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...