Back in Nashkel: Edwin leaves in a hurryThe group, currently composed of Sealia, Imoen, Khalid, Jaheira, Minsc, Dynaheir and Garrick returned to Nashkel. On their way there they found a slaughtered caravan on the mountain road. The reason turned out to be the commander of Nashkel town guard, who had been missing for some time. Turns out someone sold him a cursed berserking sword.
He spoke in riddles and enraged unless given the right answer. Since Sealia got it right on the second attempt, she only got him a moment of clarity - which she used to free him from the cursed sword by lopping his right hand off. She then got both him and the blade to the local temple.
Back in Nashkel the party met Edwin and it turned out it was Dynaheir he had wanted killed. Edwin was last seen with expeditious retreat on and his robes pulled up around his knees, running through the town with angry sword-swinging Minsc close behind.
After arriving Sealia learned that there was a circus in town, but expressed no interest in visiting. Oh well, no Branwen for her.
Also after spending a week in the forests and mountains Garrick decided that he has enough country adventuring and would rather be back to his own element of wooing the ladies in the city.
Druids know Sun Tzu Having cleared all the distractions, Sealia finally got to the problem of what was plaguing Nashkel mines. While she was absent, Xzar, Montaron and Kagain diagnosed the problem - they descened into the mines and found some kobold tunnels there - they were still curing the burns they got while trying to fight kobolds in kobold-sized tunnels. (because why would kobolds dig human-sized tunnels?
) It looked like the creatures would be very tough to fight on their territory.
So Sealia decided not to.
She asked anyone who seemed to have any knowledge what they can tell her about kobolds and after learning how much they hate gnomes, she paid the local stonework craftsman to build a small shrine to Garl Glittergold on the mountain side outside town. She reasoned that if the kobolds were bold enough to attack miners, they'd be tempted to vandalize the shrine (and since there were rumors of them appearing in town too, there must have been an exit from their tunnels that didn't involve the mines)
She was right and one ambush later (which involved Montaron pretending to be a gnome priest, much to his annoyance) , the party tailed the survivors to find a second entrance to the kobolds' base. Since this one was a natural cave entrance, it was a more direct route and while obviously defended, not nearly as bad to face as the cramped tunnels. The tribe retreated deeper underground after taking heavy losses, leaving the party to deal with the man behind the whole problem - a half orc priest of Ciric named Mulahai and his undead bodyguards. After a fight that mostly involved fumbling in the dark the priest was killed, his minions destroyed and some evidence recovered - there were vials of chemical compound used to contaminate the ore, as well as a letter from Tazok, accusing Mulahai of incompetence and naming an agent he could use to send some messages back if he survives the inevitable adventurers he must have brought upon his head.
There was also a captive there, a perpetually depressed elven enchanter named
Xan. After talking to him, Sealia decided to just let him go - since the misfortunes that kept plaguing him were obviously the result of his attitude, there was no point keeping him around.