be heard long after Fallan had taken her vigil looking down into the shadowed darkness of the hole, slightly illuminated thanks to the fire, and any torches that remained lit, allowing vision down to the floor, so that nothing could use the darkness to its advantage atleast.

Mormesk never showed up during that time, nor did his ghouls or skulls, so it seemed that he was keeping his word. The wood was wet enough that the fire burned slowly, and left a cloud of smoke rising to the roof of the entrance but enough of a wind came through that the smoke never became a breathing hazard, it also made the wood burn longer, so no wood was required, atleast not for that night. The wood smelled of pine as it burned, filling the cavern with a forest-scent that was somewhat marred by the smoke itself.

Rose just let Nundro get it all out until he slowly fell asleep. Once she was sure he was out she sighed sadly and sat by the fire frowning. Always the worst part of the job. She says flatly while staring into the fire. Rose goes quiet for the rest of the night while keeping an eye on Nundro. Rose would spend whatever time it took for Sildar to get here helping collect wood for the fire as well as feeding him small details about what took place through the sending stone. 

 Bellerain’s eyes shimmer and few tears of her own fall.  She thinks back to her family, to her many brothers and sisters back home, unable to truly imagine the pain of losing them.  Bell hesitates to join Rose and Gwen in comforting Nundro, and ultimately leaves it to them.  She remains quiet, and busies herself with keeping watch and patrolling the area around the entrance.  Her alchemy jug remains stoppered throughout the day. 

Root silently watches as the dwarf mourns, he wish he could do something but he can’t. He lets the two Rose and Gwen comfort Nundro. As time passes Root sits with Bell and Fallan.

The days pass tediously slow, each day a few logs need to be added to the fire, but thanks to the wetness, they're slow to burn, and last longer, at the cost of the endlessly heavy smoke filling the roof  throughout the stay. Anyone without a bedroll wakes up stiff and in minor pain each day as the floor is solid, flat, and uncomfortable, the fire provides enough heat that a blanket isn't needed though it would probably make waking up easier. Nundro has neither of these.

Due to the fact that its winter, very few if any creatures pass by both because of the season, and the aura of magic that pulsates through the  mines into the nearby valleys. It takes a full four days before everyone wakes up to hear the sounds of crunching snow outside around mid-morning. Sildar comes in through the entrance, followed by an entourage of other similarly armored men. He jumps when he see's the party, and unfortunately for him, his head was near the smoke at the top, causing him to cough periodically.

Rosorla, everyone else... Sorry to disturb you, and sorry it took us so long to get here. The weather wasn't favorable and we were almost caught in a flash blizzard. In any case, are you all hale, hearty? Do you need rations? or other supplies in the immediate? We brought a few extra, just in case.

I have also brought Halia Thornton, both to retrieve her stone, and as a representative of the Phandalin Miners Guild. We would have brought the town mayor but he was unfortunately one of those lost in the fighting in Phandalin. So the forge is in fact here? And you have also secured the mine itself?

"Do we need RATIONS?" Fallan almost cries tears of exasperation as she addresses Sildar. "You came all this way and didn't bring REAL FOOD?" She shakes her head in a combination of disapproval and depression and then moves back to her post watching inside the cave, still not certain something else is yet to happen. She cocks an ear, however, toward the following discussion about what has happened and what the current status of the mine/forge/UNDEAD is going to be described to the new entourage.