Hexcrawl 09 - Return to Hidden Lake Delve

Umgurn leads Thronor, Jhank, Caradoc, and Arty back to the Hidden Lake Delve to take on the gnolls that have now infested it! After a big battle with giant hyenas and a few gnolls, Jhank gets a magic battleaxe and the party retreats to the surface for a short rest; then heads back in to explore the side passages. The underwater course of the Shrike River is found on one side, and the other is a dwarven workshop complex with a loud repeating sound. After finding and befriending a guardian construct and finding several arbitrage loads worth of metals, the party finds the source of the sound: a steam-filled hammermill room with dwarven skeletons; yipes!  Lots of falling on slippery floors, but they manage to defeat the undead and retreat back to the surface once more. Jhank puts a locked iron door from his Robe of Useful Items in place to keep the gnolls in while the party retreats back to the safety of Sootscale Caverns, killing a giant owl along the way.  The Eldergrove group heads back to Oleg's and meets some Bignose Goblins near the trading post. Plans are made to renovate the Raided Farmstead.