The Cave Is Still Full of Gnolls

The students had been through the cave already, but they had not emptied it.

The group found dead hyenas and a looted chest from the students' prior fight, signs that the first layer of danger had already been disturbed. Then the real ambush opened around partially eaten owlbear corpses. The cave was not a cleared site. It was a feeding ground, a trap, or both.

A gnoll flesh gnawer attacked Ash.

A witch doctor and hidden huntmasters struck from the chamber with curse bolts, arrows, and summoned hyenas. Morgan, Vic, and Jonah all came under pressure as the fight spread across the upper cave. The curse bolts mattered immediately, forcing disadvantage on attacks, checks, and saves until the witch doctor's next turn.

Morgan began moving toward Animate Dead, then shifted course later as the battle changed.

The cave had organized enemies, not leftovers. The owlbear corpses were not just set dressing. They were proof that larger predators had already lost here and that the gnolls were comfortable fighting over the remains.

The rescue lead had become an ambush chamber.