The Great Escape

I was rounded up and sent to the mines with a bunch of other people from the area when the overseers ran out of bodies. Going to the mines is almost always a death sentence. Taking a couple of days to understand who I was chained with then I waited for my opportunity. My opportunity came when one of the other miners discovers a gold nugget pulling two of the guards over to inspect and harass that miner. Pretending that I also found something it pulled the remaining single guard over two me. Taking the opportunity the three men with mw jumped the guard and we subdued the three guards in under twelve seconds. Unfortunately something happened and a cave-in occurred at that moment dropping all of us into a deep subterrain cave system. We were lucky enough to retrieve the keys to our leg chains and free ourselves. Taking the guards few weapons we made off in the hope of finding a way out and our freedom.
 
It took most of a day wandering in the caves away from where we dropped in before we found a possible way out. It appeared to be a worked stone shaft leading down that had been filled in. While the members of out little troop that could cast spells slept the warriors worked to gather edible mushrooms and clear the mine shaft. After almost ten hours and a lot of worry about being found we cleared the shaft and moved down into an underground structure. The structure appeared to be of dwarven make and appeared to be a simple mining operation. Exploring the structure we continued to run into Giant rats that had taken over the structure and lived off of the giant insects and mushrooms. Only the weapons we had taken from the guards allowed us to survive. After exploring the structure the only way we found that lead anywhere was a staircase leading down. Having little option we heading further down into the dark.
 
Heading down, the stairs opened into a much nicer area that appeared to be more of a living area and structure. Searching this are we continued to run into the Giant rats as well as Giant spiders. During our exploration of this layer we discovered an old armory that had broken armor and weapons. Unfortunately the equipment was not in a usable shape when we discover them. The clerics with us said they could mend the equipment but we needed a safe area and almost half a day. As we had been traveling, fighting and exploring for almost a full day again we began looking for an area to rest. Our goblin guards also caught up to us at this point and after a brief skirmish where we killed a member of their squad they retreated faster than we could catch them. As we continued to explore this level we we discovered an old temple with a secret room. In the secret room was a statue of a Dwarven worker with a Warhammer. We decided to rest here and recover, heal and prepare for the next day. The clerics in the group were able to mend the equipment after our rest giving us a much better chance to escape this place.
 
We had explored this entire level and once again there was only one way out a set of stairs leading down into the dark. Taking the stairs we continued down and into another living area. Exploring this level we discovered a kitchen with items still there. We took what we could use and moved on. As we were continuing through the structure we would come to the occasion door that was not decayed and on this occasion the man with us that new how to open locks was inspecting the door when he heard something on the other side. Expecting another fight with Giant rats we prepared and he opened the door. Instead of Giant rats there were rat men in the room. They yelled out to us "Go". Alar responded with "Go Where" hoping to be pointed to a way out but instead they shot him with crossbows. Most of the group charged into the room and engaged the ratmen while the only woman in the party and myself watched the rear where we were being pursued by goblins. Before we knew it the ratmen had used a side passage to flank the group and get between me and the rest of the group. At this point we were outnumber almost 2 to 1. Luckily we were able to overcome their number gaining a windfall of equipment. Finally we were able to fully equip everyone in the group with weapons and basic armor. As we continued to explore this level we came across another area that had a religious connotation. Moving through this area we came across a status of a Dwarven Goddess with words on the wall stating that she would be ready for battle when finally armed. After the wizard read that message we were attached by a demon. We were able to kill what we thought was a demon but turned out to be a hobgoblin from the secret police known as the Iron Claw.
 
After weathering this storm we are now discussing going back for the Warhammer to equip the Dwarven Status and pray the prophecy comes true to help our world.