u/Dave37

So I'm working with ceramic clay and I have a bunch of it dissolved in a bucket of water. However, I've noticed that it doesn't really sediment and leaves a section of water, even if I leave it for 3-4 days. I suspect from a couple of youtube videos that the pH might be too high, potentially causing the clay to for colloid particles that stay suspended. I've measured the pH with pH-paper (not the best method but it's what I have available), and concluded that it's roughly 8-9.

• What is a good pH for a clay solution to get it to sediment?
• How do I lower the pH (other than adding enormous amounts of water which sorta defeats the whole point)? I have access to hydrochloric acid etc (I'm a chemist by trade, I know how to handle strong acids safely for those concerned), but I'm uncertain of how well a clay solution will buffer the addition of acid, and if I accidentally over-do it, is there a concern that the acid will mess with the properties of the clay? It shouldn't dissolve the silicon dioxide that is the clay, because otherwise you couldn't store acid in glass bottles, but I imagine that if the pH accidentally dropped to 4-5, the clay might loose its plastic properties or similar?

So, we all know the Castle Cragmaw dungeon from LMoP. I ran it in my previous campaign. But now it's been two years in-universe, the Cragmaws are no more and the castle has been taken over by a more competent clan of Hobgoblins. A new adventuring group (four PCs, 4th level) comes up to the castle to root out the new management and kill the leader: Targor Bloodsword.

I've done some work with the grounds surrounding the castle, the hobgoblins have a guard and 'smith' ogre working for them, they have a pit with 4 Worgs etc. The exterior I'm happy with. But I am absolutely clueless about the interior. I'm using a restored dungeon map, so the walls are repaired, and while the potential "upper floor" is virtually non-existent, there's a timber-roof laid across the castle walls so prevent rain from coming in and making it a little bit more defensive.

Anyhow, I have no idea what to do with the interior. There are so many rooms and not all of them needs to be filled with loot, enemies and traps, but I just have no clue how start approaching this, and make it into something that makes sense but is also interesting to play through. So I'm really just looking for ideas and inspiration.