Ambush in the Stone Corridor

The party surprised a trio of dwarven mercenaries guarding a narrow tunnel where the clan's trade route squeezes through a vein of iron. After a brief, brutal exchange the mercenaries fell among overturned crates and a scatter of spent coal. Their gear is practical and well made rather than lavish: serviceable weapons and armor, a smith's kit, a few gems and a worn signet ring indicating the mercenaries answered to a minor dwarven house. A single red vial and an uncanny rune-whetstone suggest they were paid for more than muscle alone. The loot reflects a competent, semi-official force: good equipment that a crafter or fence will pay well for, and one unusual item likely tied to dwarven forge-craft that will interest artificers or clan forges.