The Map

I've been thinking about the map. Part of me wants to use it as another distraction from the main story line. The trouble with that is I don't have any reason for it, or any location. It would mean building another side trek. Mines have been covered, goblin lairs, dungeons and tunnels... I'm not sure what might be interesting without feeling repetitive. It's starting to feel like the time has come to start advancing the main story toward the dragon. Of course, the party is still well downriver from the lair, and there will be plenty of encounter opportunities along the way.
Frankly, that itself is daunting. There is still a long way to go, but there should be a strong connecting theme as that story develops. From this point, the journey moves back into more civilized territory. I suppose that is a good thing. There is a chance to put off the dragon story until they actually reach the town. That area is threatened and more insistent on action. The farms and small settlements between here and there are more concerned with banditry and lawlessness.
The map fits better as something connected with the dragon lair. The significance of it is beyond the players' ken until they get past Aron's Bowl and begin the trip through the fens into the dragon's sphere of influence. I think a nice side trek after the town to some magical tower would be best. That can reveal the meaning of the map.
That means the trip from Faring Ford to Aron's Bowl is a separate set of adventure opportunities that are still preludes to the main dragon line. There can be another one or two flybys along the way. That will heighten the danger and sense of urgency. It also gives a couple of opportunities to assess the capabilities of the dragon in order to better prepare for a final confrontations. We can explore some of its strengths and weaknesses, highlight its ability to fly, breathe, cause fear... I like that.
The next question, though, gets back to more pertinent concerns. This section of river. We're here, we're crossing this part of the country, this is what matters. This is what I'm blank on. It might be interesting to explore more political aspects of adventuring, like the bandits and guardsmen. It isn't new, but maybe there's a chance to introduce some fun elements and alliances to spice things up.
I wonder if some geography changes might help. I'm thinking of creating a small lake around the drop from Aron's Bowl to the plain below. There could be two distinct geographical areas as well, Upper and Lower Aron, one home to small farms and a growing population, the other more barren and hardscrabble. Upper Aron is the old settlement, the original congregation of miners and explorers. The Upper Valley is full of hot springs and sulfur pools, the cold of the north beaten back by the thermal heat. The valley has become baked and desert-like with the growing power of the volcano and dragon.
The Lower Valley is more suitable to agriculture, and has begun to expand with small farms. These supply much of the food needs of the entire Bowl. It also has started to draw the attention of the wild denizens of the mountains and the wild men of the mountains and mines.

Onward

After cleansing the haunted grotto, and removing the treasure from the hidden cave, the party returns to the shrine to report back to Carina. She listens as you describe your experience in the caves, then excuses herself to go with two of her acolytes to start preparations for the ceremony she need to perform in order to bless the location and purify it for Lathander's use.

After 15 minutes away, she will return to speak with you. "We promised to visit the town in order to heal their hurts... we should get underway before nightfall." If questioned, she will relay that there is an involved preparation to follow in order to perform the blessing ritual in the caverns. The acolytes have begun getting things ready, and since the undead have been laid to rest, there will be no danger to the shrine in her absence. Her kit bag has been prepared, so that she can leave within minutes if you are ready to go. Laramie offers to remain with the acolytes in order to keep the shrine protected from more mundane threats. Eric will protect Carina during the return to town, and escort her back following the visit.

The trip back to town will pass without incident. Once you have returned, Carina will introduce herself to the town leaders, and proceed to use an array of spells, potions and her staff to soothe injuries and heal any lingering wounds. You notice she moves with quiet confidence, and though she rarely speaks, her presence seems to reassure everyone she talks to.

Most of the town comes to visit her for some curative. While she tends to their needs, you feel inclined to call it a day, and get a long rest. In the morning, when you awake, the town is once again quiet and still, with the only activity happening around the docks as they prepare to receive a ship later in the morning. Carina is exhausted after her previous evening's endeavor, and stays asleep until the day is half over.

After waking and joining you for lunch, she will assure you that the entire town is now healed, and that she must return to the shrine. There is a ritual awaiting her attention that she needs to return and perform. Before she goes, she asks if any of you need healing. She has limited resources left available to her at the moment, but will do what she can. Her staff of healing is fully charged.

It is time to put the town behind you after talking with Carina. You can begin journeying upriver by foot, or wait until afternoon to catch the return boat upriver.

Haunted Grotto

This is a terrifying location that the priests and acolytes fear to enter. Located at the back of the small plateau that houses the hidden shrine of Lathander, the entrance to the caves is through a narrow fissure that cuts into the hillside. Twenty feet high at the face of the cliff, the fissure narrows to about 5 feet high as it runs deeper into the hillside. When it opens out near chamber 1, the roof rises back to around ten feet high.
These connected chambers appear to be part of a natural cave that eroded from runoff down the cliff face. They appear to have been hewn into rough-walled chambers from their modest beginnings.
There are six areas of interest in the system, with the first containing a Banshee. The Banshee likes to venture forth at night to wail across the valley below, gliding down to seek victims on the river and road below. The shrine is galling to her, but has enough protective wards to keep her from entering it. She does like to stand in the fissure and scream through the darkest parts of the night to taunt the priests and give them restless dreams.
Most of the other chambers are inhabited by ghouls and ghasts, with 4 ghouls in room 2, 2 of each in room 3, and 2 ghouls in room 4. They love to keep to the shadows and spring out from their darkened corners to incapacitate and overwhelm explorers. The creatures in rooms 3 and 4 will converge on any party regardless of which room is entered first, attempting to flank and surround them.
Room 5 is protected from view by an illusory wall (perception DC 20 to notice). There is a flaming skull that shuffles from the tunnel to room six when anyone gets near area 5. Another waits at the entrance to area 6, which also holds a poltergeist (specter). The poltergeist has no understanding of why it haunts this place, but was probably the being responsible for creating the flaming skulls and setting them to guard area 5. It will be drawn to any signs of a skirmish in the caves, joining any ongoing fight after 5 rounds to violently shove individuals and make it presence felt.
The flaming skulls have been set to guard area 5, which is a concealed chamber hidden behind an illusionary wall. Inside the small room are two battered and decaying wooden chests. If someone tries to lift one, it will crumble, setting off a poisoned needle trap in the lock mechanism. There is really no way to disable the trap, since any handling of the chests will cause them to disintegrate, setting off the mechanism. Any poison on the needles has dried out and become harmless, but setting them off will require a dexterity save (DC15) to avoid the needles, which cause 2d4 damage.
Inside the chests are 150 gp, 200 sp, a wand, three potions of healing (weakened from time to give 3 hp when drunk), four parchment scrolls rolled up in small metal spell tubes, and a map drawn in badly faded ink on a rolled up piece of leather. The map is in an archaic language that resembles dwarven, but is too faded to read without several hours of study (code for "I just thought of this and don't know what it is a map of").

Brief Thoughts

Why would a priest (presuming that is a cleric) need help from someone to face undead? The only reasons I can think of are that they are afraid to do so, that the undead are greater than they can handle, or that they don't have enough backup to finish the task.
Still, a random group of adventurers might not be any better suited for the job, other than the strength of numbers. I think a better solution is to make the priest a paladin rather than a cleric. They can still have access to the healing spells, but their ability to channel divinity against undead is less than that of the cleric. Coupled with only having a few low level acolytes for support, the paladin is ill-equipped to meet the challenge presented by any higher level undead. Perhaps it is just that they lack magical weapons, and have no way to harm the ethereal beings.
The only question is what form of undead should there be... I don't know yet. I wonder if it would work to have the grotto be the forgotten or destroyed shrine of an older god, with the spirits being some manifestation of the former priests. The order has long passed, but the undead linger and hold to their ancient belief. They must be destroyed and the site blessed by the messenger of Lathander to rid it of restless spirits and make it worthy of development by the faithful.

Let's Make a Deal...

The priest of the shrine is named Carina. She is interested to listen to your stories, and will extend any healing necessary prior to talking things over. After hearing your report of the situation in Faring Ford, particularly the devastation caused by the red dragon, she will agree to provide proper healing for the town.

During the conversation, she will raise a concern that has bothered the shrine since its construction, and ask for your help in taking care of the problem before you return to the town. She will show a growing reluctance to actually leave if the party won't assist the shrine with their problem.

In reality, Carina is not really inclined to withhold healing. She will speak with the acolytes and have one of them go immediately to the town with a sack full of healing potions. She will certainly go herself as well, but delays as long as necessary to persuade you to help her with the shrine's problem.

The problem is one of restless spirits. A previous outpost was built on this location centuries ago, but the building and all inhabitants were ransacked and destroyed. There is natural grotto at the back of the plateau with five rough cut rooms dug out of the hillside. The original purpose has been lost to the centuries, and none know the contents of the grotto, since none dare to enter. Carina would like you to clear the grotto of all supernatural spirits so they can properly bless the site and work on growing the shrine for Lathander. 

My thought here is a brief tomb encounter with several dangerous spirits. There can be treasure within that the party can have. I think a series of traps would also be nice. I'm a little worried that I'm throwing these ideas out and not developing them properly. I think the ideas are good, but I'm struggling to focus on them enough to work out proper details.

Facing the Dawn

Laramie will lead you the rest of the way to the shrine of Lathander in the morning. The journey will take about three hours, and rises along the exposed ridge for much of the way. Near the end of the journey, the trail ducks down through an overhanging shelf of rock, and there, under the shelter of the cliff face, a stairway is cut into the rock leading up.
The stairway is well concealed, and given that Laramie was following a trail that only he seemed to be able to see, you have no trouble understanding why the shrine is considered hidden.
The stairway comes out 100 feet up the cliffside on a small plateau, with the bare cliff wall rising up behind it for another 100 feet at least. There, seeming to hang off the front edge of the plateau is a simple building 70 feet wide. There is a stone porch before double doors leading inside. The ground seems to disappear before the front edge of the shrine, with part of the shrine hanging out over open space. Laramie explains it was built at the edge of the plateau, with the underside positioned to blend into the cliff face so that it is unnoticeable from below.
Inside, there is a broad alcove that stretches the width of the building, with a semi-circular wall. A door in the center of the far wall opens onto a portico that looks directly east toward the rising sun. The portico is open to the sky, forward of the line of statues. There are three priests on the premises, two acolytes and a full priest. The acolytes are in the foyer to greet you when you arrive. The priest is in the chamber to the left of the portico entry.
Laramie is known to them all, and they will invite him to take rest in the other chamber, extending the invitation to you as a courtesy to him. They seem friendly and willing to trust you, but they are also protective of their shrine and its concealed nature. Once you have all rested and eaten, once you have all been healed and cured, the priest will join you for conversation.

Tested

During the night (pick a watch, any watch) have the character on watch make a perception check DC20 to notice movement in the woods around the campsite, just beyond the reach of the light.
Lurking in the shadows are four brown bears and a werebear. Lured from their caves in the forest by the flickering light and the smell of fresh bodies, the bears have come to rummage what they can. The lycanthrope has been shadowing the party off and on up the river, and has finally managed to catch them alone out of town.
I don't know who this is, or why they might be following the party, but I like the concept. Tracking them up the hillside, she was nearly betrayed by the arrival of the bears, but they seemed to cower before her and yield to her guidance. Quickly, they found the campsite and surrounded the party. If the watch notices the bears' movement, they forego stealth and charge.
If they go unnoticed, have them roll a stealth check against the watcher's passive perception to gain a surprise attack. For their surprise attack, the bears will charge recklessly into camp growling fiercely, targeting any sleeping adventurers. The she-bear lycanthrope will rise to her full health, howl in a great terrifying roar intending to intimidate the party members. Have them roll a DC13 wisdom save or be stunned for one round. Once they know the bears are present and attacking, they can not be intimidated in this fashion again.
Because of the power of the nearby shrine, allow anyone trying to calm or control the bears rather than slaughter them make their attacks or checks with advantage. As for the she-bear, give her vulnerability to radiant damage, due to the protection of Lathander. Eric and Laramie will largely ignore the brown bears to attack the werebear.
In the event anyone contracts lycanthropy, the priests at the shrine may be able to help with that. If you'd rather let it play out within the campaign, the symptoms might not present themselves until a later date.

Find the Way

Laramie leads the party into the trees on the western shore. He will lead you up into the hills with confidence as if following a well-marked trail, although nothing seems to be distinguishable to any of you. Eric will lag behind everyone, guarding the rear from attack. While leading you into the hills, Laramie remains silent. He will continue on silently until dusk, leading you deep into the woods, and high up above the river below. If anyone questions him during the journey, he will occasionally respond in short quips, but generally will ignore the questions and comments.
Eric, on the other hand, will reply almost automatically to anything spoken to Laramie, as if he were being spoken to directly. It is a well-conditioned state that has developed from the two of them adventuring over the years. Unnerving at first, it takes on a natural rhythm after even a short conversation.
As the light begins to fade, Laramie will turn and speak directly to the rest of the party. "We will need to camp nearby for the night. There is a small cave I know off the main trail that will just hold us all. Before the light is gone, we will make our way there. We should gather any fallen limbs we can as we go to use for a fire. There is not much to fear around here this time of year, but the bears are active at night, especially with this many new scents in the air. They may keep their distance, but we will need to be on guard."
With that, he turned and began leading them away from the "trail" he had been following toward a ridge several hundred yards away from the open hillside. The brush becomes difficult to move through, but with some determination, you are able to find your way to a small clearing and a partially concealed cave entrance part way up the ridge. Eric quickly ushers you all forward to the cave to settle in and unpack your supplies for the night, while Laramie takes the discarded firewood and begins setting a fire just in front of the entrance. Wilderness DC16 will notice signs of former fire pits and previous camping setups. This is a spot that has been used many times for the same purpose as tonight. There is a certain reassurance in this.
After the evening meal has been prepared and everyone settled for the night ahead, Laramie will open up at the campfire. If no one begins questioning him or speaking with him, he will speak softly of his own accord about the unveiling of Lathander's light. Something to the effect of "these times are dark, as many have foretold. But soon the day of the great unveiling will be at hand, and the light of a new dawn will shine on the north and warm its icy heart."
That ought to begin the conversation. At this stage, off the trail, fed, warm and prepared for the night, Laramie is more than willing to talk. He will answer carefully and thoughtfully, but without reservation. His earlier brusqueness was due to his concentration on tracking and following the trail.
Laramie's backstory is that of many refugees. A victim of tribal wars and his mixed race, he was cast aside by the society he was born into. Seeking to put it behind him, he went into the world to win renown as an adventurer. Over the years, he found his success and a certain stature, but felt haunted by a past that only stirred itself in his nightmares. He was fortunate in that he had never known any real terrors or atrocities as a young child, but the destitution of growing up on the streets continued to bother him.
One year, after a particularly brutal encounter that crushed half of his party, and left the remaining members struggling back toward town at night with dead bodies in tow, he became separated from them in a storm. Wandering for days he got completely lost in the mountains, until he stumbled into a burned out farmstead. Nearly famished, and beginning to hallucinate, he had still recognized the signs of a battle recently, and searched for survivors. He found one, bleeding and near death, lying in the road next to a burned wagon. He helped the man back into the house, and scavenged whatever foodstuffs and medicinal herbs he could find to nurse himself and the farmer back to full health.
After several days that turned into weeks when the victim recovered to find his caregiver at the brink of collapse from caring for him, the tables turned and the old farmer nursed Laramie back to health.
As it turned out, the old man was a cleric of Lathander who had retired to this farm to put his adventures behind him. They had instead tracked him down and nearly killed him. The experience was life changing for Laramie, and he devoted himself to becoming a paladin of Lathander, devoting himself to the protection of his new friend Carras and the order of Lathander.
Carras decided that such devotion deserved equal response, and decided to create a local holy order dedicated to the tenets of his god. Between them, they located and oversaw the building of a holy shrine to Lathander hidden among the pine forest on the eastern spur of Masantar mountain. Once they had found the location, Laramie began adventuring again, this time on his own, looking for worthy individuals to invite to the shrine for healing, service or guidance. After only a few months, he had found Eric, a fellow adventurer in crisis, and took him on as his squire, in effect.
Together they have been adventuring ever since.

Hidden Temple

First, a bit of revision to the flyby attack. Remembering that one of the PCs is wearing the Dragon Cult Necklace, the encounter could play out with a twist or two. We'll assume they haven't worked on unlocking any power that it has yet, so when they make their saving throw against the breath weapon of the dragon, use their result to reveal the ability it has of flight. If they succeed, they can suddenly soar out of the reach of the dragon, narrowly avoiding any damage. If they fail, have them mysteriously find themselves out of range taking partial damage.
One aspect of this change is that in the aftermath of the encounter, a new consideration of the necklace and its power would be kindled. This, coupled with the need for healing, prompts the townsfolk to suggest a journey to the Hidden Temple of Lathander. Located high in the mountains on the western shore, the temple faces east across the valley toward the rising sun. Given the remote area and imminent dangers from the wild villains, the temple is concealed for protection. The location is generally known, but no one seems to know exactly where the temple is. At least, no one openly admits it.
Upon returning to the inn to prepare for your journey into the hills looking for the temple, there is a tentative knock at the door. Turning, the party sees Eric, companion to the half-orc adventurer Laramie they met on their first trip through Faring Ford. He asks if you are planning to go out in search of the hidden temple. With any affirmation that you are, he will relay the message that his mentor sent him to you, and that he would like to speak with you before you leave. Laramie is preparing to leave town and waiting at or near the warehouse.
Laramie is a man of few words, who likes to keep to himself as much as possible. He is an adventurer, and has shied away from much contact with civilization. He feels misunderstood, and prefers to keep to himself. The consensus that all orcs are evil wears on his mind, and he has chosen a life in the path of Lathander as his calling. In truth, he is a paladin of Lathander, and part of the defenses they employ to keep their temple concealed. But, like a cloud before the sun, he understands the winds of change can clear the sky and let the sun shine through.
He offers to lead you to the temple. He tells you the priests are secretive and guard their secrets closely, but believes he can convince them to speak with you and together you can persuade them to take a more active role in the world around the valley.

Aside

Another weird work week interrupting my schedule. Therefore, this is only a brief observation. I looked through some notes and maps I've been sketching as I go, and started remembering details from the early days of doing this that had slipped my mind.
Yesterday I felt like a side trip to a hidden shrine or temple would be fun. It will give time to heal, and an opportunity to acquire other healing elements like scrolls and potions to take on the journey. With health issues in town, it was also a good opportunity to get some quick healing.
On reviewing my notes, I remembered the necklace that was found at the kobold shrine. The flyby is only meant to be a warning shot to refocus the adventure, so the necklace shouldn't be a temptation to fully engage the dragon, but its presence could certainly awaken the artifact. That would also tie in with a trip to the temple in order to unlock more aspects of its powers.
I need to go over all of it and figure something out. This is a new direction that just came to me.

Getting it Together

The dragon attack came suddenly, and it flew away as suddenly, leaving fire and destruction behind in its wake. In all likelihood, it also left more than a little blood, spilled by our worth adventurers and townsfolk. If the characters chose to attack the dragon while it was on the ground, they certainly could do that, but it would put them directly in harm's way.
In the aftermath of the attack, the town of Faring Ford is in peril. The warehouse, bar and other central buildings are on fire, and in danger of being consumed. Everyone still on their feet in the town will work quickly to put out the flames. Some dynamic for fighting fire needs to be inserted here.
With the fire under control, the reality that many people are hurt and in need of healing, the suggestion will come up that a trip to the hidden temple on the Tella river might be necessary to get assistance with the healing the town needs.

Flyby

Once the tower has been cleared out, the party will be ready for a new direction. The miners will request that they escort them to town for safety's sake. After so many months living underground in forced labor, they are desperate to get to civilization. Even after they get to town, at least half of them will feel the need to continue upriver to Aron's Bowl on the first boat, concerned that Faring Ford is too remote and unsettled to provide adequate safety.
The Hardys are in particularly bad shape, living a desperate existence cut off from any humans, and forced to fend off natural predators and scrape by on the little they could find. They will need to spend 2-3 days at the Whisper Inn to regain their strength before continuing on to Aron's Bowl. With no money on them, they need to trade on their position for credit. They need to get back on track with their mine quickly, so they ask for an escort to Aron's Bowl in order to hire new miners to come back with them to the mine. Most of their miners will return after a month or two, but they need some time away.
Granak managed to escape the destruction of his forces at the mine, and retreated to his own lair. There is a call from the townsfolk to track him down and take him to task. The barkeep Carson, and Callie the innkeeper offer 50 gp each to you if you'll bring him back to justice.
While the Hardys are recuperating, and the miners are taking to the boat headed upriver, a sudden chill takes hold for everyone in the town. The party is standing in front of the Whisper Inn. Aware of the utter silence that has taken over the morning, the entire party looks around to see what might be the cause of the unease. Have everyone make a Perception check DC20 to notice something moving high above the town.
With a sudden rush that catches everyone by surprise that didn't notice the movement in the clouds, a giant, red-scaled form swoops down out of the sky with a terrible roar breathing fire at the party and the Inn before flying back up into the clouds. The party must make a successful DC21 Dexterity ST or take 18d6 damage from the fiery breath. The dragon will sweep overhead several more times, staying well out of reach. After a few minutes (when its breath recharges), it will actually land on the town square, using its frightful presence on everyone within 120'. If anyone tries attacking it, it will speak before breathing again.
"You dare to oppose me! I have tolerated enough aggression from you vermin crawling over my valley. The time has come to remind you of what fear is, and where you can find it." With that, the dragon rises into the air and breaths again on the warehouse and dock, then soars up into the sky and heads south toward Aron's Bowl and its lair in the mountains beyond.
This brief encounter is worth 3600 xp (20% of the dragon's total), and may spur them to start moving back upriver more quickly. If they decide to go after Granak Smith that is fine, but they should follow that by continuing upriver.

The Tower

I haven't got a lot of inspiration left for this storyline, but I think there are interesting elements to an encounter with this site that make it worth touching on.

With the open balcony on the upper floor, it is possible for a party to use ropes and grappling equipment to climb directly to it (or fly, if possible). This could be done with some skill checks, Athletics/Acrobatics DC18. With some clever magic use (mage hand) the grappling hooks could be set in place with causing any real noise, allowing the characters to scale the ropes with a stealth check to go unnoticed. The orcs will have a patrol that sweeps the balcony once every hour, as well as the area under the tower down to the river. The patrol is very regular, and if the party waits at least two hours, they can recognize the routine and get a bonus. Given the difficulty of climbing in armor, especially while trying to remain quiet, the Stealth check would be made with disadvantage. If they wait at least two hours before trying, they can time their attempt to counter the drawbacks, and roll for Stealth normally. The check itself doesn't need to be difficult, say DC15.

From watching the patrol, the party knows there must be an entrance into the tower at either end of the balcony near the cliff face. Moving either way leaves them at a door into the central room. If they listen at the door, a Perception DC12 will hear muffled voices from the other side, but nothing clearly or nearby. These doors are not kept locked, since the orcs do not expect anyone to attempt entry from here. The door can be opened quietly, revealing an inner hallway 30 feet long with a door at either end, one leading into the cliffside, and one into the upper room.

Inside the upper floor of the tower, the orcs have set up their rudimentary offices. The floor has been curtained off into four chambers around a central square which houses a spiral staircase down to the first floor. Opening the door into the upper room reveals a hallway running to the central square with a doorway on either side. The voices appear to be coming from the doorway on the front of the building, and two clear voices from the open square at the stairway.

The two guards in the stairwell are the patrol that makes its way around the complex each hour. They can be heard talking about the number of orcs that entered the mine and haven't returned yet. They are wondering about what terror has awakened in the mine, and hoping that it does not find its way out. The voices inside the room are more heated. There are at least two that can be made out, one still fairly calm, speaking in a steady tone every so often. The other voice is shrill and harsh, and interrupts the first with louder outbreaks. Nothing seems to be making a sound through the other doorway leading toward the room near the cliff.

The room near the cliff holds five orcs, one of which is an orc war chief. They are asleep, and can be surprised if the party enters this room first. In the front room, the calm voice is that of another orc war chief, and the shrill voice that of an oni. There is also an Eye of Gruumsh in the room with them, quietly scribbling away at parchment on a small desk near the front of the cluttered room. The war chief is insisting that his orders are to hold and defend the tower, while the oni is insisting that the fight should be joined, that its abilities are being wasted scribbling spells and supply orders when there are infidels to scorch!

Moving On

I feel like there is still a lot that can be done in this setting, but it would be more of the same - winding tunnels, small rooms, scattered monsters... season to taste. To do it justice for me would mean sketching out a map for each of the levels, and filling it by sifting through the Monster Manual for anything interesting that might be found in the dark. A lot of work, in other words, and better worked out in a more stable, consistent fashion than this allows.
I'll try to get that done, and add it later, but for now it's better to move on. The natural step after this, to my mind, is to take the battle to Granak. The first step after getting the miners out of the mine (which likely means defeating the bulk of the orc tribe) is to rout them from the camp and tower. That presents an interesting encounter.
Set up as an office/living space for the Hardys, the tower wasn't really built for defensive purposes. It is built into the cliff, with parts of both floors dug out of the mountainside. The sections of the tower built out from the cliff are mostly open spaces, with an open air "porch" running around the outside of the second story [insert bad sketch here].

The door opens into a stairwell that winds up into the lower floor of the tower. There are five smaller rooms on this level, with a central staircase spiraling up to the upper level in the center of the tower. The upper floor was an open room with doors out to the walkway around its perimeter.
The orcs have made changes, cutting a number of rough rooms out of the cliff to use as lodgings and to stash their loot from raids. Granak tries to adopt a legitimacy with the mining setup, but the orcs still hold on to their raiding ways, pillaging at any opportunity they can. They stash their illicit gains in the hollowed out holes of the cliff.
Granak disapproves of this, but has chosen to turn a blind eye to it in order to keep the loyalty of the orcs to his interest.
He is more likely to visit this location and retreat to his own lair... somewhere else to visit soon.

Ruminations

The play in the mines can evolve in many ways depending on the characters' course of action. If the players launch a direct assault against the orcs, they can quickly clear out the two or three clusters of them in the chambers near the exit. At this point, they could either move into room 11, past room 7 or down to level two.
Room 7 and level 2 can give opportunities for raw, underground dungeon crawl situations. Maybe, past 7 leads to a monster infested section, even down to the second level for that. Going straight to level 2 from area 6 leads into the section being worked, so less direct threats, subtler enemies, and more treasure, although I think the storyline put forth yesterday that the miners would be intentionally directing the orcs away from mineral rich areas is likely. This area of the second level would be more about exploration and investigation than combat, with random wandering encounters. Another option that would fit nicely would be a heavily trapped area set up by the miners as they worked to try tipping the scales against the orcs.
I'm curious about areas 12-17... There isn't really a reason to head that direction. Once the guards at area 6 are dealt with, it seems likely the miners at area 11 would be encountered, and there would be no reason to continue into the mine. It becomes vital at this point to flood the mine with orcs and drive them deeper into its tunnels.
The trouble with that thought is that with the background I've sketched out, the miners would be inclined to go down through their new tunnel to level three to find the Hardys and work out an escape plan. I like that idea. The Hardys are on the lower level, and the party needs to find them and escape. The miners know their way around the mine, but don't know where the Hardys are. The Hardys use as much time as they can fully exploring the mine, and could be found in practically any location, as desired.
This is all great for exploring the lower levels, but doesn't address the original question in my mind... why would the party ever explore areas 12-17? I've got a germ of an idea to put orcs there, as a "freelance" mining area, a covert exploration by the tribe to line their individual pockets at the expense of Granak. It seems perfectly in line with orc mentality, selfish and duplicitous. It would also give a sense of danger to that direction that would affect the miners, and make them more likely to go down to level three and work their way out of the mine. It would also be a great way to have reinforcements arrive quickly, and in a surrounding fashion, increasing the sense of urgency for party and miners.
Another possibility would be that the orcs have brought something more terrifying with them, and let it loose in that section of the mine to keep any natural creatures at bay as well as corral the miners in their chamber. Both actually work together, I think, so that will be the way to go. Now, I'll just need to think of what that could be...

Continuing through the Mine

The orcs keep the prisoners housed in room 11, where they can restrict their movement. They keep sentries posted at area 6 to keep them contained. When they take them to dig, they bring in extra guards, escort the prisoners to area 7 to gather their equipment, then lead them down to the next level at area 6.
[Interlude: this adventure arc is causing me stress... for at least the third time, I've thought of a useful magic item to give the NPCs to use... and discovered there isn't such an item in the game. And it feels like such an interesting item. I may have to delve into magic item creation, which I'm not entirely comfortable doing.] It would be an interesting twist if the orcs took the prisoners to various locations based on what they learn from a wand of mineral detection Granak obtained at some point...
The orcs take the miners down into the mine to root out the precious metals in the tunnels below. The miners, better attuned to the process than the orcs, keep leading the orcs away from the richest veins and the tunnels where they're trying to make their escape.
The miners have been breaking tools to stash pieces they can use while "resting" to cut a small tunnel down through the column in room 11 to a lower level. The Hardy brothers have also cut a tunnel down to the next level. Their plan is to connect with the other miners and find a way to cut their way out. It is slow going, especially with the miners only able to work with broken parts. The miners have slowly cut a narrow passage down through the column, and just recently broken through into a lower level. They had to dig down two levels before breaking through, which took them many months of hard labor. They had to go slowly to advance without being detected, as well as to dispose of the dirt excavated.
The orcs feel overconfident in their superiority, and believe they have the miners securely within their clutches. An interesting angle would be for the party to overpower the guards, then have Granak unleash a mass of orcs to rout them. The party could connect with the miners, and rush down through the mine to find the Hardys and search for an escape, with the orcs hounding them at every turn.

Level One

Looking at the map started for level one of the mine, rooms 7, 8, and 9 are down an old end of the mine, part of the original vein. With much of that section of the mine played out, it has been abandoned and left to nature. The tunnels are coated in a thick layer of dust beyond where the three rooms are, and this spot would be the perfect one for an old school crawl-type series of encounters. The rooms themselves have become a depository for junk - tools, broken carts, broken picks and shovels, support braces, etc. Room 7 is used for storing the tools the miners are using currently. The orcs lead them here each morning to get their tools, then lead them to the current dig site. They won't let them keep the tools overnight for fear of their escape or using them as weapons.
Room 8 is used to dump any newly broken equipment, with room 9 lost to the ages... and spiders. Room 9 is full of junk and coated in dust, none of which is easy to spot through the webs. They are everywhere, covering all of the cast off tools of the mining trade, and strung from every corner. In the dark corners are four giant spiders who use their web sense to drop on victims. Room 8 is starting to get covered in webs, and houses a swarm of spiders, which can attack separately or in support of the giant spiders in the next room.
Room 10 feels like it should open to a special sequence. Part of the older section of the mine, the passage off room 10 was being revisited by the Hardy brothers as a new direction to dig. They realized that while it showed no more signs of gold, there were rich veins of some minerals running through some sections of the tunnels, which they hoped to mine. That was just before Granak attacked the mine. Rigging a quick trap, the brothers were able to partially collapse the tunnels leading to room 10. Unfortunately, they inadvertently trapped themselves inside. Believing them to be dead, Granak had left them to take over the rest of the mine. Trapped between the orcs and a dead end shaft, the brothers began the task of trying to tunnel their way out. They quickly developed a system to use with the other miners to pass information back and forth. The prisoners let them know that Granak wished they had survived so he could steal ownership of the mine from them, and decided to continue playing dead until they could all escape and bring justice to bear on Granak and his orc tribe.
The prisoners smuggled food to them, and the brothers suggested they all try to tunnel down to the next level and find a way out of the mine together. I need to give this a little more thought, but I think it is a good direction to take...

Brief Interlude

Work has interfered with my schedule. Just some brief thoughts in passing today. In a period of lucid dreaming (I think), I was picturing a valley with broad mountains stretching up out of it, covered in tall fir trees. The important point was that the hillsides were steep. It put it into my mind that even when encounters are placed in the mountains, it always seems to be easier to meet on flat ground.
Yet when moving uphill through mountains like these, the ground would rise steeply underfoot. This would complicate maneuvers on the battlefield. I think striking upwards could be managed without difficulty, but striking downhill would become more difficult. The tendency to pull up would mean attack rolls would be made with disadvantage.
The trouble here is that striking uphill would be easier to hit... someone's feet. They could dance away. Perhaps half cover and a +2 AC bonus for the uphill defendant, and disadvantage on AT made downhill. That seems reasonable.

Exploring Hardy Mine

I've expanded the map of the mine from yesterday. As a quick key, the numbers are for ease of reference, the green blocks mean the mine continues in those directions, and the purple squares are holes leading down to the next level. As you see, they are marked with a "D" for down, and the green square at the bottom has an "O" for opening, as in ...to the mine.
One further note of importance (2 actually), room 11 is where the miners are being held prisoner, and the purple block down to the next level is being secretly carved out of an existing column as a means of escape.
Yesterday, the party entered the mine and encountered a patrol at location 1. This opens some questions about life underground. If a battle makes a lot of noise, anyone nearby will hear it and come running. So once you enter the mine and start combat, you may not leave it until the mine is empty. This doesn't work logistically, and it would suck in game terms. The deus ex machina solution is to just treat each location individually and ignore the possibility of alerting adjacent opponents. This would work for game purposes, but is a little extreme and doesn't seem legitimate. Another similar option, or related option, is to assume that the map condenses locations for mapping purposes, and that greater distance lies between location. Again, this is manipulative and offends my sensibilities.
I'm going to take a creative leap off a different cliff, and go with this. These mines are somewhat rudimentary, cutting through raw earth with hand tools, supported with wooden beams. I'm saying they are more dirt than finished stone, that they weave and run off true from time to time, and that they end up muffling most of the noise anyone might generate. Obviously, we're charting this as wide enough for adventurers to move around freely and engage in combat, but these are mines, and not dwarven mines. Dwarven mines would be worked with greater precision and an aesthetic appeal missing from here.
For this mine, we're going with the premise that sound will be muffled enough not to attract everyone in the complex. Some of the areas are closer, and that won't always be true, but when the DM wishes to keep encounters separate, they have that option.
Going forward, I'll start adding details about the various areas. For now, room 4 is a storeroom and repository, room 5 is where the orc patrols and prison guards hunker down, and rooms 2 and 3 house leaders and serve as an "office" for the operation. As I mentioned above, the prisoners are kept in area 11, with a guard set in area 6 to keep them in their corner and watch the ladder down to level 2. They have a clever pit trap set up in the middle of that corridor, with wooden planks they can lay across when they want to go down.

Taking the Mine

As the characters approach the Hardy Mine, they see the stream they have been following leading further up into the mountain canyon. On the right of the stream a squat two story tower has been fitted against the side of the cliff. There is a flickering orange light coming from the upper windows of the tower, and smoke rising out of the same windows.
Across the stream on the left bank stands the longhouse and stable. The longhouse is belching smoke from its central vent, and a terrible odor flows down from the buildings that is almost palpable. Beyond the buildings lies the dark entrance into the mine itself. There is no sign of activity in the tower other than the firelight in the window. To the left, there is no obvious movement (DC20 Perception will notice two figures blending against the sides of the cliff on either side of the mine entrance, watching the buildings, the stream, and the slope you are approaching).
If the players notice the guards, they can conceal themselves before they are noticed. Any further advance must be made with stealth checks against the orcs' passive perception of 10. If they all try to cross the open space to the buildings at once, have them roll with disadvantage.
Crossing this way, they can reach the buildings. Peeking inside, fifteen orcs are sleeping inside the longhouse. If they wish to charge in, let them. If they prefer trying to get past the guards into the mine, allow them to make a surprise attack against them, then roll initiative. If they are able to defeat the two guards in one or two rounds, they will be able to slip inside without alerting any of the sleeping orcs.
Once inside, the party can take a short rest before continuing inside. As they move down the main corridor into the mine, have them roll perception checks. On a roll greater than 15, they will hear the voices of an orc patrol nearing the intersection ahead. This will let them stay out of sight and allow the patrol to pass without noticing them. If none of them roll high enough, they will meet each other at the intersection. The patrol consists of three orcs and one orc war chief.

Hardy Mine

Hardy Mine was a small operation opened by two brothers about 15 years ago. They were exploring a small canyon, chasing a bright little stream back to its source. As they climbed higher into the canyon, they noticed a cave opening set back to the left from the stream, and decided to investigate.
The cave turned out to be the den for a pair of wildcats that aggressively defended their territory. Both of the brothers were badly injured, but the successfully defeated their attackers. Resting in the shelter of the cave until their wounds fully recovered, they noticed that it had a narrow fissure leading further back into the hillside. Exploring as far back as they could fit into the fissure, they found a cache of diamonds in a leather pouch.
Once they recovered, they returned to town to make a claim on the cave location, and decided to excavate the fissure to look for more treasure. Instead, they found a nice vein of gold. They took on extra laborers and expanded the operation into a proper mine, ultimately with a crew of 18 workers, split into two shifts of nine each. They built up a three story tower across the stream from the mine entrance that they used as their home, and a pair of buildings next to the mine for the workers and their supplies.
There was one small stone building with stables attached for horses and storage. The second building was a longhouse built from fir trees cut from the forested slopes in the area. The long house was 20'x40' with a large central fire pit, and the nubs of a cross hall in the center of the length.
The mine eventually attracted the attention of Granak Smith and his tribe of orcs, who overran the area, killing several of the important miners and terrorizing the others into submission. They took over the tower for their own use, and use it as a sentry tower to guard the mine entrance and to keep the miners from escaping. Many of the 40+ orcs live in the longhouse.
They moved the miners into the mine, keeping them well back from the entrance. They also carved out several small rooms near the entrance to the mine which they use as guard posts and store rooms for weapons and treasure. They keep at least two orcs in each room, with a patrol of another 2 or 3 that make sure the miners stay deeper in the mine away from the exit.
This map shows the entrance to the mine (from the bottom of the image), with the guard rooms and store rooms near the entrance, then the beginnings of the mines and tunnels shown in the upper left. The corridors continue beyond what is shown. This is a starting point for the mine exploration.
Running this scenario depends on how it is started. The players may be grabbed by Granak and his followers, then brought to the mine to get locked inside. Then, they would have to fight their way out (ostensibly stripped of the weapons), or work with the miners to create a new exit location.
They might also be maneuvered into investigating the situation with the purpose of infiltrating and rescuing the miners. I think having them try to sneak in, with interrupted success, is a good way to go. That way, they can deal with the guards and patrols inside the mine openly, but have their escape blocked by the bulk of the tribal forces. This would force them into the mine to rescue the prisoners, and give them a reason to consider other options for getting back out.
The mine itself can stretch to great lengths, and will get further attention in future entries. I think I mentioned 5 levels to the mine, so there are many tunnels and chambers to explore, with varied creepy crawlies taking over in the dark.

The Orc Tribe

Granak was an orc with ambition. As a young man he went to Aron's Bowl to train as warrior. As an orc, he was met with distrust and revulsion, until he explained he was a half-orc, looking for his father. Then he was looked on with mild distrust and mild revulsion. He signed on with the town guard, and was put to work in the forge with the a one-legged dwarf named Gnarls. After three years learning to make swords and armor, he became disillusioned with the hope of ever being taken seriously as a soldier.
So, he went back to his tribe. Unfortunately, they cast him out as tainted with humanity. Adopting the surname Smith, he struck out on his own to ply his trade as an adventurer. Finally, he found a circle he could move through and be accepted on the basis of his intellect and ability. He continued in this vein for a number of years, accumulating a healthy stash of weapons and gold that he squirreled away in a private hideout he set up in an old abandoned mine.
Eventually, he grew disillusioned with the life of the adventurer, the prejudices against orcs in society, and the pretense he had to maintain to be accepted. Wondering where to go next in life, the party he was with got captured by orcs and taken prisoner. Recognizing one of the captors as a rousing, he was able to get released, and accepted into the tribe.
After a few more years, he sickened of the petty lifestyle of the orcs, and took off with 7 or 8 like-minded individuals. They set themselves up in his abandoned mine and started their own tribe. Combining a mix of adventuring panache with the brutal savagery of a tribal lifestyle, they started their mining enterprise, after a few months of raiding mining transports. They raided a small mine within 3 miles of their own, and killed the leaders, keeping several miners alive to continue running the mine.
Now, they've set their sights higher, going after the gnomes. Unfortunately, Granak Smith overestimated the abilities of his subordinates, and the plan faltered. His watchers know the PCs have thwarted his attempt, and he will target them. His first thought is to capture them and bring them to the working mine for interrogation.
Granak wisely kept his treasure and store of gear secret, even while basing his operation from his hideout. With the mine under his tribe's control, they have moved their lair into the working mine. Granak likes to spend time on his own in his own sanctuary. He doesn't allow visitors there generally, and has set up a number of traps to protect the entrance.

The Plot Thickens

Somewhere in the bowels of the mine, the moment arrives where, with or without the assistance of the gnomes, the party succeeds in defeating the orcs and freeing the prisoners. If they are still alive, that is.
Before the last of the orcs expire, they will spit at your feet and promise retribution against you for your crimes. "We are only the first snow in a long winter, your doom awaits you in these hills. Even now, forces are approaching that will crush your bones to dust!" (They were poetic orcs, apparently).
Semantics aside, they are part of a larger operation intent on using forced labor to become rich. This tribe of orcs, led by a half-educated former adventurer named Granak Smith, has decided the key to success is not in making your own way in the world, but in following the money. They have systematically been plundering other mining transports and shipments, bolstering their coffers and their ranks. Now, they have decided that ambushing and fighting is too dangerous, and that if they just took control of the mine, they could take all of the profit from it, while forcing the former owners and miners to do the actual work.
They entire tribe appreciated the simplicity of this approach. Very quickly, they struck out taking over a small mine. This success led them to take over a larger mine, one with 30 miners throughout a five level deep mine. This was also successful, but with the larger mine and the more prisoners, they also attracted greater attention. They insist their takeover was at the request of the owners, but since they killed them before the uproar, they have no way to prove their point.
Now, they have decided to kidnap the gnomes and force them to "sell" to them, but the PCs interrupted their plan. They are watching the mine, and will get word back to the main tribe about what happened, and more importantly, who was responsible for their loss. They will hound and attack the party.
The party doesn't know any of this backstory, but once the seed of revenge has been sown, they should have ample opportunity to learn the crux of these things, or at least rumors suggestive of them, from any miner encountered in the wild or back in town.
Assuming the gnomes survive, they will request an escort back into town to meet their employees, and to secure additional security. They may be interested in hiring the PCs to fill that role, even in a temporary capacity.
Talking with townsfolk will reveal that this has happened at other times, though not in town. Travel on any of the roads is risky without lots of support. Investigation checks around town (DC18) will be able to piece the whole story together, and give the name of the suspected leader and the larger mine they have taken - The Hardy Claim.
The Hardys started the mine about 20 years ago, and after 7 or 8 lean years, struck a deep vein of gold that kept playing out, allowing them to dig deeper and deeper, hiring more and more miners. It is still a smaller sized, personal stake mine. The general consensus is that the orcs took the mine by force, the Hardys are dead, and the miners forced to work under brutal conditions. Knowing and addressing are two different kettles, however, so the orcs have been able to continue in a mostly open way. The attack on the gnomes in town has put most of the townsfolk on edge, and given them a reason to ask you to deal with the orc tribe and the Hardy Claim.
They can give you a map showing the location of the claim's main entrance. It is located on a lone peak, smaller than many of the larger ones in the main mountain ridge behind it, about 5 miles from the gnomes' mine. If the PCs are able to roll a 25 on any of their Investigation checks, they can also learn of a secondary entrance to the mine on one of the lower levels. It is on the third level of the mine, and is partially flooded from a collapse near where a small stream flows out of the hillside. This is the better method to use for a stealthy incursion.

Gnomish Plots

As the PCs move through the mines battling the orcs, the gnomes are shuttled away to a "safe" area where they can be held. When the PCs take out the orcs on patrol, they can make stealth checks and perception checks to sneak up on the orcs in their safe area.
The gnomes will be waiting for some approach, so they can make perception checks to notice the PCs approach with advantage. If they detect their approach, they will seek to distract the orcs guarding them. They can play at some illness or accident in an attempt to bring them away from the entrance, or alert them to "a noise down yonder hall..." away from the party's approach. They can roll deception checks for success.
They will work at leading the orcs deeper into the mines, trying to spread them out thinner, and lead them further into the depths with promises of gold (deception or persuasion checks). The truth is that most of the tunnels in the mine, particularly the lower two levels, have not been mapped out fully since the gnomes purchased it. They will have to bluff if they get too specific in detail. On the other hand, since the mine has sat abandoned for over ten years, there is no telling what condition the mines or supports are in. And who knows what has crawled in to call this home...
Understanding all of this, the gnomes will try to keep leading their orc captors deeper into the mine, looking for a situation they can use to their advantage to escape. They will dangle the promise of gold and riches in front of the orcs to draw them deeper or to send them down any shaky passages.
This can be strung out as long as the DM wants to milk the possibilities. Unfortunately, short of doling out the gnomes as PCs, there won't be anyone actually playing them, but they might be able to drop something that clues the party into their plan, allowing them to shadow behind and pick their opening.

Exploring the Mines

All I have for this at the moment is an idea. Unfortunately, I'm caught with several, actually. Tracking the orcs to the mine is fine, as is chasing them through it. It felt as though yesterday's entry was just rushing the encounter to a conclusion - here's a rough sketch, make it as big or small as you like, and end it. I think a better approach is to think of that as an overview.
The other idea is to use the mine as an area for exploration. The sketch was fine for what it represents. I think of the mine as stretching out in all directions inside the mountain, running straight into it, right and left, and down to deeper levels. The sketch was done as a bare bones line drawing for that reason, to suggest direction and cross tunnels, without letting distance intrude.
I think it is time to flesh out this mine. I see three or four levels to the mine. This is a small mine that the gnomes have purchased, and the orcs have decided they want to profit from. To that end, the orcs have taken over the mine itself, and kidnapped the gnomes. The mine needs a backstory...
The mountains surrounding Aron's Bowl were discovered to be rich in gold, silver and other precious metals hundreds of years ago. They were opened and mined by dwarves, who became extremely wealthy and prosperous. This attracted other interests, mostly human, to the valley. The heyday of some of the greater mines has passed, but the best locations are still owned and managed by the dwarves and early human settlers.
Hoping to cash in on the possibility of riches, many flooded to the area looking for work, or open space to stake their own claim. Again, the best locations were already spoken for, and when the flow of gold slowed, the need for labor slowed as well. The valley of Aron's Bowl became a wild frontier, with too much gold, too many workers, and not enough work to keep them busy. Around this time, the dwarven king thought of a plan to siphon off the riffraff by selling claims downriver from the Bowl. Hinting that even greater riches might be found with enough searching, he parceled out claims to a number of "business interests" that quickly hired workers and went looking for gold.
The lower mountains turned out to have little gold in them, but no one got very upset once they learned the mountains were laced with other minerals and gems. A new rush sprang up, quickly organized and expanding out from the Bowl and river downstream. Within 10 years, the market dried up, as did many of the veins. Most of the mines and miners quit and went back downriver to head for the next big strike.
Two recent events have rekindled interest in this area. Earthquakes have exposed the entrance to a long lost underground complex, that many believe to be a fabled dwarven kingdom. They have also collapsed several cliff walls, revealing more untapped veins of silver and minerals. This has sparked a fervor among the residents still holding on in the valley, and caused many to return to the mines, stake new claims, and scoop up old claims, abandoned over time.
The gnomes researched a lot of the area and other mines, deciding in the end to purchase this one. They are confident that it lies near a rich vein of gold. They believe the original owner's mistake was in digging down into the earth, when the vein runs above their tunnels deeper inside the mountainside. The orcs are opportunists. They overheard the gnomes planning at some stage, and believing them to be a cunning and wise group of individuals, decided to kidnap them, take over the mine and recover the gold, somehow steal ownership along the way. To be honest, they didn't think it through very far. Just that the gnomes must be smart, so they kidnapped them to steal their gold.
The orcs don't know what the gnomes suspect about where the gold lies, so they plan to dig deeper until they find it. The gnomes will accept being prisoner and try to convince the orcs to exhaust themselves on false leads, until they give up or the gnomes learn how to escape. The party's arrival can have many wonderful impacts...

Orc Mine

The two orcs at the mine entrance disappear inside after an hour, with the sun finally setting behind the mountains to the west. After waiting another 10-15 minutes, the party can make their way to the entrance.
As they approach, they can see what the orcs have been working on. The entrance to the mine is boarded up, with broken tools and mining detritus scattered in front of it. A DC10 perception check coupled with what you witnessed earlier proves they were trying to mask the entrance to look deserted.
If anyone wishes to check for tracks or evidence of the gnomes, let them roll a survival check. With a roll better than 18 they notice a scrap of the gnomes' colorful clothing caught under a pile of scrap near the entrance. With a 15 or better they see evidence of at least 8 orcs passing through the entrance.
There is also evidence that the orcs have been using this entrance for several days at least. The characters can make perception checks to determine if there is any activity coming from the mine, but they don't notice anything. The party can enter if they wish. The mines are dark and unlit, and look as though they have barely been used in years, though there are a number of fresh tracks leading into the mine.
There is a sketch above with a general sense of the mines system. The box represents the entrance, and the lines just show the general track of the tunnels. They cut into the hillside in something of a maze, following the mineral veins. To use this as a map, assume there are small cutouts and chambers throughout the mine, as desired.
The orcs have taken the gnomes to their base of operations near the center of the sketch above. They will post an orc or two at the nearest intersection in any direction, with at least 4 orcs remaining with the prisoners in a small 20x20 chamber basically at the center of this drawing.
If the party explore the mines using a light source, the orcs will notice their approach before they are spotted, and wait in an alcove off the tunnel for the party to pass before jumping out with a yell that will bring allies from the other direction. The party can also encounter random monsters while exploring. I made this sketch vague to allow the mine to be as large or as small as desired, giving plenty of opportunity for underground encounters.
If you are looking for a more adventurous encounter, have the orcs notice the movement of the party and start out after them. It will turn into a giant cat and mouse chase around the mine, with the orcs moving as the players move. They could all make stealth checks against each other's passive perception to note movement of their opponents. Bad rolls can pick up on false directional information. I'd say if four party members rolled with some success and some failure, give the players conflicting directional information and let them decide what to believe. The catch is that you can't say "you rolled and 18 and hear this, while you rolled a 7 and heard this," or they'll know which one is right. Just say "you hear a noise, but disagree over where it came from."

Going to the Mines

Let's develop things on the assumption that the orcs made off with the gnomes, after a skirmish with you the night before. Unable to follow immediately, the party finished the night, healing and gathering their belongings. In the morning, they can speak with the townsfolk, learning that this is not an isolated incident. Other people passing through town have fallen prey to similar holdups and aggression.

With this in mind, the party sets out in the morning to follow the orcs and rescue the gnome prisoners. The orcs were hasty in their retreat, and with their prisoners in tow, unable to fully conceal their passage. With a successful survival check (DC10), the party can locate the trail of the orcs and follow it. Any subsequent survival checks higher than 5 have no trouble staying on the trail.

The orcs moved through a gully away from the inn, stopping about 300 yards away near a small pool and cluster of trees. A survival check DC16 will note evidence that the orcs rested here, and secured their prisoners. There is evidence of them being bound to a tree, and smaller discarded rope with the ends of a finer quality, heavier cord nearby. If the roll is greater than 20, they can determine the orcs rested here for ten minutes or so, binding their wounds and prisoners, then headed east toward the hills in the distance.

The trail runs away from the town along the side of the road for a mile or two, then climbs to the road and disappears. Their direction is clear, heading east toward the mines, but after several dozen yards, it is indistinguishable from the other tracks on the road. Ten to twelve miles into the hills, there is evidence of tracks leaving the main road, headed north toward a deep ravine cutting into the steep hillside. Studying the tracks shows six sets of prints headed toward the ravine (DC16 survival check will pick out the three orc tracks among the six).

After another three hours on the trail, the party find themselves at a corner looking up to a battered mine entrance cut into the mountain wall to their left. There are two orcs poised on either side of the door, having a conversation as they move wood and tools around. Have the characters roll a stealth check against the orcs passive perception to remain undetected.

With dusk settling, the characters can take cover and watch the entrance, waiting until dark.

Whisper Inn

Whisper Inn is a simple, wayside inn with a stable for horses, and several attached bedrooms. The layout is basic in that there is a large common room with an kitchen/pantry area and the innkeepers' private office. The bedrooms are separate from the main room, accessed from a partial courtyard behind the inn. There is a well and an outhouse in the same area.
The inn sits on a ridge overlooking the town, with a crossroads in front of it. Behind the inn, the ridge falls gradually back into the scrub-covered hills and forest. Access by road is standard, but approach from the back is difficult and exposed.
The orcs have come from the mines in the mountains, and stayed concealed in the gullies behind the ridge during the day, waiting for nightfall and the chance to take action.
The gnomes have taken the two rooms closest to the main building. The innkeeper has offered you the large room at the end of the run. The innkeeper stays in his office/private rooms. Ironically, the inn is more easily approached secretly from the road due to the layout of the inn. From behind, a trip to the loo can spoil the best sneaking effort.
Basically, the orcs make their way toward the back courtyard. They can roll sneak checks against everyone's passive perception in order to decide if anyone notices something that startles them awake. If their roll is 5 or less, their efforts are foiled by someone sticking their head out and openly seeing them. Otherwise, failure is more suggestive of something being afoot, leading to them checking out the disturbance. Success means they approach without alerting anyone to their presence.
Once they reach the inn, they need to pick the locks on the gnomes' rooms. This takes a DC18 stealth check to open. If the roll is less than 10, they completely blow the attempt, and wake the gnomes. They will either subdue and take the gnomes, or they will (if discovered) violently attack them to grapple and drag them off. If the party is alerted to the orcs, the orcs will try to defeat them before grabbing the gnomes, although they will quit and run if they are obviously overmatched.
Running away, they will not take any measures to conceal their route. If they grab the gnomes, they will try to get away quickly across the exposed ridge to their hideout. Once there, they will pause to secure their prisoners, and mount their horses for a ride into the mountains along the road. Their goal is to reach a cave several miles away before dawn.
But what about the workers the gnomes were waiting to meet? What will happen in the morning when their boat arrives?

To the Mines

During the night, three orcs make an attempt to slip into the inn to capture the gnomes. In order to do so, they must sneak across the grounds, find a way into the inn, locate the gnomes' rooms, and abduct them quietly. Then, of course, they need to get away.
This is an encounter that can't really be predicted, too much of it depends on the results of each stage along the way. The best way is to make up a floor plan, place everyone, and play it out. The danger of this type of encounter is that with a series of successful dice rolls, the villains succeed and the encounter is over.
The key is to be willing to interfere if necessary to generate something more substantial. There are multiple ways of running this, as hinted at yesterday. One, the villains succeed, and they track them down to rescue them. Two, they are alerted to the kidnapping attempt and get in a fight to protect them. Three, they let it happen and continue on their journey.
My goal is to keep the party dancing around the river for a while yet. To that end, the idea is to lead them up to the mines for some adventure there, more intrigue, treasure chasing, and crawl than the outdoor encounters to date. They can explore abandoned mines, rescue prisoners and free imprisoned workers from their captors. There's fun to be had in those hills, but they have to get there first.
I think having the players foil the kidnapping, with the orcs getting away sets up the best option. The catch is to give a reason for them to care enough about chasing them to do so. Maybe one of the characters can be knocked out or captured, with the orcs taking off with them.
Tomorrow I'll whip up a map and some DCs to make this work.

In Town

This is nominally a town. There is a dock, a warehouse, a general store, a tavern, and set well back from the river, an inn. The town comes to life with the sun, and shuts down shortly after it sets. The store and warehouse come to life in the early morning, with the tavern keeping later hours.
When you arrive, you meet an enthusiastic pair of dockhands moving some empty barrels to the edge of the dock. They come right over and introduce themselves as Maven and Hamming. Maven is a sturdy woman in her mid-thirties, Hamming an animated dwarf with a mild limp. They welcome you to the town of Faring Ford, with an odd cackling laugh (insight DC12 informs you that their laughter and attitude seem genuine, but exaggerated).
After grilling you about your intentions and journeys, they encourage you to visit the tavern for a bite to eat and something to wash the dust of the road from your throat. They tell you the bar is run by Carson, a gruff human with a knack for crafting hearty stews that will warm you to your toes. They give you directions, and head back to their work.
Carson will welcome you with a grunt, but will serve you as necessary. At this time of day, there are no other patrons, and only Carson is present. He can fill you in on the patterns and details of the town. If the characters can be convinced to spend the night, Carson will recommend they speak with Callie at the Whisper Inn before night settles on the valley.
The Whisper Inn is a quiet establishment set back from the river and the other buildings. It sits on a small rise near the roads out of town, one up to the mines, and the other headed south along a ridge above the river. A successful perception check (DC20) suggests there is something odd about the inn, but other than that vague sense of unease, nothing stands out.
To call Faring Ford a town is a stretch of anyone's imagination, but it serves its role as it is able. The mines are dependent on supplies, mostly coming downriver from Aron's Bowl (especially at this time of year with winter coming fast). In summer months, there are bi-weekly boats from Pinching and other points downriver and on the coast. There are often groups of miners and merchants moving up and down river, or back and forth to the mines. This is a slow time of year, though a ship is due in from Aron's Bowl in the morning. Anyone in town can assure you that you can get passage back upriver with the boat if you desire.
At present, there are two groups staying at the Whisper Inn, one a group of 3 gnomes and their mastiff, the other a half-orc named Laramie and his quiet companion, Eric. They sit in the corner of the common room having a quiet and thought-filled conversation. The gnomes, Allie, Penner, and Gill are much more outgoing, and invite you to join them by the fire to swap stories and laughs. They have recently come to the region to mine for gold, and are waiting to meet their crew at the docks in the morning when they arrive on the boat. They purchased an old claim from a dwarf who had enough of the rough conditions, and have been there for the last week setting up their operation. Now they have come into town to pick up supplies and meet four workers expected on the boat.
If anyone pries for information about the town, mines, or the inn in particular, have them roll a persuasion check to gain information. Most results meet with the standard pat answers, but if they can roll a successful DC22, have the NPC take them aside at some point for a more disturbing story.
This is a frontier town, with limited resources, and little to no definable law. During the day, things tend to stay above board, with everyone putting on a semblance of normalcy. But after dark, the creepier aspects of humanity crawl out. The permanent residents hold some degree of protection, but they guard it with care, closing at or shortly after dark, and locking themselves securely within their homes. Things are not too bad at this time of year, but in the warmer weather, when greater numbers of travelers are around, fear of kidnapping or banditry is high.
Tonight, with the new boat arriving in the morning, there is risk of attack. A group has targeted the gnomes, with the intent of taking them prisoner and impersonating them in the morning. Then, they can work their claim while they try to steal title to it. The party will need to remain alert in order to foil the assault when it comes. Laramie and Eric, for all their secretive nature, are actually good at heart, and will eagerly and actively participate in protecting, or rescuing the gnomes if necessary.
The attack may end up with the plot defeated, or with the characters either imprisoned themselves, or on the trail of the attackers. Let's let tomorrow decide...