Fireseek 11 (continued):  Rather than give any other Umber Hulks an opportunity to attack us, we retreat to a "wide spot in the road" just outside this fungi cave that they seem to have claimed.

Ahb Heals everyone (see damage amounts at end of previous run).

9:10am  Ahb decides that we'll follow a right-hand rule: exploring each passageway thoroughly  before going on.  We take the first right.  It goes 40' then opens into another cave roughlly 30'x30', with one other opening to the right, and dark fungi growing ont he walls.  Following the pasageway for about 100 winding feet to where it opens into a kidney bean shaped cavern, about 60' to where it bends out of sight, with greening fungi on the walls.  And also covering various bones.  Something is casting a glint from our lights, at the far end of the cavern

Arveen, Glendon, and Taizu, in front, notice in time to jump over -- rather than fall into -- a 30' deep pit mostly hidden by the debris on the ground.  (Since it stretches from wall to wall, perhaps 'trench' would be a better word than 'pit'.)  They find: two gems; lots of gp; lots of sp; a statue of a dwarf warrior, made of copper, holding a one-handed war axe; a jeweled broach; and a gold ring.  Tarva casts Easy Math, twice, to estimate that there are 1,200 gp and 1,500 sp.  Glendon casts Detect Magic to determine that there is one (and only one) magical item herein: the gold ring.  Taizu checks for secret passages, thinks he finds evidence of something unusual ("weird" he calls it) near the pit, but can't find anything himself.  At his request, both Arvee and Darred also look, but also cannot find anything.  Taizu casts Detect Secret Doors, but even then finds nothing.  Darred offers, then lowers a rope into the pit, so Taizu can go down and search in it.  Still nothing.

This kidney bean shaped room thus having no other exits, we return to the Umber Hulk fungi room and take its next righthand side passage.  After a very short way, it opens up into a small open space, with a lot of white fungi, but dominated by one 4' tall toadstool in the center.  Glendon, Ahb, and Taizu all recognize it as being a Violet Fungus and stop before they get too close, but don't react in time to warn Arvee.

0:  Violet Fungs lashes Arvee with three tentacles for 12

1:  Arvee hits Violet Fungus for 19, pulverizing it.

experience points: zero.

Under a couple of puffballs, we see a pair of dwaren skeletons with, between them, one breastplate, two jeweled golden rings, and two gold candlesticks.  Glendon casts another Detect Magic, but none of them are.

This alcove of a cave being as far as this passageway goes, we step back into the main Umber Hulk room and head out its far end, which narrows down to a 7' wide tunnel.  80' later it opens up into a larger area.  Passageways shoot off to the immediate left and right.  The main passage is noticably lower on the right side, such that water -- not clean looking -- has pooled there, stretching out of sight, with about 50' of dry surface between the left wall of the cavern and the beginning of the water.  Taizu, Darred, and Ahb all see an amphibian-headed, medium-sized something, which drops below the surface (meaning the water isn't all that shallow) when it notices us.  Taizu says, "Ahb: that's stinky water.  'Where there is stinky water there is a dragon.'  Where's the dragon?"

9:30am  We go down the left passageway.  About 20' down it opens into a mostly circular room, about 20' in diameter, with another opening to the left, lots of shelves and crevaces up all the of walls, and what appears (and smells) to be a lot of shit on the floor. 

0:  Taizu glances up and sees a Digester up on a high ledge, says, "Oh, shit!", and shoots it for 10;  Digester sprays acid on Taizu for 14, also getting nearby Tarva for 14 and Ahb for 14; Darred points to where the Digester is, shouts, "It's up there!"

1:  Taizu shoots for 10, misses; from last round's acid, Taizu takes 10 more, Tarva takes 10 more; Ahb takes 10 more, Digester sprays acid again, catching Arvee for 6, Glendon for 12, and Ahb (again) for 12; Rowan switches to her bow, shoots, misses; Arvee tries to swing at it, but can't jump high enough to connect; Tarva shoots, criticals for 29, misses; Glendon shoots, hits for 9; Ahb moves 20' back, casts Blessed Aim so as to affect all the party; Darred moves to get a good line of sight, casts Lightning Bolt for 13;

2:  Taizu shoots, hits for 8, bloopers, breaks his bow string; from last round's acid, Arvee takes 3 more, Glendon takes 7 more; Ahb takes 7 more, Digester sprays acid on Arvee for 10 and Glendon for 10; Rowan shoots, criticals for 24, kills.

3:  From last round's acid, Arvee takes 10 more; Glendon takes 10 more.

Ahb casts a Healing Circle for 17 to everyone; then Heals everyone individually.

experience points: 229
Taizu made 10th level!

There seems to be nothing else in this room.   The opening is into another similarly sized and shaped room  Ahb uses her Slippers of Spider Climbing to check and makes sure all the ledges and crevaces are empty.

Back to the main (half water) room and take the right passageway.  Which is really an opening into a 30'x30' room which seems empty.  But when we step in, rocks start falling out of the ceiling, hurting Ahb for 10, Arvee for 5, Darred for 5, Glendon for 10, Rowan for 5, Taizu for 5, and  Tarva for 5.  Arvee announces, "Cave's going to fall," and starts pushing everyone behind him back out.  For which assistance he suffers another 10 points from more rocks; while Ahb, Glendon, and Taizu all take five more each before they can get out.  Then then entire room collapses.  Ahb Heals Glendon. 

So we follow the main passage, staying closer to the left wall than to the water.  At the end of this cavern the passageway continues, but the dry floor shrinks to an irregular 20' wide.  About 120' later there is an opening to the left, 15' wide; beyond this point the dry floor narrows to only 10' wide. 

10:00am  We go left, which opens into a large cavern: 100' long, 60' wide, 50' feet high.  About 20' from the other end is a tall platform, with a ramp leading up to its top level at 40' above the ground.  At ground level are a pair of cart rails leading out down a large passage.  At the platform end of the rails is a belt-driven mechanical scoop: presumably for loading or unloading carts.  We go up to the top of the platform.  It looks like some mining was being done at -- above -- the platform; Arvee thinks the vein was mined out.  Some people notice a large shape flying at us: a green dragon.  ["I told you," mutters Taizu.]

0: Dragon breathes on us -- acid again -- Ahb takes 32, Arvee 16, Darred 32, Glendon 32, Rowen 32, Taizu 16, Tarva 16.  Glendon shoots, misses; Darred casts Fireball for 17; Ahb casts Flamestrike for 35; Taizu casts Resistance on himself.

1:  Dragon breathes again as it flies directly over us (and within reach): Ahb takes 14, Arvee 28, Darred none, Glendon 28 (and has one point left), Rowan 14, Taizu 14, Tarva 14.  Glendon casts Magic Missile for 10; Darred casts Mage Armor on himself; Tarva shoots miss, miss; Arvee designates Dragon as his dodge opponent, activates his boots (successfully), goes berserk, hits for 21, 21, tries to 'trip' but fails the grapple contest and the Dragon trips Arvee onto his back instead; Ahb casts Create Water so as to make 165 pounds appear immediately  over the Dragon's head, but it dodged most of the mass; Taizu starts singing Inspire Courage, uses a wand to cast Web, but the Dragon flies right through it without noticing, and jumps off the platform (to give the Dragon multiple targets) falling 40' for 12 points of damage; Rowan shoots, hits for 12, misses.

2:  Dragon (maybe upset that we're not dead yet, maybe hurting a little itself) turns and flies away; Glendon casts Magic Missile for 10; Darred reserves for Dragon coming back; Tarva shoots, miss, miss; Arvee reserves for a target; Ahb is happy to let him go; Taizu shoots an alchemist arrow for 11+4, misses; Rowan shoots for 9, miss.

3:  Dragon flies out of range and sight. 

Ahb casts Healing Circle for 19.  Since this raises Glendon to only 1/3 of his total, Tarva spends two minutes doing a Faith Healing on him for another 20.  Ahb Heals Rowan for 33, Taizu for 25, Arvee for 43, herself for 53. 

Even though we've only been out for an hour, we are so depleated in spells that Ahb calls a halt for the day.  There is a suggestion of holing up in the room where we fought the Digester (even though it smells horrible).  Tarva points out that it is only about four more minutes to get back to D'Gran's keep (where we spent last nigth) and have a comfortable and defensible place to stay.  So we do that instead.

Tarva offers to cast Identify again.  Starting this early in the day, she can easily finish before "night", and thus take her normal place in the watch order as well.  Ahb agrees this is a good idea; and concurs with Tarva's suggestion of what to cast it on: (1) the sword Taizu has been carrying around; (2) the gold ring we just found; (3) the light pine colored potion (of which we have two shots); and (4) the redish-orange colored potion (of which we also have two shots).

While she's casting that spell, Ahb is investigating the nearby fungi (with Arvee to guard her) and determines that the puffballs can be used to make a hangover cure known as Alchemist's Mercy.  Darred organizes a trip back to Dwarf Haven to haul our recent loot there, and also to have the acolytes do some more Healing.   Taizu and Ahb also do some Healing, and everyone is back to full health.  Arvee works more on his blue dragon scale mail, and finishes it.

7:00pm  Tarva finishes her spell and announces that:
(1) the sword is +2 to hit, +2 to damage (plus, of course, a huge potential for other abilities beyond the ken of an Identify spell);
(2) the ring is a Ring of Climbing: +10 to climb skill checks.  Ahb asks who hasn't gotten anything useful recently.  Some people try to claim Tarva hasn't, but she disagrees.   And Arvee really hasn't gotten anything for a while, so he's offered the ring to carry and use.  After getting over his surprise, and thinking about it for a bit, he grins and accepts it.
(3) the light pine colored potions are Cure Moderate: 2d8 + 5.   [Tarva thought Cure Moderate potions were Light Kelly Green in color -- she guesses both colors must be possible...].  We give them to the people with lowest hit points: Glendon and Darred.
(4) the reddish-orange colored potions are Cat's Grace: 5 hours of 1d4 + 1 increased Dexterity.  Most people have their armor class from Dex already maxed out by the armor they are wearing, so we agree that these would be most useful with the people not wearing armor: Darred and Glendon.

We get through the night.

Fireseek 12:  9:05am  When we get back to the room with water on the right, we see wet webbed footprints coming out of the water, going into the passageway to the Digester's room, and then coming back out and re-entering the water. 

9:10am  In the platform room again, with the intent of hunting down the dragon (waiting for it to reappear would be too boring).  Darred casts Mage Armor on himself.  We follow the rails as they leave the platform room along a passageway 50' high and 20' to 40' wide.  After a while it opens up to 60' wide for a bit.  The rails go straight, passing up an opening to the left about 20' wide.  As we're going past the opening, some notice that the Green Dragon is waiting for us inside that opening.

1:  Taizu sings Inspire Greatness on Darred (to give him more hit points), steps forward 15' for line of sight, shoots an alchemist arrow and hits for 11+4; Dragon breathes acid onto Arvee for 14, Taizu for 14, Glendon for zero; Rowan moves 40' to a good vantage point in the main corridor, shoots, hits for 9;  Tarva sings Inspire Courage, moves 20' up to the lip of the room; Ahb casts Blessed Aim, uses her slippers to climb the wall 7'; Glendon shoots, hits for 6; Darred moves up to behind Tarva, casts Endure Elements::Acid on himself; Arvee designates the Dragon as his Dodge opponent, activates his boots (fails), goes berserk, charges Dragon but misses.

2:  Taizu [Inspire Greatness takes effect], still singing,  moves into the room on the Dragon's left, shoots, hits for 5; Dragon bites Arvee for 14, claws him for 16; Rowan shoots, hits for 4, misses; Tarva [Inspire Courage takes effect], still singing, moves 30' into the room, along the Dragon's right side, Dragon AoO for a 13 bite on Tarva, Tarva shoots, misses; Ahb does a double move up to and along the ceiling; Glendon shoots, hits for 2; Darred moves into the room, casts Choke [through round 6] for 1; Arvee hits for 22, miss.

3:  Taizu, still singing, shoots an alchemist arrow for 6+5, criticals for 16+1; Dragon breathes on Arvee for 27, Darred for 22; Glendon for zero, we can hear his tail smashing something behind him, but nobody can see what; Rowan shoots, misses, hits for 13; Tarva, still singing, tumbles 20' further along the room's wall to get out of the Dragon's AoO range, shoots, misses; Ahb moves 30' along the ceiling; a large four-armed ape thing with glowing red eyes charges Tarva, hits for 17 from two claws; Glendon runs up to Dragon, Dragon AoO for 12, uses his three-sectioned staff to hit with Stun, but misses; Darred, [Choke does another 3], casts a Fireball carefully placed to affect Dragon and Girallon, but no party members, doing 11, then ducks back behind wall into corridor; Arvee hits for 22, misses.

4:  Taizu, still singing,  moves down his wall, shoots, miss; Dragon on Arvee hits for a total of 17; Glendon hits for 5, misses; Rowan shoots, hits for 14, kills, switches to Girallon, misses; Tarva stops singing [Inspire Courage stops round 9], drops her bow, draws Heart's Reach, hits for 10; Ahb makes it to the back wall and halfway down; Girallon hits Tarva with three claws for 32, rends for another 17; Glendon moves to the front of Girallon, hits with three-part staff for 7, but Stun doesn't work; Darred flies into the room near the ceiling, casts Slow on Girallon; Arvee charges Girallon, criticals, kills.

experinece points: 189

This room seems to have been set up as a home (albeit a hoard-poor one) for the Dragon.  The north wall is daubed with mud, with blue crystals stuck into it (a la Martha Stewart); the west has a 8' deep alcove with a bed of, well, basically junk: straw, rags, bones, and a few items worth noting.  There are some shards of pottery: leading to the spculation that the Girallon was somehow imprisoned in a pot, released by the Dragon breaking it with his tail.  Searchers find: an iron pot with (Tarva casts Easy Math) 980gp; a gold statue of a coiled serpent; a scroll which Darred casts Read Magic to determine contains See Invisible and Alter Self spells; a high quality large shield with an emblem of a green dragon rampant, seven amethysts, seven garnets, and seven white pearls.   Tarva isn't sure, but thinks the white pearls might be of an appropriate size for use with her Identify spell.  Glendon casts Detect Magic and finds that none of this stuff is.  Taizu pours the gold coins into the bag of holding he's carrying; we abandon the iron cauldron and the cheap blue crystals, and take the rest of it.  Having no way to preserve the body parts, we also abandon the dragon.

Ahb Heals Tarva for 36 and 25, Arvee for 62, Darred for 21, Taizu for 12.  Tarva uses her Faith Healing on herself (to Tarizu's obvious approval).

Back to following the cart rails. 180' later the passage enters a large chamber, 60'x60'.  There is another passage leaving, and the rails follow it. But it turns to the side and descends, and there is speculation that following it will merely get us lost in a mine.  So we return to the platform room and then to the beside-water passageway.  110' later the waterside passage comes to a stop.  To the left is a branch passageway with more rails; the rails come out of it, across the main passage (and thus under the water) and appear to run along another branch passageway to the right, directly across the water from this branch, and appearing half (at least) submerged. 

We take the left branch passage.  About 100' later the rails (and passage) bend around towards the north, and there is a side passage to the left (with no rails).  We take it.  40' down it opens into an 80' x 50' cavern with the ceiling only 15' to 17' overhead.  The center of the cavern is a water-filled pool; the back wall - on the far side of the pool - is a ledge 12' higher than the floor on this side (and with very little headroom).  We can see two encrusted bodies in the pool.  Darred borrows Glendon's goggles and flies up to check out the ledge: nothing.  Taizu throws a rock into the pool; it sinks, apparently normally (e.g., no fizzing as if the pool were acid).  Arvee walks into the water, grabs the first body, brings it out.  Human, with the symbol of an Elder of the Elemental Eye.  Arvee goes back for the second body; it has an upside-down pyramid and a thurible. 

10:30am  We go back to the passageway and follow the rails again.  40' later there is an opening to the right, 20' wide.  Immediately past that the rail passageway opens to 30' wide, and there is a rusted ore cart on the rails.  Most everyone sees an Ettin and a Rust Monster in the side opening.

0:  Taizu uses wand to cast Web across opening and on Ettin and Rust Monster; Ahb casts Yell, says "Rust Monster will corrode anything metal look out"; Rowan shoots Ettin for 8; Arvee moves towards Ettin, Ettin AoO on Arvee for 14; Ettin on Arvee misses; Rust Monster charges Arvee (attraccted to all that lovely metal), misses; Darred casts Fireball on Ettin and Rust Monster (but not us) for 25.

1: Taizu sings Inspire Courage, tosses a dagger in front of the Rust Monster (hoping to distract it (but Arvee has way too much metal), shoots at Ettin and hits for 4; Ahb casts Flamestrike on Ettin and Rust Monster for 20 divine + 21 fire, moves to wall and 7' up (slippers); Tarva shoots at Rust Monster, misses, hits for 5; Rowan shoots at Ettin, hits for 10, 8; Arvee designates Rust Monster as his dodge opponent, fights defensively; steps 5', hits at Ettin, misses; Ettin on Arvee hits for 15; Rust Monster hits Arvee, magic armor saves; Darred casts Hypnotic Pattern in front of Rust Monster and Ettin.

2:  Taizu [Inspire Courage takes effect], still singing, tosses his shield in front of the Rust Monster, reserves to attack if Rust Monster gets loose; Ahb moves 15' along wall (at 7' high), then down to floor; Tarva reserves to shoot if Rust Monster moves; Rowan shoots Ettin, kills, reserves to attack if Rust Monster moves; Arvee runs 60' down the hall, to get his metal (especially his scythe) away from the Rust Monster; Glendon Magic Missiles Rust Monster, kills.

experience points: 102

Searching the room turns up: 243 gp (Tarva casts Easy Math), three thunderstones, and one red gem. 

Back to following the rails.  80' down the track the passageway narrows down to a typical mine size: barely wide enough for a cart (but surprisingly tall - 10' - for a dwarf mine).  As with the previous set of tracks, we decide to not follow these any further.  Nor are we going to try the half-submerged passageway across the water.  Taizu wants to check the pool room again, so we go back there.  Borrowing Glendon's goggles again, Darred flies around and over the pool, but sees nothing.  Taizu strips down to his unders, casts Detect Secret Doors, and dives in to check out the walls of the pool.  He finds no secret doors, but does find a third body, which he brings out.  This one is of a dwarf, with breastplate armor, a platinum ring, and a Moradin symbol.  Glendon casts Detect Magic: the ring and symbol are not, the breastplate is.

Taizu was so insistant on searching for secret doors because we seem to be running out of ways to go forward.  Unless we follow one of the two mine shafts (three if you count the half-submerged one), we seem to have  run out of branches on this side of  D'Gran's keep.  Which isn't the same as being completely out of choices.  There's the bridge from D'Gran's keep to the island; the shieldwall we never went beyond just before we tackled D'Gran's keep the second time; and the long corridor on the bottom floor of the Air Temple.  Ahb also expresses her wish to have done something to make the Air Temple's inner sanctum less useful to any evils who tried to move back in.  After a bit of discussion, she decides that we will: (c) go the other way from the Air Temple (i.e., towards Fire); after (b) destroying as much of the Air Temple Dais Room as possible; preceeded by (a) checking out what is behind the shield wall on our way back to the Air Temple.

12:00 noon  We reach the shield wall

0:  several arrows spring from notches in the shield wall, one hits Arvee for 3.

1:  Glendon cast Obscuring Mist, which fills the passageway from where he is all the way to the shield wall (and an equally long way back behind him); Taizu moves to the shield wall, casts Shatter on one lower shield, destroying it; arrows fly again, one hits Taizu for 6; Tarva makes it to the shield wall; Darred moves up; Rowan moves to the shield wall; Ahb moves up; Arvee makes it to the wall.

2:  Glendon switches to his three-part staff and moves to the shield wall; Taizu casts Flare on Orc₁, reserves to shoot after Arvee goes through shield wall; Tarva steps through shattered shield, hits Orc₂, kills, hits Orc₃, kills; Darred reaches the wall, on the left side, finds an arrow notch, casts Glitter through it on Orc₄ and Orc₅; Rowan switches to her sword; Ahb reaches the wall; Arvee steps through and to a small cluster of orcs, hits Orc₁, kills, cleaves Orc₆, kills, cleaves Orc₇, kills; Taizu shoots Goblin₁ for 3, kills.

3:  Glendon steps through, moves to the two goblins in the back hits Goblin₂ for 7, kills; Orc₄ shoots at Tarva, Tarva AoO, kills; Orc₅ shoots at Tarva, criticals for 14; Tarva moves to Orc₅, hits, kills; Darred reserves for any new enemies; Rowan moves to Goblin₃, hits, kills.

experience points: zero

It appears that they had all holed up behind this shield wall in an attempt to stay alive in a dangerous environment -- worked until half a minute ago.  There is a large red eye symbol painted on the floor, several dirty pallets, and a chest which has been previously broken into.  Inside the chest we find: a magnifying glass, a pewter flagon with a dwarf figure etched on it; a ceramic pot with a dwarf on a pony (?); a jug of dwarven ale, still sealed; a silver holy symbol of Moradin; and a dwarven-sized silk robe.

1:00pm  We are back at the Air Temple. 

In the Dais Room, Ahb is pondering what, if anything, she can do about the pyramidal Dais itself.  Meanwhile, Darred takes a torch to the tapestry with the mind-blowing pictures.  It doesn't burn.  Glendon pours oil on it and Darred tries again.  The oil burns easily, but the tapestry is not affected.  When the problem is brought to Ahb's attention, she casts Dispel Magic on the tapestry.  After that, Darred's attempt to set it on fire works just fine (well, except for all the smoke...).  Ahb then casts another Dispel Magic on the bas relief, after which it no longer confers confusion, either. 

While Ahb, primarily assisted by Darred and Glendon, is doing this, Arvee suddenly decides to go exploring and takes off.  Taizu immediately decides to not let Arvee go off on his own and follows.  And naturally Tarva takes off after Taizu.  Splitting the party, which Tarva really hates: but once Arvee and Taizu took off, the party was split, and 4/3 seems better than 5/2.  As she's leaving the Dais room, Tarva sees Rowan watching them with an annoyed frown, which Tarva completely agrees with.

After her two magic castings, Ahb had been intending to discuss what to do about the Dais with Darred and Glendon (the other true Pelor worshipers in the group [Tarva respects Pelor - helps out at his temples - but retains her loyalty to Dioncecht]).  When  the other three split, she kept that discussion very short: they (and Rowan) concurred that de-consecrating the altar wouldn't keep it from being re-consecrated to the same evil god later on; and as it would involve a strenous, all-day effort on Ahb's part, it wasn't worth doing.  As soon as that conclusion was reached, the four of them hurried after the delinquent three.

[I was almost asleep during this section: corrections are welcome.]
Meanwhile Arvee, with Taizu and Tarva in tow, has reached the main corridor on the ground floor and proceeded past where we had explored it before.  Somewhat down the 20' corridor is a single door on the right and across from it a double door on the left. Arvee opens the single door, onto a 5' wide serviceway which parallels the main corridor with one door directly across and another 60' down.  The nearest door opens into a 10'x15' room, empty.  The other door opens into a 20'x35' room, with another door on the far side, and with three life-size statues of dwarves in it, carved from a comely blue stone: one fighter with an Urgrosh; one miner with a pick; one woman wearing a garland and robes.  Tarva recalls a different room which didn't like non-dwarves in it and stops Taizu -- needlessly as he had the same thought.  Arvee goes in, finds nothing strange about the statues, and proceeds to the far door.  Tarva ("I'm first," to Taizu) tenatively steps in, ready to jump back out, but the statues stay in place.  The unnecesary caution did, however, allow the rest of the group to catch up.

The door across the statue room opens into a 60' long corridor which ends in a 20'x20' room with two additional doors: one on the same wall as we came in by [did we ever open this door?], the other across the room.  The across door opens into a 30'x40' foyer, with another door across from us, and corridors leading off left and right.  When we look left we see the corridor go under an arch with a large bluegreen square (Temple of Water symbol) over it, a net hammock within the alcove behind the arch, and a Kuo-Toa coming towards us. 

Arvee conducts a pleasantly (if surprising) gentle discussion with the Kuo-Toa, in the course of which he succeeds in eliciting a fair amount of information -- if not quite everything we wanted to know.  At one point some question must have caused the Kuo-Toa to wonder how we'd gotten here without already knowing that tidbit or basic fact, because he takes active notice of our lack of insignia associating us with any of the temples.  Tarva started singing Fascinate, then built onto that a Suggestion that he found our presence perfectly natural and was willing to answer all our questions.  [Later, Taizu will tease Tarva about this, saying he's never known her to use those bardic abilities before.  Arvee joins in to say that: yeah, usually all she has to do is wiggle.]

[This is all from memory - no notes - so if I left anything out please fill it in.]
Over the course of his conversation, Arvee gathered this information:  This Kuo-Toa has the responsibility of ferrying people by boat from this launch pad to the Water Gate of the Inner Fane.  He'll take anyone - or any group - across to the Water Gate if they have the Water Gate Key; there's no point in taking anyone over if they don't have the Key, since they won't be able to get in.  Most people who go in come back out -- although he hasn't bothered to keep count -- when they want to come back the signal him from the Water Gate.  He never goes anywhere except between this launch pad (through the door across from us) and the Water Gate.  The Key is obtained from the Elders at the Water Temple.  He never takes anyone to or from the Water Temple - they get from here to there by walking.  He's very vague about where one walks.  Yes, we probably did see another Kuo-Toa in a different pool of water: there are Kuo-Toa in most watery areas.  They don't have any way of talking back and forth without going in person.  The usual price for a ferry trip is 10gp.  The right-hand (for us) corridor leads towards the Fire Temple, but we don't want to go that way because much closer is where his guards live, and they're likely to take offense and try to harm us if they see us.  They're not Kuo-Toa, are assigned to him by the Temple, but he doesn't have enough conrol over them to keep them from attacking us.  He appears highly disdainful of the Air Temple, and unaware that it is wiped out.  The start of a story that we're here to wipe it out leaves him indifferent.  Regarding the Fire Temple, he's mostly spiteful - which doesn't seem unusual for one associated with the element of Water.  He had no explanation for why the launch pad to the Water Gate was so far from the Water Temple -- or, rather, the launch pad is where it is so he can be signaled from the Water Gate when someone needs a ferry ride back, thus the launch pad has to be here to be in sight of the Water Gate, but that then begs the question of why the Water Gate isn't near the Water Temple.  Actually, there are a lot of arrangements of the four temples and the inner fane about which he has no knowledge, and apparenlty no curiosity, either.  He doesn't know anything about a prisoner pit, or an arena.  The impression Tarva gets is that the further away from the water something is, the less he knows, or cares, about it.

We leave him with the cover story that we're going to go get the Water Gate Key and come back, then pull back to the main corridor.  Going through the double doors on the other side we find ourselves in a 60'x60' square room , with a 30' high ceiling, in the middle of which is a 40'x40'  pit, 30' deep, with the entire rim filled with downward-pointing spikes (to discourage attempts to escape).  There are broken bones, weapons, armor scattered across the floor of the pit, from which we conclude that this is the "arena".  There are no entrances (or exits) at the lower level : combatants must be lowered / dropped / tossed over from up here.  There is one other door in this room.  When Arvee opens it, a foul order -- much worse than other latrines we've come across -- wafts out of it, and we can see that the walls and floor are encrusted with shit and decaying body parts. 

1:  Glendon yells at us, "Everyone get back!"; Rowan reserves for a target; Gargoyle₁ flies in, claws Arvee for 4, tries to grapple, Arvee AoO for 18, grapple fails; Rowan moves to Gargoyle₁, hits for 14; Tarva looks around for another Gargoyle, sees none, shoots at Gargoyle₁, misses; Taizu shoots, hits for 9, misses; Darred reserves for a second target; Gargoyle₂ and Gargoyle₃ fly in from the smelly room, are about 20' away from the group; Darred shoots, misses Gargoyle₂; Arvee hits Gargoyle₁ for 19, 16; Ahb cast Windwall in a cylinder around Gargoyle₂ and Gargoyle₃.

2:  Glendon shoots, hits Gargoyle₁ for 6; Gargoyle₁ yells "Flee!" to his companions / underlings, hits Arvee for 11, doesn't try to grapple; Rowan hits Gargoyle₁ for 12, kills; Tarva reserves for a Gargoyle getting out of the wind cylinder; Taizu reserves likewise; Gargoyle₂ flies out of the cylinder towards us; Gargoyle₃ flies up, brains itself on the ceiling, falls into the pit; Tarva shoots Gargoyle₂ for 10, miss; Taizu casts Daze on Gargoyle₂, it falls down into the pit; Darred shoots Gargoyle₂ for 7; Arvee reserves for something being on this level; Ahb reserves likewise.

3:  Glendon cocks his crossbow; Rowan switches to her bow, shoots, hits Gargoyle₃ for 7; Tarva shoots Gargoyle₂, hits for 8, 10; Taizu shoots Gargoyle₂, criticals for 16, kills, shoots Gargoyle₃, hits for 5; Darred shoots, misses; Arvee reserves as before; Ahb likewise.

4:  Glendon reserves for any new enemy; Rowan shoots, hits for 10, miss; Tarva shoots, hits for 7, miss; Taizu shoots, misses, hits for 5; Darred shoots, hits for 5, kills.

experience points: 190

Everyone declines to wade into the shit room to look for treasure.

14:30  Back to going down the main corridor.  140' further to a stone archway in the elaborate shape of a huge dragon's head, with the passage going into his open mouth.  Past that is a 40'x40' room, 35' high, with relief artwork on all walls depicting dwarves triumphant over everything from orcs to dragons.  Except that all the artwork has been defaced: dwarf heads chisled out, spikes driven into dwarves, etc.  There are two 10' wide openings (no doors) on the far wall, at the extreme ends of it.

0:  Cloaker₁ sweeps down on Arvee, tries to grapple, fails; we all feel slightly un-nerved.

1:  Cloaker₁ successfully grapples Arvee, bites for 6; Ahb moves to Cloaker₁, hits for 11, 5 damage to Arvee; Arvee fails to counter grapple, fails again; Glendon casts Magic Missile on Cloaker₁ for 10, 5 damage to Arvee; Rowan shoots, hits for 11, 5 damage to Arvee, reserves for Cloaker₁ not grappling with Arvee; Darred moves to Cloaker₁, tries to pull it off Arvee, fails; Tarva starts singing Inspire Greatness on Arvee; Taizu reserves for another target.

2:  Cloaker₁ misses its bite on Arvee, misses its tail on Glendon; Ahb tries to unpin Arvee, fails; Arvee frees himself; Rowan shoots Cloaker₁, misses; Glendon on Cloaker₁ misses; Darred casts Burning Hands on Cloaker₁ for 11; Tarva [Inspire Greatness takes effect], still singing, shoots Cloaker₁, hits for 13, 6; Taizu casts Summon Monster III and brings in three Celestial Eagles to sic on Cloaker₁.

3:  Cloaker₁ screams, Glendon and Taizu fall down feeling very nauseous; Ahb hits for 9, misses; Arvee criticals, kills; Tarva is still singing.

4:  Ahb Heals on Arvee; Tarva stops singing [Inspire Greatness lasts through 9], goes to Taizu, tries a Faith Healing: Cure Disease; Darred is helping Glendon; Rowan watching for others.

5:  Ahb Heals on Arvee;

6:  Darred is Entranced, but nobody else notices; Ahb moves to Glendon, casts a Cure Light on him.

7:  Glendon and Taizu both recover; Tarva helps Taizu up; Darred comes out of his trance, realizes - from seeing people suddenly appear to 'jump' to new locations - that he has lost some time, announces, "There's something weird going on here."

8:  Glendon suddenly runs at full speed (i.e., 320') back into the corridor and down it; Tarva follows; Ahb follows; Arvee runs full speed into the right-hand opposite side opening, around a bend and into a room, where he pauses; Darred announces, "I'm going with Arvee," and runs after him;  Rowan looks up, sees nothing, then follows Darred; Taizu looks up, sees nothing, but is intuitively convinced something is hiding up there and keeps looking.

9:  Cloaker₂ swoops down on Taizu, successfully grapples, bites for 5; Tarva [Inspire Greatness runs out]  realizes she'll never catch Glendon, turns and starts back; Ahb keeps going after Glendon, passing Tarva coming back the other way;  Arvee runs back to the edge of the room, sees Cloaker₂ on Taizu;  Darred follows Arvee; Rowan follows Arvee; Taizu tries to counter the grapple, fails; Celestial Eagles attack Cloaker₂ for a total of 5.

10:  Cloaker₂ decides things are too dicey and flies away, Celestial Eagles get AoOs for a total of 3; Tarva is back into the room; Glendon recovers his senses, finds himself in the Air Temple, starts back; Arvee steps into the room, but stays near the opening; Darred crosses rapidly to the corridor; Rowan stays with Arvee; Taizu shoots, more or less blindly, misses, misses; Celestial Eagles miss.

11:  Tarva starts singing Countersong, reserves to move with Taizu; Glendon gets as far back as Ahb, and with her permission picks her up to carry her; Darred yells something about leaving it alone and getting out of here; Rowan reserves for a target; Arvee reserves for a target within reach; Taizu shoots, misses, misses; Celestial Eagles miss.

12:  Cloaker₂ screams at Taizu, but Tarva's Countersong prevents any damage; Tarva, still singing, tosses her light stone up to the ceiling (hoping to remind Taizu that he can cast light); Arvee takes her Everlasting Torch from Rowan and begins climbing, only the place he selected is too steep and smooth, and he slides down to the floor again; Darred comes back to Taizu, casts Flare where Tarva's stone shows Cloaker₂ to be; Rowan shoots, hits for 6, misses; Taizu shoots, hits for 2, misses; Celestial Eagles hit for 5 (in spite of two being dazzled by the Flare).

13:  Cloaker₂ screams at Tarva, but she saves even without using the Countersong; Tarva, still singing, shoots (but all the light has gone), misses, misses; Glendon pulls on his goggles, casts Magic Missile for 6; Ahb starts climbing the wall; Arvee is climbing the wall; Darred moves over to Rowan; Rowan shoots a flaming arrow and hits Cloaker₂ for 6+3; Taizu shoots and hits for 7, miss; Celestial Eagles hit for 3.

14:  Cloaker₂ screams at Glendon, but he saves; Tarva, still singing, shoots at what (thanks to the flaming arrow) she can now see, hits for 10, kills.

experience points: 142

We decide to call it a day, move back to a safe place to recover and spend the night.  The Air Temple is close by, but Tarva argues that the Dwarf Haven isn't much further, and is much safer.  We go there.

Hit points down
Notes:
(1) starting from the morning of Fireseek 12, when presumably everyone was at full hit points;
(2) negative numbers are healing
(3) "??" are unrecorded healing
(4) numbers are in reverse chronologial order: i.e., the rightmost number happened first.  Thus negative numbers can only wipe out damage to their right.

Ahb        --  =  none
Arvee     --  -??, -??, 6, 5, 5, 5, 11, 4, 3, 15, 14, -62, 17, 27, 14, 16, 14  =  84 minus two healings
Darred    --  -21,  22  =  1
Glendon  --  -??  =  none
Rowan    --  =  none
Taizu       --  5, 6, -12, 14  =  13
Tarva      --   14, -20, -25, -36, 17, 32,  17, 13  =   14