Imarë wrote:In my thought, they took the trouble to conceal an opening from what I call the quarry, to the point that only an elf could even tell there was a difference. The entrance, on the other hand, seems to have been filled with rubble and not made to match the surroundings.... From what we have seen, this was not a minor operation. It took a lot of time and resources to make this place and it was carefully concealed when they left.
This is confusing. Presumably the dwarves crafted the intricate "plug" by the quarry, making this entrance almost completely invisible to outsiders. Yet only 400 feet away (by my notes) was the entrance we entered by, and it was hardly hidden at all. There were just a few rocks stuffed outside the cave. Strange that the dwarves would go to such trouble to hide one entrance, but do almost nothing to hide the other.
Perhaps, as you say, our entrance was discovered long ago and that is why it is visible now. Maybe there is a blindspot in dwarven psychology, and they couldn't imagine others exploring the hill and finding their entrance, so they didn't bother to hide it. Or they may have had to leave unexpectedly (did they dig too deep? ), before finishing preparations to hide the other entrance properly.
At the very least, though, this inconsistency is a mystery, and we should look out for clues.