Chapter Summaries

Rain practiced combat techniques with his squad and joined them in searching for a new job. A high-reward notice about investigating the missing Simmons Squad near Azure Mine caught his attention when he heard that Robin was among its members.

• Rain outpaced Fabian in their practice attack, and Leia suggested the squad train switching targets.
• After two hours of practice, the squad agreed to look for a suitable job the next morning.
• Rain collected his spiked shield from Ironforge Workshop and joined Leia, Chris, and Fabian at the association hall.
• Rain asked about Deepmoss Spider jobs, but Leia said none were available, so the squad considered another assignment.
• A receptionist posted a fifty-silver investigation job for a missing squad near Azure Mine, and Rain reacted when Adventurers said Robin belonged to the missing Simmons Squad.

Rain and his party accepted a mission to investigate the missing Simmons Squad, including Rain’s friend Robin, at an abandoned branch of the Azure Mine. After learning that foreman Bondes had lied about entering the mine, they continued inside, leaving his actions suspicious.

• Rain recognized that Robin was among the missing adventurers and persuaded Leia, Grand, Chris, and Fabian to accept the investigation mission.
• The party traveled to the Azure Mine and discussed how the missing squad might have become lost, been trapped by a cave-in, or fallen into an Underground River.
• A miner told Leia that Old Johnny had drowned three months earlier and that Bondes had replaced him as foreman.
• Bondes said the missing squad had entered the eastern tunnel but claimed nobody had gone in afterward.
• Rain detected Bondes’s lingering scent inside the mine and realized the foreman had entered after Robin’s squad went missing.

Rain led Leia's group through a Kobold tunnel, using his heightened senses and Sonic Location to detect traps and map an underground chamber ahead. He spotted unfamiliar creatures on the chamber ceiling and asked the others what flying monsters might live alongside Kobolds.

• Fabian found and dismantled two Kobold traps, including one that would spill venom and ring an alarm.
• Rain identified the passage with the strongest Kobold scent, surprising Leia with his tracking ability.
• Leia arranged the group with Rain in front, Fabian in the middle, and Grand guarding the rear as they advanced.
• Rain used Sonic Location to map a chamber about thirty meters ahead and detected eleven creatures, including three clinging to the ceiling.
• Rain told the group about the chamber and asked whether they knew of flying monsters that lived alongside Kobolds.

Leia identified the flying creatures as Winged Kobolds, and the Whistling Hunters ambushed the Kobolds in an underground hall. Rain killed four ordinary Kobolds in seconds, but Fabian shouted a warning as danger approached from behind.

• Leia recognized Rain's flying creature as a Winged Kobold and explained that they usually lived in larger Kobold groups.
• The five hunters planned their attack, with Leia firing a flare to reveal a dozen ordinary Kobolds and three Winged Kobolds in the hall.
• Fabian and Grand shot at the Winged Kobolds while Rain and Chris charged the ordinary Kobolds.
• Rain killed four Kobolds with his hammer and shield, including two that attacked him with slings.
• Rain paused to catch his breath, and Fabian urgently shouted for him to watch out.

Rain and his companions defeated a group of Kobolds and discovered gear belonging to the missing adventuring party. Robin’s damaged shield suggested that something stronger than the Winged Kobolds might lurk deeper in the mine, and the group turned toward the passage leading underground.

• Rain killed a Winged Kobold that attacked him, and the Kobolds fled as the group defeated the remaining creatures.
• Rain and Fabian found human armor and weapons among the Kobolds’ belongings, including Robin’s Kite Shield and spear.
• Chris and Fabian reasoned that the Winged Kobolds had likely ambushed the missing adventurers and driven them farther into the mine.
• Rain noticed that Robin’s shield had a hole too large to have been made by thrown stones, and Leia agreed that the damage seemed to come from a Warhammer.
• Grand suggested that a mutated Kobold might have caused the damage, and the group looked toward the passage leading deeper underground.

Rain and the adventurers searched the underground chamber for the missing mutated Kobolds and uncovered a hidden passage. Rain sensed that unknown creatures lay ahead and realized the Kobolds they had killed might have been placed there as bait.

• Rain used his scent and Sonic Location abilities to conclude that no Kobolds were in the passage leading deeper underground.
• Rain told the party to search the chamber walls, and Fabian found a movable stone hiding a passage.
• Rain warned the others that he smelled creatures unlike Kobolds or Winged Kobolds, and the party debated what might be inside.
• Rain used Sonic Location and detected three broad humanoid creatures about thirty meters ahead, along with Kobolds moving farther into the passage.
• Rain suspected the Kobolds and Winged Kobolds they had killed had been deliberately stationed in the chamber to lure the party.

Rain and the Whistling Hunters realized the hidden passage might lead to Gray Dwarves in the Underdark, then prepared to fight when Sos Darkforge and two companions charged them. The Gray Dwarves’ warhammers reminded Rain of the hole in Robin’s shield, suggesting they were connected to Robin’s death.

• Rain asked what creatures were shorter and stockier than humans and might live alongside Kobolds, prompting Leia to suspect Gray Dwarves.
• Rain used a sound pulse to check the passage again and discovered three creatures charging toward the party from twenty meters away.
• Leia ordered the Whistling Hunters into formation, with Rain, Chris, and Grand blocking the entrance while she and Fabian readied ranged weapons.
• Sos Darkforge realized the humans had detected the Gray Dwarves and rushed the entrance with his two companions under orders to kill anyone who discovered the mining operation.
• Chris confirmed that the attackers were Gray Dwarves, and Rain recognized their heavy warhammers as the likely cause of the hole in Robin’s shield.

Aiyer prepared for the Adventurers’ arrival while Rain’s team fought three Gray Dwarves in the underground hall. As the humans neared the passage exit, the Gray Dwarves used Gigantification, leaving Leia alarmed about the shield fighters’ chances.

• Aiyer questioned Withered Beard about the Kobolds assigned to the upper hall and angrily learned that only three Winged Kobolds had been sent.
• Rain, Chris, and Grand held the Gray Dwarves’ opening hammer strikes, then fell back in formation while Leia and Fabian supported them with ranged attacks.
• Leia ordered the team to retreat into the narrow passage, and Rain led Chris and Grand in a steady withdrawal.
• Fabian ran out of crossbow bolts as the team neared the passage exit, and the Gray Dwarves enlarged themselves with Gigantification.
• Leia warned Rain, Chris, and Grand to watch out as the transformed Gray Dwarves prepared to attack.

Rain countered a gigantic Gray Dwarf’s hammer strike with Shield Bash, then charged in to save Grand and ordered the squad to focus their attacks. Elsewhere, Aiyer argued with Withered Beard and Thorn about killing the adventurers and guarding the hidden passage.

• Chris and Grand were knocked down by gigantic Gray Dwarves, while Rain deflected Sos’s hammer with Shield Bash and sent it flying.
• Leia and Fabian struggled to protect the fallen fighters as the squad’s formation began to collapse.
• Rain used Savage Charge to stop a Gray Dwarf from striking Grand and urged Leia and Fabian to concentrate their attacks.
• Aiyer rebuked Withered Beard for sending only three Winged Kobolds and worried that the adventurers might discover the hidden passage.
• Thorn told Aiyer that his Darkforge Clan would deal with intruders who entered, but refused to pursue the adventurers before they came down.

Rain and the Howling Hunt Party coordinated attacks that ended Bingus’s Gigantification and badly wounded him, but Sos used a magic pendant to shield him. The party then injured Omir, only for Sos to shield him as well, leaving the fight unresolved.

• Rain, Fabian, and Leia attacked Bingus together, interrupting his Gigantification and inflicting severe wounds.
• Sos activated a red barrier from his necklace to protect Bingus, while the gray dwarf on the left knocked Chris out of the fight.
• Rain called for the party to switch targets and charged the left gray dwarf, then struck his eye with Freezing Ray as Leia and the others attacked.
• Sos used the pendant again to shield Omir from Fabian’s dagger, and Chris realized it could protect the gray dwarves twice in succession.