Resting at the stairs in the sinkhole, the dwarves noticed that the waterfall above pooled, providing a home for blind cavefish and crustaceans. The two rooms next to them were bereft of goods, save piles of spoiled food not taken in the orc's intial raid. In the storeroom, a hidden and hungry Grey Ooze attacked Morgran, and it rusted her axe and armor before being quickly dispatched by the group.
Across a roaring river, there was another storeroom that had clearly been flooded long ago. The water inside was malodorous and disease-ridden, but Lazarus was immune, so waded through. Inside, he found a submerged, semi-working "dwarforged": the body of Lazarus of Khundrukar was not working, but Mk. I's head certainly was, and clearly feared his brother as an enemy. Mk. I had slayed an orc as his body gave out, and had been left rotting for over a hundred years. Though his programming lacked sophistication, Mk. II couldn't help but think of this Lazarus as his brother, so popped his head off to take with him. He also looted the rotten pouch of the orc that Mk. I had killed, which contained a Potion of Invisibility and Potion of Water Breathing.
They continued, and Wugrym noticed a flopping fish by a stalagmite on the side of the embankment. Though concerned, the party disregard it and moved onward, but were ambushed from behind by a Roper! An extremely fraught fight began, as the roper pulled everyone in with tendrils and began munching on Lazarus. During the fray, Morgran was launched into the river, and was nearly swept away in an underground tunnel before just managing to rescue herself. Eventually, after many ineffective axe swings and sword slashes, Bialwa was able to bring the roper down with magical necrotic energy, avoiding a TPK. Lazarus dug into the the roper's body; undigested alongside past adventurers was a handful of precious gems and a Ring of Spell Storing. Wurgym resized himself and acted as a bridge for the party to safely re-cross the river they had been pulled across, and the party continued into an old jail cell.
Inside was an imprisoned body of one of Durgeddin's generals, who had secretly kept the key to the Foundry under her rusted armor. Wurgym found the key to the cell under a pile of debris, and Bialwa fished out the great stone key. The party took 16 hours to rest as Bialwa piled spells into their new ring, and Lazarus noticed a large scaly black creature swimming upriver. Mk. I confirmed that he had heard the creature semi-regularly in the past few years, occasionally splashing the water and dining on fish. Wurgym decided to keep Lazarus Mk. 1 on his head like an ushanka, keeping him in place using his swarm.
As they left the sinkhole, the dwarforged remarked that he was forged by Durgeddin but was actually given life by Durgeddin's trusted advisor, Arundil Dhaldohr. Moving into the Glitterhame, the dwarves prepared an ambush based on what Morgran had seen the day prior. A massive Grick and its child posed as boulders waiting for them, and the party decided to send Lazarus in as bait before descending on the monstrosities. Though Lily the lizard was nearly killed, the party slayed the gricks, and followed the fleeing child up into its grotto to kill it. Atop the high cavern, Wurgym found the scattered remains of a previous adventurer, and took his scale mail and loose coins after murdering the child.
Bialwa used the iron key and opened the magic door with ease. She followed the steps into an octagonal chamber, watched by three bronze statues. From somewhere in the distance, the dwarves heard the faint ringing of hammer on anvil.