It looks like the opponents did come in from the front, in overwhelming force; it was hard to tell what they were, as the corpses that were there were mangled and destroyed almost beyond recognition, but it looked like something big and humanoid - possibly bugbears, or hobgoblins.<br/><br/>Nyrissa shook her head. "Unlikely; we are far from civilization, and when I-- when<em>this place</em>was destroyed, it was well over a thousand years ago, and... rather thoroughly. The tunnels back to the Darklands were sealed when the invasion was completed."<br/><br/>With his knowledge of dwarven, he was able to guide the way to the royal palace, where the greatest concentration of corpses was visible. It looks like, even being surprised and overwhelmed, the dwarves fought bitterly for every inch, and bled the attackers dearly. The floor was littered with broken weapons and armor, and fragments of bone crunched underfoot. Several haunts rose to oppose them, but the pair were able to deal with them with minimal difficulty.<br/><br/>Moving into the palace, it was clear that it had been looted thoroughly, but once they reached the throne room at the heart of the palace, Nyrissa began setting up for a ritual. "It's a little slow, but this ritual should allow me to identify the most potent source of magic in a large radius. If our artifact is still here, I should, hopefully, be able to find it."