The Gnome Remembers and the Half-elf Will Never Forget

After being attacked by mushrooms, Mudd getting high, and Keiko getting dumb, it was time to get out of the caverns. Bamur was certain his dwarven ancestry would make it easy to find the way out. After a while, it was clear they were lost. Mudhat insisted he knew the way, but nobody would listen to him except Mudd. The gnome walked alongside Mudd, and lead them all to the firepit area to rest. When she awoke, Carafindriel was surprised to see Mudd waiting for her. He wanted to learn how to read. She was glad to teach him, but needed to figure out how to do it. Everyone was ready to get out of the cave and agreed the way out was through the large room of crystals.
Carafindriel saw a large sinkhole. She figured she might find some treasure by searching it. Bamur found a door-like hole cut into the cave wall, and he followed it to a pile of rocks that had been intentionally placed to block the passage. He shifted the stones out of the way. Liliput had gone to the furthest edge of the cave, and found two pathways leading up. Keiko had vanished mysteriously. Mudd did not race off as quickly as the others, and began gathering crystals. Mudhat stood by and watched what everyone was doing.
Bamur called out to Liliput that he had found an exit. When she ran to join him, they discovered a pile of bones so big that it nearly blocked the entire tunnel. As they moved forward to clear the way, a swarm of giant rats attacked them. They cut them down as fast as they could, but were soon completely surrounded. Liliput put away her axe and used her net to sweep up 7 rats at once. She swung the net around in a wide arc and slammed it into the wall, instantly killing 3 of the rats. The remaining rats tried to escape, but before they had a chance, she smashed them all into a wall. The sound of crushing bone, and the end of any struggle made it clear 4 more rats were dead.
Cara had moved to the edge of a large pool she found in the sinkhole. As she stepped in, she disturbed a water elemental. Within moments, it had surrounded her and she was drowning. She fell to the ground, apparently dead. Mudd heard the commotion, and dropped down the hole in time to see Cara get overwhelmed. Mudd wrenched Cara free from the water, but was engulfed himself. It seemed like Mudd would fall too, until bolts of lightning illuminated the cavern and hit the water elemental. Mudhat had jumped down the hole. His memory had started to come back. Mudd broke free and stabilized Cara. He pulled her up out of the hole. Mudhat received a vicious attack from the monster, but answered it by casting Ray of Frost, which slowed it down just enough for Mudd to reach him and hoist him out of the hole as well.
After several hours, Cara regained consciousness. She hugged Mudd and scrawled “THANKS” on the cave wall. He had nearly lost his own life in the effort to save hers. She would never forget that act. She looked at Mudhat with renewed curiosity, and thanked him as well.
Mudd had seen something at the bottom of the sinkhole. Mudhat had seen it too. It was a dragon. Whether it was a living creature, or merely a statue, they could not tell. Nobody was quite sure what to do about it.