Mask and Dondar talked. Some useful info.Several days uneventful travel in Changing Ways. Decided not to go 9-10 days out of our way to visit surface town. Did go off main route in search of Nothorean gear cache. In old settlement ran into big four-armed silverback ape things and killed same, w/exception of mom-child pair that fled. Parna quite the butcher on things with organs - sliced, diced, fileted.
[Click on image for larger version. It's worth it.]Opted to have Korenne disable giant guardian statue at cost of some part of the cache rather than fight it. Some decent loot - art, gems, potions, a wand Korenne couldn't quite figure out.
Turned out to be a dead end and we had to backtrack - two days out of our way all told. Did however leave a rather nice stone bridge across chasm - magic-shaped not handmade, but a goodly addition. More uneventful walking. Did not go visit orc village as why ask for trouble. Coming up on darramorc territory, cannot avoid if are to pass into Silver City. Which I believe is part of my path.
Also a place to find another Key? In talking to Dondar, learned that the Orb which marks our passage through Bastion is just one of six various keys of which we need three, and then a fourth unique key, to enter Nothoreadel. Doubt they're just sitting around in the middle of the tunnel.