The guard's eyes widen as he sees the token. "Special permission indeed," he breathes. He looks at the wall and shouts a few commands in Dwarvish. You faintly hear a few Dwarvish shouts repeating on the other side before the gate begins to rise in the air with a powerful grating sound that shakes the ground. You move under the monolithic slab of iron and are ushered into Greater Gracklestugh. Here, you can see towering over the buildings are several grand palaces in the distance carved from the earth. The streets are much more narrow than before. The buildings you see are heavily reinforced and there is no space between adjacent buildings. The buildings all share their side walls. You appear to be in a mostly residential district, but that doesn't stop you from seeing forges. You see forges and refineries everywhere your eyes meet, and these forges rival anything you have seen on the surface. They are huge factories that pump out refined ores reaped from the stone around and belch toxic clouds of ash into the air.

As the gate crunches back into the ground behind you, it dawns on you that you don't exactly know where the dragon is. You have no idea where it could be found.

Aimon looks around at the narrow streets and then up at the tops of the buildings hoping to catch a glimpse of the dragon. He shrugs when he doesn't see it anywhere.

"Maybe not the most carefully thought out plan," he says to himself.

He looks around to see where the guard station is for this side of the door. If there are guards available he approaches them and flashes his badge.

"We need some directions," Aimon says. "Looking for the dragon. Have some questions for him, er her, them. Also, there's a clan we need to visit as well. Fireband, Firebrand, no, Firehand."

Aimon tries his best to look imperious and official, a stance that comes naturally to his father, but not something he ever particularly liked doing.

(HD from Song of Rest: 7  )

A nearby guard starts in surprise at the badge before she says with a tone of awe, "Themberchuard has a lair at the end of the cavern, but she's out lighting forges at the moment. Clan Firehand's fortress is just over there." She points a stubby finger at an impressive complex ringed by a high obsidian wall built into the side of a cavern. Even from here, you can see many braziers spewing flames high into the toxic air.

The air overhead is filled with a purplish-gray smoke that follows eternally from the cities many forges. Firelight rearing from barely contained forges throws scarlet and red hues against the smoke, and the effect is almost beautiful, but the constant rain of warm and and the choking fumes diminishes the effect.

Aimon nods to the guard, part in thanks, and part in what he thinks looks like dismissal. That's what you do to underlings, right, he thinks to himself. He turns back and joins the others.

"Well our date for the evening seems busy at the moment," Aimon says. "She's still out lighting forges. But she has a cave down that way."

He then points out the Firehand fortress.

"That's Firehand. I think that was the only real lead we had on one of Trill's crew."

He pauses for a moment, looking at the foreboding obsidian wall, his head bobbing a little.

"I didn't make that up, did I?" he asks Trill. "Was that in the letter you got from Shushar?" 

"Trill, I have been sold to Clan Firehand in Gracklestug. There are a few other members of our crew with me, but I know not where they are going. If you make it to Gracklestug, please find me. I have heard word you are down here." , Trill quotes in Caelynn's voice.

"Okay. This is progress then," Aimon says.

He looks back up at the Firehand fortress, then back at the group, then back at the Firehand forges.

"So, all I've got is we walk up, knock on the front door, flash the badges, and say we have information that one of their slaves is a wanted fugitive, can we take a look," he says while scratching his chin. "Open to suggestions though."

"I actually have a last resource idea. It´s completly crazy and i would prefer literally anything else besides this, but i will say it either way. You are looking for a absurdly large dragon, meaning that to it´s probably beeing contained. A dragon isn´t a easy creature to contain, for that it would in theory require alot of magic and guards" She then points to the gate they just crossed
"If there was panic, alot of the guards would stay in their positions to guard key places, like the richer areas, safes, or prisons. In other words if we look for the places that have the most guards and have the most magic beeing utilized we can assume that those places are potential places for the dragon to be in. We are here to free the slaves so if we freed some, caused some confusion, but without they knowing it was us. Then all we had to do was look where the guards are staying. It´s a completly crazy idea, that to be honest i would prefer to not be utilized, but if all other ideas fail we can always try this"

"We're looking to free a specific slave, one of Trill's old friends," Caelynn explains to Frila. "And we have some semblance of a plan for freeing the dragon when the time comes. We just wanted to talk to her and try to figure out what she'd do after it happens."

"As for Clan Firehand, I feel like we should at least offer them some compensation for their loss. Find out how much they paid and give them a bit more. It might make things easier for us."

After Frila explains her armour, Oak says, “ ‘We stand side to side, by the gods’.... ..I like that!... We NEED  that...More than ever, now... down here!”. He grits his teeth and grins, like the thought gives him strength. “If you walk with gods... you might be just who we need! Ha!....”.

Oak looks up at the smoke and fumes and is almost mesmerised by the swirling patterns and colours. He looks from the fumes to the fortress down the way.

”Trill, you okay?... We’re here with you. I think Aimon’s plan is not a bad start... ... approach the residence under an official capacity. Find out what we can...”. He looks at Caelynn, “Then offer compensation. And we take it from there... ...Worst they can say is ‘no’. Then at least we know what we’re dealing with... Who we’re dealing with”. 

"oohhh so you are thinking what to do after we free a giant incredibly powerfull dragon? Other then running for our lives?" she says while looking a bit confused to Caelynn
"And Oak, well idk if they walk with us, but we try to walk with them. And with that plan of yours, I seriusly hope they will be here for us"
They were good people, but Frila still was worried. She had a litle experience with dragons, even though that experience started and ended by running away from any. Still she put her worries away, she was gonna trust them

Oak pats Frila on the shoulder kindly. “Don’t worry, when I joined them I felt the same way... but after you’ve seen a couple of demon lords, most other things don’t seem that terrifying!...”. He gives her a look and a wink that she’s not too sure whether he’s joking...

Aimon shrugs at Oak's comments. "Yeah demon lords rising from black lakes and devouring whole towns have a way of putting life's little problems in perspective. Freeing a dragon and helping start a rebellion seems minor in comparison."

He looks back over at the entrance to the Firehand compound.

"Well, this plan isn't getting any better. Might as well get at it."

Aimon walks to the main entrance, looking for a guard station or door, or something to knock on or call into to get someone's attention.

As the party approach the fortress, Oak makes sure his weapons are stowed, and attempts to smooth down the hair on his hide, on his flanks. And he mutters to everyone and no one in particular, “Hhmmmph.... Now we’ve made it to a real city, remind me to get a new kilt next time we’re near a store... this one has seen better days...”. He tries to make the best of the tattered rags hanging from his belts.

Trill will provide prestidigitation for anyone that wishes to be cleaned up.

"It's more of knowing what the dragon is going to do so we can run in the right direction," Caelynn responds to Frila's questions. Once Oak and Aimon have spoken, she gives her a small smile and a pat on the shoulder. "You get used to it pretty quickly."

As they near the fortress, she straightens out her clothes and hair, accepting Trill's assistance, and adopts a more rigid posture. She follows Aimon's lead on the approach.

As you approach the obsidian wall that reaches nearly 60 feet into the murky air, a guard in black armor standing near the gate calls for you to stop. You can see a red hand is painted across his helm. He says, "State your business with Firehand." Another guard stands at attention nearby.

((Even if you show them the badge, you need to roll a Persuasion check to get past them.))

Aimon draws himself up and taps into everything that came with growing up in a noble household. He changes his posture and how high his chin is raised.

He looks at the guard with feigned annoyance. He shows the badge.

"Is that how you greet officials on important business?" Aimon says, with a hint of disinterest in his voice. "We are hunting a fugitive rebel. Our sources claim they're hiding here as a slave. We are going to take a look at your slaves now. Open the gate."

Persuasion: 12  

In addition, if it helps:

The guard does a double-take at seeing the emblem. After hearing Aimon's words, he turns slightly to the other dwarf and says something in their native tongue before responding gruffly to the group, "Even if that be true, you dare accuse Clan Firehand of harboring rebels?" The other guard inserts a key into the gate and walks through, disappearing from sight behind the wall. The guard in front of you takes almost an aggressive stance, and you can tell his pride has been hurt. Even though the guard's logic was a bit extreme, you do notice that there is a strange, manic glint in his eyes behind his helm. A familiar look of insanity haunts his features, and you remember a similar feeling when you first met Demogorgon.

Aimon looks back at the others.

”Well that went well,” he says. “And now this guy is starting to get the crazy eyes. Do we stick around?”