After destroying the stela that housed whatever spirit haunted the mine, the group returned to the Hexperiment to regroup. While there, Bard Pedro convinced Lt. Dab to slip one of his weapons into the Hexperiment Enchantment Queue (HEQ).
Resting and waiting for the enchanted weapon to return, the party met Cecila Heartbreaker, a dwarf sent out by her clan to scout potential mining sites. Cecilia was following rumors she had heard about an untapped mine somewhere in Stonehell, and after Lt. Dab introduced them, the party agreed to take her to the mine they had just left.
On the way, they investigated further into the multicolored, glowing room just south of the stairs leading down to the mine level from the hexperiment level. The portraits on the wall, portraying powerful Ancients who seemed to have grey skin, are fused to the walls of the hemispherical room, which is woven with complex magic. Just past that room they found a doorway which seemed to be protected with magic, but they were not able to learn more.
Leaving behind the portrait room, they descended to the mine level, where Cecilia immediately sniffed out the nearby pools of water in what had been the lair of Night Song, the black dragon. Soon after arriving in the mine, they located a promising vein of iron, at least a month’s work. Continuing to explore the mine, they followed a cart track back to the chamber where the party had fought a large group of undead recently (or hundreds of years ago).
At a four-way intersection, they heard movement off to their right and went to investigate. They followed the noise to another intersection, where six Vrilya were camouflaging themselves against the rock. A combat followed. The Vrilya were able to seal off the exits by causing the rock to grow over them, and simple phased in and out of the rock to get around the wall of thorns Cecilia summoned. Cecilia had drawn on power beyond her means to do this, and eventually passed out. It was a close fight, but once four of the Vrilya went down, the remaining two escaped into the surrounding stone.
Bard used a shatter spell to break open one of the tunnels while Sai stripped the Vrilya of their strange, tight-fitting clothes made of a durable, stretchy material. They once again returned to the Hexperiment to lick their wounds.