Yannick put out a call to mercenaries and adventurers offering a bounty of 25 gold pieces per orc, dead or alive, and the gratitude of the townsfolk to any who could help end the threat. Additionally, stories of Khundrukar and Durgeddin's failed vengeance piqued his interest; the captured orc brandished a broken blade bearing the smith's mark. From his own pockets, he promised 20 gp to adventurers who could bring back information about the dwarven complex, and an additional 100 gp if they provided detailed maps. Additionally, he would reward adventurers richly for each of Durgeddin's blades, depending on the quality and preservation of the items.
The Third Rider's ask reached the ears of four "Dwarven" adventurers eager to reclaim their lost honor: the Peace Cleric of Umera, Bialwa Norgalt; the battlemaster Fighter Morgran Frostbeard-Axethrower; the Dark Dwarf swarmkeeper Ranger Wurgym Caurakril; and the seven-foot Warforged berserker Barbarian Lazarus of Khazalet.
The four met with Yannick Azizi at the Roc's Nest, who provided a contract and the layout of his offer. Excited to kill orcs and reclaim lost honor, they accepted the quest, and were given a Map of Stone Tooth's general geography before being sent on their charge. On foot, they traveled nearly two days north to the Forest of Stone Tooth, finding footprints of orc bandits on their journey. Wurgym set a hunting trap right in the middle of the trail, just to maybe fuck with them, and they continued another day as the hills in the forest rose.
Near the mountain, the dwarves found a second cliff with large amounts of smoke rising from a natural hole. They opted to not investigate further and instead made their way up the Stone Tooth via the pathway leading to the dwarf-door of Khundrukar. There, two orc guards spotted them and alerted other orc occupiers with horns; they attempted to escape, but Lazarus and Wurgym cut them down. The dwarves dodged arrows being shot from high arrow-slits as they burst through the door, and found a rope bridge placed over a yawning chasm.
Bialwa tried to cross, clutching her Holy Symbol for good luck, but was nearly sent to her death as two orcs emerged from the other side and launched javelins at her. As this occurred, Wurgym found a hidden door with an orc waiting on the other side, and used his insect swarm to deposit the brute into the chasm below. Lazarus and Morgran killed the javelin-throwers by launching their javelins right back at them, and all went to cross to the other side.
However, this set up a surprise ambush: there was a second hidden door in this room, and the archers who had peppered them with arrows waited until all had crossed the bridge except Lazarus. As he crossed, they burst out and cut two of the three ropes holding together the bridge; as Lazarus fell, Wurgym carried him across to safety with his swarm. There, the warforged took on three orcs as the party supported him from the other cliff, and came out the victor.
They crossed the bridge and found a roughshod living space in an unfinished area of Khundrukar, where two commoners named Geradil and Courana Uvan had been captured behind a wooden door. Not skilled in lockpicking and not wanting to make noise, the party opted to rescue them later, and rested back in the cavern with the rope bridge, barring the door with Lazarus's massive frame.
They sent Morgran to investigate the second secret door, and the mountain dwarf found within the hallway an old secret connection long ago built by dwarves. The orcs did not know about this secret door, which connected to a barracks; four orcs were discussing the invasion, and how their leader Great Ulfa had dispatched an ambush further ahead. The party took them by surprise, killing all four before they could even grab their weapons; they then took a moment to discuss their plan of attack.