As Wurgym called for the party to advance into the Glitterhame, Lazarus scoped out his route alone, and noticed that a chameleon-like humanoid was clearly attempting to hide from him. He shouted "you're not a dwarf!" and the Troglodyte lunged at him, while its partner also revealed itself. The troglodyte opened a door containing a frenzied Owlbear, and all three descended on the barbarian. Thankfully, his friends were able to catch up, and Morgran charmed the owlbear into not participating. They finished off the "stinkmeat" as the owlbear ran down a tunnel leading to the outside world, which Bialwa identified as being the tunnel dug by orcs during the Smith's War.
Absolutely battered and out of magic, they decided to take a long, undisturbed rest behind the cage door, which cordoned off a natural grotto. As they did so, they reflected oin their experiences, each feeling stronger than when they entered Khundrukar. Night turned into day, and they ventured further, finding a small cavern blanketed by Yellow Mold. Wurgym recognized that the golden covering would shoot fatal spores if disturbed, but two dead bodies rested in the cavern, and the dwarves were curious. Smart enough to not enter, they used a combination of a torch and mage hand, which burned the spitting mold and provided a path. The skeletons of a human and dwarf bore a silvered helmet and an enhanced longsword forged by Durgeddin, which Lazarus decided to wield proudly.
Far down the Glitterhame, past the semiprecious stones and multitude of edible fungus, was a set of stairs. However, Morgran spotted two Grick waiting in ambush along the path, posing as boulders. Before confronting this threat, they decided it prudent to see if more magical weapons were available. Up the cliffside to the sepulchers, and raided a few tombs, which possessed no magical weapons but still contained valuable treasure. By the sepulchers was a rock wall keeping in water from a cave on the other side. Lazarus and Morgran made quick work of the wall, and they entered a massive cavern connected by the same stream Bialwa had tumbled down. Lazarus noticed the stench of two nearby troglodytes waiting in the stream and prevented an ambush; but when he went to attack, his grip was loose on Durgeddin's sword, and nearly lost it in the water. The party easily dispatched the horrible cave-dwellers as Lazarus launched himself downstream to recover the blade.
After recovering the weapon, the party went up to a barrier of mud and wattle, reeking of stinkmeat. Bialwa blessed the party with divine magic and they attempted to ambush the troglodyte warren, but found the grotto was longer than expected; ten troglodyte warriors were occupying it. They jumped to their feet and surrounded Lazarus in the middle, who refused to stop attacking recklessly; Wurgym temporarily slowed them with a swarm of spiders, but the enemy began to overwhelm the exposed warforged.
As this happened, a barrier to the north was removed, and the fearsome chieftain Kaarghaz emerged. Significantly larger than the rest of his tribe and possessing powerful sorcerous abilities, he moved to defend his people. Morgran ran up to him and killed him in a single turn. Behind Kaarghaz's body, a terrified Giant Lizard adorned with a saddle went to attack the battlemaster, but she successfully intimidated the beast into backing down before charming her with animal friendship. Morgran emerged from the antechamber riding atop "Lily", who could move along walls, and the group dispatched the last of the troglodyte adults.
Wurgym ran further in, and found a dozen terrified troglodyte hatchlings hiding in a corner. Not expecting children, Morgran careened from her highest high straight into a state of near-psychosis, as horrible memories from her childhood came flooding back. Bialwa went to comfort her, mostly by preventing Lazarus from attempting to comfort her, and Wurgym tried to solve the problem of the hatchlings by leading them to the stream with food. The hatchlings did not seem to be hungry after watching the murder of their parents, however, and the party let them be, moving on down the stream.
There, an antechamber contained a chained but fierce subterranean giant lizard, clearly brought by the troglodytes from the Underdark. Morgran used magic to convince the lizard to not attack as she approached, and opened what the it was guarding: two chests with a massive amount of silver, a potion of climbing, and a Potion of Water Breathing. They distributed these treasures along the party before heading further along the river, which dropped precipitously to the next level. Nearby were a set of stairs leading down; the party followed these dwarven-made steps down into the sinkhole. Wurgym ascertained that humanoids had not been here in many years, and the party rested at the base of the stairs with their giant lizard companion.