"Just an animal..." the voice says quietly. The footsteps resume; two bodies descend into view and stop short as soon as they have a line of sight to the party. "Oh!" exclaims the smaller one, who holds a small lantern. The other, considerably larger, holds very still. "I--Domarc?"
The lantern-carrier starts down the stairs, but the larger figure places a hand on her shoulder and she stops short. "Domarc, is that...you all...wait, where's Zora?"
Shrugging off the belaying hand, Martjan va Locra rushes down the rest of the stairs, standing before you in a nightdress. Her companion follows her down: a six foot ochre-skinned half-orc woman in hide trousers, hand resting on the pommel of a dagger sheathed at her hip.
Y'all remember Martjan right? Zora's mom, Domarc's employer? You delivered Zora to her in Hazard, she filled you in on some backstory, and enlisted her wealthy patrons, the Gahmez family, to provide you with a place to stay and hide from the Six-Pronged Crown. While you were pursuing leads around Hazard, Gavrel and some of the other cultists (including the dragonborn you later killed) attacked the Gahmez estate, burning it down. Zora was able to escape, but Gavrel took Martjan captive.
At that point you all decided to go off on a side quest to hunt down Pafthinel, the elementalist who enchanted the Iron Sphere, after which you returned to Hazard. You sought and obtained a meeting with the Hierophant, who was able to scry some of the personal effects Gavrel left behind and locate this fortress hideout that you have, at great length, finally reached.
Also, none of you know exactly where Zora is now. The party split up after the attack on the Gahmez estate, and Zora went off with former party member Vad Fekete.
As always, more info on everything you've done and seen can be found in this Google Doc.